The Workings inside the SMCC Beacon

By Garrick Hoffman

On Friday, October 3, two communications students and a photographer all gathered around a table in a small room in downtown Portland. Cameras and microphones were set up, and a sort of undisturbed hush permeated the air. Three Beacon staffers then entered after the set ups were in order and, affecting a professional disposition, they shook hands with the man of the hour: Eliot Cutler.

The independent gubernatorial candidate had agreed to be interviewed by The Beacon, and the roughly hour-long interview enabled the students to ask a list of questions that pertained to higher education. The interview touched upon one specific topic: the merging of the Maine Community College System and the Maine State University System.
With this proposal, we must ask: What are the implications? Who and what will it affect? How will this benefit the state, staff, and students?

Cutler mentioned that the state has a population roughly the same as Greater Buffalo, New York: about 1.3 million people. With this, he asserts that the system does not need to resemble a sort of “Noah’s Ark” structure, with two of each administrative positions that the state funds to make possible. He believes that if the systems were merged and thus consolidated, the state could be spared of unnecessary expenses, and that the saved money could be allocated to better, more practical causes. This would also alleviate college costs. Cutler went on to say that states that have merged college systems have been successful.

To be able to grasp an opportunity of this size speaks volumes of The Beacon’s efforts and reverence for politics, ambition, and persistence. The interview also provided a wealth of information – not only for the governor’s race, but for interview processes in general, among other things – that can be viewed as a tool to prepare the staffers for whatever the future may hold for them.
Cutler was cordial and informative, sometimes speaking assertively and with fervor; other times breaking the gravity with comic relief.
Five days following the interview, SMCC staff, faculty, and students joined over 600 other people at the first gubernatorial debate, hosted by the Portland Chamber of Commerce’s Eggs & Issues. Taking place at the Holiday Inn on Spring Street, this event materialized into the biggest Eggs & Issues turnout yet. The attendance number matched the magnitude of the event, because the three gubernatorial candidates had finally gathered under one roof for their first public debate, which had taken many months to occur.

The topics varied from education, to manufacturing and paper, to MaineCare expansion, and finally to minimum wage and municipal/state action. Each debater was given just minutes to explain their side, as only an hour was granted for the totality of the debate. The candidates sometimes agreed with each other’s stances on the myriad topics, but other times the candidates would voice their vehement disagreements.

Both the interview and the debate marked two standout moments for SMCC. The school’s students in particular were not only given the opportunity to proudly participate in these events, but by doing so, they demonstrated their regard for politics, Maine’s race for governor, and the importance of involvement in these matters. To have SMCC as the means of access to these types of opportunities is paramount for the student body.