Article by Chyna Varner, staff
One Tallahassee Community College professor does more than lecture for class every day. His second job is to help people that are in need.
Samuel Carter not only teaches Sports Management, but he is the CEO of Carter’s Corner Community Services.
Every month, Carter donates a large amount of food and brings it to the campus. He is helped by TCC Student Life Coach Charlie Davis and several sponsors.
Food that is usually donated are fresh foods and nonperishable items such as canned goods, cereal, or other foods that the Talon Market provides.
Carter plans to work with the Talon Market so there will be double the resources for students to use to satisfy their food insecurity.
Before the campus-wide distribution of food, Carter would bring food to his students in class. When he saw that more people needed help, he went to the TCC administration and asked to give away food to the entire campus.
He helps other communities besides TCC. According to the president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the 32304 area has the highest poverty level in Florida. Carter wants to focus on people in this zip code area.
“Success is measured by sacrifice so I want my agency to thrive and be a big to-do in my life and in others,” Carter said.
Carter’s Corner Community Services provides other services including:
Athletic Scholarships
Career and Life Workshops
Children Athletics
Fundraising
Independent Living Training for Former Foster Children
More information about Carter’s Corner Community Services can be found here: (Please link here to URL below)
December 5th is the next food distribution at TCC.
To contact Samuel Carter email: [email protected]
]]>Article by Genevieve Printiss and Sophia Ziemer
Impeachment.
This word has been circling the news quite a lot these past few months. It is a funny word. We all know it is important, and perhaps that it relates to the president, but few of us actually know what it means or how it can affect us.
Would the president be removed or charged with a crime? I often wonder how many students have called for or against Donald Trump’s possible impeachment without truly understanding what would happen either way.
This however, is not a political article. This is not here to tell you which way to lean or which color to wave on election day. No this article is about facts, and just how few of us know them.
According to the Congressional Research Service, this politically charged word refers simply to the filing of criminal charges against a political official.
“Under the Constitution, the penalty for conviction on an impeachable offense is limited to either removal from office, or removal and prohibition against holding any future offices,” according to the Congressional Research Service.
This means that with impeachment, there is no guarantee of removal, only the opening of the possibility for one.
In the history of the United States, only three presidents have been impeached: Andrew Jackson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Out of the three, none have been removed.
Joseph Gorgue is a freshman at TCC. For him, a declaration of impeachment means that the president is failing to fulfill his duties.
“If they were saying they would do this, this, and this, and they’re not following through with what they were saying, or if they do something really terrible,” Gorgue says, “and they just like ruin their reputation.”
For Gorgue, impeachment is more of a descriptive word for a president who will be removed from office. When Gorgue was asked how a president’s removal would affect him personally, he said he wasn’t really sure.
“I’m not really, like I said into politics, so I don’t know what him being in power has to do with my life or anything like that. Because during the day, if he’s a president or not I’m still going through the same things I’m going through.”
This sense of detachment from politics may be a common one in today’s climate. However, it is not shared by TCC sophomore Sonya Livingston.
Livingston lived through the impeachment of Bill Clinton and recalls it as a low point in the political history of the United States.
“It is very difficult to bring a country through impeachment, it puts people at such odds,” says Livingston, “and I think at some sorts it maybe makes us look vulnerable to the outside world, that we can’t manage our own.”
To Livingston, impeachment is the process in which a president is brought to trial and sentenced.
“They (the prosecution) would have to reference what type of law connected to what they did. And I guess it would come to the conclusion after all evidence,” said Livingston.
But who can decide whether the President of the United States is guilty of a crime? Referencing back to the Congressional Research Service, only the House and Senate can make that decision.
According to the article, a simple majority of the House is necessary to approve articles of impeachment. It then takes a two-thirds majority vote by the Senate to convict the President of any article of impeachment.
If the impeachment charges are approved by the Senate, the President will be removed and the Vice President will step in and finish the term.
Could this happen in our generation? We are still unsure.
Currently the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees are investigating the charges brought against President Trump and will vote on whether to bring them before the House. If approved by the House, President Trump will become the fourth President to be impeached.
For more information on this topic, check out the links bellow.
Impeachment: Origins & Development: From the Constitution to the Modern House
USA Today: Pathway of The Impeachment Process: How It Works, Where We Are.
]]>Article by Chyna Varner, Staff assisted by Asta Hemenway, Executive Editor
The Talon Market is a resource for Tallahassee Community College students that experience food insecurity. Food insecurity is when a person does not have certainty in their food sources. Talon Market offer necessities ranging from nutritional food and school supplies to feminine health products.
On the website of the Talon Market it is stated that the “2018 Food Insecurity report by the United States Government Accountability Office, says 30 percent of college students are food insecure. Of those 30 percent, 56 percent are working, and 75 percent already receive financial aid.”
Before the Talon Market, there was a small food pantry in student services. They would provide a week’s worth of food in a bag and it had anything that was available.
Talon Market is run by Maria Santos. She wants to change the entire way students receive food.
“So before here’s a bag of cans we hope you like it. We’re not doing that anymore, now you come in get a green reusable bag and you shop with dignity,” Santos said.
Students can go into the Talon Market room and choose the free food that they want instead of having the food chosen for them. This way of donating food gives students a normal shopping experience.
Assistance with living does not only include feeding students but also finding a way to eliminate their food insecurity. Santos’ does not intend on a temporary fix, but she hopes to teach students how to maintain stability by providing employment opportunities or recipe ideas.
“You give a man a fish you feed him for a day,” Santos said. “You teach him how to fish you feed him for life.”
The Talon Market is established on campus for more than just helping students in one area of their lives. The goals all come together to shape the community of TCC and this is an achievement Santos strives for when she began to manage the market.
“A food pantry is an amazing thing in it of itself, but to cultivate an environment on campus of empathy and understanding in community is something much bigger that is gonna come into fruition because of this market,” Santos said.
The Talon Market is located in the first floor of the Student Union Student Services room.
For more information on the Talon Market visit: https://www.tcc.fl.edu/student-life/student-services/case-management-services/talons-market/.
Or contact Maria Santos for assistance and questions at [email protected] or (850) 201-6124.
]]>Article by Anandah Brandy, Staff assisted by Asta Hemenway, Executive Editor
Tallahassee Community College hosted its first Annual STEM Summit in mid-November in the Turner Auditorium. The Summit’s goal was to encourage high school seniors to join TCC’s STEM program in order to receive a fully-funded scholarship.
The STEM program is a curriculum based on four disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
TCC’s STEM Program received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation. It will provide 60 students a full tuition and fees over the next four years. TCC is the only college in Florida to receive this grant for this program.
Anthony Jones, who is the Dean of TCC’s Division of Science and Mathematics, hosted the STEM Summit. He said joining the STEM program has many benefits.
“There are numerous benefits I would say the first one is professional development training,” Jones said. “Second would be the opportunity for internships.Third would be just to develop a sense of belonging and build the camaraderie of working with students who are on light paths.”
Kantis Simmons, former NASA Research Scientist and International STEM Speaker, ended the summit with a presentation. He said STEM helped him in college, with job and scholarship opportunities, and encouraged the students to use to resources STEM has to offer.
“Make STEM a living degree. Make stem a living career. Make STEM a part of your life,” Simmons said. “And I believe that if you do those things, you can learn STEM, you can live STEM, and you can love STEM.”
For more information on STEM, and to apply, visit:
https://www.tcc.fl.edu/academics/academic-enrichment/stem-program/
]]>Article by Anandah Brandy, Staff assisted by Chyna Varner, Staff
For college students acne is often frustrating. According to The International Dermal Institute, clinical studies indicate that between 40 and 55 percent of the college-aged population are diagnosed with low-grade, persistent acne and oily skin.
Tallahassee Community College student Ruben Uribe can relate as a college-aged student with oily skin. He doesn’t face any skin insecurities, and luckily doesn’t get affected by acne as much because he follows a simple daily procedure.
“I wash my face with soap every morning real thoroughly and wash it with lots of water in the shower,” Uribe said. “I get a lot of sunlight; I like to go outside and sit there.”
TCC student Hillary Eaton said she has dry skin, especially with winter approaching. When there isn’t enough water in the outermost layer of your skin it becomes dry, according to Healthline Media, a privately owned provider of health information headquarters. This effect can intensify during the winter when the humidity is low.
“Sometimes when the seasons change. I will get like these dry patches on my eyelids and just like around my eyes,” Eaton said. “So, I have to usually carry around moisturizer everywhere I go.”
Not cleansing might cause the skin to dry. Your skin needs its natural oils so be gentle with it and use a wash that will put moisture back in, like Dove’s Sensitive Skin White Beauty Bar.
“I use Dove sensitive for my face, but before I use that, I’ll use the Dove exfoliating bar,” Eaton said.
Dry skin may lead to hyperpigmentation. This happens when patches of skin become darker in color than the normal surrounding skin.
TCC student Maline Tanis has both oily and dry skin with slight hyperpigmentation. She uses Carrot Soap and Black African Soap or a mask from Sephora to combat
her hyperpigmentation, or patches of darker skin.
“I got a face mask from Sephora that I use every other week if my skin feels extremely dry,” Tanis said.
When the skin is dry in some areas, (as it doesn’t produce any natural oils) the sun or cool breeze might turn the shade darker.
For dry skin, apply moisturizer immediately after washing your face to risk your skin drying up. For oily skin, wash with warm water and a gentle soap that can reduce the amount of oil on the skin. For mixed skin, depending on the season of the year, follow either procedure.
]]>
Article by Genevieve Printiss, Staff and assisted by Sophia Ziemer, Staff
A Florida lawmaker has filed a bill that would give NCAA and NJCAA athletes the ability to accept sponsorships, thus allowing them to personally profit from their sport. Before this, any type of payments beyond academic scholarships would have gotten a college athlete banned from competing.
This bill is similar to California’s Senate Bill 206 that was recently signed into law. These new regulations will go into effect in California in 2023, with Florida possibly seeing changes from bill 251 as soon as 2020.
While this bill may initially seem like a good idea, critics claim the new freedoms would be used unethically and only divide the vast world of college athletics.
Tallahassee Community College is part of the NJCAA. If the House in Florida passes HB 251, TCC student athletes may be able to earn cash from their sport as soon as 2020.
While this bill may seem like a good idea, critics claim it is unethical and will only cause an imbalance in the world of college athletics.
Rob Chaney is the director of athletics at Tallahassee Community College. Chaney has held this position for 10 years, with responsibilities ranging from supervising coaches and staff to budget management. Chaney said that at two-year colleges, unlike Division 1 programs, athletic directors have responsibility for everything from budgeting to supervising coaches.
Due to this, there is little about Florida House Bill 251 that would not impact his job. For him, it is difficult to predict whether that impact would be positive or negative.
“I think there’s so many unknowns right now,” Chaney said. “Unknowns about exactly how this would be implemented and how it would be tracked.”
Without proof of how this will affect the world of college athletics, Chaney says it is difficult to fully support it.
“My first thoughts were ‘Oh no,’ because that obviously can be a real slippery slope,” Chaney said. “And it’s one of those where you think, okay, it’s happened in one state; how long is it going to take for the other 49 follow?”
There is also the issue of which athletes this bill will specifically effect. Not all college athletes will be sponsored, which causes a gap between those earning money and those simply competing in their sport.
“It’s probably the upper 10 percent of the upper 10 percent that might really see a big impact from this,” Chaney said. “I think if you do something, there needs to be a level playing field.”
To ensure this level playing field, Chaney recommends colleges to create trust funds for these athletes and provide them with the money they have earned after they have graduated.
“They have access to (the trust fund) but you’re not just providing extra money for them to use there on the spot and roll around campus and fancy cars,” Chaney said. “I think that’s where you get way off the mark with what college athletics is about.”
At the end of the day, “college athletics is amateur athletics, and we can’t lose sight of that mission,” Chaney said.
While California’s Senate Bill and Florida’s House Bill may not be the best way to compensate athletes, Chaney admits something must be done.
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill into law on September 30 and said he believes the system is taking advantage of students.
In an interview with Fox Business, Newsom was recently quoted saying, “These athletes are abused in terms of the time they’re expected to spend on the sports, and the coaches are making a fortune.” Newsom also says, “(It’s) a big move to expose the farce and to challenge a system that is outsized in its capacity to push back.”
Nancy Skinner, a Democrat and writer of the California “Pay to Play” bill, claims that students who are committed to continuing their sport in college are handicapped due to N.C.A.A. rules.
The New York Times quoted Skinner in a recent interview, “People are just so aware of the fact that you’ve got a multibillion-dollar industry that basically denies compensation to the very talent, the very work that produces that revenue.”
The California law and the proposed Florida law are efforts to redistribute the wealth that seem to be disproportionately benefiting colleges.
“I think the college athletics model is so different today than it was,” says Chaney, adding that on any given Fall Sunday 25-30 years ago, there would be maybe three college football games on television.
“Today it’s becoming more and more commonplace that there’s there’s hardly a college event of any type, regardless of the sport, that you can’t watch in some form or fashion.” says Chaney.
With that in mind, Chaney does realize the amount of money most colleges and universities set aside for academic scholarships.
“We are still colleges that are providing a free education opportunity for that individual who might not have been able to go to college.”
Chaney estimates that the tuition, books, and room and board for a TCC athlete could be as much as $10,000 a year. For an out-of-state athlete, a full scholarship could cost the college up to $12,000 a year.
“So I struggle with where I fall on the argument sometimes, because again I know, I think there are a lot of good arguments out there to be made,” Chaney said. “It can really be a game changer and something that changes the landscape of college athletics for a long time.”
]]>Podcast episode by Alexa Hubbell, Podcast Team Editor; YaSin Ali Abdul-Musawwir, Staff; Karla Grande, Staff; Samuel Cuffe, Staff; Taijha Ellington, Staff
Tallahassee Community College Talon members asked TCC students about their preference between cats and dogs. After these interviews, Talon podcast members discuss their opinions about cats and dogs and evaluate their findings.
Please stay tuned for more episodes.
The podcast is available on Soundcloud and Spotify.
]]>
Podcast episode by YaSin Ali Abdul-Musawwir, Staff
Tallahassee Community College Talon staff member, YaSin Ali Abdul-Musawwir interviewed TCC President Murdaugh.
Please stay tuned for more episodes.
The podcast is available on Soundcloud and Spotify.
]]>
Article by Sophia Ziemer, Staff and assisted by Genevieve Printiss, Staff
Andrew Nguyen has supported himself since the age of 15. He had to work long hours throughout his high school life to pay the bills needed, except for rent. He began his sous chef work during his sophomore year of high school at a fine dining French restaurant but quickly found himself in frustrating situations such as “being skipped out on the pay.”
He had become a sous chef at the fine dining restaurant in his hometown of Apalachicola, and continued to work there until he graduated high school. After his high school graduation, he worked at a pub-style while picking up shifts at the fine dining at the same time.
Paying his own phone bills, food and car insurance while also trying to build up his savings became his top priorities, since his mom could not work.
After high school, he was given the offer of becoming the manager of the fine dining restaurant. However, he had to reject an offer of becoming a manager at the restaurant because he had already decided to move to Tallahassee and attend Tallahassee Community College.
Nguyen had to pay for his first years tuition out-of-pocket. Tuition and rent were a difficult addition to Nguyen’s already significant living expenses, as he could not receive financial aid until his sophomore year at TCC.
“I just got financial aid this semester because I could not get the paperwork to go through,” Nguyen said. “I didn’t have my mom to help me, (or) my dad. I don’t associate with him financially.”
Nguyen said he does not have health insurance because he does not have the funds for it since he pays for everything on his own.
He then goes on to tell why he chose TCC: “TCC was recommended to me by friends who go to FSU. There’s just that peer-to-peer connection. You also have student and teacher connections, which is really good. Everybody goes at a good pace so it’s easy to understand the material that you learn there.”
He has also dealt with issues of stereotyping since he is a Vietnamese-American, feeling he has to ‘live up to them’ and comically says “not all of us eat rice.”
“All Asians get A’s” claims Nguyen. “In class, I’ve noticed that people think that I’m smarter than everyone else, which like, not to be arrogant, that’s the case in some classes because I just had a better understanding of the material. Some of the professors also asked me to be a tutor, and like, offered to pay me but I was like ‘I can’t really do that right now.’”
While working full-time, he had fulfilled his childhood dream; He had finally purchased his own car. With no one else to rely on financially, Nguyen’s Mazda Miata is his greatest achievement.
“I think it’s just a cool toy, essentially, because we grow out of Hot Wheels, so what comes next is an actual car.” says Nyugen.
Many may not feel that their first car is a “life” achievement, but for Andrew Nguyen nothing feels more special than personally owning something and getting there on your own.
“I just generally like my car so much, even though it’s like really crappy. But I still take care of it, because it’s my car; It has my name on it, nobody else’s.”
]]>Article by Chyna Varner, Assistant Editor and assisted by Anandah Brandy, Staff
Lights, camera, action and the movie is rolling. Behind the scenes is the aspiring screenwriter Zipporah Reeds.
As the Film Society Vice President at Tallahassee Community College, her career in the entertainment industry starts here. Reeds is free to allow her written ideas to go to the screen as a member of this organization.
Film Society is an organization that discusses movies and television shows, hosts table reads, and maintains a podcast. This club also creates films by using their camera equipment and members as actors. Students formed this organization in Fall 2018, and Reeds has been the Vice President since Fall 2019.
Reeds enjoyed film and screenwriting at a young age. In high school she took a theatre management class for two years.
Her first movie started out as a drama called “Pilot Jones.” It involves a police officer that struggles with drug addiction due to the loss of her sister.
In her movies it is important that she follows her vision closely. She likes the screenwriting process because the ideas are straight from her head to the paper.
“So when you film, it ruins it but when you write, it’s truly authentic and is 100 percent you,” says Reeds.
Her main duty is writing and helping other leaders stay on task with their projects. However, Reeds also wants to ensure that her actors closely match her script as she wants the adaptation as close to her vision as possible.
A frequently recurring actress in Reeds’ films, Hillary Eaton is familiar with Reeds’ filming process.
“She always gives really great feedback to help me give a better performance as an actress,” says Eaton.
Reeds enjoys her role as the vice president, but she likes the creativity that being a member allows. She says it motivates her to create content because everyone else wants to create and be excited as well.
To join this organization, contact them through social media.
Their Instagram is https://instagram.com/tccfilm?igshid=n5gd8zuzxccj and their Facebook group is https://m.facebook.com/groups/180413326207097#_=_.
Also view their works on YouTube at ttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR-Dwhm7R3_eHvTISwZBebg.
Look at Zipporah’s first work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp4Ec02cId8
]]>