EC Octagon Issue 14

On February 14, 2016, students

from PRIDE, Women and Gender Studies Club (WAGS), and various organizations gathered together to perform the Vagina Monologues in the Meier Hall, Stephans Lounge. Consisting of a series of mono-logues talking about different women’s ex-periences in the world of vaginas, the Vagina Monologues was written by Eve Ensler and has been performed on the Elmira College campus for many years.

Co-directed by Dana LaVergne ’16, Alissa Abbott ’17, and Kayla Dou-berly ’18, this year’s performance of the Monologues involved ten different women, including psychology profes-sor Dr. Allyson Graf. Two raffle baskets were offered, and the proceeds from the raffle went to the Sexual Assault Re-source Center of the Southern Finger Lakes, who also tabled at the event.

“The Vagina Monologues play a pivotal role in the college’s understand-ing of feminism and feminist issues,” said Dana LaVergne ’16. LaVergne is

the president of the PRIDE club on campus and has been heavily involved in Women and Gender Studies as a ma-jor and the president of the honor soci-ety, Iota, Iota, Iota.

LaVergne continued, “By writing on the experiences of women, Eve En-sler showcases how intricate and mul-tifaceted global womanhood can be. Directing the monologues alongside Alissa and Kayla has been an honor, and I’m proud to have been able to pass along this proud Elmira College tradi-tion.”

Part of the original intent for the Vagina Monologues was to begin a global campaign to raise awareness and funds to try to end violence against

women and girls. The monologues themselves ad-dress this issue, poignantly in the monologue “My Vagina was My Village,” per-formed by Miran-da Thomassen ’16. “My Vagina was My Village” was based off of a fe-male Bosnain refu-

gee during the war in Yugoslavia, when tens of thousands of women were raped as a tactic of war. By including this story, Eve Ensler sought out sto-ries ranging from “My Vagina was my Village” to interviews with six-year-old girls and their opinion of their vaginas.

“I participated in the Vagina Mono-logues because I think it’s important for these women’s stories to be heard,” said Kelly Thomas ’17, who performed in the Monologues. Thomas is the secretary of PRIDE and a member of WAGS. “The good, the bad, the injustices. We need to know them all to appreciate how far we have come as a society, but also to recognize how far we still have to go to become a truly equal society and eliminate such tragedies like rape, catcalling, and slutshaming.”

The Vagina Monologues have raised over $100 million worldwide in the last 17 years of its organization, and traditionally are held during the month of February. Elmira College hosted the Monologues on Valentine’s Day, giving another meaning to the Va-gina Monologues’ nickname “V-Day.” The V stands for Victory, Valentine, and Vaginas.

Monday, February 29, 2016

Campus LifeMr. ECA review of Red Cross’ Campus Wide event.

1

Volume 98 Issue 14

SportsHockey SeniorsMen’s and women’s senior weekend hockey games!

Page 19, 21

EntertainmentHarper LeeA goodbye to an inspira-tional woman.

Page 18

Campus LifeRoaming ReporterWho’s your #mcm?

Page 13

V-Day Raises Awareness At Elmira CollegeBy Hope Levy ’16

Staff Writer

Photos by Nicole Gentile ’16

Campus LifeFebruary 29, 2016

Elmira College Goes to Zero-Sort Recycling

Environmental Club has transitioned to

a new system of recy-cling, called zero-sort recycling. This new system allows all recy-clable materials to be thrown into ONE recy-cling container. Zero-sort recycling is great due to it being “easier” and “less of an incon-venience” to recycle. Paper can be put into the same container as plastic water bottles and Starbuck’s cups (see image; it’s all recyclable expect the straw). In addition, the lids and caps from bottles can be recycled as well. In case it was unknown the plastic Starbucks’ cups can be recycled, too! However, the Starbucks’ hot drink paper cup cannot be recycled, but the plastic lids and the paper hand protector can. When re-cycling please rinse out the recyclable materials, if there is any liquid or food left in them they will not be accepted by the recycling facility. If they are not rinsed out then the whole bag of re-cyclable materials will be thrown out. Thus defeating the purpose of recy-cling!

By recycling we are able to create a sustainable environment for ourselves and future generations. Cardboard is used to make gift boxes, plastic bot-tles can help make fleece jackets, and glass is used to make roads. Due to the lack of recycling in the past the hu-man race is causing changes to natural earth processes. Since people do not always recycle their plastics that can be made into fleece jackets, plastiglom-erates form. Plastiglomerates is a new classification of rocks. These rocks form when plastics melt and seep into the pores in rocks where the plastic re-hardens. If we keep throwing away plastics, we will have the “amazing” opportunity/story to tell our children the about how the humans literally have shaped the earth in a negative way.

In regards to all the Campus Chat-ters, Yik-Yaks, Senate discussions, and the garbage left on the classroom

floors, Environmental Club is not of-fended. Environmental Club apolo-gizes for taking away garbage cans in almost all the classrooms on campus. However, we are trying to make the college and environment much bet-ter for everyone. By having garbage cans in the classrooms, it is known that people are more likely to throw out recyclable materials. Therefore, the garbage cans were removed from classrooms. There are garbage cans in the hallway, right next to recycling bins. Removing the garbage cans from the classrooms does not pose an incon-venience to anyone, since they are not far out of the way.

To all those who insist on trying to spite Environmental Club in response to this decision, we are not being af-fected. If you are throwing out your recycling you are indirectly hurting yourself in many ways. By recycling we are helping reduce the cost that the college has to pay for trash removal services. Trash gets weighed at land-fills and the college has to pay for a certain weight of trash brought to the landfill. So when recyclable materials are mixed with trash, we are adding weight and thus paying extra. Second-ly, by leaving trash on the classroom floors you are showing a very high level of disrespect to your Professors, classmates, and to the housekeepers. It is worrisome to think that most people do not have a garbage can in

every room in their home. What hap-pens then? Is there a pile of garbage on the floor in protest to our parents? I would hope not. Lastly, we are helping to minimize the amount of recyclable waste that ends up in landfills. Land-fills are not appealing in looks or smell by all means. We can ultimately reduce the size of landfills by recycling.

Unfortunately, there has been a conflict with weighing the trash and recycling for the first week of Recy-cleMania.We are hoping to have that fixed very soon. RecycleMania will run until the beginning of April, so be sure to recycle during this time and get into the habit of recycling during the competition and long after. Be on the lookout for fun activities that En-vironmental Club is planning to have throughout the many weeks of the competition.

If anyone still opposes, supports, has concerns/suggestions in regards to Environmental Club’s decision please feel free to join us at 9:15 p.m. in the Buechner Room on Monday nights. As much as we love the Yaks, they do not help us to successfully communi-cate, express our goals, and respond to anonymous figures. Environmental Club is very few in numbers and any-one who is interested in protecting the environment should join. Hope to see you there!

By Carissa Neary ’19Staff Writer

Photo by Environmental Club

February 29, 2016

February 29, 2016

Overheard at EC

“I have glitter

in my veins,

so I sparkle

naturally.”

“My tonsils are not on fleek.”

“What about the Italy in Russia?”

“Was Martin Luther King, Jr. ever the

President?”“Thanks autocorrect. I typed

in ‘needs a’ and the first thing

it suggested was ‘boyfriend.’”

“Are you a grandma, or are you a college student…?”

“Can’t I be both?”

“Well, you’re definitely not Aphrodite.”

“I’d rather the environ-ment not die because we threw out thou-

sands of envelopes.”“I can’t type, I can’t find the f!”

“It’s in the middle!”

“I’m going to put my hand under your butt.

Oh wait. It’s in my butt.”

“What are you looking for?

There’s nothing on the floor.”“My water!”

“Oh… that’s on the floor.”

“I like the way it slides

down my esophagus.”

“I’m going to need

a specific example of

when sinkholes are

a problem. Because

sometimes sinkholes

are the solution.”

“Who has a phone that actually rings?”“Oh, that’s what that was?”

Club Spotlight:College Republicans

College Republicans is one of the two political clubs on campus, alongside our counterparts the College Demo-

crats. Our club is a group of individuals who share an inter-est in politics and the goings on in our country. Since we are the College Republicans, there is more of a focus on the Re-publican Party and issues that are more pertinent to the Re-publicans. We do not always talk politics, however, sometimes we just have general conversations at our meeting and just casually talk as friends. In that way we also we for social in-teraction. Our focus is mostly on getting people interested in politics and providing them with a fun and comfortable atmo-sphere to talk about things that interest them in the political world. Not all of our members are Republicans or political science majors. In fact, our president is a chemistry major. We welcome anyone to come join our meetings. You do not have to be a Republican; anyone is welcome to come regardless of where you stand politically. We do a lot of different activities outside of our meetings as well that are another great reason to check out our club. We like to have fun nights every once in awhile which could entail watching a movie together or play-

ing board games. We also do an annual Christmas party with the college Democrats. We also team up with the Democrats in other ways by doing voter registration drives and debates together, which both could be interesting and important this upcoming year because of the election! So whether you know a lot about politics, want to see what it is all about, or just want to meet some cool people we welcome you to come join us. We meet on Wednesdays at 9:15pm in the Beuchner room. Hope to see some of you there!

By John Kenna ’17Contributing Writer

Photo by wnd.com

“North Carolina has become really popular lately. I keep hearing about

it.”“College makes you clever.”

“Or lazy.”“Can I have a hug?”

“...I have all these knives in my hand…”

February 29, 2016

Top EC Yaks

Therapy Dogs Visit Elmira College

Therapy dogs are a beloved idea within the Elmira College com-

munity. The Gannett Tripp Library often brings in dogs as a therapeutic element during midterm and finals week, in order to provide a break for students. These dogs come from Therapy Dogs International, and they often go to hospitals and a li-brary in Corning, where children read to the dogs.

These dogs bring joy and relief to students all over campus. Students are welcomed into the library to hug and receive kisses from dogs for an hour. From a psychological perspec-tive, therapy animals are highly rec-ommended and are often used even

in talk therapy. They can bring com-munication skills and relaxation to those who are stressed.

There are three dogs that are re-

curring furry friends of EC: Benson, Emma and Riley. Benson has been with the Therapy Dogs Internation-al for five years, Emma has been a therapy dog for seven years, and Ri-ley is the baby with only two years of therapy under his belt.

Carrie Hatala, one of the han-dlers that comes with the dogs, had this to say, “They’re here to bring comfort and joy”. And that is exactly what they do. All over campus, stu-dents rave about these therapy dogs. We encourage Therapy Dogs Inter-national to continue to return to El-mira College as often as they want.

By Haley Brown ’17Campus Life Editor

Photos by Nicole Gentile ’16

February 29, 2016

February 29, 2016

Press Release: Denise King, Keynote Speaker for Reinstein Symposium

Denise King will be the keynote speaker for the annual El-mira College Reinstein Symposium in Women’s and Gen-

der Studies. Her talk, “An Insider’s Perspective on the ‘Gen-derational Gap’ in Politics “ will be at 4:00 PM in the Peterson Chapel in Cowles Hall on Thursday, March 3rd. She will be discussing generational differences in attitudes toward female politicians in the current election cycle. This talk is free and open to the public.

Denise King has served as Chair of the Democratic Na-tional Committee’s Rural Council and former Chair of the New York State Democratic Committee’s Executive Commit-tee. She was Chair of the New York State Democratic Rural Conference from 1999 to 2001 and Columbia County Demo-cratic Chair for nine years. She served as both a delegate to the 2008 Democratic Convention and as an at-large member of the Democratic National Convention Platform Committee. She was a delegate for Al Gore at the 2000 National Demo-cratic Convention and a Super Delegate in 2004. King was also a member of the Electoral College for New York in 1996 and in 2004. For three years she worked to help create the Rural Council at the DNC and was asked by Howard Dean to lead the council. She has served on the DNC’s Rules and By-laws Committee, determining the rules and schedule for the 2008 presidential selection process. As the ranking vice-chair of the state Party, King was a member of the Association of State Democratic Chairs (ASDC).

Active in New York politics for over thirty-five years, King has worked on countless local, statewide, and national campaigns. In 2008 she was a Co-Director of Ambassadors for Hillary, a group of New Yorkers who acted as surrogate speakers on behalf of the candidacy of then-Senator Clinton in her presidential bid. In 2006, King served as Senior Politi-cal Advisor to the successful Gillibrand for Congress effort in

NY’s 20th CD. She Co-Chaired the State effort for Howard Dean’s presidential bid in 2003-04. King is a former member of the Board of Directors and former Chair of the Campaign Committee of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy, an organization which has supported pro-choice Democratic women candidates in New York at the state and local level.

Currently, King serves as President of the Southern Tier Library System Board of Trustees. She has been a member of the state wide board of Planned Parenthood Advocates of New York for four years and currently serves on the board of Planned Parenthood of the Southern Finger Lakes Action. King is on the Advisory Board of the Democratic Women of the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes and is Parliamentarian of the New York State Chapter of the National Federation of Democratic Women.

Alli Woodward, a Political Science major and the President of the Women’s and Gender Studies Club at Elmira College says “Denise King’s work in politics is inspirational for women leaders everywhere. I have been lucky enough to get to know her and we are all beyond excited to get to work with her this week!”

This talk is part of a week of symposium events around the theme of “Breaking the Glass Ceiling for Women in Poli-tics.” Other events include a screening on campus of the film Suffragette, which tells the story of the British campaign in the early 20th Century for the right of women to vote. The symposium will also include a student research panel and a workshop on women in politics. All week long, there will be a tampon drive in the Campus Center for donations of sanitary items for the Chemung County domestic violence safe house. Students will also be conducting a petition drive to urge New York State legislators to end the tax on tampons and hygiene products.

While many couples celebrated Valen-

tine’s Day, four political sci-ence students presented at the Pi Sigma Alpha National Student Research Confer-ence at George Washington University in Washington D.C.. Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society, reinstated this student research con-ference for the third year af-ter an over fifty year hiatus.

The students, Graham Healy ’17, Irina Ivanova

‘16, Hannah Rafalowski-Houseman ’16, and Lauren Wolfe ’16 joined other stu-dents from around the coun-try to present their original research to follow members of the honor society. Pre-senters also received cri-

tiques of their work from a doctoral student at George Washington University or one of the capital district’s neighboring institutions and questions from their peers, making for an excel-lent educational opportu-

nity for all who attended. Overall, seven Elmira Col-lege students attended the conference.

February 29, 2016

Active Minds Raises Awareness for NEDA Week

Elmira College’s chapter of Active Minds participated in National

Eating Disorder Awareness Week, also known as NEDA week, a little early this year. While NEDA week official-ly took place throughout the country from February 21-28, members of Ac-tive Minds and Circle K came together to raise awareness and collect dona-tions for a worthy cause. Along with their popular “Laugh More” buttons and pamphlets about “How to Help a Friend” the clubs held a combined

bake sale to raise money that would help offset the costs of eating disor-der treatment for a friend of Circle K member Diana Lutz.

Eating Disorder Awareness Week, spearheaded by the non profit Nation-al Eating Disorder Awareness (also NEDA), seeks to raise awareness of the widespread presence of eating dis-orders and provide support for those seeking treatment. Eating disorders are not regulated to a specific body type, gender, or behavior. For vari-ous reasons, the millions of men and women struggling with eating disor-ders often do not report them. When

asked about NEDA week, Diana stated “I feel passionate about this issue, and I’m glad that I was able to help some-one close to me.”

Active Minds and Circle K would like to thank the college community for the outpour of generosity they received in response to their tabling. For more information about eating disorders, the National Eating Disor-der Association’s website, nationale-atingdisorders.org, provides thorough information about various conditions. The toll-free eating disorder hotline is 1-800-931-2237.

By Liz Buono ’17Staff Writer

Political Science Students Present at National ConferenceBy Liz Buono ’17

Staff Writer

Photo by pln.mulgrave.com

Photo by politicalscience.hawaii.edu

February 29, 2016

Six “brilliant” contestants took the stage for the annual Mr. EC competition to showcase their stunning personalities

and talents. Alex Garey ’19, Justin Gillule ’19, Casey Stewart ’19, John Broyles ’19, David Flood ’19, and Justin Mattocks ’19 vied for the ultimate title of Mr. EC. They were critiqued on their stage presence, poise, and personality during the

3 stages of the evening. This year’s judges included Dean Brandon Dawson, Director of Residence Life Erin Hunter, Residence Life Coordinator Natasha Wagner, Director of Career Services Michael Blasic, and Mr. EC 2014 Tom Bragg ’17. The spectacular hosts, Graham Healy ’17 and Brandon Davis ’17, were dressed delightfully in the Hawaiian spirit.

The talent portion of the night was very interesting! Alex read “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” with a range of celebrity impressions including Christopher Walken and Ar-

nold Schwarzenegger. Justin recit-ed “Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair” and had the audience swoon-ing! David Flood joyfully delivered jokes and one-liners. John Broyles amazed the audience with his soc-cer skills; the crowd favorite was the rainbow. Casey Stewart recited a slam poem, which dazzled the judges! Justin Mattocks told stories about his times as an equestrian and all of the fun and hilarity that comes with it.

Casey Stewart ’19 won the competition and Mr. Congeniality. He also won the hearts of the au-dience and was given the People’s Choice award. Justin Mattocks claimed the title of Mr. Almost EC.

Red Cross Hosts Mr. ECBy Monica Matt ’17

Contributing Writer

Mr. EC Mr. Almost EC

Photos by Christine Powers ’17

February 29, 2016

Elmira College’s Relay for Life

THEME: Board games

WHEN: March 5th

WHERE: Campus Center Dining Hall

TIME: Begins at 7:00 pm *E-mail [email protected] for any

questions

Interested in writing for the Octagon? Becoming a staff writer?

Contributing your thoughts on just one event or topic?

Interested in becoming an editor for one of our sections?

Contact [email protected] for more information!

Roaming ReporterQuestion: Who’s your #mcm?

Haley Brown ‘17:“Bae, obviously.”

Seth Clark ’17:“Jared Smith.”

Sarah Adriance ’16:“Ryan Reynolds.”

Liz Roosa ’16:“Sidney Crosby.”

Ashley Miller ’18:“Trevor Stone.”

Emily Daigneault ’17:

“Harry Styles everyday. Also Lin-Manuel Miranda. An-

thony Ramos. Daveed Diggs. And Seth Clark because who

doesn’t love eggs?”

Cheyanna Mychack ’19:

“Chris Hemsworth.”

Sarah Kaschalk ’17:“JK (John Kelly). Ryan

Reynolds. Claude Frollo.”

Rachael Patten ’17:“My mcm is myself.”

Megan Frisbie ’16:“Benedict Cumberbatch and

Chef Boyardee.”

Nicole Gentile ’16:“Channing Tatum. Always.”

Autumn Surratt ’19:

“Dylan O’Brien, the actor, is

good-looking.”

Morgan An-drews ’17:

“Buzz Lightyear.”

Liz Faust ’17:

“I don’t like men. Come back on Wednesday.”

February 29, 2016

Photos by hashtagmeanings.com

Last year in Iraq, dangerous radio-active material was stolen. The na-

tion is now searching intensively for the highly dangerous material according to an environment ministry document. Similar reports have also been heard from numerous security, environmental and provincial officials. The govern-ment fears that the hazardous mate-rial could be transformed and used as a weapon if acquired by the Islamic State. The material went missing last No-vember from a storage facility near the southern city of Basra belonging to a U.S. oilfield company known as Weath-erford. The radioactive material is stored in a protective case the size of a

laptop computer. The purpose of this material is to use gam-ma rays in order to test flaws in materials used for oil and gas pipelines. This process is called industrial gamma radi-ography. Iraq did report to the International Atomic Energy Agency that they had lost a specialized camera containing highly radioactive Iridium-192 according to one U.S. official. The identity of the thieves is unknown, but it is feared that the radical Islamic state could use the material to create a bomb. The security forces have been searching since Novem-ber 2015. Also, exposure to iridium iso- tope for hours or days can be fatal.

World NewsFebruary 29, 2016

On Wednesday February 10th, 2016, Germany

reinstated a no-fly zone in northern Syria. While this move may have, in the past, been greatly beneficial to both rebels and civilians alike, now it is much more complicated and dangerous. This is due to the Russian air campaign, which flies in support from Al-Assad. This proposal came afloat due to

international efforts to pro-voke a temporary truce. The goal was that the govern-ment would ultimately be-gin providing humanitarian aid if other nations held up their end of the agreement. A Russian official described this as a “first step towards implementation of an agree-ment reached among world powers in Munich”. By the end of February, U.N. en-voy Staffan de Mistura had hoped to secure aid deliver-ies and to enable peace talks.

However, due to complica-tions between regional and international rivals, prog-ress has halted. This no-fly zone establishes a safe haven for many Syrians and will help refugees flee to Europe. The rising tensions in Eu-rope and the Middle East are growing more each day, but it is good to see that many European countries trying to make a difference. From Germany reestablishing no-fly zones to Russia giv-ing humanitarian aid, things

ultimately are looking up, despite the threat of the radical Islamic state grow-ing larger day by day, and the tension caused by ma-jor powers being on some-what different sides of the fence of this conflict. The U.S wants to get involved but is holding back. In fact, Washington has rejected the idea of no-fly zones in fear they would be forced to dive deeper into the civil wars in the Middle East.

Germany Reinstates No-Fly Zones in Syria

By Rachel Leben ’19 Staff Writer

Photo by un.org

Iraq Reported Stolen Radioactive MaterialBy Rachel Leben ’19

Staff Writer

Photo by theodoregray.com

(Warning: This post will contain spoilers for the original Kingdom Hearts. If you intend to play this game, stop

reading now. Seriously. Don’t let me ruin this glorious mo-ment for you.)

Plot twists. They’re a staple of modern storytelling. It’s hard to avoid stories with some kind of twist nowadays,

and yet they’re often employed so poorly that I wonder how few people really grasp what makes them effective. For the sake of example, let me tell you about a childhood-defining moment that brought me so many conflicting emotions as a young, im-pressionable gamer that I consider it unequivocally the greatest plot twist in any video game ever made. I am talking, of course, about Kingdom Hearts.

(Let me just admit up front that, objectively speaking, the most iconic video game plot twist probably rightly goes to Bio-Shock. But I’m biased toward this game, so shush. Plus that moment has been talked to death already.)

When you reach one of the last levels in the game, on your way to take on the big baddie (or so you think-- but that’s a whole other twist) and all that jazz, you are confronted by your best friend and rival, Riku, who, surprise surprise, is being ma-nipulated by dark forces and has been constantly antagonizing you throughout the game. He taunts you about your heroics that have led you to this point, and then out of nowhere he takes control of your weapon. It turns out that the Keyblade - the mystical weapon with which you have locked the worlds against the threat of darkness, the weapon that marked you as a hero - was intended for Riku from the very beginning. It came to you virtually by mistake, and ever since it has been waiting for a chance to return to its intended master. Your party mem-bers abandon you to remain with the wielder of the Keyblade, and you are left devoid of power, friends, and hope.

The first time I watched this cutscene, I was devastated. I couldn’t believe my entire journey was all for nothing. I was afraid to go on. At the same time, I was in awe that the game pulled something so surprisingly dark. It was a beautifully tragic moment, and a powerful moment of video game story-telling in which as a player I felt the protagonist’s anguish while as a viewer I was thinking “S*** JUST GOT REAL!”

So what makes the twist itself so effective? For one thing, it comes down to timing. Too many movies and games and what-

have-you save their twist for the very end, to the point that it’s hardly a surprise now when it happens. Sometimes the twist itself is so unexpected that it still comes as a shock, but end-ing twists are so common (see Shutter Island, The Number 23, Secret Window, and countless others) that they’re becoming devalued. In Kingdom Hearts, this big twist occurs at not only the least convenient but also the least expected moment. Mere steps away from your goal and brimming with confidence, the game kicks you in the teeth, tells you you’re nothing special, and demands that you take on an enormous, menacing castle, home to the villains that you’ve spent the whole game fighting, with a wooden sword that deals no damage. Just as you are fi-nally ready to begin the battle you knew you were fighting, you are undone by a battle you knew nothing about. This presents a new obstacle for you to overcome that will prompt a growth of character, as opposed to the narrative twist that represents only a single moment of change. Video games have a unique advan-tage over movies and books; in order to continue to the end of the story, the player has to proceed through the protagonist’s hardships. Placing the twist here, when the game really starts heating up and you’re expecting a specific kind of challenge, hits the player with all the greater force.

The nature of the twist is another big part of its im-pact. Personally, I prefer stories more in line with Memen-to in which subtle clues are provided throughout the sto-ry that don’t appear significant until they slowly fall into place. In Kingdom Hearts, the moment you first receive the Keyblade is one such moment. No explanation is

given, so it’s easy to forget how strange the moment is, but once you know the truth it all makes sense. On the night that your homeworld is destroyed, you meet Riku declaring his fearless-ness of the darkness. A dark pool opens up between you and as you reach for his hand, he disappears and you are left holding a mysterious weapon. As we later discover, the Keyblade was supposed to go to Riku, but you intercepted it. Later, when you first run into him again after visiting a few other worlds, he manages to take the Keyblade from you, which, when another character tried earlier, instantly warped back into your hands. It only remains with you once he gives it back of his own will. During these moments, the player tends to take them at face value and doesn’t dwell on them; but once the truth comes out, they become a lot more meaningful. And once the player real-izes that the clues were there all along, the moment of the twist becomes something truly sublime.

The big twist at the beginning of Hollow Bastion was a moment of pure perfection for me. It set my personal stan-dard for what makes a good plot twist, and to this day it’s still a thrilling and painful scene to watch. It’s a twist that raises the stakes, resets the playing field, and kicks off the intense final act of my all-time favorite game.

OpinionFebruary 29, 2016

Kingdom Hearts: Crafting the Perfect Plot Twist

By Craig Natoli ’16Contributing Writer

Photo by blogspot.com

Photo by staticneo.com

EntertainmentFebruary 29, 2016

EC Buzz: 6 Things You Should Learn Before Leaving EC

1. How to cookIt’s not super easy to cook when you share a

pantry with your whole floor and there’s maybe a stovetop available, but take some time at home

to throw a few ingredients in for your family! Your future self and family will definitely thank you! Trust me. Just watch an episode or two of Worst Cooks In America, and you too will agree that it’s definitely a necessity to know how to prepare something other than chips and some

salsa!

2. How to do laundry I know your mom has been doing a great job

with your laundry, and you’ve probably figured out how to at least throw some stuff in the wash

since starting college, but you should really know how to do laundry properly before running into

the adult world. Somehow, it does make a differ-ence to separate out your white tank tops from

your neon socks. Who would have thunk it?

3. How to parallel parkAs one of those people that still don’t know how to parallel park, I can tell you that it’s very im-portant to learn! There are plenty of cities that

you’ll visit where parallel parking is a necessity. Hint hint, never visit Portsmouth, NH unless

you’ve mastered this skill or don’t mind parking garages. If you get the chance, take a shot at it

in front of Tompkins/Perry. Just be careful!

4. How to do a proper interview

Hopefully you’ve had the chance to practice this at some point throughout your college career,

but, if not, totally get on that! Adulting is even harder when you can’t land a job after forgetting your name under pressure! But never fear! Your loving professors are more than willing to help you out, and, if not, just get a friend to ask you

some questions as a mock interview. Your future bosses will definitely be grateful!

5. How to budgetSpending money is bittersweet. You get that

feeling of retail therapy that’s good for the soul, but you also have that inner sadness when you realize that you really didn’t have the money to spend in the first place. How do adults handle it, you ask? The answer is budgeting! Map out how much money you make and where it needs to go. Though this is definitely tedious, it gets

rid of the sadness and replaces it with the happy knowledge that that was your spending money and not the money you needed to pay your car

insurance!

6. How to manage your emotions

This is absolutely the hardest skill to learn ever, and nobody truly masters it. Being able to con-trol your emotions will save you a lot of heart-ache and trouble in the adult world. Your boss won’t take too kindly to you telling him how to do his job or that you think he should do some-thing different, and your future husband/wife will not enjoy being criticized every day even though it’s really you that is in the wrong. Do

your best to start getting a handle on that now! You’ll really be glad you did!

By Alyssa Wilson ’17Entertainment Editor

Photo by mallofstyle.com

Photo by pamelaspunch.com

Photo by IMDB

Photo by elmira.edu

February 29, 2016

And The Award Goes To...

Did you miss the Grammy’s this year? You need not worry. All of the winners of the catego-ries are here before your very eyes! It was a heated competition this year, with talent bringing the best to the top. The 58th Annual Grammy Awards was full of spectacular performances. Here are some of the categories and winners:

Album of the Year: Taylor Swift, 1989Record of the Year: Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk”Song of the Year: Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud”Best New Artist: Meghan TrainorBest Rock Performance: Alabama Shakes, “Don’t Wan-na Fight”Best Country Album: Chris Stapleton, TravellerBest Rap Album: Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a ButterflyBest Musical Theatre Album: HamiltonBest Pop Vocal Album: Taylor Swift, 1989Best Instrumental Composition: Arturo O’Farrill, The Afro Latin Jazz SuiteBest World Music Album: Angelique Kidjo, SingsBest Children’s Album: Tim Kubart, HomeProducer Of The Year, Classical: Judith ShermanBest Contemporary Classical Composition: Stephen Paulus, “Paulus: Prayers & Remembrances”Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media: Glen Campbell, Glen Campbell: I’ll Be MeBest Score Soundtrack For Visual Media: Antonio Sanchez, BirdmanBest Song Written For Visual Media: Common, Rhymefest, John Legend, “Glory”Best Music Video: Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, “Bad Blood”Best Music Film: Amy

Best Gospel Album: Israel and Newbreed, Covered: Alive In Asia [Live]Best Country Song: Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, Liz Rose, “Girl Crush”Best Dance Recording: Skrillex, Diplo and Justin Bieber - “Where Are Ü Now”Best Rock Song: Alabama Shakes, “Don’t Wanna Fight”Best Rock Album: Muse, DronesBest Alternative Music Album: Alabama Shakes, Sound & ColorBest Rap Song: Kendrick Lamar, Kawan Prather, Soun-wave, Pharrell Williams, “Alright”Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical: Jeff Bhasker

This is only a limited number of the winners. To

see the complete list of categories and winners, visit the website below. Among the performances, Adele, Kend-rick Lamar, and the cast of Hamilton were the fans fa-vorites. Unfortunately, there were no grabbing-the-mi-crophone Kanye West moments this year. Whether you watched them or not, the 58th Annual Grammy Awards was a show worth watching.

By Nicole Derosia ’17Staff Writer

Photo by fuse.tv

Ryan Reynolds IS Deadpool

SPOILERS! That's right, this one's for Deadpool. This movie turned

out to be what I expected, and much more. Be advised though, that this movie was rated R for a reason and is not for everyone. If you love sass and everything that is Ryan Reynolds, then this movie is for you. Deadpool explains the history of Wade Wilson, or rather, Wilson constantly breaks in to tell you himself.

Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is an ex-Special Forces operative try-ing to make a living working as a mercenary in a less than amiable way. Upon finishing a job, he meets Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). They fall in love with each other in a not so "happily-

ever-after" way and become engaged. They discover shortly after that Wade has terminal cancer, and will not re-cover. In a last ditch effort to survive, Wade leaves Vanessa and undergoes

an underground mutant transforma-tion, leaving him with the ability to

By Nicole Derosia ’17Staff Writer

See DEADPOOL Page 18

Photo by foxmovies.com

February 29, 2016

Harper Lee (1926-2016)“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy.”

rapidly regenerate missing tissues and limbs, but also deformed. Wade then decides to seek revenge on the man who forced his mutation, Ajax (Ed Skrein). Wade takes on the alter ego of Deadpool and hunts down Ajax over the course of a year. With the help of a couple of X-Men (Wade proceeds to tell us that the budget did not allow for more), Wade sets out to kill Ajax and rescue Vanessa, who Ajax previously kidnapped. In an ending sequence

completely void of epic gun fights and motorcycle chases (Wade loves com-plaining about the film budget) Wade is able to kill Ajax, despite the X-Men and their urging him to forgive and forget, and save Vanessa. So yes, he kills the bad guy and gets the girl.

Despite Marvel's concern that this film would be a fluke, it proved to be the complete opposite. In just two weeks after its release, Deadpool made more than any X-Men movie be-

fore it, as well as any R-rated movie. Maybe it's because of the simple fact that Ryan Reynolds was born to play Deadpool, as Robert Downy Jr. was for Tony Stark. The film may lack a strong plot line, but that does not matter, be-cause it is a movie about Deadpool and that's all that matters. The film was long-awaited and, with Wade’s twisted sense of humor, was all the audience hoped it would be.

DeadpoolFrom Page 17

Harper Lee, the woman who wrote the famous novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, died on Friday, February 19,

2016, and the whole world mourned the loss. As a child, Lee seems to have been the spitting image of Scout - an independent tomboy who knew how to stand up for her friends. Her interest in English Literature began in high school, and in college she pursued that love through her college newspaper. She went to law school briefly, but finally explained to her family that writing was her call-ing. She dropped out of law school, moved to New York City, and got a job as a ticket agent for Eastern Airlines. Struggling to make ends meet, things didn’t look good for Harper Lee. But she befriended Michael Martin Brown, a Broadway composer, and his wife Joy, both of whom gave her the best Christmas present in 1956: to support her for a year so that she could write.

Lee quit her job immediately and settled in to write one of America’s most acclaimed novels: To Kill a Mockingbird. By 1960 it was published. In 2015 she continued the story with her novel, Go Set a Watchman, but nothing can really measure up to that first novel she wrote. She not only invited readers along for a wonderful coming of age story, but also explained racism in the South beautifully through the eyes of a child. She tackled a number of themes and tied them all together so neatly that every time one reads that novel, the power in the words is always there.

The most striking thing about To Kill a Mockingbird,

though, is Atticus Finch, a character presumably based on Lee’s own father. Atticus is easily the most morally upright man students ever read about it. In a time steeped with rac-ism, in an area where black means inferior, Atticus defends Tom Robinson, a black man, knowing from the beginning that they’ll lose and the town will hate him for it. As Atticus says, “before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself.” He has to do what’s right. He’s the kind of man who will-ingly sits outside a jail to defend an innocent man against a mob; he’s the kind of man who wouldn’t have let Jem slide for killing Bob Ewell, if he had in fact done so. He’s honest, moral, kind, respectful, and full of life lessons that Jem and

Scout carry with them forever (and, let’s face it - readers do, too).

Harper Lee was and is an inspiration to women. She wrote a difficult novel, published it with no apologies, and cre-ated for us readers a world of racism and justice, monsters and heros, right and wrong. Lee taught us all what it means to be human - the good, the bad, the ugly, and the surprisingly beautiful.

As a mockingbird herself, Lee truly made the most beautiful music with her novel. For those who have never picked it up… do so. She lives on in those words, forever.

Rest in peace, Harper Lee.

By Nicole Gentile ’16Editor-in-Chief

Photo by hercampus.com

Photo by amazonaws.com

SportsFebruary 29, 2016

The Elmira College women’s hockey team

swept William Smith for Valentine’s weekend. El-mira took their first victo-ry on Saturday, February 13th at home 5-2 for the Senior Game, honouring the three seniors on the team. On Sunday, Febru-ary 14th Elmira travelled to Geneva to take on Wil-liam Smith once again and skated away with a 7-1 victory to complete the sweep.

Saturday’s game saw things starting of quick for the Soaring Eagles. Just 1:18 into the first period Maddie Evange-lous ‘19 scored assisted by Maddy Jerolman ‘19. Just over eight minutes later Evangelous struck again with assists from Jerol-man and Louisa Lippiat Durnell ‘18. The Soaring Eagles took a 2-0 lead into

the first intermission. El-mira came out quick again in the second with a goal from McKenna Farole ‘16 just 3:34 into the period. She was assisted by Lip-piat Durnell and Evange-lous. Less than a minute later Assistant Captain Olivia Nystrom ‘16 scored assisted by Kyra McDon-ald ‘18 and Captain Jo-hanna Eidensten ‘17. Wil-liam Smith finally got on the board at the 7:13 mark but Elmira put up another goal at 12:08 from Kristin Chivers ‘19. Sarah Hugh-son ‘18 and Farole were credited with the assists. The third period saw a lone power play goal from William Smith at 16:46 but it wasn’t enough as El-mira skated away with the victory 5-2. Kyle Nelson ‘17 appeared in net for the purple and gold and made 13 saves in the contest. At the contest the three grad-uating seniors, McKenna

Farole, Assistant Captain Olivia Nystrom, and As-sistant Captain Phoebe Piku, were honoured for their contributions to the program.

Sunday’s game saw El-mira keeping up the pres-sure despite not having the home ice advantage. Elmira started the scor-ing with a power play goal from Evangelous at 13:31 of the first period. She was assisted by Katie Granato ‘19 and McDon-ald. Just over a minute later Eidensten put anoth-er in assisted by Nystrom and Granato. Elmira once again took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. The Soaring Eagles opened scoring in the second with a goal from Jerolman as as-sists from Evangelous and Lippiat Durnell at the 4:14 mark. Just over two min-utes later William Smith finally got on the board with a power play goal.

Elmira responded exactly one minute later with a goal from Chivers assisted by Anna Tude ‘17. Evan-gelous scored a power play goal at 17:58 of the second assisted by Lippiat Dur-nell and Jerolman giving the Soaring Eagles a 5-1 lead going into the sec-ond intermission. Granato scored at the 5:06 mark as-sisted by Rachel Grampp ‘18. Elmira clinched the victory with a goal at 12:03 into the the third period from Shannon Strawinski ‘19 assisted by Meg Lahey ‘19. Kelcey Crawford ‘18 was in net for the Soaring Eagles and made 19 saves in the victory.

By Liz Roosa ’16Sports Editor

Women’s Hockey Sweeps William Smith on Senior Weekend

Photo by the Department of Athletics

Photo by ESPN

February 29, 2016

Men’s Volleyball Suffers Tough Losses in UVC Action

The Elmira College men’s volley-ball team had a tough couple of

matches as they opened their United Volleyball Conference play at home on Saturday, February 13th. They hosted MIT and NYU and despite playing well in both matches the Soaring Ea-gles came away without a win.

The match against MIT started

slow for the purple and gold as they dropped the two opening sets 25-22. The next two sets saw the Elmira team with improved hitting, .212 in the third and .452 in the fourth, to tie the match at 2-2. Elmira fought hard in the final set and came from behind to gain a lead but an MIT timeout cut their momentum short and MIT clinched the match 3-2.

The match against NYU saw El-mira coming out strong in the first set,

taking it 25-17. NYU edged out El-mira in the second by just two points to tie the match at 1-1. The Soaring Eagles came out on top in the third set, edging NYU 33-31 to take a 2-1 match lead. The fourth set was dominated by NYU as they hit .636 which led to a 25-19 score to tie the match 2-2. The fifth and final set saw both teams put-ting together points but it was NYU who came out with the set win 15-13 and took the match 3-2.


Close Game for Women’s Basketball Against Nazareth

The Elmira Col-lege women’s

basketball team fell on the road to Naz-areth College on Saturday, February 13th. Meghan Loya ‘16 gave a career performance but it wasn’t enough as the Soaring Eagles fell 77-63.

Loya put up 22 points in the contest, the first 20-plus point game of her career. She registered the highest rebounds and steals for the team in the game with 8 and 3 respectively.

Elmira had a slow start

trailing by 15 at the end of the first quarter. The Soar-ing Eagles came back in the second quarter on an 11-3 run to narrow the gap to seven points with a score of 24-17. Six of those points

were Loya’s capped off with a triple from Marissa Silverman ‘17.

However, the second half of the match saw the Golden Flyers coming back strong and the Soaring Ea-

gles were unable to keep up. The Eagles fell 77-63.




February 29, 2016

Rough Game for Men’s Basketball in Empire 8 Contest

The Elmira College men’s basket-ball team suffered a tough loss on the road at Nazareth College on Satur-day, February 13th. The final score was 77-46.

Elmira struggled from the onset with Nazareth putting up 12 of the contest’s first 14 points. Elmira came back with baskets from John Mullane ‘16 and Justin Porrett ‘19 followed by a triple from Gino Leonardi ‘16 to tighten the gap. However, Nazareth went on a 10-0 run to create a lead that the Soaring Eagles could not

catch up to, with the final difference being 31 points with the Golden Fly- ers winning 77-46.



Men’s Hockey Triumphs Over Utica for Senior Weekend

It was a wild weekend at the Murray Athletic Center as the Elmira College men’s ice hockey team played their final two

home games of the season on February 12th and 13th. Friday saw the team battle their way to a 2-2 overtime tie and Saturday saw a thrilling overtime 3-2 win on a penalty shot from Captain Brian Depp ’16.

Friday night’s game started off slow in terms of scoring with the two teams heading into the locker room for the first intermission scoreless. The game was very physical though, with five penalties assessed during the first frame. Utica got on the board first at 4:42 into the second period. However, El-mira did not take that lying down. Just sixteen seconds later Jarryd ten Vaanholt ’16 blasted the puck into the back of the net to even the score. He was assisted by Mike Collins ’16 and Greg Whittle ’16. Utica managed to reclaim their lead in the final minute of play in the second on a power play opportu-nity leaving the Soaring Eagles trailing by one going into the second intermission. Elmira spent the third period looking for the equalizer and at 15:29 into the period they found it on a power play goal from Whittle with assists from Blake O’Neill ’19 and ten Vaanholt. As regulation came to an end the teams found themselves deadlocked at two and headed into overtime. Neither team could find the back of the net in the extra five minutes leaving the final score 2-2.

Saturday night’s senior game proved to be one of the most exciting games of the season. Once again Utica struck first scoring at 12:54 into the first period. Elmira was unable to answer in the first, trailing by one going into the first inter-mission. Much of the second period was scoreless until 17:36 into the period when Elmira evened the score with a goal from Depp. Mitch Atkins ’19 and O’Neill were credited with the as-sists. The score was tied at one going into the second intermis-sion. The third period saw both teams looking for the go ahead goal. Utica thought they had it when they scored just over ten minutes into the period. Elmira had other ideas as Carter Shinkaruk ’16 scored unassisted at 16:05 into the period. Once again the two teams found themselves headed to overtime. The two teams battled hard and then Utica made a critical mistake. As they scrambled to stop Depp who was racing forward on a breakaway Utica took him out, an infraction that granted El-mira a penalty shot. Depp had no trouble putting in a beauti-

ful goal securing the win for Elmira 3-2. At the conclusion of the game the graduating seniors, Assistant Captain Rob Simp-son, Greg Whittle, Mike Collins, Jarryd ten Vaanholt, Carter Shinkaruk, Captain Brian Depp, Assistant Captain Tommy Sumi, and Team Manager Kyle Tomkalski, were honoured for their contributions to the program.

Assistant Captain and senior defenceman Rob Simpson ’16 has had a phenomenal final season with the Soaring Eagles. The Etobicoke, Ontario native who came to Elmira from the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots has appeared in all 23 contests and registered 7 assists this season for a .304 points per game aver-age. He has also recorded 49 shots and a team leading 35 blocks. Rob talked about the games. “Playing Utica, a big rival of ours, lots of history against them. Two very close games obviously, 2-2 tie and then the overtime win. Both games we had to come back. It was a really exciting weekend.” He also spoke about the games in terms of defence. “It was tight the whole way. The refs were letting a lot of stuff go, let teams compete, let them battle, which is good for us, good for defence so you can do whatever it takes to stop them from scoring. We did what we had to do.” He also spoke about Senior Night. “Really special game for the seven seniors that we have. Really important for the guys, getting a chance to say goodbye to the fans after with our speeches and what great way to go out with Depper scor-ing on the penalty shot.”


Photo by Avery Feldman

EC Octagon Issue 14

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Transcript of EC Octagon Issue 14