AWOL - Issue 010

AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE » WINTER 2012 » ISSUE 010

THE DISTRICT AFTER DARK

KEEPING SEX WORKERS ON THE STREET

+ WEARING THE YELLOW RIBBON + DRUNK ON LIBERALISM + SWAPPING SWIPES FOR LOCAL EATS

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AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE » WINTER 2012 » ISSUE 010

MISSION: AWOL is a progressive magazine run by American University students in Washington, DC. Founded in the spring of 2008 with support from Campus Progress, we are a recognized publication of American University.

“I think the majority of the soldiers were ready to go to Afghanistan.

But then a few days when our brigade commander briefed us, he said ‘We can’t send everyone, we gotta stay here.’ I think that was so they could prepare us for invading Iraq.” - Rob Peavey, p. 12

We exist to ignite campus discussion of social, cultural and political issues, and serve as an outpost for students to explore solutions to local and global problems. We hope to build bridges between American University and the world around it, ultimately making our campus more inquiring, egalitarian and socially engaged.

Illustration by Carolyn Becker

AWOL is not affiliated with any political party or ideology.

Our stories have an angle, which is different from having an agenda; our reporting is impartial and fair, but our analysis is critical and argumentative.

EDITORS: EDITORS-IN-CHIEF: Alex Burchfield & Kelcie Pegher MANAGING EDITOR: Lori McCue DESIGN EDITOR: Hannah Karl STAFF EDITORS: Claire Dapkiewicz, Zac Deibel, Ashley Dejean, Joe Gruenbaum, Shaina Lipsy CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Eleanor Greene, Taylor Kenkel, Sara Lovett

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DESIGNERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, ILLUSTRATORS: Becca Barton, Carolyn Becker, Aaron Berkovich, Alissa Scheller

WRITERS: Allison Butler, Claire Dapkiewicz, Ashley Dejean, Melanie Germand, Eleanor Greene, Joe Gruenbaum, Taylor Kenkel, Kelcie Pegher

LIKE A STORY? HATE A STORY? Want to join AWOL? Write to us: awolau@gmail.com

FIND US ONLINE: BLOG: www.awolau.org/category/blog TWITTER: @awolAU TUMBLR: awolau.tumblr.com FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/awolAU

SUPPORT // AFFILIATIONS

CAMPUS PROGRESS AWOL is published with support from Campus Progress / Center for American Progress (online at CampusProgress.org) and the support of AU Student Activities. Campus Progress funds, trains and mentors students running a diverse and growing group of progressive campus media organizations.

Grants and assistance can help you build and maintain a web site, expand print runs and promote your organization on campus. For more, visit CampusProgress.org/publications.

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SHOUTS FROM THE CORNER

FIELD REPORTS

JABS AND JEST

03 KICKING THE HABIT: SWAPPING SWIPES FOR LOCAL EATS

09 THE DISTRICT AFTER DARK: KEEPING SEX WORKERS ON THE STREET

21 PROFESSOR PROFILE: EVE BRATMAN

by Taylor Kenkel

by Ashley Dejean

by Ashley Dejean

Eating local and off campus

Prostitution free zones in DC

AU’s green pirate

05 NOT A DRY CAMPUS: DRUNK ON LIBERALISM

by Joe Gruenbaum Conversations with AU conservatives

08 PET WORTH: RUNAWAY COSTS OF RUNAWAY PETS

by Eleanor Green How far will you go?

12 STUDENT VETS: WEARING THE YELLOW RIBBON

by Kelcie Pegher Funding student soldiers

16 PHOTO ESSAY: DANCING ACROSS CULTURES

by Ashley Dejean Youth in India learn Brazilian Capoeira

23 AWOL NEWSWIRE

by AWOL staff Editors’ choice news cuts

24 ROCKTOPI BABY: RAISING AN INFANT OCTOPUS IN AU’S DORMS

by Allison Butler Your how-to guide

25 YE OLDE DC BOOK KRAWLE: A GOOD READ ON EVERY CORNER

by Sara Lovett Meseemeth fain to find fair reads

In loving memory of Richard McCue.

SHOUTS FROM THE CORNER

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AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE MAGAZINE

Informed opinion and provocative editorial

KICKING THE HABIT

SWAPPING SWIPES FOR LOCAL EATS

By Taylor Kenkel // Illustration by Becca Barton

In an attempt to cut costs, college students are likely to supplement their Dining Dollars and meal swipes by embracing a steady diet of Ramen Noodles and convenience foods. This diet of TDR mandated meals and processed grab-and-go options is widely accepted by the average undergraduate as the least expensive and stressful route to travel during the school year.

Overworked and broke, students don’t care where their food comes from—as long as it’s cheap, it works. However, the methods used to grow, harvest, transport and sell food products have come under popular scrutiny in the past few years, and college students would be wise to put down their packaged protein bars and tune in to the conversation on local eating.

In 2005, Vancouver couple Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon published The 100-Mile Diet, a memoir sharing the experience of relying exclusively on produce grown within 100 miles of their home. Two years later, Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, an account of her family’s experience buying food grown in the area around their Virginia home, made “locavore” a household term. Although shunning national chain grocery stores in favor of farmers markets is now common, local eating is still stigmatized. Food companies and skeptics spin reliance on local agriculture as simultaneously elitist and backwards-thinking—branding the movement as a fringe attempt to undermine agricultural progress and send America back to the dark ages.

Dependence on large-scale supermarkets and out-of-season food shipped from halfway around the world is a troubling trend. Ignorant of or apathetic toward seasonal change, many modern consumers walk into the grocery store in December and expect to see Brazilian tomatoes nestled alongside South African apples and Doritos from who-knows-where.

Eating locally is possible even on a college budget and is often cheaper than relying on university food. The US Department of Agriculture estimates the grocery costs of a budget-constrained 19-50 year old male to be $52 a week. Spent wisely, $50 a week buys more than enough produce from the farmer’s market—for that much, one could purchase many carrots, a pound of apples, a bunch of kale, some beets, a couple of onions, half a pound of potatoes and a few cloves of garlic. Students can purchase essential baking staples or dried goods, like rice and beans, from bulk bins at a local health food stores or co-ops.

The basic American University meal plan for 2011-2012 first and second year on-campus students adds up to $2,270 per semester. The plan includes $400 of Dining Dollars and 150 meal swipes, or nine meals per week—nine swipes, each worth roughly $12.50, is $112.20 per week, not including any combination of the additional 12 breakfasts, lunches or dinners students must buy on their own. Even if a

student chooses to rely on the infamous Ramen Noodle diet to fill out the remaining meals, on-campus dining is twice as expensive as the low-cost grocery budget allotted by the USDA. DC boasts 11 producer-only farmers markets spring through fall. At least two, Dupont Circle and Silver Spring, stay open year-round. AU also hosts a small “farmers market” on the quad with produce from as far away as Pennsylvania. Although city markets dwarf school-

On-campus dining is twice as expensive as the low-cost grocery budget allotted by the USDA.

sponsored vendors, the on-campus market represents a step toward sustainable eating. On campus students held hostage by a mandatory meal plan are able to buy local fruits and vegetables to snack on and avoid filling the gaps between meal blocks with less advantageous options. Greater reliance on local produce does not restrict food choices or take the fun out of cuisine, and regional-focused diets hardly lack variety. Local apples and carrots serve as quick snacks in the fall, and summer berries can easily be frozen and saved for sweet treats in the fruit-scarce winter months. Undergraduates living off campus and not bound to a meal plan possess substantially more freedom in their food choices. With access to a standard kitchen and full-sized fridge, an off-campus student can thrive on a diet of organically grown—and creatively prepared—local produce.

Instead of supporting an unsustainable system in which the average meal travels over 1,500 miles from farm to factory to plate, students can elect to back a regionally minded system of producerconsumer interaction. By supporting local agriculture, students not only provide financial support for farmers but environmental support for the planet and nutritional support for themselves. Buying local produce empowers them to fight for a sustainable future through an act as simple as buying a bunch of carrots from a local farmer.

Some might find the jump from TDR to berries and kale a bit jarring. But, especially over the long term, a habitual diet of Ramen and Tavern fries at midnight doesn’t do the body, the wallet, or the planet any favors.

Taylor Kenkel is a junior studying print journalism.

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SHOUTS FROM THE CORNER

Informed opinion and provocative editorial

NOT A DRY CAMPUS

DRUNK ON LIBERALISM

by Joe Gruenbaum // Illustrations by Alissa Scheller

The Democratic Party is to American University as alcohol is to Jersey Shore; everybody partakes in it, and often there is so much it can get out of hand. You leave political conversations woozy, the stench of some 44-proof Obama lovin’ on your breath.

Now, I’m not complaining. Quotidian experience is functionally easier in an environment where everyone agrees. But just like flowing Keystone at a frat party, too much of one ideological opiate can distort our view of the world—and make us treat people differently than we would have otherwise. *** I loaded my 12-gauge, donned my steel-toed boots and hunting gear, pocketed my little black bible and drove my Ford F-250 Super Duty into the bowels of campus conservatism to find the last remnants of an endangered species here at AU: establishment Republicans.

What I found was a batch of very reasonable people with whom I, a sometimes-idealistic, independent social liberal, don’t much disagree with. The Republicans I interviewed had social views in line with the goodwill that marks AU one of the best places to be a LGBT college student. They were, like myself, irked at the political polarization of not only our country, but of our campus.

And some of them offered that AU’s polarization has become so unbalanced toward the Democratic Party that it has become futile for conservative students to even try to engage in a conversation. I’ve seen something similar myself: after the State of the Union, I asked a Republican floor-mate what he thought of the speech.

“Let’s not even get into it,” he said.

Are we creating an environment so entrenched that the power of the liberal line has metastasized to a size large enough that it distorts our marketplace of democracy? Here’s what a few of AU’s proud conservative freshman think about the issues of the 2012 presidential race, and how they are seen on campus.

“WE’RE FUCKED” I found out that Carter Lowe was a conservative by word of mouth.

He prefers the term “conservative” to “Republican,” both because of how Republicans are seen on campus and, “because it actually means

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AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE MAGAZINE

something.” He’s outgoing, a theatre major and his gestures are those of a practiced actor. He was born and raised in South Carolina, and he dresses impeccably. In line at Subway, I ask him about the Republican candidates.

“We’re fucked,” he says, with a chuckle, only half-kidding.

“But if you had to pick one, based on who is left,” I ask as he orders a Black Forest Ham from Subway.“Who would it be?”

“Well,” Lowe says. “I’ve always been okay with Romney. It’s sorta like that kid in your hall who you’re acquaintances with, and, like, you don’t know them, but you think: they seem pretty cool, I guess.”

Lowe’s ambivalence is shared by a majority of conservatives. Despite his perceived inevitability, Romney’s numbers have not captured enough momentum to jump above 24 to 25 percent. And even though Iowa and New Hampshire turned perception to reality for a time, Newt Gingrich was able to quickly steal followers in South Carolina. Romney found himself in 2nd place for the nomination in major tracking polls at one point. But Lowe doesn’t share in the enthusiasm.

“Gingrich is slime and I hate him,” says Lowe. I laugh, not expecting such a reaction from a fellow southerner.

“He plays the system,” he elaborates. “And he manipulates people. I know everybody does that, but he just seems so evil when he does it.”

Some of this attitude seems to have permeated into Florida and Nevada, where Romney found himself able to resoundingly defeat Gingrich.

“Huntsman was intelligent,” says Lowe. “And Ron Paul”—he stops to chuckle— “he just seems so cute. He’s just a cute old man.”

“What do you think of his libertarianism?” I ask.

“I don’t agree with it at all,” says Lowe. “I’m averse to sticking.

As intense as people have gotten about deregulation or regulation, I don’t think you should stick to one. I think there should be a flow, so, like: we’re screwed now, more regulation; and once we get better, less government interaction.”

Interestingly, that’s precisely what John Maynard Keynes argued.

But Lowe still considers himself a conservative. He finds business experience a valuable asset in a presidential candidate.

“So what would the perfect Republican candidate look like?” I ask.

“He would be a moderate Republican. He would be able to compromise. But he would be able to get people to compromise with him as well.”

“If you really look with perspective at Sarah Palin, think how unique she was,” Lowe says. “She was like the Tim Tebow of politics.” At this point, I choke on some thinly sliced lettuce because I’m laughing so hard—“because she wasn’t that good, but she was so interesting.”

“And do you think Romney can be that? A moderate Republican?”

“Mhmm. His background in Massachusetts suggests that he would be able to deal with people. And his background in business...I know people get mad at him when he sticks his suit in his mouth,” Lowe says. Romney’s outstretched hand, cocky smile, and “ten-thousanddollar bet, my friend,” come to mind before he continues. “But a business background is very good.”

I tell him governments function differently than Bain Capital or some other equity firm. They don’t pursue profit, but specific, electoratedefined responsibilities and general welfare.

“Why do you think a business background is good for making macroeconomic policy?” I ask.

“Well, first of all you have an understanding of it,” Lowe answers.

“America is a lot of things, but one of the things it is, is a business. And when there are people taking advantage of the system, just like in a company, you have to sort that out.”

“So would you vote for Obama now over Romney?” I ask.

Lowe thinks for a second.

“I would really have to examine, if it comes down to—well, I hope it’s not Gingrich,” he says, sighing. “If it is Romney, I would really have to examine each issue singularly and see how much I think Obama could get done about it. Issues that matter to me, like education, for example, Obama saying you can’t teach to the test in the State of the Union. That’s huge. That is huge.”

He says that’s “a slap to the face of what No Child Left Behind has become,” a policy he vehemently opposes.

We talk about gay marriage. Lowe supports it. We discuss party divisions, evangelicalism and libertarianism. His father is a pastor, and he criticizes Reagan for the rise of the religious right.

“How religion has become so tied in politics is disgusting, and it’s a bastardization of everything Jesus said. And it all started—I mean, I love the guy—but it all started with Reagan,” he says.

And finally I ask Lowe how he feels as a Republican on campus.

“Do you feel ostracized at all?”

“Oh, no, no, no,” he says, crumpling up his Subway wrapper.

“I could see how someone like my roommate,” who is a much more emphatic Republican, “might feel ostracized. But I don’t feel ostracized at all. Maybe in the summer I’ll get more into it, especially if Romney is the nominee.”

“What about the general election would make it more exciting?” I ask.

“Well, I can’t wait to see who Romney’s vice-presidential candidate will be,” Lowe says.

That’s really what Lowe thinks is missing from the candidates right now. He thinks the bigger problem is that none of them are compelling.

“2008 was so—both the primaries were great. But once we got to the general election, and John McCain was the nominee...”

I anticipate where he’s going.

“If you really look with perspective at Sarah Palin, think how unique she was,” Lowe says. “She was like the Tim Tebow of politics.” At this point, I choke on some thinly sliced lettuce because I’m laughing so hard—“because she wasn’t that good, but she was so interesting.”

“But here’s the difference,” I say, barely able to keep a straight face.

“Tim Tebow can actually play football.”

And from there we get into a debate about Tim Tebow’s mechanics. Lowe calls his throwing technique “an embarrassment to football” and the conversation ventures elsewhere, and those things that we share start to trump those on which we differ. As we berate the Broncos, I think to myself that I wish more political discussions were like the one I just had.

“THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS FALLING APART” Morgan Tadych is the only person to respond to my Facebook post asking for Republican interviewees—and she does so enthusiastically.

She has short hair and intelligent grey-blue eyes. She’s a proud member of Army ROTC and regularly attends College Republicans meetings. She’s originally from Wisconsin, where Governor Scott Walker recently took a machete to state spending and union rights. We start where I started with Lowe: the 2012 election.

Tadych notes the lackluster candidates. “The Republican party is

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SHOUTS FROM THE CORNER

Informed opinion and provocative editorial

“[Republicans] are so marginalized on campus,” Tadych explains. “It’s sort of like, ‘you’re not one of us.’”

falling apart,” she says before we’re even sitting down.

“I mean, I was a Pawlenty fan, but he dropped out last August.”

Pawlenty, a popular former Minnesota governor, dropped out while polling around seven percent. If he had waited some say he might be a front runner now. Santorum was polling at only three percent then and has gained enormous traction, winning the Iowa caucuses.

“So did Huntsman appeal to you?” I ask.

“I mean, Huntsman didn’t have the base that Pawlenty did because he just got back from China. So Pawlenty was a social moderate, and he had decent economic and foreign policy,” she says. “But then he dropped out, and then I didn’t really support anyone.”

She stops for a second.

“Well, I kinda supported Perry. But then he turned out to be a jackass,” she says.

“Do you think you supported him because the Republican establishment had big expectations for him?” I ask.

“Possibly. But I liked his foreign policy,” Tadych says.

“What do you think of Ron Paul?” I ask.

“I don’t support him because I’m in the Army. I’m not going to have a job when he’s president,” she says.

Ron Paul does put forth a legitimate argument, echoed by establishment Republicans when criticizing Obama, that spending is unsustainable. I wonder what a soldier-to-be thinks about cutting the military.

“We need to cut, but we can coordinate agencies, merge defense departments and make it more useful spending,” she responds.

A lot of what she’s saying falls in line with proposals the Obama administration has been making recently on the domestic front. For years now, the administration has been attempting to “streamline” the federal bureaucracy, by reducing the number of agencies.

We turn to foreign policy, and Tadych tells me she believes the Obama administration should be harder on Iran in terms of sanctions.

“Isn’t that what Obama’s been doing?” I ask.

“Obama’s had so much on his plate. So, I mean, Iran is like flash in the pan.”

I like the rhyme, but more interesting is how easily she brushes off the issue.

“You almost sound sympathetic to Obama.”

The idea is foreign to me. Republicans having empathy? Impossible.

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But my jaw hits the floor when she continues.

“Yeah, I kind of am. I kind of see where he’s coming from, but I guess he’s more a domestically focus president, and I’d like to see more of a foreign-focused president.”

I challenge her on this. We talk about Afghanistan and blowback and the dangers of occupation, and eventually she reveals she’s a disciple of George H.W. Bush. Interventions should be intense and over quickly. Get in, get off, get out, or don’t go in at all. I don’t disagree.

And then I ask her how she feels as a Republican on campus. “[Republicans] are so marginalized on campus,” Tadych explains.

“It’s sort of like, ‘you’re not one of us.’ There’s no legitimate dialogue, no ‘what do you think, and why do you think that?’” she says, genuinely frustrated, and I can see that she has a point.

“It’s ‘hey, did you hear about that douche-bag Perry?’ Just stuff like that,” she says. “It’s such a liberal environment that it’s hostile, almost.”

A liberal campus is a convenient campus. But no matter the ideology, ideological purity is not something to be desired. We have a tendency to become drunk with our own political creed, putting the success of our paradigm before progress, or worse, believing that our paradigm represents progress. So maybe it’s time we put down the democratic-party-line bottle and spend some more time trying to understand those who disagree with us.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, in the morning, Republican policies might still be ugly, but at least we will have made that judgment sober.

Joe Gruenbaum is a freshman studying international relations, economics and philosophy.

PET WORTH

RUNAWAY COSTS OF RUNAWAY PETS

By Eleanor Greene // Illustration by Carolyn Becker

If you haven’t seen pictures of a beagle plastered on yellow fliers all over the city, you should probably open your eyes. Sassafras is a beagle with a “distinctive flag-like tail” and a couple of dedicated owners. Jeff Abramson and Beth Edinger have been searching for their beloved pet since April, hanging and distributing over 6,000 fliers. However, they’re not alone—many members of the community have joined the search.

After about a month of looking, owner Abramson started a campaign aimed at local media outlets, which snowballed into a national story. “Sassy” has been featured on the Anderson Cooper talk show, the Today Show blog and on the front page of The Washington Post. A blog with nearly 100,000 hits (findsassafras.net), a Twitter account (@FindSassafras) and a short film by AU grad student Jon Hussey have also been staples of the “Find Sassafras” movement.

It’s hard not to hear Sassafras’ story and wonder how far Abramson and Edinger will go before their dog comes home. On their blog’s FAQ page, the owners simply say that they’ve spent “a lot” on the mission, acknowledging that the cost is continually growing. However, as of September, they had spent over $10,000. Sassafras is prone to seizures and had been on medication for six months before she disappeared. The costs of her medical bills and her veterinary neurologist compounded with the additional search funds would have caused less motivated or well-off pet owners to give up the search.

Freshman Gabrielle Jette, who has three dogs and two cats, thinks that’s a lot of money.

“It’s sad to say its not worth it, but in reality, it’s too much,” she said. “Ten thousand dollars is too much.” Sassy’s family, however, reaffirms that their optimism and hope reflects money well-spent.

The term “animal tracker” might bring up the image of a microchip imbedded under

the skin of a pet. Sassafras has one of those, but she also has a different kind of animal tracker. Sam and Salsa are the human and canine team from Pure Gold Pet Trackers that are responsible for bringing the hope “rushing in unbidden” Edinger said. The search doesn’t come cheap though—tracking with the olfactory-enhanced dog runs $100 per hour, no small cost for a family that’s offering a large reward and has a baby at home. Edinger said tracking sessions lift spirits, but morale is more of a struggle. In the end, late night calls from neighbors or residents reassuring her that Sassafras is still alive help Edinger the most. She credits some of those late night sightings to the “quirky” schedules of AU students.

Rebecca Day, an AU student, has yet to call, but has been helping with the cause in her own way. Her involvement started out as a way to decorate her door at the beginning of the year, taking cool or funny posters off walls on campus. Then, on her way to work in September, she saw a Sassafras poster.

“I thought ‘Oh, this is the dog that everyone’s talking about,’” she said. This may not have been what Edinger and Abramson wanted for the poster, but the poster’s presence on campus has helped get

“It’s sad to say its not worth it, but in reality, it’s too much,” she said. “Ten thousand dollars is too much.”

the word out to AU students. The bright yellow flier, which miraculously survived the winter hallway cleanup, may help to make passerbys aware that Sassafras is still missing.

For many AU students who are without an animal companion, their pets are often considered extensions of the family. Nonetheless, it’s hard to imagine spending money on an animal that requires more than two pinches of food every day.

Having a pet isn’t cheap; the ASPCA says that owners spend between $715 and $800 per year on each dog or cat they own. The cost combined with the necessary responsibility of owning a pet is enough incentive to make most students wait until they have real jobs and homes. Maybe the temporary isolation from their pets makes it harder for some young people to relate to a predicament like that of Sassy’s owners. Maybe that’s why Edinger and Abramson get the occasional call from people trying to scam them out of the hefty reward.

For freshman Caitlin Freiss, not having a cat in her life is almost as bad as losing one. She and her roommate considered living on campus next year, but what drew them toward off-campus housing wasn’t just the lower cost, but also the possibility of being a foster home to cats through the Washington Humane Society. Freiss has even done research on what kind of human food cats could eat, because the cost of owning a pet can get expensive. Abramson and Edinger can certainly relate to Freiss’ hopefulness about providing lost pets with loving homes.

Eleanor Greene is a freshman studying print journalism.

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FIELD REPORTS

In-depth examination of the issues that matter

THE DISTRICT AFTER DARK

KEEPING SEX WORKERS ON THE STREET

By Ashley Dejean // Illustration by Carolyn Becker

As we’re sleeping soundly in bed or buckling down in the library

“One individual actually had a misdemeanor of prostitution 12

for an all-nighter, the city we know undergoes a transformation.

years ago who got fired from a food service job,” Clay said. “What

Streets that Metro travelers frequent by day become boulevards for

we’re looking at is a tragic cycle of incarceration, being back on the

sex workers by night.

streets and not being able to find employment, but still being faced

Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive, commonly known as HIPS, sends an outreach van down those streets at night, providing sex workers with safe sex materials, harm reduction tips, hot chocolate, candy and a friendly face.

children, some way to feed themselves.”

The transgender community is particularly prone to unemployment due to discrimination. “Trans people also face self-reinforcing cycles of poverty leading to disparities in the areas of employment,

HIPS meets sex workers “where they’re at” and does not pass

education, healthcare and housing,” said Alison Gill, a member of

judgement on the individuals they work with. They exist to give the

the DC Trans Coalition. “This is particularly true for trans women of

workers support in the decisions they make whether they continue

color. An unfortunate number of trans women find that the only way

to engage in sex work or try to get off the streets.

they can survive is by engaging in sex work.”

However, some sex workers find themselves in a cycle of structural violence that makes getting off the streets almost impossible.

Cyndee Clay, executive director of HIPS, spoke to this reality.

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with some way they have to pay their bills, some way to feed their

AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE MAGAZINE

*** This world isn’t far removed from the residents near and around Eastern Avenue. Andina Keith, member of Citizens Against Prostitu-

tion, is tired of the prostitution that spills over from Eastern Avenue into her community of Fairmont Heights. She says residents have barricaded their driveways with chains and trashcans to discourage prostitution in their yards.

“We are not a truck stop that you see in the movies, we’re not a red light district, we’re not a warehouse community,” Keith said. “We are a small community with a very small police department that has to deal with all of the ills that flow from Washington DC. Church lots, front yards, back yards, sides of homes, steps, backs of alleys are all used as an open motel.”

Keith says one girl had to have her bus stop changed off Eastern

“Many trans people gather in areas frequented by other trans people including sex workers and think of these areas as spaces of work, community organization and organizational outreach.”

Avenue because she was asked by a “john,” the name used for men who hire prostitutes, if she was for hire. Families raising children in the neighborhood such as Nakkiyah Gant in Ward 7 have voiced particular concern about prostitution in their community. Understandably, families are concerned about what their children might be exposed to.

DC City Councilmember Yvette Alexander is tired of hearing about the prostitution problem in Ward 7 she says affects her constituents’ quality of life. In response, she’s proposed an amendment that seeks to give the Chief of Police for the Metropolitan Police Department the power to declare permanent prostitution-free zones, or PFZ’s.

The Chief of Police was given the power to declare PFZ’s for a maximum of 10 days in 2006, the same year the Council criminalized prostitution. Prior to 2006, only solicitation was illegal. PFZ’s give the police department the power to order two or more people to disperse who they reasonably believe are congregating “for the purpose of engaging in prostitution or prostitution-related activities.” If those congregating fail to disperse, the MPD has the power to arrest them.

To date, no arrests have been made for failure to disperse, and PFZ’s can now last up to 20 days.

While the entire District is technically supposed to be prostitution-free, Councilmember Phil Mendelson explains the purpose of the zones.

law is not an element of the offense.

Alexander’s proposed amendment does not remedy this.

“Without specifying as an element of the crime that the defendant have intent to engage in a specific criminal act, such as solicitation of prostitution, courts have generally held the statue to be unconstitutionally vague,” Levinson-Waldman said. If brought to court, Alexander’s amendment would almost certainly not hold up and the American Civil Liberties Union would likely sue, according to Rick Rosendall of Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance. In an interview with The Washington Post, Alexander all but conceded defeat.

The transgender community and its allies believe the issue of profiling is another concern with legal implications.

“There is a very widespread reporting that we’re getting from the community that members of the community feel profiled,” Rosendall said. “I began this conversation with the police department in the late 90’s about the fact that we’re continually hearing from transgender individuals that they are presumed by officers to be prostitutes merely because of their personal appearance, which is a violation of the DC Human Rights Act.”

“These are specific areas where there has been a chronic problem of

Alison Gill, a member

street prostitution,” Mendelson said. “Once the prostitution free zone is

of the DC Trans Coalition, thinks PFZ’s allow officers to unfairly target the trans community.

declared and posted, the police have the ability to prevent prostitutes from congregating or having discussions with potential customers.”

The idea behind PFZ’s is that if police control and put more resources into that area for a short period of time, business will be disrupted. Alexander says she doesn’t believe it has been successful in her ward and complains it can take a whole year to get another PFZ declared.

“Twenty days is not long enough,” she said. “As soon as that 20 days is up, that activity happens again.”

Alexander’s measure is unlikely to pass though, due to constitutional concerns. The DC Attorney General’s office has “substantial concerns” about the constitutionality of the law already in place, and making the zones permanent could exacerbate these concerns according to Ariel Levinson-Waldman, senior counsel to the DC Attorney General. The reason for this concern—which the Attorney General’s office addressed before the act passed in 2006—is that under the current legislation, intent to violate the

“Many trans people gather in areas frequented by other trans people including sex workers and think of these areas as spaces of work, community organization and organizational outreach,” Gill said. “These areas are especially likely to be named PFZ’s since the police often equate trans women with sex workers.

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pushing them to less safe areas of the city.” *** Constitutional and legal concerns aren’t the only reasons opponents object to PFZ’s and their expansion. Some argue PFZ’s don’t work and only push sex workers to the outskirts of the city, into more dangerous neighborhoods. Cyndee Clay from HIPS says her numbers back this up. A WAMU report says the arrests in Ward 2, where downtown DC is housed, have gone down 10 percent and arrests in Ward 7, Alexander’s Ward, have more than tripled based on the District’s crime data.

“And since the enactment of the free zones, we’ve had to go out into larger areas of the community,” Clay says. “We’ve both experienced more violence that our clients have faced and also what my

“So, you’re increasing our law enforcement

*** Maybe the way to get people off the streets isn’t to increase the penalties for repeat offenders, like the DC Council did in 2009, or increase the law enforcement like some are trying to do now.

Perhaps the solution has more to do with reducing barriers and increasing programs to help sex workers find other options.

“Diversion programs are being cut from the city, HIV prevention programs specifically for this population are being cut from the city, and programs that are really out there working 24/7,” Clay said. “So, you’re increasing our law enforcement response to the issue while at the same time you are decreasing the number of social services and programs that are really designed to help people off the streets. We feel like this is just a really bad investment in our community.”

time you are decreasing the number of

Clay says one program HIPS worked on with the court had a 80 percent graduation rate and a 90 percent non-recidivism rate before it was cut about a year ago. To Clay, it doesn’t make sense to cut these resources and then ask for a greater criminal response to the issue.

social services and programs that are really

Newsham agrees that the problem needs to be addressed at a deeper level.

designed to help people off the streets. We

“You have problems that the people who are involved in the conduct almost exclusively have drug, alcohol addictions and mental illness concerns,” Newsham said. “I would think that to really eliminate or to have some impact on that ongoing problem in that area, you have to address those concerns. We have at our disposal laws to address and make arrests, but I’m not necessarily convinced that arrests have [had a major impact] on the problem in that particular area.”

response to the issue while at the same

feel like this is just a really bad investment in our community.”

outreach workers have faced. Our van was shot at three or four times within a year and a half after the free zones were enacted in the center of the city.”

Clay also says a lot of the sex workers aren’t aware when a PFZ is declared.

“Another thing that we’ve found from our conversations with people out on the streets: people aren’t often entirely aware of the fact that there’s a free zone enacted,” Clay said. “When we actually tried to get testimony from people who had been affected by the free zones, many of them weren’t able to articulate when it was just regular law enforcement activity and when it was specific around free zone activity. They just knew an officer told them that they had to move on, so they had to move on.”

Peter Newsham, Assistant Chief of the Investigative Services Bureau, says the impact of the zones is hard to pinpoint, but that his arrest numbers show the opposite trend. He also says there’s an overall decrease in arrests for street prostitution, but it can’t necessarily be attributed to PFZ’s.

“Prostitution in the District of Columbia used to be more of a street level problem; however, the prevalence of the Internet and other

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social media has driven a lot of prostitution behind closed doors, including hotels, illegal massage parlors and brothels, where it is easier to avoid law enforcement scrutiny,” Newsham said.

AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE MAGAZINE

While Alexander says she supports a comprehensive approach, it’s not unreasonable to question that commitment. She doesn’t seem to be taking it very seriously when she leans over to whisper something in Councilmember Mendelson’s ear, laughing while an opponent testifies. It seems that policymakers are more concerned with removing sex workers from certain wards than they are with actually finding a constructive solution. It’s unlikely Alexander will drop the issue once her amendment fails to pass, but what approach she takes next will be telling to her intentions.

“In some person’s eyes, it has worked because they don’t deal with the plight in their communities where they live because the zones were put in place,” Alexander said. “So you can’t tell them that it doesn’t work. As long as you don’t see the problem in front of you then it’s fine with them.”

Ashley Dejean is a junior studying International Development.

STUDENT VETS

WEARING THE YELLOW RIBBON

By Kelcie Pegher // Photos by Claire Dapkiewicz

John Kamin had already served one tour in Iraq by the time he applied to American University. So had Rob Peavey and Roger Deming.

Daniel Feeman, on the other hand, had been serving at the White House for five years by the time he applied. All have one thing in common—they are student veterans of a new generation.

On December 15 2011, only a speech from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta marked the closing ceremonies of the Iraq War. After eight years and nine months, the war in Iraq has been debated over the course of two presidential elections, resulting in 4,487 US casualties and left 32,226 Americans wounded in action.

One legacy the Iraq War has left behind is the generation of student veterans now attending college in their mid to late twenties. According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, approximately 523,000 veterans were in college in 2008. American University’s number of veterans have doubled since 2009, with over 200 self-identified veterans.

Student veterans at AU receive benefits from the Post 9/11 GI Bill.

Introduced by Virginian Sen. Jim Webb, the bill was implemented in August 2009. Until 2011, the Post 9/11 GI Bill completely covered tuition and fees at all in-state universities. As part of the most recent version of the bill, the Department of Veterans Affairs capped aid for private universities, such as AU, at $17,500 per year.

Beginning on January 1, Basic Allowance for Housing stipends, which fund extraneous college costs, are cross-checked with any federal scholarship money. If they do have federal scholarship money, it is deducted from their stipend.

In the fall of 2009, AU began the Yellow Ribbon Program, which covers tuition costs not covered by the GI Bill for student veterans. Institutions such as AU enter into a Yellow Ribbon Agreement with the Department of Veteran Affairs. The University chooses the amount of tuition and fees to contribute, and the Department of Veteran Affairs matches that amount, paying it directly to the institution.

Kamin, a student veteran, calls the Yellow Ribbon “an outstanding achievement for AU and really for the VA.” AWOL sat down with four student veterans to discuss their life and changes since coming to American University. Here are their stories:

ROB PEAVEY – AN IRAQ VETERAN BY CHANCE Rob Peavey, a film major focusing on documentary film-making, joined the Army in June 1997. He was 17 when he signed the initial contract and 18 when he went to basic training. He is tall, with a beard

Peavey’s experience in the Army took him to Hawaii, Fort Bliss, and to Korea four times before he went to Kuwait.

and brown eyes. His speech is soft and clear.

For the first six months of the Iraq War, he spent time in Hawaii, Korea, Fort Bliss, and finally Kuwait. Peavey was in Fort Bliss when the Twin Towers were hit. His base immediately went on high alert.

“I think the majority of the soldiers were ready to go to Afghanistan,” he said. “But then a few days when our brigade commander briefed us, he said ‘We can’t send everyone, we gotta stay here,’” he described. “I think that was so they could prepare us for invading Iraq.

I think that’s why we had to stay behind, we couldn’t all go to Afghanistan.”

Peavey was an individual augmentee, which means he was assigned to units when needed. He was sent to Iraq for six months until his contract expired. While in Iraq, he didn’t see much combat.

“The only real combat I saw was when the war started. It was only the first week; they were firing missiles at us,” Peavey explains. “They were all shot out of the sky or misfires. This one day was really, the explosions were real close. I was about to fall asleep and the explosions happened. Then we found out the sky missiles were directed towards a building I worked at where all the generals were.”

“So that was exciting,” Peavey said. “For about a week I didn’t really get much sleep, but after that it was just,” Peavey paused. “Boredom.”

While he didn’t see much combat, the war in Iraq made the veteran more anti-war.

“When I was in the military, I thought like all the other soldiers, I was defending our freedom. But when I got out, I realized that we really aren’t,” Peavey said. “We start all these wars—it made me realize I became a bigger advocate of anti-war movement.”

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sity, before transferring to Cornell University.

“I realized I needed the Army as much as they needed me.”

Peavey got back from his service in Kuwait and went through reintegration training before returning back to his small town in Tennessee.

“After two years of dead end jobs I realized I needed more than an Army education,” he said.

He decided to attend community college for an associate’s degree and joined Phi Theta Kappa, the international honors society that focuses on two year colleges.

“I got an email from American University and they were looking for PTK students and I noticed they had a decent film school,” he said. “So I applied. It was the only school ever I applied to, and they accepted me.”

Peavey says coming to AU was his only path, and he wouldn’t have been able to do it without the Post 9/11 GI Bill.

ROGER DEMING – THE FACE OF AU VETS Roger Deming is accustomed to juggling commitments. He became the president of Student Veterans of America at AU in the fall and has been a student government class senator for two years.

During his active duty, which lasted from 2004 until 2009, he went on two separate tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. His return from Iraq was easier than his transition coming home from Afghanistan.

“I was coming back with guys who were going through the same thing,” said Deming of his experience in Iraq. Because he was still active duty, his life was more or less the same. “With Afghanistan, I was actually pretty busy prepping to get ready for college,” he said.

Deming chose DC for the same reason most choose DC: politics.

Prior to joining the military, Deming was enrolled at Clarkson Univer-

A TIMELINE OF SERVICE The veterans featured in this article all spent from months to years in either Iraq or Afghanistan. The timeline puts their service in the context of history.

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Looking back, Deming said he should have recognized this earlier. “Shouldn’t have wasted so much of my parents’ money,” he said with a chuckle.

“And realized I needed the Army as much as they needed me.”

Deming found the same sentiment at AU through the veterans coordinator, who connected him with the new veterans group. He ended up in a house full of other veterans, where he has been living since he transferred.

When he first attended AU, he was not Deming, 27, hopes to attend law school after receiving the money graduating from AU. for the Post 9/11 GI Bill, because he was only attending the University part time. By his second semester, he was able to use his GI benefits, but could not collect money for the Yellow Ribbon program.

The Yellow Ribbon program at AU has a three week application window. Deming described this as especially difficult for first year transfer students, as well as prospective students overseas. “There’s been people like me who qualify, but because it was the first year here at AU, we didn’t know how the system worked.”

By the second academic year, Deming and most other veterans he has met were able to receive the full benefits of the Yellow Ribbon program. “Right now, AU has done a tremendous job where anyone

ROB PEAVEY KUWAIT ROGER DEMING IRAQ

2003 Bush launches war in Iraq

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“I wasn’t prepared for the environment I was in,” Deming said. “I did ROTC in college, and I found myself realizing the only thing I tried to prepare for or look forward to was the ROTC stuff I do.”

2004 Saddam Hussein captured

2005 Bush re-elected

Iraq troop death toll hits 1,500

2006

who has managed to apply for the Yellow Ribbon, they’ve been able to cover,” Deming said.

“A lot of what I see is that the administration wants to help—they’re just not always sure how,” Deming said. He thinks a big part of that is what we see in society. He explained the problem as a disconnect between the most recent generation of veterans and the few who served in combat in the 30 year gap after the Vietnam War. Deming hopes that when the current generation of veterans are older there will be a shift in attitude about the mental stability and hiring potential of veterans.

“But by then there might have been 15 years of no military conflict in the US, so there’s not going to be a whole bunch of veterans that need help,” he said.

JOHN KAMIN – THE VETERAN WHO ADVOCATES “I think every boy at some time in their life imagines themselves as something great,” John Kamin explained over coffee. For Kamin, it was becoming a soldier.

For the New York native, Hofstra University made the most sense as a college choice. “I had gone to college because that’s what all my other high school friends were doing, and that’s what my parents wanted me to do,” he said. “But I didn’t really understand why I was doing it, and after the first year, I didn’t really want to do it anymore.”

He enlisted in 2005, at the age of 20, and chose the Army.

Kamin did one tour in Iraq and was honorably discharged in 2008— making the choice to go back to Hofstra University for another two semesters. “It was like my first time, only I was a little older, a little more mature,” said Kamin.

The second time around, Hofstra University was easier than the first, almost too easy. So Kamin decided to challenge himself, applying to Columbia, Duke, Vanderbilt and American University. “I was really blown away by the environment,” said Kamin of AU. “It was the only thing that really clicked.”

At AU, Kamin immediately joined AU Vets and held an internship where he could advocate for veterans. Kamin explained his internship

“It was the first time I realized I could still,” he struggled to find the words.

“That this was still part of my identity outside of the military. That it wasn’t anything I had to hide, or only mention at parties, or not to wear on my sleeve, but that you shouldn’t run away from what you did.”

Kamin has found a feeling of community among other veterans. He remembers going to a nightclub in Kamin, 26, is also a member of Delta Phi Savannah his third night Epsilon, the Professional Foreign Service out after coming back from Fraternity.

Iraq. “I’m not really into it, I don’t like nightclubs anyway, especially then,” he explained. “I was passing by someone in the hallway by the bathroom and I say, ‘You look really familiar. Were you in 269 Infantry, 369 Armor, I think?’ and he was like ‘Yeah yeah yeah, what’s up man?’ And I asked ‘Did you just get back here too?’ and he said, ‘Yeah it kind of sucks, right?’ Just kind of having those kind of connections where you have someone who you immediately think of as a friend, someone who is close to you.”

His identity has become more shaped by the military as he has continued his college career. It became abundantly clear he couldn’t forget when the Army recalled him for a second tour in Iraq. At that time, the Post 9/11 GI Bill was just being implemented, but had problems in its first semester.

“Very few of us got paid the first semester or got money that would pay for school,” said Kamin. “It’s funny, I got my first check from the VA on January 18, which was my second day back in the Army, so it was like ‘Thanks a lot,’” he said with a chuckle. His second tour lasted nine months, and he had only a few weeks before going back to school.

helped him be more comfortable with his identity as a veteran.

Kamin was elected as president of AU Vets in the spring of 2011.

AFGHANISTAN JOHN KAMIN IRAQ

IRAQ

2007 Hussein executed by hanging

2008 Iraq troop death toll reaches 3,500

A Pentagonsponsored study finds no link between Hussein and al Qaeda

2009 Obama elected

2010 US forces begin to withdraw from Iraq

2011 Osama bin Laden killed

US declares end of Iraq War

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He was also asked to run for president of the national branch of Student Veterans of America, but lost. Kamin is currently interning at the Student Veterans of America and, in his free time, is in the process of setting up a group for American University veteran alumni.

“There’s a natural component of being quiet and reserved and humble about your service that 99.9% of all veterans I’ve met share,” said Kamin. “It ain’t ever going to be like a fraternity where you can just wear your letters—that’s not the way veterans do things. You owe it to your friends that are still in the service, you owe it to friends you may have lost to not prattle about your exploits.”

DANIEL FEEMAN – THE VETERAN WHO MISSED THE WAR Daniel Feeman comes from a military family. His father was in the Marines and so are two of his brothers. Like many other student veterans, Feeman went to college before enlisting. He was unenthusiastic about attending North Seattle Community College. He was on a partial lacrosse scholarship at the time and didn’t care enough about his grades.

Feeman decided to make a change. He enlisted in the Marine Corps on a Friday and left the next Sunday. He was active duty for five years, during the most lethal time of both the wars.

From 2005 – 2007, 2,879 men and women died in either Iraq or Afghanistan, according to The Washington Post’s Faces of the Fallen, a photo database of American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Military police at that point had five year contracts because the route security in Iraq was getting blown up on a daily basis, and they needed guys to stay in,” Feeman explained. “There was a Photo Credit: Daniel Feeman level of expectation Feeman, 26, with Nela there—my level of expectation was that I would finish MP [military police] school and end up doing route security in either Iraq or Afghanistan.”

Feeman finished high in his military police class and won the opportunity to go to military working dog school. His goal was to go into a program that hunted bomb-makers with dogs.

“In hindsight, I’m really glad I didn’t do it,” he said. “They ended up with the nickname sniper bait.”

While he was there, a recruiter from Marine Corps One had a meet-

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ing looking for men and women to work in the White House Military Office. Feeman had no interest in the meeting and instead was on barracks duty.

“He met me, and to quote him, he ‘liked the cut of my jib’ and asked me why I hadn’t applied for it,” Feeman explained. “I said because I wanted to go to Afghanistan…and he went ‘I’ll tell you what, if you

“He was like ‘Believe me, you don’t believe it now, but in a couple years, you’ll figure out that I did you the biggest favor you’ve ever had.’”

put in an application with me and I can’t take you or you really don’t want to do it, I’ll frontline you for the program.’”

Feeman signed the paperwork only to find out a few months later the recruiter never had the intention of putting him into the program that hunted bombs. “He was like ‘Believe me, you don’t believe it now, but in a couple years, you’ll figure out that I did you the biggest favor you’ve ever had,’” Feeman said. “And he’s right, completely.”

He had the opportunity to work for two presidents and went to 22 countries in his time at the White House Military Office. When it came time to apply to college, American University was the only one who offered the full Yellow Ribbon Program.

“Georgetown offered me a full thousand dollars and I was like, ‘No thank you,’” he explained jovially. “That was the whole reason I went to AU, because they did the full Yellow.”

At American, Feeman sometimes found it difficult to relate to the idealism of doe-eyed college students. “The Marine Corps is really good at ruining whatever ideology you have that the world can be fixed in any way,” Feeman said. “You’re not very optimistic by nature.”

Feeman graduated from American in December, one year and 11 months after he began. He did so by taking more than a full class schedule and adding on summer classes. He called himself an absentee member of AU Vets and just joined the National Association of Uniformed Service, which works to maintain military rights.

Feeman admits he was lucky to get a job at the White House Military Office. “He wouldn’t have met me if I hadn’t been on barracks duty, which was a completely random happenstance. So it’s both lucky and what it is,” Feeman said. “People taking care of you and being good at what you do.”

Kelcie Pegher is a senior studying print journalism.

DANCING ACROSS CULTURES:

YOUTH IN INDIA LEARN BRAZILIAN CAPOEIRA Words and photos by Ashley Dejean

A group called Cati-patang-poeira teaches capoeira, a playful Brazilian martial art, to kids in the Bainganwadi slum in Mumbai. Bainganwadi holds the largest landfill in the city and mounds and mounds of trash surround the slums. Many of the kids in the capoeira class have either lost their parents to or have parents suffering from tuberculosis or leprosy.

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These capoeira lessons are about more than just learning to dance—they’re about empowering the kids to reach higher and exposing them to new ideas. Before last year, many of the children had never traveled outside of the slums. On New Year’s Day, they took the kids to a beach in Mumbai. Most of the kids had never seen so much open space in their lives.

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All of the kids are given nicknames in Brazilian, a tradition that comes from the original capoeiristas— African slaves in Brazil. Capoeira was a crime back in the colonial days, and all the capoeiristas had nicknames so they wouldn’t be identified even under torture if caught by the police. The nicknames often teasingly or playfully describe a characteristics of the capoeirista. The girl pictured is named Raposa, meaning “fox.”

The class room is too small for everyone to learn at the same time. Fortunately, music is a major part of capoeira.

Typically, half of the students make music while the others dance.

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The kids grow up beating each other all the time. Violence is something of a game in these slums. When capoeira instructors Shantanu (or Chico, Brazilian Boy) and Sunil (or Sucuri, anaconda) visited the school the kids attend, they broke up a fight between two students. When they looked up at the playground afterwards, they saw eight other groups of kids fighting. Initially, the kids used violence against one another when there was conflict. Since the start of the program, the students have learned to work together and solve their problems in less aggressive ways.

The teachers work to build trust with the students and connect. They don’t want to come in from the outside and just teach, but form meaningful relationships with the kids and improve their lives by inspiring and empowering them.

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In October, the students had their first performance in Bainganwadi. They worked on a Dandiya routine for the Navratri festival, a celebration of the Hindu goddess Durga, and performed it for over 500 people.

Dandiya is a dance performed with two sticks called dandiyas that represent the swords of Durga. The dance itself was representative of the violence in Bainganwadi slums. It began with the girls dancing peacefully, representing the neighborhood during the day, where the air is playful and light. As night falls, the boys come in violently with their dandiyas. This represents the hostility prevalent in this slum, mostly brought on by the men of the community.

After an aggressive Maculele (Brazilian war dance) routine, a bigger and more aggressive boy comes in to overpower the others, and a fight amongst them ensues. By the end, all of them have fallen, showing that violence vanquishes all who use it. In the end, the women revive the fallen boys and do an Afro-dance routine together, symbolizing the relationship the men and women of this community share—how one cannot survive without the other, and how peace is sustained by the balance they maintain in the society to show the importance of peace and harmony.

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Innovation, wit and cogent wisdom

PROFESSOR PROFILE

PROFESSOR BRATMAN ON LOCALIZING DEVELOPMENT

By Ashley Dejean // Photos by Aaron Berkovich & Eve Bratman

Whether it’s composting with worms or taking care of AU’s beehive (yes, we have bees!), International Development Professor Eve Bratman is always looking for ways to live more sustainability. This “green pirate” makes a yearly pilgrimage to Brazil for her research. Earlier this year, she asked the provocative question, “Is DC a Third World City?” But don’t take our word for it, let the woman speak!

How did you get into beekeeping?

Joe [Clapper, an Assistant Dean in SIS,] offered a Dean’s Discretionary Grant to me in the spring of last year to get started bee keeping. It was largely a result of having joked with him. I kept saying, “Joe, if you

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What do you find really interesting about bees?

There are a million factoids. They spend 98 percent of their life spans in total darkness. When they go out foraging, it’s all based on the waggle dance bees do inside of the hive, which tells the bees the direction of the flowers or the trees they should go forage in as well as the distance. They forage within a three mile radius of wherever their hive is and know by the smell of their queen and because they have good memories for directions, how to go off three miles away and then all the way back to their hive.

Have you ever been stung?

guys don’t have the resources for a full green roof, we might as well

Oh, yes. Many a time. And it’s okay—I’m here to tell the tale. At first

start with bees. What’s a couple of hives up on the roof? No big deal.”

I wasn’t using any protective gear because when bees are very young,

The resources for a green roof are hopefully going to come and we’re

you don’t need to because their stingers aren’t fully developed yet. It’s

starting where we can—with a bee hive.

actually a pretty miraculous thing that you can actually just scoop

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don’t work anymore, so it rocks, but it does not move on its own power. It’s a very comfortable living space. In the wintertime I use space heaters to stay warm. I’m trying to be as eco-friendly as possible on the boat. There was a story about me in the Earth Day issue of Politico in 2010 that talked about me as a green pirate. I live small. You kind of have to have a thick skin for all the stuff that can go wrong on a boat. My pumps can break or my plumbing can not be as smooth as it would be if it was connected to the main city system. I’ve developed quite a lot of handywoman skills throughout the course of living on a boat. I’ve been there for three years.

Can you talk about your research in the Amazon?

up a bunch of buzzing honey bees and not really worry much about getting stung. They’re quite docile as a species, so they’ll only sting when they feel threatened or when they’ve got something to defend.

The hive started on the SIS roof, and quickly thereafter we got funding together and started two additional hives here on campus, the honey co-op hives. Those hives were struggling a lot during the tropical storm. When I went to go check the hives right after the storm, I got stung on my lip, and I looked like Shrek. Literally my lip was flopping in the wind, it was so swollen.

Do you have any long term plans for the bees?

I hope that we can harvest some honey. Also, as part of this Green Eagle Grant we have funding for a hive camera so that we could potentially stream images of what’s going on just outside the beehives into the Davenport Coffee Lounge. That’s part of the vision for raising awareness about the bees. A lot of what I aim to do as a professor is to get students to think about the international issues in ways that are tangible and personal. As I see it, a lot of my work around the bees here on campus is a way of giving real-life practical examples in what is otherwise an area that can often seem theoretical and abstract or never personal—never right here at home. A lot of what I write about in my scholarship is not just the problems of sustainability, but also about the problems of urban development and inequality and representation right here in Washington DC.

Can you elaborate on some of that local scholarship?

A paper I just wrote for Third World Quarterly is drawing attention to the paradox in international development that we’re always focused on outsiders. My paper is called “Is Washington D.C. A Third World City?” I look at environmental problems, representation, inequality and social exclusion in the city and talk about the ways in which we might actually reconsider this so-called heart of the first world in ways that challenge international development practitioners and policy makers across the board to consider DC as a city that’s still very much in need of attention as well as greater political representation.

What’s living on a houseboat like?

My research was taking place as the Brazilian government was about to create one of the world’s largest biodiversity corridors. And this had come on the heels of a very high profile assassination of a nun for her work in favor of land reform. When I went to do my field research, it was a very tense time with a lot of uncertainty. Since that time, Brazil has kind of continued to go back and forth in making progress against deforestation and then really backsliding. And currently, the Brazilian Forest Code is looking like it’s going to be basically gutted. I think it’ll mean really sad things for the region and its people in terms of protection of the forest as well as for smaller scale agriculturists. The government also seems to be disturbingly moving ahead on a dam, which is right in the middle of my field site. It’s projected to be the world’s third largest dam in terms of it’s energy production, and it’s going to flood out about 18 different indigenous communities as well as portions of the city nearby. So I’ve been following that very closely and developing a research project on activism around the dam.

Are there any experiences or interactions with people that really stick out to you?

Well, there was the death threat. I got very close with people there and, in the course of my research, I had a lot of institutional support from an organization that was very clearly on the side of the smallscale agriculturalists. Because of that, the people who were the vested interest of the illegal landholders, the land speculators, were not happy with the activism towards creating these conservation areas. Their tried and often untrue technique was to try to stop people who asked too many questions from going into these areas. But aside from the bad, there was just a lot of good in it. I now have a whole Brazilian network of contacts and friends. There’s someone there who I adopted as my surrogate mom and she thinks of me as her surrogate daughter.

What have you learned from Brazil?

I think some lessons are about the strength of community action and community organization around sustainability issues. A lot of what I saw in Brazil was not people waiting for a progressive national policy on any particular issue, but rather about communities deciding what they wanted for themselves and working to try to find ways to make it happen.

Ashley Dejean is a junior studying international development.

I live on my boat year round. It’s a 1971 houseboat. The engines

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MARCH 2012

Innovation, wit and cogent wisdom

AWOL NEWSWIRE

CITY OF SNOBS

T

he January issue of Travel + Leisure Magazine reported that DC is the third rudest city in the nation, just behind New York and Miami. Despite high rankings for historical and cultural monuments and activities, the District fell two rankings in rudeness since last year’s report. DC also boasts a high number six on the “pedestrian-friendliness” list and is considered a good family travel destination. Travel + Leisures’ annual survey compares 35 of America’s most popular cities. The cities are then ranked by residents and visitors in a wide variety of categories from intelligence to driving ability to flea markets. Voters’ opinions on DC, and their conclusion that DC is not the nicest town, may have been fed by their general displeasure with Congress and politics. Depending on election results this cycle, that opinion may change. -Allison Butler

GOOGLE GETS YOU

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oogle recently released its disclosure page so that the viewer can see how it is tailoring your current searches based on previous ones. Based on your frequent searches, Google’s algorithms presume basic information about you and use it to alter your current results. And it turns out Google is not so forward thinking after all. People who spend time looking up the new iProduct or showing an interest in computers in general are pegged as young men. Readers who

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care about the stock market or finance are also male in the mind of the Google supercomputer. Spend too much time looking up recipes, and the algorithms will conclude you’re a woman, and provide thoughtful weight-loss advertising. Searchers who read newspapers or spend time reading about current events are profiled as middle-aged to elderly. Google continues to release formulas and will continue to hone their systems.

In the meantime, you might want to try throwing some curveballs into your Google searches. -Eleanor Greene

BRADY BLASTS BUFFALO BUNGALOS

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Alissa Scheller

CYANIDE AND MASS HYSTERIA

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fter 16-year-old Lori Brownwell passed out at a concert last August, she began to experience uncontrollable twitching and clapping. Over the last few months, 14 of her schoolmates in upstate New York have developed the same symptoms. The U.S. Department of State discovered no suspicious substances in the school building, and some doctors believe the students are suffering from mass hysteria, a dangerous psychological disorder. At least one person believes the condition has a biological basis—Erin Brockovich is kicking off an investigation into a train derailment that dumped cyanide in the town in 1970. If that doesn’t work out, it’s back to the mass hysteria theory—a frightening sensation that has historically precipitated crazed movements like the Salem Witch Trials. -Lori McCue

ISSUE 010

hile most football fans were focused on the weeks-long pregame coverage of Super Bowl XLVI, many winter-chilled bodies glued to their TV sets in snow-covered Buffalo, NY were left steaming mad. In a press conference, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady began describing his father’s stalwart support. When speaking of the difficulties Brady Sr. endured, the All-Star quarterback solemnly remarked, “I don’t know if any of you guys have ever been to the hotels in Buffalo, but they’re not the nicest places in the world.” Brady’s remarks unleashed a fury from Buffalo Bills fans and area residents.

Critics have pointed out the various quality accommodations provided by the Queen City of New York. East Aurora’s Roycroft Inn, a National Historic Landmark, and the Mansion, a celebrated hotel in downtown Buffalo, reflect the down-to-earth regional demeanor.

In response to Brady’s comment, Mansion owner Geno Principe has given the entire Brady family free lodging for a night. Brady officially apologized, but the combination of the incident’s bad press and his embarrassing defeat at the hands of Eli Manning’s New York Giants has undoubtedly left him out in the cold, a temperature to which Buffalo natives are certainly accustomed. - Zac Deibel

Dorm octopuses will also squeal, waking up their parents up. Sounds terrible, right?

Wrong. Built-in alarm clock.

Living Arrangements: Do it Benjamin Button style. Octopuses under the age of two can sleep comfortably in the standard dorm drawer.

If you feel this is unfair, face it—octopuses will not remember where they slept when they were 6 months old. Just whip up a quick mobile out of TDR silverware (spoons are preferable, forks and knives are unadvisable), hang it above them, and they’ll be all set. Dorm octopuses will also squeal, waking up their parents up. Sounds terrible, right?

Wrong. Built-in alarm clock.

Daytime Octocare: Friends are perfect octositters. Make a friend who loves octopi, and avoid block classes so sitters are needed for less than two hours. Plenty of college students would jump at the chance to play with an octopus for an afternoon. Currently, the Octopus Development Center on campus focuses on two- to six-year-old sea creatures of campus faculty and staff, but talk to the administration about getting your octopus one of the highly competitive spots.

ROCKTOPI BABY

RAISING AN INFANT OCTOPUS IN AU’S DORMS

By Allison Butler // Illustration by Carolyn Becker

To avoid offending our readers, AWOL has decided to publish the following piece with a few changes. Originally a commentary satirizing the conditions of AU dorms by advising how to raise a child in the residence halls, we have slightly altered the following article to enhance its commentary, correctness and humor. The word “child” has been replaced with “octopus,” and any reference to raising an infant has been revised to raising a sea creature. Our apologies to any octopus enthusiasts who may feel slighted.

MTV’s Teen Mom suggests how scary parenthood can be – especially when living with Mom and Dad. Why stay at home when there’s learning and parenting to be done? Accommodating an octopus in a standard 12 by 15 foot dorm room, while also living with a roommate and maintaining a social life, might seem farfetched, if not impossible. But follow these simple steps and it will be a breeze. Octopi are imaginative. They will not know that their early upbringing was untraditional. Instead, these octopodes, henceforth known as dorm octopuses, will be well adjusted to their life style.

Food: Request that TDR let octopuses dine on a half or maybe even quarter swipe. It is a fact universally acknowledged that octopuses eat anything you feed them, as long as it is pureed. Simply purchase a blender (available at Target for $19.99) and feed them normal meals, mechanically predigested. You’ll be surprised at how familiar your mac and cheese Wednesday feast appears once the process is complete.

Remember, boiled vegetables are not only delicious, they are also especially nutritious.

College Dads: Don’t worry! There might be slightly less public support for young single fathers than young single mothers, but an octopus should prove to be a successful girl-magnet—just remember your parental duties. The experience of parenting will help fathers get in touch with their sensitive side and learn to be responsible. Employers will appreciate the dedication, professors prefer responsible students and, most importantly, potential dates will love a guy who can be compassionate.

College Prep: Dorm octopuses will be smarter than their traditional counterparts thanks to their direct exposure to academics, especially if they listened to lectures in utero. Further, the soothing voices of monotone professors across campus are likely to keep dorm octopi continuously calm. If your octopus is accepted at the Octopus Development Center, consider chalking the experience up as an early volunteer opportunity that may eventually develop into an internship, and a great addition to any future college resume.

The high stakes, high-pressure environment of college is an unconventional, yet beneficial community for any octopus to experience youth. Educated from birth, these independent dorm octopodes will grow up to be well-rounded geniuses.

Allison Butler is a freshman studying journalism and political science.

WWW.AWOLAU.ORG » WINTER 2012

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JABS AND JEST

Innovation, wit and cogent wisdom

A GOOD READ ON EVERY CORNER

By Claire Dapkiewicz & Melanie Germond Are you tired of the same old shelves at Kramerbooks? Confused by the organization at Capitol Hill Books? Intimidated by the speakers at Politics and Prose? Then sigh no more, dear reader, for Washington wasn’t named the most literate city in America for the second year in a row without due reason. Resident AWOL Overbearing-But-Well-Intentioned Bibliophiles Claire Dapkiewicz and Melanie Germond have traversed the streets of orthwest DC to bring you the top six independent stores in the District that everyone should visit (but may not know about). Rating on the average book price and service, these book lovers know their Penguins from their Signets, and are ready to tell you the dusty facts.

Illustration by Hannah Karl 25

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Georgetown, 1660 33rd St NW • Mon–Sat, 10am-5pm; Sun, 12pm–5pm We begin our crawl directly across from the 30, 32, 34, 36 bus stop at Book Hill in Georgetown. Crowded, creaky and a good deal dark, Books Used & Rare is tailored towards the collector. Its fascination lies in the twists and turns that cut through the basement bookstore, where the shelves are mostly stocked with impressive leather- or cloth-bound editions of literary, political, historical and artistic classics. This is not the store to visit with a title in mind, and the clerk certainly won’t help. If collector’s feel of Books Used & Rare does not suit you, have no fear. That’s a good thing to know earlier rather than later on the trip. Ultimately, Books Used & Rare is worth the stop, not only to get a feel for your book needs, but also to experience the epitome of an unabashedly dusty, bookish atmosphere.

Dupont, 1417 22nd St NW • Mon, 10am–6pm; Tues–Thurs, 10am-9pm; Fri–Sat, 10am–6pm; Sun, 11am–5pm Books For America isn’t your average charity shop. It’s upbeat, the music in the background is not strictly classical, and all the profits fund the foundation’s goal to supply children across the country with a reliable source of books. With everything from cookbooks, new mystery and crime, to classic literature and an impressive history collection—each priced at or below $4.00—there’s a lot to feel good about. Take your relationship with them to the next level, and donate all those textbooks you can’t sell back at the end of the semester or offer to volunteer.

Dupont, 2000 P St NW • Open Seven Days, 10am–10pm Georgetown, 3241 P Street, NW • Tues–Fri, 11am-4pm; Sat 11am-5pm; Sun 12pm-4pm Just two of the original seven Bryn Mawr Bookshops remain, and Georgetown’s Lantern is one of them. Staffed completely by volunteers (including four lovely ladies, all named Elizabeth) the proceeds of the shop go to the Bryn Mawr scholarship fund to aid students of the prestigious all-girls institution. Buy four books and get the fifth free. Be careful though, a poem pinned in the staircase begs patrons to not buy books simply to display them, but to actually read and love them. The collection comes entirely from donations, and bristles with classics (Shakespeare! Lady Chatterley’s Lover!) and curiosities (Urban Gardening! Atlases of the British Empire circa 1900!). Like all donation-driven stores, the selection is variable (and the music mostly symphonic), but it is meticulously tended and familiar to the volunteers, who will graciously send you out the door with where to look next, should you manage the impossible and leave unsatisfied.

Georgetown, 2814 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Mon–Sat, 11am–9pm; Sun 12–6pm In a world of price clubs and Amazon.com, Bridge Street Books is the independent store that makes you forget about the book industry and invites you to enjoy the book for what it is: an author’s labor of love.

Comfortably packed with such labors, Bridge Street is home to some of the finest curated philosophy, classics, and theology shelves in the city. The staff is incredibly helpful, enthusiastic and somehow they just know what you need better than you do. They understand that sometimes you lose track of time and end up reading Leaves of Grass for an hour on the shop floor (alas, no actual seating area is available), but they never ask you to get up.

No, there is no physical second story, but don’t be put off, for Second Story Books is for both the serious and the aspiring book collector.

Rife with ancient leather-bound tomes, used DVDs, CDs (yes, many of them classical) and the average paperback, Second Story works a bit like a treasure hunt: what you came for may not be what you found, but the disparity won’t disappoint. A walk through Second Story feels like a crash course in the history of books, and it smells exactly as you expect it to smell—like the first library you ever visited.

Adams Morgan, 2467 18th St NW • Open Seven Days, 11am–10pm The later you head to Idle Times, the more likely you are to meet Desi and Lucy, the store cats. While this is a fantastic reason to take advantage of their extensive hours—until 10 every night—any time is time well spent at Idle Times. The store’s three levels are flawlessly organized—and cross-referenced with handy maps throughout. From DC history to hobbies, they have it all and everything in between; their political section includes several shelves completely dedicated to Noam Chomsky, and their children’s section has your old favorites.

They also stock greeting cards, calendars, collector’s editions, CDs and vinyl. Idle Times is the solution to all your gift giving and collecting needs. There are chairs, stools and poofs tucked away in the corners, plants perched on several of the shelves and the cats that could be in any of the numerous nooks—Idle Times is the epitome of the inviting and homey bookstore, and its just a few mile’s crawl away.

Claire Dapkiewicz and Melanie Germond are both sophomores majoring in history and literature.

WWW.AWOLAU.ORG » WINTER 2012

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LIKE AWOL? HATE AWOL? WANT TO GET INVOLVED?

AWOLAU@GMAIL.COM DANCING ACROSS CULTURES PHOTO ESSAY P. 16

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