The Catalyst Vol. 50 No. 3 September 13, 2019

THE CATALYST The Independent Student Newspaper of Colorado College

Vol. 50, No. 3

September 13, 2019

Becky Wareing Steele’s Challenging Interpretation of Utopia at the Fine Arts Center

By TOM BYRON

political and ideological division brought to the forefront of the national consciousness by the 2016 U.S. presidential election. She created her piece to bring people together and to experiment with building community. The project “falls under the category of a socially engaged practice, a type of art where the process of collaboration, participation, and interaction is as much a part of the artwork as the art object itself.” This is shown by her use of a flag, which Wareing Steele designed based on suggestions from Utopian citizens, who voted on it before it was finalized.

Wareing Steele built this diorama, out of wood, foam, clay, paint, and other modeling materials. However, the exhibit also includes floor plans and designs of the various buildings, a national anthem, a flag, and an application process for any visitor to become a “citizen” of Utopia. All of these other portions of the exhibit were at least partially designed by other people working on the project, and voted on by its citizens.

As explained at the start of the exhibit, Wareing Steele began the “Utopia” project in 2017 in part as a response to the

Right now, at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, visitors can get an inside look at a utopia. Or as Denver-based sculptor Becky Wareing Steele sees it in her new exhibit “Utopia: A New Society for All.” Its main focus is a 160:1 scale diorama of a village at the base of a waterfall, including houses called “Earthships,” a community center, and a farming greenhouse. Each one of the houses is paired with an individually painted figure, representing a specific “citizen” of Utopia, all of whom are people who chose to join the project.

PHOTO BY DANIEL SARCHÉ

Continued on pg. 2

Preliminary Steps to Becoming a BADASS

Urgent Calls for Revolutionary Political Action With Rosa Clemente

By BELLA LAWRENCE Making the choice to attend extra training on social behaviors and responsibilities can, at times, seem superfluous. Most people would like to believe that they know the right way to conduct themselves in a respectful, honest, and safe way with the ability to be there for community members, peers, friends, and loved ones. However, that may not always be the case.

On Tuesday, Sept. 10, the Wellness Resource Center hosted their first Being Aware, Deciding to Act, and Saying Something active bystander training of 2019. BADASS training is a great way to get an introduction to all of the information and resources that the Wellness Resource Center has to offer. The training lasted for two hours and endeavored to offer students information on how to best become active bystanders. An active bystander, as described by Mon-

tana Bass, one of the Wellness Resource Center paraprofessionals, is an individual who is trained to “positively impact the outcome of a situation.”

The issues tackled throughout the training centered around three main interlocking themes: systems of oppression, mental health, and substance abuse. The first, systems of oppression, affects how close each individual is to both experiencing and perpetrating harm. It was emphasized at the beginning of the training that “not only are all of these systems always operating, they are operating at different levels.”

PHOTO BY DANIEL SARCHÉ

By ELIZA GUION & ANA MASHEK After sociology professor Vanessa Muñoz introduced Rosa Clemente as the speaker for the department’s 19th annual Daniel Patrick O’Connor memorial lecture, someone else took the stage.

JLove Calderón, Clemente’s friend and fellow social justice activist, encouraged the crowd — which filled nearly three quarters of the lower seating section of the Richard F. Celeste Theater — to partake in some breathing exercises.

Three deep breaths later, the audience was greeted by a somewhat frazzled and out of breath Clemente. “After you have a baby, things happen,” she said. Laughs lingered in the theater as she took a few seconds to prepare to deliver her talk. A 2008 vice presidential candidate, journalist, and grassroots organizer, Clemente addressed the current political climate and her own journey in activism.

The O’Connor Lecture commemorates the life of Dan O’Connor, a Colorado College student who was committed to the struggle for social justice.

“I continue to feel an ethical code is necessary to live by, but now I include in this

code political activity … I am compelled to hit the streets and make my voice heard,” read a quote from O’Connor on the back of the lecture program. Clemente’s speech aligned well with his message, as she urged students to speak out against injustices and organize their communities.

Clemente began by sketching outlines of our political moment and emphasizing the gravity of the current situation. “There is no morality in the executive branch,” she said. “All who stay are complicit and consenting to fascism.”

Clemente refused to parse words or sidestep ugly realities as she spoke about the rise of open white nationalism in the U.S., exemplified by racist hate groups emerging in Albany, N.Y., where she lives. Within two minutes of taking the stage, Clemente brought to the forefront the plights of children caged in detention centers by ICE and the fatal shooting of De’Von Bailey by Colorado Springs police.

She treated the threat of climate change with similar weight. “The climate catastrophe is here,” she said. “And if we don’t name it, if we don’t deal with it, your generation

Continued on pg. 3

Continued on pg. 6

News

Sports & Active Life

Life

Opinion

10 Questions

Learning From China How Dr. Rebecca Karl understands radical activism. Page 3

Volleyball Was Victorious The women’s volleyball team went 4–0 last weekend at the Spike It Up Classic.

They play at home again this weekend.

Let’s show them some love! Page 8

Lap Dancing in Rastall A well intentioned birthday present goes embarrassingly wrong. Page 12

Rethinking the CC Farm How the farm could be utilized going forward. Page 15

This week, The Catalyst sits down with Chad Koenegstein, the CC women’s volleyball assistant coach, to chat about all things volleyball. Page 5

Need Somewhere to Camp for Block Break?

Look no further than Hipcamp, the camping version of Airbnb. Page 10

Like a Little Family Key Macfarland '22 answers questions about working at the Worner Desk. Page 13

Theatricality and Protest What the “die-in” theoretically represents as a form of non-violent protest.

Page 4

We Can Do Better We apologize to Mr. Jack Wold for our misstep last week. Page 15

Find us online at: catalystnewspaper.com Facebook: /CatalystNews Twitter: /CatalystNews

The Catalyst

2

Diving Into Wellness A recurring column exploring various statistics related to sexual wellness, mental health, and substance use at Colorado College, brought to you in collaboration with the Wellness Resource Center.

•

News

•

September 13, 2019

Becky Wareing Steele’s Challenging Interpretation of Utopia at the Fine Arts Center

By SUSANNA PENFIELD

85% When the National Campus Health Assessment Survey was administered, 85% of Colorado College students reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days. This percentage exceeds the national average by 19 points.

Though survey statistics such as these do not convey the quantity or rate at which alcohol is being consumed, the prevalence alone is telling of a larger issue.

Drinking is a common catalyst for group gatherings. It occurs at family events and during holidays; we go out to drinks as dates, to bond with coworkers, or to share time with friends. Alcohol pervades everyday routine and interaction, yet it is this acceptance that can mask potential abuse.

In many ways, it would appear that our lives are structured around drinking. We grow up seeing beer in the fridge, or spirits in the liquor cabinet.

We watch family members and favorite TV characters meet for Happy Hour after work or indulge in a glass of wine during dinner. We might get peer pressured into trying it during middle school, or high school, or college. We might choose to partake, and we might choose not to.

Alcohol’s centrality in social life makes overuse easy to ignore. However, as college students and young adults, it is important that we think critically about how we engage with substances. The accessibility and prominence of alcohol makes it a crucial time in our lives for this interrogation.

Recognizing the symptoms of alcohol abuse is a good place to start. No matter how minor a drinking problem may seem, it is crucial that these signs do not go ignored, some of which include: • Making excuses for drinking, such as to relax, deal with stress, or feel normal.

• Choosing drinking over other responsibilities and obligations.

• Becoming isolated and distant from friends and family members.

• Drinking alone or in secrecy.

• Feeling hungover when not drinking.

• Changing appearance and group of acquaintances you hang out with.

New resources are being offered at CC to aid in this process of recognition and recovery. These include: •Alcoholics Anonymous meetings that will be held Mondays at 7:15 p.m. in Sacred Grounds, starting Sept. 23.

•Al-anon meetings on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. in Sacred Grounds for those who don’t necessarily identify as alcoholic but care about someone struggling with alcoholism.

•Narcotics Anonymous meetings on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. in Sacred Grounds.

•Peer-to-peer recovery support group on Thursdays in the CC Counseling Center based on the SMART recovery model. For more information reach out to the Counseling Center directly.

For further questions or clarifications regarding substance abuse resources at CC or beyond, contact Chris Walters in the Wellness Resource Center (cwalters@coloradocollege.edu).

Illustration Courtesy of The Wellness resource Center

Photo by DANIEL SARCHÉ

Continued from page 1.

The anthem, which Nathan Hall composed, based its values on the community’s suggestions that it should “focus more on the future than the past” and that “the music was easy enough for all to sing.” It is another example of art melding with community engagement. Even the buildings in the diorama itself, from the plants in the greenhouse to design of the houses to the floor plan of the community center, were all designed and approved by Utopian citizens before Wareing Steele constructed them as part of her installation.

The wall outside the exhibit is meant for visitors to share their responses to the project. Many of these responses are deeply political, even cruel in their wording. One calls the project “a far left fantasy that erases individualism ... a collective hive

mind,” while a different person scribbled, “You = facist [sic]” underneath the original response. Another simply states “Capitalism gave us SLAVERY,” with a string of responses beneath it, including “CLASS TRAITOR!”, and “BRAINWASHED MORON!” Most other responses to the exhibit are less intense, tending to focus more on individual interpretations of the piece. It is unclear which types of responses Wareing Steele anticipated or desired, but she has certainly been effective in her efforts to evoke an emotional, and in some cases, a political response.

Waering Steele will come to the FAC on Sept. 27 at 5:30 p.m. to give a talk on her exhibit. The exhibit will remain at the FAC until Nov. 3.

CCSGA Weekly A Welcome Message From Your 2019–20 Inclusion Committee

By HALLE SCHALL '20 VICE PRESIDENT OF INCLUSION Welcome to the 2019–20 school year. For some of you, this is your last first block; for others it is your first. No matter your year on campus, the Inclusion Committee seeks to be your suggestion box. We want to know about your experience with inclusivity or lack thereof, on and off campus. We want to know problems you’ve had, and we want to know what changes you’d like to see made at Colorado College.

In the past, the Inclusion Committee has been heavily involved in LoCCal, the External Review of Racism at CC, and town halls soliciting or addressing student concerns.

We’ve taken concerns from one-onone conversations with students all the way to President Jill Tiefenthaler.

As your elected officials, we are able to represent you in all facets of college life. This is a responsibility we do not take lightly.

This year, your Inclusion Committee is composed of a vice president and four members. I’m serving as your VP this year, and I’m always accessible at h_taylorschall@coloradocollege.edu if you’d like to talk about

issues on campus, or any other topic you can think of. I’m a senior sociology major; I use they/them pronouns; and I’m a former co-chair of EQUAL. Also serving you are Sakina Bhatti '22 (she/her pronouns), Sally Hedderman '21 (she/her pronouns), Jacqueline Nkhonjera '20 (she/her pronouns), and Nicolette GordilloLaRiviere '22 (she/her pronouns).

I’m thrilled to be working alongside such spectacular women this year.

So far this block, we have discussed a student driven anti racist group on campus and have begun reaching out to the co-chairs of organizations on campus that serve marginalized communities to see how we may be of service.

Additionally, we’ve been working with Ethan Greenberg, student body president, on a proposal for President Tiefenthaler on the way that anti-racist internships and grants at CC ought to work, who should oversee them, and what CCSGA’s role should be. Trust that when the project is finalized, you will be the first to know.

As the year continues and the college

makes more anti-racist efforts, the Inclusion Committee will actively seek and report on your feedback.

If you’d care to attend one of our weekly meetings, you’re more than welcome. Our meeting time is changing Block 2, so please email me if you’re interested in attending so I can give you the correct time.

Similarly, if you want to see how your student government addresses all issues on campus, you’re invited to join us at 7 p.m. on Thursdays in the Yalich Boardroom inside the Spencer Center.

Lastly, a quick plug: elections for the Inclusion Committee and other offices are near the end of the year, but it’s never too early to consider running. CCSGA gets more done than most students think, and it’s more important now than ever that marginalized students occupy more offices as the anti-racist report is worked into daily life.

I’ll leave you with this message: take up as much space as you’re able this year and all those that follow. If possible, the Inclusion Committee would love to join you in doing so.

The Catalyst

News

•

•

3

September 13, 2019

The Importance of Unity in the May Fourth Movement

By GABY JADOTTE The May Fourth Movement of 1919 came to define one of the most influential time periods in modern Chinese history. Today, a century later, China might find itself in a similar situation.

Rebecca Karl, a professor at New York University, has dedicated her academic career to studying and researching modern Chinese history and Chinese integration into a globalized, capitalist world. She has authored many books and journal articles, including her most recent piece focusing on the May Fourth Movement titled “The Shadow of Democracy.” On Friday, Sept. 6, Karl came to Colorado College to deliver a lecture on this most recent publication.

The May Fourth Movement of 1919 was a Chinese student movement that morphed into an anti-imperial, cultural, and political movement. According to Karl, it united many different groups of people around China, more so than any other movement before. It showcased an incredible amount of self organization among the students and other participants, which added to the cultural impor-

tance, political importance, and strength of the movement.

During Karl’s lecture, she focused on the importance of self organization and unity displayed throughout the May Fourth Movement and how those traits can and should be utilized in today’s China. Although 21st Century China is vastly different than that of the May Fourth Movement, Karl argued that many similar traits can be seen in government policies and broader Chinese society.

In 1919, the Chinese people, specifically students and the middle-class, were growing more and more frustrated with the increasing global capitalistic presence within China that challenged the country’s autonomy in the international political realm. It was mostly directed at the newly formed government, as it was more focused on suppressing internal dissent than protecting national interests from other global powers.

A century later, China finds itself in almost the same position as it was in during the May Fourth Movement. There are protests against the Chinese government occurring

all over the country, with the most well known being the Hong Kong student movements.

Karl is part of a cohort that sees many similarities between China’s positions in 1919 and 2019, but she thinks of the May Fourth Movement as a jumping off point for change in Chinese society. Karl argued during her lecture that protest organizers in China, and everywhere else in the world, should focus on unity among different groups of people, as that was how the May Fourth Movement became so successful. Karl’s analysis has shown that cohesion of multiple groups of people proves to be one of the most important factors in the movement’s success and should be a focus of other movements and campaigns.

For a politically and socially interested campus like CC, Karl’s lecture provided an interesting perspective on how history can be used to create effective and successful social movements as college students.

Though the May Fourth Movement occurred a century ago, CC students can learn some lessons from the unity and self organization used during the movement.

Preliminary Steps to Becoming a BADASS continued from pg. 1 At the center of the themes is sexual violence. This, according to Bass, is because “people are both more likely to be victimized and to perpetrate sexual assault when there’s alcohol and other substances involved. An experience of sexual assault, which is an experience of trauma, can trigger a mental health crisis,” and because “victims or survivors of sexual assault, depending on the other aspects of their identity, are going to be differently able to access care and support and resources.”

After an introduction and interrogation of the ways that various positionalities can impact both the ability to be a BADASS and the likelihood of becoming a victim, the training split into groups to discuss various scenarios. Discussing separately and then back as a whole team, the groups split off three times to unpack the scenarios in terms of the systems operating, barriers to action, and how to speak up.

In an interview the following day, Bass said that she thought the training had gone well. “One indicator [is that] it was well attended, which was really exciting, but obviously that’s not everything,” she said. Other signs included active student participation, questions, and discussion — the presence of which indicate that “we’re giving [them] enough content that they feel like they have something to say.”

For Bass, the training is striving for “a balance of info that isn’t so far fetched to them so that they have a base of knowledge already to work in to discussion, but also that it’s not like they already knew this all and it’s too easy.”

As for the most important takeaway, Bass emphasized ongoing engagement. “I hope that people are recognizing the importance of working together to create a compassionate community,” she said. “That’s one of the goals we outline from the beginning, kind of the work of this office. There’s a lot that goes into what that means when we say compassionate community.”

When asked what she would offer to a student who wasn’t sure about attending a BADASS training, Bass returned to a metaphor that was addressed the previous night at training.

“Put on your own oxygen mask first,” she said, emphasizing that if a student feels like “I just have my own mental health struggles, and I can’t think about taking this on right now, we would encourage them to take care of themselves first and seek resources.”

“The reality is that every single student is falling along a spectrum of mental health, has an identity that falls within systems of oppression, is in a culture that has unhealthy norms around substance abuse,” Bass continued. “Every student is being affected by and is vulnerable to these topics that we’re talking about.”

For this reason, it’s so important to take the time to learn how to show up “for the people at CC that you love.”

In order to find out more about WRC programming like BADASS, students can reach out to Ysabel Trujillo, also a paraprofessional at the Wellness Resource Center, at ytrujillo@coloradocollege.edu for updates on upcoming BADASS training and programming.

THE CATALYST

Letters and inquiries: catalyst@coloradocollege.edu Advertising: ads.catalyst@gmail.com Subscriptions: r_shore@coloradocollege.edu The Catalyst 1028 Weber St. Colorado Springs, CO 80946

The Catalyst is a weekly newspaper produced and managed exclusively by students of The Colorado College. Published for the benefit of the college community and the surround- Phone: 617.833.0707 ing local area, the Catalyst aims to bring general interest and Fax: 719.389.6962 academic-oriented news, ideas, and opinions into greater collective view. The newspaper is published under Cutler Publi- Comptroller • Karen West cations, independent of The Colorado College.

Legal Consultation provided by The Student Press Law Center

PHOTOS BY DANIEL SARCHÉ

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

EDITORIAL STAFF

Editor-in-Chief • Remi Shore Managing & Copy Editor • Anna Feldman Presentation Director • Cate Johnson COO • Natalie Gubbay Chief Photo Editor • Daniel Sarché Advertising Manager • Alex Jennings

News Editor • Bella Lawrence Sports Editor • Anna Marcus Active Life Editor • Lucy Feldman Life Editor • Heather Rolph Opinion Editor • Sam Pfeifer Online Editor • Ben Seitz-Sitek

PRESENTATION & DESIGN

Cate Johnson • Bibi Powers • Alex Jennings • Patil Khakhamian

4

The Catalyst

•

News

•

September 13, 2019

How the Politics of Life Can Be Waged Through a Theatre of Death

By BELLA LAWRENCE Both our bodies and our lives are subject to political action, and as such they can be used as physical forces for non-violent protest. The “die-in” is a form of protest, much like the more familiar “sit-in,” that uses embodiment to challenge a state of hierarchical inequality.

However, unlike a sit-in, die-ins are political demonstrations during which people play dead.

In a reading and subsequent discussion on Sept. 9, titled “Dying-In: Politics of Life, Theatre of Death,” Dr. Banu Bargu shared her research on, and theoretical understanding of, the impact of die-ins, since their advent in the 1970s anti-nuclear movement.

Bargu is currently a professor of “History of Consciousness and Political Theory” at the University of California at Santa Cruz. She completed both her B.A. and M.A. at Bogazici University, and her Ph.D. at Cornell University. Bargu’s first book, titled “Starve and Immolate: The Politics of Human Weapons,” was published in 2014 and won the First Book Award FROM the American Political Science Association. She published a second book in 2017, “Feminism, Capitalism, and Critique: Essays in Honor of Nancy Fraser,” and her reading this past week at Colorado College highlighted a chapter she is currently developing for her next work.

The die-in had its inauguration on June 8, 1970, and has since been used to further a number of different activist causes. Bargu cited the Los Angeles based LGBTQ organization “Act Up,” formed in the late 1980s, which staged die-ins to protest government treatment of HIV/AIDS and widespread homophobia.

More recently, she recounted, the Black Lives Matter

movement has utilized the technique to protest the treatment of “black and brown bodies” within the U.S. Although the die-in as a form of protest has been around for several decades, Bargu proposed that the theoretical analysis of the visual and theatrical nature of the die-in, through which we would be able to understand the protest’s full implications and societal tension, is not present. She said that her theoretical framework, and her “argument in a nutshell,” revolved around how the die-in serves to convey the deep contradiction within democratic governments that put “human life as [their] supreme value,” while building and sustaining their society on violent biopolitical hierarchies.

Bargu emphasized how the die-iN can bring a visual representation to the“differential distribution” of exposure to death and violence by creating a visual, physical, and theatrical representation of how not only marginalized “lives, but also their deaths do not matter” in current respective societal structures.

The audience in this space is the everyday passerby, whose daily life is interrupted both spatially and temporally by the protest, which challenges them to come to terms visually with the violence that underlies the “stability” of these democratic societies.

Ultimately, Bargu reached the conclusion that while a die-in is powerful in its theory and implications, theatrical non-violent protests such as this are not enough to destabilize systems of hierarchical injustice alone. Rather, they serve to embolden a growing sense of change and awareness.

A full account of Bargu’s work can be found on the University of California Santa Cruz website.

A Brief Reintroduction to Ongoing Anti-Racism Efforts at Colorado College

By MARY JENKINS For new community members at Colorado College, the internships and jobs will “require a commitment to training topic of anti-racism efforts, such as the external review of around antiracism to ensure that the outcomes of the inracism and the implementation plan drafted at the end of ternships are constructive, rather than destructive, to antithe summer, is likely to be an unfamiliar discussion and op- racism efforts.” Student training for said internships are currently dependent on the results of the reformulation of the portunity for engagement.

In May of 2019, CC published a final report and recom- Butler Center’s programming.

CCSGA states in their proposal that there is “no standing mendations provided by Roger Worthington, executive director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion in Higher stakeholder group focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, Education, after his external review of racism at CC. During and antiracism that includes students.” After the merger of the summer, a small group comprised of members of the the Minority Concerns Committee and the Women’s Concerns Committee, resulting in The faculty, the student body, the Board of Diversity and Equity Advisory Trustees, and the administration used Board, students were excluded. these reports to draft an implementaCCSGA has actively pursued a retion plan that President Jill Tiefenthalvival of student membership in er published at the end of August.

DEAB, but they have been refused.

As expressed in the draft, “Colorado Assuming that DEAB will continue College has experienced overt racist without student input, CCSGA proincidents in recent years.” The offenses poses that an additional committee include “hurtful messages on a social be created to oversee the implemedia platform to an anonymous, mentation of the college’s draft hateful, racist, anti-Black, sexist, and plan. trans-antagonistic email,” which was “The rationale that has been proreceived by many members of the CC vided to CCSGA as for the eliminacommunity in March of 2018. tion of student members was that Although the final impetus for antithe DEAB would be focusing priracism at CC was the combination of marily on staff and faculty issues,” the online comments, and the email, said Ethan Greenberg ’20, student Tiefenthaler points out in her letter body president. that “racism has existed at Colorado Lily Weissgold ’20, student trustCollege since our founding.” This noee, insists that communication with tion coincides with the emphasis pub- Illustration by JUBILEE HERNANDEZ student representatives is key to a lished in the current implementation draft, stating, “We are not in a post-racist society or institu- successful implementation plan.

“Pushing the administration to carry out the plan once tion; we feel the effects of racism daily.” This is an important acknowledgement to ensure that the catalyzing incidents do finalized will fall, in part, on the student body,” Weissgold not remain isolated in the imagination of racism within the said. “A direct way to be involved is through communicating with your CCSGA representatives, who play a significant school community.

The implementation plan’s seven goals, outlined in great role in determining the aspects of the plan which involve length within the full document, all have deadlines prior to student life.” The President’s Office has sent out requests for the end of the 2021 school year. The implementation draft is feedback from students, and she urges everyone to educate available to all students online, as well as the external review themselves on the proposals and submit feedback.

Weissgold serves as the bridge between trustees, CCSGA, of racism webpage, and links can be found in Tiefenthaler’s and the student body. She maintains that, “in general, the aforementioned address published on Aug. 27, 2019.

Since the publication of this draft, Colorado College Stu- specifics of how any part of the plan will function still need dent Government Association has shared their proposal for to either be generated or ironed out.”

For this reason, the current stage of this process is a stage the plan’s third goal: “invest in student antiracism resources and efforts.” In terms of internships, CCSGA believes in that demands student participation and engagement. Look equal opportunity and equal access to internships and stu- for future updates to come regarding the initiative and its dent employment on campus. Their proposal asserts that progression throughout the coming year.

Weekly Rundown

By Charlotte Schwebel

ON CAMPUS

• Colorado College hosted the memorial service for beloved International Relations and Global Health Professor Andrew Price-Smith this past weekend.

Former students and colleagues recounted his contributions to their lives and remembered a life well lived. (CC Digest) • RED, the first theatre production of the year, runs this weekend in the Cornerstone Mainspace Shop.

(CC Digest) • Colorado College released the Antiracism Implementation Plan this week. It came with an email open for comments. (CC Communications) • LoCCal Festival is this Sept. 14.

C-SPRINGS

• The campaigns to recall Democratic state Sen. Pete Lee, of Colorado Springs, and Sen. Brittany Pettersen, of Lakewood, told the Colorado Secretary of State’s office on Sept. 10 that they will not be turning in the signatures they collected to force special elections to remove the two senators from their jobs. (Gazette) • Colorado firefighters scaled the Manitou Incline to honor 9/11 victims. (KKTV) • The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College presents the regional premiere of “Busytown: The Musical,” beginning Saturday, Sept. 14, and running through Sunday, Oct. 13. (FAC) • The cost of living in Colorado Springs surpassed the national average this year. (KRDO) • Protesters interrupted the State of the City address over the murder of African American teen De’Von Bailey by a CSPD officer. (KRDO) • Colorado Springs greenlit a tiny home project that will include 18 units called the “Working Fusion at Mill Street.” (KOAA)

COLORADO • University of Northern Colorado student Piper Johnson contracted the first confirmed e-cigarette related lung condition in Colorado. (DenPo) • Some Colorado schools want to challenge the constitutionality of the sex-ed law passed in the last session. (DenPo) • Arapahoe County paid $2.45 million to family of Jeffrey Lillis, an inmate who died in his cell after his repeated requests for help were ignored. (DenPo) • Students at the University of Denver are rallying around law professor Rashmi Goel, who says the institution she’s taught at for 17 years has yet to rectify its actions following the unequal pay lawsuit she filed in June. (DenPo)

USA • A jury in Oakland, Calif., acquitted one man and didn’t reach a decision in the second man’s role in a warehouse fire that killed 36 people. (NYT) • Michigan State University was fined a record $4.5 million for failing to protect students from sexual abuse by Larry Nassar. (NYT) • Bianca Andreescu won the women’s singles U.S. Open Championship. (CNBC) • 145 CEOs, including those of Twitter, Uber, and Dick’s Sporting Goods, wrote a letter to congress demanding action on gun control. Mayors from both parties are also meeting with the White House to demand background checks for gun purchases.

• The NFL football season is back. The Broncos played their first game Monday night against the Raiders, losing 24–16. (DenPo) • There is a nationwide shortage of White Claw spiked seltzer. The company says they are working around the clock to restock. (ThinkProgress)

WORLD • Apple released three new iPhones this week, two of which have three66 cameras. They also announced that they will launch their streaming service, Apple TV+, on Nov. 12. (Apple) • Iran has begun using arrays of advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium in violation of its 2015 nuclear deal, a spokesman said Sept. 7, warning that Europe has little time left to offer new terms to save the accord. (Axios) • “Friends,” the sitcom adored worldwide, turns 25 years old this fall. (NYT) • Johns Hopkins opened up a new center for psychedelic research. (NYT)

The Catalyst

10 Questions with

•

10 Questions

•

September 13, 2019

5

Chad Koenegstein

Chad Koenegstein is from a small town in southern Illinois, called Chester. Chester, Illinois is home of Popeye the Sailor Man: a key fact. Now living in Colorado Springs with his dog, Theo, Chad is the assistant coach for the Colorado College women’s volleyball team, which is absolutely killing it this year. Chad likes to ride horses and train dogs, as well, but this week, The Catalyst sat down with him to discuss all things volleyball.

Interview by Remi Shore & Photos by daniel sarché́

THE CATALYST: TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR HISTORY: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN COACHING VOLLEYBALL AND IN WHAT CAPACITY? Chad Koenegstein: I grew up not playing volleyball. My sister and dad are phenom track and field and cross country athletes. So, I ran forever, but didn’t really want to live up to them. So, I found sports that they didn’t do, and swimming and volleyball were those. I went to Murray State University in Western Kentucky. I got pretty close with one of our outsides who was from Inner Mongolia China. She taught me a lot about volleyball. I started coaching a random tiny school team that did well and so, obviously, I thought I was the greatest because I was coaching them and they had just happened to be playing volleyball since they were in, like, third grade, so they knew what they were doing. But yeah, it was kind of addicting — winning. So then I actually started getting serious about coaching volleyball. But my coaching career started in swimming. I coached a swim team for, like, six years. Moved here after college because my sister got married in Colorado and I was frustrated with myself for not having seen Colorado before that. So I booked it, moved out here for fun, spent a year and then moved home for two years to coach and teach. Had a really successful two years of coaching there and then came out again in 2017 to coach at UCCS. I was there for one year, worked at USA volleyball for a year, and then started at CC. The first volleyball team that I coached, I was 19 in my sophomore year of college. And I have coached everything from middle school girls to high school boys, boys club, girls club, high school girls to, obviously, collegiately at UCCS and here at Colorado College. And then worked in the coaching education department at USA volleyball. I started coaching volleyball at 19 and I am 27, so this is my ninth year of coaching volleyball, and I’ve coached over 25 teams.

TC: WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT COACHING VOLLEYBALL? CK: What I like most about coaching volleyball at CC are the athletes themselves. What I like most about coaching volleyball in general is the euphoric feelings that teams get when performing well in system, teams or individuals getting that huge block or making plays that they individually haven’t been able to do before or haven’t had success in before. And coaching those whose knowledge of the game is very low and giving them some volleyball IQ is definitely my favorite part about coaching in general. And the younger and more excited the better. I think I get the best of both worlds here at CC because they are really good and the athletes are super intelligent and able to grow their volleyball IQ even though it’s already decently high. So it’s a huge challenge for me to keep growing my IQ, as a coach and as a volleyballer so that it can help their IQs grow.

My goal of coaching a team every year is that whomever I have coached that season — whether it’s 14-year-old boys or 22-year-old athletes at Colorado College — that after a year of me on their bench as a coach, in whatever capacity, they could, the next year, coach a middle school volleyball team and be confident in themselves. So my goal is to create coaches out of the players that I coach.

TC: IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY OTHER PROFESSION IN THE WORLD, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO DO? CK: Dang. I might be doing it. I might be doing my dream profession. Thanks for asking that because I don’t know that I would appreciate what I do as much as I do right now if that question hadn’t been asked. If I think of something better, I’ll tell you.

TC: WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS SEASON AND WHAT ARE YOUR HOPES FOR THE TEAM? CK: What I’m most looking forward to this season and what I’ve already kind of gotten out of the season is our athletes being versatile on the court and playing multiple positions, doing new things, being transparent and versatile. My favorite aspect of myself as a volleyball player is that when I go and play pickup or when I will go play tournaments wherever around the country, as long as it’s not as a middle blocker, I can do it.

Like the team will ask me if I can play and I’ll just say, “yeah.” And they ask, “Where do you want to go? Like, we’ll build the rest of the team.” I’m like, “Really, build the team and then I’ll do what’s left.” Because I really enjoy doing everything, I’m just not

a successful middle. So that’s a lot of fun for me and I probably have some bias and favoritism toward athletes that can do that also. So, I’m looking forward to watching us be versatile, and I am looking forward to watching us be creative within our team.

I have this, like, weird philosophy about volleyball and it has to do with language; so say you’re a native English speaker, cool; but if you can speak six other languages, you are going to be able to use the English language much more efficiently and much more effectively than someone who can only speak English. And I think it’s the same with volleyball. You can be in one position, and you have certain skills and we need you to do certain things in that position to be successful in that position. But if you understand another position, you’re going to be able to be more creative in your own. And thankfully we have a team where very few of them are one position players — very few.

It’s incredible. So back to the original question, what am I looking forward to most?

I’m looking forward to watching that creativity that we’re able to have because of their versatility. I’m looking forward to watching that get us as far as we can go, whatever that may be. And obviously the goal is winning a national championship because we are very capable of doing that. But as long as our creativity takes us where we should go, I will be so happy.

TC: HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE CC COMMUNITY SUPPORT THE WOM EN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM? CK: Well, we’re only home this coming weekend. (And my parents will be here, so you all should come meet them.) And then we are home the second weekend of October — homecoming weekend. And I think volleyball is definitely a sport and we are definitely a team that, if you make the decision to come once, you’ll come back. So my plea is that you make the decision to come once and watch. It’s kind of hard right now for the community to get super involved because we have some limitations like parking. So we really rely on the student population to come support us. And I think if the student population got to know our team and got to know the varied interests that our team has and that they’re not just jocks that care about volleyball, like, they have some interests in so many areas of campus and they are involved in so many areas of campus. They’re involved in things where their peers don’t even know that they’re on the volleyball team, they don’t know that they’re on a volleyball team that is one of the best volleyball teams in the country as far as Division III. And honestly, we will beat the most Division II teams as well and many Division I teams. So yeah, I just want the student population to experience us and reach out to be experienced by us too. We would love to come to your events if we knew about them. And so we’re trying to put it out here for you all, as far as the student population, to know about our events. I mean, athletics is super supportive. The athletic department is so supportive of volleyball, of all sports. Like I said I am in a dream job because of the department that I work for. Volleyball is volleyball; I could go try to coach for the national team, whatever, but I think the support we have here from our department is incredible.

TC: WHAT DO YOU THINK IS UNIQUE TO VOLLEYBALL AMONG OTHER SPORTS? CK: Unique to volleyball is the rate at which teams score I think happens more quickly in volleyball than most other sports. I would say any, but I’m sure there are some out there where you can score more quickly, but not that are huge spectator sports. Like soccer absolutely is less scoring than in volleyball. Basketball is similar, but it doesn’t happen as fast. I think we have, like, an average of less than 30 seconds between each point. And while the ball’s in play, it’s less than eight seconds — the average rally is less than eight seconds, or something around there. (Maybe don’t quote me on those numbers.) But yeah, scoring. Unique to volleyball is also that there isn’t a ton of pickup volleyball. So unlike basketball, where a lot of fans can watch and understand a lot about the game, volleyball’s not really that way. And soccer, a lot of people play soccer. More people seem to understand football and maybe they just are self-proclaimed educated for football ‘cause they watch it on TV all the time — and baseball. Volleyball, there’s a lot to understand about it. But there’s obviously some key components about it that make it the number two sport in the world. It’s behind soccer only in the world — not in the U.S., necessarily, as far as professionally. But the number one high school sport continued on pg. 6

The Catalyst

6

•

News

•

September 13, 2019

10 Questions with Chad Koenegstein continued from pg. 5. played by females is volleyball. The number of high school female volleyball players is rivaling the number of high school male basketball players, which is huge for the sport.

Other differences that volleyball has: I think it requires a different level of athleticism. There aren’t many other sports where you are scoring from the air. Most of our points are scored when we’ve been in the air — where they’re blocking, or we’re attacking, or we’re jump-serving. I mean, we can serve an ace from the ground, but most aces come from a player that has come off the ground. So yeah, doing most of your scoring from the air is pretty impressive. The varied movements that you have to have in volleyball are pretty impressive. Yeah, the sheer timing of it being the most important thing about the sport is... It’s important to have timing in other sports, but I think in volleyball, if it’s not there, you’re going to fail. In other sports you can kind of get by if you’re missing one variable of your game.

TC: WHAT DO YOU THINK MAKES YOU UNIQUE? CK: I think a lot of people talk about, like, if it’s not broken don’t fix it. Some people say, “Don’t reinvent the wheel.” But what if we could reinvent the wheel and make it go faster?

I want to do that. I appreciate wheels. I appreciate wheels that are functional, but I always want to go faster. I’m like, “How can we make this more efficient and more fun? More creative?” Yeah. I want to do something new every time I do it. And in volleyball, the same play will never happen twice. You might think it’s the same; it’s not the same. All the variables are not the same, so we need to be ready and open minded about being creative. Because we can always give an athlete feedback on what to have done in that situation, but there’s a difference. So, we call it “feedforward”.

“I want to instruct you of some scenario stuff, like, ‘If this happens what will you do?’ I’m not going to tell you what to do; I don’t care what you do; but I’m excited to know what you’re going to do. And maybe let’s not even talk about it, just go show me or let me show you. Like, this is something that we could do.”

TC: WHICH CELEBRITY THAT DOESN’T CURRENTLY PLAY VOLLEYBALL WOULD YOU WANT TO JOIN THE CC VOLLEYBALL TEAM OR THE COACHING STAFF, AND WHY? CK: Not a volleyball player? Oh, pop culture is my nemesis.

I was gonna say we already have her — her name is Shelly Small. She’s incredible, but she played volleyball. She’s kind of famous; she looks like a movie star sometimes. She’s the director of coaching education of USA Volleyball. I mean, I might use a physicist like Albert Einstein to figure stuff out for us — trajectory stuff. I just watched a season of “Genius,” and it was about Albert Einstein. And I was I was loving it, but he was actually not the nicest, like not the most thoughtful person in the world; he was kind of selfish. So my view of him kind of changed a little bit, and that’s okay. I would still want Albert Einstein on our bench because I think we think similarly. Obviously, I’m not that intelligent, but whenever something worked, he would just say, “Cool, it worked, let’s do something new.” And I would want that on the bench with me. Like, we would cheer so loudly when something happened that was new. But then after that we’re like, “Ok, it’s not new anymore, like, we have to do something else.”

So Albert Einstein, but I really want to say Shelly Small. She played for Baylor. She was a stud. She is a stud. She’s my best friend. And she’s here. So again, like my dream job is already happening, the person that I would want on our staff is already here. She and Albert.

TC: DO YOU HAVE A HYPE SONG? CK: My hype song might be “Someone New” by — I don’t even know how to say the band’s name and I just shared it yesterday on my Facebook. But it talks about how, like, we’re new every day, so it talks about falling in love with someone new.

And you kind of have to do that with people because I can fall in love with you on day one but you’re new on day two, and me too, so we have to fall in love again — not romantically, but just loving people in general.

And, oh, Andy Grammer’s song, “Don’t Give Up On Me.” That’s pretty cool and it talks about, like, I will fight for you until my heart is black and blue, and I will reach out until our fingers interlock, or whatever. For me it’s just all about community and being widespread and just putting your love out there. But no, I don’t have a theme song.

Yeah, I’m not huge on music or any kind of real media. My passions lie within volleyball, and horses, and dogs, and that might be it.

I have some, like, hearing and processing issues. Like, when it’s rap or anything speaking more quickly than I can speak, then I don’t get it. And I think that’s why I talk so much is because I have to talk to process.

TC: WHO HAS LEFT A MARK ON YOU, AND WHY? CK: Who has a left a mark on me? Oof, my dad? No, I’m just kidding. My mom. No, no, no, Bruno Chateau 100% has left the mark on me. He came to Colorado Springs via his wife, Erica, who was from here. They met as he was coaching professionally in France and she played professionally in France. His family owns a professional club in France and Erica, one of my friends from here, went to play for it. They ended up meeting, getting married he moved here. So Bruno Chateau played and coached for the French national team at some level, is borderline obsessed with psychology and how it works and plays into coaching — which is really most of our job. A lot of people know a lot about volleyball, but not all of them can relate and understand psychology enough to have meaningful relationships with their athletes. So, he is the one person that, even if I completely disagree with him as far as volleyball goes, I would do it his way

because I think it’s better until I prove him wrong. And the reason he left a mark on me is because he allowed me to have questions about volleyball and then prove or disprove them. And in coaching, we coached a club team together and we’ve coached together a lot, we played together a lot.

And so yeah, when I had a question, he might have known the answer and he could have just said, “No you’re wrong” or “Yes, you’re right,” but he gave me the opportunity to put it into action and prove it for myself and he allowed me to take ownership of it. Where there were some times when I thought I had an idea that was completely original and I got really excited about it and he would let me get excited about it, just for me to find out, maybe a week or a year later, that many people have had that idea before. But he wanted me to own it and he wanted me to be proud of myself for being original. And he let me ... he let me do that. He gave me that opportunity and I cannot thank him enough for the positive marks he has left on me. Bruno Chateau.

Urgent Calls for Revolutionary Political Action With Rosa Clemente Continued from pg. 1 is not going to survive.” She identified climate change as our greatest existential threat, describing how it pervades every intersection of identity and oppression.

Clemente combined her acknowledgement of these awful truths with calls to action, appealing to histories of resistance and revolutionary change. A student of history, Clemente’s speech was peppered with quotations from Frantz Fanon to Assata Shakur, bell hooks, and Kwame Ture, among others.

“Question everything you’ve been taught,” Clemente urged the crowd. She shared her own radical ideas suhc as, “If you’re anti-racist, you have to be anti-capitalist — racism isn’t an attitude, rather, a result of our economic climate.” She acknowledged that tuition-free college may seem like a “pie in the sky idea.” However, what if we think of solutions, Clemente asked, like “cutting military spending”?

She shared with the audience how exposure to Afro-diasporic history and thinkers as an undergraduate played a pivotal role in her personal development. “To decolonize my mind I had to read, I had to study,” she said.

Clemente reflected on her experiences as an Afro-Latinx student from the Bronx, N.Y., at a predominantly white institution, and spoke directly to students of color in the audience. College, for Clemente, was “enlightening;” she walked away with an education that she believes translates to power. So, Clemente had many messages to pass on for those in the same stage of life. She also called upon white students, to, “learn the history of white resistance to white

supremacy,” citing Anne Braden, David Gilbert, and Naomi Klein as examples.

Clemente connected issues of white supremacy, the climate crisis, and other social injustices through an economic lens, offering a scathing critique of capitalism. “There can be no compassion in capitalism,” she said. She encouraged her audience to visualize alternative ways of being that prioritize community and interdependence. In this way, Clemente kept a sense of future possibility throughout her talk, in spite of the grim obstacles in the way.

Clemente asked the difficult question: “When history is told about our time, your children are going to ask, what did you do?” In an era Clemente describes as characterized by “white supremacy, patriarchy and capitalism,” the fight is “not a Snapchat, a hashtag, or a phrase.”

Among some students, the message was well received. “My main takeaway from Clemente’s talk was that individuals in our generation don’t have to be passionate and work on solving every issue,” said Isabella McShea ’20. “Instead, individuals can choose one or two issues to fight for in this trying political and social time.”

Abby Williams ’20 felt inspired by Clemente’s balanced realism. “I thought that the lecture was really impactful,” said Williams. “It was hard hitting and dire at points, but there’s this element of proactiveness. You have to recognize it, and then go and do something about it … there’s a lot of work to be done.”

To learn more about Clemente and her work, visit rosaclemente.net.

Sports

September 13. 2019

7 The Catalyst

Tigers Claw Their Way Through Metro State University of Denver Invitational

By Charlie Lynch The Colorado College men’s and women’s tennis teams opened their 2019-20 seasons this weekend at the Metro State University of Denver Invitational. The Tigers sent eight women and nine men to the meet, and they were up against tough competition.

Both teams were looking for better starts to their new season because the men’s team recorded 6 wins and 12 losses in the 2018–19 season, and the women’s team went 1–17.

But, the Tigers are looking at this season with high hopes for more wins. “We’ve got a lot of great first year tennis players on both the men’s and women’s teams,” Tess Rubin ’21 said. “We’re really bonding and it’s adding great depth to our team which will hopefully lead to more wins than losses!”

The men’s team came to the tournament and underwent gritty matches for their season opener. Noah Forman ’20 was the only Tiger to win his opening match in the A “draw,” which he won by walkover. Forman got edged out in the last round of the set, losing 10–6 to the eventual tournament champion in the quarterfinals.

Sam Hum ’21 and Billy Taylor ’22 both played well, but ultimately lost in their respective first round matches.

Hum and Taylor won consolation matches; however, they fell to Metro State players in the semifinals.

In the B “draw”, the Tigers clawed it out amongst themselves, with Alex Wimer ’22 facing off against his own teammate Alex Klay ’22 in the consolation bracket. Wimer ended up dominating Klay in a great match, winning 6–1 in the first set and 6–2 in the second set.

Nick Bishop ’23 brought some fresh talent, being the only Tiger in his bracket to win his opening match tak-

ing 6–2 and 6–4 in sets. “I’m really impressed with Nick,” Rubin commented. “He is showing promise and we have high hopes for what he’ll do this season.

We’ve still got a long way to go.”

The women’s team played hard throughout the tournament. In the A “draw”, Jenna McDonald ’20 brought hard work and skill into her first match, winning against a fierce player from Colorado State University at Pueblo. She made it to the quarterfinals before losing in a tough battle against a Metro State competitor.

Lilly Schmactenberger ’23 made a great run in the consolation matches, making it all the way to the consolation final of the tournament, but ended up falling just short of the mark when she lost to Colorado Mesa’s Rebecca Osterberg.

In the B "draw", Rubin dropped her opening match in three close sets to a Metro State rival, 6–2, 2–6, 5–10. After the loss, Rubin rallied and won three straight matches that saw her win the consolation final with a decisive victory of 6–3, 6–1 over Lauren Thomas of Colorado Mesa.

In doubles, the men's teams couldn’t seem to find momentum, with the men’s doubles duo of Forman and Hum winning their first match but losing their second in the quarterfinals. The women’s tag team of Olivia Dicks ’23 and Rubin advanced to the consolation final, but got eked out of winning the title when they lost in a tight 7–5 battle.

Both teams played their hearts out and came home with some great matches under their belts to open the season.

The Tigers are ready and roaring for their next matchup coming up this Saturday, Sept. 14 in Pueblo, Colo. against Dallas Baptist University and Te x a s - P e r m i a n Basin.

Illustration by Grace Nedelman

Tigers Look Forward to Returning Home

By Arielle Gordon

Photos by Alli Moon The Tigers have their sights set on the SCAC championship.

Their 2–2 record might not show it, but the Colorado College men’s soccer team has a deep roster and high hopes for the season. They started off strong with two wins at home, one against No. 8 Luther College, but lost twice on the road this past weekend.

“The depth of our team is probably the main highlight and what's different from previous years,” said forward Sam Bermingham ’20. “Our coach says we have 20 starters, not just 11, and that every player can play pretty much any position comfortably.”

CC was leading 1–0 against No. 10 ranked Kenyon College for the first 60 minutes, but gave up two goals in the span of 12 minutes, and fell to the Kenyon Lords 2–1. Forward Jackson Silverstien ’21 scored the lone goal, assisted

by Bermingham. Goalkeeper Keller Mochel ’20 recorded five saves, including three in the second half.

“We came out really strong for the first 60 minutes, then we weren’t all mentally there and we coughed up two goals,” Bermingham said. “For our next game, I think we’re going to focus on trying to be there and play for all

90 minutes, and play our game.”

The Tigers also struggled against Ohio Wesleyan University, falling 4–1. Bermingham scored their only goal, assisted by forward Hayden Cogswell ’20. CC only posted eight shots, as opposed to the Bishops’ 22. Mochel had seven saves.

“Playing highly ranked teams at the beginning of the season has been a wake up call in many ways, as it has taught us that there isn't much room for error,” Mochel said. “It has also shown us that we must hold ourselves to high expectations right from the start.”

In order to win the SCAC, the Tigers will likely need to beat Trinity University, the past SCAC championship team. Previously, the Tigers habe hoped to receive an atlarge bid to the NCAA tournament if they lost the SCAC, but often didn’t receive one because their schedule wasn’t deemed strong enough. This year, playing ranked teams should help their strength of schedule, hopefully boosting their chances of making the NCAA tournament, but also preparing them to face tougher opponents in the postseason.

Several of the seniors have also set personal goals for

their final season. Bermingham wants to finish the season in the top three for team offensive statistics, including goals and assists. Mochel shut out Luther at home, and is looking to keep many other teams off the board as well.

“My personal goal is to have as many shut-outs as possible,” Mochel said. “Last year, the team tied the record for most consecutive shutouts and we were ranked 6th nationally for overall shut-outs, so this year the goal is to beat that.”

Head coach Scott Palguta motivates the Tigers by reading the team a letter that a former player wrote to the team before each game. Those intimate moments have reminded Bermingham how much the team means to everyone, and also how soon the seniors’ careers will be over.

“Playing at home is always special, so I think I'm most looking forward to being back on Washburn after a long weekend in Ohio,” Mochel said.

The Tigers will be at home this weekend to take on Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Rivals Centenary College at 7 p.m. on Sept. 13, and the University of St. Thomas at 12 p.m. on Sept. 15.

8

The Catalyst

•

Sports

•

September 13, 2019

Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Rises to Fierce Competition at UCCS Rust Buster Meet

By Peyton Wright On Saturday, Sept. 7, the Colorado College men’s and women’s cross country teams put on a strong performance at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Rust Buster meet at Monument Park. The meet was full of great competition, and the Tigers faced multiple Division II competitors.

The teams rose to the occasion, and the men took 5th overall behind Colorado Christian University, Colorado School of Mines, Metro State University at Denver, and UCCS. Only four women competed for Colorado College, so the women’s team did not receive a team score.

The four women who competed showed the Tigers’ dominance, with Megan Koch ’22 exhibiting both strength and skill. Her 5k performance placed her 40th overall, with a time of 21:05. She was followed very closely by teammate Emily Dwyer ’23, who placed 41st overall, and shared Koch’s official time of 21:05.

Claire Irigoyen ’23 was not far behind, taking 42nd with a competitive time of 21:06, and Audra Burrall ’23 finished

51st overall in 23:54.

On the men’s side, Tony Calderon ’20 completed his 8k in an impressive 25:20, finishing 14th and scoring 10 points for the team. Paul Olson ’21 took 60th overall in the same race, followed by Josh Fry ’22, who placed 65th. Theo Snowden ’22 was close behind taking 67th, and Lucaiah

“The men’s and women’s cross country teams’ stellar performances do not end with their races.”

Smith-Miodownik ’23, Mason Castle ’23, and Parker Kerth ’23 finished strong, taking 72nd, 73rd, and 74th place overall.

Calderon’s performance had Head Coach Ted Castaneda very excited: “[Calderon] is well on his way to possibly qualifying for the national meet later in the season,” Cas-

taneda commented to CC Athletics after the meet.

Coach Castaneda’s praise did not end there; he was also impressed with the quality performances of the freshmen.

It sounds like they’ve adjusted to the altitude quite well!

Castaneda has been working as the head men’s cross country coach since 1981, and became the women’s head coach in 1993. He has coached more than 30 Tigers who have broken school records, and 22 of his cross country athletes have earned NCAA All-American honors.

The men’s and women’s cross country teams’ stellar performances do not end with their races. Both teams have a reputation for doing very well in the classroom as well, with both teams earning NCAA Academic All-American honors for the past nine consecutive years.

Coming up, the Tigers will be hosting their annual Colorado College Invitational at Monument Valley North Park on Saturday, Sept. 14th. Races will begin at 8:30 a.m., and CC fans are encouraged to come out for another great day of cross country racing.

Volleyball Cruises to a Weekend of Wins

By Hayden Cogswell

The women’s volleyball team made short work of their opposition this weekend at the Spike It Up Classic. The Tigers went 4–0 over the course of the tournament, building to a six-game win streak and improving to a 7–1 record.

Roaring out of the gates, the team easily swept their first two opponents, LeTourneau University and University of La Verne. Leading the line was Georgia Mullens ’22 with 10 kills and just three errors, while Isabelle Aragon-Menzel ’21 finished with 27 assists on the day.

Moving to Saturday, the Tigers made quick work of Willamette University, sweeping them in three straight sets.

It was in the final game of the weekend, against MIT, that the team was really pushed to show what they were made of. “They put up a really good fight,” Marguerite Spaethling ’20 stated about their competition. “We were coming back from deficits a lot.”

The Tigers rallied from behind to win two straight sets before MIT struck back winning the third set 19–25. “We talked about from the beginning that we needed to out-

work them,” Anna Gurolnick ’20 stated. “We have the skill and potential to beat them, but we knew they were a hardworking team.” Following that third set loss, the Tigers did just that, put their heads down, and flipped the score with a 25–19 victory to finish out the weekend with a perfect record.

Isabella Vasquez ’22 was the standout player of the weekend and earned tournament MVP with 11 kills against the MIT Engineers. “Isabella got MVP, which was really much deserved,” Spaethling praised her teammate. “She was playing right side, which is not her normal position, and was just crushing it.”

Rounding out the honors for CC were middle blockers Mullins and Emma Hewlin ’21, who each earned a spot on the all-tournament team. “Georgia and Emma played fantastic,” Gurolnick commented on her teammates’ success. “Our assistant coach said making an all-tournament team is a pretty big deal in a game that is dominated by outside hitters, and the fact that we had both of them make it means they were really a big force

this weekend.”

“The weekend went really well,” Gurolnick said. “It was great to have our flow back and our energy back.” Following last weekend’s loss to Clarkson University, such a successful weekend was key to getting back on track and the team is really riding the high. “Morale is really high right now,” said Spaethling. “It started a little low last week, but I think it was good to face a little adversity early on and bring us together, so we can realize our full potential.”

Looking to next weekend, CC takes on Transylvania University and Birmingham-Southern College on Friday, Sept. 13. The Tigers will be looking to continue their winning ways on home court, and are looking to have their fans be a part of it. “Last Friday’s game had a huge turnout,” Gurolnick said. “It was awesome, amazing, and we felt the love. We love seeing people out and seeing that from the athletic community.”

Get out there and support the volleyball team this coming weekend!

Photos by Alli Moon

Active Life

September 13, 2019

9 The Catalyst

The C-Store: a Blessing and a Curse

By Daniel Soares Local Goods, known to most at Colorado College as the C-store, is located on the first f loor of Mathias and offers a wide selection of snacks, groceries, and toiletries. Managed by Bon Appetit and open daily until midnight, students can rest easy knowing their cravings can be satisfied with just a swipe of their Gold Card.

To most CC students, the C-store serves as an amenity, allowing them to grab a quick snack on the go. When asked why she visits the C-store, Caitlin Thumann ‘22 said, “It’s a great place to stock up on

snacks before I have to study. They have everything I could ever need. My favorite candy to buy there is Mike & Ikes.”

Despite their increased prices, many students favor visiting the C-store over the other convenience stores located near campus because it allows them to spend, as Thumann puts it, “the fake money” that students have on their Gold Cards.

To a few students, the immediate accessibility paired with the vast selection that Local Goods offers has led to a fierce obsession. After moving into Mathias this year, Chris Tobin ‘22 has become a frequent patron — so much so that he has begun to plead with his parents to have his meal plan increased in order to afford his addiction, admitting to his father that the C-store is “my true love

and my misery.” Every day, Tobin simply walks down a few f lights of stairs, stocks up on toiletries and refreshments, and returns to his dorm, all while remaining in his pajamas.

However, the C-store is not as ubiquitously known across campus as one would think. For those students who have always lived on the opposite side of campus, the C-store appears to lack relevance. When asked how often he frequents the on-campus convenience store, two-time Loomis resident Evan Cho ‘22 asked, “What’s the C-store?”

Cade Thumann ‘22, another West Campus resident said, “No thoughts [on Local Goods]. Only been once.” Cho cites his proximity to the Preserve as the root of his ignorance, while Thumann says he finds it inconvenient to have to walk all the way to Mathias from his room in Bemis.

Local Goods is not just for the occasional quick snack. The store also allows students an opportunity to burn through their excess meal plan money. At any time during the semester, students are able to place orders in bulk for any item in their inventory. But as vacations approach and semesters draw to an end, there is a dramatic uptick in orders as students learn that their unused funds would otherwise go to waste. This rush often causes items to run out of stock, forcing latecomers to order less appealing options.

While not centrally located and unknown to some, the C-store is a great place for students to get anything that they may need without having to venture off campus. Even though the long walk to Mathias might be discouraging, the store redeems itself through its ease, selection, and hours.

Photos By Dara Bellinson

First Semester Intramurals at Colorado College

By Kyle Zinkula Ever find yourself with free time and wonder what you and some friends can do? Colorado College offers several intramural sports throughout the year to help you solve such a problem; this first semester alone has seven different sports and tournaments for you to try. Each intramural season lasts a block or two, making them fun, low-key ways to have fun with friends and stay active.

Block 2 offers a ping pong tournament and f lag football. Ping pong, also known as table tennis, is played indoors on a large table with rules similar to those of actual tennis. Flag football, on the other hand, occurs outside with rules similar to regular football, but uses f lags instead of pads. Ping pong may offer a less intense envi-

Photos courtesy of Catalyst Archives

ronment for those not looking to run, while f lag football provides a great outlet for exercise, excitement, and fun with friends.

Block 2 includes the beginning of intramural outdoor soccer and indoor volleyball, which both last through the end of Block 3. The two sports offer fantastic opportunities to be active and are relatively low commitment — as are all intramurals. Once again, if you and some friends are looking to have fun getting exercise or becoming involved in the CC community, consider creating or joining a team.

Block 3 also features the beginning of the intramural ice hockey season, which lasts through the end of Block 4. The hockey intramural splits into a beginner and an intermediate tournament. For those new to the sport, this is the perfect opportunity to try out hockey. For those who have played before but don’t want to commit to the club team, intramural hockey offers an excellent opportunity to continue playing the sport for fun with little time commitment.

The last block of the semester, Block 4, offers two more intramural sports: futsal and basketball. The fun part is that both sports are tournaments. Futsal is played like soccer, but indoors and on a hard-surfaced floor. Intramural basketball is played with the same rules of a basketball game on indoor courts.

After you pick an intramural sport to try and you organize a team, the next step is to register. On the CC webpage, each sport is listed with additional details and a person to contact regarding team registration and rules.

If you aren’t familiar with the rules, you can find a hand-

book online.

Joining an intramural team is the perfect way to learn a sport you do not know. Whether you hope to make friends, have fun, get active, or simply learn a sport, the CC intramural program can make all of your dreams a reality.

The Catalyst

10

•

Active Life

•

September 13, 2019

Airbnb for the Outdoors

By Claire Barber With a similarly remarkable platform, Hipcamp seems to be the Airbnb version of camping. It’s a relatively simple idea — I’m kicking myself that I didn’t think of it.

Hipcamp’s website is aesthetically pleasing with pastel, Instagram-esque photos that demarcate sections titled “Camp Tonight,” “Beach Camping,” “Tent Camping Near Me,” “Yosemite,” and more.

The idea is for landowners to host campsites, ranging from “glamping” bookings with pre-erected tents or rustic cabins to primitive sites where campers erect their own tents and have no running water or restroom.

Prices vary accordingly, but Hipcamp properties are a pretty affordable option for lodging, especially if you camp in a group. Some tent sites I have seen go for as low as $10 per night.

On top of their funky campsites and aesthetic marketing, Hipcamp’s model may open the outdoor space to a wider audience who may not know how to find or properly maintain free campsites.

Hipcamp’s website states, “for the public to care about protecting nature, they have to experience it. To experience it, they must be able to access it. 54% of American schoolchildren under the age of nine have never spent a night outside. Hipcamp is changing these odds by unlocking new ways to get outside, especially for families who are new to camping.”

So, maybe Hipcamp is more than “the Airbnb for camping.” Maybe it’s an opportunity to tune into the rising demand for outdoor recreation, while creating an accessible avenue for novel campers.

While looking for similar services to Hipcamp, I came across the app BoonDocking. BoonDocking is the practice

of camping for free, usually in the middle of nowhere. The app allows users to geotag locations with free camping.

Posting about, creating a list of, and marking free campsites isn’t a new phenomenon, but with more people getting out and into the outdoors, there comes more consequences.

Leave No Trace has produced their own “Social Media Guidance” in the wake of overpopulated and vandalized natural areas. Their guidance suggests not geotagging the photos that you post in order to help keep those areas pristine.

Hipcamp owners maintain and monitor their sites, and while it may seem odd for people to have to make reservations to sleep under the stars, such a model may help curb what could be influxes of wild camping among those who may not properly respect and maintain the land.

Not only does Hipcamp organize campsites on private property, but you can also search for campsites in public parks. While you peruse sites on public land, Hipcamp gives you bookings on private properties nearby, which are often cheaper. This feature streamlines your search, although if you proceed to book campsites in public parks, you are redirected to the proper government channel to make the booking. All other listings on the site can be booked directly as you would on Airbnb.

Hipcamp is a promising business model. But who will it serve? Who does it serve? Does it currently, or will it get a wider audience outside in the future? Will it simply perpetuate photo-fueled tourism? Will it help keep lands maintained, or do just the opposite? These are all questions to keep in mind as we observe Hipcamp’s development in the years to come.

Photo Courtesy of Claire Barber

An Explanation for Colorado’s Unpredictable Weather

By Sydney Janssen Living in Colorado Springs, Colorado College students quickly realize how unpredictable the weather can be. The only guarantee is a chance of sun, with over 300 days of it on average each year. As students come to CC at the end of the summer, they can generally expect warm days; however, rain and thunderstorms are also common.

As fall comes along, snowfall generally begins; winter can then bring drastic temperature differences with frequent snowstorms, but also temperatures in the 80s. Snow and rain continue to fall into the spring, and more 80 degrees Fahrenheit days are common.

These irregular weather patterns are a result of Colorado’s high elevation and location. With an average elevation of 6,800 feet, the state encompasses approximately three-fourths of the land in the United States above 10,000 feet. Colorado has 59 14-ers and about 830 mountains be-

Photo Courtesy of Sydney Janssen

tween 11,000 and 14,000 feet. Within these front ranges, there are many peaks and valleys, and the orientation of the mountains and wind creates a constantly changing air flow through the region.

Weather varies throughout the state, but generally the climate is cool and dry. Thunderstorms are common, and Colorado receives over six days of hail each year, in addition to at least 40 confirmed tornadoes.

In the plains to the east, the weather is calmer with low humidity, sunshine, moderate winds, and occasional rain and snow. Directly adjacent to the Rocky Mountains, however, is quite different because the mountains have a huge impact on the climate.

CC students have an amazing view of Pikes Peak in their backyard, where elevations go from less than 5,000 feet to over 14,000 feet. At the foothills of these mountains, it is common to experience significant climate changes. This is a result of temperatures cooling or warming as they come down the mountain slope. When the air is warmed by wind rapidly descending from higher elevations, sudden temperature rises called the “Chinook Winds” are common. On the other hand, "Bora Winds" are a result of a strong cold front descending from

mountain slopes.

As altitude increases, temperatures decrease while precipitation increases. At a high elevation, these changes strongly impact the local climate — combined with the orientation of the mountains and how the wind flows through them.

On top of that, cold air is denser, and will often stay in the valleys and create a temperature inversion. This means that the temperature is colder in the valley below and warmer in the mountains. So, the usual temperature decreases with elevation, and they are often concealed by temperature inversions in the night and during the winter.

The weather in Colorado is unpredictable throughout the state, but for CC students living at the foot of Pikes Peak, variable weather is more frequent. While the weather in western Colorado is colder, calmer, and less variable, the east of the Rockies sees drastic changes within a short amount of time.

Elevation and topography have the strongest impact on the local climate in Colorado. With valleys below 7,000 feet to peaks above 14,000 feet, all aspects of the climate are affected, including temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind.

CC students can almost always expect to see sunshine throughout the year, but should constantly prepare themselves for quickly changing weather conditions and expect the unexpected. Layer up!

Photo Courtesy of Catalyst Archives

Life

September 13, 2019

11 The Catalyst

Traveling by Van Through Colorado: Reflections on a Week Long Field Trip

By Heather Rolph

The first thing we see when we step out

the block plan is the immense possibility

portunities to get some homework done. If

trip Costco madness; just imagine how

of the van in the San Luis Valley is a middle

contained within those three and a half

you can read in a car, that is. If not, you’re

much food 15-plus people will consume

aged man standing, facing us, outside the

weeks. If professors think it will lead to a

looking at doing homework in a tent, and

in a week, and then add a couple extra

car adjacent to us. He is very obviously not

greater understanding of the subject mat-

doing homework in a tent always feels a

sleeves of bagels, a few dozen jars of hum-

wearing any clothing.

ter, they’re free to travel with their class for

bit bizarre.

mus and salsa, and several Costco-sized

We’d just arrived at the Valley View Hot

all or part of the block. Field trips during

This is not to say that long field trips are

Springs, a clothing optional nature retreat

the day are a relatively common occur-

unpleasant or to be avoided. On the con-

complete with camping, private cabins,

rence, and full blocks abroad get their fair

trary, they are probably one of the most re-

Out most importantly, what could be

and even a designated “smoke hut.” It

share of advertisement. But what actually

warding experiences at CC, and provide a

better than daily nature walks that count

wasn’t our final destination — we were in

happens on those upper level field courses

unique opportunity to develop field skills

as class, lectures on the banks of rivers, or

the area to watch the massive Orient Mine

that spend a significant amount of their

and interact closely with both professors

watching tens of thousands of bats flood

bat colony spiral out into the valley at dusk

time off campus?

and classmates. And if you’re in Animal

out of their Orient Mine roost at dusk?

— but both the hot springs and the mine

First of all, it’s not all nudist hot springs.

Ecology, week long

are overseen by the Orient Land Trust, and

Depending on where you’re heading, the

field trips also pro-

make up part of the naturalist retreat.

trip could entail a good amount of van

vide a unique oppor-

As we hiked into the hills, we were the

time. This field trip, an annual occurrence

tunity to be woken

most clothed people by far, with binocu-

in Animal Ecology, travels to the San Luis

up every morning by

lars, cameras, field notebooks, and field

Valley before heading back north to Di-

your professor mak-

guides all dangling from backpack straps

nosaur National Monument — and then

ing owl calls right

or belt loops.

backtracks again, to finish out for a few

outside your tent. It’s

nights in Rocky Mountain National Park.

obviously not some-

“Remember, gang, we’re not here to watch the human wildlife,” our professor said.

Van time, of course, brings to mind snacks, naps, and some epic playlists. But

thing you want to miss out on.

Everyone’s told, before they even arrive

when your classroom is on wheels, van

Nor do you want to

at CC, that one of the greatest benefits of

time also means one of your only good op-

miss out on the pre-

Photos By Bibi Powers

bricks of cream cheese, just in case. Let’s just say you’re not likely to starve.

12

The Catalyst

•

Life

•

September 13, 2019

On-Campus Block Breaks: Perpetuating Inequality, or a Chance to Recharge?

By Emma Paradiso

For many students, the block schedule is a main part of the reason they chose to come

While some may not have the financial means to travel over Block Break, others may

to Colorado College. On tours of the school, the fun of spending a Block Break hiking,

just want to recharge after a hard block by spending time on campus. “Sometimes after

camping, and exploring is advertised to potential CC applicants.

a long block it can be great to spend time catching up on sleep," said Alex Perutz ’21.

While Block Break can be all fun and games, it can also be costly for students, and fi-

"Traveling for Block Breaks can be fun, but it can also be exhausting.”

nancial differences can prohibit people from attending a Block Break trip with friends.

Sometimes, however, students may feel pressured to travel on Block Breaks even

Additionally, some students who work on campus are required to work at least one Block

though they could really use the time to rest, recover, and prepare for the next block.

Break a year, which further differentiates them from their peers who don’t need to work

“Going on Block Break trips is a huge part of being a CC student,” Perutz said. “I feel that

on campus.

I need to take advantage of my time here “People are always talking about their Block Break plans," said Virginia Thom

While Block Break can be all fun and games, it can also be costly for students, and financial differences can prohibit people from attending a block break trip with friends.

by exploring as much of the southwest as I can.”

’20. "While at times this is fun, it can also

But when students do spend their Block

really bring up some tough issues when

Breaks on campus, they may find them-

not everyone can participate in a trip that

selves participating in group trips to the

you’ve planned with friends”. In this way,

supermarket, movie nights, performanc-

Block Breaks may be seen as perpetuating

es, and fun seasonal events like crafts

inequality on campus.

or pumpkin picking. On the more out-

Explore downtown Colorado Springs, hike in Cheyenne Mountain Canyon or Red Rocks Open Space, and visit Garden of the Gods.

Access not only to financial means to

doorsy side, there are also opportunities

travel, but also to a vehicle, can be addi-

available to explore downtown Colorado

tionally prohibitive to students who would

Springs, hike in Cheyenne Mountain

like to participate in Block Break activities

Canyon or Red Rocks Open Space, and visit Garden of the Gods.

with their peers.

As our first Block Break of the year rapidly approaches, many students are eagerly

“When I was a first year, I spent more Block Breaks on campus than as an upper class-

awaiting travel, while others can’t wait to play Spikeball on Yampa, hammock on the

man,” Fiona Whalen ’20 said. “Nobody had cars first year, which made it difficult to orga-

quad, or spend some quality time in their dorms. Regardless of whether they are able to

nize travel for Block Break.” Instead, Whalen said that her on-campus breaks were spent

travel or choose to remain on campus, there will be plenty of opportunities to make

going out to eat, bowling, and re-decorating friends’ rooms.

memories with their CC friends that will last a lifetime.

Story Time With Georgia

By Miriam Brown I know — you’re wondering where Georgia Grellier is. Currently, the queen of story time is out sick, so I’m filling in. If you went on a Tinder date from hell, lost your shoes on an overseas flight, or witnessed a spectacle so bizarre that no one believes you, contact g_grellier@coloradocollege.edu.

Who: Heba Shiban ’21 When: 2019 What: Birthday Lap Dance Naturally, one of Heba’s first stops after spending five months in Germany was Rastall.

As her friends gathered around to hear about her time abroad, she entertained them with stories of the places she went and the people she met. One character in particular piqued their interest: a Russian guy she dated, and the lap dances she gave him as a going away present.

“As I’m telling this story, the girls at the table are like, ‘What? OMG teach us how!’” Heba said. And why tell them when she could just show them?

So, in the middle of Rastall, she got up and gave one of the girls a small lap dance to give them just “a taste” of what she meant. When she sat back down, one of the girls, who had a birthday quickly approaching, asked if that could be her birthday gift this year — a lap dance from Heba.

“I was like, hell yes I can do that for you on your birthday,” Heba said.

So, on the day of the party, she showed up to her friend’s room in South Hall wearing her favorite little black dress, tights, heels, styled hair, and dark makeup. Not one to ever do anything halfway, she even had a playlist ready.

In a packed room of Colorado College students, Heba was the only one dressed up.

Everyone else was in “typical Colorado dress,” she said, but she ignored her feelings of awkwardness because she knew that it would make sense to all the partygoers once she gave the birthday girl her gift.

One problem — as it turns out, Heba was the only one who took that request seriously.

When she approached her friend, she learned that it was all just a big misunderstanding.

“I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? … I look like this for no reason?’” Heba said.

But she still stayed and worked her look — minus the lap dance.

Takeaway: “If you are an eccentric person, you have to always make sure people are on the same page.” - Heba Shiban.

Illustration by Cate Johnson

The Catalyst

Life

•

•

September 13, 2019

13

Photos by Daniel Sarché

The Poets of SpeakEasy: Reflections on Performing Poetry by Linnie Cole ’21 and Eliza Granger ’20

By Isobel Steenrod SpeakEasy is Colorado College’s student run spoken word poetry group. Poets perform every block, and the group hosts

ed. After she gets started, it just flows, as long as she has re-

performed it, I was so angry, but also passionate and felt like

hearsed enough.

the poem really did what I wanted in terms of conveying all

guest poets throughout the year as well. SpeakEasy perfor-

Granger’s favorite poem that she’s performed is one called

mances are deeply moving and allow space for conversation

“Me and All My Ladies.” Describing it, she said, “It was

Granger finished our chat with a cheer. “Go SpeakEasy!”

about topics that are otherwise hard to talk about. The poets

spurred from this guy being such a douchebag to one of my

Keep an eye out for news about SpeakEasy’s first perfor-

work hard to craft their pieces and strive to share a meaning-

friends, and I wrote it as a slam piece against [him]. When I

those conflicting emotions.”

mance of the year.

ful part of themselves with the CC community. I spoke with co-chair Linnie Cole ’21 and Eliza Granger ’20, a senior member, about their experiences as SpeakEasy poets.

“My favorite part about performing is getting feedback from an audience — that's pretty cool,” Granger said. “You never really know how an audience is going to react until you're up there performing. That whole audience–performer dynamic is really fun.”

Equally important to SpeakEasy members is the community relationship forged with one another through the creative process. When talking about the group, Cole said, “The act of meeting with a group of people twice a week and sharing your writing is an incredibly vulnerable one, but it yields a sense of intimacy that I have a difficult time finding in other places.”

"No matter what style of writing you champion or what themes you focus on, there is a place to be genuinely heard and a launching pad for the writing to be shared on a larger scale," Cole said. "In that way, the cycle of profound vulnerability can continue to a wider audience, and this shared intimacy expands.”

Poets arrive at SpeakEasy by different routes. “I think it started as a creative writing situation, and then it morphed into poetry when I heard about SpeakEasy and started doing workshops,” Granger explained. “Hearing people play with words vocally was really interesting to me because you can do a lot with a word when it’s off the paper, like intonation.”

Cole started spoken word because she “had so much written poetry but no vessel to get it out into the world.” Cole was too nervous to perform until her sophomore year, when she joined SpeakEasy and began to present her work regularly.

I asked Granger if she ever has stage fright. “I am only nervous for the first five seconds of a piece,” Granger respond-

Illustration By Isobel Steenrod

Job Feature Series:

Q&A With Worner Desk Employee Key Macfarland

By Mary Nussbaumer Welcome to the Job Feature Series, a weekly column high-

direction they need to go on campus, answer phone calls

cially working NSO week — we were some of the first people

lighting student workers around campus. This week, meet Key

(when you call the CC phone number it’s directed to our

to greet the first years and took their first Gold Card photo!

Macfarland '22, one of the friendly faces behind the Worner

desk), print out and take Gold Card photos, and answer any

desk. Note that this interview has been edited for length and

questions for people who come to the desk. We also have

Is there anything else you would like to say about working

clarity.

the keys to book a space in upstairs Worner, have a lost-

at the Worner desk?

and-found, and sell tickets for events like speakers, hockey Who are you?

games, or plays.

My boss Lynette is the heart of the Worner desk. She is the Worner Center Operations Manager. She has been there for

I’m Key Macfarland and I’m in the class of 2022.

What’s the most complicated part of the job?

so many years. She just knows everything about CC! She treats us all like family. If you’re ever going through a hard

Where do you work and how long have you worked there?

I work at the Worner desk. I started last spring, during my

Learning how to close. You have to count the drawer, lock

time, she is great at checking up on you. A huge part of the

everything up and put all of the transactions made that day

reason I love working at the Worner desk is because of her

into the computer.

— she is so understanding and teaches us to learn from our

first year.

mistakes.

What is the worst part of your job?

What do your shifts look like?

Would you recommend this job to someone else?

If I don’t know something it can be kind of embarrassing. I

I usually work 12 – 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, which

hate not being able to help the customer and having to put

Yes! Especially for first years trying to get to know the cam-

tends to be a pretty busy shift since everyone is coming out

them on hold.

pus better because you have to answer so many questions.

from lunch.

The community is lovely and it feels like a little family.

What is your favorite part of the job?

What do you do on a typical Worner desk shift?

The job entails a lot of helping people. I point people in the

If you are interested in working at the Worner desk, applicaI love my coworkers. I really like how much closer I feel to

tions open in the Spring. Contact ldiraddl@coloradocollege.

the CC community after I started working this job. Espe-

edu for more information.

14 September 13, 2019

Opinion

The Catalyst

It’s Time to Reclaim the Slang

By Susie Dummit

Photo by DANIEL SARCHÉ

If “bad” and “bitch” are both negative words, then why are they one of 2019’s highest forms of praise when put together?

A huge component of modern American slang is using swear words casually, in a range of different instances. They’re commonly used interchangeably to emphasize positive sentences, whether placed as a reinforcing adverb or referring to someone or something as “the shit.” The recycling of these words, however, does not take away the negative connotations behind them when standing alone.

So when a friend told me her New Year’s Resolution was to “be more of a bitch”, I was left a little confused. Maybe she meant to add “independent” or “boss” first? When standing alone, could it really be something aspirational?

Traditionally feminine With a little more thought, it became pretqualities are still framed as ty clear. “Bitch” usually refers to a woman weak, fragile, and needy. who is loud, bossy, naggy or mean — in other words, a woman who is blunt, openly opinionated, assertive and, yes, mean.

These qualities are often seen embodied by people in powerful positions and white men who are praised for trying to get ahead.

While not actually straying away from its original meaning, women have been reclaiming this swear word to symbolize empowerment, and using it as a term of endearment among other femmes and members of the LGBTQIA+ community, specifically.

In addition, the word is often used to insult men, simply because it’s a negative term about women. In the undying patriarchal roots of our society, traditionally feminine qualities are still framed as weak, fragile and needy; therefore, almost all female terms can be used as insults to men (“girl”, “princess”, “fairy”, etc.). Thus, by using this to offend

men, it reinforces the idea that ostensibly female qualities are subordinate to male qualities. Reclaiming such a term reframes these ideas which seek to trap women in a box of this defenseless, weak, submissive persona which men have historically expected them to have, and makes it powerful, allowing women to express positive qualities which are typically considered masculine.

Nevertheless, a word with offensive roots, although phrased the same way, can hold the role of a compliment or an A word with offensive roots, insult depending on context. I’ve seen many women and members of the LGalthough phrased the same BTQIA+ community call one of their best way, can hold the role of friends or favorite people “my bitch”, in the same manner that they’d refer to a a compliment or an insult song they love as “my jam”. However, depending on context. typically when a man calls someone “my bitch”, it seems possessive and, reinforces once again, gender stereotypes that the submissive member of this situation is the person labelled with a feminine term.

Including a discussion of context begs the question: is it wrong for cis straight men to use the word “bitch”? With the consideration that this was a term coined by that group to demean females for their attitudes and attributes, it seems to hold a similar issue to racial slurs: the group of oppressors should be condemned for using terms which insinuate the oppressed group is lesser.

Keeping in mind that women are socialized to be more apologetic and reserved in terms of opinions, maybe we should all have the same aspirations as my friend’s slightly ironic resolution. It’s our time to stand up for ourselves, be direct with people about what we want, find our inner boss, and be a badder bitch.

The Catalyst

•

Opinion

•

September 13, 2019

Rethinking the CC Farm

By Abby Williams

The Colorado College student farm is a 1.5-acre plot of land tucked behind the Stewart House, sandwiched between Wood Avenue and the Tiger Trail. Full disclaimer: I love this space. It’s home to a wildly overgrown patch of herbs and unruly wildflowers, baby deer, bee boxes, a garden shed full of Wendell Berry books and saved seeds, and a few times I have seen an exceptionally large garter snake—the atmosphere is almost Edenic.

The CC farm was started in 2014 by a group of students with the vision of “serv[ing] the Colorado Springs community by providing access to fresh, local, organic food both on campus and off ”, (CC student farm Facebook page). The summers of 2015 to 2018, the farm was maintained by CC student farm interns (I was an intern in 2017). At one point, it was functional, producing enough food to host a vegetable stand at South Hall for students and to sell at the Colorado Springs farmer’s market. However, maintaining a productive farm on the Colorado Front Range is challenging. By the time I became an intern, the soil was tired, sandy,

and stripped of the necessary nitrogen, the weeds were deeply rooted and unrelenting, and the bees had left their boxes. Perhaps most frustrating, the quickly growing baby deer ate almost all the produce — and it’s very difficult to be mad at baby deer.

We didn’t grow enough to regularly supply Bon Appetit, which proved problematic because they funded our internship. They didn’t need the extra farm vegetables, but they like to advertise ultra-local produce. So, we had to renegotiate.

We tried to amend and replenish the soil, rework the space into a permaculture model, get better deer repellent, utilize more of the open space, and weed more — but, to be honest, three summer interns could not provide enough person-power or time to make it into what it once was. The job was fun and beautiful but also frustrating and incredibly tiring. I wasn’t present for the next summer’s CC farm season, but I understand the 2018 interns faced a similar predicament.

This past summer, there were no summer interns. The grass is waist-high and the beds are overgrown—the CC

15

Student Farm link on the CC Sustainability webpage now reads, “coming soon.” But the space is still beautiful and full of potential! It is now just a wilder, more untamed version of its past self. It is in its Britney 2008 phase, but I have faith it can bounce back.

My suggestion is to give the space to the community.

In the hands of community members, there would be no student intern turnover and burnout, and the farm would not lapse into overgrowth between summers.

Maybe Colorado Springs Food Rescue could effectively use the space in their expansion. Or maybe there is a community member who is passionate about urban farming who would want to take on the project. Either of these options would be better than the land idling in the hands of Colorado College. The produce could go to food banks, schools, or farm-shares — not to the advertising campaign of Bon Appetit.

This solution points to a larger conversation about Colorado College engagement with the Colorado Springs community — a subject that can be difficult.

Colorado College has a tendency to procure Colorado Springs land/institutions, then re-invite the community back to participate. Examples of recent CC acquisitions include the houses south of Dale Street, the Fine Arts Center, and tragically, the Wooglin’s block for hockey rink purposes. While I don’t think this is always a “bad” thing, I do think it creates an institutional “top-down” power dynamic, where CC delineates how the community can engage in their spaces. This did not work for the CC farm — there was not enough sustained CC student engagement and not enough agency for Colorado Springs community members to engage effectively.

However, if the paradigm were flipped and the community were to be in control of the farm — or if it were turned over to a community organization such as Colorado Springs Food Rescue — CC students could still choose to participate as members of the community alongside other Colorado Springs residents. This would shift focus away from CC student exceptionalism and rebalance the farm into a truly collaborative and community-based space.

Photos Courtesy of Catalyst Archives

We Can Do Better

By Theodore Weiss and Sam Pfeifer We’re here to acknowledge a misstep.

Last week, we published an article that called out Mr. Jack Wold, who currently sits on the Board of Trustees. Mr. Wold is also the CEO of Wold Energy Partners.

We don’t think it was a moral misstep, but a procedural one. We failed to tame our passions about climate change, Colorado College, and corporate sustainability prior to publishing our editorial last week. We assumed intentions and made value judgements about a person we’ve never met. We think we should not have published the article, and we openly admit it. Most importantly, we should have contacted Mr. Wold prior to publishing it.

We do, however, believe that there is a more educational, informative, and objective way to highlight the philosophical conflict of interest between Colorado College’s Carbon Neutral Policy and Mr. Wold’s dual role as a College Trustee and an oil executive.

But we didn’t do it. We were lazy, rash, and unfair.

But we don’t think we were wrong.

We do not believe, in any way, that somebody like a Trustee is exempt from criticism simply because they practice philanthropy. Ever.

This exploration started with no relation to Mr. Wold. It started with a passionate hope to bring greater transparency to our Board of Trustees. The fact still remains; there is no information — no biography or term length — available to students about the individuals who graciously serve on our board.

What seems to be the most striking about this decision still must be contextualized.

If you go to the website of almost any like-minded, rigorous liberal arts college, you will find something different.

Take the Williams College website, for example. Board members have hyperlinks attached to their names where you can read, in depth, the active roles they have played as alumni and as trustees. Moreover, bios include information about their professional career paths.

Whether or not Williams students are interested in learning more about Trustees, the information is readily available.

We do not know why Colorado College has not done this as well. Contrary to last week, though, we will not continue to assume the worst. Rather, we hope to call on our institution to take steps toward doing the same.

In complete transparency, we got feedback about our last article from an alumnus, and friend of Jack wold’s who happened to read the paper that week. We greatly appreciate his message for calling us out when obviously we did not do our job to the best of our ability. We are grateful.

This incident highlights another issue as well. The only student that reached out to us in regard to the article was Lily Weissgold, the current student on the Board of Trustees. The majority of students we talked to in the last week were unaware of the article on Mr. Wold.

We are not reaching our main target demographic to the extent that we would like, and we want to do better. We hope to begin a greater community discussion about the role of The Catalyst on campus. Our job is to, hopefully, help change the status quo where it is needed. The purpose of our work is to help ignite debate among students and in our community. We want to do the best job we can, and right now, we don’t think we are, but we’re prepared to do better.

We can all do better. If you need to … work, play, or talk/text on your phone…

PLEASE DON’T DRIVE. Want to advertise in next week’s edition of The Catalyst?

Email ads.catalyst@gmail.com for more details!