The Student Government Elections took place in the SC4 Cafeteria on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. Unfortunately, the election only yielded just over 100 votes, making it the lowest vote count in SC4 history.

The second write in candidate, other than Heidt, was Jessica Fye, a write in for Secretary who took home the position with eight votes.

Unlike the other positions, the position for Vice President featured two candidates. They were SC4 students Eric Merril, who ended up with 51 votes, and Steven Dilloway, who won with 20 more votes.

After the votes were tallied, Steven said, “As a student of SC4, I have a new found respect for our community’s access to learning. After enrolling for four semesters at SC4, I understand what it takes to be a successful college student. With that said, I believe that I am more than capable to be a representative of the student body. All in all, I look forward to working with the student government an attempt to better the SC4 environment.”

Last but not least, the position of Student Government President went to candidate Sean Lathrop. Sean ran unopposed for the position. Sean had this to say about his 94 vote victory: “I am severely disappointed that no one is running against me. I feel that Michael Keith could have possibly been a better president than myself. But since he was unable to run it makes me feel that this is a hollow victory for me.”

Angie Stoecklin

Staff Writer

This e-mail represents one of employers’ many reactions to the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “Obamacare.” It is a response to institutions’ growing need to develop policies in-line with the law before the 2014 deadline.

The proposal states employers with more than 50 employees must provide health benefits for full-time workers or face fines and penalties. A full-time work week would be 30 clock hours, but doesn’t define a way for colleges to determine how contact hours tie in to regular clock hours.

“The IRS issues regulations to tell us what the statutes mean,” said Ken Lord, executive director of human resources and labor relations at SC4, “and the first one that came out said that adjunct faculty positions were to be defined by the academic year.”

The academic year at SC4 is defined by contract as the fall and winter semesters. To reach full-time status, professors must teach at least 14 contact hours per semester, which means the minimum a full-time instructor needs to work during the academic year is 28 contact hours.

Lord says the American Community College Association suggested taking three-fourths of the full load for full-time faculty, which is 10 hours maximum for adjunct instructors.

Shawn Starkey, the executive director of public relations, marketing and legislative affairs for SC4, explained out of 187 adjuncts instructors, 50 of them are currently teaching more than 10 contact hours and 19 of them have other positions in the college.

“Adjuncts are not the only ones to be affected; 14 support staff and 19 administrative staff members will feel the effects of the law.” Starkey said.

Staff opinion is mixed. Many members of the affected staff expressed frustration and concern over the cuts.

“I don’t really know what I am going to do,” one adjunct faculty member, who wishes to remain anonymous, explained, “I’m considering applying at other campuses, but I’m so involved on the SC4 campus that I’m not sure I would be able to handle that.”

Another unnamed staff member expressed her understanding in regards to the policy change: “I am deeply saddened by the effect this has had on many adjunct faculty members, but I understand the need for administration to be careful to avoid harsh fines that would ultimately hurt the entire college.”

Lord does not believe the students will notice a substantial difference, although he did mention the law may initiate the consolidation of certain classes. Also, he stated many full-time instructors will be teaching more contact hours, including department heads.

According to an article published by the American Federation of Teachers, many colleges and universities across the nation are enacting similar policies regarding adjunct and part-time staff.

“I think we’re all disappointed with the law,” Lord said, “it’s unfair to employers and it’s unfair to employees but we have to deal with what the law is and we have to do what is safe for the college.”

Erick J. Fredendall

Business/Advertising Editor

The exhibit is comprised of local collector Robert Borsuk’s personal collection of computers and machinery, and will be on display through April 28th, 2013 at Port Huron Museum’s Carnegie Center.

Through partnering with Borsuk of Academic Gadgets, the museum has acquired an exhibit full of working machines and devices from the 1950s to now.

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SC4 Computer Science Professor, Jim Soto, recently gave a presentation at the Port Huron Museum about the internet search engine “Google.” Soto said about the exhibit, “It’s great, we tend to have very little sort of memory, history or archive of the machine’s computation; because once they’ve lived out their function or usefulness, we tend to just simply get rid of them and move on to the newest. This is something that is very interesting about technology and technological advances.”

Byte by Byte hosts “hands-on” areas where visitors can use machines and video game consoles of the past, along with a mainframe computer that is big enough to walk through and locate where components are used, as well as what they do. The exhibit also offers weekend family programs, along with weekly presentations on the computers and machinery displayed in the exhibit.

An entire wing of the exhibit is dedicated to the origin of modern computers, and a collection of the earliest known desktops created by Wang Laboratories. Dr. An Wang (co-founder of Wang Laboratories) was a major contributor to the development of magnetic core memory; without this, the modern desktop computer would most likely not exist.

The exhibit also explains that most of the United States’ advancements in computer sciences stemmed from military involvement and funding during World War II and the Cold War.

“Very few people know the development and the history of computation when it comes to its, sort of, underpinnings and mathematical and philosophical logic; and even myself, I don’t know all of the history of these machines and for my own curiosity, with something that is so ubiquitous and something that we use all the time, it’s incredibly important to know something that is so part of our lives,” said Professor Soto.

The Port Huron Museum at the Carnegie Center is located at 1115 Sixth Street, Port Huron, Michigan and is open Wednesday-Sunday 11 a.m.-4 p.m. With a student I.D., admission is $5 and includes not only the “Byte by Byte” exhibit, but all levels of the Port Huron Museum.

For more information visit http://Phmuseum.org.

Nicholas Wedyke

Managing Editor

That was the case for David Peters, the lead singer for Mountain Babies, but to everyone else at Lynch’s Irish Tavern, the Blue Water Music Awards (BWMA) was a night of unexpected excitement, friendship and a community coming together to appreciate what founder David Whitt calls the cities greatest commodities—the musicians.

The BWMA was designed to showcase local musicians to the Port Huron community, while showing some appreciation for the artists and their talents and giving them, as put by the award’s Facebook page, an attaboy and some well-deserved recognition.

Local musicians from all around the Port Huron area were selected via ballot to be nominated for the fifteen awards ranging from Most Obscure Cover to a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Many musicians, such as SC4 alumni Alyssa Ferri, who received of the Amateur of the Year Award, expressed pleasant surprise at the turnout.

“I felt the turnout was a bit surprising,” Ferri said, “it really is a wonderful thing and hopefully it receives even more support from the community as it does grow.”

According to Whitt, the BWMA is intended to be an annual event.

“Next year I see more categories, awards for nominees, as well as trophies for winners.” Whitt explained, “I also see a lot more involvement from the community and the local musicians.”

This means readers can expect to see the BWMA joining the expanding list of events hosted in downtown Port Huron, such as the Blue Water Film Festival and the various pub crawls.

For musicians, this is an opportunity to step up and get ready for the next BWMA. One method of doing this is by getting involved with the open mic nights that are available in the area.

Lynch’s Irish Tavern offers open mic night every Tuesday night starting at 10 p.m. and the Raven Café offers bookings for musicians who are interested in playing.

For fans to get involved, it’s as easy as promoting the local talent, and when the time comes, putting it to a vote.

Erick J. Fredendall

Business/Advertising Editor

It was like a battle you would see on an episode of Star Wars. Battle plans, strategy tactics on who to take out first and even a little blood.

The fourth SC4 Club Activity Day, the first to feature laser tag, took place Tuesday, Feb. 19 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the SC4 gym.

Marketing and Management are the winners of this semester’s club activity day, claiming the trophy in addition to bragging rights.

Members of Marketing Management include Keegan Murphey, Michael Keith, Kyle Schwanitz, and James Woolman.

Six clubs participated in the event including the Zombie Defense Council, the Erie Square Gazette, Alternative Energy & Engineering, Marketing and Management, Gay-Straight Alliance, Drama Club and WSGR.

Teams consisted of two teams of three people. Each participant has 60 “lives” recorded on their laser gun.

The tournament was not timed; instead, each challenge was determined based on when all three members of a team are out.

The final two clubs battling it out were WSGR and Marketing and Management. Lathrop, playing on the WSGR team, commented on Marketing and Management club’s laser tag strategy saying, “They’re hunters in there. Hunting season is going on right now.”

“Our basic plans were to take out one opponent at a time,” said Murphey, Marketing and Management club member. “Other teams were strategic and had battle plans. They used voice and hand signals, it was really very well organized, I was impressed.”

Past winners of the trophy include the Gay-Straight Alliance, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Student Government.

The activity was determined based on club votes at All-Club meetings. Originally, the vote had been for field hockey as the activity, but due to weather laser tag was selected.

The past three semesters featured dodge ball as the event for club activity day. This costs Student Government, the organization that hosts club activity day, nothing more than time.

“This was the first time we actually invested in club activity day,” said Sean Lathrop, vice president of Student Government.

“I thought it was a well-organized event. It started on time and Sean’s organization and leadership was highly appreciated,” said Murphey.

The likelihood of another club activity day featuring laser tag depends on the level of success the clubs feel the event had.

Club activity day for the fall semester will be announced at the beginning of the semester.