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William Chappell: In an Odd Place

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Jordan Peterson Will Not Save Us

The Meal Plan

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ents, supports an anti-immigrant president and trumpets conservative beliefs in California, a hotbed of liberalism. Seamans spends days working with poets, photographers, models and writers to hand-design a stunning zine, then goes to class to study biology, computer science and advanced biomechanics. In the same way, two of our other features, our examination of studyblr culture and profile on Penn’s slave-holding history, also shine a light on stories defined by their contradictions. In her piece on studyblrs, writer Bonnie Wong examines the fraught relationship between the blogs, whose image is centered on tidiness and calm, and the world of its creators, one dominated by stress and cutthroat competition. Likewise, in Onaje McDowelle’s feature on the Penn History of Slavery Project, he underscores the irony of a worldclass educational institution, one created to champion enlightenment ideals, being built and financed by slave labor. Both pieces testify to the idea that even the most austere of institutions have much more than meets the eye. In each case, the ostensible contradictions all add depth to their legacies. In certain cases, as with Penn’s slave-holding past and the toxic complications of studyblrs, the depth may not be positive, but it is humanizing. It serves as a reminder that nothing is perfect, that even the apparently flawless is certainly, inevitably flawed.

note from the editor. Ariana Rowlands, the president of the largest college Republican federation in the country, the California College Republicans, is an ardently pro-Trump advocate and self-described defender of free speech. She is also the daughter of immigrants, her mom coming from Mexico and her dad from Wales.

With Rowlands and Seamans, the students’ anomalous traits — conservatism in a California college, artistry in computational neuroscience — add nuance not only to their lives and work, but to the cultures that surround them. They too serve as reminders, but here the message is that people are complex, even contradictory, and that you would always do best to avoid making assumptions about them without first engaging in a conversation. At a time of increasing division and partisanship, it can be increasingly difficult to give people the benefit of the doubt, but perhaps more worth it than ever. Thanks,

Taylor Seamans is the founder and editor-in-chief of Inbtwn, a gorgeous zine packed with stunning photography and editorial. She quotes Joy Miessi, lists “Her” as a favorite film and was prompted to start the publication while hiking the Camino de Santiago. She’s also a computational neuroscience major. Both underscore a theme of the issue, which is embracing anomaly. Rowlands, despite having non-native par-

Mark Stenberg @markstenberg3

our team. FOUNDER

MARKETING DIRECTOR

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Gal Shweiki

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Carmina de Alba

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Marcus Flores

Frank Hartfield, Jose Espinoza, Ernest Ward

contributors. EDITORIAL

Aliyah Thomas, Howard University Jade Hookam, University of California, San Diego Andrew Crossan, University of South Carolina Elizabeth Ivanecky, McMaster University Liam Ainslie Mayo, Bard College Sam Kasierski, University of North Carolina Kayla Lichtman, Middlebury College Xavier Reyna, University of Texas at San Antonio Shashank Rao, University of Michigan Sarah Lynch, Marist College Camelia Juarez, Texas State University Rakshya Devkota, Saint Louis University Kayla Platoff, Maryville University

FEATURES

Onaje McDowelle, University of Texas at Austin Bonnie Wong, University of Southern California Jonathan Christian, Northwest Vista College PHOTOGRAPHY

Vincent Gonzalez, San Antonio College Priscilla Bode, Saddleback College Ananya Chandra, University of Pennsylvania Ariel Parra, University of California, Berkeley Feranmi Quandi, Howard University DESIGN + ILLUSTRATION

Sid Ylagan, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design Matthew Many, Middlesex County College

writing internships. Study Breaks is written exclusively by a team of student interns from across the country. These writers work with the editorial team to pitch and submit one piece a week for the website, in addition to writing for the monthly print magazine. Fall internships run from September 28 to January 28, 2019, and applications close September 14. If interested, email editorial@studybreaks.com with “Student Writing Internship” in the Subject. Introduce yourself in the body, making sure to include your name, school and major. Please attach at least two samples of your work. Ideal writers are intelligent, funny and talented, though no formal experience is necessary.

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For the full playlist, visit StudyBreaks.com/playlist

backdrop. EXPLORING COLLEGES + THEIR CITIES

P H O T O GR A P H Y BY F ER A N MI Q UA NDI , H OWA RD UNI V ER S I T Y WORD S BY A L I YA H T H O M A S, H OWA RD UNI V ER S I T Y

Going to school in Washington, D.C., comes with a unique set of boons and banes. For one, as the epicenter of American politics, the city makes daily life electric with urgency, breaking news and rumormongering, so much so that the melodrama of the federal government can, at times, distract from school. On the other hand, few places in America have as rich a history as D.C. does, and that history spills over into the classes, campus, faculty, commute, housing â&#x20AC;&#x201D; everywhere. Howard has had its share of controversy this year. Just last month, students waged a weeklong sit-in to protest the embezzlement of funds by members of the staff, a crime that led to six firings. In a city symbolic for its role in governance, the Howard protests showed, once again, the importance of civil disobedience in the face of injustice. While attending a university so near the U.S. government may present a host of problems for its student body, it also teaches them exactly how to deal with those issues.

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avoiding the

When it comes to getting roasted, these characteristics make you much likelier to get read for filth. BY A NDRE W C RO S S A N, UNI V ER S I T Y OF S O U T H C A ROL IN A IL L U S T R AT I ON BY S ID Y L A G A N, MILWAUK EE IN S T I T U T E OF A RT A ND DE S I GN

he concept of a roast may conjure up any number of images, perhaps a Cornish game hen or some of some of Arby’s signature menu items. In a hipper sense though, a roast has come to mean a harsh joke made by one friend about another, through which the first means to drag the second to some extent. A good roast is well timed, pinpoints a largely unspoken truth about a person and may even serve them some just deserts, should their flaws be egregious enough. Roast sessions have become an outlet for friend groups far and wide to air their grievances and each other’s dirty laundry in a lighthearted manner. These Friars Club-esque mini-roasts are a way for people to voice what they find irritating or questionable about you, while also flexing their creative and comedic muscles. Similar to what you may have witnessed in professional roasts, some people are simply easier to mock than others, which might make you wonder/fear: What makes someone particularly roast-able? Some attendees of the session will come away relatively unscathed, with a joke or two made about somewhat superficial aspects of their being, while others limp off in search of water, trying to salvage what’s left of their edges, having been freshly read for filth. This happens to be the fate of many whose personalities are ripe with roast-ready fodder just waiting to be taken down in a public forum. So, whether you’re struggling with how to properly roast someone or you’re a curious spectator, here are some characteristics that make a person more susceptible to getting roasted. MESSINESS

“Messy” in this case means someone doesn’t always exercise intelligent decision-making skills: they might text people they ought not to be talking to, update their Finsta more than their main account or generally seek drama or self-destructive activities. Plus, an added bonus of roasting a messy friend is that it makes everyone else feel better about themselves, as the roastees can then pat themselves on the back for having even a shred more self-control than their friend.

NAIVETÉ

Rose-colored glasses are a hell of a lens through which to see the world, and the markedly more jaded folks around this naïve cube are likely sick of their pep or overall lack of awareness. Perhaps they’ve never moved out of their hometown or they weren’t allowed to watch “SpongeBob” growing up; either way, they missed out somewhere and haven’t been fully clued-in to why the world works the way it does. They’re also missing the cynical streak most people are born with, which leaves them wide-eyed and unsuspecting of the deathblows headed their way. EASILY IMITABLE

Everyone has some quirk that would be key in an impression of them, whether they speak expressively using their hands, reuse a certain phrase or have a distinct laugh. Some impressions are more fun to see and attempt than others – generally, the bigger the personality, the better. No matter which magnificent bastard you tackle, though, give them a rough idea of what it’s like to be around them. Even observing them to the point of imitating them well is impressive and would warrant a laugh. CLINGY

This poor son of a bitch. Everyone has needs, but this person’s constantly barking up the wrong tree trying to fill them. When this friend isn’t pursuing anything that walks as a potential significant other, they’re smothering those in their life with their unquenchable thirst for attention. They’ll be easily roasted since they’re exhibiting semblances of messiness, searching desperately for stuff that’s not there. It’ll be tough for them to hear, but god will it feel good to drag them. HYPOCRITICAL

Is someone you know very low-key living a lie? Are they steeped in secrecy and a tendency to hide important truths from those who count? Does their word mean anything to you at this point? Now’s a great time to open up a dialogue by joking about it. Odds are more than one of you has caught this person in a falsehood, so it’ll be rewarding to expose their untruthfulness in a group and have a good laugh about how casually full of it they are.

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on Social media has dramatically changed advertising, causing marketing agencies to move from promos to memes, but how relatable do consumers want their brands to be? BY JA DE H O OK H A M , UNI V ER S I T Y OF C A L IF ORNI A , S A N DIE G O

In the current age of social media, one in which everyone is seemingly aware of everything, the titans of traditional media have been scrambling to catch up with the times. This is especially true of major corporations, whose social media teams have found that their old-school advertising strategies aren’t working online. As a result, businesses have discovered that, in order to reach the internet-savvy, advertising-weary, corporation-wary millennial, they have to try something new. So, what could possibly incentivize young people, who generally regard capitalism with suspicion, to invest in a brand? Simply put: relatability. Rather than appearing as cold, faceless advertisers, brands have taken steps to make themselves seem more accessible to the digital public. Companies do this by mimicking human behavior, particularly the behavior of distinctive types of internet influencers. Since the digital age has created cult-like followings for certain online personalities, people chase human interaction through their favorite public figures. YouTube gamers, Instagram models and celebrity Twitter accounts are all examples of “internet-famous” people who feel more within reach to the average consumer. So, through their own social media accounts, brands have attempted to advertise themselves to this consumer demographic, albeit to varying degrees of success. For example, here is a tweet from user Alex Zalben who documented a cross-brand interaction that occurred on Twitter. The tweet reads: “Uhhh... So for the past 24 hours @Wendys & @LittleDebbie have been hosting a talk show on Twitter. Their guests have been @MoonPie & @PopTartsUS (subbing in for @ DennysDiner, who never showed up).” The attached screenshots depict what appears to be a spontaneous bit of witty banter between the companies, which spanned several hours. Just as real people online engage in such back-and-forths on Twitter, the brands’ accounts imitated the exact same behavior. Because they were able to take advantage of Twitter as a medium, the brands got a laugh out of a community that would have otherwise ignored them. Though this tactic bears no likeness to how marketing was done in years past, it was incredibly effective, racking up 11,000 likes and who knows how many related impressions. (Plus the fact that I know about it, and now you know about it!) Furthermore, advertisers are starting to realize that their best weapon to reach demographic outliers is comedy. There exist

certain tropes, memes and insider argot that only millennial internet users are privy to, and ad makers have begun using these jokes like passwords, expertly trotting them out to lower the guards of viewers and allowing them to reach a formerly unreachable audience. If you were to go on Tumblr, for instance, the content there tends to be less than advertiser friendly. Users tend to prefer absurdist humor and love memes that make little sense out of context; consequently, many advertisers find it difficult to effectively market on the platform. Despite such obstacles, a handful of pioneering companies have tried to master the fickle, formerly un-commoditizable beast of a site. In one particular Tumblr ad, Fruit by the Foot attempted to use the “bone app the teeth” meme — a parody of the phrase “bon appétit”— to market their fruit snacks. While the ad met with some acceptance in the community, there was an equal amount of dismissal, particularly among users who felt the meme was out of date. The life cycle of a meme is often a short one, making it even more difficult for advertisers to keep up with trends. Though that certainly doesn’t stop them from trying. The trend of humanizing brands on social media is making it more and more difficult to discern between genuine online interactions and performances put on by brands in order to sell something. Whatever the future holds for advertising, brand Twitter accounts having real-time conversations with other brand accounts must mark some kind of point of no return. Whether the future of marketing is brighter for the consumer or the advertiser is yet to be determined, but, if nothing else, at least it’ll be funnier. FOUR BRANDS THAT ARE WORTH A FOLLOW:

@DOVE ON TWITTER: Though Dove hasn’t exactly been without its scandals, their Twitter shows strong support for feminism and building young girls’ self-esteem. BLOG.DENNYS.COM ON TUMBLR: Even if you don’t care about Denny’s as a restaurant, please visit this blog at least once. You’ll laugh, guaranteed. @BENANDJERRYS ON TWITTER: The ice cream brand is surprisingly woke, tweeting about March for Our Lives and speaking out against systematic racism. @WENDYS ON TWITTER: Whoever runs the Wendy’s account really likes to start beef to the point where they released a mixtape called “We Beefin?” No, this is not made up.

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making

moves

Following the release of “Infinity War,” the Marvel Cinematic Universe has transitioned into a new era, one whose future is unclear. Here’s what we think may happen. BY L I A M A IN S L E Y M AYO, B A RD C OL L E GE BY M AT T HE W M A NY, MIDDL E S E X C O UN T Y C OL L E GE

he Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) kicked off 10 years ago with “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk.” Since then, 18 installments and three phases of films have created a series of interconnected franchises of breathtaking scope and cemented Marvel’s place as a global entertainment powerhouse. Marvel’s latest movie, “Infinity War,” marks the beginning of the end for one era of the MCU. In that movie and its untitled sequel, the stories of such foundational characters as Captain America, Iron Man and Thor will come to an end, while new characters like Captain Marvel will begin their cinematic journeys. “Avengers 4” will conclude both Phase 3 of the MCU and the ongoing story arc that began 22 movies ago with the original “Iron Man” movie. With the beginning of Phase 4, Marvel has the opportunity to take those characters left standing after the dust settles from “Avengers 4” and shift the MCU in a whole new direction. While much is still in flux, these are some of the projects that may appear in Phase 4.

1. “SPIDERMAN” SEQUEL

The unnamed sequel to “Spiderman: Homecoming” is the Phase 4 film the public knows the most about. It’s the only one to have an official release date – July 5, 2019 – and as the first film to release after “Avengers 4,” it will have to both deal with the consequences of what has come before and set up everything to come. 2. “GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 3”

The next installment in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise is another film whose Phase 4 release has already been confirmed. Current rumors are focusing on the cast and characters — actor Mark Hamil and director James Gunn are potentially in talks about a role after exchanging contact info in a Twitter thread, and although he has not been confirmed to appear in this movie, “GotG 2” teased the eventually introduction of cosmic superhero Adam Warlock. 3. “BLACK PANTHER” SEQUEL

After the staggering success of “Black Panther,” a sequel was all but inevitable. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed in March that, not only is a sequel on the way, but there are already a lot of ideas on the table for the direction it will take. This early in the development process there are no details on what that direction might be, but a further exploration of Wakandan history and culture, as well as an exploration of how Wakanda recovers after “Infinity War,” are both likely paths.

4. “DOCTOR STRANGE” SEQUEL

With “Doctor Strange,” Marvel showed audiences an entirely different side of the MCU: a mystical realm of magic and alternate dimensions. While a return to that realm seems likely, and both lead actor Benedict Cumberbatch and director Scott Derrickson have expressed interest in returning, there are no concrete plans for a sequel as of yet, leaving room for Marvel to return to the idea of magic through different franchises and different characters. 5. “BLACK WIDOW” SPIN-OFF

Rumors of a Black Widow spin-off franchise have been circulating since the character’s 2010 introduction in “Iron Man 2.” While the project has not officially been green-lit, actress Scarlett Johansson has said she still has interest in a solo movie, and reports indicate that up-and-coming writer Jac Schaeffer is working on a script. 6. “CAPTAIN AMERICA 4”

The current Captain America, Steve Rogers, will hang up his shield at the end of Phase 3; actor Chris Evans’s contract expires at that point, and he has confirmed that “Avengers 4” will be his last movie. In the comics, however, the title of Captain America was held periodically by Rogers’ friend, Bucky Barnes; while nothing has been confirmed, there’s every possibility that the same transfer of responsibility will happen in the MCU.

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in a n

place

A physical breakdown led visual artist and poet William Chappell to an unlikely catharsis. BY K AY L A L I C H T M A N, MIDDL EB URY C OL L E GE P H O T O GR A P H Y BY V INC EN T G ON Z A L E Z, S A N A N T ONI O C OL L E GE

rt, no matter its form, is about emotion and sharing meaning. That’s something that William Chappell, a junior at San Antonio College in Texas, understands. His work spans mediums, from penning stories and poetry to writing songs. The English and Art double major finds in art the ability to share his personal story in the hopes of making his audience think and reflect.

Then, I almost broke my neck playing football. All these events removed certain social pressures that I felt, and made it easier to be a different person, to realize that I was not exactly that person that I was bred to be but maybe something else.

KAYLA LICHTMAN: YOU EXPLORE MULTIPLE ARTISTIC MEDIUMS. IS THERE A FORM OF CREATIVITY THAT SPEAKS TO YOU THE MOST? WILLIAM CHAPPELL: I really started articulating myself as a

something about the idea of zibaldone. Zibaldone quite literally means a collection of things. The word originated from Venetian merchants who, back in the day, had these books called zibaldones, which later became a sort of commonplace book. The merchants would put a verse of what they did that day, and then there’d be a picture, for example, of a boat with some men on it, and then there’d be a story. It was this hodgepodge of their life.

thoughtful, emotional person by writing stories and music. But painting has come a lot more naturally in many ways.

I’m kind of neurotic. I’ve got a lot of things in my head and writing stories and communicating a picture helps me communicate things in different ways. Art is a little more therapeutic, whereas writing is a little more surgical. KL: WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? WC: What I offer exists within the history of complete art. I

think there are a lot of things that are incomplete these days. A lot of it is just a pretty picture or some well-put-together words. There’s a poem by Marianne Moore where she talks about how, in order to have a full poem, you have to have pretty images, but you also have to be a statistician and recognize meter and rhyme and why those things are important. It’s one thing to be technical and one thing to be pretty with your words and painting, but I think offering complete ideas and putting a lot of thought behind shapes and colors is important, because at the end of the day, that’s all painting is. KL: HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN CREATIVE OR WAS THERE A MOMENT THAT SPEAKS TO YOU MOST WHEN YOU BEGAN CREATING THINGS? WC: Growing up, I was the kid that drew a lot. Amarillo, Texas,

however, isn’t really welcome to artistic things. I grew up in a very practical home, so things like art were seen as fun but not worth anything true and real. My best friend, who taught me how to play music, took his own life sophomore year. In my junior year, I abused my body with drugs and alcohol and was in the hospital for a couple days.

KL: YOU RUN A BLOG CALLED ZIBALDONE. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE NAME? WC: A guy I follow has a weekly newsletter and he posted

My blog is kind of like my personal belongings, but more story-oriented than random, mundane stuff. Then again, some of the stories are kind of mundane, and that makes them special. KL: WHY DID YOU START BLOGGING? WC: I’ve had a lot of things happen to me, and I think every-

body should find a way to talk about things that have happened in their lives. I hope to stir introspection and move inside other people. There’s a few things we really have to give to people, and I think that’s time and your story. If I’m able to be open with someone and share my life with someone, that’s really the most precious resource I can give. Part of our time is our memories and tragedies, so that’s the hope of the blog, to share my tragedies and compel others to share their tragedies, to bear each other’s burdens, if you will. KL: WHAT STYLE OF MUSIC DO YOU LEAN TOWARD AND CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE SONG-WRITING PROCESS? WC: I lean toward singer/songwriter, folk-rock stuff. Right

now, I’m actually working on an album.

In terms of the process, I like to pull from my influences. I really appreciate Ryan Adams and David Ramirez, a guy from here in Texas. I try to write my favorite artist’s next song by embodying them like a muse and getting in their mindset. Whenever you try to write their next song, you’re writing a song that’s never existed, so you’re not copying anybody because it’s you

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making it. There’s no lack of integrity there, but you’re not ignoring where you came from. I’m unashamedly trying to be my heroes. KL: IN TERMS OF YOUR ART, DO YOU GRAVITATE TOWARD A CERTAIN STYLE OR ERA? WC: I pull from Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Hockney and Andy

Warhol’s early paintings and illustrations. I would say my style fits into modern art, like expressionism. A lot of the paintings I do have odd backgrounds and the focal point is very much a real thing, but in an odd place. I fuse Western art, like cowboys and Indians, and put it on top of abstract landscapes.

KL: WHAT’S ONE THING THAT YOU HAVEN’T DONE ARTISTICALLY, BE IT A MEDIUM OR AN OPPORTUNITY, THAT YOU WOULD LOVE TO TRY? WC: Moviemaking. I got the opportunity to be a grunt worker on a

micro-budget movie set this last winter and it was absolutely phenomenal. I’ve tried writing a screenplay and never got past the first couple steps, but I would love to make a movie. KL: WHAT’S ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE ASPIRING ARTISTS? WC: Learn how to be wrong and don’t hold your art too preciously.

If I wrote my best song a year ago or if I painted my best painting two months ago and that’s it for me, then I should stop. I finished a painting this last week and was super happy, but I was also immediately unsatisfied and wanted to make another one.

You can follow Will and his art on Instagram @william.a.chappell.

What I offer exists within the history of complete art. I think there are a lot of things that are incomplete these days. A lot of it is just a pretty picture or some well-put-together words.

Jordan Peterson Will Not Save Us BY S H A S H A NK R A O, UNI V ER S I T Y OF MI C HI G A N

BY M AT T HE W M A NY, MIDDL E S E X C O UN T Y C OL L E GE

The famed Canadian psychologist is a veritable academic rock star, but does he really have any idea what heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talking about?

he thing about Jordan Peterson is that I get it. After nearly half a century of postmodern irony, cynicism and moral relativism, the world is worn and weary. There is a refugee crisis, the worst of its kind since the Second World War: How do you plan on morally relativizing that? The planet is suffering under the duress of climate

change: Is questioning the validity of science really what it is necessary? So I see why people turn to Peterson, a warrior of universal values and moral rectitude. You are responsible for yourself, he says, loud and proud, and in a world thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

only growing more precarious each day, there is a comfort to

It is no secret that Peterson is critical, if not hostile to, identity

be had in believing that it’s every man for himself. But the fact

politics. But if he had bothered to truly engage with postmod-

of the matter is that Peterson has, at best, only an impov-

ernism, he might have found that most postmodernists are

erished understanding of the philosophical movement against

against identity politics, too. After all, another founding prin-

which he rages: postmodernism.

ciple of postmodernism is that identities are unstable, so to believe that one holds an undeniable, incontrovertible identity

Postmodernism was a theoretical movement borne out of

is laughable. Peterson, however, does not have an interest in

French Continental schools of philosophy. Boiled down to its

parsing these fault lines. He is fiercely committed to his own

basics, postmodernism argues against a teleological perspec-

slipshod vision of what postmodernists are like.

tive of history — that is, it does not believe that progress is a given or even necessarily a good thing. Postmodernist the-

And this brings up a very crucial point: Jordan Peterson is not

orists deconstructed morality and claimed that the relation

a philosopher. He is a psychologist who is marginally inter-

between “good” and “bad” has always been relative, and that

ested in philosophy, but passes himself off as a sort of intel-

individuals have had their subjectivity imposed upon them by

lectual Übermensch who has been sent down from above to

the societies they inhabit. There is, of course, much more to

introduce the world to the Enlightenment virtues Reason and

postmodernism than what I have crudely outlined — and that’s

Logic once more. Unfortunately, Peterson has only a tenuous

kind of the point. Postmodernism is a multifaceted, multidi-

grasp on the values of the Enlightenment as well. What Peter-

mensional movement that is, by design, hard to pin down.

son is interested in is reinstating a Judeo-Christian ethic in the world, in addition to a redoubled emphasis on masculinity.

Peterson, however, has no qualms about doing so in broad,

Men, he argues, have become too “soft” and must learn to be

clumsy strokes. His main targets are the French philosophers

men again; in doing so, he promulgates regressive gender ste-

Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault, whom he reductively

reotypes and even goes so far as to claim compassion is a vice.

criticizes as Marxists. Yes, Derrida and Foucault were involved with some Marxist activities, but the theories they espoused

I think there is something to be said about turning to religion

were often incompatible with the views of Marxism; postmod-

for guidance. There are lessons about becoming a better hu-

ernism, after all, is suspicious of grand metanarratives like

man being one can glean from all sorts of systems of belief.

those championed by Marxists.

But Jordan Peterson’s radical individualism will not save us. Peterson’s insistence that it’s every man for himself, that white

It seems, then, that Peterson uses “postmodern” as an intel-

Christian theology will rescue us from the depths of postmod-

lectual fudge to simply call and subsequently disregard people

ern despair, thus feels tragically dissonant, juvenilely edgy.

for being “Marxists.” His accusations of Marxism in universities are not restricted to postmodernists: he has gone after ethnic

Pankaj Mishra, at the end of a smartly constructed critique of

studies departments, English departments, women’s studies

Peterson’s specious intellectual origins, puts it better than I

departments and more for being “culturally Marxist,” a dubi-

ever can: “It is no exaggeration to say that we are in the midst

ous term that has been used by members of the alt-right as

of a similar intellectual and moral breakdown, one that seems

a more dressed-up, negatively charged word for “multicul-

to presage a great calamity. Peterson calls it, correctly, ‘psy-

tural.”

chological and social dissolution.’ But he is a disturbing symptom of the malaise to which he promises a cure.”

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letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talk about

Improving how we, as a society, deal with depression, means more open discussions and a frank dialogue about coping strategies. BY X AV IER RE Y N A , UNI V ER S I T Y OF T E X A S AT S A N A N T ONI O

epression is a mental health condition that affects over 300 million people worldwide. Depending on the country, adequate diagnosis and treatment for those with depression can be exceptionally low, an issue caused by lack of resources or negative social stigma tied to seeking help for mental health problems. Depression deserves more attention than it currently receives and the taboo surrounding it needs to be erased, both of which can be accomplished by encouraging an environment in which discussions regarding mental health are held freely. As someone who has never been clinically diagnosed with depression, I have discreetly struggled with it for over three years. My depressive episodes have been sporadic, never occurring at set intervals, specific times or through any known triggers; they just occur. The result was the development of unhealthy coping mechanisms that only made my feelings of depression worse: isolating myself from family and friends, allowing myself to fall behind on academic work and forming irregular eating and sleeping patterns. It became a slippery slope, and each bad habit I formed made it that much easier for me to fall into a depressive episode. So, through trial and error and lengthy discussions with loved ones, here are three activities I have found effective in coping with depression. I have found these suggestions useful in dealing with my depression, but they are obviously not the definitive answer for everyone. If you or someone close to you is withdrawing from family and friends or feeling emotional pain, consider discussing the issue with your doctor or a mental health professional. PAINTING / WRITING

These are technically two separate activities, but they both serve the same purpose: They allow the participant to physically manifest their feelings, thoughts, desires, fears, hopes and dreams. Writing in any form, be it poetry, prose, a journal or even a letter is a great way to express these emotions with no course of judgement. Painting functions the same way, and it is definitely a more fun, creative outlet. Nothing is impossible on a canvas, and it can even allow for a more true form of expression from the painter. That is, the painter can be as abstract as they desire.

CLEANING

Keeping a clean, organized environment is significant for a variety of different reasons, but it can also seem like an overwhelming task. I’ve found it’s helpful, rather, to chip away at this herculean task in increments. Doing so begins at one of the most quotidian of all daily moments: waking up and getting out of bed. Afterward, two options immediately follow: you can make your bed, or you can choose to continue on with your day, perhaps making your bed later. Neither decision is inherently wrong, but choosing the former offers a distinct set of benefits. Making your bed immediately organizes a large portion of your room, which begins the process of returning cleanliness to your environment. A tidy bed can stir motivation to clean your room, which can stir motivation to organize your living room and so on. More importantly, perhaps, making your bed begins your day on a positive note with a micro-accomplishment, and this brief sense of accomplishment can create enough momentum to carry over the rest of the day. EXERCISE

It’s almost cliche to note the love-hate relationship most people, myself included, have with exercising, but it’s completely understandable. Working out can be incredibly difficult; the anticipation prior to exercising alone can be paralyzing enough, and when you consider the idea during a depressive state, the act of engaging physically in any activity seems beyond impossible, and sometimes is. Like cleaning, however, accomplishing micro-goals can provide just as much of a boost as any activity itself does. That is, performing one sit-up a day is more beneficial than performing none, and that one sit-up can spark the motivation to perform two, five or ten sit-ups — incremental growth. Additionally, physical exercise increases the production of endorphins, which have been known to improve moods. Finding the right outlet for exercise can be difficult, but any activity will do — yoga, cycling, hiking, swimming, Crossfit, rock-climbing — and each activity provides its own unique set of benefits. I personally find running to be incredibly therapeutic, despite how gruesome it can be at times.

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r it like a e w

Inspired by the body-positivity movement, photographer Peter DeVito created a powerful photo series of unretouched images to normalize acne. BY EL I Z A B E T H L U C Y I VA NE C K Y, M C M A S T ER UNI V ER S I T Y

hile working for Americana Models Management LLC, Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) illustration and photography junior Peter DeVito would spend hours retouching photographs of models, editing out their skin imperfections, specifically acne. In the middle of retouching several images from a photoshoot, DeVito started seeing a different kind of beauty in the models. The acne-covered skin, he thought, that these models exposed is normal, yet beautiful, so why retouch it? Although DeVito continued to alter photographs for work, he soon stopped retouching the photos he posted on his social media.

self-taught make-up artist and Londoner Em Ford’s video “You Look Disgusting” went viral on her YouTube channel, “My Pale Skin,” and was praised as a bold embrace of adult acne. Like Ford, DeVito has since received accolades for his own contributions to the body-positive movement nationally and even internationally. In fact, among the many people who praise his unretouched photo series are celebrities such as model and actress Cara Delevingne, who reposted DeVito’s work. “It was crazy to see somebody who gets a lot of her pictures retouched all the time agree with what I was saying,” says DeVito.

As someone who has dealt with acne for over seven years, it was fitting that in September 2017 DeVito first posted unretouched photos of himself and several models on his Instagram, which has 42,000 followers. The series showcases acne in an effort to normalize skin blemishes and empower people to embrace a beauty based on imperfection. “I’ve had acne since I was in eighth grade, and I still have it in my third year of college now. So, my skin has always been something that I focused on,” says DeVito. “I just recently found a way to bring my fascination for skin into my work.” He hoped getting behind the camera as a model would give others the confidence to do the same. “It was a little difficult to post an unretouched picture of myself, but I thought it would be hypocritical to post unretouched images of others if I hadn’t done it myself,” he says.

The FIT student is currently expanding his series to include people who have been diagnosed with skin conditions, such as melasma and psoriasis. His dream is to shoot celebrities in a similar unretouched manner. “We hold celebrities on pedestals, and I think showing unedited images of them would be very powerful,” says DeVito. “It would help break the illusion society has created.”

The FIT junior drew inspiration after learning about the body-positive movement, a campaign that aims to liberate individuals from body hatred by showing the importance of self-care. “Seeing how people were starting to love and embrace their bodies was moving,” says DeVito, “but I felt like there was a lack of visibility for people with acne. I wanted to create images that would help empower them too.” In many of the photos, DeVito temporarily tattoos or sticks on expressions such as “acne is normal,” “retouch” or “drink water.” “I think it just adds another layer to the images,” he says. “Some people have a hard time deciphering more figurative imagery, so when you use words, it can help them to see the message more clearly.” The trend of featuring unretouched photos or videos on social media is not all that recent though. Back in 2015,

The young photographer also supports a topless culture for both women and men. “I decided to post photographs [of women’s breasts] because I wanted to use my platform to show my support for Free The Nipple,” says DeVito. “ I think it’s unfair how men can walk around topless, but if a woman does, she is judged for it.” The intersectionality between the body-positive movement and feminism is apparent in his work with women’s breasts. DeVito’s previous projects also deal with social issues, particularly race and sexism. His work in Féroce Magazine, titled “Wash Away Racism” and inspired in part by legendary Jamaican model Grace Jones, shows his commitment to breaking down barriers to racial equality, as well as exposing white privilege. His editorial, “The Yellow Wallpaper,” in Elegant Magazine, inspired by the short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, unpacks stereotypes of women to promote gender equality. Through his work now and the projects he plans to pursue, the FIT junior is adamant about bodily acceptance, in all its different forms. “I’m hoping that people will just start to learn to accept themselves more and not compare themselves to what other people look like.”

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WHAT’S YOUR MAJOR:

meme studies

BY C A MEL I A J UA RE Z, T E X A S S TAT E UNI V ER S I T Y

To stay ahead of the field, college students always try to have the edgiest, most envelope-pushing majors possible, but even the most forward-thinking undergrad might be surprised to hear that their love of inhaling stupid content can translate into a degree. Yes, that’s right, by offering a degree in meme studies, the fine people at Midwestern University have decided that your mastery of internet miscellany is worthy of a diploma. So, the next time your parents hound you to do your homework as you scroll through Twitter, you can tell them you’re studying. How bout dah?

myths and truths. MYTH: Working hard toward an entertainment

AVG.SALARY

career will lead to success TRUTH: Becoming meme worthy is the only way to solidify your career in the entertainment business. Ask Kim K, Drake, Oprah, Trump, etc. MYTH: Memes are just pictures TRUTH: Language is becoming increasingly image-

based, not text-based. Memes are the future of communication.

MYTH: Memes tell us nothing but the idiocrasy

consuming America TRUTH: Cool story, bro. In reality, the meme compilations released at the end of the year basically chart the hella mood of society month by month.

potential jobs. HISTORIAN

Future generations will rely exclusively on the “expanding brain” photo series to understand our culture. RHETORIC ANALYST

Analyze the ulterior meanings hidden in the text of the condescending Wonka and seductive Ryan Gosling memes.

conversation starters. “According to my research, soon bitmojis will be our only form of communication.” “Honey, why do you keep liking side-eye and white-guy-blinking memes?” “Sex is cool and all, but have you ever watched a vine compilation?” “After ‘EPIC’ made a baby with ‘FAIL,’ modern culture was never the same.”

SOCIAL MEDIA SPECIALIST

Be the person who suggested adding the dancing hot dog to Snapchat.

key terms. RAGE COMICS: The source of the internet’s Ur-memes, such as derp face and me gusta ASTROLOGY: The religion of most meme users VINE: Six seconds of wtf generally brought to you by the zoom-in function DANK: The only proper modifier for a timeless meme

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BY R A K S H YA DE VKO TA , S A IN T L O UIS UNI V ER S I T Y

eal talk: Dining halls can be depressing places at times. Sure, you have the illusion of a lot of choices, but the food is almost universally bad and the dishes are never quite clean—so you always leave slightly unsatisfied. There’s one part of the dining hall you can always count on, though, day in and day out: the cereal station. When you’re sick of eating grilled cheese for the 80th time this month, or when you’ve decided that the off-putting smell drifting over to you from the soup pot is a bridge too far, cereal is always there for you. Should you be eating cereal for every meal? Probably not, but adulting is hard sometimes, and with finals around the corner, sometimes you just need something quick, satisfying and eternally comforting. Sugar cereal will always be that shoulder to cry on: It is the ultimate comfort food. It is as versatile as it is delicious—whatever the occasion, sugar cereal will make it better. As evidence, I present this brief list of situations drastically improved by sugar cereal: WHEN YOU WANT TO TREAT YO’ SELF:

The invention of Cookie Crisp marks the exact point at which cereal companies stopped playing games. No more pretending to be healthy or offering even the semblance of nutrition: just a big-ass bowl of tiny-ass cookies. I don’t know much, but I do know that it is now socially acceptable to eat cookies for breakfast—and if that’s not beautiful, I don’t know what is. AFTER A BAD BREAK-UP:

Cocoa Puffs, in chocolate milk. Pure, unadulterated decadence, which you deserve as just as much as your ex doesn’t deserve you. Bonus: the extrachocolately milk left over after you’ve finished the cereal. WHEN YOU’RE FEELING PARTICULARLY NOSTALGIC AND VULNERABLE:

You know how Trix used to be shaped like little flowers, and how now it’s these weird little puff balls—when did that happen, and why? Sure, on a logical level, we all know that everything changes. Sometimes that’s good, and other times that bad— but sometimes it’s not really either, and yet it’s still vaguely off-putting enough to disorient you for the rest of the day. Trix will force you to reconsider the real questions, like: Is it Berenstain or Berenstein? What do you mean, the Monopoly man doesn’t have a monocle? Truly, worldview-shifting stuff.

It’s Time to Get Cereal

Cereal, the unsung hero of the dining hall, is always there, always reliable and always delicious.

extra push, yet familiar enough that it gives you the comfort you need in this trying time. For this, I present to you the pinnacle of dining hall sundaes, combining the powers of objectively the greatest of sugar cereals, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cocoa Krispies, and an ice cream of your choice. Enjoy.

The

Legends

Only

Sundae

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS, LUNCH OF WINNERS, DINNER OF HEROES. NOT A BAD SNACK, EITHER.

INGREDIENTS

• Ice cream of your choice—I recommend something basic like vanilla or chocolate, so it doesn’t overpower the other flavors • 1 handful of Cinnamon Toast Crunch • 2 handfuls of Cocoa Krispies (or comparable chocolate cereal) • Chocolate syrup, to taste — because clearly there is not enough sugar yet

DIRECTIONS

• Locate the cleanest bowl you can find. • Pray that the soft-serve machine is working for once. Then pray harder, because you’re gonna need a damn miracle. • Assuming an ice cream miracle has occurred, place about a scoop of ice cream in the bowl, then dump the cereal on top. Mix. • Dump the desired amount of chocolate syrup on top. This is an exercise in self-honesty. • Enjoy! Then, go forth and conquer finals.

With finals approaching though, you need something extra: something powerful enough to give you that S T U D Y B R E AKS

s in irvi w o r g ne

republican

As state chair of the country’s largest Republican student federation, Ariana Rowlands is bringing aggressive, unapologetic conservatism to southern California. BY S A R A H LY NC H , M A RI S T C OL L E GE P H O T O GR A P H Y BY P RI S C IL L A B ODE, S A DDL EB A C K C OL L E GE

In a lecture hall of about 400 students, Ariana Rowlands listens attentively to a classmate’s presentation about America’s inherently anti-black and anti-Muslim foreign policy. As the young woman on stage finishes her speech and her peers begin clapping, Rowlands’s hand rises quickly in the air. When called on, Rowlands begins to question several of the statistics used in the presentation, and recognition begins to creep onto her classmate’s face.

I finally got sick and tired of people disparaging me for espousing beliefs that I hold. They’re my beliefs. I should be allowed to have them, and they should like me for me. So I eventually started speaking out more and speaking my mind, and two college Republicans invited me to attend [the California College Republicans] meeting and this rest is history. I was president of the chapter by the next quarter and then in the next year I was state chair.

Ariana Rowlands has made a name for herself on the University of California, Irvine, campus. Proudly boasting “Make America Great Again” apparel, she is the face of the largest college Republican federation in the country, the California College Republicans. Under her resolute leadership, the organization has metamorphosed into a force of nature. She’s appeared on FOX News, ABC 7 and The Daily Ledger, and she’s contributed to Breitbart News. TIME Magazine even included her in a recent article entitled “‘The Most Hated Person on Campus’: Why Some College Republicans Are Channeling Donald Trump.”

SL: WHAT SPECIFICALLY DREW YOU TO BECOME SUCH AN AVID SUPPORTER OF PRESIDENT TRUMP? HAD YOU EVER THROWN YOUR SUPPORT BEHIND ANOTHER CANDIDATE LIKE THIS, OR WAS THIS THE FIRST TIME YOU’D BEEN GALVANIZED BEHIND ONE SPECIFIC CANDIDATE? AR: Initially in the primary season, when I was first starting

Rowlands’s classmate, instead of addressing her question about the statistics, turned to the room and said, “That’s the president of the College Republicans and she likes Trump, so she’s automatically racist. And I’m not even going to answer anything that she’s going to say.” The proclamation was met with resounding applause. In a collegiate culture that begs her to stay silent, Rowlands stands in brazen defiance. With unabashed candor and a signature fiery flare, she strives to provide conservative students across America with the courage to speak up. On her liberal campus, she’s a fish out of water, and the target of perpetual ridicule. But Ariana Rowlands frankly doesn’t give a damn. SARAH LYNCH: WHAT WERE THE MOMENTS GROWING UP WHEN YOU FELT A PULL TOWARD POLITICS? HOW DID YOU DISCOVER WHERE YOUR POLITICAL PREFERENCES LIED? ARIANA ROWLANDS: Growing up I was always somewhat in-

terested in politics – FOX News was always on – but I wasn’t really an activist or anything like that until I went to college. My first year in college I pretended to be more socially left because all of my friends were and if I said anything that was more socially conservative – what I actually believed – my friends would sort of put me down and say, “That’s a dumb idea” or “You’re dumb for believing it.” I didn’t want to lose my friends. What college kid sets out wanting to lose friends?

to get involved with politics, I supported Marco Rubio until Marco Rubio dropped out. I sort of had to readjust my whole view on everything because at that point I had trusted the media. I grew up trusting the media just like most people did, and I believed what they were saying. I just sort of read the headlines and I didn’t really look into matters by myself. I took as truth what the media was telling with me and then I really realized that all this time I’d believed lies about Trump. It was spinning of the story. One of the reasons I got involved with politics in the first place was because I really despised that the left was twisting the truth and lying to people. So when I saw that the media was twisting Trump’s words or Trump’s actions into something that it wasn’t because it fit their agenda, that made me really angry. I also agreed with a lot of Trump’s points when I actually saw what he was really saying and not what other people said he was saying. SL: WHAT KIND OF CHANGE DID YOU WANT TO BRING ABOUT AS CHAIRWOMAN OF THE CALIFORNIA COLLEGE REPUBLICANS? AR: The militant left here really forces a lot of people to be

put into the position where they want to get involved because they’re tired. They’re sick and tired of their professors, their peers, their administration breathing down their neck or telling them that they’re racist or they’re sexist or homophobic or whatever when they’re not. Previously the California College Republicans (CCR), before I took over, took a really laid-back approach. They wanted to hold hands and sing kumbaya with Democrats and far leftists and were trying to pander to them. My experience, and a

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lot of others’ experiences in the California College Republicans, is that these far-left Democrats will never like you. No matter what you do or what you say or how many times you compromise your principles, there is an “R” next to your name and it means Republican and therefore you are evil. It’s really like that. That’s not an exaggeration, for California at least. If we want people to join our cause, we need to advocate for the principles that we stand for and not compromise them so that we can get along with people. If we want people to believe in something, we need to believe in it ourselves. That was the main point that I ran on. We’ve adopted that model now and we are openly and aggressively promoting conservatism, and as a result we have more people involved than ever before. It took nine days for our ticket sales for our upcoming convention in the beginning of April to exceed the number of attendees that have ever attended any other CCR convention. We’re going to have the biggest convention ever. SL: IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT HAVE BEEN THE POSITIVE RESULTS OF YOUR WORK AS CHAIRWOMAN? AR: It’s been about five months, and in those five months we are

in the process of, or have already, restarted or started 11 new chapters. And that number is growing all the time. There are a couple of chapters that have expressed interest that they want to start up again, so we’re going to help them. We’re doing great with our fundraising and our presence, whether it be a social presence or a political presence. SL: WHAT HAVE BEEN THE GREATEST CHALLENGES YOU’VE FACED IN THE POSITION? AR: This may sound a little bit depressing, but being in college

politics is a lot like being in the “Lord of the Flies.” It may sound a bit exaggerated to some people, but there’s a lot of backstabbing going on and it’s really upsetting to see. I’m always an advocate for not behaving that way, for behaving morally and ethically and for staying true to your word. I’d say that’s one of the challenges: just people being people, though that really hasn’t hindered any of the progress of the state board. SL: WHAT IS THE POLITICAL CAUSE CLOSEST TO YOUR HEART? HOW HAVE YOU TACKLED IT IN YOUR COMMUNITY AND SPECIFICALLY AS CHAIRWOMAN? AR: Free speech. Free speech is the number-one issue that

any California College Republican can agree upon, because everybody has different opinions on things. There could be some pro-life people and there could be some pro-choice people. That’s fine, but everybody agrees that free speech is an issue. The reason for that is because if you’re a Republican on a college campus, you’re not allowed to have an opinion, and if you start talking about it then people are going to shout at you, yell at you, call you names. The leftist indoctrination is real here. All of our professors preach liberal-skewed content as truth, without providing another side of the story. For example, my UCI College Republican chapter invited Milo

Yiannopoulos twice and before the second time, the administration banned my club for a year because they didn’t want him to come back. There are many cases of similar things, a lot with security fees where somebody’s trying to bring Ben Shapiro or some other speaker to their campus and the administration would be like, “Sorry, we’re going to put a $17,000 security fee on you because I know you’re not doing anything that’s dangerous, but there may be protesters, so we’re going to charge you for that.” It’s really a suppression of conservative ideas on campus. SL: YOU WERE IN COLLEGE DURING THE 2016 ELECTION. HOW WAS POLITICAL DIVISION PREVALENT ON YOUR CAMPUS? AR: There were a lot of protests about Trump. I remember the

day after he won it was raining and there were about 40 kids outside blocking this path just screaming and yelling and complaining. I thought it was hilarious. There are a bunch of other leftist-skewed groups, like the Students for Justice in Palestine, who will erect walls on campus and paint on them and basically say Jewish people are people who commit genocide. They’ll talk about how Israel doesn’t exist and the Jews are oppressive and I really think that’s offensive to anybody because it’s not true. There’s a lot of political division. A lot of people are really apathetic, but the people who aren’t are firmly on one side, and I would say that on college campuses the majority of people are firmly on the left. You have this little silent group of conservatives or right-leaning thinkers who don’t want to admit it and don’t want to say anything. So it’s really my job to get those people involved and to let them know that there’s a team behind them and they can say whatever they want to say. SL: FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, DO YOU FEEL TRUMP’S ELECTION SILENCED CONSERVATIVE STUDENTS OR OPENED A DOOR FOR THEM TO BE MORE VOCAL, OR BOTH? AR: Trump’s election opened a door because he says a lot of

things that are considered politically incorrect, and on a college campus, even your most average conservative view is considered taboo. It’s politically incorrect to say anything with a conservative skew. Trump saying all of the things that he says and then getting away with it and coming out on top after everything really inspires people to say their beliefs, because they know if he can do it so can they. SL: YOU’VE MADE YOUR VIEWS VERY PUBLIC, AND UNDOUBTEDLY MADE SOME ENEMIES. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS YOU’VE SEEN OR HEARD? DO THEY DETER YOU, OR DO THEY FUEL YOU? AR: I actually find them quite amusing. The best sort of answer

is success, and all of the losers and haters out there get so angry when they see us being successful. I plan on continuing to be successful, so they don’t really detract from what I’m trying to do. They don’t really have anything better to do with their lives but complain.

SL: YOU ARE THE DAUGHTER OF IMMIGRANTS, FROM MEXICO AND FROM WALES, AND YOU HAVE ACTIVELY ENDORSED THE BUILDING OF A WALL ON THE MEXICAN-U.S. BORDER. HOW HAS YOUR IDENTITY AS A FIRST-GENERATION AMERICAN INFLUENCED YOUR VIEWS ON IMMIGRATION, OR HAS IT? AR: My mom is the biggest Trump supporter that I

republican

know, and my dad is a very big Trump supporter as well. My mom came across legally. She did everything the proper way, and I think that a lot of legal immigrants really harbor some sort of distaste for the people who come over illegally, who skip all of the money and the time and the waiting and do things the wrong way. I have a lot of respect for people who do things the right way and who come to our country wanting to create a better life for themselves and for their community. I have no respect whatsoever for people who violate the laws of our country and then leach off the system, and take and don’t give back. I think people have to follow the law. We’re a country of laws, and, as Trump says, if we don’t have a wall, we don’t have a country. SL: AS A SENIOR IN YOUR SPRING SEMESTER, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE NEAR FUTURE AND WHERE DO YOU HOPE YOUR CAREER TAKES YOU? AR: I definitely want to stay involved in politics. It’s

something that I love a lot. I love to do it, despite the times when it can get stressful. I plan to help the party as much as I can in the future.

SL: WHAT LEGACY DO YOU HOPE YOU’VE LEFT AS CHAIRWOMAN, IN YOUR COLLEGE COMMUNITY AND IN THE LARGER COMMUNITY? AR: I hope that I leave a legacy of change: a change

from something that was inefficient to something that’s efficient. A change from something that was broken to something that’s prospering. A change of direction. Before, the college Republicans in California were floundering and now they’re very successful and they’re on the right track. I would hope to see, after I’m gone, that they continue on that track and they become the most influential youth conservative organization in the country. And they’re already very close.

SL: WHAT MESSAGE WOULD YOU GIVE TO CONSERVATIVE STUDENTS ACROSS AMERICA? AR: Stand up for what you believe in. Never apologize

for what you believe in. Continue fighting even when it seems like nobody supports you because there are a ton of people who do and a ton of people who think that standing up for what you believe in, even in the face of adversity, is noble and brave.

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the best laid Within the studyblr community, tidy calligraphy and meticulous scheduling can mask darker truths about strain and mental health. BY B ONNIE WONG, UNI V ER S I T Y OF S O U T HERN C A L IF ORNI A IL L U S T R AT I ON BY S ID Y L A G A N, MILWAUK EE IN S T I T U T E OF A RT A ND DE S I GN

More commonly referred to as Studyblrs — a portmanteau of study and Tumblr — these accounts extend to other social media platforms, such as Instagram (also known as studygrams), and even full-blown websites.

he internet is awash with all sorts of pages dedicated to a variety of specific niches, from cats to healthy dinner recipes to Kylo Ren, so it’s unsurprising that there is a whole universe devoted to the neat, orderly fraction of the population often referred to as “people who have their life together.” From heavily filtered Instagram photos boasting modern calligraphy to motivational quotes plastered against marbled backgrounds on Tumblr, study blogs have gained traction on the internet, amassing followers and taking the online world of academic creativity by storm. More commonly referred to as studyblrs — a portmanteau of study and Tumblr — these accounts extend to other social media platforms, such as Instagram (also known as studygrams), and even full-blown websites. What started out as a resource guide for educators soon became an expressionf of students themselves. The mass appeal lies in the sites’ impeccable aesthetics: clean lines, tons of pastel and, of course, amazing handwriting. These accounts typically belong to individuals who have found ways to showcase their innovative talents while motivating themselves to study. One Google Image search of “studyblr” yields a number of photographs painstakingly taken from just the right angle and slapped with a filter. The photos are usually

accompanied by a short caption describing their contents, hashtagged keywords for optimal online visibility and strategically tagged brands that the photo features. In addition to the bubble gum whimsy of photographs, studyblrs also aggregate encouraging quotes, detail step-by-step tips for a variety of student needs and often reference popular books, such as the “Harry Potter” series. However, what appears to be an impeccable paradise of every nerd’s dream come true also has a darker side. A Reddit post titled “For those of you who see studyblrs: I feel like they’re unrealistic as eff” written by user “marvelers” called out studyblr accounts for creating false, impractical impressions. “This isn’t a rant because I’m not mad. Good job to these people for making studying look pleasing and stuff. But I mean, do you really have time for all that hand lettering when you’re a third year studying biochemistry? I don’t really know. But I’ve seen lots of studyblrs with realistic accounts who show the downsides of studying. Like studying for hours and not getting the mark you want and other stuff. Not just posting notes that look like they should belong in an art gallery.” The text post garnered an array of responses such as “I’m sorry, but I just can’t take any [one] seriously when they use a word like ‘studyblrs,’” and “Exactly, I don’t have time for beautifully whipped cream and coffee in artsy mugs and 100% healthy pot plants arranged on my table with my notes written in perfect calligraphy and no mistakes whatsoever. For me aesthetics like that are idealized things that I don’t appreciate. It kinda makes my actual studying way more dull and disappointing than it already is.” Jasmine Shao, more commonly known as studyquill, knows firsthand the difficulties of the study community. In addition to her studyblr, her Instagram has 163.8K followers and her YouTube channel boasts 242K subscribers. “A criticism I hear is that studyblrs are more about aesthetic than functional studying,” she says. “This is hard to objectively respond to because we really don’t know for sure how effective certain methods are and how they differ from person to person.” Another recognized name within the community, staylovelys, is run by Emma Lee who has over 16.5K on her Instagram and

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many more on her other platforms. “Study accounts tend to put a lot of pressure on those who partake, at least in my experience,” says Lee. “The cool kids are the ones who have every bit of stationery, those picture-perfect Pinterest desks and set ups. Also, it’s pretty disheartening to put in so much work into creating when you see others posting pictures of objects that get more attention. Yes, it’s not all about the likes and the engagement, but it kind of wears someone down.” Text posts are often peppered with clickbait buzzwords enticing followers to complete the steps in order to achieve that elusive 4.0 GPA or how to land the perfect internship. Obviously these text posts mean well and are designed to encourage students to achieve their goals. However, taking these steps does not guarantee success in the academic world, especially because people vary in their learning techniques. Not all brains are created equal, so there is no onesize-fits-all regimen to becoming the valedictorian. Furthermore, students should not feel pressured to outperform their peers seemingly at all costs.

sona but also curating her online presence to reflect her interests on her Instagram account. “Everyone on studyblr also looked like their lives had no flaws at all. I kind of felt like I was inferior,” she says. “That was when I struggled with social anxiety, [and] looking at those accounts made me feel insecure and unhappy. Eventually, I was able to find my place; I found a balance between my fake online presence and my struggling life offline. I realized that I wanted honesty to play a big role in my account, because I wanted to make sure that my viewers wouldn’t feel the same as me at the beginning of my study community involvement.” These negative implications are perpetuated by other issues within the community. Aside from what people deem as “taking studying out of context,” the community itself is hyper-competitive. Some accounts have upwards of 201K followers and are only growing, with users feeling the pressure to constantly churn out creative content to appease their eager followers. While Shao says that she hasn’t seen accounts outright bashing each other, she does see the lengths that newer accounts go to in order to gain following. “I honestly don’t feel competitive toward others, but it may be because I’ve already gained a stable audience. The vibe I get from some newer studyblrs is more desperate for any sort of visibility,” she said.

I’m doing my best to emphasize how success has nothing to do with stationery, and I hope that as a community we all can improve on this.

Ironically, studyblrs promote self care to the max (Sip your favorite tea! Take time to unwind!) and encourage followers to be open about creating dialogue about mental health. Yet these accounts also publish pictures of rainbow colored, Tetris-ed out 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. schedules in their planners. Many posts also offer sage advice as to how to recover from burnout (probably a negative side effect of looking at brightly colored gel pens 24/7). Ultimately, the accounts seemingly endorse a vicious cycle of pushing yourself to study until you burn out, then remedying your exhaustion with a band-aid solution.

Lee also expressed the struggle between maintaining a real per-

On the other hand, Lee believes that the competition is more apparent. “I think the study community is extremely competitive. New accounts pop up daily, and the community is saturated with the same pictures of pens and notebooks. Something that I’ve seen as controversial is whether stationery pictures can be considered content; some people even call pictures of stationery studygram clickbait. On studygram, the accounts that tend to gain bigger followers are either accounts with an ongoing aesthetic of good lighting and photo presets that typically feature workplace or bullet journals, or accounts that don’t use filters and typically post pictures of stationery. If you don’t fit into either category, it’s difficult to fit into the popular niche and ‘make it.’” Others say that the studyblr life is financially impractical. Leuchtturm1917 journals, Zebra mildliners, Rhodia spiral-bound notebooks, Stabilo Point 88 pens, Muji art supplies, Staedtler fineliners and Fjallraven Kanken backpacks are some of the cult-favorite brands recognizable to those prominent in the online study world. These brands are not exactly cheap, and the community has faced backlash from those saying that more popular studyblrs feature them and that successful account are synonymous with owning these items. Lee found herself also giving in to the pressure to own certain

brands associated with the community. “In the beginning, I struggled with the idea of what a perfect studyblr should be: an account with pretty pens, notebooks and handwriting. I spent quite a bit to build up my stationery collection, which initially consisted of Stabilos and Staedtlers, and to buy a stack of notebooks that I started and never finished,” Shao says. “I’m doing my best to emphasize how success has nothing to do with stationery, and I hope that as a community we all can improve on this.” But like anything online, it is easy to come to judgment. By putting your creative content on an online platform, it is almost inevtiable that you run the risk of backlash because of the visibility. There are other issues that come with the publicity of Shao’s work. “Whenever I livestream on YouTube, I get messages treating me as if I am a cam girl. I hate when I get insults about being Asian or accusations that my academic success is only because of my race,” Shao says. “With any exposure online comes a few creepy and weird experiences. I’m pretty open about posting my face on my account, and I occasionally get a creeper in my inbox. I’ve had some men message me about inappropriate topics, which is kind of off-putting for a teenager,” Lee says. Captions exhibiting the woes their respective owners face, such as a low midterm score or high levels of stress, can be a seemingly a stark, unsettling contrast to the bright photographs these captions accompany. However, studyblrs do acknowledge the difficulties that accompany being a student, especially those in graduate school. Oftentimes accounts freely share their woes about the academic grind, which adds a touch of realism to the whole concept. In an article written by Kaitlyn Tiffany for The Verge, Tiffany says, “The note-taking style, while beautiful, and the study spaces, while curated to appear serene, are supplemented by notes and instructions about how to get over rough patches in an academic career, and apprehension about upcoming assignments or tests. Together, these things imply that the beautification of studying is one way to make it easier, or at least more pleasant.” Studyblrs are popular for a reason, and they are here to stay regardless of the criticisms that accompany the popular study accounts. Both Shao and Lee expressed their love for the community and their desire to remain a part of it in the upcoming years. “I like staying neat and organized,

and I like to develop my photography and filming skills. I’ve also made many friends in the community who I love to chat with, and I’m excited to meet even more people,” Shao says. Lee shares similar sentiments: “Generally, it’s brought a positive change in my life. I think the greatest impact that stemmed from my account is the ability to make a difference to a group of people that I never would have been introduced to otherwise. With a bigger audience comes a bigger responsibility, as you’re seen as a possible role model and someone who will have an influence on their following. By running my studygram, I’ve been able to connect amazing people from all over the world. I’ve met a lot of friends and been exposed to various types of people.” The majority of people have no qualms about beautifying notes and handwriting encouraging quotes. There are many unanswered questions that have numerous responses that all boil down to personal preference. Is this merely a harmless hobby for artistic students, or a competitive race for people vying for a boost in follow count analytics? Are studyblrs a form of OCD, or is there merit behind the creative content produced? Is the real issue that we are all just bitter and wish that we too were #blessed with pretty handwriting? Perhaps the easy remedy for those who are triggered by neatly handwritten neuroscience notes is to simply exit your web browser.

I’m pretty open about posting my face on my account, and I occasionally get a creeper in my inbox. I’ve had some men message me about inappropriate topics, which is kind of off-putting for a teenager.

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BY ONAJE MCDOWELLE, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANANYA CHANDRA, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Looking in the Mirror

Spearheaded by senior Vanjessica Gladney, the Penn History of Slavery Project has colleges across the country reassessing their ties to slavery.

ames, Rachel, Thomas, Grace, Hannah, Bob, Tom and George: These are the names of eight of the 51 African-American slaves owned by the University of Pennsylvania’s trustees. The names represent the unstoried men and women on whose backs one of the nation’s premiere educational institutions was built, as well as the fruit of a sprawling investigation, co-directed by senior Vanjessica Gladney, into the slave ownership of the forefathers of her university. These trustees, several of who also happen to be among the Founding Fathers of the United States, are men whose signatures adorn documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, making them the literal authors of American history. Now, however, over 200 years later, with a seat at their school’s table, student researchers from the Penn History of Slavery Project (PHSP) are demanding that the school address its involvement in, and benefit from, the slave trade. Gladney, a history major, was originally attracted to Penn because of the diverse education that the school could provide. “I really liked the idea of living in the birthplace of American democracy, since Philadelphia had a lot of U.S. history,” says Gladney. Through her major track, Gladney enrolled in a class called “Deciphering America,” taught by Dr. Kathleen Brown, which focused on people of color in antebellum America. The unusual perspective of the class reflects Brown’s interest in the academic field of pre-abolition history, a passion of the professor’s that would later lead to her establishing the PHSP. After coordinating support from the university’s history department and getting interested students on board, Brown officially created the group and began the process of unearthing the truth about Penn’s historical relationship with slaveholding. Around the same time she was taking “Deciphering America,” Gladney heard that Yale University was changing the name of one of their buildings because it was named after a slave owner. “I didn’t really know how I felt about that,” says Gladney. “I asked both professors how they felt about it and we started talking about the same thing in class, about how academic institutions should start taking responsibility for the complications and not erase them, but acknowledge them. Sometimes, we use the vernacular of non-erasure to mean non-accountability; I was very much frustrated with that.” Gladney had always operated under the notion that, if you’re confused about something, the best way to figure it out was to get involved. So, when Brown told Gladney about the project she was starting, the senior told her she was interested. Over the course of the next two semesters, starting in fall 2017, Gladney worked alongside a team of four other student researchers, including history sophomore Brooke Krancer and recent Penn alumnus Matthew Palczynski, to tackle questions surrounding the university’s past. Their hope was that by analyzing the school’s original trustees and their economic activity, the project would be able to investigate Penn’s connections to slavery and the slave trade. The students approached their research with the idea that

there is no innocence within a slaveholding society, meaning that, in one way or another, Penn’s founding was rooted in connections to slavery, even if the institution itself did not directly engage in slave owning or trading. For instance, while not all of the trustees owned slaves, some did, which meant they might have funneled some portion of that money into building Penn. Or, perhaps, less subtly, the founders employed slave labor when constructing the campus’s original infrastracture. Whether roundabout or direct, any connection between slavery and the university was subject to their examination. To find these answers, the team asked questions such as: Did any of the trustees own slaves? Did any of the trustees directly owe their income from Penn to slaves? Were any slaves sold to fund Penn? Did slave labor help construct the original buildings for Penn? How close were enslaved people to Penn during its early history? These, and many more, however, were only the starting points of a deep investigation into Penn’s original trustees. To gather data and conduct research, the students used a variety of resources both modern and historical. Digitally, the group combed through online databases like ancestry.com, as well as archives belonging to the University of Pennsylvania and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. In addition to their web-based research, Gladney, Krancer, Palczynski and others used textbooks to track down the school’s original trustees and investigate their activity as slave traders. The team also used tax records to identify what property the trustees owned, including slaves. After that, each student was assigned four specific slave-holding trustees to focus on, with a special emphasis on creating a biographical profile of their subjects. Through their efforts, the team was eventually able to connect the individuals with the numbers that appeared on their tax records. “Of the 126 trustees we found that 28 were involved in trading. And of those 28, we found that 20 involved slaves,” says Palczynski.

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A STATUE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, ONE OF THE UNIVERSITY’S MOST PROMINENT FOUNDERS AND A SLAVE OWNER, CAN BE FOUND ON CAMPUS.

Any university can and should look into their own ties to slavery. Just because the university itself did not hold enslaved people, does not mean that the university itself is not implicated.

What the students found has not only unearthed even more unanswered questions for the university to address, it has also contributed to a larger dialogue about what is the most effective, responsible way for America to confront the sins of its past. But, instead of the conversation being riddled with accusation and acrimony, the discussion needs to be one that realistically considers the information, research and data behind these truths, explains Gladney. “Hopefully institutions like Penn getting involved encourages other universities in Philadelphia and throughout America [to follow suit], especially since this is such a big part of history in America,” she says. “This has the potential to change how we talk about slavery and move it from black history to American history.”

While members of the PHSP hope to inspire other institutions to look their own legacies in the mirror, the university is not the first school to examine its historical ties to slavery. In 2003, Brown University led the first of such self-examinations, launching a research intitiative designed to explore the connections between universities and slavery. Until 2009, when the College of William & Mary admitted to their own exploitation of slave labor, the original research that took place at Brown went unrecognized. Now, however, colleges across the country are discussing the topic with fervor. Within the last decade, prominent schools have headed the movement to not only bring to light their issues related to slavery, but to fix them. For example, in addition to renaming their John C. Calhoun building

(the event that sparked Gladney’s activism), Yale also launched a slavery and abolition online portal that outlines the school’s lineage to slavery, an initiative spurred by student protests. And while Penn is not the first academic institution to look critically at its founders, the fact that the PHSP’s extensive work is mostly student-led has caught the attention of the nation. For universities though, the temptation to ignore or suppress this kind of research is strong. After all, complacency, especially within systems of oppression and historical anti-blackness, has always worked as an effective means of killing the conversation. But, ignoring any problem only exacerbates it, which means coming to terms with the past now will always be better than doing so tomorrow. In addition, sweeping their history under the rug only negatively impacts the school’s ability to attract the best and brightest, push intellectual envelopes and promote an atmostphere of holding truth to power. In Penn’s case, admitting their complicity in the slave trade was not going to be an easy thing to do; it would, however, attest to a spirit of integrity that the university claimed to champion. The truth is that the historical fabric of many prestigious universities is interwoven with threads of slavery, slave ownership and slave labor, and while critically unpacking those histories is a crucial step toward achieving equity for all students, the task itself is massive. In fact, the overwhelming majority of predominately white institutions have yet to address, or even entertain the idea of addressing, their potential connections to slavery. Because of this, racism of both the covert and overt varieties can manifest itself on campus culturally, interpersonally and operationally. For instance, at the University of Texas at Austin, the school’s history of racism is so embedded within its legacy that, more than 150 years after the abolition of slavery, numerous on-campus buildings still bear the names of slave owners. UT freshman and Plan II Honors major Anthony Douglas has noticed an underlying history of racial discrimination and injustice that often goes unaddressed. “As a black student, I often feel disgusted at some of the buildings and statues the university houses that are in memory of racist figures,” he says. “It’s a consistent reminder to minority students that they have been and are still undervalued.” Buildings such as Robert Lee Moore Hall, named after a mathematics professor noted for his racist treatment of black students, and Littlefield Residence Hall, Cafe and Fountain, named after a Confederate general and university regent, all evoke feelings of unease for students and faculty of color. A bill passed by the General Student Assembly in October 2017 called for the renaming of RLM Hall, but no progress seems to have been made in actually moving forward with the renaming process since then. Over six months later and the building still stands as Robert Lee Moore Hall. “Until such a name is changed, minority students — especially those who identify as black — have to enter or pass a building named after a re-

nowned racist,” says Douglas. Similar to the efforts of the student researchers at Penn, Douglas has already made much of his time on campus and has been instrumental in holding the university accountable for its lack of diversity. Being one of only a few people of color, on both the faculty and staff, within his honors program inspired Douglas to address his concerns with administration. “I have pushed for increased diversity on the faculty, successfully, so that minority students not only feel more comfortable, but so the major has a more inclusive community,” says Douglas. “I have also pushed for them to find ways to let minority students know about the major and encourage them to apply, along with others on the Director’s Student Advisory Council, the Plan II Admissions Staff and the Plan II Advisory Council.” This year, the program saw a 45 percent increase in minority applications because of the efforts. Against the backdrop of a country grappling with serious, paradigmatic issues of race and social equality, where does that leave Penn and other universities across the nation? The members of the PHSP feel that supporting continued research and addressing their findings on an official level is an uncomfortable, yet vital step toward a future of transparency for the university. “One of the most important things the university can do is support more undergraduate research on the topic to support its students looking further into its ties to slavery,” says Krancer, one of the student researchers on the PHSP. “Any university can and should look into their own ties to slavery. Just because the university itself did not hold enslaved people, does not mean that the university itself is not implicated.” Although Penn has yet to address the students’ findings on any public level, they have established a task force composed of faculty members who are currently in the process of planning continued research on the topic. “We are planning to take those steps and I’m trying to be an instrumental part in taking those steps,” says Gladney. “The university hasn’t made a big statement or anything about it yet, but I don’t think that’s because they’re not going to. We’re preparing.” Ultimately, though the process of honest introspection may be discomfiting, universities across the country have much more to gain from addressing their checkered histories than from ignoring them. Candid examination will create an environment of dialogue and openness, which will only allow students and faculty to more deeply and realistically understand their campuses. “The best way to talk about any sort of problematic history of any institution is information, disclosure and conversation. If we are nervous about having this conversation, it’s very clear that we aren’t looking at this issue the way an academic institution should,” Gladney says. “This is something that’s just as much a part of Penn’s history as anything else. This is just as much a part of American history, and just because it’s a dark part doesn’t mean that it doesn’t deserve any light.”

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A Z i n e a n d a F r e s h Fac e

An interview with USC student Taylor Seamans, a computational neuroscience major and the founder of Inbtwn. Magazine. BY J ON AT H A N C HRIS T I A N, NORT H WE S T V IS TA C OL L E GE P H O T O GR A P H Y BY A RIEL PA RR A , UNI VER S I T Y OF C A L IF ORNI A , BERK EL E Y

If you think about it, college is a balancing act. Oftentimes, the relationship between personal hobbies and mandatory assignments is unstable, with the latter frequently winning out, forcing you to set your hopes and dreams aside in favor of finishing your education and praying you earn a degree. This is a struggle Taylor Seamans knows all too well.

the idea of Inbtwn. is you’re growing and you’re changing. I feel that’s reflective of art, but also personally, I feel like I’m in a place where I don’t know quite what I want to do after school, so I’m still falling into and forming my identity — so it’s that feeling of being in between of where I’m going and who I’m becoming.

As a computational neuroscience major and the founder/editor-in-chief of Inbtwn. Magazine (pronounced “in-between”), the USC student is self-taught in all of the disciplines required to create the publication and brings a distinctive perspective to the table.

JC: I NOTICED THE ISSUES REVOLVE AROUND THEMES LIKE UNCERTAINTY AND GROWTH. HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH THOSE? IS IT INTENTIONAL, OR IS IT BASED AROUND THE VISUALS?

In the oversaturated market of online publications, Inbtwn. stands out. The publication’s slick, minimalist aesthetic allows readers to discover visual output from young photographers, poets and artists, with each issue revolving around a theme; uncertainty, growth and possibility rank among those previously featured. With five issues released as of March 2018, Inbtwn. has the potential to expand into a publication to truly contend with, specifically among online art magazines. It’s striking, concise and most of all memorable, as interviews with the featured artists adds insightful substance to the magazine’s notable style. I sat down with the San Diego native to discuss her artistic process, the inspiration for Inbtwn. and her perspectives on art as a whole. JONATHAN CHRISTIAN: WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO START INBTWN.? TAYLOR SEAMANS: Last summer, I’d gone to Spain and walked

part of the Camino de Santiago, which is this pilgrimage-type trip. When I came back, my brother had done this summer program through [Chapman University] — he’s really interested in film, but he’s still in high school. He’d met some girls in his program and told me they’d started a zine.

I’ve always liked doing art and being creative, but I was never super satisfied by just painting or doodling. I felt like there was never a final product I could share with people, so the idea of a magazine seemed interesting because it was creative, but at the same time, I was creating a product I could show and share. I guess that’s sort of the selfish reason behind it. I was looking for an outlet I felt was productive. JC: HOW’D YOU COME UP WITH THE NAME INBTWN.? TC: I feel like this is a question I should have a better answer

for. It doesn’t have a huge backstory, aside from the fact that

TS: The themes are ideas I’m curious about, and I’m curious to

see how other people think about them. Sometimes I’m sitting around and I brainstorm different ideas I’d want to explore in my own thoughts that are equally interesting to hear from other people about. It’s semi-random, but it’s also personal. JC: ARE YOU THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE VISUAL AESTHETIC OF THE MAGAZINE? THE DESIGN IS WHAT ATTRACTED ME TO THE MAGAZINE INITIALLY. TS: Thanks. I basically do everything for the magazine right

now, except I have a few friends who help with photography, like in the [March issue], and introductions for some of the interviews. But I interview all the artists and do the layout — the layout is what I’ve had fun with, experimenting with images and text.

I really like the minimalist look. I’ve never taken a photojournalism or any [related courses], so I don’t feel like I’m following any rules or being restricted by any rules when I make the layout. It’s not random, but it’s what I feel looks good. There are definitely a lot of iterations for each issue. I want each page to be engaging and a little unexpected, but balanced at the same time. JC: HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE ARTISTS YOU FEATURE? TS : It’s honestly me going through Instagram and discovering

people I find interesting — it’s one of the coolest things about making the magazine. It gives me a platform to reach out to all these people whose art I’m really intrigued by — to ask them questions, that even if I wasn’t making the magazine, I’d still be curious about. Having the magazine gives me a platform to reach out to them with a purpose. Instagram’s been interesting through this whole process. It’s allowed me to find a lot of artists I didn’t know before and reach out to people. Everyone’s been really responsive for the most part. JC: HAVE THE ARTISTS GIVEN YOU ANY QUOTES YOU’VE RELATED TO OR DISTINCTLY REMEMBER? TS: In Issue 4, I interviewed Joy Miessi and she said, “MainS T U D Y B R E AKS

stream beauty fails to reflect women who look like me. Black is depicted as the other. As I am learning to reject these standards, this unlearning is being documented through my artwork.” I think her art is powerful on its own, but the wording of this as well. The notion of “unlearning” is suggestive that society raises people with a knowledge of one kind of beauty and that understanding there are many kinds of beauty is, sadly, an active process. It makes me think about identity as a perpetually changing idea, something people often grapple with because of outside pressures. Another quote I like is from Carolyn Flaherty, when I interviewed her in Issue 1, and she elaborated on her song “lighthouse lullaby”: “It’s about being home, but also about thinking you knew someone really well and realizing that you fantasized all this stuff about them.” I liked this because I think it’s something I think about often — the idea of someone versus the reality of them. Not in the way that you make a person up in your head, but that you have a mental representation of what someone is like and sometimes you alter it to be closer to how you want them to be, and maybe that’s not right to do, but it happens. JC: DO YOU FEEL INBTWN. IS A PERSONAL EXPRESSION OR MORE SO A SHOWCASE OF ARTISTS? TS : First and foremost, it’s a showcase of the artists. It’s a show-

case of their work and recommendation that people should [support them], but it’s also indirectly a reflection of my own interests. I’m choosing artists I’m personally intrigued by and asking the questions that I’m curious about.

JC: I’VE NOTICED IT’S DIFFICULT FOR FIRST-TIME ARTISTS OR PUBLICATIONS TRYING TO BUILD AN AUDIENCE. HAS IT BEEN DIFFICULT FOR YOU AND HOW’VE YOU TRIED BUILDING AN AUDIENCE? TS: It’s definitely something I’m still trying to figure out as well.

Since my magazine [centers around] visuals, I can post images to Instagram, but in terms of building an audience, it’s been happening slowly.

The biggest thing I’m trying to do is create relationships with the people I interview, because I do find their work really incredible, and through creating meaningful relationships and following up with artists from past issues, it helps create more of a community — to keep people involved. Also, engaging with the readers helps to create a more personal feel. I want people to feel welcome — that they can submit work, be featured or just leave feedback rather than feeling distanced. JC: WOULD YOU SAY YOU’RE TRYING TO BUILD AN ARTISTIC MOVEMENT AROUND THE MAGAZINE? TS: I don’t know if I’d say an artistic movement. I want the mag-

azine to make art accessible to people who may not have a background in art. I think it’s easy for people who don’t have an exposure to see art to say, “Oh, I don’t get it,” or “I don’t understand this.” I think part of my motivation to do interviews is to reveal the inspirations behind the artist’s work, because I think people don’t always understand the art visually, but they understand the source behind it.

I think in the same way, I want my magazine, in the structures of the interviews and the layout, to invite people into thinking about art and relating to it in a way that maybe felt distant or unnatural in the past. JC: YOU SEEM TO CONNECT WITH ART ON A VERY PERSONAL LEVEL. WHAT WAS THE LAST WORK OF ART THAT YOU RELATED TO, WHETHER THAT BE MUSIC, MOVIES ETC.? TS: Music-wise, I’ve listened to — maybe this is a mainstream

answer — but I’ve listened to a lot of Frank Ocean over the past year. The first time I listened to him was early high school, maybe around 2012. A friend of mine had “Bad Religion” on a CD in her car, and the rawness of the melody got me hooked. So now that he’s finally released more stuff recently, I’ve been listening to a bunch of that. “Blonde” obviously, but he recently put out his cover of “Moon River.”

One of my favorite movies is “Her.” I get a lot of weird looks from friends when I say that. They say, “You mean the one where the man falls in love with the computer?” And I guess at a surface level, that’s the plot, but I think there’s a lot more to it — maybe I’ve imposed my own ideas on the movie. But to me, it seems more like a commentary about connections and understanding in a realm of emotions rather than in the realm of physical bodies. The actual cinematography of the movie is also just really beautiful in my opinion. It was shot on a RED camera, so the quality is incredible and the color grading is so appealing to me — it’s soft, like early morning light. The score is also really nice, especially the piano pieces by Arcade Fire. I love piano, and I liked the idea that Samantha [the computer] was composing these pieces to express her emotions, from timid to falling in love. The film was sensitive emotionally, but also experimental in terms of its plot, and it’s one I always recommend friends to watch. JC: ONCE YOU GRADUATE, DO YOU PLAN ON PURSUING A SCIENCE-RELATED DEGREE OR SOMETHING MORE CREATIVE? TS: I am very unsure right now about what I want to do after

graduating. I always thought design or art basically for me was a hobby, and science is my main thing.

But, I’ve become increasingly interested in how I can overlap the two — even just through some of the classes I’m taking this semester. I’m taking a web-publishing course and USC offers a user-experience course. I’m interested in those fields potentially because they combine technical things like programming with design. Through the magazine I’ve seen that design is something I can do [for a career], since it’s something I get caught up in doing for hours and hours. But at the same time, I like the technical aspects of programming. But, we’ll see. I feel like I should know more what I want to do when I graduate, but I do see design being a part of my future,

and I don’t think I would’ve known that had I not done the magazine. JC: DO YOU PLAN ON CONTINUING THE MAGAZINE AFTER YOU GRADUATE? TS: I want to keep it going. It’s been exciting. The whole thing has

been an experiment — from reaching out to people, to doing the layout and seeing what people’s feedback is like. I think it’s gaining traction. It’s been nine-ish months; I started last July. Assuming it keeps going well, I want to keep doing it. It’s been a personal journey and I’m curious how far I can push [the boundaries]. JC: WHAT’S THE MAIN TAKEAWAY YOU WANT FOR READERS? TS: I guess to be open-minded about art, even if you feel like

you’re someone who doesn’t typically get it, to just take a minute and read one interview and see the perspective of these artists, and also, how art can transcend and connect different fields. ... INBTWN. MAGAZINE IS AVAILABLE TO VIEW AND PURCHASE ON THEIR WEBSITE — INBTWNMAG.COM — OR ON THEIR ISSUU PAGE (HTTPS://ISSUU.COM/INBTWNMAG). FOLLOW THE PUBLICATION ON INSTAGRAM: @INBTWNMAG

Meet Libby Burke

Burke’s pun-loving, eccentric stencils took off by word of mouth after she began designing shirts for herself. Soon, Ides was born. BY KAYLA PLATOFF, MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY

Libby Burke is a fourth-year political science major at UCLA and the owner of a t-shirt business. Even though she is not involved in an artistic major, Burke grew up surrounded by art and her creative upbringing carried over into adulthood. Her journey began when she started turning doodles in her notebooks into bona fide designs. After making a few shirts featuring her designs for herself, she got involved in printing when she realized that other people would be interested in buying her clothing. She and Jessica Chase, her business partner, now run their own business, called Ides, and have an official website where shoppers can buy her designs. As for the future, Burke hopes the business will expand. While Burke and Chase will be graduating this year and going their separate ways, they will still be able to make their shirts and see where the future takes the business.

similar styles, but I have grown up around art, so I feel like all of those influences have subliminally affected me. KP: DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU WANTED TO GET INTO THE T-SHIRT BUSINESS SPECIFICALLY? LB: It kind of just worked out that way. I was working over the

summer at Mastercard, and I wanted to spend my free time productively and creatively. I wanted to have a productive outlet rather than just sleeping or watching Netflix, so I picked up learning the guitar and started drawing more. It just started out as a hobby and I only made a few shirts.

Then, I was wearing my shirts when I came back to school and a friend came up to me and asked where I got my shirts. When I said that I made them, she said that people would probably be interested in buying them and offered to front me the money to start making a few.

KAYLA PLATOFF: SINCE YOU’RE A POLITICAL SCIENCE MAJOR, I’M CURIOUS AS TO HOW YOU GOT INVOLVED IN SUCH A CREATIVE LINE OF WORK? LIBBY BURKE: My mom and stepdad are both art dealers, so I’ve

KP: HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH YOUR COMPANY NAME? LB: It’s actually an old family name — it’s my great-grandmother’s

grown up around art. I’m going to UCLA to study political theory just because it is something different but, even then, what I’m studying does relate to my art.

maiden name. The Ides were the part of my family that came over from an island in England, settled Vermont and were also the first of my family to come out to California. Since I’m the first in my nuclear family to come to California, I thought it was a funny little homage to that.

When studying political theory, I have to read a lot and a lot of it is just studying or focusing on one word and the meaning of a word, so I’m interested in the idea of words and how you visualize them, which is how it all comes together.

I also like the sound of the name and it is a part of my heritage. I never got to meet my great-grandmother but she really influenced my mom, and I’m also named after her so I was also paying tribute to that.

KP: WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST T-SHIRT DESIGN? LB : It was a wasp. My family is from Connecticut and they’re very

KP: DID YOU FACE ANY OBSTACLES WHEN TRYING TO OPEN UP YOUR OWN COMPANY? LB: Not really, but we’re still trying to get the word out. My

WASP-y [White Anglo-Saxon Protestant], and it’s funny because I’m out in LA and they’re all art dealers, so we’re a traditional family in that sense. So, the design was more of a joke and a play off of a word. KP: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR ARTISTIC STYLE? LB: I really like contrast of colors. I started out with notebook

doodles that were just black and white, but I wanted to translate that into a different medium that required more skill than doodles on a notebook page, which is how I got into printing. I picked out some old undershirts and put my designs on them because I thought they would look cool on a t-shirt. KP: DO YOU HAVE ANY ARTISTIC INSPIRATION? LB: I really like Keith Haring, and I like cartoonish contrasts and

friends have been great about posting about it on social media, so we haven’t faced anything too difficult yet. Only time will tell. It’s been cool starting something like this because you realize so many things that you’d never thought about before, like how we’re going to price something, if we make shirts in bulk or make orders as they come, how many designs we are going to do, how many times we will do designs and other things like that. We’ve recently begun doing commissions, so people can ask us to design shirts. We’re designing shirts for a student government campaign right now, so we’re branching out more into that. KP: WHAT ARE YOU HOPING FOR IN THE FUTURE; ARE YOU WANTING YOUR BUSINESS TO EXPAND?

LB: I do this with a business partner named Jessica Chase,

and she manages the website, figures out pricing and handles all of that. We’re both seniors, so she’s moving to the Midwest after graduation to work on political campaigns and I’m moving to New York to work for a corporate law firm, so we don’t know what will happen after June. We do have the website for a year though, and as of this quarter we’re hoping to release another 10 designs and do more custom designs. The business is mobile since we do have the website and you can make t-shirts anywhere, so hopefully I can continue doing this for a while. It would be awesome if the business became more serious as well. For now, it’s just a good creative outlet and we are making some money on the side. KP: DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO START A BUSINESS?

LB: My advice would be to just do it. I’ve ended up talking

to a lot of friends who think it’s great that I’ve done this and they say that, while they’ve had ideas, they never got around to doing something like this because they don’t think they’ll make a profit. We just started making a profit with our t-shirts. We’ve covered all of our basic costs, and that feeling of satisfaction from knowing that I’ve covered the costs and that I’m actually making money off of my own thoughts and actions has been a cool feeling. Seventy-five percent of starting a business is simply saying, “If I want to do this, I should set aside the time to do it.” I think that people think too much about every scenario and get too bogged down to the point where you don’t act, and I think a lot of starting a business is just overcoming that fear. KP: IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS? LB: Just buy a shirt! They’re only $10, they’re fun designs

and it’s a limited supply.

Your May Horoscope, as

BY : S A M K A S IER S K I , UNC - C H A P EL HIL L

AQUARIUS: EARTH LOVER’S CLUB

Meetings are held monthly in the botanical gardens. Drugs are encouraged. PISCES: HARRY POTTER FAN CLUB

Don’t ever let your peers convince you that magic isn’t real. But it isn’t. ARIES: CROSS COUNTRY CLUB

Run, Forrest, Run!

TAURUS: BUSINESS FRATERNITY

Accepting daddy’s money as payment for dues since the beginning of white people. GEMINI: CHESS CLUB

Membership includes a mixer with the Harry Potter Fan Club for the ultimate nerd experience. CANCER: POETRY CLUB

Roses are red. Violets are blue. Your rhymes are your own, because no one understands you. LEO: SPIRIT CLUB

You can hand out as many flyers as possible, but no one is showing up to the fencing match. VIRGO: DEBATE CLUB

Can’t maintain a relationship because you refuse to be wrong? Your weakness is a strength here. LIBRA: PRE-LAW CLUB

Get a headstart on your law career by reviewing the legitimacy of on-campus parking tickets. SCORPIO: YOUNG REPUBLICANS

Times have been better to be in this club. SAGITTARIUS: YOUNG LIFE

Must love Jesus, wear sandals and ride a longboard everywhere to be a member. CAPRICORN: ROTC

Someone has to wake up at 6 a.m. everyday to make sure ISIS doesn’t invade the campus.

TAMED BROWS, WILD AT HEART.

YOUR FIRST BROW WAX IS FREE* ONE WAX IS ALL IT TAKES TO FALL IN LOVE. AUSTIN - THE TRIANGLE | 512 452 4929 4700 W. Guadalupe St., Suite A-10 WAXCENTER.COM I europeanwax

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