Continuum 10: Feeling the Eco-Muse

On April 22, HCC students and faculty gathered in the performing arts center for a poetry jam in celebration of Earth Day called “Feeling the Eco-Muse.” The event was a joint effort between the Friends of the Environment (FOE), the Performing Arts Club (PAC), and the Music Club. These are some highlights from that night.

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Continuum 9: Steve’s Contingency Plan

Staff Writer Stephen Miller discusses why he believes that the U.S. government’s plans to stimulate the economy will fail as well as what he thinks students should do about it with host Brandon T. Bisceglia.

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Review: Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 20: And His Amazing Friends

By Andrew Mathieu
Contributor

Ultimate Spider-Man was the very first comic book I ever read. I first got interested in it when gaming studio Treyarch released an Ultimate Spider-Man (USM) video game. After reading an article about the comic book on Gamepro, I decided to go to my local library and give the series a shot. I loved the first volume, “Power and Responsibility,” and I have been reading the series ever since. Eighteen volumes later we come to one of my favorites, “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.”

“Amazing Friends” is the latest story arc from long time writer of the series Brian Michael Bendis and relatively new artist Stuart Immonen. The story takes place a little while after the events of “Death of a Goblin.” This previous arc saw the death of Peter’s first super villain as Spider-Man, along with the death of one of his closest friends. After mourning the loss of their friend, Peter and his friends try to get back to their somewhat normal lives.

The volume starts off with internal monologues from some of the cast of USM, including Ultimate Fantastic Four member, Johnny Storm. He returns to the cast after a short hiatus and contacts his only friends after a bad date with a pop idol. Meanwhile, Liz Allen, Mary Jane’s best friend, has not been feeling well and runs into Johnny at Midtown High. Johnny and Liz had a very brief romance a few volumes back, but it ended when Liz found out about Johnny's powers. She seems to have gotten over it, however, when she agrees to go with Johnny, Peter, and the others on a trip to the beach. That night, in front of a bon fire, one of Peter’s friends turns out to be a mutant, and it’s up to him and one of the X-Men to help her in her time of need.

This volume also contains two one shots in addition to the three part “Amazing Friends” story. In the first one shot we see Spider-Man defend J. Jonah Jameson against Omega Red, while the second features the Shocker kidnapping Spider-Man with Mary Jane and Kitty Pryde desperately trying to find him. While not as strong as the “Amazing Friends” story, both have great character moments and even some character development.

I truly enjoyed this volume. I wasn’t really sure Immonen’s art could beat out Mark Bagley’s record-breaking run on the series, but Immonen really hit his stride. The colors are nice and vibrant and the characters are starting to look like they belong in this style. Spider-Man’s costume is all but perfected in the final issue.

Bendis continues to make this book the best the Ultimate line has to offer. He has a knack for teenager’s dialogue. I actually believe these characters are 15. They not only handle everyday drama, but super hero/villain drama as well. USM’s cast sets the bar for teen super hero comics.

This volume is a nice break from the seriousness of the previous arc. If you have not picked up an Ultimate Marvel comic before, this is a great way to start. It is different enough to justify the Ultimate line, but familiar enough for Spider-Fans to pick up and enjoy a good story. Bendis and Immonen have crafted a truly “Ultimate” classic.

Hearing Loss

iPods Beat the Eardrum Senseless
By Sania Mathakutha
Staff Writer

“Huh? What? What did you say?” Maybe your kids can’t hear you after all. Unless you have been trapped under a polar bear in the Yukon for the past four years, you’ve probably noticed the iPod insurgency in America. One can hardly walk ten feet on campus without spotting a dozen POD People. But recent concerns over hearing damage could force chronic iPod users to unplug and take notice.

According to the Center for Hearing Health, there are three basic types of hearing loss:

1.Conductive Hearing Loss- Conductive Hearing Loss is when the outer or middle ear is disturbed, causing the inner ear unable to receive sound.

2.Sensorineural Hearing Loss- Sinsorineural Hearing Loss is when the nerves of the inner ear are damaged and no proper signals are sent to the brain.

3.Mixed Hearing Loss- If the hearing loss is caused by both the sensorineural and conductive components, it is known as Mixed Hearing Loss.

When asked if she knew that listening to an iPod at high volume could be damaging her hearing, Seyissa Maule, a student at HCC said, “I will keep listening, probably turn it down more.” People often use headphones on trains and buses while commuting, walking through a city or college and in airplanes. They might have the volume on too loud just because they want to drown out the noise around them not noticing the damage they might be putting on the inner ear and risking hearing loss. Our culture likes a big sound. The louder our Hip Hop music is the better we think we are going to “feel” the music. It comes at a cost though, legendary guitarist Eric Clapton told the Britain’s Express newspaper that he suffers from mild tinnitus and thinks his excessively loud performances with Cream back in the 60s is to blame. He said, “My hearing isn’t ruined, but if I stop and listen I’ve got whistling all the time which I suppose is a mild tinnitus.”

Whether you front for a rock band filling stadiums with screaming fans or making music is your business, you might be at risk of going deaf without even knowing it because you are being bombarded by loud sounds. According to WebMD, hearing loss is a gradual process that may not be noticed for years. When it does happen people generally notice that speech is mumbled and unclear. People may report a ringing (or tinnitus) in their ear or head. By that time, the only thing that may help is a hearing aid. To protect your hearing you could spend less time in a very noisy environment, turn your television volume down, wear hearing protection at all times if you work in a noisy environment and cut down on the number of loud appliances running at the same time. Never stick cotton swabs or hairpins in your ears when trying to remove earwax. Stop smoking, if you smoke you are likely to have hearing loss.

Continuum 8: President of the PAC

Kevin Green, a theatre major at HCC and president of the Performing Arts Club (PAC), talks with host Brandon T. Bisceglia about his club’s performances and the experience for a future in the performing arts he’s gained from college.

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HCC Co-Sponsors Health Fair

By Eric Peterson
Staff Writer

Housatonic and the City of Bridgeport Health & Social Services Department are hosting the 6th Annual City Wide Health Fair. The event is April 2, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Event Center, Beacon Hall Room 214.

Linda Griffin, Coordinator of H.C.C. Health Services, is responsible for hosting this event. “Our Motto is ‘Building a Foundation for a Health America,” she said, adding that there will be over 100 different vendors at the fair.

The biggest of them will be Bridgeport Health Services, Southwest Community Health Center, Bridgeport Hospital, and Saint Vincent’s Medical Center.

All vendors will be providing free health screenings such as for sickle cell anemia, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, breast cancer, and kidney screenings.

Chiropractor Dr. Ricard will be providing scoliosis screenings and message therapy.

There will be a variety of other vendors such as several insurance companies and vendors that will help with addition to drugs and gambling, and parenting.

Music and entertainment will be provided by Fairfield University’s radio station WVOF.

There will also be raffles and prizes, including a $50 gift card for the Housatonic Book Store.