Theatre By the Students, For the Students (April 20-25)

By Courtney Hebert

Every semester, the Queenes Companye offers the Saint Joseph College community a play that is relevant to the student body and displays current issues we face in the world today. In recent semesters we’ve performed plays having to do with capital punishment, war, feminism, family drama, and a variety of other topics. This spring’s production of Masters and Novices: Plays Old and New from Page to Stage features more involvement and creative control by students than ever before.

Under the guidance of Dr. Mark Zelinsky, this week-long festival of one-acts will present 8 student-directed plays, featuring student actors as well as guest artists from outside the school. A by among such beloved playwrights as Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams, audiences will also be able to enjoy the world premieres of four original plays written by students from Dr. Zelinsky’s play-writing class last semester. These originals deal with subjects ranging from sexual orientation to satirical portrayals of negative cultural stereotypes, and so much more. These are the plays that will be performed:

Night A

As He Was by Kim Kim’s (SJC grad student) – The main character Chris comes out to his family as transgender on Thanksgiving.

Bittergirl by Lawrence & Moore – Women learn about getting over getting dumped.

Finder’s Keepers by Cori Sheehan (SJC student) – Four easily recognized types argue over money that is not theirs.

A Perfect Analysis Given by a Parrot by Tennessee Williams – A prophecy by from an unlikely source becomes self-fullfilling.

Night B

Cold Coffee Heart by Ashley Nelson (SJC student) – This play deals with isolation and the misperceptions people have of one another.

A Late Lunch by G.L. Horton – Two old friends try to find common ground in spite of the different directions their lives have taken since one of them became a mother.

Leaves of the Fall by Jill M. Scott (SJC alum) – Ginny’s  wife, ex-husband, and daughter deal with unresolved issues at Ginny’s funeral, as she watches unseen.

The Zoo Story by Edward Albee – A dark comedy that explores themes of isolation, loneliness, social disparity and dehumanization in a commercial world.

Week night performances begin at 7:30 pm the week of April 20, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for the general public. Each night will feature 4 of the total 8 plays, so check with the box office or on posters around campus for which days have which plays. SEE ALL 8 PLAYS AT A SPECIAL PRICE ON SATURDAY, APRIL 25 AT 3PM when we run them back-to-back with complimentary snacks and beverages served at a long intermission.  Tickets for this special Saturday event are $7.50 for SJC students and $15 for all others. The plays are for mature audiences only due to language, sexual behavior, and brief nudity.  All shows will be held in the Bruyette Auditorium.  Please contact the Driscoll Box Office at 860-231-5555 for tickets (which may also be purchased at the door) or for further information about the productions please contact Mark Zelinsky, Director of the Queenes Companye, at 860-231-5252 or mzelinsky@sjc.edu

CHECK OUT CAITLIN’s FRENCH BLOG:  http://muguetdesbois.wordpress.com/additional-

-By Casey Shaw, undergrad psyc tutor

After the discussion on cliques and crowds today in Psyc 241, I decided to see what was out there on the internet about these. I came across a website showing the different groups that were present in high schools during the 80’s. Read below or go directly to the website - It’s just something fun to look at in comparison to how your high schools were!  Feel free to comment too!

Cliques of Eighties Teens

This page is an attempt to summarize the different cliques that could be found in an eighties high school environment. The Breakfast Club and Heathers are both great reference material for this type of page and were my inspiration. I had started this as a complement to the glossary of eighties terms page that I started, and realized that not all groups had their own lingo, so I broke it apart.

These are the Cliques Currently Defined

• The Popular Group
• The Jocks
• The Nerds
• Valley Girl
• Rapper
• Skater
• Surfer
• Hacker
• Losers
• Outcasts

Stereotypical Eighties Cliques

• Hacker (a subset of the nerds group)
  The geeks had their own language, and it was rarely verbalized. Around the time that Wargames reached mall movie theatres around the world, the BBS scene had given rise to a whole new class of speech. Mostly this subset relies on misspellings of common words, some extremists would actually substitute every o in their words for zeros. The required equipment for this type of person seemed to be a Commodore 64 which was the machine of choice for teenagers who didn’t know better.
• The Jocks
  This crowd consisted of the athletic geared people in any school. Most of them prayed for scholarships if they wanted to go onto college, most that didn’t get them, ended up working in less than glamourous jobs. Jocks generally had their own events (athletic in nature of course) and could be seen at most popular group functions as well
• The Losers
  These were generally the type of people who were rebelling against any authority figure they could. They generally spent their time cutting classes, and had awful academic performance. They rarely were invited to parties, but were known to show up anyways. They sometimes threw their own, but mostly they would just find a good hiding place for small drinking parties for the members of their group.
• The Nerds
  Also known as “the geeks”. Mostly filled with students of higher academic pursuits, they were generally lumped into one catch all category. Some in this group could actually move into other groups, such as the popular group or the jocks, but would still be labeled as that particular groups nerd. Hackers, when actually at school, would fall into this group as well, since most tended to be the academic sort (at least in computers and math). Generally their outward appearance set them off from the rest of any group since they were never dressed quite like the rest of the groups.
• The Outcasts
  Generally someone who didn’t dress like everyone else was dressing, and had a little fashion sense would easily fit into this group. This was the group with the most artistic inclinations, and tended to be the type of people who weren’t real interested in going to a kegger. This group usually remained low key and could almost go unnoticed. Unlike the the nerds, this group didn’t require academic performance to be of high standards. Usually though, members fell into the middle of the road academically though.
• The Popular Group
  This was generally the crowd that came from middle and upper class families and consisted of people who generally were well liked by most groups except those that they came in direct contact with. Generally they gravitated towards the jocks when it came to invites for parties, and some people were generally considered to be members of both groups. In California valley girls were also included in this subset, in the “Valley” of course. Outside of it, they were tolerated, though not always considered to be acceptable. Since nationally, the Valley Girl phenomenon lasted a short period, most imitators generally fell in line with the rest of the popular group.
• Rapper
  As rap music gained popularity, so did the parlance surrounding them. Mostly fans of rap music could be found talking like this. This is real unfortunate when it’s a skinny white loser in a mall who thinks he’s cool. Anybody who doesn’t grow up in the ‘hood shouldn’t talk like this without risking looking like a poser.
• Skater
  Typically this is someone who actually skates. Emphasis is on the word “dude” which is used a lot like the word “like” is by valley girls. Slang is mostly skating related. Depending on the region of the country and their attention to clothing, they could be considered a subset of other groups as well.
• Surfer
  Typically this is someone who actually surfs. I’ve rarely seen imitators of this type. Mostly limited to California, received wide recognition when Sean Penn’s character in Fast Times at Ridgemont High was introduced. Slang is mostly surfing related, which dates to the sixties for the most part. Generally considered to be a subset of the loser group since their academic standing was sub-par due to excessive hanging time on the beach.
• Valley Girl (a subset of the popular group)
  Popularized by the Frank Zappa song of the same name with his daughter Moon Unit. Before this song, it was a regional dialect limited to the “Valley” in California. Afterwards however, teenagers across the country were unfortunately imitating (or at least attempting to). Watch the movie of the same title to get a good solid look at a “Val” in action. The pre-requisite to being fluent in Valley-speak, would be a lobotomy and Daddy’s credit card. The word “like” is often repeated and has several different meanings depending on the context in which it is used.

A few weeks ago, I had a former CHEM 240 visit a study group of mine. She looked at my group of students and posed the question,

“Guess when you will use this information you are learning again?”

After a slight paused, she exclaimed, “NEVER!”

I was bothered by this because it is not true. To counter this former student, I pose another question. Read the list contained below, and determine what each item has in common:

• Barth Syndrome
• Cori’s Disease
• Chanarin-Dorfman Syndrome
• Pompe Disease
• Arganise Deficiency
• Anderson’s (Not to be confused with your professor!) Disease
• 3-methylglutaconic Acidura

THEY ARE ALL METABOLIC DISEASES. All of which connect to some pathway covered in class. Of course, the material covered in CHEM 240 is important!

How can you  assist with the care of an ill patient suffering form a metabolic disease if you do not understand  the pathology of their condition? The answer is simple, you can’t, and you shouldn’t.

Don’t believe me? Check this website:

http://www.noah-health.org/en/genetic/conditions/metabolic.html

It contains a database of a metabolic diseases. There are countless disorders. I found it very interesting. Enjoy!

Happy Spring Break!

-By Melissa Reardon, chem content tutor

This is a piece of advice I commonly share with CHEM 240 students in study sessions, “Do not know something just to know it. Know why it is important.”

For example, if you were to merely memorize Glycolysis in preparation for your next quiz or exam you should not expect to do well. Therefore, as you learn the catabolic pathway for carbohydrates try to answer these questions to practice my philosophy of study.

1. What would happen to Gycolysis if the enzyme from step one was eliminated?

HINTS:

• Open up your book to the two-page spread of glycolysis.
  • What is the first step?
  • What enzyme performs this step? It’s name is immediately to the right of the reaction illustration. It’s italicized.
  • WHY IS THIS STEP IMPORTANT?

2. What would happen within Glycolysis if the enzyme from step three was eliminated? Would it effect subsequent pathways? Why/why not?

Good Luck! For answers, post back or make an appointment to discuss solutions!

-by Casey Shaw, Psych tutor

To wrap up the discussion on Adolescent Sexuality, I found this article  about teenagers’ “virginity pledges.” Similar to what was discussed in class, this article mentions how those who pledge abstinence are at higher risk of pregnancy and STD’s. Research is also showing that these pledges are short lived – what does that say about adolescence and commitment? If they cannot commit to their own sexuality, how committed can they be to others? …to their own identity? Post any thoughts!

Virginity Pledges Don’t Change Sexual Behavior

By Psych Central News Editor
        Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on December 30, 2008

Tuesday, Dec 30 (Psych Central) —

While teenagers’ pledges to remain a virgin until marriage may make them feel good about their sexuality choices, it apparently does little in actually changing their sexual behavior. A new study just published suggests that such premarital abstinence pledges are simply ineffective. The analysis from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health looked at data gathered from a nationwide survey of 11,000 teens, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

The study found more than half of youths surveyed engaged in sexual activity, regardless of whether they had made a pledge to remain sexually abstinent.

Researchers also discovered something not entirely unexpected — virginity pledgers were 10 percent less likely to use a form of birth control. Virginity pledges are often tied to a person’s religious beliefs, which may also teach against using birth control.

The researchers focused on 934 high school students from about 3,400 students who had never had sex or had taken a virginity pledge in 1995. Investigators compared students who had taken a virginity pledge with those who hadn’t.

After five years, those who had taken a pledge did not differ from teens who hadn’t taken a pledge in rates of premarital sex, oral or anal sex, or sexually transmitted diseases.

The study also found that, after 5 years, more than 80 percent of virginity pledgers had retracted their promises.

The findings suggest that “virginity pledges” do little to deter teenage sexuality. It also suggests that people who take such pledges are at a slightly increased risk for pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases when they do have sex, due to their decreased use of condoms or other birth control.

The findings were published in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Source: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/12/30/virginity-pledges-dont-change-sexual-behavior/3568.html

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/03/03/asteroid.misses.earth/index.html

By Melissa Reardon, Chem Tutor

Last Friday, I spent about three hours of my day explaining the importance of oxygen to the functionality of aerobic respiration for  CHEM 240 students preparing for their exam. Students are often puzzled over its role since the molecule is not involved in the Kreb’s cycle, and is the very last reactant within the electron transport chain. By the end of my tutoring shift I came up with (what I think is a pretty clever) way to think about the concept-a metaphor.

Points to keep in mind:

• The Major Products of Krebs Cycle:
  1. 2 CO2
  2. ATP
  3. 3 NADH
  4. 1 FADH2
• The role NADH & FADH2 is to carry the protons and electrons to the electron transport chain. Protons will be pumped through complexes into the intermembrane space, while electrons will pass though the electron transport system to created the coupled reaction used to drive ATP synthesis.
• Oxygen is the final electron acceptor within the electron transport chain.

Think of NAD+ as a car. NAD+ takes a drive through the Kreb’s cycle to pick passengers, proton and electron (now exists in the form NADH). These passengers need to meet up with their friend H2O.  It is NAD+’s job to deliver H+ and e- to a series of escalators which will carry them to H2O. Once NAD+ delivers its passengers, it will return to the Krebs cycle to pick up another pair of H+ and e-, and repeat.

There are two sets of escalators leading to H2O connected by a bridge that over looks the Grand Canyon. One day, however, this bridge breaks. NAD+, unaware of this occurrence, continues to drop H+ and e-  off at the escalator where they fall (sadly) to their deaths. Eventually, people discover this reoccurring tragedy and shut the escalator down. Hence, the electron transport chain stops. Suddenly, NAD+ has no where to drop off its passengers. With a full passenger load, NAD+ (remember it is in the form of NADH) cannot go back to the Krebs cycle to pick up more H+ and e- so it can drop them off at the electron transport chain. Hence, if NAD+ cannot pick up its passengers, the Krebs cycle stops.

Therefore, the deprivation of oxygen stops both the Krebs and electron transport systems.

I hope that provided a visual (FADH2 also works as a car).

A few thoughts from your friendly chem tutor, Melissa Reardon. . .

Mother Nature has awarded students with two additional days of studying-Use your time wisely CHEM 240 ladies! Good luck on you exam! One last piece of advice…..do not concentrate on merely knowing what things are, know why they are important.

I have new “brain teasers.”

A  few CHEM 240 students have asked why our bodies cannot survive on anerobic respiration when oxygen supply is shut off. I invite readers to open a discussion concerning this question (I hope you all realize that you can leave comments on this space!). We can also discuss it at this week’s study tables if you wish-Wednesday 2:00 & Friday 3:00, McD. 108.

Here are some more questions relating to this topic:

1. Where does anerobic respiration occur within our bodies? Why?
2. Compare our  anerobic respiration technique with other organisms.
3. What is the importance of phosphofructokinase? What would happen if it was removed? (HINT: When I took CHEM 240, this information was important to know)