Wes Moore’s ‘The Work: My Search for a Life That Matters’

By: Steve Rogers
Montgazette Staff Writer

Wes Moore, a renowned speaker and United States Army veteran
delivered a message to students at Montgomery County Community
College on Nov. 9, 2015 during the MCCC Presidential Symposium.
Moore spoke about his new book titled, The Work: My Search for a Life
That Matters.
As part of the symposium, Moore joined the list of other famous
speakers to come to the Science Center auditorium. He talked about the
passion and drive needed to find meaning in work is within everyone.
“The task is not to find it, but to limit all other distractions so that
your work and passion can be clearly identified,” Moore said. He also
spoke of some of the challenges he faced in life and what people can do to
overcome their own challenges.
“There will be challenging days, but if you are focused on larger
goals, then those tough days don’t necessarily have to become your last
days,” he said. “You will see the point and reason to keep pushing and
keep going.”
Moore believes that circumstances do not have to determine fate.
This was a major concept he brought up in his first book titled, The Other
Wes Moore. In it, Moore told the story about himself and another man
with the same name. They both found themselves living in Baltimore,
Maryland in close proximity to each other.
For the Wes Moore at the symposium, his accomplishments and
dedication in finding purpose in his work of helping others helped make
him successful in life. The other Wes Moore ended up in jail because of an
armed robbery in which a police officer was killed.
Moore explained that they both came from similar impoverished
backgrounds, yet they created completely different lives for themselves
through their actions, lifestyles and choices. Author Wes Moore concluded
his talk by reminding the audience that the service you can do for others
will matter long after you

Wes Moore, author of The Work: My Search for a Life That Matters speaks to attendees of the November Presidential Symposium at Montgomery County Community College.

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A Media Hotshot at Montco: Joan Bressler

By: Mamata Tharima and Dylan Moody
Montgazette Staff Writers

The director of Greater Philadelphia Film
Office, Joan Bressler, came to meet and greet
students at Montgomery County Community
College on Dec. 3, 2015. The visit was hosted
by students of the media issues class and their
communication instructor, Gail Ramsey. The
intent of the event, dubbed the Montco Media
Forum, was to bring a media personality to
campus to speak with students about current
issues in the local film industry.
After the students gave Bressler a tour of
the Advanced Technology Center, she took a
seat at the reporter’s station in the TV studio
and gave those in attendance an insider’s view
of the work of the Greater Philadelphia Film
Office, GPFO.
One of the issues Bressler spoke about is
how the GPFO is competing with other film
commissions like Georgia and Pittsburg in a
friendly way.
”We want them to come here and create jobs
for you all,” Bressler said. She also encouraged
students to get into the real-world workforce
to discover internships, jobs and volunteer
opportunities. “The best way to grow is by
taking these kind of jobs,” she said.
In addition to issues in film, Bressler
discussed the role of sound engineers and
writers in the film production arena. ”Sound is
[as] important as the video in the film.”
Greater Philadelphia Film Office offers a
screenwriting competition for anyone interested
in writing scripts for any genre. The scripts are
judged by high-profiled producers, writers and
actors. Cash prizes are offered to the winners.
As an economic development agency, GPFO
serves to grow the local film and video industry
in every way possible. It is home to more than
80 accredited colleges and universities in
Philadelphia region with media arts, film and
video production programs.
“We work with students on student films
and our service is free and is open to all of you,”
Bressler said. “There are lots of great locations
for films in our area.”
At the end of the event, Bressler mentioned
internships within the production and marketing
departments at GPFO. Internships are unpaid
but allow students to gain experience in film
production and prepare them to compete for
entry level jobs and beyond.
For more information, visit film.org

Joan Bressler, Director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, met with the Media Issues class on Dec. 3. She spoke with students about growing into a film career.

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Movie Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2

By: Dave Aston
Montgazette Staff Writer

Fanboys and fangirls of The
Hunger Games rejoice and shed a
tear. Rejoice for an amazing thrill
ride to the end wrap-up to last year’s
disappointing Mockingjay, Part 1.
Shed a tear realizing the only way
we get to relive the world of Suzanne
Collins’ Panem is in the books and the
forth-coming four-disc boxed set. I
hope.
With obsessive precision,
Mockingjay Part 2, which came out
on November 20, 2015, follows the
last half of the book, including most of
the dialogue, albeit slowly. Starting off
where Part 1 ended, Katniss Everdeen,
reprised by Academy-award winner
Jennifer Lawrence, finishes off her
duties as the Mockingjay.
Once the physical wounds of
her attack by Peeta, astoundingly
portrayed by Josh Hutcherson, heal,
Katniss tries to convince Peeta that
she’s no monster and the rebel cause
is worth fighting for. Unfortunately,
Peeta is so badly scarred that Katniss
marches off to the District Two to
break the Capitol’s last stronghold and
forget about Peeta.
Once District Two is free of
Capitol rule, President Coin, played
by Julianne Moore, considers Katniss
of no more value now that the districts
are united.
Determined to prove her worth,
and that the movie is sort-of separate
from the books, Katniss goes off
to final battleground: The Capitol.
Unlike the books plausible transition
of Katniss the Symbol to Katniss the
Soldier, the movie has her, in broad
daylight sneak off to the Capitol on
a medical transport. Once there,
despite being surrounded by rebels
and soldiers who know her familiar
face, she walks right into a new
fighting squad and is reunited with
Liam Hemsworth’s Gale Hawthorne
and Sam Claffin’s Finnick Odair.
Without any the formal military
training she received in the book,
Katniss becomes a soldier faster than
you can steep a cup of tea. Nonetheless,
Katniss and this new squad are given
orders by President Coin that they
are to be used for propaganda filming
purposes only.
True to irony and the book, the
story finally begins to speed up when
Katniss and friends fall into several
series of traps designed by her mortal
enemy President Snow, perfectly
presented by Donald Sutherland, to
kill her before she kills him.
After avoiding all the traps and
watching all but Peeta, Gale and two
others die, Katniss finds herself just
yards from Snow’s presidential palace.
But between her and Snow are a
series of barricades. The innermost
barricade houses the Capitol children,
seemingly safe from the incoming
rebel soldiers.
As Katniss reaches the barrier, a
hovercraft flies overhead delivering
what appear to be gifts for the kids.
Just as they land, they explode.
Within seconds, the barricades are
removed and amidst the Capitol
soldiers and rebel medics rushing
in to help, Katniss spots her sister,
Prim, played the future teen acting
superstar Willow Shields.
Just as Katniss and Prim look at
each other, the rest of the gifts explode.
“Mockingjay Part 2” is every bit the
thrill ride of the book’s second half
of what I consider is Suzanne Collins’
magnum opus.
What seals the deal for this
don’t-you-dare-blink adventure
for me is the very end of the
film. Like the book, we see the
epilogue of the Katniss and
Peeta saga where the two marry
and decide to have children. As
the film closes, with me holding
back every tear, Katniss utters,
nearly verbatim, the final lines
of Mockingjay, the book.
My fanboy rating is 4.5 out
of 5 stars. Realistically, because
of a slow start, it’s still a solid 4
out of 5. Go watch it or, better
yet, create your mental tour-deforce
by reading the books.

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MC3’s Engineering Team INNOVA-tes and Competes

By: Julie Scott
MC3 Engineering Team INNOVA

Montgomery County Community College’s MC3 Engineering
Team INNOVA is designing and building a hydrogen fuel cellpowered
urban concept vehicle named INNOVA. The vehicle will
compete in the Shell Eco-marathon Americas Challenge in Detroit,
MI in Apr. 2016.
The Shell Eco-marathon is a major educational project that
encourages and fosters innovation through students working
together to explore potential solutions to both current and future
transportation and energy needs. This project provides engineering
students a valuable opportunity to develop and apply these skills
in a real-life scenario. Free and open to the public, the Shell Ecomarathon
also benefits from both local and national media coverage.
MC3 Engineering Team INNOVA has recently been selected
to move on to Phase II of the challenge. Phase II involves advancing
the vehicle from the software design phase to practical drawings and
then moving on to fabrication. Before Jan. 25, 2016, the team will
be submitting its technical schematics of the power and driveline
configuration to Shell Eco-marathon.
Donations are being sought and accepted through the College’s
Foundation office as well as via a gofundme.com site(gofundme.
com/projectinnova). Your donation would not only have a positive
impact on future engineers, but it will also promote a grass-roots
effort to increase energy efficiency in the transportation sector.
MC3 Engineering Team INNOVA has many hurdles to
overcome including raising the appropriate funds to build the
vehicle, transport it to the competition, as well as travel and lodging
expenses for the twelve team members.
For further information and to support the team’s efforts, please
visit our GoFundMe campaign at gofundme.com/projectinnova.
You can also follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/mc3.innova

Image courtesy of MC3 Engineering Team INNOVA. MC3 Engineering Team INNOVA is designing a hydrogen fuel cell-powered urban concept vehicle that will will compete in the Shell Eco-marathon Americas Challenge in Detroit.

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“Fuddy Meers”, A W.E.S.T. Success Clubs

By: Marlee Snyder
Montgazette Staff Writer

The students in Montgomery County
Community College’s West End Student
Theatre club preformed their eighth play,
a dark comedy, “Fuddy Meers,” written by
David Lindsay-Abaire.
The play followed the journey of an
abused woman, Clair, with psychogenic
amnesia, who went to sleep at night and
woke up every morning with no memory
of her life. Theatre Arts Program instructor
and W.E.S.T. advisor, Tim Gallagher, who
directed the play, said she had to learn all
over again what her life entailed.
The name of the play came from
Clair’s mother who had a stroke and could
not speak properly. While trying to say,
“Funny mirrors,” her pronunciation came
out like, “Fuddy Meers.”
“This contemporary play is sweet,
funny, moving and at times scary and
brutal,” said Gallagher.
Morgan Carrasquillo, theater major,
treasurer of W.E.S.T. and stage manager
for “Fuddy Meers,” said the proceeds from
the play went to the $1,000 scholarship for
a Montco theater student. A portion of
the proceeds also went to Laurel House,
an organization that serves victims of
domestic violence.
This play was possible thanks to the
talented and dedicated actors Gallagher
said. The actors included Montco’s West
campus students Erik Reyas, Michaela
Santiago, Derek Peterson, Joe Donley,
Kayla Velasquez, Lexi Lyon and Tess
Devlin.
To get involved in future productions
at West campus, W.E.S.T. club meetings
are held every Wednesday in North Hall,
Room 105 at 12:30p.m. Also get involved
with set building on Tuesdays prior
to a play, or the reading committee on
Mondays at 12:30p.m.
For more information regarding the
W.E.S.T. club, visit mc3.edu/livelyarts.

Image by Diane VanDyke and courtesy of MCCC Comm. Dept. Members of the West End Student Theatre club performed a play titled “Fuddy Meers”. The play is about an abused woman, Clair, with psychogenic amnesia, who went to sleep at night and woke up every morning with no memory of her life.

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Politics, News and Young People: Speaker Doug Oliver

By: Joshua Kellem
Montgazette Staff Writer

Doug Oliver, who was the press secretary to Philadelphia Mayor,
Michael Nutter, recently ran for mayor himself and took time from his
busy schedule to talk with Montgomery County Community College
students about the importance of staying abreast of news and politics.
Oliver is now the Vice President of Marketing and Corporate
Communications at Philadelphia Gas Works and holds a masters in
communications from LaSalle University. When asked by some people
if he was going to write for a newspaper, he said, “I hope not. There are
different ways to apply communications.”
After serving as press secretary for Philadelphia mayor Michael
Nutter, Oliver ran for mayor because he felt no other candidate was
speaking for the millennial generation.
“I ran for Mayor because I was frustrated with what I saw.” Local
political people thought he was either too young, at age 40, or was the
millenials. Oliver compared it to running for president. “You’re 35 and run
for president. People will tell you you’re too young.”
“I’m a problem solver,” he said. “Everywhere I go, there’s a need
for communication.” After that, Oliver brought up how CEOs are good
at the job of CEO, but some lack communication skills. For example,
Oliver said, “Steve Jobs was not the coolest guy to work with, but look he
changed the world with Apple.”
Ultimately, a conversation with Michael Nutter made Oliver decide to
run for mayor. During that conversation, Nutter told him the average age
of a Philadelphia resident is 33. So Oliver said he thought he had a good
chance to make a difference for the residents of the city.
Oliver said that most of the people who supported him, ironically,
were senior citizens and not millennials. Though he and others lost to
Mayor Kenney, Oliver says he learned valuable lessons in how to make
young people stay up on local, state and national politics. “Young people
don’t want to go to class, let alone [go] out to vote,” he said. So political
leaders must speak to their concerns.
Oliver concluded his visit by briefly talking about his start in
communications with an ad agency. As he left, he reminded the students
of the power of any communications work. “Writing is the most important
skill set. [Everything] starts by writing.”

 

Image courtesy of Doug Oliver. Former Press Secretary to Mayor Michael Nutter, Doug Oliver, spoke to students about his experiences.

 

 

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The Music Industry: Titanic or Leader of the Yacht club?

By: Timothy Salley
Montgazette Staff Writer

With the many traditional media industries
losing life to the rise of the Internet, the one that’s
flourishing is the music industry.
Jimmy Iovine, one of the world’s most famous
record producers and co-founder of Interscope
Records partnered with world-famous artist and
record producer Dr. Dre in 2006 to create the bass
heavy speakers they called Beats.
Recently, Iovine and Dre merged again
and put 70 million dollars into a curriculum
at the University of Southern California. The
curriculum is designed to teach emerging
music savvy students innovative marketing
skills while encouraging them to explore their
own creativity. This way, students will be able to
use skills that helped engineer the industry into
the giant it is today.
This program, Iovine says, will be his true
legacy. He sees it as a pipeline of professionals,
equally at home in the worlds of tech and culture,
who can steer the music industry through
whatever difficulties lie ahead.
Reporter Jason Taz of Wired.com, wrote in an
August 2015 article that Iovine describes his life’s
ambition as, “making the needle move on popular
culture.” Iovine showed this with his successes
with Beats, Apple Music and he has high hopes
for this newborn curriculum.
Montgomery County Community College’s
instructor and music engineering guru, David
Ivory, spoke of the ever-changing challenges in
the music industry. He says by being a producer
and engineer, he sees the downside is that the
sound of music has, to his ears, taken a step back.
Ivory, however, sees an easy solution. ”The
ease of which you now have to record and the little
cost it takes to actually buy gear to record is much
more desirable than in the past,” he says.
This is the way, according to Ivory, the
traditional music industry is adapting to stay
relevant and seeking to develop a base for both
older and newer audiences.
By teaching the new school some of the
old ways, then merging both may just keep the
industry afloat forever.

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Spotlight: What it Means to be “Based on a True Story”

By: Nathan Leslie
Montgazette Staff Writer

Spotlight is a film by Tom
McCarthy and Josh Singer that
explores the true story of The
Boston Globe’s Spotlight team
and their exposé on the child
molestation cases in the Catholic
Churches of Boston during 2001.
When the story hit the public in
2002, it sparked many investigations
into similar instances of sexual
misconduct in the United States.
The main focus of the film
is the complex and exhausting
procedures the Globe’s Spotlight
team pursued in order to bring the
molestation stories to light.
Many times when adapting a
true story to film, there is a tradeoff
between the entertainment value
of the film and the integrity of the
source material. Filmmakers often
embellish or alter true stories to
make a more entertaining film.
Recent movies like The Pursuit of
Happyness and American Sniper
have come under some scrutiny
from audiences and critics for
tampering with their subject
matter. When this happens, it often
negatively affects how much the
audience trusts the words, “based
on a true story.”
Spotlight does an almost
flawless job of recreating the real
events that occurred in 2001. This
film is dry but in a positive way. It’s
not bogged down by unnecessary
action or drama. The natural acting
and driving plot shine through,
making the story more believable.
This movie goes deep into
complex details of the spotlight
team’s investigation without
losing the interest of the audience.
Spotlight keeps the audience
engaged through large portions of
dense journalistic politics.
Spotlight’s integrity is a
refreshing contrast to many modern
biopics. Embellishment of a story
leaves a bad taste in the mouths of
audiences and critics. Many similar
films, like Straight out of Compton,
in past decades embellished the
truth and weren’t scrutinized by the
public. In this film, the filmmakers
came under criticism because
they left out the fact that one of
the characters assaulted women
he was romantically involved with.
However, in this internet age, many
films lie under closer watch by
audiences and critics who have the
benefit of internet research.
Keith Leslie, an accomplished
television screen writer said on
the embellishment of biopic films,
“In Hollywood, everything gets
pumped up.”
Leslie mentioned an interview
he watched where actor Mark
Ruffalo explained how Spotlight
worked as an exciting narrative.
According to the interview,
Ruffalo said the director focused
on extremely well-trained actors
to compensate for the amount of
jargon that was spilled out during
the film. In this case, the concept
of using brilliant actors rather
than editing the plot seemed in
Spotlight.
Whether this technique can
work in all biopic films is up for
debate but it works when technical
expertise and audiences and
critics can keep the filmmakers
interpretation honest.

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Fantasy Sports: Illegal Gambling?

By: John Feher
Montgazette Staff Writer

In today’s world, odds are that you or someone you know plays
fantasy sports.
The two biggest fantasy sports companies, DraftKings and FanDuel,
are so popular, they are now multibillion-dollar industries. However,
according to The New York Times, “The New York State Attorney
General has ordered the two companies to stop accepting bets from New
York Residents, saying their games constituted illegal gambling under
state law.”
Louis Bien from SB Nation said, “The crux of the New York attorney
general’s concern with FanDuel and DraftKings is that users pay “fees”
to enter games that pay out a range of prizes.” The fees can range from
$0.25 cents up to $10,600 dollars to play fantasy games, just like gambling.
The defense of this argument is the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act passed in 2006 for fantasy sports.
Bien knows, however, that there is a loophole. “While [the] UIGEA
doesn’t say that daily fantasy sports are gambling, it doesn’t really pass
judgment either way.”
Montgomery County Community College communication instructor
Larry Atkins says, “Gambling laws are very confusing and inconsistent. I don’t
think that fantasy leagues are pure chance and luck like a roulette wheel.”
From Athins’ point of view fantasy sports are games that require
knowledge and luck. This makes the whole situation very tricky.
“For fantasy sports, having knowledge of the sport and the tendency
of certain players could give someone an advantage over people who
aren’t as familiar with the players or their teams. The ultimate result of
all of this might be that these fantasy websites are legal gambling, but
subject to intense regulation like casinos.”
The case against DraftKings and FanDuel isn’t resolved yet. The two
companies are restricted from operating in New York State.
If it reaches the Supreme Court, we’ll see how this case plays out and
what kind of definition they give fantasy sports.

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Journalism Vs. The Internet

By: Joshua Kellem
Montgazette Staff Writer

The game of journalists versus the Internet is a good
one. The end of the game seems near and the winner will
earn the trophy of relevance. But a solid strategy from the
newspaper companies to restrict Internet access to their
articles may just cost them the game.
Newspapers offer content online as a paid subscription.
This has been a discouragement to many as newspaper
subscriptions are still in decline. The newspaper companies
can shift the game in their favor by using the Internet’s
formula: use ads in the online articles.
The Internet provides a greater volume of news and
comes out instantly, unlike a newspaper. Internet news sites
use advertising and sponsors promotions, to make money.
But how does this keep either the newspaper or the news
websites relevant?
Larry Atkins, journalist, lawyer and professor at
Montgomery County Community College, said, “The
relevance of newspapers depends on which people you
survey. To young people, print newspapers are not part of
their lives. They rely on social media. [But] to older people
newspapers are still important.”
Atkins is one of many journalists who believes the
Internet is good for journalism and its relevance to society.
“I don’t think traditional journalism will ever go away. People
need to be
informed. [So] the journalism profession is evolving.
Breaking news, traditional journalism has tied the game
on the last play of the fourth quarter, the game is headed
into overtime. It looks like only time will decide this winner

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