Hollywood and reality television come to Clark

Details on all the recent big-screen activities

By Ashley Klann
Editor-in-Chief

Fame, fortune, movie sets, and MTV have come through campus recently. Clark may be popping up on Lifetime, a new MTV show, or a more professional version of MTV’s Made.

Annie’s Gets Famous
If you were near Annie’s Clark Brunch on Sunday, December 4, you might have seen our beloved local diner looking a little different, surrounded by heavy duty lighting equipment. You might have also noticed that Clark University was momentarily Gambles College. Wondering why?

According to an article in Worcester Magazine in October, Boston-based production team, Moody-Independent, is in the process of filming “Lockdown,” a movie about a gunman going to town on a college campus. A doctoral candidate learns that the shooter is the subject of her thesis, and goes through some rigorous trials to sort out the whole situation. The movie will be filmed in central Massachusetts this month, according to the article.

Alexandria Casey, a Clark graduate and waitress at Annie’s said that the movie is slated for Lifetime, and that while it was a cool experience having to act as a “quiet waitress” on set, it made for a long day.

“They told me not to pick up the dishes because they were too loud,” she said with a laugh. “My whole day is dishes.”

Campus Casting Call
MTV, the once great source for all things music (in case you forgot what the “M” stood for), held an on-campus casting call on December 13^th. What better way to celebrate the end of classes than by getting a chance to make a fool of yourself on national television?

The signup sheets for auditions were almost full by the end of the first day of tabling in the UC. Upon signing up, each student was given a sheet that asked some questions concerning a major goal they would like to fulfill and what has held them back from achieving it on their own.

Scorsese’s Hugo has heart

 Director tries his hand at a family film

By David Abrahamson
Contributing Writer

***
Directed By: Martin Scorsese
Written By: John Logan
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sacha Baron Cohen
Running Time: 127 Minutes
Rating: PG

Martin Scorsese is one of the most acclaimed and influential filmmakers of all time. He is widely known for his violent crime-related films such as Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and 2006’s Academy Award Best Picture winner The Departed (for which Scorsese also won Best Director). However, one thing he is not remembered for is his talent for making family movies. Of course the main reason for that is nobody knew he had such a talent… until now.

Hugo is based on the children’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, and tells the story of a young orphaned boy of the same name that lives alone behind the walls of a train station in Paris.

He spends his time making sure all of the station’s clocks run. He steals what he needs to survive as well as the parts he requires to fix an automaton programmed to write something that he was trying to fix with his father before his untimely death. In trying to fix the machine, he becomes wrapped up in an adventure involving an elderly filmmaker, a loquacious young girl, and a crippled station guard.

Hugo is notable for featuring stellar performances from all actors in the film.

Among the best is fourteen-year-old Asa Butterfield who plays the title character, Hugo Cabret. Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) has been in very movies up to this point and as a result, lacks the experience and notoriety some of the other players in the film possess.

Nonetheless, Butterfield easily holds his own against some of the film veterans he worked with in Hugo. He is able to create a convincing character, one that is heartbroken and desperately lonely while at the same time brave and hopeful.

Endowment and engagement: a mutual decline

A crucial analysis of financial matters on campus and what it could mean for students

By Andrew Schuschu
and Alina Michelewicz
Contributing Writers

The downgrade of U.S. credit by Standard and Poor’s from AAA to AA+, the Greek debt debacle, austerity measures across Europe, the slowing of the Chinese economy, coupled with the specific choice investments of a committee have resulted in the largest decline in the university’s endowment, outside of 2008, dating back to 1997.

What does this result in for you, the Clark student? The long-term results for our institution are still being formed and are currently difficult to forecast. However, immediate consequences may manifest because endowment funds typically support the wages of current professors, the hiring of new professors, scholarships, the building of new facilities, research, athletics, and public services that promote students to work in the Main South and the greater Worcester community.

Further declines theoretically may have to be matched with rises in tuition, housing fees, and meal plans, which directly influence the life of each and every student.

The Investment Committee of Clark University’s Board of Trustees convened on October 21^st, 2011 to discuss the precipitous drop in our university’s endowment portfolio, as our investments declined by approximately 13.5 million dollars, from just over 301 million dollars to just over 288 million dollars. Committee leaders, pushing the concern that this decline will continue, commenced the meeting with a quote.

“There are two types of forecasters – those who don’t know, and those who don’t know they don’t know.” The sentiment of the room consisted of the somber worry of a double-dip recession, as this past quarters declines were the first since the collapse of the housing market and the then occurring recession dating from 2006 to 2009.

Globe trekking

First year student interviews with The Boston Globe about international volunteering

by Gwen Walsh
Alumni Editor

Before coming to Clark as a freshman, Jennifer Manglass took a year off from school to start a non-profit organization, travel to 23 countries, and fundraise for humanitarian aid with her family; talk about challenging convention. Now Manglass is settling in for her tenure at Clark, but dreams of more international jet-setting and volunteerism are never far away.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

“I’ve got the travel bug,” Manglass said while sitting comfortably in an arm chair in the AC, “I want to study abroad in South America, maybe teach overseas and live in other places. Traveling is a lot easier than people think it is. Once you get out, get on plane and go somewhere, it’s literally a step by step process.”

With her laid-back demeanor and genuine smile, you’d never guess that her most recent interview was with the internationally-recognized Boston Globe; she was both humble and thorough, and shared some interesting anecdotes with The Scarlet that The Globe didn’t get to hear.

Power in the community

Councilwoman Sarai Rivera talks about our neighborhood and city

by Ashley Klann
Editor-in-Chief

When first-year students come to Clark, they see themselves as a part of campus. They live on campus.

Photo courtesy of sarairivera.com

Councilwomen Sarai Rivera wants students to know that they are not just a part of Clark, but a part of Worcester, and they should act like it.

“For some students coming in from somewhere else, they don’t feel like this is their home, but if only for 4 years, it is home in many ways,” Rivera said. “Students need to realize their power. You can either do something about it or complain. Get up and do something.”

Rivera won the recent city council election through a grassroots, door-to-door process, hearing first-hand what residents of District 4 had to say. Rivera’s district encompasses Becker, Clark, and portions of WPI and Holy Cross. With that many students, Rivera hopes that students can realize their potential to make Worcester a better place.

“[Students should] be open to activities in the neighborhood. Become civically engaged,” she said. “Clark is a great school and it’s in a great neighborhood.”

Students were a large consideration for Rivera during her campaign.

“I told someone, ‘Run the numbers. Is there a stats major here?’ I’m not a numbers gal, but if we can get [students] to realize the power they have, they could swing the vote,” she said, going through the list of schools in our area.

So much procrastination, so little time

Just what you need to quit your internet addiction

by Natalie Beale
Contributing Writer

This is the golden era of procrastination. The internet should be the answer to a student’s prayers: unlimited knowledge is available in a few seconds at our very fingertips. Unfortunately, unlimited procrastination evils also lie in wait, and these far outnumber and out-shadow the educational

Image courtesy of lostintechnology.com

possibilities. Facebook. Twitter. YouTube. Tumblr. Icanhascheezburger. It seems you need to look no further than the number of funny cat pictures online to find evidence of the End Times. Fear not! The technology that has dug us into a refresh-the-page malaise also claims to have given us the answer.

There is a new wave of software aimed at those people who find the internet obstructing their work lives, and the names are suggestive. SelfControl, Freedom, ColdTurkey, Concentrate and RescueTime will block certain websites or all internet access for set periods of time. Finally, you can finish that paper without checking Facebook or reading comics. You don’t even need to solve your issues with self control or procrastination, you can just have it delivered with the click of a button. At last, technology will rescue us from technology – if anything, it shows society’s continued reliance on the digital world.

Cougar of the week

by Mai Hayashi
Scarlet Staff

Photo by Mai Hayashi

Name: Katelyn McGrath
Year: Senior
Home: Wilmington, MA
Sport: Field Hockey
Position: Goalie

Q. How long have you been playing field hockey?

A. Since 6th grade.

Q. What made you start playing field hockey?

A. I used to play soccer, but I didn’t like it. I wanted to play more aggressive sports. So my mom signed me up for field hockey.

Q. Why did you choose the position?

A. Because field hockey is an aggressive sport. Come up to people, kick the ball, and drive the ground. Being a goalie is the most fun and stressful. There’s lots of pressure. I’m in my zone. I love it.

Hey baby, what’s your major?

Name: Amanda D’Andrea
Year: Senior
Major: Sociology
Minors: Communication and Culture, Women and Gender Studies

How do you feel your major and minors compliment each other?

They compliment each other very well. In fact, I would say that they fit together seamlessly. Communication and WGS are both subjects that have a lot of interdisciplinary courses, so I was able to tailor my sociology courses to fit in both of my minors. In fact, I just recently added the WGS minor because I had taken most of the required courses because they matched up with my interests in sociology, and it all fell into place from there.

Did you know what you wanted to major in when you came to Clark?

I did, but that was only because I came to Clark as a sophomore, after spending my first year at another institution where I initially planned to study communications. I realized before starting at Clark that I wanted to study sociology, putting communications at the backburner, still there, but not quite as fascinating to me.

Horoscopes

Aries (3/21 to 4/19) – Start studying for that final now, or you will regret it.

Taurus (4/20 to 5/20) – As the end of the semester nears, it is totally acceptable to satisfy your cravings, no matter what they are.

Gemini (5/21 to 6/21) – It’s officially the season for you to put those holiday tunes on repeat.

Cancer (6/22 to 7/22) – This will be your last chance to make the move on that lucky person before the end of the semester, so just go for it!

Say goodbye to standardized testing

Why future Clarkies won’t have to worry about the SAT

by Ashley Klann
Editor-in-Chief

This time four years ago, there was a huge, blue paperback College Board book on my desk. It sat there for months as those three letters, SAT, menacingly stared back at me.

Image courtesy of american.com

Did I ever do a single practice exam? No. I sold it to my neighbor and probably blew the money hanging out with friends after school. I’m sure my dad wasn’t very happy about that, but preparing for the SAT just wasn’t something I wanted to do. I wanted to get a score I deserved, not one I crammed to get.

The test was just as annoying as I had anticipated. After waking up early, still in a groggy state, I drove to my high school and did what I had to do. I wrote about some pointless topic for 25 minutes and put arbitrary numbers into formulas.

The scoring system confused me, but apparently it confused others even worse; the kid next to me accidentally skipped a bubble, sending him into a fit of erasing that took more time than we were given. Redo.