BUZZSAW
NOVEMBER 2015 CAPITALISTIC ANTITHESIS
No Confidence pg. 6
Educational Oppression pg. 26
Offensive Art pg. 33
Buzzsaw presents...
EDITORS’ COMMENT
The Free Issue
They can take our lives, but they can never take our freedom. The right to freedom is invoked in many circumstances, but by whom and for what purpose? We live in America, which allows us the freedom to mansplain our way out of anything. We live in America, where success means having brunch with a tie, while tweeting about it. We live in America, which allows us the illusion of freedom, which is kinda nice sometimes. “Why did you stay?” is a question often asked to victims of intimate partner violence. Yet when freedom is no longer an option, it is society’s responsibility to understand and create solutions, especially on college campuses (Combating Intimate Partner Violence in the 21st Century p. 19) Feeling distracted and despondent? Have some free amphetamines! Though you might want to first learn about our nation’s pharmaceutical conglomerate, which thousands of students are possibly playing into. (Free Speed, p.22) Ithaca radio station 88.1 WRFI is a host of alternative music, news and other content run by the volunteers for the community. We take a look at the inside of WRFI. (Radio for Ithaca by Ithaca, p. 31)
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
Divider and Table of Contents Photography By Kayleigh Jones
BUZZSAW News & Views Upfront
Evan Popp Katelyn Harrop Michele Hau Ministry of Cool Kellen Beck Prose & Cons Robert S. Hummel Sawdust Tylor Colby Layout Olivia Cross Art Lizzie Cox Website Lexie Farabaugh Christian Cassidy-Amstutz Seesaw Erica Moriarty
Production
Advisor
Taylor Barker Sophie Israelsohn Celisa Calacal Annika Kushner Jordan Aaron Brody Armstrong Jeff Cohen
Founders
Abby Bertumen Kelly Burdick Bryan Chambala Sam Costello Thom Denick Cole Louison James Sigman
Buzzsaw is published with support from Generation Progress / Center for American Progress (online at GenProgress.org). Buzzsaw is also funded by the Ithaca College Student Government Association and the Park School of Communications.
Hello! My name is Kayleigh Jones and I am a junior psychology major. I Vanguard Printing is our press. (Ithaca, N.Y.) love photography because it gives me a way to be creative while going outside and enjoying the scenery. Photography also gives me a way Buzzsaw uses student-generated art and photography to look at things differently. I love using different angles and vantage and royalty-free images. points to try to get the best perspective I can. Photography gets me out of the house while giving me a breath of fresh air. It’s simply the best! Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editorial staff or of Ithaca College. Feedback and contributions should be sent to buzzsawmag@gmail.com. Front and back cover art by Sam Fuller Center art by Courtney Yule
2
Write Us Our magazine exists to inspire thoughtful debate and open up the channels through which information is shared. Your comments and feedback are all a part of this process. Reach the editors by email at: buzzsawmag@gmail.com.
Table of Contents Seesaw ..........................................................4 Print media is dead, check out multimedia on the web.
News & Views .................................................5 Current events, local news & quasi-educated opinions.
Upfront ........................................................17 Selected dis-education of the month.
Ministry of Cool ........................................30 Arts, entertainment and other things cooler than us.
Prose & Cons .............................................41 Short fiction, personal essay and other assorted lies.
Satire threatening the magazine’s credibility since 1856.
3
BUZZSAW News & Views
Sawdust .......................................................46
vv
FREE THE NIPPLE
Free the Nipple is a global movement for gender equality, focusing on changing the double standards faced by the female gender. Buzzsaw explores this campaign through photography, paint and of course, nipples.
POC at IC Holds Protests
POC at IC held several protests around the Ithaca College campus. The group, People of Color at Ithaca College, raised concerns about the racial climate on campus and expressed no confidence in the current school president.
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
Robert Delong Performs at Cornell University
Robert Delong performed at Cornell University on Sept.19. In an interview with Buzzsaw, he explains his love for music, talks about his travels and reveals the artist behind the face paint.
What If College Was Free?
Buzzsaw asks Ithaca College students what they would do if tuition was free. Watch their hilarious answers on our Vimeo page!
Subscribe at www.vimeo.com/buzzsawmag 4
The editorial board of Buzzsaw stands in support of recent student activism regarding concerns related to the Ithaca College administration and President Tom Rochon. We stand for inclusive student action and we stand with people of color within the Ithaca College community. For further editorials and creative works regarding the “Tom Rochon No Confidence” movement and other calls to action, visit us online at buzzmag.org. — Buzzsaw Editorial Board
News & Views
5
No Confidence
Rochon and the Board of Trustees failing to create conducive campus climate
By Elijah Breton, Contributing Writer
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
Editor’s Note: The group POC at IC, which stands for People of Color at Ithaca College and advocates for action to be taken to address problems with the college’s racial climate, has begun a series of protests advocating for President Tom Rochon to take action to remedy the campus climate. Their activism was sparked by racially charged occurrences on campus including: interactions between Public Safety and people of color on campus, controversial comments made by Public Safety officers during training of resident assistants, an offensive “preps and crooks” themed party held by unaffiliated fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi, responses made by the campus community and administration to that party and comments made at the Blue Sky Reimagining Kick-Off Event during which two white panelists referred to another panelist, a woman of color, as “the savage” after she said she had a savage hunger to succeed in her professional career. POC at IC has expressed no confidence in Rochon to solve the college’s racial climate issues and the Student Government Association has initiated a student vote of no confidence in Rochon. Elijah Breton is a member of the group POC at IC. This commentary is his individual take on the college’s racial climate and the administration’s response to these issues.
H
ypothetically, let’s say you had a serious illness and you thought the best way to feel better was to visit the doctor. The doctor’s job is to evaluate you and provide you with solutions to fix your health issues. You have trust that your doctor will provide you with the best possible solution. You believe that your doctor has your body’s best interest in mind. You become skeptical from the beginning when the doctor tells you to
6
keep an eye on your symptoms, even though there is a clear problem. You make multiple trips back to your doctor, but receive the same message. Finally, your doctor tells you that he or she does not believe you are sick because they have never experienced or seen the illness firsthand. At this point, you’re ready to change your doctor. The same concept applies to Ithaca College with President Tom Rochon being the doctor. Over the past few months, Ithaca College has faced a high level of adversity regarding racism, ignorance and apathy. The events, such as the tension-filled meetings between resident assistants and the Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management, the Blue Sky Reimagining event and the AEPi party have all highlighted the many cultural issues that occur on Ithaca’s campus. While these events are significant in many ways, it needs to be made clear that issues like these have been occurring for years, for decades on this campus. Countless times, students who have preceded others and myself on this campus have tried tirelessly to change the culture of this campus. Those efforts have fallen on deaf ears, especially under the tenure of President Thomas Rochon. Town hall meetings, protests and other measures of active movements have occurred previously with little to no change resulting from them. In other words, history clearly shows that efforts put forth by many students, faculty and staff to create a more diverse and inclusive campus climate have been met by the administration with apathy and disregard. There seems to be a misconception that the “urgency” to create change on campus expressed by the administration has only occurred because of these three isolated incidents. The reality is that people of color at Ithaca College have long struggled for in-
clusivity on this campus. The current issues pertaining to racism on campus have reached a peak in the overall struggle. This has been demonstrated particularly through students. This is the exact reason why students, with the support of faculty and staff have not, and will not, stop at protests and walkouts. The sheer reality is this: it is clear that the administration cannot relate to the daily tribulations of the subtle and overt racism that remains present on this campus. The administration has said multiple times that the racism that occurs on campus is institutionalized, which means that it is ingrained within the culture. While this may be true, the structure and systems that are set in place should never be used as a scapegoat to avoid blame. Furthermore, a major solution President Rochon has proposed is to increase diversity education within the classroom. This inherently puts all of the pressure on the faculty to carry out this resolution. This is a perfect example of Rochon and his willingness to create solutions that require little effort or accountability on his end. While it is the responsibility of every citizen within the Ithaca College community to build an environment that excludes racism, it is the role of the president and vice presidents to ensure that there are structures in place to fight racism and that accountability is provided. While no one can prevent racism and ignorance, it is the duty of the administration as leaders to stand up to it. After the Oct. 27 town hall meeting concluded, I asked one of the vice presidents why the IC community should believe that change would occur now, when it hasn’t in the past. The response was appalling. He responded by saying there has been an increase in minority students attending college and we
o a s y t , d
r e -
, d y s e . o n s o
e t e t e s s o -
fort, the preservation of this institution is in serious jeopardy. By allowing the racism, ignorance and apathy to occur from the highest levels of the college’s leadership, we as an institution are poisoning the community by not properly educating individuals and creating levels of accountability. A critique the current movement of people of color at Ithaca College has received is that they are not willing to engage in dialogue with the administration. While that may be the illusion of what is happening, that is not the reality. As previously documented, the administration has widely failed to act on any previous recommendations to improve the culture of this campus. Even when they do act, the community is only given a special committee that investigates and researches the issue with no resolution stemming from the findings. Eventually, the committee disbands and the results are disregarded. Meanwhile, the administration is committing explicit acts of racism by cutting programs pertaining to diversity and inclusion such as the Pre-Doctoral Diversity Fellows program, the Inside Look program and the sport studies major, which has historically fostered a high percentage of minority students. The question becomes, why should anyone engage in dialogue with the administration when they have historically proved that all dialogue with them is empty? Furthermore, why should we engage when one of the vice presidents clearly stated that fixing these issues are more about the numbers than an individual’s well being? Until there is sincerity from the administration, there is no reason for anyone to take part in dialogue with the administration. There is no precedence or results to look back on to give this administration a chance to right the ship. If the issues that are being presented to you are not evident enough, let’s make one thing clear: the legacy of this institution has already been
tarnished. Any alternative to the current state of affairs relating to the administration would be far better than the status quo. While the administration is still clearly mired back in the 1960s, where racism was accepted, the time for everyone else in the community to act and make change is now. To the Board of Trustees, I have no confidence in you. To President Tom Rochon, I never had any to begin with. If Ithaca College is going to be run like a business led by President Rochon and the Board of Trustees, then what ever happened to the old adage that the customer is always right? ___________________________________ Elijah Breton is a senior communication studies, sports studies double major. You can email him at ebreton2@ithaca.edu.
7
News & Views
e e n e y e
need to cater to that. He also mentioned that eventually the minorities in this country would become the majority. This response only cemented the fact that this administration looks at people strictly as numbers. The response completely disregarded the fact that solving the issues on campus is simply common sense. These are people’s lives we are dealing with and they are being looked at as merely numbers. This is also the same vice president who made the fallacy that because he as a man of color is a friend of President Rochon’s, Rochon completely understands the issues on campus and thus could not possibly be racist or ignorant. Ironic, huh? Hypothetically, let’s say the administration truly did understand the issues pertaining to the campus climate right now. What about the issues 10 years from now? How long will it take for them to understand the issues then? We as a campus need to think long term with the issues at hand. Our focus should not be solely aimed at the administration, but at the Board of Trustees as well. Most of the trustees were present on campus to see the frustration among the campus community. Yet, they created no public response. Furthermore, students like myself received a thank you email for taking part in one of their meetings. In the second sentence, the trustees said they, “promise that we will continue to listen, learn, and help.” The community doesn’t need anyone to continue to listen and take down notes. The damaged culture has been presented in a way that is impossible to ignore. The trustees are comprised of nearly all individuals with a business background who are running this institution as such. This is a far cry from 10 years ago when nearly the entire board was comprised of individuals with higher education experience. If this is the best the board has to offer its community in terms of ef-
Black Lives Matter The problem with the All Lives Matter rebuttal By Celisa Calacal, Staff Writer
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
B
lack Lives Matter: the mantra of a modernday civil rights movement and the rallying cry of a group that is constantly oppressed, beaten and made powerless. What started as a hashtag on social media following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin, and continued with the murders of Eric Garner and Michael Brown by police officers, has now grown into a powerful and influential social justice movement. There are a number of regional Black Lives Matter organizations all over the United States, including one in Ithaca. On Oct. 24, the Ithaca chapter held a solidarity march from the Bernie Milton Pavilion on the Commons to the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School. During the march, demonstrators shouted various chants popular within the Black Lives Matter movement such as, “no justice, no peace” and, “hands up, don’t shoot.” According to the event description, a teach-in was held in the Beverly J. Martin library featuring local activists and residents speaking on issues of violence and discomfort felt by the black community in Ithaca. The intention of the event was to raise awareness about racial inequality in Ithaca. The Ithaca Black Lives Matter chapter and others across the country hold the same purpose: to combat police brutality against black and brown people and reaffirm the value of all black lives. Despite the movement’s growth and success in capturing national attention, it has seen constant scrutiny from a crowd of the blissfully unaware: the All Lives Matter movement. Manifested through a hashtag on Twitter as well as a Facebook page, it is this group that argues and questions why Black Lives Matter singles out a particular group of people and firmly believes the movement would benefit more by changing their
8
name to All Lives Matter. Through this ill-thought-out argument, it is blatantly clear All Lives Matter has no idea what Black Lives Matter stands for or what its goal is. It is also obvious that All Lives Matter is nothing but a racist, insensitive response to a movement that serves to bring attention to and put an end to structural and institutional racism. The main argument of All Lives Matter primarily centers on the question: “Why do they have to say Black Lives Matter? Why can’t they just say All Lives Matter?” This question has been touted by everyday people and hopelessly clueless politicians such as Republican presidential primary candidates Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee. What these opponents fail to recognize is that Black Lives Matter does not exist to exclude, but rather to bring attention to and value the lives of people who are constantly excluded by a society built on white supremacy. Saying “Black Lives Matter” does not take away value from other groups of people, but brings attention to a group that is constantly marginalized and oppressed. Shouting “All Lives Matter,” and using the #AllLivesMatter hashtag on Twitter only serves to drag attention away from the very real and dangerous problems Black Lives Matter is attempting to address. It ignores the evidence from The Guardian’s police killings database titled “The Counted” that blatantly shows black lives are taken by law enforcement at a higher rate per capita than whites — 5.53 blacks per million to 2.2 whites per million — even though All Lives Matter will argue more total whites are killed by police, a claim that ignores the fact that white people vastly outnumber black people in the overall U.S. population. And according to the FBI’s investigation of justifiable homicides from 2005 to 2012, a white officer used deadly force against a black person almost twice every week, but All Lives Matter will conveniently ignore this
and continue to defend the actions of law enforcement in cases of excessive force. While the premise of Black Lives Matter focuses on ending police brutality and how to restructure the racist system that inherently destroys black bodies, All Lives Matter’s dialogue serves as a denial that black people truly suffer through these hardships. Countering Black Lives Matter with the response “All Lives Matter” is a divestment from responsibility, a refusal to believe the system works to benefit whites and not people of color. This reaction further obscures issues of race in this country. Given that All Lives Matter is the complete antithesis of Black Lives Matter, it must be difficult for All Lives Matter proponents to really understand the purpose of Black Lives Matter since they do not know what it’s truly like to live as a black person in the U.S. It is this lack of understanding and awareness that stems from the privilege of being able to have the color of their skin work for them and not against them. Perhaps the greatest test of All Lives Matter occurred when 19-yearold Zachary Hammond was killed by a police officer on July 26 of this year. Once again, another teen was unnecessarily murdered by law enforcement. However, this case presented an interesting caveat not found in the cases of Michael Brown or Samuel DuBose: Hammond was a white teenager. Here was the golden opportunity for All Lives Matter to save face and prove their validity as the “better alternative” to Black Lives Matter. Hammond’s death was scarcely reported by mainstream media outlets and only became widespread when it became a trending topic on Twitter. But which group spread awareness on his death? Black Lives Matter. Using the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag on Twitter, users were able to bring attention to Hammond’s death, and their anger and rage at
to racially segregated neighborhoods because of tactics like blockbusting — the practice of introducing black homeowners into neighborhoods that were predominantly white in order to prompt white people to leave and housing prices to drop — at the hands of real estate agents. Black children also receive a lower quality education than whites, and the War on Drugs disproportionately targets black neighborhoods. All these issues harbored within the “projects” or the “ghettos” are symptoms of the disease of systemic racism. Black Lives Matter is not only focused on ending police brutality, but also on affirming lives along the gender spectrum, including black transgender and queer people. Within the black community, this group is constantly marginalized and experiences a high rate of violence against them, leading to a life expectancy of only 35 years old according to the Black Lives Matter website. The movement makes sure the names of Penny Proud, Lamia Beard, Yazmin Vash Payne, Taja DeJesus and Ty Underwood, all black transgender people who were killed within the first five weeks of 2015, are heard loud and clear. Unsurprisingly, All Lives Matter ignores the stories of these people, lending more power to white feminism and its knack for silencing the voices of women of color and trans/queer folks. The impact of Black Lives Matter on the country’s racial conscience cannot be overlooked, as its strong presence online and in the streets has shed a harsh light on racial issues permeating the country today. For people who play the colorblind card and pretend racial tensions are an issue of the past, Black Lives Matter reminds them that racism has not ended, but evolved. When these people say the Ku Klux Klan may not be lynching black bodies as they once were, Black Lives Matter reminds them that police officers are killing black men and women at an alarmingly high rate. When those who claim color-blindness say blacks have more opportunities than ever before, Black Lives Matter reminds them of various government policies — Voter ID laws, the War on Drugs, gentrification — that have a negative impact on black commu-
nities. Black Lives Matter reminds these people that racism is not only individual, but structural, built and upheld by the most powerful group in society — white people. It is clear that All Lives Matter does not really believe in valuing all lives, but is rather a form of resistance against believing that black lives and experiences have value and deserve to be validated. This ignorant response claims colorblindness and inherently ignores the socialization of race instilled in people at a young age. From the power of various institutions, individuals are normalized into believing that certain beliefs about racial groups are true without any valid evidence to support them. The socialization of race leads to implicit biases that influence people to believe that black is dangerous and white is safe. The profound ignorance of the colorblind card ignores how race plays an influential factor in how much value is placed on an individual’s life. It ignores how the color of a person’s skin can determine whether they live or die. This is why Black Lives Matter exists. In a society where black bodies are constantly devalued, Black Lives Matter exists to reaffirm their worth. Perhaps saying “Black Lives Matter” makes All Lives Matter proponents feel uncomfortable because it forces them to recognize their own ignorance and acknowledge the violence being waged against the black community. Nevertheless, it is high time for All Lives Matter to let go of its ignorance, acknowledge its privilege and recognize Black Lives Matter as a movement seeking to empower the black community and end the constant killings, abuse and vilification of black bodies. ___________________________________ Celisa Calacal is a sophomore journalism major with a minor in reminding people that racism still exists. You can email her at ccalacal@ ithaca.edu.
9
News & Views
this continuing trend was more than palpable. In addition to Hammond’s death, the Black Lives Matter crowd made sure not to overlook the glaring question everyone was asking: Where was All Lives Matter to support Zachary Hammond, and why were they being so silent? It was the pressing silence that spoke volumes about All Lives Matter, exposing the movement as nothing more than an ignorant, simpleminded reaction to Black Lives Matter. The telling silence could also be prescribed to the movement’s reticence in admitting that police brutality is a national issue in need of reform. If Hammond’s death was unjustified and the officer was in the wrong, then so too were the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and the 231 total black bodies who have been killed by law enforcement in 2015 as of Nov. 1, according to The Guardian’s database. But All Lives Matter refuses to admit this, because it would mean facing white supremacy head-on instead of pretending it no longer exists. Some critics of Black Lives Matter believe the movement should not only focus on the police killings of black people, but black-on-black violence as well. While statistics from the FBI’s annual Crime in the Unites States report do indicate there is a high level of black-on-black violence — 90 percent of blacks murdered in 2013 were murdered by other blacks — it’s important to note that the premise of the Black Lives Matter movement focuses on the racial trickle-down of institutionalized racism. Black Lives Matter looks more at police brutality against blacks because it is both a product and one of the causes of systemic racism in the U.S. When a black man or woman is caught committing a violent crime against another black person, that individual is usually sentenced to years in prison. But when a white police officer commits a violent crime against a black man or woman, many times they suffer zero judicial consequences. One need only look at Darren Wilson and Timothy Loehmann to see these events transpiring in this country today. Furthermore, the high homicide rates in predominantly black and impoverished neighborhoods can be attributed to the racial homogeneity of communities — a product of structural racism itself. Blacks are confined
The Color of Drug Laws Racism and the War on Drugs
U
TH
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
By Marissa Booker, Contributing Writer
nited States drug laws are racist. Success of elites in the U.S. has long been built on the backs of suppressed and marginalized groups, often exploiting the most disenfranchised populations to maintain power through the implementation of an “us and them” mentality. To understand the racism of U.S. drug laws, it is important to understand that the history of slavery and racism in the U.S. has been argued to have risen simply out of a financial need for cheap and complacent labor, thus including populations of black slaves and white indentured servants in the beginning of the exploitation scheme. This later became “legitimized” through establishing inferiority due to the pigment of one’s skin. Race, a human-made construct, was then used as the marker of human value, thus the perceived and taught value of non-white life went down when compared to white bodies. Laws and social conscious have worked long and hard to preserve this mindset of a hierarchy with whites at the top. Given this context, it is easier to understand how U.S. drug laws are racist. According to drugsense.org, the evidence of this truth goes back to the 1900s when temperance advocates, missionaries and “moral” reformers waged war against the “pleasure seeking Chinese” by outlawing the smoking of opium on a federal level. Smoking opium was specific to the wave of Chinese immigrants that came to the U.S. around the early 1900s, but opium was not new. Opium was found in many over-the-counter cough syrups, pain medicines and even soda. The substance was recognized as highly addictive, but the use of opium was only criminalized in the form that was predominantly used by the Chinese. This was nothing new as laws had banned “heroin dens” up and down the West Coast since 1875 and they rewarded these anti-Chinese groups’ hatred with penal action toward the Chinese. In 1909, under the Smoking Opium Exclusion Act, the importation, possession and smoking of opium was made il-
10
legal in the U.S. But the regulation of all medicines that contained opium was not included under the law. According to the article “Victorian Drug Use” by Andrzej Diniejko, a senior lecturer in English literature and culture at Warsaw University, opium was used to treat toothaches and to ease the pain of childbirth. There seemed to have been a disapproval over the smoking of opium by workers in pain after a day of hard labor and pity for the caucasian housewife who used prescribed opium to treat her menstrual pain. Legal restrictions would be applied to drugs used by minority populations while leniency would be used for forms of drugs used in the white community. This trend has persisted. In 1914, all opioids were restricted and taxed under the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, which led to the jailing of doctors who would prescribe narcotics for the treatment of addiction. According to the National Alliance of Advocates for Buprenorphine Treatment, laws in 1922, ‘24, and ‘32 would effectively outlaw and criminalize cocaine and heroin, the common forms of opium in the black community. Just like the 1909 law, this was not a fully encompassing ban of opium based products, but a restriction and criminalization on the forms that were less common in the white community. This law was passed the same year The New York Times ran a headline stating, “Negro Cocaine ‘Fiends’ Are a New Southern Menace: Murder and Insanity Increasing Among Lower Class Blacks Because They Have Taken to ‘Sniffing’ Since Deprived of Whisky by Prohibition.” These laws were passed in a time of fear conjured by religious and “moral” authorities and were targeted toward certain demographics. Their effects are still evident today. It wasn’t until 2010, under the Fair Sentencing Act, that there was an attempt to even out the discrepancy between the sentencing of crack cocaine and powder cocaine users. According to an ABC News article titled, “Racial Overtones in Cocaine Sentencing?” “Most crack arrests occur in African-American communities. Since more-affluent whites typically constitute users of powder co-
B caine, many feel the disparity in arrests and sentencing has racist overtones.” Before the Fair Sentencing Act, it would take 100 times more powder cocaine in comparison to crack cocaine to receive the same amount of jail time despite the effects of the two substances being comparable, according to drugpolicy. org. Crack cocaine is a concoction made with cocaine, water and baking soda; the main difference is the users of the two substances and the cost. The reality of this is the Fair Sentencing Act left the discrepancy in sentencing of powder to crack cocaine at 18:1. To this day, this leaves a disproportionate amount of minorities in jail. According to the Sentencing Project, “Between 1994 and 2002, the average time served by African Americans for a drug offense increased by 73 percent, compared to an increase of 28 percent for white drug offenders.” As a result, “African Americans now serve virtually as much time in prison for a drug offense (57.2 months) as whites do for a violent offense (58.8 months).” The degree to which African Americans are penalized for drugs is not because they break the law at a higher rate. Drug laws were originally made, framed and enforced in such a way that these results would logically occur. It is easy to look at the U.S. criminalization of drugs as isolated from greater systemic oppression. It is evident that each drug law passed has resulted in a disproportionate part of minority populations being incarcerated, and this is true for the majority of banned substances from opium to marijuana. Before the consensus of criminalizing drugs, they were often seen as a health problem and treated as such, but the culture of fear around minority populations partnered with a system that devalues their life has created the climate in which they can and have been unfairly targeted with judicial action. ________________________________________ Marissa Booker is a freshman communication management and design major with a concentration in dropping some knowledge on people who think we live in a post-racial society. You can email her at mbooker@ithaca.edu.
s ” d n e e g . e e o
. n d e o g n ) 8 n t r , t
r t a e s e y d r d s d l
T
By Devon Bedoya, Contributing Writer he increase in mass shootings in the United States has generated a lot of news coverage dedicated to reporting on these events. But too often, journalists don’t take enough precaution when reporting on sensitive topics like mass shootings. Reports usually focus on the shooter rather than on the victims of the shooting. This method can romanticize the perpetrator’s wrongdoing and leave a lasting impression on the public. When the media does this, what ends up happening is the mass shooter becomes glorified. This is what inspires the all too real copycat effect. About five weeks after the Virginia shooting where a reporter gone rogue shot his ex-coworkers on live television, a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon occurred. According to an article published in Mother Jones, the perpetrator of the Oregon shooting reportedly posted comments in admiration of the Virginia shooter, stating: “His face splashed across every screen, his name across the lips of every person on the planet, all in the course of one day. Seems like the more people you kill, the more you’re in the limelight.” This post should be a red flag for all journalists to reference in the future. People can label the shooter’s comments as being crazy, yet this highlights the media’s tendency to focus on a shooter and unintentionally give them fame. It is a journalist’s responsibility to be wary of the effects of their writing. And as of now, there is a clear lack of caution regarding coverage of mass shootings. There is some truth to this gunman’s comments in that the greater the magnitude of the shooting, the more news coverage it gets. However, it is morally unsettling that the shooter’s name becomes more recognizable than any of the victims’ names. Many of us remember the name Dylann Roof, the name of the man who killed nine people in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. But not many remember the names Cynthia Hurd, Tywanza Sanders, Ethel Lance,
Myra Thompson, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, Reverend Sharonda Singleton, Susie Jackson, Reverend DePayne Middleton-Doctor, or Reverend Daniel Simmons Senior, the people he killed. In mournful events like mass shootings, it is the names of the victims that should be commemorated. Shooters who post online comments only receive more notoriety for their actions. Infamy is what these individuals are after and that is exactly what they receive. These mass shooters don’t deserve the attention they get from the media, and furthermore they don’t deserve to be flattered by having copycats follow in their footsteps. Mother Jones also points out that many copycats aim to emulate and even outdo previous perpetrators, whether that be by increasing the body count or by killing in a more horrifying manner. It seems that media coverage means everything to them. The more violent the shooting, the more coverage they get, and thus the bigger their legacy. They rely on visual images and social media for exposure. That is why journalists should be more vigilant when reporting on incidents like mass shootings. A common and simple suggestion is to withhold the shooter’s name, which can be helpful because it takes away any recognition. As reported in Mother Jones, Reid Meloy, a forensic psychologist at the University of California-San Diego and a leading researcher on targeted violence, has suggested straying away from titles like “lone wolf” and “school shooter” that might attract other potential gunmen. Instead, Meloy advises the media to use phrases like “an act of lone terrorism” or “an act of mass murder.” This will diminish the credit given to the shooter. Also, the number of news sources that report on the same mass shooting will further glorify a gunman’s actions. Journalists should ask themselves at what point a story becomes over-reported. Perhaps there should be a limit to how many articles can be written about such a traumatic event as a mass shooting. In addition, many people want a “no name” campaign to be put into practice. Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin re-
fused to name the shooter who killed nine people at the Oregon community college. The Huffington Post reported at a press conference about the shooting that Hanlin said, “Again, you will not hear anyone from this law enforcement operation use his name,” because he said it would, “only glorify his horrific actions and serve to inspire future shooters.” Mother Jones noted that parents of a victim of the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting launched a similar campaign called the “No Notoriety” campaign, which advises the media not to mention a shooter’s name. News corporations need to take action in support of these types of campaigns in order to diminish the number of copycats. It’s more important to bring light to the traumas of the event than to focus on condemning the person that caused them. Although there is no definitive research about the media’s influence on mass shooters, there is no doubt that social media has already created copycats. Not only does social media generate news at fast speeds, but it also makes news more accessible to everyone around the world. This magnitude can boost the potential fame of a mass shooter. NBC News released an article stating that Sherry Towers, a research professor at Arizona State University, said, “On average, mass killings involving firearms occur approximately every two weeks in the U.S., while school shootings occur, on average, monthly.” The sheer number of mass shootings is alarming enough for authorities to want to stop copycats dead in their tracks. By focusing on the victims of the crime, perpetrators will be discredited. This takes away the appeal of fame and will thus not exacerbate the copycat effect. ________________________________________ Devon Bedoya is a freshman journalism major who wishes the media didn’t have such an itchy trigger finger. You can email her at dbedoya@ithaca.edu.
11
News & Views
n g k u .
The Copycat Effect How the media impacts the prevalence of mass shootings
A Sentence Worse Than Death
The shifting sentiment around solitary confinement By Sophie Johnson, Contributing Writer
O
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
n July 10, 2012, I finished my 25th consecutive year in solitary confinement, where, at the time of this writing, I remain. Though it is true that I’ve never died and so don’t know exactly what the experience would entail, for the life of me I cannot fathom how dying any death could be harder or more terrible than living through all that I have been forced to endure for the last quarter-century.” This quote is from an essay written by William Blake, a prisoner at Elmira Correctional Facility, which is just a 50 minute drive from Ithaca College. In his essay, Blake writes about the horrors he experienced during the last 25 years he spent by himself in a cell that he describes as being “smaller than some closets [he] has seen.” Recently, there has been a shifting sentiment around feelings about solitary confinement. This can be seen in the increasing recognition of the issue by politicians. This July, President Barack Obama became the first president to visit a prison when he set foot in one in
c a
Oklahoma. Following his visit, Obama questioned the sense of isolating people for such long periods of time. “Social science shows that an environment like [solitary confinement] is often more likely to make inmates more alienated, more hostile, potentially more violent,” Obama said. “Do we really think it makes sense to lock so many people alone in tiny cells for 23 hours a day for months, sometimes for years at a time? That is not going to make us safer. It’s not going to make us stronger. If those individuals are ultimately released, how are they ever going to adapt?” In addition to Obama’s rhetoric, states have started to shift protocol on solitary confinement in their prisons. Reforms have been taking place in California, where according to a story from NPR, prisoners can now only be sent to solitary confinement if they commit new, serious crimes, such as assault or murder. This reform was prompted by a lawsuit from inmates at California prisons against the state. The inmates argued their solitary confinement sentences were cruel and unusual punishment. The suit stated that California prison authorities have
Illustration by Lizzie Cox
12
a year to look over records of the 2,000 inmates currently in solitary to decide whether or not to release them into normal custody. However, over 1,000 inmates in solitary confinement were almost immediately released into less restrictive custody following this suit with few problems resulting. Another state that is trying to enact reform is New York, where a bill on solitary confinement was recently introduced that indicates the shifting sentiment on this issue. According to the New York State Senate website, the bill calls for restrictions in the use of segregated confinement and for the introduction of alternative rehabilitative confinement options. The bill would also ban prisoners from being put in solitary confinement for more than 15 consecutive days, and more than 20 days total in a 60 day time period. Even more action around solitary confinement has happened recently in New York. In 2014, a New York State prisoner Leroy Peoples brought a lawsuit against the state after he was put into solitary confinement for two years following a non-violent offense, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union, the group that represented Peoples in the case. The suit was eventually dropped following a joint, informal agreement between the union and the federal prisons in New York to reform solitary confinement in prisons, taking immediate steps to remove pregnant inmates, the developmentally disabled and youths from being in solitary. Another attempt at curtailing the use of solitary confinement in New York is a bill proposed by Assemblywoman Nily Rozic and passed unanimously in the New York Assembly. However, the bill is still awaiting approval by the Senate. This bill would ban solitary confinement for pregnant and nursing mothers in prison. Megan Molina, a representative of Rozic, talked of how this bill indicates shifting sentiment on solitary confinement. “I think that [the bill’s passage] speaks to some of the changing views on a dis-
i s p C p b e d c p D b t t i
S m t
w v e t t
i h 8 o t a w 2 i t t w a c
w e c p S H t a fi o c c
0 e o 0 h
t n e l n e a
y n e t s s l e m g t d
s -
Prisoners in solitary confinement usually spend 23 hours a day and five days a week in their 8x10 concrete cell.They are allowed out of their cell for one hour a day, but only to exercise by themselves in an enclosed area outside.The other two days of the week, prisoners are by themselves for all 24 hours. that includes symptoms of hallucinations, panic attacks and hypersensitivity. Barlow also discussed a study of California’s prison system from 1999 to 2004, which showed that prisoners in solitary accounted for more than half of the suicides in the entire system. According to an article published by The New York Times this August, most prisoners are put into solitary confinement not because of their original crimes, but as a consequence of offenses that occurred during their sentences. These offenses can include prisoners who officials deem to be gang members or those who engage in violent behavior in prison. However, Solitary Watch writes about other unjust ways a prisoner can be put in solitary, including possession of contraband, use of profanity and discrimination toward their sexuality or religion. The group cites a specific case where a group of Rastafarian men at Greensville Correctional Center in Virginia were put into solitary confinement for over a decade for refusing to cut their hair and shave their beards. In order to ensure a large-scale reform, Casella said there needs to be policy change, but also acknowledged the difficulty in this due to the multiple prison systems in the U.S. “I think that there needs to be policy change in order to change solitary confinement on a large-scale, but an important thing to remember is that we don’t have one prison system in the United States,” she said. “We have 50 state prison systems, plus a federal system, and we have hundreds of local jails.” To make a change, Casella said that federal action needs to occur in the form of a broad law, or a Supreme Court ruling banning or limiting solitary confinement. Casella also believes that attitudes toward solitary confinement are slowly
shifting in the U.S. “In the United States, I do believe that hearts and minds are changing, and I think that policy is just beginning to change,” Casella said. “I think it would be very easy to overestimate the pace of change, it’s been very slow, but it’s definitely happening.” These shifting laws can bring hope to the thousands of prisoners in the U.S. like Blake who have or are living by themselves in cement boxes. Blake finishes his essay summing up his 25 years in solitary confinement in just eight words. “I have served a sentence worse than death.” ______________________________________ Sophie Johnson is a freshman journalism major who now realizes she can’t complain about the size of her dorm room. You can email her at sjohnson3@ithaca.edu.
13
News & Views
e s y e l . t n e s -
ciplinary practice that is often regarded as inhumane,” she said. The view of solitary confinement as inhumane is an idea that has been steadily gaining traction. In an article published by the United Nations News Centre in 2011, Juan Mendez, a UN expert on torture, called on all countries to ban solitary confinement, except for in extremely special circumstances. Mendez cites that the practice of solitary confinement can cause extreme mental pain and therefore is a form of torture. Despite this, Solitary Watch, a webbased source of information about solitary confinement, estimates that 80,000 to 100,000 prisoners are currently held in solitary confinement in the U.S. Jean Casella, a representative from Solitary Watch, said solitary confinement is often not used in other countries. “Solitary is not used to the extent that we [the U.S.] use it in the rest of the developed world,” she said. “In Europe, for example, it’s fairly rare. They never had the sort of lax attitude toward solitary that we had to begin with.” According to Solitary Watch, prisoners in solitary confinement usually spend 23 hours a day and five days a week in their 8x10 concrete cell. They are allowed out of their cell for one hour a day, but only to exercise by themselves in an enclosed area outside. The other two days of the week, prisoners are by themselves for all 24 hours. Meals are delivered to inmates in solitary through a slot in the door. If they are allowed visitors, they can only talk to them on the phone and through windows. This rids them completely of any physical contact and most human contact. An article by Jason M. Barlow that was published by PBS in 2014 presents the detrimental effects of solitary confinement. The article cites a study of prisoners in solitary confinement by Dr. Stuart Grassian, a former professor at Harvard Medical school and a board certified psychiatrist. The study found that about a third of those in solitary confinement were “acutely psychotic and/ or acutely suicidal.” From this, Grassian concluded that solitary confinement can cause a specific psychiatric syndrome
The Democratic Debate
Candidates vie for primary voter support
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
By Hale Douthit, Contributing Writer You’ve probably heard it from the mountaintop already: Hillary Clinton won the Democratic debate hosted by CNN on Oct. 13. She stood poised and passionate, ready to appeal to the throngs of liberals and progressives who make up the mainstay of the primary voters. You’ve heard how Bernie Sanders allowed the rope of populist rage to slip through his fingers and how Jim Webb said he totally killed a dude. And by now you’ve probably heard how Donald Trump screamed into the oblivion of the internet to make people listen to him as he bizarrely belittled the Democratic candidates. By now the narrative of the debate has been set. But is this narrative the most accurate? Is it the most truthful? Well, like most stories concocted by the mainstream media, it’s reductive and not very telling. Hillary definitely performed well, but she wasn’t challenged greatly in any way. Foreign policy was a major point on the agenda, an obvious soft ball for the former Secretary of State. Even better, no one challenged her spotty record of flip-flopping on supporting or condemning collapsing dictatorial regimes during the Arab Spring — such as the regime of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt or the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria — or her mismanagement of the Benghazi boondoggle or even her response to the torrent of State Department documents released by whistleblower Edward Snowden and Wikileaks. Clinton’s initial support of the war in Iraq turned into a chaotic shouting match with Sanders and Martin O’Malley, the former governor of Maryland and former mayor of Baltimore. The most offensive claim of the night she made was a defense of her handling of the Libyan Civil War, which she spun as a great liberation of an enslaved nation, but actually resulted in the decimation of the Libyan state into a chaotic mess that couldn’t be considered a “free” nation no matter how many quota-
14
tions you use. However, no one called her out on it, and assumed because President Barack Obama entrusted her with the keys of U.S. foreign policy, she had to be right. When questioned on climate change, she fell back on her experience as Secretary of State, highlighting her coercing of the Chinese to sign international emissions agreements. However, once again, her response was as empty as it was unchallenged. The administration of President Bill Clinton signed off on the Kyoto Protocol, but made little effort to pass it through the Senate, meaning the U.S. effectively didn’t partake in one of the most important international climate agreements in history. As Secretary of State, Hillary never took up the mantel of that agreement. In addition, her years as a senator from New York have been equally dismal in terms of introducing climate legislation or regulation. Vermont Sen. Sanders, the radical Occupy favorite, floundered early in the debate as he struggled to establish a clear foreign policy identity. Instead, he hid behind the long pulverized horse of Iraq, using it to attack Clinton, instead of going after her many other identified areas of weakness such as Benghazi or the email scandal. His position on gun control was as awkwardly represented as it was awkwardly attacked. Clinton and O’Malley — the mayor from the television show The Wire — claimed Sanders supported big guns and the National Rifle Association, which is as false as O’Malley’s claim to be a long time supporter of criminal justice reform as mayor of Baltimore. After moving past the issues of gun control and foreign policy, Sanders’s angry populistic rage was on full display later in the night as he railed against the big banks, 1 percenters and people who keep talking about Clinton’s emails. Many news organizations like CNN and The New York Times have called Sanders defense of Clinton a bad move. But he
just looked like an upright guy by defending her as he never advanced the typical fearmongering and Hillary bashing related to the scandal. O’Malley came across as your southern uncle. He had a depressingly bizarre anecdote for nearly every question asked. His obsession with dying or dead children throughout the night came off as awkward as it was inappropriate. Throughout the debate, he kept working toward proving his “progressive” credentials, but both Clinton and Sanders have the bona-fides and reputation to claim that group, so working toward making inroads is as fruitless as it is disingenuous. O’Malley kept harking back to his time as a governor, but governing the entire U.S. is miles away from governing Maryland. Former Sen. Webb wouldn’t stop trying to gain the spotlight. One could see how being marginalized could get annoying, but that’s because he shouldn’t be running for president. Most of his responses were too wonky for the uninformed electorate and too odd for the informed. His harping on China as the greatest national security threat to the U.S. calls back to the late 1940s and 1950s when China first went red and Congress tried to find someone to blame, tearing the State Department apart to find secret hidden communists. Given the recent visit by China’s president, Xi Jinping, Webb’s comments seemed a bit paranoid. Webb also droned on a lot about his military experience, especially how he killed a guy in ‘Nam and how he was Secretary of the Navy under Reagan that one time. However, on Oct. 20, he dropped out of the race as a result of the poor draw of his lethargic, self obsessed campaign. Some have been suggesting he is planning an independant run, which would probably be even worse than his campaign as a Democrat. Finally, there was Lincoln Chafee,
y d -
r n d t d s n s t . -
p e d r s d -
,
Illustration by Juliana Ardila
answers, as opposed to the Republican debates, which have focused on Trump and Obama bashing. Each candidate declared large sweeping reforms in the style of Obama. The NRA would be taken down. The rich would be taken to task. The Republicans would be stopped. A lot of these appeals felt like a direct call to the progressive wing of the party that will turn out for the primaries. It is obvious that Sanders has pushed Clinton to the left in the primary, but the chance this new compassionate progressive Clinton will survive to the end of the campaign in November 2016 is unlikely as a candidate displaying progressivism is nearly unelectable. The most glaring problem was the lack of Lawrence Lessig, a constitutional law professor at Harvard and a powerful activist who is running for the Democratic nomination to raise awareness for campaign finance reform. Lessig is currently one of the biggest campaign finance reform advocates around and he has built a career standing up to the giant of
industry and politics. However, his absence, probably because of “poll numbers” is a travesty, and points to the modern spectacle that we have created around our elections. Instead of trying to elect the person best suited for the job, we have fixated ourselves on these ever emerging dramas that unfold on the campaign trail and become visible at debates. Through this blindness, villains like Trump will continue to fester out of their outlandishness and publicity power. While the Democratic party worked its tail off to never seem to venture to that low of a parasitic dramaturgy that is now attached to elections, its marginalization of outside perspectives and building of Clinton as the coming king festered the seeds of the corruption of the democratic process. ___________________________________ Hale Douthit is a sophomore cinema and photography major who wishes he could just close his eyes and make all the stupid politicians go away. You can email him at hdouthit@ithaca.edu.
15
News & Views
e t e t d e t a a m e . t r d t n -
who seemed as confused as everyone else as to why he was at the debate. His early answers to questions about his time as a senator from Rhode Island and later Governor of the state built up his political experience. However, his explanation about voting for the repeal of the GlassSteagall act in 1999 because his dad had died and he had just been sworn into the Senate eviscerated what little respect the crowd had for him. Along with his constant talk of “ending all the wars,” Chaffee will go down as one of the most perplexing candidates the party has ever had. His bizarre campaign finally came to a brutal end on Oct. 23 after weeks of harassment by comedians and the general public. CNN’s Anderson Cooper served as the moderator for most of the debate, and he did a relatively good job. So long as that job didn’t require shutting down Clinton or forcing her to confine her answers to the time restraints. The loose timeframe for Clinton’s answers allowed her to ramble on about how “progressive” she is now. No, seriously guys, Hillary Clinton is super progressive now. She is also a person ... like a real person. The other three question askers (to say moderators would be too generous) asked a few questions mainly toward the end of the debate. It was depressingly fitting that Juan Carlos Lopez, the Latino “moderator” for CNN, only asked questions about immigration, while Don Lemon, the most incompetent “journalist” CNN has ever tried to make cool and also an African-American, asked questions (from social media so he couldn’t mess it up) about race relations and Black Lives Matter, which all the candidates enthusiastically embraced. The “weirdest” part of the debate was the relative obsession with policy and political action that seemed to reverberate with each candidate’s
Kim Davis, You Need a New Career
Clerk hides behind religion in discrimination against LGBT couples By Sara Belcher, Contributing Writer
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
J
une 26, 2015 was the day many people across the United States had been waiting for: the legalization of gay and lesbian marriage. It was a Supreme Court decision that was destined to cause controversy, no matter the laws set in place to enforce it. This set the stage for the introduction of David Moore and David Ermold as the protagonists and Kim Davis as the antagonist. Moore and Ermold posted a trilogy of videos to Moore’s YouTube channel between July and September that revealed the conflict. Davis, the clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, was refusing to issue a marriage license to the couple of 17 years. These videos, each posted about a month apart, display three separate instances the couple visited their home county’s clerk office to obtain their marriage license. Each time, the pair was turned away with the excuse, “We’re not issuing marriage licenses today.” The short of the situation is that Davis — whose name is placed on Rowan County marriage licenses to make them legal — disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage. According to a CNN article from early September, Davis became an Apostolic Christian four and a half years ago. Her new religion is against same-sex marriage, and because of this, Davis decided that until she received the approval to keep her name off such licenses, no one in Rowan County would be receiving a marriage license. In the YouTube videos posted by Moore, Davis talked about a request sent to the Supreme Court to refuse marriage licenses, which was then denied. Despite this, she unlawfully continued to deny the administration of any licenses through her office, whether or not one of her clerks was willing to issue it. It was her way or the highway. Davis’ actions are undoubtedly
16
selfish. Her religion is not everyone’s religion, and that is what she seems unable to see. When confronted with the question from Ermold: “Under whose authority are you not issuing marriage licenses today,” Davis had the audacity to answer: “Under God’s authority.” Now that Davis is out of jail and back in her office, the county has decided to give Davis her way by authorizing marriage licenses without her name on them, which is how it was done while Davis was in jail. In a CNN article from September, Davis stated that even though U.S. District Judge David Bunning “was willing to accept altered marriage licenses,” neither she nor the judge said they were sure they’d even be completely valid. The article stated that marriage licenses featuring a deputy’s signature without a clerk’s consent “might” pass Kentucky law. Any document that Davis’ name is removed from, however, could have to face a court ruling on their validity. This brings a new problem to the conflict. Not only was Davis discriminating against those who identified as LGBT in her community, but there is now a debate that the licenses without her name may not be completely recognized. Again, back to the point that Davis’ decisions are self-centered. Davis found her calling when she became an Apostolic Christian, and that’s what suits her. It was likely a big change for her; if she’s happy with her path, then so be it. The fact that she’s on her fourth marriage shouldn’t matter, because people can change, and her conversion was part of her change. That’s fine. However, it’s not fine when her newfound self-discovery hurts other people. When trying to free a group from oppression, or give a voice to those that are voiceless, breaking the law is okay: the necessity of change needs to be brought to light. But breaking the law for a religion in a way that oppresses a certain group is wrong.
It implies that Davis is trying to impose her religion on the people of her county and reveals that she doesn’t care for the people as a public figure should. Being an elected official, the people are going to want to know that public officials are going to help the community grow. But Davis’ narrow-minded view shows she cannot. In Moore’s third video, Davis even smiled in her response about if interracial couples would be facing the same problems. “A man and a woman? No,” she said. Davis’ current position is similar to another choice that causes controversy: veganism. If someone was vegan, they wouldn’t work in a slaughterhouse because killing animals for food is against their beliefs. Since authorizing LGBT people the right to live happily ever after is against Davis’ religion, maybe she’s in the wrong career. Working in the courthouse has been her job for over 20 years now and finding a new career may be difficult, but it also couldn’t have been easy becoming so conservative on the sanctity of marriage after being divorced three times. Religion is not unanimous across our extremely diverse country, and trying to use one specific religion to cite why people are being refused their rights just doesn’t cut it. While there is very little chance she will be thrown out of office, Davis needs to think about the position she has put herself in. This was obviously more attention than she had ever wanted. Stepping down and hitting the help wanted ads would take her out of the spotlight and maybe even find her a new career that she would be much happier in. ___________________________________ Sara Belcher is a freshman journalism major who won’t be shoving any misguided beliefs down anyone’s throat anytime soon. You can email her at sbelcher@ithaca.edu.
Upfront
PFRONT. UPFRONT. UPFRONT
17
Combating Intimate Partner Violence Virtual communities creating spaces for dialogue
By Alexis Morillo, Contributing Writer
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
W
hether the occurrence of domestic violence or just the number of victims coming forward has increased, violence in intimate relationships has reached nearly epidemic proportions. In the United States alone, every minute about 20 people are abused physically by their intimate partners, as reported by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. On a global scale, 30 percent of women in relationships experience violence from their partner, according to the World Health Organization. Though the statistics are unsettling, there has been an increase in awareness in popular culture. Social media can be thanked for promoting the conversation about this prominent issue that affects men and women every single day. In September 2014, the infamous video of Baltimore Raven’s player Ray Rice punching his then fiancee Janay Palmer in an elevator earlier that year attracted national attention. By the time the video surfaced, Palmer and Rice had been married for six months, and people began to question why she would marry him if he was abusive. Shortly after the video was released, Time magazine published an article titled, “Instead of Asking Women Why They Stay, We Should Ask Men Why They Hit,” that explained the negative consequences of victim blaming and the importance of asking the right questions when it comes to instances of domestic violence. There are many reasons that victims of domestic violence do not seek help and feel as if freeing themselves of the toxic relationship is impossible, including but not limited to: fear, monetary restrictions and a lack of knowledge about their resources. Additionally, many times the control the abuser gains over the victim causes them to have low self-
18
esteem and feel as if they are unable to escape the abuse, according to The Advocacy Center of Ithaca. Dana Fleitman, senior manager of prevention and training programs at Jewish Women International, explained the role of control in unhealthy relationships. “Abuse is about power and control. It’s about one person deliberately gaining power to control the other person. When the victim doesn’t do what the abuser wants, the abuser will punish him or her in some way,” she said. Fleitman described the range of these punishments: yelling, making them feel guilty, violating privacy, and texting or emailing constantly. Though these different types of abuse exist, often times the general public seems to think abuse isn’t valid until it turns physical. “Often, people don’t take relationship abuse seriously unless there’s physical violence,” Fleitman said. “When a relationship is physically abusive, it is just about always emotionally abusive as well—physical abuse doesn’t come out of nowhere.” When people ask, “Why didn’t he/she just leave?” in reference to intimate partner violence like the pubic did in response to the Ray Rice scandal, it perpetuates victim blaming which places the guilt on the wrong person. Jessica Teperow, director of prevention programs at REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, articulated the problematic nature of victim blaming. “It [victim blaming] focuses the responsibility on the survivor and says that it is up to that person to stop the abuse... We don’t ask the question ‘why does someone abuse’ as much as we ask, ‘Why does someone stay?’” she said. Oftentimes the violence happens within formal relationships or frequent hook-up partners, which makes the person especially vulnerable to danger when they try to break things off. “Breaking up is hard in a healthy relationship, and it’s a lot harder in
an abusive one,” Fleitman said. This is because it is likely the abuse will escalate, and because of the isolation that occurs during the relationship, the victim may not have anyone to turn to. Teperow continued in saying it is common for the abuser to be in a position of leadership or popularity among their peers and can be charming toward the family and friends of their partner. “The blame is internalized by survivors,” Teperow said. “And it is reinforced by friends and family when they ask questions like, ‘What did you do that upset them?” Of course, there is also the conflict that arises when even after all of the hurt the abuser has caused, the survivor still loves them or the person they thought they were. The uproar after the Ray Rice video release inspired Beverley Gooden, a victim and survivor of domestic violence herself, to take to twitter and express her thoughts on the matter. She tweeted, “I tried to leave the house once after an abusive episode, and he blocked me. He slept in front of the door that entire night. #WhyIStayed,” at 11:47 AM on Sept. 8, 2014. Seven hours after Gooden’s initial tweet, 110 tweets including the same hashtag were being posted per minute as stated in Time magazine’s aforementioned article. Hashtags are used across various social media outlets to string together posts about similar topics. They started primarily on Twitter and allow users to easily find everything related to one particular topic. As social media started as an entertainment based internet tool, it has now become an outlet for news and other messages to be spread in an efficient way. More recently, campaigns like Gooden’s have been spread through tweets, photos and status updates which National Public Radio referred to as “Hashtag Activism” in its article “Hashtag Activism in 2014: Tweeting ‘Why I Stayed.”
ing that 46 percent of college students find themselves tweeting every single day, One Love has the right idea when it comes to reaching its target audience. But, as Teperow put it, “The online dialogue is often generated because of a horrible event… we should have the open dialogue proactively instead of reactively.” Intimate partner violence happens everyday, and outsiders to the situation should not be reminded of this only when something especially tragic happens, whether it be in popular culture, to their loved one, or to themselves. The open dialogue about relationship abuse should be happening continuously, and one way this can be achieved is by means of prevention/education programs on college campuses. One of the most dangerous places for women to live, as reported by CNBC in its piece “College rape crisis in America under fire,” is on a college campus. At some schools, there has recently been a high importance placed on awareness of the signs of abuse and ways to help victims. No More, a campaign to raise public awareness and engage bystanders around ending domestic violence and sexual assault, listed resources specifically on college campuses that have been established to combat domestic violence. This list included Know Your IX, Students Active For Ending Rape on Campus (SAFER), End Rape on Campus (EROC) and FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture. Know Your IX is a student and survivor-run organization that aims to teach the campus community about its Title IX rights and political activism, while SAFER, based at Columbia University, is more networkoriented and helps to establish relationships between current victims and survivors of sexual assault. Teperow said at events she has been a part of on college campuses, students have expressed that more often there are resources available that focus on sexual assault then there are about intimate partner violence. Though sexual assault can be a component in intimate partner violence, the terms are by no means in-
terchangeable. Fleitman agreed, and emphasized the necessity of prevention education. “Everyone should learn what dating abuse is, how to identify red flags and how to talk to a friend they fear may be experiencing abuse,” she said. “We’re hearing a lot about sexual assault on campuses… but very little about dating abuse — which impacts over 40 percent of college women and nearly 30 percent of college men.” It is necessary that awareness be raised on the incidence of relationship abuse on college campuses and especially understanding that ‘relationship’ can refer to boyfriend/girlfriend statuses, frequent hook-up partners or acquaintances. “If we exclusively refer to it as dating violence, a lot of times people don’t use the specific term ‘dating’ to refer to their relationship status,” Teperow said. The first step is having the definition of intimate partner violence be inclusive of the array of relationship statuses that are present on college campuses. These strides taken by college campuses are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to solving this epidemic in higher education environments across the world. The most important thing though, is to become aware and create allied relationships between the entire school community. When campus communities better understand how exactly domestic violence is defined and how to intervene when necessary, students will be able to find solace in the new resources being put into effect at universities across the nation. ___________________________________ Alexis Morillo is a freshman journalism major who kicks around the patriarchy in her free time. You can contact her at amorillo@ithaca.edu
19
Upfront
Gooden reflected on the way social media helped her message reach many people. “I think social media gives people the opportunity to reach across the globe in a confined space, which can be great for promoting a targeted message,” she said. “You reach an intended audience and potentially gain a new audience. It’s effectiveness really depends on the message, the medium, and the audience response.” And though nothing on the internet can ever really be deleted, this may not be a bad thing for the legacy of Gooden’s message. “The good thing about hashtags is that they will always be there and people can always find messages of hope and understanding when they click on #WhyIStayed,” Gooden said. #WhyIStayed took off in 2014, but four years prior the One Love Foundation, an advocacy organization for domestic violence was founded by Sharon Love, whose daughter was tragically killed by an ex-boyfriend. The goal of One Love is to “change the social climate that currently enables abuse to take place and reduce the amount of social capital required for bystanders to intervene” as explained in its mission statement. On Oct. 13, 2015, One Love started its “#ThatsNotLove” campaign and published a video on YouTube titled “Because I Love You” which depicts young men and women showing how the term “I love you” can be used to defend abusive actions. Since then, the video has been viewed over a million times. Besides its online presence, One Love presents workshops at college campuses around the United States that encourage bystander interference, but most importantly, teach ways to recognize domestic violence. The presence of this online activism makes it a topic that more college aged students come into contact with on a daily basis, furthering conversation. The One Love Foundation writes in the mission statement that it is trying to achieve awareness by “Meeting young people where they are, on campus and online.” With Digital Marketing Ramblings report-
Post-Punitive: Life During and After Incarceration An interview with prision refrom activist, Willie Stokes By Matthew Nitzberg, Contributing Writer
W
illie Stokes has been incarcerated in California’s Pelican Bay State Prison three times since 1994. Since his release, Stokes has authored the book The Testimony of a Black Sheep and is now the founder and executive director of the Black Sheep Redemption Program, whose mission involves: “providing youth with the mentoring, counseling, and support needed to develop the personal, academic, and career goals necessary for the creation of a path toward success in their own lives.” With the United States holding five percent of the world population and 25 percent of the world’s prisoners according to the NAACP, an understanding of incarceration has become imperative in the U.S. today, however the issue of incarceration has been largely mute in today’s societal and political landscape. With these reasons in mind, Buzzsaw reached out to Stokes to talk about his experience with the punitive arm of the state.
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
Matthew Nitzberg: So right off the bat, I’d love to ask you what you feel resulted in your incarceration and in general the punitive arm of the state. Willie Stokes: I think a lot of it had to do with my upbringing and looking up to the wrong role models... Like I had a cousin who was involved in gangs and drugs. I didn’t have a father figure, so he was my father figure, and I looked up to him and tried to be like him. I guess, really what led to my incarceration, was my mom being murdered and me moving away; and I started living on the streets and started dealing drugs to support myself. That’s when I was first incarcerated.
20
Nitzberg: How old were you when you were first locked up? Stokes: I was 15 when I first got incarcerated in juvenile hall. I would get out and start selling and using drugs again. That continued until I was 35 years old. Nitzberg: Could you tell me about the time in between juvenile hall and Pelican [Bay State Prison]? Stokes: So at Pelican Bay, that’s where they send the worst of the worst. Going to Pelican Bay was really an eye opener for me because I looked up to the guys there and for a lot of us in gangs, going to Pelican Bay feels like what going to a prestigious college might for you. You become somebody there. But when I got there I got a rude awakening that these guys aren’t my enemies, and at Pelican Bay we all got up there and all got along regardless of what gang you belonged to. There’s no fighting amongst each other there, that was an eye opener for me because I didn’t know it was like that. I was put in a section with nothing but people who I would have considered my enemies and they were the ones who were helping me with the stuff that I needed. That allowed me to take a step back and say, “What am I doing? What is this really all about?” And what I was told was really just a big old lie. Nitzberg: There’s a sentiment in the academic world that prisons should be about correction but are entirely punitive. I was wondering if you could expand on that, regarding both your time in Pelican Bay and in juvenile detention. Stokes: So when I went to juvenile hall you will have counselors that will help kids out, like one counselor helped me get a job when I got out. He hooked me up with a job at a gym
and I was like the custodian there. But that’s all it is, especially at Pelican Bay. All we were doing was learning how to deal with the prison. That’s how I feel about the prison system. It really doesn’t do any justice. If anything, I went in and came out feeling like I was a more equipped criminal to tell you the truth. Nitzberg: Any closing remarks, is there anything you think I missed that you feel needs to be mentioned or understood when speaking about the prison? Stokes: I think the biggest thing and why I do what I do is, I want people to know that people can change. And many of these guys have so much potential and all they need is for people to believe in them and be there for them. And it doesn’t matter what your background is or where you come from, man. Cause all these people need is for someone to believe in them. And I speak from experience from this man I worked with, he’s this older white man [Stokes told me this man was a catholic priest who did work in Pelican Bay], that just believed in me that I could be better, and that’s all it takes. ‘Cause if people in society don’t believe in them, not society but people that are doing good in life, people that are not a part of this gang culture or this criminal mentality behavior; if people like that don’t believe in people who are incarcerated and have made mistakes, then guess what: other people will believe in them. And it’s the gang members. All you gotta do is get involved, man. Believe in these people, and they will believe in themselves. That’s what happened to me. People would give up on me and I was like, “Why do I have to change?” ___________________________________ Matthew Nitzberg is a junior sociology major. Email him at mnitzberg@ ithaca.edu.
R
T
B
n
t s . n e d .
, I e n ?
d e d h e
r e e n e s e o t ,
t g y t n e . . l t e I
Transitoning to a new community By Celisa Calacal, Staff Writer
*Names have been altered to protect anonymity. f I stay in Iraq, they will kill me.” This was the thought that remained permeated in Sam’s* mind as he continued to live in his home country of Iraq. Stay, and be killed, or flee. Sam fled. The root of Sam’s decision stemmed from the unrest following the Iraqi insurgency beginning with the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003. Sam began working for the U.S. Army in 2003, and would continue for the next five years. However, tensions as well as resistance to the U.S. occupation escalated, leading to the formation of the Sunni and Shiite militia. A threat had emerged, threatening Sam’s very life and the lives of his friends and family. Sam’s position working with the U.S. military only served to exacerbate this threat. “Just in our area, in our city, in Iraq, anyone who worked with the U.S. army, must quit his job or he will get killed,” he said. A sense of fear and heightened worry began to fester, and Sam moved from the capital city of Baghdad to the city of Al-Kut, nearly 100 miles away. Six months later, Sam moved back to Baghdad. However, the threat was still ever-present. “We still have a threat from this, and they sent us message because they told us we have to quit, and we quit after that but we still so worried and we scared because you know, you don’t have a safe in your house or when you go for any place,” he said. “Because any time, maybe they will kill you.” During this time of heightened fear and worry, the Sunni and Shiite militia continued to kill civilians, including 12 of Sam’s friends. In 2006, the country saw a civilmilitia war between the Sunni and the Shiite, this all occurring along with the ongoing war and resistance
I
with the U.S. military occupation in Iraq. Yet Sam continued his work with the military amidst threats from the civilian militia to quit his job. “They think about us people as enemies,” he said. “But you know we just want help our people because they need to live better and they need some service for the cities, so we did that for our people.” With rising violence, Sam quit his job in 2009, and began the process of coming to the U.S. in 2011. Out of a family of seven brothers, three, including Sam, were given the ability to transfer to the U.S. Two of Sam’s other brothers made a similar decision: the oldest arrived in the U.S. in 2013, followed by the middle brother in 2014. Sam and his wife arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2015. He settled in Ithaca, reuniting with one of his brothers and began his transition into U.S. society. Sam said his brother helped him with social security as well as the search for a place to live. Sam and his wife were eventually able to find temporary housing in a refugee house in Ithaca. The couple also looked to the Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services to help them with their English. The couple takes English classes at the First Presbyterian Church every morning from 9 a.m to 3 p.m. Julie Coulombe, a coordinator for the Adult English as a Second Language classes at BOCES, works with many refugees and immigrants in the area. “We are the education piece so when people need to study English or they need to study for their high school diploma, we are the place where the refugees and immigrants get the education piece,” she said. Along with the ESL and BOCES program, two other programs in the Ithaca area provide various services to refugees and immigrants in the area. Tompkins Learning Partners
provides volunteers to help adults and young people improve upon particular skills, such as computer literacy, English or even getting a driver’s license. The next organization, the Immigrant Services Program, assists immigrants and refugees with legal issues, such as applications for social services. Sue Chaffee, program director for the Immigrant Services Program, said ISP serves immigrants and refugees in the Ithaca area by providing legal immigration services and job development. Chaffee said ISP also works in collaboration with the adult BOCES program by offering grants to students to attend ESL classes. She said one of the biggest challenges refugees face when they move into a different country is the language barrier. “A lot of times people don’t wanna leave their home country and they left under very traumatic circumstances,” she said. “So it’s that whole adjusting to a different culture, a different language in most cases.” As Sam continues to improve his English and settle into Ithaca, his plan is to continue to pursue his dream of learning more about the study of aquaponics. The atmosphere in Iraq was one which cultivated fear, anxiety and impacted the very freedom to go about one’s daily activities. It was this dangerous environment that fueled Sam’s move to the U.S. After a month of living in Ithaca, one thing Sam recognizes is how this greater amount of freedom has impacted his life. “We come here we can do anything — we feel free our planning for the future and to study or to work,” he said. “I think it’s changed my life.” ___________________________________ Celisa Calacal is a sophomore journalism with an interest in human interest. You can email her at ccalacal@ ithaca.edu
21
Upfront
@
Refuge In Ithaca
Free Speed
Learning how to mainline medical grade amphetamines By Matthew Nitzberg, Contributing Writer
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
T
he widespread use of this number at 5 percent, some worthe New York Times, nearly 14 milpsychostimulant drugs, ry ADHD may be over-diagnosed. lion monthly prescriptions were “I don’t think that the [true prevalike Adderall to treat Atwritten for Americans ages 20 tention Deficit Hyper- lence] rates of ADHD have gone up,” to 39 in 2011. This is two and a activity Disorder began Dr. David O. Antonuccio, Professor half times the 5.6 million just four in the early 1990s. This Emeritus at University of Nevada years before. This illustrates just happened around the same time School of Medicine said. how common prescriptions are. “Some would argue that our dithat the FDA first allowed for the In fact, according to a 2011 study advertising of controlled substances agnostic systems are better, and from the Center for Disease Consomehow we are recognizing it directly to consumers. trol, roughly 70 to 80 percent of Since the 1990s, both the rate of [ADHD] more, but I don’t really children with ADHD ages 14 to 17 psychostimulant prescription for think that’s the case. I think culwere treated with such medications. ADHD as With approximately three quarwell as the ters of Americans with ADHD being One possible explanation for this phe- prescribed medication, prospective diagnosis for ADHD have nomenon — or at least a possible expla- buyers would not have to scour the been on the earth, much less their college camrise. Diagnos- nation for the supply of drugs fuling this pus, to find someone with a supply tic rates vary phenomenon — might be how readily psy- of legally prescribed stimulants. And from state with prescription rates on the rise, it to state, but chostimulants are used to treat ADHD. is only getting easier to buy and sell. according to “The stuff sells itself on college the Center for campuses,” said one anonymous Disease Control, the general trend tural and marketing factors are source who reflected on using his is upwards; with the rates among a bigger driver for the increase we Adderall prescription as a profit states such as Arkansas and Ken- have seen [in diagnostic rates].” making venture while enrolled at a tucky nearly doubling during the As rates of the ADHD diagnosis inlarge public university. four year period from 2007 to 2011, flate, the widespread non-medical “So every opportunity to sell it while other states such as Alaska use of ADHD stimulants on college came quickly.” campuses poses an additional conhave flatlined. The source stated that he would Yet diagnostic rates may not be cern. even, “forego [his] own need [for AdA 2000 study examining the recthe best gauge for understanding derall] to make sales.” He stated reational use of psychostimulants just how common ADHD is. that “the money was both too good According to a 2013 study pub- prescribed for ADHD published in and too easy [to pass up].” lished in the Contemporary Journal the Journal of American College When asked why he felt his serof Psychotherapy: “the national rate Health stated that over 16 percent of vices were so popular he stated that of ADHD diagnosis exceeds all rea- students surveyed had used methit was about “the stress that the sonable estimates of the disorders’ ylphenidate [Ritalin] average true prevalence with 14% of children in a non medical settudent “So some people have a vul- sfeels.” ting, and 12.7 perbeing diagnosed before adulthood.” Indeed, a 2014 study in the in- cent of students sur- nerability for being addicted, He conternational journal of epidemiology veyed said that they tinued, which is complex and you can’t stating he stated that there “has been no evi- had snorted the drug dence to suggest an increase in the — a method of ad- predict with certainty who will could not number of children in the communi- ministration incred“imagine be an addict,” Kuhar said. ty who meet criteria for ADHD when ibly prone to abuse. that colOne possible exstandardized diagnostic procedures lege was planation for this are followed.” so panThe true prevalence of ADHD (or phenomenon — or at least a posic inducing in the past, and that in layman’s terms: how many people sible explanation for the supply people would so quickly reach for actually have ADHD vs. how many of drugs fuling this phenomenon a chemical fix. It’s more than just people are diagnosed with it) is hard — might be how readily psychoover-prescription, it’s also about to pin down, yet with the American stimulants are used to treat ADHD. cultural awareness and demand.” Psychiatric Association estimating According to a 2013 article from
22
The claim that college students like to use adderall to study is not entirely without merit. A 2013 study from the journal of Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, found a 35 percent rate of illicit psychostimulant use at one large public university. If these rates of illicit stimulants used are anywhere near accurate, than the issue of prescription drug abuse has a significant presence on U.S. college campuses. While a common sentiment in colleges is that ADHD drugs make you smarter or work better, this likely is not the case. “To the contrary, compelling new evidence indicates that ADHD drug treatment is associated with deterioration in academic and social-
And misinformation is all too common; in fact, The New York Times states that every major ADHD drug company has been cited by the FDA for false and misleading advertising. Additionally, a 2010 study titled “Adderall is Defintely Not a Drug,” conducted by the University of Kentucky, found that students tend to “frame stimulant use as both physically harmless and morally acceptable.” Business Insider stated that only 2 percent of the respondents of this study thought stimulant use was dangerous. With 35 percent of college students essentially using speed to study and only 2 percent seeing this drug, which is neither associated with improved grades nor cognitive ability, as dangerous, it would appear that our thoughts about prescription stimulant use are more grounded in marketing than science. As Dr. Conners, a psychologist and professor emeritus at Duke University said, “The numbers [surrounding ADHD] make it look like an epidemic. Well, it’s not. It’s preposterous. This is a concoction to justify the giving out of medication at unprecedented and unjustifiable levels.” ___________________________________ Matthew Nitzberg is a junior sociology major who thinks the war on drugs is rhetorical bullshit. You can email him at mnitzber@ithaca.edu.
Illustration by Courtney Yule
23
Upfront
emotional functioning,” said a recent study from the University of Nevada, Reno. Drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin are not only addictive, but nonprescribed possession and distribution of them are both highly illegal, with the DEA classifying them as Schedule II drugs or “drugs with a high potential for abuse... with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence.” When used irresponsibly, drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin have the potential to cause serious harm. “Most people can walk away from drug use, but some don’t and get into serious trouble,” said Michael J. Kuhar, professor of neuropharmacology at Emory University. “So some people have a vulnerability for being addicted, which is complex and you can’t predict with certainty who will be an addict,” Kuhar said. But addiction clearly happens, so every person who uses adderall without medical supervision needs to consider that he/she could become an addict.” Psychostimulants are not without their uses, yet the question about whether the risks outweigh the rewards is still highly circumstantial. Adderall has only been in popular use for about 20 years — a relatively short period of time for an addictive drug with potential side effects including psychosis and sudden death.
Fouth Wave Feminism
How the internet created the new wave
W
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
By Shannah Sacco, Contributing Writer aves of feminism come out of generational ideals, all urging in some way for women and gender equality. Each wave of feminism promoted different ideals to solve social problems, but also pushed forward to create other movements. The Third Wave of feminism focused on various women’s issues which challenged the way society viewed queer and non-white women.This was important for it lead to the inclusion of women of different ethnicities, nationalities and backgrounds in the discussion towards gender equality. Today, many speculate about the legitimacy of a Fourth Wave of feminism. Yet, Jennifer Baumgardner, executive director and publisher of The Feminist Press claimed “We are basically in a fourth wave of feminism.” This can be seen through activism in movements such as free the nipple, and many ideas being propelled forward because of access to social media and mass information available online. Today, it has become a generational staple of feminist movements to promote organizations and fight against relevant issues through platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The internet has been helpful in providing real life action against issues in comparison to the early 1990s during the Third Wave of feminism where the internet was not available. Third wave feminists and organizations in the early 1990s relied predominantly on things such as fanzines, independent niche magazines produced by fans focused on specific topics, to promote ideals and explore feminist issues. The upheaval of feminist movements inspired by the grunge riot grrrl movement in the music scene, allowed female bands, to express frustration with issues such as rape culture, abuse and patriarchy. Many bands, such as The Bikini Kill, were a part of this move-
24
ment and used music to address social media has been extremely effective in providing real life action these issues. “In place of zines and songs, young in Fourth Wave feminist issues. She feminists created blogs, Twitter cam- said, “As with most activist groups, paigns and online media with names FMF has used social media for a like Racialicious and Feministing, or number of our campaigns. For example, we successfully got Time wrote for Jezebel and Salon’s magazine to apologize for including Broadsheet,” Baumgardner said. Baumgardner explained how the ‘feminist’ in its 2014 list of words fourth wave of feminists came about to ban”. Carroll also claimed things out of an age of increasing techno- like Twitter and Facebook are useful in getting information to the public, logical advancement. “I think “I think feminist on platforms such as Tumfeminist on p l a t f o r m s blr and Twitter, as well as blogs like Feministsuch as Tumblr and ing and Crunk Feminist Collective — to just Twitter, as name two — are examples of the impact of well as blogs like Femi- access to social media in keeping feminist nisting and conversation alive,” Baumgardner said. Crunk Feminist Collective — to just name two — are examples of the and helping to further movements. Today, social media has become impact of access to social media in keeping feminist conversation alive,” an excellent tool to perpetuate movements, whereas in the early days of Baumgardner said. Setting them apart from other the Third Wave of feminism, reachfeminist movements, the fourth wa- ing thousands with just a click was vers were born into the technology impossible. Social media allow for age, utilizing the internet and social individuals to join movements, and media to promote accessibility for become actively engaged in feminist discussions. Not only has access to all. “Social media and access to on- information become unbelievably line content is of vital importance simple, but rallying behind ideas to connect individuals, and help to and taking action against injustice promote real life action against ha- is as easy as Instagraming a picture rassment” said C.J. Morrison, pro- and posting a hashtag. gram and administrative assistant ___________________________________ of Hollaback!, an organization that Shannah Sacco is a junior poliworks to combat street harassment. tics major who doesn’t need the “Access to social media allows internet to make waves. You can individuals to be educated about email her at ssacco1@ithaca.edu street harassment and promote the notion of becoming active bystanders in regard to these social issues,” Morrison said. By engaging in online activism, individuals can promote the idea that this behavior is unacceptable thus alieving the greater problem of street harassment. Kelsey Carroll from the Feminist Majority Foundation explained how
Freeing Your Mind
A psychdelic personal narrative
T
By Lucy Diamond
know what we were doing, but we fit. My clothes were on. So were his. My eyes were open but just lost in his. We gathered ourselves together. Not sure at what point, but isn’t that just the beauty? There is no point. I made a big deal of jumping into the water. The whole 12-inch jump down might as well have been a mile. The water moved in between my toes like a gentle caress. Oh wait, that was definitely a hand. And then the water was inside me. Oh wait. That was Mr. California Sunshine. Again. I think. And in perfect romantic timing, I sliced my foot on a rock. My guts started spewing out of me through my foot. It was going to have to be amputated. I just knew it. He sat me up on a rock as I looked away. “I can feel my spleen coming out through my foot!” I yelled. He grabbed his t-shirt which was sitting dry next to me and wiped off my foot. He pulled himself up on the rock next to me and gently placed his fingertips on my side. “Okay let me check out this spleen you’re talking about. Is it there?” I burst out laughing, “Stop! That tickles!” “Well then it must be fine!” he said and kept tickling. Pee was definitely on the verge of bursting out, so I begged him to stop. He did and gently kissed my forehead, right on my third eye. Every color of the universe burst through that kiss, even the ones that aren’t in that Crayola box. My foot felt healed. It was a cup of hot chocolate and a fire in Ithaca, New York. At the same time, it was a swimming pool with a waterslide in Houston, Texas. It was all the innocent happiness in the first kiss. I finally stopped seeing stars. At least as clear as it could be. The leaves on the trees were shifting between the primary colors — red, blue and yellow. But they were trees again. And we started making our way home from the adventure, my hand still in his. They tell you someone is supposed to be tending the light at the end of our tunnel. California Sunshine was tending mine, but only for a night.
25
Upfront
o me, he was my California Sunshine. To him, I was his Lucy. At some point in the night, we decided to adventure into the woods. The rain from earlier in the day still hung on the trees, dripping off in a cosmic rainbow. The droplets kept hitting my head, making my entire body wet. Maybe it was still pouring outside. We slid through the mud, giggling like kids whose parents let them out in the rain to play in the puddles. We took a trip over our own feet and rolled around each other’s bodies. We rested on two rocks opposite of each other. Instead of freedom, childlike fear of the dark overcame me. I wasn’t sure if I was scared because of the darkness or because I had just met Mr. California Sunshine a few hours before. “Hey, I’m not trying to freak you out, but I’m kinda getting scared,” I said, trying to hold onto my last second of sanity. “It’s really dark here.” What was I thinking wondering off into the woods with a complete stranger? As the battle with myself began in my head, he grabbed my hand. He had the kind caress of a lifelong friend. “Hey, hey. It’s okay,” he assured me. “Let’s meditate for a bit. It might make you feel better to see what I see.” We sat crisscrossed and he held my hands loosely in his own. We each stared into each other’s left eye. The trees behind him started to melt away, then his face started to melt. Not in a terrifying way, but like a cartoon. His pupil grew smaller and bigger to the beat of “Lost” by Chance the Rapper. The music could have been coming from a phone or from my own head at that point. “I say oh oh oh ohh.” His hands fumbled around the waistband on my shorts, unsure of which way was in and which way was out. Somehow, he figured it out. Before I knew it, both of our clothes were off, and we were fumbling around. It was like having sex for the first time again. Weird, but I liked it. Different, but I wanted more. Neither of us seemed to
Test In, or Test Out
Forced standardization through the educational system
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
By Emma Rizzo, Contributing Writer
26
Upfront
27
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
A
child moves a pencil across his notebook, writing and rewriting his name. He forms each letter as the hum of the middle school English class surrounds him. Next to him, a classmate flips through a Jane Austen novel, silently taking in each word as her neighbor traces his name. For 40 minutes, five days per week, this scene repeated in front of Jane Healy, the teacher of the middle school class at the time. “They said to me, ‘Just let him write his name. He’ll be fine,’” Healy said, now a retired educator, author and educational psychologist. “I thought, ‘How in heaven’s name am I going to manage to teach all these children?’ And in 40 minutes, five days a week, I really wanted to make a difference for these children and I found it was a very frustrating business.” A child who could only write his name was expected to perform under the same structure as the child who was reading novels beyond her reading level. Healy, having experienced first hand this inequality in the United States public education system, decided to investigate the cause and effects of the problem. After finishing the school year teaching English in this middle school class, she left her position as a teacher and began her studies of educational psychology. “I was always very interested in the able children who for some reason had a glitch, which we now call a learning disability,” she said. “I prefer the words ‘learning difference’… The way schools are structured does not really begin to meet everyone’s needs.” The structure of the United States education system has been under a magnifying glass in recent years, with initiatives such as Common Core and No Child Left Behind drawing public and political criticism. “The current education system is making kids sicker, not smarter,” said Vicki Abeles, director of the documentary Race to Nowhere: Transforming Education from the Ground Up. As a mother, Abeles said she saw her own children lose their drive for learning as they grew up under a constant pressure to meet the standards of the regimented public school system. Discontent and puzzled with this observation, she set off to find out why her children were suffering rather than thriving in a learning setting. This sparked the produc-
28
tion of her documentary. “I started to talk to people across the country and realized that we had a silent epidemic,” she said. “I wanted to give a voice to the people closest to the education system.” By recording the experiences of children and educators across the country, she uncovered a pattern of stress, sleep deprivation and cheating caused by an overemphasis on homework, resume building and testing in the mainstream school system, she said. “I was struck by how widespread these issues were,” Abeles said. “They impacted everyone I came into contact with… I realized these issues weren’t confined to any one particular community.” Standardized testing was one of the widespread issues Abeles noticed as she spoke with students, parents and educators. She noticed that people across the country were experiencing the same aversion to testing despite the absence of formal, national exam standards. The United States does not have a national examination system or a national curriculum, according to the Department of Education website. However, according to the website, examination practice are largely uniform throughout the United States, even though their is not a national curriculum or testing system. Students in grades three through eight take an average of 10 standardized district and state tests per academic year, according to a report by the Center for American Progress. These exams “are the result of the pressures of the competitive academic marketplace,” according to the Department of Education website. Despite this effort to perform as a competitive player in the international academic landscape, the United States is falling behind other developed nations. According to 2012 data compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment, the United States ranks 16 out of 37 countries for reading performance, 25 for math and 19 for science. This is consistently below the OECD average of 489 points out of 580 for girls and 499 for boys. Finland, like many of its Nordic neighbors, is applauded for its progressive, learning-focused education system. The Finns rank first in the world for reading and fourth for performance in science. While consistently outperforming their
international classmates, Finnish students spend less time bubbling in answer sheets and bending over homework. As education policy in the United States moves toward a more regimented system including centralized testing, the Finnish system is progressing in the opposite direction, according to Linda-Darling Hammond, faculty director at the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. “Over the past 40 years, Finland has shifted from a highly centralized system emphasizing external testing to a more localized system in which highly trained teachers design curriculum around the very lean national standards,” she wrote in NEA Today Magazine, a publication of the National Education Association. Finnish students sit down for one national examination during the entirety of their primary and secondary education, unlike many of its international counterparts, including the U.S., which place significant emphasis on standardized testing. This exam, the National Matriculation Examination, provides a basis for university admission, according to the Finnish National Board of Education. Not only are students in Finland tested less, they also spend less time on homework than students in the United States. OECD found in 2014 that 15-year-olds in Finland spent 2.8 hours on homework per week, while children of the same age in the United States consistently spent 6.1 hours on a weekly basis. This higher portion of time spent on school work and the pressure associated with it may be causing an increase in mental health disorders, Abeles said. “I think in short I would say that students across the country are being pushed to the brink of exhaustion,” she said. “[There is] a silent epidemic of burnout, anxiety and depression.” Children in the United States are also experiencing more mental health problems than those in Europe with one in five children living in the United States experience a mental disorder in a given year, according to to Center for Disease Control and Prevention data. In the European Union, however, one in eight children have a clinically diagnosed mental disorder, according to data from Child and Adolescent Mental Health in an Enlarged Europe (CAMHEE). In addition to experiencing anxiety and depression under traditional learning rules, those outside of traditional constraints often find it difficult to meet
how children learn sets an example for other districts and can be done within state mandates, she said. “High-stakes testing is a small obstacle in terms of creating innovations,” she said. Children in the United States take two to three times more district exams as state exams, according to the Center for American Progress study. With state required examinations less of a factor in testing, reforms such as those mentioned in Beyond Measure may become possible at the local level. “I think we need to trust in our students and our educators more and we need our school communities to develop the learning experience,” Abeles said. In order to effectively work with student needs and learning abilities, educators and education policy makers need to gain an understanding of child development and psychology, Healy said. “It needs to change in order to be confident with what we know about child development and what we know about the realities and practicalities of what we know about real children,” she said. “I am not convinced that bureaucrats understand these issues very well.” Widespread misunderstanding of brain differences contributed to the marginalization of students from an early age. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, for example, is likely a misunderstood brain difference, Healy said. Approximately eleven percent of children in the United States ages 4 to 17 years old have been diagnosed with ADHD as of 2011, according to statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Diagnosis levels have shown an upward trend in the past decade. “[It is] probably some sort of brain difference that can be made worse by the environment,” Healy said. “A lot of very high energy, very successful, very creative people have shown symptoms in their lifetime of what we call ADHD.” ADHD, according to Healy, has no clear diagnostic test and is often diagnosed when a child does not fit modern classroom expectations. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, to be diagnosed with ADHD a child may undergo a multi-step test, displaying symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. These symptoms are similar to anxiety, depression and certain learning disabilities, according to the CDC. Implementing change at the classroom and district level in order to accommodate
for these brain differences is in the hands of the educators. According to Ellen Mandinach, Educational Psychologist and Senior Research Scientist at WestED, teachers, when given the right tools for decision making, can have a direct role in crafting a system that is best suited for children. Mandinach advocates for data-driven decision making based on qualitative information regarding a student’s attitude, level of motivation and engagement, health data and other factors to best accommodate individual learners. “When people think data, they think tests and that’s not necessarily true,” she said. “What we are trying to appease the notion of is that data are only quantitative test results… It’s impacting in a great way because what it does is it brings it down to the level of a class of students, a group of students, [and] individual students to help more accurately identify what their learning weaknesses and their learning strengths may be to then customize instruction accordingly.” Beyond the data, however, the human aspect of education needs to be addressed. A grassroots, district and classroom level movement can begin when educators and policy makers look beyond the statistics on paper and toward the development of the child brain, Healy said. “Understanding the problem and realizing that it is a political problem as well as a human problem is probably the beginning of wisdom,” she said. “...The real question is how we teach kids to be wise? How do we teach kids to be human in the truest sense?” The young boy in Healy’s classroom, writing his name as the other students work on their assignments, is a human with a different mind than that of the child next to him, flipping through the words of Jane Austen and Emily Brontë. While some students may find traditional educational systems beneficial, it is for those young minds that are outside of regimented confines that the problems must be addressed. Various perspectives of intellectual processing, alternative ways of thinking and individual learning methods must be accepted within the system that is already in place in order to make public, mainstream education accessible to everyone. ________________________________________ Emma Rizo is a senior journalism major with a concentration in kickass narrative ledes. You can email her at erizzo1@ithaca.edu.
29
Upfront
teacher expectations, Healy said. “If you take a brain that is neurologically immature, it might be brilliant,” she said. “If you lay on it academic demands that are wrong for it, and you make a big issue that this kid is a failure, and you make him feel like a failure, you already have a problem.” This streamlined expectation can also have harmful effects later in life, Healy said. “I have seen in my lifetime as a professional so many people who tragically have the most awful images of themselves as an adult having been a failure in kindergarten,” she said. “When you try to force everyone in the same box you lose an immense amount of potential.” Before the United States can reverse these statistic, and the impacts of the high-pressure education system, education policy makers need to return to an emphasis on learning, Abeles said. “All of our films and books call on everyone to redefine success away from a culture that is obsessed with busyness, competition and measurement, and instead shift that vision to develop students’ love of learning and make meaningful connections,” she said. The problem is a result of how society in the United States has shaped the expectations of children, Abeles said. “This is a cultural issue, and our culture influences what are in our schools,” she said. In her newest documentary, Beyond Measure, Abeles profiles schools around the country that have returned to an emphasis on learning and are changing their teaching methods within the public education system. “All of these people that we feature in the film are transforming their culture from the inside out,” she said. “They are not waiting for policies to change or college admission to change. They are moving away from an education system that promotes learning competition… and to something that is much more innovative and ultimately puts students and their learning at the center of their work.” A district in Kentucky, one of the communities profiled in the film, for example, has established an inquiry-based learning system based on the learning styles of young students. This includes assessments involving research projects, science experiments and thesis-style papers, Abeles said. Catering the educational experience to
OL. MINISTRYofCOOL. MIN BUZZSAW: Free Issue
30
Arts, entertainment and other things cooler than us.
Radio for Ithaca by Ithaca Profile: WRFI radio free Ithaca
Celisa Calacal, Staff Writer
B
broadcasting in the area,” he said. Following the disbanding of the pirate station, early inceptions of today’s WRFI formed in 2002 as Ithaca Community Radio, after a founding board member re-mortgaged her home to obtain a Federal Communications Commission license for the 88.1 station in Ithaca. The mission of ICR was to create an independent community station in the area, and in 2007 the station received an official license from the FCC. After several years of testing and working to bring the station to full operational standards, WRFI officially went on the air in June 2012 following the completion of its broadcast studio in the Clinton House in downtown Ithaca. The station hosted its first radio fundraising marathon in December 2012, where anybody from the community was welcomed and invited to learn more about the station and get involved. With no prior radio experience, Teitelbaum said his first exposure to WRFI was hearing a piece of music he knew he would never hear on the radio. He then began getting involved with the station as a late night DJ. “I came in my first shift from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. and played songs that basically had never made radio before, and never left since then,” Teitelbaum said. Since WRFI is solely community run and operated, and in addition to hosting their own programs, many of the volunteers shoulder different responsibilities in the upkeep of the station, including helping with outreach, doing computer work, helping with design or the general maintenance of the station. One volunteer is Domenic Gagliano, who hosts a radio show every Sunday night called Grooves Move in Circles, and also serves on the station’s staff advisory committee. A fan of radio himself, Gagliano first started volunteering with WRFI two years ago, and said it only made sense to combine
his love of radio and music. “I love music so you know it makes sense to bring two together, plus you know free-form station right in our backyard here is a pretty rare thing, so it’s a great organization and a great opportunity to make radio,” he said. “It’s basically the one place where you can really express yourself without having that kind of stuff get in the way, whether it’s the music or talk or local issue.” To reflect the station’s commitment to independent programming, WRFI is a non-profit educational organization, as well as a commercialfree station. However, Teitelbaum said what distinguishes WRFI is that the station does not take underwriting, which is an announcement made on public broadcasting outlets in exchange for monetary funding. He said while the station can accept money and legally mention sponsors, it chooses not to. Instead, the station receives money from grants and local donations, which Teitelbaum said keeps the station free from any type of influence. “The points of view represented on this station are informed by the perspectives of the people doing the programming, live local people and the choices that we make in terms of syndicated programming,” he said. As a community radio station, Nicholas Hill, a member of the station’s board of directors, said this aspect in and of itself distinguishes WRFI from other stations in the area, since people in Ithaca are less familiar with community radio due to the bevy of other public stations in the town and its surrounding towns. “The difference is that community stations are operated by the community on the community’s behalf,” he said. “So we’re not getting funding from a college, we’re not getting corporate funding and we don’t sell underwriting to businesses, so virtually all of our direct funding comes from listeners.”
31
Ministry of Cool
ehind a closed offwhite door on the third floor of the Clinton Building is a large gray carpeted space. The sound of old school music fills the room. On one side of the wall are rows of shelves stocked with music ranging from vintage vinyls to the hard plastic CD cases. There is a small builtin studio, equipped with a number of machines, two computers and dozens of wires running along the floor and connecting each piece of technology to the next. Beyond this main area are several other rooms, all furnished with old yet charming decor that represents the ingenuity of its owners. This space belongs to WRFI, an independent community radio station for the Watkins Glen and Ithaca areas. Broadcast on 91.9 in Watkins Glen and 88.1 in Ithaca, the station provides local programming 24/7, 365 days a year, ranging from newscasts during the day to live local music shows at night. Communityowned and operated, WRFI is run by local volunteers from the Ithaca area and supported by listener donations. Prior to the conception of WRFI, a station of the same name existed in 1980 as an unlicensed, underground, community radio station. While the station was short-lived, Felix Teitelbaum, general manager of today’s WRFI, said RFI became an acronym to represent the alternative character of the station: radio free Ithaca. The technical term for RFI, radio frequency interference, means a station’s frequency is not coming in correctly, and Teitelbaum said even this technical term highlights the station’s purpose. “I think that sort of underlines the sort of subversive intent that, you know, that sort of we started out with or that we like to hold on to at least to some extent, the kind of like alternative to the standard type of
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
Another point of distinction is the WRFI mission statement, which Teitelbaum said the station always adheres to when making decisions regarding programming and asking how well the proposed program fits into its mission. Within the mission statement is the promise to always be community owned and operated, promote programs that share local and underrepresented perspectives, and provide the opportunity to learn the craft of radio while serving the general well-being of its community. WRFI broadcasts a range of content, from left-leaning news during the day to live local music from DJs at night. Democracy Now! and Capitol Pressroom are just two of the many newscasts the station offers, and Teitelbaum said the live local DJs generally try to play music that wouldn’t normally be heard on other stations. While some hosts choose to pre-record their programs, he said volunteers are encouraged to broadcast live. The radio station also partakes in remote broadcasting, one such example being its live coverage of the Ithaca League of Women of Rollers during their roller derby matches at the Cass Park Rink. Teitelbaum said it is this type of coverage that separates WRFI from other radio stations. “That’s the kind of unique programming that a community station will bring you,” he said. “You’re not gonna hear that, you might hear college football or something on another local channel, but who’s doing roller derby? It’s kind of a niche thing.” While most radio stations are either committed to entertainment or news coverage, Hill said the station is committed to both these aspects. “The mission statement includes the word ‘joy,’ that we’re committed to it. So it’s not meant to be all doom and gloom and bad news. But we also, you know, really look forward to hearing things that they’re musically passionate about or theater or geology or whatever people are interested in broadcasting,” he
32
said. “We’re sort of “I came in my first shift from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. half eclectic music and played songs that basically had never programming and half news and informade radio before, and never left since then” mation and progressive.” - Felix Teitelbaum In comparison to the two college radio stations in Ithaca, Cornell Uni- said. “So we try and keep the barrier versity’s WVBR and Ithaca College’s low to getting on and getting your WICB and VIC, Hill said the station own thing basically.” can afford to be nonprofessional, in As WRFI grows and improves as that its programs are not the typi- a station, its dedication to the local cal, standard radio programs. For community and providing education instance, Hill said in past years he for those interested in radio continhas seen a program where teenagers ues. For volunteers like Gagliano, made fake news and another that WRFI will continue to be a place of lasted for a year which was simply community devoid of commercial inthe popular role playing game, Dun- fluence and provide the opportunity geons & Dragons. to hear different kinds of programs “There’s room for sort of things whose perspectives would otherwise that wouldn’t necessarily find a go unheard. home anywhere else,” he said. “It’s like a real community gatherWhile volunteers contribute to ing place essentially for ideas and a programming and the general main- great place to express those ideas,” tenance of the station, it is the con- he said. “It’s basically the one place tributions from listener donations where you can really express yourthat sustain it. The station’s biggest self without having that kind of stuff fundraising event is its annual Fund get in the way whether it’s the music Drive, which lasts over several days or talk or local issues.” and includes performances from live _____________________________________ local bands as well as prizes, all to Celisa Calacal is a sophomore journalraise more money for the station and ism major who isn’t about to turn the potentially invite locals to volunteer. lights out on guerilla radio. You can Teitelbaum said the station has seen email her at ccalacal@ithaca.edu strong support from members of the Ithaca community even prior to its official birth. “Long before the station even opened its doors people were giving money to keep the idea alive and now people are giving to keep the station alive, and that’s been really good,” he said. WRFI is also committed to educating people on learning the craft, regardless of any prior experience they may or may not have. Both Teitelbaum and Hill said this dedication to teaching allows room for mistakes for beginners and having them learn and improve from their errors. “We’re trying to get people to learn about radio and the best way to do it is just get in there and turn on the mic and start broadcasting,” Hill
a.m. ever hen” aum
ier ur
as cal on nno, of nity ms se
erda s,” ce uruff sic
__ alhe an
The Art of Being Offensive
Struggle between freedom of speech and offending the public
Evan Popp, News and View Editor
O
Illustration by Elena Haskins
national controversy… this is the nature of subversive, public art work.” Tanyolacar added that he does believe there is a place in society for offensive art and that it should not be removed, unless it advocates harm to others. “No art, no ideology should be banned or taken down unless it promotes, dictates and orders di-
rect physical violence, and in such a situation this entity, this creation cannot be defined as art,” Tanyolacar wrote. Putting aside whether it was legal for the university to take down Tanyolacar’s art, a topic that has been hotly debated, another more important question emerges: Should they have taken down the sculpture?
33
Ministry of Cool
n Dec. 5, 2014, a sculpture depicting a Ku Klux Klan member covered with newspaper cutouts of coverage of past racial tensions and violence appeared on the University of Iowa’s campus. Within hours of the sculpture going up, and after an outcry from many students that the sculpture was racially insensitive, the UI decided to take the sculpture down. In a message to the campus community, the administration wrote the sculpture had no place on the college’s campus. “The University of Iowa considers all forms of racism abhorrent and is deeply committed to the principles of inclusion and acceptance,” the university’s statement read. “There is no room for divisive, insensitive, and intolerant displays on this campus. The display was not approved by nor sanctioned by the university. The UI respects freedom of speech, but the university is also responsible for ensuring that public discourse is respectful and sensitive.” The artist who made the sculpture, Serhat Tanyolacar, a UI visiting professor and printmaking fellow, eventually apologized. Tanyolacar said it was not his intention for the sculpture to appear to be racist. He said he hoped the sculpture would raise awareness about the continued existence of racism and facilitate a dialogue on campus regarding issues of race. However, in an interview via email, Tanyolacar wrote that while he understands why some felt the piece was offensive, he feels it served its intended purpose. “I believe my piece at Pentacrest of Iowa City successfully triggered and opened multiple dialogues over different socio-political issues,” Tanyolacar wrote. “Yes, it has offended groups of students and it created a
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
Free expression is important, but so too is racial sensitivity, especially in a country many people seem to believe has moved beyond the racial tensions of the past. On the contrary, those racial problems are still very much present and ingrained in society. Allowing racist art to be shown may undermine the very dialogues and awareness about racism that Tanyolacar wanted to start. Art should be promoted as valuable in society, and free expression should be preserved whenever possible, but there are times when one can argue pieces of art should be taken down. Take as an example Thailand’s bizarre fascination with imagery depicting Adolf Hitler. In a segment on the comedy show Last Week Tonight, the show’s host John Oliver explored how images of Hitler have appeared in Thailand on murals with superheroes, herbal laxative tea packages, chicken franchises, t-shirts and student artwork. Extreme cases like this that celebrate and promote racist ideologies or extreme violence perpetrated against a group of individuals, or blatantly discriminates against a historically or currently oppressed group of people, are particularly contentious. If art is not discriminatory in the ways already described, it certainly should not be taken down, and the value of free expression should be applied to pieces of art that generate other kinds of controversy. An example of this is a piece of art done by Steve Olson, a skateboarder and artist in California. Olson’s piece displays the words “BUY SEXUAL,” with a backdrop of red with the number 69.99 plastered around the piece. Olson said the piece is a commentary on the idea that sex is something that sells. “My piece, it really was about sexuality for capitalism or consumerism,” Olson said. The artwork was displayed in the Santa Maria board hearing room,
34
In a segment on the comedy show Last Week Tonight, the show’s host John Oliver explored how images of Hitler have appeared in Thailand on murals with superheroes, herbal laxative tea packages, chicken franchises, t-shirts and student artwork. but was taken down in September of 2015 by Bob Nelson, chief of staff to 4th District Supervisor Peter Adam. Nelson said in an interview with a local newspaper that he found the artwork inappropriate for a government space. The artwork has since been put back up, although it was moved to a different location in the same building. Art of this nature should never be taken down. It does not discriminate against anyone and is simply trying to make a point about society. The free expression of this kind of artwork should be protected from censorship. Olson said the purpose of art is to prompt a reaction. “Art is supposed to provoke feeling and make the person think, whatever way that is,” he said. “If the art does that, art does its job.” Tun-Jen Chiang, a professor in the George Mason University School of Law and the co-author of a piece of writing about offensive art titled “Censorship versus Freedom of Expression in the Arts,” said he generally doesn’t believe that art some might find offensive should be taken down. He said one of the reasons for this is that society’s values of what is deemed offensive change over time. “Today, pieces of art that would be considered blasphemous in previous societies are considered fairly benign to us,” Chiang said. Chiang also weighed in on art that people find to be racist, sexist or otherwise offensive toward a discriminated group. He said even in these cases, he is not in favor of the art being taken down. Chiang said it’s difficult to assess the value of such
art in society because of the passion controversies about offensive art generate. “There is a value to having [offensive] art there so we can make a longer term assessment of its value once the controversy dies down,” Chiang said. The answer to whether offensive art should be taken down or not lies in the middle of the two extremes of protecting art from any censorship and taking down art anyone finds offensive. Society must protect the expression of art while also keeping in mind the art’s impacts and connotation on oppressed groups. _____________________________________ Evan Popp is a sophomore journalism major who isn’t against drawing a few dicks on bathroom stalls. You can email him at epopp@ithaca.edu
RAW SAW FROM THE
ofe a ue n,”
ve es of hip ds he ng n-
__ sm ew ail
Drake X Future
on art
What a Time to Be Alive Album Review Brody Armstrong
Contributing Writer
son/ Popping tags upper echelon for no reason,” Future sings at the beginning of “Diamonds Dancing,” painting his view from the top of the rap game, spending money and drinking expensive champagne just because he can. It sounds a little melancholy. Then he hits this line on the bridge: “I don’t want no liquor cause I been drinking that dirty.” The lyrics aren’t quite emotive or meaningful, although when taking into consideration Future’s unbridled passion for dirty Sprite and hearing him so delicately sing a note one very seldom hears him hit is likely to give you goosebumps. The song then rises into a hook where Drake and Future together sing over an exploding instrumental. It’s a relatively nice sounding rap ballad that brings to the album something other than the back and forth of Future’s incoherently mumbled freestyles and Drake’s poignantly delivered yet empty raps over the constant trill of hi hats and throbbing bass supplied by producer Metro Boomin. Other high points on the album include the fast-paced banger, “Jumpman,” and the garish, “Big Rings,” a celebration of the successes of both Future and Drake’s teams that elicits an uncontrollable urge to jump around to the hook where Drake, with pride raps: “I got a really big team/ and they need some really big rings.” All in all, the collaboration is the kind of project expected from the duo: a heaping pile of pop culture slop for the herd, seasoned with Drake’s magical touch for hooks and the blessing of Metro Boomin’s production that make it an enjoyable album to mindlessly vibe out to. When put next to other, more carefully crafted rap collaborations like Watch the Throne or Run the Jewels, What a Time to Be Alive simply doesn’t match up.
35
Ministry of Cool
Drake and Future on What a Time to Be Alive join the likes of Kanye West and Jay Z, and EL-P and Killer Mike as they jump on the hype trend of the hip-hop super collaboration. This collaboration, don’t be mislead, is nothing like its contemporaries. While collaborations like Run The Jewels and Watch The Throne feel masterfully produced and have a best-bud vibe to them, What a Time to Be Alive feels stiff and more like a promotional stunt rather than a cultivated effort from the Canadian-Atlantan duo. In the music video for “Hotline Bling,” Drake dances in front of a colorful, incandescent backdrop as if nobody is watching. Now thanks to the internet, in place of enjoying the video itself, we have several different vines of the rapper throwing around poké balls, swatting away a spider and fanning a fart away for our enhanced viewing pleasure. Drake is traditionally a web for this kind of thing, attracting internet jokesters with his easy-to-mock emo-rap persona combined with his ironic attempts to become recognized as skilled rapper. We can’t get enough of the guy, he’s a gift to pop culture that keeps on giving, and his latest gift is a collaborative record he’s made with Atlanta rapper and codeine enthusiast, Future. What a Time to Be Alive clocks in at about 40 minutes, and with it being 11 tracks long, almost feels like a sprint. Each song comes and goes as cheap products on an assembly line, part by part, letting Drake and Future quickly move onto the next one. Given that the album was recorded in six days, this makes perfect sense. Although there are some moments on the album where the listener is able to breathe. “Sipping on Dom Pérignon for no rea-
Peaches Rub Album Review Tyler Obropta
John Grant
Staff Writer
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
Grey Tickles, Black Pressure Album Review Sophie Israelsohn Staff Writer
36
If ever there was a soundtrack made for serial killers, it would have to be Rub, the truly disturbing, synthetic-driven and oftentimes outright strange sixth studio album from electropunk synthpop artist Peaches. This is not a light listen. Peaches infuses her electronic tracks with creepy and often odd lyrics, such as when she commands, “Rub, rub, rub, bitch, rub,” in the appropriately-titled song “Rub,” a slightly surrealist listen that sounds like something Buffalo Bill would chant around the basement. But her odd lyricism extends into the other tracks as well. In “Free Drink Ticket,” Peaches invents a song that has more in common with spoken word poetry than electropunk as she calculatingly cuts her subject: “Hide in your bar where you’re the king of free drink tickets,” she mocks. “Wow. Impressive. Impressive what you do with a little bit of power/ I want to be there when you implode.” And her threats are set against the sounds of an escalating synthetic cello, like the Jaws theme. With its aggressive, threatening lyrics, haunting cello backdrop and uneasing, persistent drones, “Free Drink Ticket” is a song that convinces its listeners that somebody’s out to get them. “Free Drink Ticket” isn’t the only song on the album that feels uneasy. Peaches expertly pairs her monotone singsong
with an instrumentation that pendulates between rap and the unsettling drones of “Free Drink Ticket.” The effect in most of the songs in the first two-thirds of the album is disturbing. However, in the final three songs “Light in Places,” “Dumb Fuck” and “I Mean Something,” Peaches adopts a Madonnaesque voice and dials down the creepiness factor for catchy, poppier tunes, even if the lyrics are still firmly rooted in the Peaches style. These are the more accessible songs on the album, even injecting some fun into an otherwise joyless experience. “Dumb Fuck,” for example, is a song that’s amusing for its distinctly non-creepy lyrics “Tell me how you got so stuck/ You dumb fuck,” which are followed promptly by choruses of “dumb fuck.” Just listening to it over and over again provides a hilarious, absurd experience unmatched by anything else on the album. There’s another song on Rub titled “Dick in the Air,” which sounds gloriously ludicrous, but unfortunately turns out to be more of that uneasy alien synthesizer score and apathetic singing style that characterizes much of Peaches’ work. That’s very much the trademark of Rub. The compilation mixes eerie lyrics and harrowing, hypnotic underscores, making the album perfect for any Halloween party or cult meeting.
The junior album of the lovably sardonic John Grant, Grey Tickles, Black Pressure, opens with a verse from Corinthians 13. The verse is looped, spoken first in English and then in Icelandic, Swedish, Danish and German with synthetic pings and waves surrounding the listener as if in an early exhibit of organized sound. The loops build and build until suddenly they cut out and John Grant sings the title track. John Grant has a way of eliciting a bittersweet smile. While he’s not afraid of discussing his struggles with depression, social situations and being gay in his music, he has become even more open about his diagnosis with HIV, especially in the titular track. “I did not think I was/ the one being addressed/ in hemorrhoid commercials,” he admits, reflecting the immunity people may feel while watching commercials such as the HIV PSAs. Grant has a saddening sweetness to him as he sings, “There are children dying of cancer/ and so all bets are off/ ‘cause I can’t compete with that.” No matter his suffering, he will be the first to admit that there are people who have it worse. Grant matches his ballad lyrics with electric, funk instrumentation. “Snug Slacks” is Beck meets Bowie meets Laurie
Anderson; antagonistic, mouth-to-the-mic lyrics amid synthesizers and distant funk guitar. Cabaret queen Amanda Palmer makes an appearance on “You & Him.” No stranger to the uncomfortable or avant-garde, Palmer comes in with little responses to Grant’s verses and joins him with a heavy electric guitar, tambourine, drums chorus, “You and Hitler oughta tie the knot/ you could do it at Taco Bell to spice up the plot.” “Disappointing” featuring Tracey Thorn brings back the funk both aurally and visually. In the video, casually-clad John Grant follows a man first into a gym, cutting to a view of a squatting, gym shorts-clad ass. The man then leads the way to a sauna and unphased Grant sits surrounded by cookie hedgehogs and stoic, half-naked men. Classic John Grant ballad tracks come up occasionally in this album with “Global Warming” and “Geraldine,” but for the most part Grey Tickles, Black Pressure has a consistent buzz associated with drawn-out mental suffering. Honesty, a bit of selflessness and a whole lot of candor is the name of the game. The album closes with a parallel of the opening, a child now speaking the same verse as in “Intro,” but now without the chaos of looping and repetition.
ight ean naness the hes ngs into
Sublevel Zero
ates s of t of al-
Game Review Will Uhl
Staff Writer
ong epy You ptly ning arianyther hich rtuasy ingach-
mic unk
an r to mer nt’s tric You uld
orn suant to ss. and kie
Film Review Olivia Blees
Contributing Writer
As the first product of the tiny indie studio Sigtrap, there is more of a focus on quality rather than quantity. There is nothing beyond the six-level challenge — no endless mode, no leaderboards, no multiplayer. It could have expanded upon the selection of weapons, parts and unlockable ships. Even so, it doesn’t feel lacking. Sublevel Zero isn’t a smorgasbord, or a three-course meal. It’s a sandwich, and if you don’t like how it tastes, you don’t have much else to try. Thankfully, it’s pretty tasty. That’s not to say the game doesn’t have any flaws. It’s mildly buggy, which is rarely more than a brief aesthetic issue. All enemies make a noise when they see you, many of which are difficult to distinguish. And the randomlyordered chunks of story in the levels are less “intriguingly mysterious” and more “tiringly vague.” However, Sigtrap is still sending updates to tweak and fix things, so these (admittedly minor) issues will hopefully be phased out. All said, it’s probably the best 6DOF shooter in decades, which is just as much a testament to the PC-only genre’s obscurity as it is to the game’s quality. It works especially well because it tries to take what’s been done and make something new instead of recreating what’s been done before. From the reactive soundtrack, to the beautiful low-poly aesthetic, to the careful weapon balance, Sublevel Zero delivers a narrow but highly polished experience.
From the start of the film, it’s clear that something is just not quite right in Goodnight Mommy, a unique and subtly disturbing Austrian thriller in the unnerving mold of It Follows. The point of view is through the eyes of 9 year-old twin brothers, Lukas and Elias, as their mom returns from an all encompassing facial reconstruction surgery and appears before them, a complete stranger. Before she was loving and warm, now she’s frigid and stark, sneering demands about the new house rules, demanding peace and darkness while she recovers. The story takes place mainly in the family’s beautiful home, but quickly the modernistic estate starts to feel overbearing as the house appears more prison-like. Much like Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, the directors, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, play up ordinary claustrophobia that closes in even with a physically sizable location. Also emphasizing the family’s isolation are shots of cornfields, a lake, a forest and, occasionally, locks on the doors. Ominous frames of the mother observing the boys from behind windows or doors, split glimpses of her reassembled face, or simply a bloodshot eye in the mirror as she changes bandages all feed the audience’s fears, as well as those of the twins. And the missing image of a father figure in every family photo coupled with no explanation
in the movie for his absence adds to the boys’ isolation and shows there is really no one in the house they can go to with their worries. The three leading performances from Susanne Wuest and the Schwarz brothers are all outstanding in the way they each make the change from cruelty to compassion and back again without it ever coming across as artificial. Alongside the unnerving quality of the film is the strikingly melancholic cinematography by Martin Gschlacht and the softly unsettling sound design that permeates even the most everyday moments with a feel of anxiety and ambiguity. Goodnight Mommy is heavy with the unknown, keeping the audience in the dark sideby-side with the movie’s young protagonists, but also turns a traditional trope on its head by constructing the hero and villain roles a bit indistinctly. Is the mommy the monster for transforming as a product of her operation, or should the audience actually sympathize with her as her two boys become defiant and hostile? Are Elias and Lukas really all that faultless, or are they cut from the same cloth? This Austrian psychological thriller/horror masterfully escalates the miniscule terrors of the bond between a parent and his or her child and the twist of an ending comes as a genuine surprise. The film is a faith-restoring contraction of the idea that all horror movies today are garbage.
37
Ministry of Cool
me bal ost s a out ssme ralthe out
Goodnight Mommy
Rub. harthe y or
Sublevel Zero is the lovechild of two niche genres: Roguelikes, known for their difficulty and randomly generated content, and six-degrees-of-freedom shooters, in which players can move freely without gravity. It’s a previously-unseen combination that works surprisingly well, bringing out some of the best aspects of each genre. Though it may have a narrow audience, Sublevel Zero focuses on delivering a single, refined experience. While Sublevel Zero isn’t as brutally punishing as Hotline Miami or Super Meat Boy, the combination of zero-G shootouts and permanent death means more casual players will need to push themselves to get far. A simple but functional tutorial is about the only charity beginners can expect; there’s no easy mode, save checkpoints or cheat codes. Though a successful run from start to finish can take just a couple hours, getting to that point can take much longer. Though navigating the serpentine rooms and caverns can be disorienting, the biggest challenge is avoiding damage. Learning to juke the drills, rockets, and everything “pew pew” that Sublevel Zero’s rogue robots attack you with is difficult and rewarding. Everything is appropriately telegraphed — the only excuse for taking a laser to the face is not paying attention. Because of the plethora of projectiles and freedom of movement, masterfully dodging feels nothing short of elegant.
Tyler Obropta
Time Out of Mind
Staff Writer
Film Review Brody Armstrong
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
Contributing Writer
38
in that 1955 Dodge Royal and sets off across the city to try and scrape up the $630 she needs –– “Where can you get a reasonably priced abortion in this town,” Elle quips. Their small-time odyssey takes the pair down a line of Elle’s old friends, from tattoo artist Deathy to Elle’s long-ago lover Karl. Grandma is an amusing, small-scale road movie with an appealing line-up of celebrities. Marcia Gay Harden gives a frightening performance as the overbearing mother, Laverne Cox plays Deathy with hip suavity and, best of all, Sam Elliott plays Karl with a weathered sincerity and old-time nobility. Unlike most films with ensemble casts, Grandma doesn’t crescendo to their introductions, the events simply flow and the characters float into the narrative and float out after a scene or two. It’s a naturalistic narrative that gives each character his or her own short sequence which, though it gives the film a nice, episodic feel, doesn’t afford the story much driving force. After Sage and Elle get on the road, the film becomes less about the mission and more about the characters these two encounter along it. Yet, every actor is at the top of their game in Grandma. It’s a smart and enjoyable slice-oflife kind of film that’s not driven by any Hollywood formula. It’s driven by Tomlin, Garner and a 1955 Dodge Royal instead.
Time Out of Mind, directed and written by Oren Moverman, is an impersonal tour through the daily life of a miserable homeless man named George Hammond. He belongs nowhere, is rejected by his family and wants nothing to do with anyone except for those who loathe him: his daughter and himself. George is a man on the streets of New York City played by Richard Gere, scraping by, thrifting his jackets in order to buy beer and skipping around homeless shelters. In the opening scene, George is woken up in the bathtub of run-down, abandoned apartment by the manager of the building (Steve Buscemi). The manager kicks him out onto the streets while George pathetically tries to convince him that he’s ‘in between places’ — a phrase he uses when talking to anyone, even his own daughter, insisting that he’s not homeless. The movie lacks any real exchange of dialogue until it reaches the second half, silently showing the alienation experienced by a homeless man in the city. The shots are raw, yet have an effective beauty about them. Mostly shot through windows or from a fixed angle on a desk or shelf, Moverman gives the viewer a distant voyeuristic perspective of George, akin to what you would see naturally if you were to look out onto the streets of New York City. In shots where he’s walking around the city, people are having conversations — basic ones — that he’s really unable to associate himself with. This produces a powerful effect that emphasizes the feeling of George residing in the city though not belonging to it, a recurring theme. The movie’s lack of dialogue is filled when
he meets another homeless man named Dixon (Ben Vereen) at one of the shelters. Dixon talks George’s ear off as they walk about the city and stay next to each other at a shelter. He embellishes stories and shares mindblowing facts like one he learned from a doctor (on meth): “Every human male makes enough sperm in two weeks to impregnate every ovulating woman on this planet.” Just like with every interaction with Dixon, George sits stoic and doesn’t respond. “Would you say something! Anything!” Dixon yells at him after telling him a story of how a man found $60,000 in his shoe. “Are you the idiot or am I?” George retorts. “I’ve been feeling… that I am just one stupid, fucking loser of an idiot… Am I homeless? I’m homeless,” he says, realizing the disarray his life is in. Time Out of Mind is as depressing and hopeless as it sounds. It’s made like something that’s attempting to give the viewer an opportunity to be fascinated and learn about this failed human, to observe his life, pitiful and unfortunate. Though what Moverman has done with not having George talk that much until near the end of the movie is clever, building up the viewer’s curiosity for this man. George admits he’s a “fuck-up,” shows his displacement from the world any time he’s forced to speak, and buys alcohol every time he gets money, making it so the viewer’s curiosity is serviced with reality — or the standard stereotype of an American homeless person, rather. Time Out of Mind is visually interesting, though with its long run-time, lack of an established plot, consistent dialogue and its abrupt and unexplained ending, the movie feels tediously candid.
Pawn Sacrifice
Grandma Film Review
The first scene of Paul Weitz’s Grandma introduces the titular grandmother Elle Reid. She is crass, she is rude and she sends her girlfriend Olivia running out of the house at the climax of a feverishly intense breakup. Elle is a misanthropic poet who uses her acidic attitude to push people away, even her own daughter, from whom she is greatly estranged. Lily Tomlin plays Elle with astounding fidelity, masterfully fluctuating between fits of curse-laden rage and grandmotherly love at the drop of a hat. In the closeups, all her years of discontent and accumulated grief can be seen just behind the veil of her warm, old smile. And, like any grandmother, she’s a little eccentric. She’s paid off all of her debts and consequently has barely a dime to her name. She also loves her 1955 Dodge Royal, she smokes weed and she’s cut up all of her credit cards to make a windchime. So, things get understandably complicated when Elle’s granddaughter Sage, played by Julia Garner, comes a-knocking with an accidental baby in her belly and no money to pay for the abortion. Sage’s mother doesn’t know she got pregnant in the first place, so her wallet is out of the question. Elle takes Sage in and tells of her own fiscal troubles, but determinedly sits Sage down
air oo
ad es. rne est ed ost n’t nts he
ch ce pivd, nd n-
in ofoler
xn he ldces te st ge
xof
s. d, s? ay
d en ut irk is or
Film Review Tyler Obropta Staff Writer
I had a friend once who had gone to Japan with his family and ate some cod milt. Milt is basically fried fish sperm. He knew what he was going to eat and he did it anyway and, he told me, he wound up vomiting it back up. But it’s not like he didn’t know what he was signing up for. I mean, cod milt probably tastes just as pleasant as anyone would expect. Edward Zwick’s Pawn Sacrifice is the cod milt of the film world. It’s a biographical drama/thriller about chess that is just as dramatic and thrilling as anyone would expect a movie about chess to be. Pawn Sacrifice focuses on American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer, played by Tobey Maguire, as he battles with the Soviet Union’s greatest chess player Boris Spassky for the 1972 World Chess Championship. But his battles don’t stop there; Fischer is constantly at war with himself and everybody around him because, in the film at least, Fischer is a crazy person. Maguire wonderfully draws out the emotional instability and naive charm of the young grandmaster while also playing up the paranoia of the character. The film takes place during the Cold War, and Fischer makes a habit of unscrewing the receivers on his telephones, checking the light fixtures and keeping the television off lest the Soviets pick up his secrets via listening devices or by watching him through the TV. The film shows Fischer when he was very young and first getting started in chess, jumping to his teenage years when he was mentored by American grandmaster Father Bill Lombardy. Here, character actor Peter Sarsgaard is wonderful, carefully mentoring Fischer and ensuring that he stays committed to his chess match in Reykjavik, all the while being warm, relatable and funny. Without being a clown or an idiot, Sarsgaard smartly provides much of the film’s levity, something that it desperately needs. A lot of the jokes are written in and some are unintentional. One scene in particular is gloriously over the top and laugh-out-loud funny. A teenage Bobby Fischer, played by
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, is sitting in his small apartment in Brooklyn trying to concentrate on chess when all he can hear is the creaking and giggling noises of his mother having sex a few rooms over. In his agitation, the teenage Fischer walks out of his room and sees his mother coming out of hers with her lover. Little Bobby, in his little suit and little tie, points at the man and asks his mother, “Is this the guy you’ve been screwing?” When he gets really upset a few minutes later, he shouts at the top of his lungs in a thick New York accent, “Get the fuck outta here!” to his own mother in a moment of pure absurdity that is hammier and more overdone than an overweight pig in a pool of magma. It would have been much more engrossing if the film finds Fischer preparing for his 1972 showdown against Spassky, but it instead does a connectthe-dots of the typical biopic formula. The audience doesn’t need to know how he got this screwy, it’s more fun to just wind him up and watch him go. Liev Schreiber as Spassky gets top billing here and I can’t for the life of me understand why. He only pops up about halfway through the movie and barely has anything to do. He gets 20 lines, tops. When his character finally goes someplace interesting, it’s really funny and cool, but it’s unfortunately just played for laughs and not for any thematic resonance. Pawn Sacrifice is a movie that’s trying to be anything but a movie about chess. Its chess sequences are shot like Western shootouts and avoid showing the chess board wherever possible. Its liberal use of period rock-and-roll tried to make it into the hip and freewheeling brother of American Hustle. Its choice of typewriter font for its location introductions had a miscalculated spy feel to it. If Zwick was going to make a movie about chess, he should have done so. Though it looked nice and had some fine performances, Pawn Sacrifice is sadly a movie that can only entertain chess enthusiasts. Watching Pawn Sacrifice if you don’t love chess is ultimately the same thing as eating cod milt if you’re neither Japanese nor an adventurous food critic.
39
Ministry of Cool
is ’s me unss ly e, ad-
Pawn Sacrifice
ss he bly
Closeted Love
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
W
hen dating someone, there’s the frustration of not being able to do it with them all the time. With my situation, my boyfriend always had his best friend, Joe, over whenever he could since he lived in the next town over. Now don’t get me wrong, I liked Joe a lot. He is a chill dude, and I never minded having him around. Except when my boyfriend and I were both craving it. Joe and I were staying the night with my boyfriend, Eric. This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve all had a sleep over either, and I promise it’s not as weird as you think. Eric and I would sleep in his bed and Joe would sleep in a bean bag a couple feet away. Nights like those usually consisted of watching movies and talking about random stuff. Then when Joe fell asleep we’d sneak out and have sex in the game room. So that night went on like usual, Joe fell asleep, Eric and I started getting touchy-touchy with each other, it was great. A lot of silent neck-kissing, groping, hair pulling, all the works. The only times we paused was when Joe shifted in his sleep, then we were back on. The anticipation was growing and we knew it wouldn’t be long until we had to sneak out.
40
Eric was leading the way out of his room, when we both heard voices coming from the game room. It was the biggest cock block of all. His younger brothers had friends over, and they were all in the game room. Both of us were beyond aggravated with the situation. The bed wouldn’t even be an option because if you moved the slightest, it creaked loudly. So we went back to Eric’s room and just laid there. The craving was still there and there was only one way to satisfy it, except we didn’t know where. Then out of nowhere Eric shot up and gave me a smug look, “I have an idea” was all he said. He got out of bed and walked to the closet in his room. Now his closet doesn’t even have a door; there’s a banner instead. To make matters worse Joe was sleeping right next to the closet. So I’m sitting on the bed confused as hell watching Eric empty out everything on the closet floor. Once he was finished he waved me over. I gave him the “What are you thinking of?” look, and he just kept waving me over. I had a feeling I knew where this was going, but I just kept quiet and walked to the closet. I stepped over Joe and walked in. When I walked in, there was a blanket and a pillow set on the floor. So I laid down and then he got on top of me. We started making out and it
Anonymous
quickly escalated. It was even hotter than before, but maybe that was just because we were in his closet. His closet isn’t necessarily big, but at the same time it’s not tiny. It was big enough where we could both lay down. The worst part of this whole situation was that Joe was basically 4 feet away. I could see his sleeping body between the small space of the floor and the banner. I was afraid we would get caught, but even more afraid of getting cock blocked again. Trying to be quiet was the worst part. He was on top and whenever he moved there would be a chance I would hit my head against the wall. You could say it was a mixture of pain and pleasure. To try to fix the situation, we decided to do it doggy style in hopes that I wouldn’t get a concussion. How awkward would that be to tell the doctor that you got a concussion from banging your head on the closet wall because you had nowhere else to go to have sex? We continued until we were both satisfied. In all honesty, it was probably one of the best times we’ve ever had sex. Maybe it was the thrill of doing it in the closet or just trying to be sneaky. To this day I don’t think Joe knows that Eric and I were doing the dirty about 4 feet away from him. That’ll make a funny story one day.
Prose & Cons
CONS. PROSE&CONS. PROSE&C E&CONS. PROSE&CONS. PROSE
41
Short fiction, personal essay and other assorted lies.
L a d y
One Night Stand
L a m e n t s
|
by Sarah Noell
Because when she walks into the room, they’ll make sure they have a record on. They’ll make sure whatever’s spinning will spin her dizzy. They want to look at her looking at the vinyl sleeve, watch her give a small smile and hear her speak some unfamiliar words from such a familiar-looking face. She makes them want to put on the right song, because her eyes sing The Velvet Underground and her mouth weeps Neutral Milk Hotel and her hair looks like Jimi’s. And when her face fuses with theirs, they’ll feel like they’re up on stage with Lennon, or slouched smoking on a leather couch in a dimly lit room with Dylan. Even though it’s only for a night, she makes it feel like it’s been a decade. Even though it’s not love, she looks like it. She’s candied with consolation and slender in her sex. He lies next to her loving her classical nose, her modest curls, her standard slimness and her familiar height. She fits in his arms; she fits the night. She looks like love, but not tonight. One day she might be, but not tonight. Tonight their bodies are a mini city, trafficking kisses and creating earthquakes. SN ———— Femme Fatale Her body was her home. And the lost men that would frequent it found it so humbling they often left out of fear. To be humbled by her body, her quiet touch, a kiss on the knee on the hip, left them aching. The emptiness that had nested itself deep in their psyche was ran out by her soft curls, an accidental brush to their cheek and breath of soaped skin was all it took. She was at home in her body, inviting them willingly to open her up and sink deep into the comfort of roaming hands, open mouths and closed eyes. They would find in her a temporary home, so fatal to their nomadism that the moment she entered a room they were either instantly frightened or already akin to her gravity. All she asked was that they meet her in the moment the heart was so translated the two could speak without words. But when they did, when they met her in the sweetness, their hearts would fail, break and without comparable strength, would leave before dawn. SN ————
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
Eve When I arise with you there is no shame. It has been weeded and plucked, discarded from our contentment. I will rise beneath tangled sheets and curls to stretch my arms wide. Arching my naked back and shifting my shoulder blades, I roll the evening off my bare chest. And I will look at you in an ordinary way, liking your jaw line as it parallels the pillow. My bare feet meet bare wood, as I walk, toes first, to the kitchen. You arise, after a while, to meet me in the window beams. Without a thought we’ll greet each other, our nakedness not letting on we could have been so tangled together. With your hands on my smooth shoulders you watch my wrists flip eggs. I tilt my smile up to you and find you are my Adam and I am so shamelessly your Eve. Unaware of the sour citrus of the societal fruit that bares shame in bareness. I am guiltlessly yours and forever my own. SN
42
ORDINATIONS
by Christopher Rose Seagull Angelic break-dancer, you would trade your wings for some food. ———— Bathroom Stall Jazz What trumpet could cry like the creak of a hinge? ———— Crushed Budweiser Can A leaf twists in the wind. I leave you where you are. ———— Tomato Soup Midnight panacea— I cannot remember drinking you. ———— Willem de Kooning You apply your lipstick directly to the bone. ———— The Mars Volta We stood on top of a mountain of sand, waiting for the rain. Prose & Cons
43
The Jerk
by Katherine Schulman
“Cameron, just eat your fucking chocolate cake, man. It’s French,” J.D. all but whispered. He finished inhaling his slice for a moment to take a swig of wine. It was crisp and from the finest vineyard in Napa.
“It’s not even that good. Just because it’s French doesn’t mean it’s worth shit, J.D.,” Cameron explained with a huff of annoyance. He stabbed his fork into the thickly layered slice of cake, not bothering to eat any of it. J.D. rolled his eyes. “Jesus Christ, Cam. Won’t you just get your head out of your ass already? You were lucky to even be invited, y’know,” he grumbled at Cameron through a mouthful of mousse. It was true, though; Cameron was lucky to be invited. He stabbed his cake thoughtfully. “I mean, they could’ve at least left a table with party favors for the guests…” Cameron trailed off, not daring to look at J.D., whose silverware fell to the floor with a clatter. “God damn it,” he groaned. “Look, Cam,” he sighed, setting his plate nicely again. “Just because you both love KC and the Sunshine Band doesn’t mean you’re gonna, I dunno, ride off into the sunset together living happily ever after with a condo in Seattle.” Cameron looked down into his lap, his cheeks developing a light red coloring in the process. Why not? He thought. “This is her WEDDING, for crying out loud! Be happy for her! Hank is a pretty cool guy. Didn’t he get you a box set of The West Wing for your birthday?” “Yeah,” Cameron mumbled. And it was true; Hank was, by all means, a pretty cool guy. He owned a hedge fund, which meant that he lived the life of leisure. And to Cameron, this meant that he was a jerk. And a part of corporate America. He didn’t understand why Ingrid decided to marry him. Ingrid was, in a word, amazing. Sometimes she was dark and daring, and other times she was light and airy. At least to Cameron she was. A painter by day and a ballet teacher by night, Cameron couldn’t think of a better combination of a woman to associate himself with. She and Cameron used to drop everything and drive to the first place they saw on the map. They used to have a regularly scheduled “bad movie night” and would stage student protests back at Kenyon. J.D. would join too, sometimes. But he was mostly consumed by his need for speed. Literally. He did drugs and was the all-star on the track team. But he was clean now and spent his free time alternating between being a personal trainer and spending time with his four-year-old bastard daughter.
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
Cameron, on the other hand, was still finding himself. At age twenty-nine. He worked as a paraprofessional in an elementary school, but had no plans to stay in that brightly colored glorified prison. As he one day hoped to be the new face of freedom, Cameron spent every minute away from Sackett Avenue Elementary spending time with young Berkeley students peacefully protesting Jamba Juices and chain drugstores. “Look, buddy —” J.D. put his hand on Cameron’s shoulder in a half-assed attempt to comfort him, jostling him out of his dreamlike state in the process. “All I’m sayin’ is that you need to move on. And you need to move on now. You were friends, and then you were more than that, and now you’ve been just friends again for some time now. This is not some kind of movie where on the way to the glittering island getaway, she realizes that you were the one for her all along. I mean, look at you compared to him! He knows how to iron a shirt. They love each other, man. I mean, just look at ‘em.” J.D. pointed to the happy couple at the long mahogany table in the middle of the hall. Hank was whispering something in Ingrid’s ear, to which she responded with a wide smile and a bony hand over her giggling mouth. But he would get her. One day he would. One day Cameron would be able to achieve something that topped everything Hank had ever done. Forget about hurricane relief work. Try stopping hurricanes. Hank’s measly recycling bin in the kitchen? Cameron would create a neighborhood composting station. Essentially, Ingrid would become Cameron’s. Not now, but in the near future. In the meantime, Cameron would learn how to iron a shirt.
44
Why Care By Train Schickele
If I look up to the stars and scream, no one will give a shit, but me. No one will give a shit, but me. And that is what makes me scream. If I look at the TV screen no one will give a shit but me. No one else will want to see the dying shit on that TV. If I decide to love my country then I will die until we’re free. Who will give a shit but me, if I don’t die for my country. I don’t give a shit about me. I don’t give a shit about we. If I don’t give a shit about we, then who will give the shits we need. I just want to take it easy Take it easy Take it easy I just want to take it easy And never give a shit. But if I want to scream at stars And everything beneath, then who the fuck will change this if I don’t give a shit.
Prose & Cons
45
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
AWDUST. SAWDUST. SAWDUST
46
Free College Fails
Students have mixed reactions to open curriculum By Rachel Mucha, Staff Writer
T
her work. “The purpose of college is to learn and go to class, not to sleep in and party! I did not take every AP class my high school offered to slack off!” Wolf admitted she’s not sure if she even knew how. Though her classmates do not share her passion, Wolf is enjoying being one of the only students who goes to class. “I get plenty of attention from my professors, and I get to participate however often I want to,” she said. “Thank goodness there’s no one else trying to get their opinion out there.” When her professors were asked if they enjoyed having only Wolf in class, they declined to comment. Wolf feels this setup is the perfect opportunity for her to shine like the star she always knew she was. On the opposite end of the spectrum, because there are no more major requirements, many seniors are finding it difficult to do simple tasks such as getting out of bed. With no classes to attend, and the desire to party fully out of their systems, these students don’t know what to do with themselves. “I’ve watched every TV series on Netflix,” an upset Ali Bennett said. “I’ve played The Sims through 30 generations. I’ve written two whole novels!” With another semester and a half to go, Bennett isn’t sure if she’s going to be able to make it. “Sometimes I go through my old documents on my computer. I’ll see study guides I had made for midterms, or group projects that I had to do all by myself, and I’ll get sad remembering the good old days.” Bennett said maybe, just for the heck of it, she’d write her thesis anyway. That’ll show ‘em. ___________________________________ Rachel Mucha is a junior journalism major who thought free college meant free tuition, before remembering we live in the United States. You can email her at rmucha1@ithaca.edu.
Sawdust
his past summer, a college announced that it would be completely eliminating structure of any kind; strict class schedules, hours of homework, and major requirements would all become a distant memory. Freshmen and upperclassmen alike were both very excited about this concept, looking forward to blowing off all of their responsibilities this fall semester. “After a summer of relaxing by the pool, it’s nice to know that I can spend my fall getting super drunk and not doing any work,” junior James Hardy said. Hardy’s fraternity brothers all agreed enthusiastically. In fact, since class attendance was no longer required, the boys vowed to organize wild parties every night of the week. “It was awesome at first,” sophomore Austin Wilson shared. “But after a few weeks, everyone was so sick of booze, we just started drinking some Earl Grey tea. We got tired of the same loud music so we shut it off and started talking about some of our favorite books instead. Now every week we vote on what to read, and we discuss it. It’s really great!” Wilson added that he objects to the term “book club” and that he would describe it more as a “book party.” However, after a particularly emotional night of sipping tea and discussing James Joyce’s Ulysses, their parties didn’t seem as great anymore. Teary-eyed Hardy and Wilson admitted that it would be nice if they could assemble during the day and have a discussion led by an experienced professor — and maybe even write an essay, too. Freshman Judy Wolf is disgusted that many of her peers are choosing to skip classes and not do the homework assignments. Wolf attends every class and keeps up with all of
47
Ithaca College Ranks on List of Schools That Definitely Exist
By Jordan Aaron, Staff Writer
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
1) Emerson College This school is most definitely a school. 2) Miami University Not the one in Florida, but definitely still a school. 3)University of California, Los Angeles A state school, but a school nonetheless. 4) Harvard University An Ivy League institution, but a school nonetheless. 5) Arizona State University This one’s a real school, am I right? 6) Union County College This school is totally a school. 7) NimJim University This school is imaginary, but a great school for the creative type. 8) Institute of Culinary Education This school offers the major, sweet and savory. 9) American Film Institute Movie school. 10) Springfield High School Secondary school. 11) Clown School This school is categorized as mostselective. 12) Ithaca College Surprise! 13) Cornell University Has a pretty nice bridge too. 14) School of the Hard Knocks Notable Alum: Jay-Z. 15) Enjoying Adam Sandler Movies An unpopular school of thought. 16) Hogwarts This school is magical. 17) St. Alban’s Preschool Known for intense competition. 18) Rock and Roll High School School of Rock is better. 19)That school from Ned’s Declassified Only problem is rabid squirrel. 20) School of fish It’s like real life Finding Nemo! ____________________________________ Jordan Aaron is a sophomore cinema and photography major who is definitely, unequivocally, a student. You can email him at jaaron@ithaca.edu.
48
Unplanned Parenthood New orgainization hopes to bring as
many babies into the world as possible By Cameron Bain, Contributing Writer
A
local high school had the privilege of hearing a speaker from a new organization: U n p l a n n e d Parenthood. “Our mission is to make sure that there are as many babies being born today as there ever were, until tomorrow.” said John Gumba, spokesperson of Unplanned Parenthood. Like Gumba said, this organization’s main goals are to ensure there are lots of babies being born. “It’s about choice really.” Gumba said, smoking a cigar. “And that’s what life is about. I’m sure the critics will argue that we are forcing women into servitude, but that’s just not true. These women can make the choice to have children or not. Who says having children is detrimental to you economically and socially? I think that babies are great, and you don’t have to be a doctor to see that. These women have a choice, but I’m just telling them what they’re missing out on. It is my goal that every woman in this country is producing as many babies as they can.” Last week the organization went into the high school, where they distributed pamphlets, brochures, and broken condoms. “It is our job to make sure every mistake becomes a blessing for the rest of people’s lives,” Gumba said. “I mean who doesn’t love babies right?” Apparently no one. As the organization left the school, it was reported that three women were now pregnant, including the 57 year old librarian. Taylor Walsh, 18, said she was equally excited for the prospect of giving birth to a slimy, expensive baby. “I just felt so inspired to have children after watching Mr. Gumba’s presentation that I immediately texted my boyfriend and it just
happened. I already called Harvard and told them to renounce my scholarships so I could stay home and have this baby.” The father of the child has asked to remain un-named, but you can see him this fall as Cornell linebacker number 16. “It was totally my choice to have this baby, and I’m glad that the man who was equally responsible for its creation and livelihood has a chance at a happy life, while I raise this child by myself.” Taylor said to the camera, before her parents came to pick her up. “It is this progress that helps me sleep at night,” Gumba said as a tear ran down his cheek. High schools aren’t the only locations to hear the advice of Gumba and his organization. Last week, Gumba made a special appearance on Fox news. There, amidst a crowd of pregnant woman, he was praised by Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly for his ongoing battle with Planned Parenthood. Carrying a newborn baby in his hands, Gumba took the mic. “Thank you all. I promise to all of you that every hospital will be full of newborn babies by the end of 2017. There will be so many babies; there has to be room for them, right? They are just so cute. Who wouldn’t want to be forced to have a child grow inside you for months of extreme pain and discomfort, along with a reduced ability to work and crippling debt? I surely wouldn’t, but I don’t have to make that choice thanks to Biology.” With that, Gumba crowd surfed over a crowd of pregnant mothers, holding a baby. __________________________________ Cameron Bain is a freshman writing major who thinks babies are gross. You can email him at cbain@ithaca.edu.
OT
B
d y e
d u l
e e e a e d s
e a
y f . l , , d e
s
f l f ; , o a f g d , e
,
By Amanda StClair, Contributing Writer
T
eachers across the globe are enraged over the constant load of crap that gets dropped on them. This week, teachers began what is to be a month-long strike in Tompkins County against the mysterious phenomenon of poo falling from the sky. Fourth grade teacher, Melinda Shousheim said, “It’s not that we want wage increases. It’s not that. We’re just tired of constantly being shit on. I have to take three showers after work just to get rid of the stench!” I decided to find out for myself what’s going on with the poop phenomenon, starting in Tompkins County. Scientists cannot seem to locate the source of the falling poo. They have found that it comes from a mysterious brown cloud that knows no boundaries. Many wonder if it’s a global sensation resulting from climate change, or if it’s an evil prank. The interesting part of the weather phenomenon is that the “poop clouds,” as many are calling them, tend to correspond with the weather outside. When it is sunny and cloudless, teachers can live free and clear for a day, or at least
a few hours. When it rains and storms however, teachers should be warned, for the rainy and stormy days are the equivalent to a lactose intolerant person’s heavy, creaminduced diarrhea. “We haven’t been able to figure out why the excrement falls only on teachers across the globe and why it has such a limitless range,” Scientist Aaron Rynd said. “There have been reports of teachers mid-lecture being stormed on. That’s indoors!” If this occurrence happens to be a prank, we’d all love to know why and how someone would do such a terrible (and fascinating) thing. If this phenomenon is not a prank however, the public will have to leave the poo disaster up to the scientists. At the strike, which took place on the Ithaca Commons, I was confronted by hordes of teachers rallying with signs and chants. It happened to be a relatively cloudy day, and there was incredible tension in the air. As I looked around, everyone was chanting. One chant that stood out to me was the “NO MORE POOP” chant. Over 300 teachers and professors alike came together on this momentous, awareness-raising occasion to get their voices heard, but there was an almost audible sense of fear at the rally for when the next sky-sputtering diarrhea would come about. Some teachers were found hiding under nearby bushes and plants, or wearing hooded rain ponchos just to potentially avoid the inevitable poo storm. Several teachers were brave enough to pull back their plastic hoods and give me a bit of insight into what
it’s like to be a teacher right now. “No one knows where it’s coming from or why it’s only hitting teachers, but we’re really sick of it and we’ve staged a strike to increase awareness,” said one third grade teacher. “I live in constant fear of an embarrassing storm happening while I’m teaching or reading the children a story.” Most of us have no idea what it’s like to live in fear of a giant brown cloud floating above us, ready to strike at any moment. I believe that this is predominantly what the rally was about, as it seems that no one sympathizes with the teachers. Many of us find this phenomenon hilarious, as we don’t have to deal with the constant peril of lying in our beds late at night, waking up with messy poo on our pillows. I strongly suggest that readers read up on the phenomenon and join the global effort to discover the cause of the mysterious brown clouds taunting our educators. I’ll leave my readers with this last quote from a high school teacher, Mrs. Mayflower: “This phenomenon has been going on for years — shit dropping on us constantly! I’ll be teaching a class when, all of a sudden, I’m covered in shit! Who is doing this to us and why?” At this point, the best we can do is hope for the scientists to debunk this mysterious phenomenon so that teachers and professors can move on from this horrific trauma. ___________________________________ Amanda StClair is a freshman integrated marketing communications major who always carries an umbrella around with her, just in case she gets the teaching bug. You can email her at astclair@ithaca.edu.
Sawdust
g u .
On Strike Teachers go on strike for literally being shit on
Illustration by Lizzie Cox
49
My Night With the Pope
One Catholic’s controversial encounter By Jordan Aaron, Staff Writer
I
BUZZSAW: Free Issue
o,
was incredibly excited. Through my church I entered a drawing to win a night with the Pope. As a devout Catholic, I saw this as an opportunity to discuss the issues of the world through a lens that was more mature and holier than mine. I entered and about two months later, I got an email from pope266@hotmail.com. I was ecstatic. I had won a contest with what I can only imagine were millions of entries. I sent in my home address and told them where to pick me up for my night with the pope. It was about 7:30 p.m. when the Pope’s small, black Fiat pulled up to the curb of my house. He got out of the car and walked up to my door. In his reflection in the window, he fixed his collar and head covering, reaffirming my view of him as the second most stylish pope after Boniface VIII of 1294. He rang the doorbell and I, pretending as if I hadn’t been waiting for him to arrive, waited a few seconds before approaching the door and greeting him. “Nice to meet you,” I said nervously. “Salvation, Jesus, yaddah yaddah yaddah,” he replied. I was confused as to what that meant and why he chose to greet me that way but I rolled with it. I mean who was I to question the Pope? He invited me to his Fiat, and I graciously accepted. We walked down my pathway and I entered the small car. It was decked out in red pastel carpeting and the seats were draped in leopard print and alligator skin. There were disco balls hanging from the ceiling of the car, and there was a hidden, sliding tray that had a bottle of Jagermeister and four glasses. The pope gestured his hands toward the bottle, offering me some but I rejected his sentiment. I am sober 15 years. I overheard his driver say, “We’ll get the stuff and head over to The Holy Cross.” I was excited to finally arrive somewhere and begin discussing
50
important subjects with Pope Francis himself. However, when we pulled up to the “Holy Cross,” I found it was actually a dingy club in Hoboken, New Jersey. We got out of the car and the bouncer helped Francis and I onto the street. He said to the Pope, “Nice to see you again.” “I don’t remember last night, so I can’t say I didn’t have a bad time,” the Pope joked. They both laughed. I was confused as to what we were doing at such an inappropriately named place doing such un-Pope-like things. We were walked into a back room where I met Al Sharpton, Zach Braff and Lupe Fiasco. While at first I was star struck and in awe of the amazing people I found, I searched for Pope Francis so we could finally have our discussion. I walked up to him only to find that he was getting a lap dance from a woman he had brought from his home, Brazil, during his tour there in 2013. “I know that only God can forgive us, but please forgive me for mistreating you tonight.” “I accept your apology but I must leave,” I retorted. “So soon?” “Yes.” “Why don’t you come back to my place? It has a great view of Rome.” “You’re inviting me to the Vatican?’ “Yeah, we’ll do some coke and make love with the lights on.” I declined and went home, ashamed of where the “most liberal Pope” is taking our religion. I urge all Catholic readers to share this story so everyone can hear. ____________________________________ Jordan Aaron is a sophomore cinema and photography major who doesn’t discriminate against people based on religion, but does against Fiat drivers. You can email him at jaaron@ithaca.edu.
BUZZSAW ASKS WHY…
More Things Aren’t Just Free? Most economists will tell you there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and in a way this is true. Even if one receives an item or service without paying, the other person likely payed for the item, accounting of course for time and work. But what if everyone exchanges items and services with each other, a sort of ‘pay it forward’ mentality? Wouldn’t this negate the price it costs for everything? Maybe I’m just being an ideological anarchist here, but it seems to me that communities, especially smaller ones like downtown Ithaca, would be quite receptive to the mentality of ‘freeness.’ It’s true that towns and cities have their own forms of specialization; based on their specific geography and populace, some communities have certain strengths while different places have others. With this logic, however, entire cities could engage in commerce with each other, rather than having individuals paying each other within their own community. I’m just saying, this would streamline the process entirely. Take the greater Ithaca area, which is equally abundant with apple orchards and trained scholars. In economic terms, we could sufficiently function as one financial body, trading our particular services with a city further south for their distinct skillsets and agricultural resources. In this way, we could exchange the word ‘free’ for ‘communal.’ Strengthened by symbiosis, we would be able to really look around, realizing our individual as well as collective potential. And that would be pretty rad. Your radical Sawdust Editor, Tylor Colby
W
ust
a
e m, rk.
s of his g?
es n; d
es , ce
heir the
WE EXIST
ONLINE
WWW.BUZZSAWMAG.ORG
s s rms,
nal.’ d be ur ial.
Sawdust
www.facebook.com/BuzzsawMagazine
@buzzsawmag
51