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SPORTS Swimming teams sweep BirminghamSouthern

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A&E

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‘Crimson Peak,’ a staggeringly gorgeous Gothic romance

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OPINION What did ‘Back to the Future II’ get right and wrong?

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tricks, treats and tradition Costumed collegians welcomed by the wagners | p. 18

The Independent Student-Run Newspaper of Emory University Since 1919

VOL. 97 ISSUE 8 October 28, 2015

NEWS

ANNIE MCGREW | EDITOR

Emory releases Campus Climate survey results Emily Sullivan | Asst. News Editor emily.sullivan@emory.edu

Warning: This article discusses issues of rape and sexualized violence that may be triggering for some.

The results of the University Senate Committee for the Prevention of Sexual Violence’s first anonymous campus climate survey show that Emory must boost sexual assault prevention efforts, according to Associate Professor of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education Jessica Sales.

“Everything we learned from the survey was important, because [before] we had nothing,” Sales said.

The Results In April, all Emory community members received an email with a survey of roughly 150 questions that evaluated the perceptions and prevalence of campus sexual violence ranging from harassment to stalking to rape. Over 2,500 people, a little over 18 percent, responded to at least one question, but, of those, not all responded to every question.

Roughly 10 percent of the respondents said they had experienced a sexual assault, and of those, more than six percent said they formally reported the incident to Emory.

Three-quarters of Emory College respondents said they had witnessed sexual harassment and more than half had experienced sexual harassment since coming to Emory.

About 17 percent of College respondents said that they have experienced stalking, almost 23 percent said that they have experienced interpersonal violence and more than 18 percent said

that they have experienced sexual assault or rape at Emory.

Over 33 percent of College respondents said that they have experienced interpersonal violence while in a relationship.

“We were all — I don’t want to say shocked — but glad that we asked about those various forms of violence,” Sales said.

Sexual assault refers to physical contact while harassment involves unwanted sexual advances and inappropriate comments.

About half of Emory College respondents said that they have received a disclosure from a peer who had been harassed, stalked, sexually assaulted or raped. About half of these respondents said they felt prepared to help their peer.

Over 70 percent of respondents who indicated that they had experienced sexual assault said that the assault occurred in the context of alcohol use.

About half of respondents did not know where to look for more information about Emory’s sexual assault resources for students, including those offered by Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), the Respect Program and Title IX Coordinators.

Two-thirds of students said that it is moderately

SURVEY RESULTS

likely to very likely that the administration will take a report of sexual assault seriously. About half of respondents said it is moderately likely to very likely that the administration will take corrective action against an offender.

Emory College students’ overall faith in the administration’s response to sexual assault incidents is encouraging, according to Sales. However, “it doesn’t mean there is no room for improvement,” she said.

The Survey For a census-based survey, the demographic was well-represented, Sales said. Respondents included 1,061 Emory College undergraduates, 211 Oxford College respondents and 1,341 graduate students.

About two-thirds of respondents identified as women, about one-third identified as men and 0.4 percent identified as transgender. Less than one percent of respondents did not specify their gender.

The Association of American Universities (AAU) invited Emory to participate in its Campus Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct last November, but Emory decided to conduct its own survey so that it could have control over what questions would be included, Sales said.

The committee drew questions from several previously distributed surveys, including those from the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, the University of Oregon and the Massachusetts

18.7% 10.7% 6.6% 70% Percentage of Emory University student body that filled out at least one question on the survey

Percentage of respondents who reported that they have experienced incidents of sexual assault or rape since coming to Emory

Percentage of respondents who reported the sexual assault or rape through Emory’s formal reporting procedures

Percentage of respondents who reported that the respective sexual assault or rape occurred in the context of alcohol

GRAPHIC BY OLIVIA SHULER | STAFF

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Institute of Technology (MIT). Included in the survey were yes-or-no responses, multiple choice questions and agree-or-disagree statements, such as “If a girl doesn’t say ‘no’ she can’t claim rape.”

The Emory survey did have its limitations. For one, no explicit control was available against which to evaluate students’ responses because of differences in wording and sampling between schools, according to Kathleen Krause, co-chair for the Campus Climate Survey Subcommittee.The committee could not publicly release the results and the number of respondents for each specific question, due to student confidentiality.

This survey comes in light of last year’s U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) investigation of Emory, along with 54 other U.S. colleges. The investigation would examine Emory’s handling of sexual violence reports and address a compliance review

that had been pending since 2013, but did not suggest that Emory had violated any laws. Emory cooperated with the investigation.

The Upshot Emory’s results aligned with national statistics, said Krause, who is also a Ph.D. candidate at the Rollins School of Public Health. “[Sexual assault is] not unique to Emory, not unique to Atlanta and not unique to Georgia,” Sales said, adding that cross-university dialogues could be effective.

Moving forward, the committee plans to take small steps to ensure the survey’s accuracy and to ensure that the Emory community is aware of the University’s preventative strategies. Results from a faculty and staff climate survey will be released in spring 2016.

The committee recommended that Emory strengthen its prevention strategies, increase bystander awareness programs and fine-tune alcohol and drug education strategies.

The committee can now decide what is known to the community and what isn’t, according to Andrew Rizzo, assistant director for the Respect Program. Rizzo works with the Senate’s prevention planning subcommittee.

Sexual violence cannot be dismissed considering its occurrence on Emory’s campus, he said. “[The survey] helps me so I can say that we can’t ignore it here,” he said.

If you have been affected by violence and/or would like to speak with someone, students can get free confidential advocacy and support through Wanda Swan, the Respect Program advocate, at wanda.swan@emory.edu or 404.727.7388.

Blackboard no more?

Emor y tests Canvas , a new learning management system, as a potential replacement for Blackboard.

Madeline Holcombe | Contributing Writer tems catalyzed this year’s trial, according to Clontz. Wednesday demonstrations, surveys and drop-in madeline.holcombe@emory.edu They have begun piloting Canvas — which has a set demo sessions. of mobile applications and is entirely cloud-hosted Participation in these demonstrations by stu— with a group of students and faculty to assess dents is important, Clontz said, adding that “we’re tudents may have to say goodbye to Blackwhether or not it is a more rich, robust and accesstill a long way from being able to make a final recboard as early as next year. ommendation.”

Emory University’s Libraries and Infor- sible platform.

The initial stages of the Canvas trial will last the College junior Benjamin Baranov said that he mation Technology department announced earlier duration of the semester and currently involves 20 does not like Blackboard, citing that many of his this semester that they will begin testing a program faculty members who have been trained to operate professors don’t use it. called Canvas to potentially replace Blackboard.

Kelsey Abbott, a College junior and a Canvas Since 2003, Blackboard has served as Emory’s their classes with about 650 students on the Canvas system. user, favors Canvas for its simplicity and accessibillearning management system (LMS), but this se“If that pilot is generally positive, mester marks the start of a lengthy evaluation of the system, which will be compared to Canvas —an we would expect to recommend ex“[Canvas] functions just as well as BlackLMS launched in 2011. Canvas has grown to be- panding to a larger pilot in the spring board, but has extra organizational perks that come the primary tool for online educational com- to allow for more input so that we can make it superior to Blackboard.” munication and organization at 1,400 learning in- make a fully informed recommenda— Meghan Spencer tion to leadership,” Clontz said. stitutions.

The decision on whether to tranLee Clontz, manager of Teaching and Learning Technologies said his team surveyed students sition to the new Canvas system will come from ity, as well as for how the courses are laid out in and faculty regularly over the years and found that feedback from these classes as well as outside re- modules. sponses from Blackboard users. In the Robert W. So far, many participants in the pilot have benmany felt Blackboard is “clunky and complicated.”

“Blackboard is a very powerful platform with a Woodruff Library on the first and third Wednesday efited from additional features on Canvas.

“It functions just as well as Blackboard, but has great deal of customization options,” he said. “But of the month, until mid-November, students not involved in courses participating in the pilot proextra organizational perks that make it superior its downside is complexity of administration and gram can experience Canvas and give their feedto Blackboard, ” said College sophomore Meghan the slow pace of innovation in the product.”

New innovations in learning management sys- back through classroom presentations, Wonderful Spencer.

S

NEWS SPOTLIGHT

Univ. Historian Gary Hauk

LEILA YAVARI | VIDEO EDITOR VIDEO AT EMORYWHEEL.COM

Anwesha Guha | Asst. News Editor anwesha.guha@emory.edu

Gary Hauk, vice president and deputy to the president, will become Emory’s first official historian, as appointed by President James W. Wagner and University Librarian Yolanda Cooper. Hauk has unofficially filled the role for years.

H

e will be responsible for raising awareness and advancing an appreciation of Emory’s past, evaluated in the context of Emory’s plans for the future, according to an Oct. 22 press release.

“This is kind of giving me an excuse to do guilt-free what I’ve been doing kind of on the side and [during] spare moments whenever I could,” Hauk said. “So it’s a chance for me to legitimately get up to the archives and spend time there without having to apologize for it.”

As historian, he will continue his work researching Emory’s history in conjunction with the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library.

He’s very well-versed in the history of the University because of the research he has done,” Cooper said. “He tends to be the person you go to.”

Hauk has published two books about Emory’s history, including his most recent — A Legacy of Heart and Mind: Emory Since 1836 published in 1999. After becoming historian, Hauk intends on updating this his-

tory with information from the last 15 years.

He was initially inspired by his PhD work in ethics at Emory’s Graduate Division of Religion.

“We spent a lot of time looking at the way institutions shape people’s moral outlook and ethical behavior and also the way individuals — both as persons and as parts of community – help to shape institutions,” Hauk said.

“So I really got interested in the life of institutions and how they [develop and] present themselves ethically.”

However, his special interest in Emory’s history specifically was rooted in his work with the Board of Trustees in the University’s Office of the Secretary. When he joined the administration over 20 years ago to guide a variety of UniThis is kind versity-wide projects, his unofficial of giving me research began.

When he shifted an excuse to do from the role of guilt-free what vice president and secretary to the I’ve been doing role of vice presikind of on the dent and deputy to the president in side and [during] 2004, his historispare moments cal research continued. whenever I could.

“I would ofSo it’s a chance for ten find myself looking through me to legitimately minutes of board get up to the meetings, going back decades archives and sometimes and questions would spend time there come up,” Hauk without having to said. “I would find myself occasionapologize for it. ally researching interesting historical points and I would get absorbed and drawn in to the history of the University that way.”

In 2011, he launched a website of the University’s history. In his new position, he hopes to devote more time to this website in the form of a daily blog, which will make information more accessible to students or alumni who are interested in Emory’s history.

He will continue to answer emails and phone calls from students who would like to learn more about campus.

“Just out of kind of natural curiosity about the history and development of the institution, I began to get a real sense of the past here,” Hauk said. “I also began to become aware in talking with alumni and students that there didn’t seem to be a strong sense of the institution’s history, and so I began to think that maybe there is a need for some greater understanding.”

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Yerkes under federal investigation for primate deaths Namrata Verghese | Contributing Writer namrata.susan.verghese@emory.edu

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ollowing a routine inspection of Emory University’s Yerkes NaAccording to Newbern, the Center worked with Emory’s IACUC to intional Primate Research Center on Sept. 22, the U.S. Departvestigate the incidents’ circumstances, review procedures and implement of Agriculture (USDA) issued the Center a citation ment additional safeguards, including rewriting standard operating for two instances of non-compliance with the Animal Welfare Act. procedures and training staff in newly-implemented protocols to The citation was issued for the alleged negligent deaths of two prevent any similar occurrences. nonhuman primate research subjects.

“We believe these modifications enhance our animal care proThe first of these deaths occurred in early March, when the gram and reflect our ongoing commitment to provide the highUniversity reported the euthanization of an 11-month-old est level of care to the animals at Yerkes,” she wrote. monkey that had been held down by a rubber band tied to its Going forward, Budkie is adamant that Emory’s only possible wrists to undergo a tattooing procedure for identification purcourse of action is to close down Yerkes. poses. The Emory research staff neglected to remove the rubber “Eliminate the use of nonhuman primates,” he said. “Monkeys band, which subsequently became embedded in the monkey’s are still essentially wild animals and are not suited to captivity.” body. This caused drastic deterioration in the animal’s neurologBudkie says that adapting to a laboratory setting is extremely ical health over the following two months, leading to its ultimate taxing on monkeys, a stressor which often causes psychological euthanization. abnormalities and self-destructive behavior. He said that the genLater in March, another monkey died from traumatic injuries. eral public would be better served if the funding currently supportThe monkey had been accidentally placed in the wrong enclosure, and ing Yerkes were redirected into clinical, epidemiological or cuttingcame into contact with an unfamiliar group of monkeys. The monkey edge research, such as organ-on-a-chip or bioprinting technology. suffered fatal wounds that were the direct result of fighting with the unHowever, Newbern indicated that the positive aspects of Yerkes far outfamiliar group. weigh the negatives.

Michael Budkie, executive director and co-founder of Stop Animal Newbern says that the Center’s success in research advances, such as Exploitation NOW! (SAEN), an animal rights organization dedicated to developing vaccines for infectious and noninfectious diseases, developing ending animal experimentation for research purposes, originally filed a new treatment strategies for improving social functioning in social disorTwo rhesus formal complaint with the USDA on Sept. 18 regarding the two monkey macaque monkeys ders, interpreting brain activity through imagining, treating drug addicdeaths. In his complaint, Budkie regarded the deaths of the research subtion, and increasing understanding of progressive illnesses like Alzheimer’s died in March at jects as a clear, blatant violation of the Animal Welfare Act. the Yerkes National and Parkinson’s diseases, speaks to the continued need for animals in sci“I am gratified to see that [the USDA] is taking these animal deaths entific study.

Primate Research Center. | very seriously,” he wrote in an email to the Wheel. “Hopefully [this citaAccording the Center’s website, Yerkes is one of only seven National Intion] will lay the groundwork for prosecution by the USDA, because it COURTESY OF YERKES stitutes of Health-designated National Primate Research Centers and has WEBSITE clearly demonstrates that Emory staff have broken a federal law.” maintained full accreditation from the Association for Assessment and AcBudkie also noted that the second death was not a unique occurrence, creditation of Laboratory Animal Care International for 32 years. as Emory had previously received a citation for similar reasons on July Newbern also noted that, during the inspection on Sept. 22, the inspec19, 2012, when a different monkey died from attack wounds after being tor agreed with the steps Yerkes took to address the deaths. She reviewed placed in the wrong enclosure. information related to these two incidents and concluded that, while the Additionally, in September 2013, People for the Ethical Treatment of Center was found non-compliant because of the animal deaths, “Yerkes Animals (PETA) filed a complaint with the USDA over alleged negligence personnel put appropriate corrective and preventive actions in place and at Yerkes, although federal prosecution never ensued. PETA claimed that provided additional training for staff,” she wrote. an infant rhesus monkey died inside its cage after becoming entangled in “Please note that the USDA has not used the words negligent and violaa frayed fire hose. tion; those are Mr. Budkie’s terminology,” Newbern added.

Budkie stated that, since “Emory University has a history of animal welUSDA Public Affairs Specialist Tanya Espinosa confirmed Newbern’s fare violations,” SAEN intends to continue their investigation to expose statement in an email to the Wheel. all instances of abuse, while simultaneously pushing the USDA to levy Additionally, Espinosa wrote that there are no penalties for non-comthe maximum fine allowable under the Animal Welfare Act — $10,000 pliances to the Animal Welfare Act found during an inspection. If one is per infraction/per animal. found, it is documented on the inspection report and the facility is given a Yerkes Chief of Public Affairs Lisa Newbern wrote in an email to the timeframe to correct it. Emory has already addressed one of its non-comWheel that Yerkes self-reported both incidents to Emory’s Institutional pliances, and has until Oct. 31 to correct its second non-compliance.

Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), the Office of Laboratory Ani“At some point, our inspector will be back to re-inspect the facility,” Esmal Welfare (OLAW) and the USDA well before Budkie submitted his pinosa wrote. “If the non-compliance is not corrected, than we may take complaint. further action.”

NEWS

ANNIE MCGREW | EDITOR

‘We are people, not percentages’: Challenging racial categorization The Multi Ethnic and Racial Group at Emor y (MERGE ) launches their Identity Awareness Campaign for the first time this year.

ASHA CASLIN

KIRA SCHNEIDER

VARUN KARTHIK

SARA PENGELLEY

COURTESY

Emily Li | Contributing Writer

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emily.li@emory.edu

ollege senior Huyen Nguyen has heard the question “So, what are you?” countless times.

Her frustration with that question led her to create the Multi Ethnic and Racial Group at Emory (MERGE) — a branch of Multicultural Emory that supports and celebrates multiracial, biracial and multiethnic students through a monthly discussion group and other initiatives that provide opportunities for students to discuss relevant issues in a multiracial context.

“I had been involved with the Office of Multicultural Programs and Services, but somebody asked me why I wasn’t in one of their ethnic students groups,” Nguyen said. “I think it’s because it felt like taking one side of my identity over another. I didn’t want to pick and choose.”

Last Friday, the organization also launched one of their first major awareness initiatives called the Identity Awareness Campaign. For the campaign, more than 30 students, most of who identified as multiracial, volunteered to be in a photo shoot.

Pictures from the photo shoot will be com-

piled into an edited photo collection that will be printed onto flyers and distributed around Emory campus.

Campaign Photographer and Georgia State University sophomore Tosin Ogunnoiki explained the power of photography as a medium for the campaign. According to him, photography tells a different story for each viewer.

“When someone looks at a photo, they can interpret it for themselves,” Ogunnoiki said.

“Hopefully, this collection of photos will make people stop looking at nationalities like pie charts. Even though people have different ethnicities and come from different backgrounds, we’re all people — not animals that are purebred or mixed.”

Nguyen hopes that the finished product will be something that is disruptive and that will “make people stop, look at the faces, and read the words.”

The campaign aims to address the way in which society presses multiracial individuals to quantify their racial make-up and identities.

Nguyen wants MERGE’s Identity Awareness Campaign to challenge this mentality by encouraging people to be conscious of why they’re

asking these questions and the intentions behind them.

“Even though multiracial students come from different backgrounds, I think one common experience is being asked to quantify who they are,” Nguyen said. “Some people are genuinely curious. Others are confused about what you are, so they try to fit you into a category that they feel more comfortable with, at the expense of the multiracial person feeling uncomfortable.”

College sophomore and MERGE Moderator Jalyn Radziminski agreed.

“When people ask, ‘What are you? What percentage are you?’ it’s demeaning,” she said. “I’m a person, but you’re concerned with what I’m composed of, not who I am.”

MERGE Discussion Moderator and College first-year James Bagans Jr. is half Native American and half white. His mother’s family left a Sioux reservation because they were suffering from discrimination and were able to pass as white. He believes that the campaign will work to break down this racial binary.

“We are people, not percentages,” he said. “The campaign will free not only us, our self-identity and self-expression, but also free other people’s minds from limiting us as people.”

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MERGE

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CultureShock’s first female and Latina speaker Sunidhi Ramesh | Contributing Writer

Jackie Cruz plays “Flaca” Gonzales, a prison inmate, in Orange Is the New Black | COURTESY OF IMDB

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ackie Cruz from Neflix’s Orange Is the New Black will speak at College Council’s third annual “CultureShock” this year.

The event is the council’s celebration dedicated towards “showcasing the unique identities on campus as well as the overall uni-

Latino Powerhouses in Hollywood Under 40” by The Hollywood Reporter.

College Council chose Cruz as this year’s keynote speaker in light of her personal experiences as well as her role in Orange Is the New Black, according to College senior and College Council Vice President Sheena Desai.

“Her breadth of personal expe-

unique perspective of minority experiences,” Weinstein said, “With events dominating the news of racial biases and tensions, I think it’s more important than ever for colleges to host events like these that bring people together in common appreciation for different cultures.”

Since the release of the name of the event’s keynote speaker, Em-

sunidhi.ramesh@emory.edu

Warren added that he’s curious to see how Cruz feels about potentially misrepresenting her race when she over-stereotypes the Hispanic experience through her character.

College sophomore Deion Love echoed this statement, adding that he is “interested in hearing about her platform on diversity as well as her ideas on racial

“ ... [CRUZ] CAN PROVIDE THE EMORY COMMUNITY WITH A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON THIS TOPIC THAT ONLY A SMALL NUMBER OF SPEAKERS CAN CONTRIBUTE.”

– SHEENA DESAI

ty within the Emory community,” according to College Council’s website.

In the #1 Netflix series, Cruz, 29 — a model, singer and actress — plays Marisol “Flaca” Gonzales, a sarcastic and outgoing female prison inmate who is known for her extroverted personality and tendency towards racial stereotyping. Although a recurring character in seasons one to three, Flaca will be a series regular in the upcoming season.

She was named one of the “Top

riences, her distinct struggle with adversity and her unique cultural background make her highly qualified to speak on the topic of diversity,” Desai said. “We think she can provide the Emory community with a unique perspective on this topic that only a small number of speakers can contribute.”

College Council President and College senior Alyssa Weinstein said Cruz is CultureShock’s first female and first Latina speaker. “[She] can provide another

Cruz (LEFT) playing “Flaca” Gonzales and another inmate, “Taystee” (RIGHT), face off in Orange Is the New Black | COURTESY OF IMDB

ory students have also expressed excitement and curiosity about Jackie Cruz.

“She’s such a funny character on the show,” College junior Will Warren said. “But she also seems to be playing up her stereotype as a Hispanic woman.”

and cultural identities.”

The Annual CultureShock will take place on Friday, Nov. 6 at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center (WHSCAB) Auditorium.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the event begins promptly at 6:30 p.m.

OPINION

ERIK ALEXANDER | EDITOR

Staff Editorial

It’s time to prioritize mental health

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his Halloween, what scares us more than haunted houses or walking home alone at night hides from plain sight. We at the Wheel believe we need to address the issue of mental health and stress on campus, a prevalent problem that does not seem to be at the forefront of preventative campus initiatives.

In a world dominated by rankings, statistics and competition, it is not surprising to us that students are stressed. What is surprising is that the American Psychological Association found that universities across the nation have seen an increase in the prevalence of severe psychological conditions, including depression and anxiety.

This is not the type of stress that gives you an extra boost of adrenaline on test day.

This is the type of stress that compounds over time, builds in quiet increments, is relentless in eating away at a student’s mental health.

The shocking truth is that mental illness is pervasive and does not necessarily look the way we expect it to. It may be a week of not eating. It may be not feeling motivation to get out of bed for a month. It may be isolation. It may be generalized anxiety.

It may not even present itself in a way that we understand completely. And for something that is so prevalent, some of us certainly do our best to pretend it isn’t there or make light of it.

“That’s crazy,” some say to refer to things they find unusual. “You’re overreacting,” others say to someone voicing their feelings of stress. At the same time, there is a widespread notion that everyone is just as stressed as everyone else.

We live in a world where mental illnesses are swept aside and those suffering from them are silenced because the people and institutions we entrust with our minds have not acknowledged the prevalence and importance of mental well being. The task of fostering a University culture in which mental health is just as if not more important than academic and professional success falls upon those who set the terms

of the culture: the administration and the faculty.

In light of this issue on campus, we need to have more flexible guidelines for appropriate excuses on tests and classwork. We need to work with students who express suicidal thoughts and depression, not simply resort to medical leave. We need to acknowledge that many often neglect their personal relationships, healthy sleep, diet habits or exercise to fulfill the demands of Emory academics. Whether or not the University is concerned with or even knows about the prevalence of these habits, we find them to be unacceptable. Being a student at Emory should never exacerbate or be the cause of a mental illness.

To be clear, there are numerous campus resources available for students seeking mental health counseling, including Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and the Emory Helpline. But all the world-class facilities and premier mental health professionals in the world will not help a community that does not acknowledge it has a problem. No matter these services’ effectiveness, students won’t show up to their doorsteps with a culture that at best, ignores mentally unhealthy people and at worst, ostracizes and silences them.

While measures of success are important, there is more to the well being of students than their academic success and the physical quality of their campus. The absence of students’ mental well being in Emory’s mission statement is resounding, and, for many, whether the University intends this or not, lays out the reality of the University’s priorities: mental health is second string.

While mental illness may be discussed among close friends, during a club meeting, behind closed doors, there is no evidence that this is the subject of a campus-wide discussion in the way it should be. We ask that Emory not only meaningfully address mental illness on our campus but also adopt into its mission an investment in the mental health of its students.

The above staff editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel’s editorial board.

Halloween Cartoon

Shalvi Shah | Copy Chief

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No menace to society Zack Ashley | College Sophomore New York City, New York

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he state of Georgia has, as of July 1, rather inexplicably decided that weed smokers are dangerous criminals, a move that seems to be directly contradictory to the way the rest of the country and modern world are headed.

According to new legislation set forth by DeKalb County and the state of Georgia, anyone in possession of less than one ounce of marijuana will now be subject to arrest, instead of being processed through DeKalb County Recorder’s Court.

Information from the United States Sentencing Commission from January 2015 states that the United States currently has 210,567 incarcerated citizens, the largest number of any country on the planet. Additionally, 51 percent of those incarcerated citizens are in prison for drug related instances, of which 10.4 percent are instances related specifically to marijuana.

This move by the State of Georgia baffles me. In many states across the country marijuana has become legal or decriminalized. This recent change in Georgia’s law is a major step backward in comparison to where the majority of other states, and the rest of the nation as a whole, stand on the issue of marijuana legalization.

This is especially the case considering the Department

of Justice’s recent decision to release 6,000 prisoners who were arrested for drug related reasons.

Does someone in possession of less than one ounce of marijuana (which is likely only enough for recreational use) deserve to be put in jail? Currently, the punishment for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana in the State of Georgia can be as extreme as up to one year in prison. If the State of Georgia wants to fine someone and confiscate their illicit substance, that is their prerogative. It would still be a measure that I would deem too harsh, but at least it wouldn’t be as intensely detrimental to society as the procedures newly in place. But to put someone in jail for a year and to give them a criminal record over something like this? In my view, that is completely ridiculous.

First of all, punishing somebody so severely for such a petty crime is a tragic way to hurt their future. It means that these people will lose any occupation that they have at the time of their arrest. The fact that arrest rates for marijuana abuse is significantly higher for lower income and minority young people further emphasizes this point. The country should be trying to find ways to increase opportunities for Americans of this demographic, not smash their opportunities to shreds for getting high.

Most recent statistics (2010) regarding marijuana arrests, in relation to race, indicate that slightly less than 200 in every 100,000 white persons were arrested for marijuana possession, while more than 700 in every 100,000 black persons were arrested. This is especially striking considering the same survey found that usage between both races was almost the same.

What’s more, even if the state of Georgia were to somehow deem this response reasonable ethically, economically it makes no sense. Taxpayers’ money will be wasted because of these new measures, which is more criminal than the act of smoking marijuana itself. The price of putting someone in jail for a year almost definitely outweighs the benefits of removing from society someone who decides to get high.

To put this into perspective, the average price of incarcerating a citizen for a year is about $30,620. That’s more than many families in our country make in a year.

One in four American families right now are currently living on less than $25,000 a year.

We are already a nation with too many incarcerated citizens and that spends too much money arresting these citizens. Moves like these are what cause spending on our prisons and deficits in our budgets to be too

high. We are a country with an astronomical amount of debt right now. Scrapping DeKalb’s new policy and others like it is the most obvious way we can cut unnecessary spending and, not to mention, ensure people aren’t unfairly arrested. Spending on public necessities like education and health care should take precedent over arresting someone for marijuana possession.

And apart from the obscene and unnecessary costs this will cause, there has to be a better place to delegate our manual resources. Surely the Georgia judicial system, public defendants and local police officers have more important crimes to deal with than recreational marijuana use. DeKalb County has recently been dealing with embedded corruption issues, including the conviction of its former CEO Burrell Ellis on charges of theft by extortion, bribery and perjury only a week after the new marijuana policy had been passed. It seems like those serving as public officials in DeKalb County are more criminal than those they are trying to lock up.

The obvious solution to the marijuana problem is legalization, but I’m not naïve enough, given the State’s current position, to believe that move is feasible in the near future. However, there at least needs to be some sort of decriminalization measure for carrying the drug. If the state wants to fine perpetrators for possession, even though I disagree with that, then fair enough.

However, they must not put people in jail who don’t deserve it and waste valuable taxpayers’ money and the time and labor of public workers in the process.

The obvious solution to the marijuana problem is legalization, but I’m not naïve enough, given the state’s current position, to believe that move is feasible in the near future. However, there at least needs to be some sort of decriminalization measure for carrying the drug. If the state wants to fine perpetrators for possession, even though I disagree with that, then fair enoug h.

However they must not put people in jail who don’t deserve it and waste valuable taxpayers money and the time and labor of public servants in the process.

Graphic by: Olivia Shuler | Staff

OPINION Prediction of 2015 inaccurate ... but telling Sam Ready College Junior Atlanta, Georgia

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f the date Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015 sounds familiar to you, it might be because it was just last week. Or perhaps you are remembering that as the “future” destination set and briefly navigated in Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future Part II. Viewers will remember Zemeckis’ 2015 as a colorful one, both figuratively and also literally in the vibrant color palette of costumes and props, from Marty McFly Junior’s distinctive rainbow baseball cap to the iconic hot pink Mattel hover board. Doctor Brown pilots his retrofitted flying DeLorean in a bright yellow coat with a red shirt and a silver visor against Marty’s impressive but comparatively low-key self-sizing, self-lacing Nikes. Shiny blue holograms mock the proliferation of Jaws sequels and the rate of monetary inflation, and a stunning display of lights announces the Cubs’ World Series win. By all accounts Zemeckis’ vision makes our version seem quite muted and dull. But what if I told you that it’s not just because of the fashion and technology, and that what he got wrong is not what you think?

If asked to point out inaccuracies in Zemeckis’ ambitious portrait of the future, I imagine that most people would likely point to the flying cars and to the hoverboard and hologram technologies. In other words, what is supposed to be different in the future than in the late twentieth century. But to me it seems that the problem is found in the much smaller cultural things that fall short, the things that are supposed to be the same in the future, and that it’s not that Zemeckis assumed the future too fantastic, but that he imagined it too consistent.

Because let’s face it, our culture and social norms are in many ways quite inconsistent with those of the late

Image by Rooners Toy Photography

twentieth century. I give as one example the famous scene in which Marty borrows a hoverboard from two small children playing outside together unsupervised and Griff Tannen’s goons take chase.

Most people would say that the hoverboard is the part of that scene that doesn’t track with the real 2015, but I would call that difference surprisingly negligible compared to the idea that there are two young middleclass children in 2015 playing together not only inperson but outdoors and without so-called helicopter parents looking on from nearby.

“

It’s not that Zemeckis assumed the future too fantastic, but that he imagined it too consistent.

”

As it stands, the central premise of meeting Tannen in person at the Café 80s in the first place to plan an illegal heist only hangs by the thread of likely NSA surveillance of the more preferred media of communication.

This goes the same for all of the holograms; they assume a person walking outside, looking up rather than stooping like cavemen to tap on their rectangular screens. Yeah, the Internet and the smart phone really killed that dream.

Zemeckis’ 2015 is overly optimistic not in assuming

crazy trends like inside-out pants and double neckties or in dreaming up fantastic technologies such as self-dusting books and fingerprint-based gadgetry and handsfree video games (Hey! He got that one right! And the fingerprint one, sort of!), but rather in assuming the completely unremarkable sameness of the involved and social nature of people.

He assumes a much more interested and engaged populace, to say nothing of fun and whimsical. Zemeckis’ citizen of 2015 drives a flying car like a starship captain, soaring through crowded stratospheric highways; real 2015’s citizen is still waiting for those selfdriving cars to get big so that he can check his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on the way to work.

It’s not the technologies that set these “futures” apart; it’s the way people expect them to be used. Even the very tone used in employing the concept of a predicted future is telling; Zemeckis comes from the old school of thought that future technology will make life shiny, bright and exciting, whereas we on the other end in the real 2015 tend to predict muted-color dystopias.

In short, one of these 2015s is disappointingly offtarget and falls short of expectation, and it’s not the one in the film. In fact, that 2015 makes our 2015 look like a very pessimistic and antisocial time. It is not that Zemeckis goes too far but that he doesn’t go far enough, and that in assuming that old standard “the more things change, the more they stay the same” he fails to predict the huge interpersonal divisions and fundamentally different rules of disengagement that the internet and the ubiquitous computer will culture. And it is this that is indeed “heavy.”

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Hussung’s ‘coexistence’ is not without antagonism

Jay Schaefer | College Sophomore

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hen discussing the Arab-Israeli conflict, words matter. Emory College junior Jonathan Hussung’s words in their Oct. 21 editorial “No Coexistence Without Inclusion” are insensitive, propagandist and, at times, false. This editorial is a response to those words.

In their discussion of the violence in Israel and the West Bank, Hussung leaves out a fundamental aspect of where the recent violence in the region stems from. Across the Internet, instructional videos from the pages of Hamas or related entities explain in detail how to kill Jews. A widely circulated video shows a Gazan comedian asking people on the street how they would kill their first Israeli soldier.

Hussung’s editorial purports two abhorrent historical inaccuracies. First, Hussung claims that the State of Israel was founded “on what had until then been Palestinian land.” The land on which the State of Israel was founded was in fact ruled by Great Britain under the Mandate for Palestine from 1923 to 1948, and in the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the British declared, “His Majesty’s government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” The Declaration’s text was adopted as part of Palestine’s Mandate, and it was integral to the way Palestine was governed during the Mandatory period.

Second, Hussung asserts that the State of Israel “expelled more than 750,000 Palestinians who had been living” in Mandatory Palestine. The truth is much more complex. According to a January 2004 article in The Guardian, the reality of the Palestinian exodus from the new State of Israel involved a complex combination of forced removals by Israeli and Arab troops as well as a general chaos that made many Palestinians leave voluntarily. In short, Hussung’s assertion that the State of Israel forced 750,000 Palestinians to flee their homes is a historically inaccurate claim.

The reconstruction of Hussung’s first false contention is crucial to the conflict. If Hussung wants to play the historical game of “I was here first,” the Jews undoubtedly win. The ties of the Jewish people to the land that now constitutes the State of Israel and surrounding territories trace back approximately 4,000 years.

The land on which the Palestinian people were living during the pre-Mandate period is in no way theirs in 2015. Many ethnic, national and religious groups have, at different times, called the area home. In the approximately 60 years prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, European leaders from different nationalities and backgrounds individually called for the establishment of a state for the Jewish people. Nowhere in the world during the first half of the 20th century could Jews collectively feel safe in their own localities, and that reality catalyzed the need to create a national home for them.

In the reconstruction of Hussung’s second falsehood, it is important to note the nuance that is required to properly examine the refugee problem. As stated in numerous unbiased documents, many of the Palestinian refugees left their lands of their own accord or were forced out to make way for Arab armies . Hussung refers to United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194, passed toward the end of the 1948 War between Israel and the neighboring Arab states. To quote Article 11, “the refu-

LIvingston, New Jersey

gees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date … ” Two important factors are what undermine the validity of the “Palestinian Right of Return,” which is based on this Resolution. The first factor involves the constant violence in Israel that has been going on since 1948, incited at many points by Arab refugees. There has been little evidence that the refugee population has any desire to live at peace with Jewish neighbors, and demonstrations of that feeling have led to intra-Arab violence (e.g. the Jordanian Civil War and First Intifada).

The second factor is the UN’s “earliest practicable date.” Recent violence and Hussung’s assertion that there are between 4.6 and 7.6 million Palestinian refugees and descendants show that moving all of those people back to homes that only a small fraction of them even remember is not, as the UN put it, practicable. Taking the “Right of Return” full circle, one can easily make the argument that the establishment of a Jewish state in the Jewish biblical home is the prime example of a restoration of property to a people who rightfully own it. The Palestinians who claim ownership to the lands of biblical Israel are, in fact, claiming as their own a territory that they inhabited only after a different people had been evicted from it.

Hussung asserts that the idea of a Jewish state is fundamentally racist. Declaring that Israel’s desire for cultural homogeneity is racist ignores historical understanding of the diaspora of the Jewish people. Hussung distorts the context in which the Israeli government views Israeli Arabs as a “demographic problem.” When the State of Israel was founded, it was founded as a Jewish State, and the majority of the civilized world accepted that concept as reasonable (UN Resolution 273).

In 1949, many leaders recognized that the establishment of a Jewish state in its biblical homeland was a vital step to the survival of the Jewish population, which had been subject to a diaspora and persecution for thousands of years prior. Nothing about the desire to govern secularly with a specific religious majority is racist. The State of Israel was founded as a Jewish state, and the desire to maintain that identity is a reasonable one given historical and cultural circumstances.

In response to Hussung’s assertion that “the insistence on a Jewish majority … constitute[s] a system of ethnic supremacy,” I would ask why Hussung feels that Jews do not deserve a state of their own? What about the Jewish people deems them unworthy of a state as opposed to Italians, Nigerians, Americans or Palestinians?

The pretext of Hussung’s editorial is that Hillel, Emory Students for Israel and the Emory-Israel Public Affairs Committee should have included Emory Students for Justice in Palestine (ESJP) in their “Day of Coexistence.” The hypocrisy in that statement is repugnant. Hussung’s very editorial claims that the State of Israel should not exist on the basis that it was founded, and Hussung is a member of ESJP. How can groups who are attempting to work on coexistence be expected to include those who openly do not support the concept? In a larger context, how can the State of Israel coexist with people who, at their core, believe that it should not exist at all?

Center Image By Petra Harris | Flickr

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

SAMUEL R. BUDNYK & JULIA MUNSLOW | EDITORS

Localsfest Concert

‘Awful’ly Entertaining Stephen Fowler | Executive Digital Editor smfowle@emory.edu

W VIDEO AT EMORYWHEEL.COM

ith a collective name like Awful Records, one might not expect much from the motley crew of oddly-named performers that descended upon the Goizueta Business School’s Patterson Courtyard on Friday night for WMRE’s Localsfest. Yet the almost reckless combination of turn-up, turn-down and everything in between created one of the most memorable and raw concert experiences I’ve ever had.

Unlike other groups such as the A$AP Mob, Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All or even the Wu-Tang Clan, Awful Records could not give two fucks about trying to settle on a descriptor for their overall sound, aesthetic or common denominator.

This manifested itself in last Friday’s performance. As the sound checks took place before the concert started, Ethereal and BootyMath, Svisual artists/designers/resident Twitter geniuses of Awful began roasting members of the crowd to get people in the mood, with everyone, from “[the dude] in flannel” to “[the dude] that looked like Mac DeMarco” fair game.

Then the show opened with Ethereal, who lived up to his name with out-of-this world productions and vocals on songs such as “Agoraphobia” (with the silky smooth vocals of Alexandria), “I Can’t Feel” and “Bounce” (with Lord Narf, Awful’s resident badass female emcee).

Ethereal’s music put the decent-sized crowd on a whole different level, swaying hypnotically to the low-fi beats as he rolled his wheelchair to the edge of the stage to serenade those in the front row. The best way to describe his music is if Kid Cudi’s music went into hyperspace sleep and spat with a concise yet syrupy flow.

With guest appearances by LuiDiamonds, Lord Narf and Alexan-

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dria, there was a depth and breadth of talent not normally seen in posses of this size. Any one of the performers could have rocked their own show, and their styles are different enough that nothing felt tired. Perhaps it goes back to the give-no-fucks persona that Awful possesses.

When Father took the stage, he took the crowd’s sanity with it. When the

Where Ethereal was laid back, head nodding to rhymes, Father took the crowd’s hype and multiplied it exponentially.

The eponymous track off of his 2015 album Who’s Gonna Get Fucked First? had audience members from Emory and beyond jumping for their everloving lives to snap-inspired beats and lines such as “They like when you

give-no-fucks persona

Back to the that Awful [Records] possesses. thirteen-note opening line of “Nokia” dropped, it was evident that those in attendance weren’t simply lost looking for a Parents’ Weekend event.

coming through/I’m like when you going home/Why they hate me when I’m here/But then love me while I’m gone.”

Father is more than just a rapper.

He’s a cult figure, hip-hop messiah and trap savant all rolled into a low monotone DIY aesthetic.

In today’s Future/Drake dominated world, one might not expect there to be tons of people vibing to songs like “Dáme Fuego,” “Fake AF” and “Please Stop Making Fake Versace,” but there’s something to be said about the presence and familiarity Father exudes that makes it so.

Father is the everyman, your one cool-ass friend who’s down with everyone, with his cool-ass “yeah” adlib and goofy rhymes that are more relatable than codeine and women and exorbitant amounts of money.

He shouts out Lil B The BasedGod. He made a song based off a cell phone ringtone. What more can you ask for?

While Father’s more well-known

collaborations have been with other rap oddballs like iLoveMakonnen and Key!, his chemistry with Ethereal is undeniable and takes their shared tracks to a higher level — something that connected perfectly with the Emory crowd.

Ending with his most recent banger “Everybody In The Club Gettin Shot” (check the bizarre music video), the entire concert was a nonstop ball of energy that is an experience I and others who were there will never forget.

From the amazing depth, breadth and presence of the performance, Awful Records is one of the rare unicorns of independent, relatable talent, and we’re lucky to have them in Atlanta, but I have one slight complaint with regards to the show, Father: Why the fuck didn’t you play “Wrist?”

Photos by Christine Ricard | Staff

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Crimson Peak

A gorgeous Gothic romance

Brandon Wagner | Staff Writer bhwagne@emory.edu

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rom the outside, Crimson Peak is a haunted house horror film from Guillermo del Toro, a teddy bear of a man with a horror background and a penchant for fantastic monster design.

The horror neophytes, attracted by the actors or the lush design, and those with a low threshold (like, admittedly, yours truly) are going to find an oppressively creepy atmosphere and a number of startles (narratively useful jump scares, but nevertheless, jump scares). And for everyone, there’s a surprising brutality to the film’s violence. However, it’s difficult to call Crimson Peak a horror film.

That’s because at its core, it isn’t one.

It certainly has elements of horror, and it speaks horror’s language. But for every connection the film has with horror, the film resonates with the works of Edgar Allan Poe or Charlotte Brontë. Crimson Peak is a Gothic romance; a film about the darkness of the world and the inner workings of the heart.

After all, the film is about Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowska), a smart, young author living in Buffalo, New York with her father, and is swept off her feet by the dashing and mysterious Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston). She marries him and moves to Sharpe’s home, Allerdale Hall, a decaying old mansion where the clay underneath seeps through the

walls and floors like blood. But the ominous ghosts of the house begin to warn her that her new husband isn’t all that he seems, and Edith must discover the secrets of the Sharpe family and Allerdale Hall.

If you’re telling me that doesn’t sound like a lost Edgar Allan Poe novel, or quite possibly the plot of Wuthering Heights, you’re a lying bastard.

This film is capital ‘B’ Beautiful. Every ounce of every frame is filled with brilliant period detail, excellent costuming and impossibly detailed set. Allerdale Hall is one of the best looking sets I’ve seen in some time, and it truly feels alive.

The history drips from the house like the red clay that seeps through its walls.

Even the ghosts within the walls, skeletons bound in thin tattered red flesh, screaming as they bring themselves to life, are impeccably designed and creepy; although, it is lamentable that the skeletons are not as full of character as the house itself.

It’s completely worth watching this film just to take in every ounce of the visual detail. A silent watching of this film would likely be almost as rewarding as one with sound.

But without sound, you would miss the strong performances of its main cast.

The Sharpe siblings are the undoubted highlights of the film. Hiddleston plays

Courtesy of Legendary Pictures

the Gothic romance hero Sir Thomas Sharpe, mysterious and smoldering, someone with whom it’s effortless to fall in love, while he also makes every twist he takes feel completely organic.

The less I can say about Chastain’s performance as Lucille Sharp, the better. Let it be simply said that she is the MVP of this film, going outside of her comfort zone to play a beautifully complex character. She clearly relishes her role, and she dances constantly on the line of over the top and just-right.

Mia Wasikowska is a vision of Gothic heroine, bravely barrelling forward even with her utter terror in Allerdale Hall.

She’s more of a serviceable role, but Wasikowska’s performance as Edith Cush-

rather well-written and admirable one, but Hunnam fails to give too much to him. He’s handsome and vulnerable but not really much else at all.

What ended up making all the performances work together is the narrative surrounding them. This is a film where every piece fits together like a grand puzzle. While not original, and easy to call from about halfway through, it’s an incredibly tight and thrilling genre picture.

Even more interesting is that it is a film with a female perspective. It’s women driving the narrative, and the central conflict is over a woman’s understanding of love. Crimson Peak gives women the narrative power, and that’s incredibly refreshing.

Crimson Peak is a wonderful, beautiful, brutal, deeply fucked up film. ing is definitely what the film needs at its center. And more importantly, Edith is a character who’s given enough shades to provide perspective.

Rounding out our cast, and perhaps providing the film with its one weak point is Charlie Hunnam. An actor whom I’ve admittedly never been all that impressed by, fails to impress me here.

His character, Dr. Alan McMichael, is a

Crimson Peak is a wonderful, beautiful, brutal, deeply fucked up film.

It’s got more than a few tarnishes on it, but this film is just such a great thing to experience that the flaws are easy to ignore.

It’s likely that you (thanks to confusing marketing) have no idea what this film is, but I really do encourage you to go out and get lost at Allerdale Hall.

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Transformi n g Percepti o ns at the Carlos Museum Olivia Shuler | Staff Writer olivia.shuler@emory.edu

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ransformed by Indigenous Beauty: Masterworks of American Indian Art, a walk through the third floor of Emory’s Michael C. Carlos Museum is a walk through the vivid visual history of our continent’s earliest inhabitants, featuring 118 breathtaking pieces from the collection of Charles and Valerie Diker.

The Diker Collection has been displayed at the Seattle Art Museum, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and will be on display at the Carlos until Jan. 3, 2016, after which it will move to the Toledo Museum of Art. As private collectors, the Dikers have achieved something remarkable.

“What’s extraordinary about this collection, in my view, is the enormous range [of art] that it contains,” the Fred and Virginia Merrill Senior Curator of American Indian Art at The NelsonAtkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Gaylord Torrence said. “Most collections — not only of American Indian art, but any other kind of category — tend to be somewhat compartmentalized. Some people collect Navajo blankets, or Plains art or Southwest pottery, but the Dikers have collected across the North American continent, and they’ve done it with an amazing connoisseurship.”

The breadth of which Torrence speaks is immediately apparent and awe-inspiring. The exhibition features masterworks from peoples across the North American continent and is organized by geographical region, resulting in what feels like a walk across the continent as one moves from displays of buffalo

Photos Courtesy of American Federation of Arts

hides, immaculately painted with the traditional geometric patterns of the Plains people, to Navajo pottery and tightly woven baskets to strikingly delicate, yet powerful, Inuit masks.

“In walking through [the exhibition] for the first time, I was so struck with what’s been done,” Torrence said.

“There’s something remarkable about this installation. One thing is that you’re going to be able to see things very closely, which doesn’t often happen in tribal museums.”

The installation opens with a pair of Plains shirts, but to call them shirts is an understatement in light of the symbolic nature of every stitch and bead and the care and craftsmanship that went into their creation.

“In one [shirt], you have deerskin, ermine tails, glass beads, human hair, trade cloth,” Dr. Torrence said. “And it is all beautifully organized into this stunning shirt, which would’ve been worn by a man of great prominence.

In other words, this guy could walk through a crowd and not have to say a word about who he was or what he’d achieved in life.”

With their many elements from the human, animal and natural world, these shirts are perfect examples of the unique way in which Native American art is not only a reflection of the cultural beliefs and traditions of the peoples, but a reflection of the North American land itself and the interconnectedness between these early nations and the world around them.

The part of the exhibition devoted to the geographic Southwest is an homage to the robust pottery and intricately woven baskets created by the peoples of this region.

To us, these pieces may seem to belong in art museum; however, it’s incredible that these perfectly formed vessels with

their intricate geometric designs were created to serve mundane, daily purposes, such as carrying foodstuffs. These people seem to have infused beauty and symbolism into every part of their lives, laboring over something as seemingly simple as a basket or piece of pottery until it came to mean something.

In the Inuit gallery, a striking mask features a salmon, seal, bird and human hand, all intertwined and barely distinguishable to create an abstracted human face.

“It’s human,” Torrence said, “But [it’s also] all of these creatures, all at the same time, as part of this amazing construct. The idea of transformation, of a human being able to shift form, to become a prey animal and come back.

It’s part of the shamanistic journey, but also of hunting. Of course this [mask] would be danced in a ceremony during winter, so it has an amazing sense of drama and truly expresses the connection between humans and animals and the world, and by extension the landscape.”

While many pieces in the Diker Collection are historical, the exhibition features three modern pieces, one of which is a breathtaking sculpture that was completed in 2010 by the Native American artist Rhonda Holy Bear. “[Holy Bear] calls it a doll, but really it’s a sculpture,” Stone said of the complex, colorful form of a powerful woman on her horse with saddlebags and babies and ceremonial adornments. “It relates to the Sioux Nation’s creation myth, in which the first mother gave birth to a boy and a girl twin, and they married and created the rest of the people. [This sculpture] is not just a mother and her children, but it has a cosmological reverberation.”

Of the Collection’s modern pieces, Stone emphasized, “Native American culture and art [are] not

dead.”

It is often easy to think of Native American culture in the past tense, but Indigenous Beauty highlights the vivacity that is contained within these masterworks and invigorates our understanding of the breadth and the complexities that lie beneath our perceptions of Native American art.

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EMORY LIFE

HAYLEY SILVERSTEIN | EDITOR

Trick or tre t at the Lullwater House Alisha Compton | Contributing Writer alisha.bhatia.compton@emory.edu

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ne student’s simple question has created a staple bucketlist item at Emory: trick or treating at President Wag-

ner’s house.

This event is a time for costumed students to make their way along the dark driveway, pay a visit to Lullwater House, enjoy the decorations, fellowship, a cappella music and of course, grab some candy.

“The tradition sort of started itself,” President James Wagner said. “For the first couple of Halloweens that we were living in Lullwater, Debbie would purchase some candy, but not a single person came to the door. On the week of Halloween during our third year in the house, I was addressing a group of students and taking some questions. One student asked if she could come trick or treating at Lullwater, to which I responded, ‘If you do, you will be the first ever to come.’”

That Halloween, the Wagners had about 65 students show up. They came in small groups and would sit around the fireplace until another group would come. In the following years they hosted about 100 to 150 students.

“In the early days before so many students put this on their bucket list, I used

showed up as did groups from Fraternity Row. According to Mrs. Wagner, around 400 people came that year and the cookies were gone early. Since then, it has become a more formally-planned event with close to 600 students coming to the house each year.

“I went my freshman year with my hall from Dobbs,” College sophomore Greta Luna-Priego said. “I thought the decorations were really with the theme of Halloween and it kind of got everyone really excited to be there. There was a performance from AHANA, the a cappella group, which I really enjoyed as well. I think it was a really good first year experience and it kind of got me excited for the next few years of Halloween as a college student.”

The Wagners now work with the house manager, campus events staff and the Student Alumni Board to plan, execute and host the event. As it has grown, so have the traditions.

“My favorite memories are of the informal conversations. I still enjoy the conversations, although now a bit more hurried,” President Wagner said.

“Another great memory was the year that The Gather-

“The tradition sort of started istelf ... One student asked if she could come trick or treating at Lullwater, to which I responded, ‘If you do, you will be the first ever to come.’” — President Wagner to bake cookies and participate in what used to be very informal conversations around the Lullwater fireplace,” Deborah Wagner said.

In 2012, the event got on some lists and entire floors from residence halls

ing [an all girls a capella group] just showed up and sang for us all.

Now a cappella music is part of

the tradition.”

Some come for the many a cappella groups that perform and most stay for the conversations.

Chai Tunes member and College sophomore Alex Caldwell performed there last year.

“I thought it was really nice that the president of a university would open up his home like that to all of the students for Halloween,” Caldwell said. “It was nice to see Mrs. Wagner because she was so friendly and she was talking to a lot of the different students.”

Regardless of what brings the students to the Lullwater house, it is something many enjoy.

“Certainly it’s something you should shoot for,” College sophomore Matt Lamourie said. “It happens pretty early, around midnight, so there’s no harm in going there and then going out to a party later on. I would definitely recommend you do it for the freshman experience.”

This will be Wagner’s last time hosting the event as he is stepping down after this year.

“Interestingly, your article will be the first formal publicity that trick or treating at Lullwater has ever received,” Wagner said. “We have never publicized the event or issued invitations.

But in spite of that, it has grown. We have had fun being part of it.”

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ILLUSTRATION BY MARIANA HERNANDEZ | STAFF

EMORY LIFE

The Emory Bayit:

Fostering a Jewish community Maddy Gordon | Contributing Writer maddy.gordon@emory.edu

“I

f you have a rough night, you can go read your ‘warm and fuzzies,’” College sophomore Leah Neiman said, regarding one of the many perks of living in the Emory Bayit house — a home for Jewish students who want to grow and sustain their culture at Emory.

The “warm and fuzzy jar” is one of the traditions introduced by the Bayit members. Each member has a jar with his or her name on it, for members of the Bayit or for visitors to anonymously or nonanonymously place compliments into.

These jars are typically always full.

There is a strong sense of community among the Bayit residents.

This is not a coerced friendship fostered through mandatory events, this is more of a naturally cultivated community, created through traditions such as the jar.

The year 2015 saw the inauguration of the Emory Bayit — though Bayits are present at numerous other universities with large Jewish presences — and it has been quite successful. Many of its residents were not originally supposed to live in the house, given that the house was not finalized until April 2015, but the responses from people wanting to live there were overwhelmingly positive.

According to Emory University’s Bayit website, the Bayit is certainly an ideal support system for Jewish students at Emory to freely practice their Jewish beliefs.

Several of the Bayit residents compared living in the house to the idyllic notion of summer camp.

The house is located near the Emory baseball fields and is home to 12 Jewish students.

Though strictness in observance varies for each person, the house is accommodating to all. Everyone feels comfortable no matter their level of observance, because all forms of Judaism are respected and appreciated.

“I think that having different kinds

MADDY GORDON | CONTRIBUTOR

of people is better [in terms of religious observance], because everyone is learning from each other,” College sophomore and Bayit resident Jessica Nooriel said.

“There are many ways to celebrate and observe Judaism, and being able to observe and celebrate our religion in different ways is one of the reasons the Bayit at Emory was created.”

The Bayit provides a service that no other dorm could provide — the ability to live with people culturally similar to them.

The Bayit has a Kosher kitchen, which has led to some trouble with keeping it Kosher. However, according to Nooriel, it isn’t a big deal, because they en-

joy keeping Kosher to the best of their abilities and share what keeping Kosher means to others who visit the Bayit.

The Bayit mandates that the main space is free of technology on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, given that about half of the Bayit residents adhere to the rules of Shabbat.

In Judaism, on Shabbat, one should refrain from all technology, cooking, driving and any corporate matters. Given these regulations, the Bayit has special lights that remain on during Shabbat.

The residents of the Bayit meet weekly to discuss any concerns amongst the group. They normally discuss concerns similar to what any residence hall would

have, like changing quiet hours, general updates, keeping certain areas of the house cleaner and coordinating events.

Another weekly event at the Bayit house is Seudah Shlishit. This marks the end of Shabbat and occurs slightly after sunset on Saturdays.

Though there is a large Jewish community at Emory, it can be somewhat difficult for observant Jews to comfortably and completely practice their rituals amidst a secular college environment.

“I think [the Bayit] provides a great opportunity for people who are religious and didn’t find a place that they felt at home,” College sophomore Asher Ades said.

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Emory Model UN

shows no mercy at Yale Security Council Simulations Hannah Kim | Contributing Writer

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his past week, Emory Model United Nations (EMUN) attended the 38th annual Security Council Simulations at Yale (SCSY) and won a number of awards.

According to College senior and EMUN Head Delegate David Stevenson, EMUN is one of the larger university Model United Nations (MUN) organizations in the nation and sends out approximately 50 delegates every year to several academic conference competitions.

The conference at Yale focused on crisis committees, where cutting-edge groups of student delegates must draw on extensive social and political hypotheses to solve a crisis of immediate importance. Committees are given a short amount of time to consider every possible solution and consequence of their proposal, therefore simulating the atmosphere of real-world response committees at the government level.

Twelve Emory students of all different majors and years participated at this most recent conference in their own individual committees. The independence and self-reliance demanded of this setup was a welcome challenge for the delegates.

EMUN was awarded the Outstanding Large Delegation Award. According to College senior and Co-President of Emory International Relations Association (EIRA) Camille Vinogradov, EMUN won this award over 30 other prestigious schools, like Columbia University and Vanderbilt University.

College freshman Angela Jiang and Vinogradov won Best Delegate for their respective committees, and thus were honored with the top prize of a gavel.

Jiang represented political commentator Charles Koch at the Republican Presidential Elections, while Vinogradov competed in the Hip-hop Illuminati committee as Kanye West.

College freshman Mehvish Khan was awarded the Outstanding Delegate title

hannah.kim@emory.edu

COURTESY OF RYAN STEVENSON

for her work in the Israel-Palestine crisis committee for which she proposed a two-state solution.

College sophomore Diana Cagliero received an honorable mention for representing former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley in the Democratic Presidential Elections committee, and College sophomore Mindi Leit received a verbal commendation for her Ukraine Separatism committee.

Currently ranked 14th among university MUN organizations in the nation, Stevenson has high hopes to break the Top 10 by as soon as Spring 2016.

“[This win] reflects that Emory students can have the ambition to have an idea and run with it over a short amount of time. More prestigious schools know Emory, and [it’s almost as if] we’re taking on an ambassadorial role to represent the South,” Stevenson said.

EMUN is currently preparing to host their fourth conference this coming spring, and with their win Stevenson hopes to expand the number of Top 20 university MUN organizations to come to Atlanta and see Emory.

Despite their strong organization and member involvement, Stevenson has

high hopes that EMUN’s recent momentous wins will attract even more interest and talent in their organization.

Stevenson believes the workshops and training that EMUN provide are remarkable ways for students to build confidence, become outgoing, see things in new lights, engage in conversations and most importantly, speak up.

Stevenson firmly believes that an Emory student of any major can gain and apply a vast range of skills of and beyond communication, negotiation, creative problem-solving and critical thinking.

SPORTS

JACOB DURST | EDITOR

swim teams SW

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Avery Yang Staff Writer avery.yang@emory.edu

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nder the waters and bright lights of the Madeleine Jude Brown Aquatic Center in the Woodruff Physical Education Center (the WoodPEC) this past Saturday, the Emory men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams handedly defeated Birmingham-Southern University (Ala.).

Several members of the men’s team notched individual victories, including junior Mitchell Cooper in the 1000-yard freestyle (9:38.31), freshman Zachary Chen in the 100-yard backstroke (52.57), junior Christian Baker in the 200-yard freestyle

(1:41.39), sophomore Chandler Lichtefeld in the 200-yard individual medley (1:55.22), freshman Thomas Gordon in the 100-yard butterfly (51.83), sophomore Oliver Smith in the 50-yard freestyle (20.91) and sophomore John Copses in the 100-yard breaststroke (59.17).

In the 100-yard backstroke, sophomore Alex Hardwick finished second, touching the wall a mere twelve hundredths (.12) of a second later than Chen. Chen, doing his best impression of Michael Phelps in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, came from behind after trailing slightly at the 50-yard flip turn, and he was able to edge out his teammate.

The 100-yard butterfly provided another photo finish between two Emory swimmers, as senior John Galvin finished fifty-five hundredths (.55) of a second behind Gordon to earn

second place. Overall, the men’s team won seven individual events, as well as the 63 points that came with them.

In addition, several other Emory swimmers won exhibition races, which did not count toward the team’s overall score, including Hardwick in the 100yard freestyle, Lichtefeld in the 200-yard breaststroke, Cooper in the 200-yard backstroke, Baker in the 500-yard freestyle, Galvin in the 200-yard butterfly, and the 800-yard freestyle team composed of Baker, Gordon, Cooper and freshman Alex Kohlman.

“I think we did a great job.

We had a tough training week that left us all pretty sore, so this was a good test to see how we do when we’re not feeling 100 percent,” junior David Tao said. “I think we had a good overall performance. Though some of us did struggle, we were able to pick up for the areas we struggled in and win the vast majority of the events.”

The women’s team dominated the pool as well, winning 10 individual events. Out of the 10 victories, three of them, two by junior Annelise Kowalsky and one by sophomore Julia Wawer, set NCAA B cut times.

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WEEP

irmingham-Southern Kowalsky put up a time of 1:05.03 in the 100-yard breaststroke, beating the B cut time of 1:05.49. Kowalsky then went on to post another B time in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:23.01. Wawer had a time of 1:52.88 in the 200-yard freestyle, beating the B cut time of 1:52.99 by a tight margin of eleven hundredths (.11) of a second.

Other women’s team individual winners included junior Claire Lui in the 100-yard backstroke (57.52), freshman Fiona Muir in the 100-yard fly (57.63), junior Marissa Bergh in the 50-yard freestyle (23.93), Kowalsky in the 200 individual medley (2:07.70) and sophomore Rebecca Upton in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:36.76).

Additionally, sophomore Mara Rosenstock won the only two women’s diving events with scores of 295.58 in the 1-meter and 266.33 in the 3-meter dive.

In group competition, the 800-yard freestyle relay C team of freshman Anya Kone, sophomore Isabella Issa, sophomore Shelby Fruge and Upton won with a time of 8:09.41, beating Birmingham Southern’s A team by 19 seconds. For reference, Emory’s A team for this event,

composed of Wawer, Bergh, freshman Meg Taylor and senior Carolyn Bonfield finished with a time of 7:47.54, in the exhibition race.

Other exhibition victories for the Eagles included Megan Campbell in the 200-yard fly, Wawer in the 1000-yard freestyle, senior Ellie Thompson in the 200-yard backstroke, Fruge in the 500-yard freestyle and Kowalsky in the 200-yard breaststroke.

“Having a really big win against Birmingham-Southern was a good experience to have for the team,” Kowalsky said.

“The past few practices have been pretty strenuous. We’ve been focusing on little details in practice, with turns and starts and stuff like that, so that’s what we’re focused on improving on for the next meet.”

For their performance against Birmingham-Southern,

three Eagles were named University Athletic Association (UAA) Athletes of the Week: Baker, Kowalsky and Rosenstock.

Five Eagles total have now been given the honor as Cooper and sophomore Cindy Cheng were given the award for the week of Oct. 5.

Emory will try to employ the lessons from their stringent practice schedule when they compete in their next meet on Nov. 7 against Savannah College of Arts and Design (Ga.) and Brenau University (Ga.) in Savannah, Ga.

Photos Courtesy of Deb Nelson

SPORTS

Troyetsky’s picks: Week 8 Week 8 features a lot of what should be competitive games, so I’m slightly more nervous than I usually am about my picks.

Adam Troyetsky Staff Writer

adam.troyetsky@emory.edu

Minnesota Vikings (4-2) at Chicago Bears (2-4)

Last Week’s Record: 2-2 Season Record: 15-12

Nevertheless, let’s start in Chicago, where the 2-4 Bears host the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings’ offense looked red hot last week in their 28-19 victory over the Lions.

Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns and a passer rating of 118.3. Running back Adrian Peterson racked up 98 yards on 19 carries, the majority of which came from a 75-yard rush that was only stopped at the

three yard-line in the middle of the third quarter. The Vikings’ defense was almost as stout, sacking Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford seven times over the course of the game.

This game is of great importance for the Bears, too.

While neither team stands a chance at overtaking the Green Bay Packers for the division lead, the outcome of this game could have major wild card implications.

The Bears lost to the Lion’s two weeks ago, so it will be interesting to see these teams play each other. Though it’s tough to compare one week to another, the Bears’

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and Vikings’ performances against the Lions could speak volumes as to their performances this weekend.

Vikings 28 Bears 17 Green Bay Packers (6-0) at Denver Broncos (6-0) This is by far the best matchup of the weekend. The Packers have won every game with ease this season and are coming off of a bye week. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers is on pace to match his MVP season numbers from 2011 and 2014, when he recorded touchdown and interception rates of 45-6 and 38-5, respectively. Rodgers currently has a 15-2 ratio this season.

The one question mark in the Packers’ offense has been their rushing attack. Running back Eddie Lacy has been dealing with injuries lately that have allowed veteran running back James Starks to pick up some of his carries.

Despite the uncertainty at the position, the Packers have still managed to rack up 127 yards per game on the ground.

Although quarterback Peyton Manning has had a rough start to the season, the Broncos are still 6-0. Every week, the Broncos are able to squeak out another win. Manning is averaging only 240 yards per game; he has thrown seven touchdowns to a whopping 10 interceptions.

Father Time may have finally caught up with the future first-ballot hall of famer. Denver’s biggest asset this year has been their defense, which leads the league in yards allowed (first in passing and third in rushing). There’s a reason this game is the Sunday Night game of the week.

can never be relied on to score 30 points a game, but if the defense can hold its own, then there’s no reason why the offense can’t help them squeak out a win this weekend.

Jets 20 Raiders 16

Packers 27 Broncos 24 New York Jets (4-2) at Oakland Raiders (3-3) I may have said that I’m going to stop writing about the Jets but sometimes it’s hard to avoid them. After a crushing 30-23 loss to the Patriots, the Jets head into a Raiders team that may be more impressive than its 3-3 record suggests.

They have lost games to both the Bengals and the Broncos, who may be two of the better teams in the league. The Raiders are also coming off of their strongest offensive showing of the season.

Quarterback Derek Carr threw for three touchdowns and 289 yards on 24 for 31 passes and running back Latavius Murray racked up 85 yards on 15 carries to go with a touchdown.

However, last week they played against San Diego, one of the worse defensive teams in the league.

On the contrary, the Jets’ defense is ranked second in terms of yards allowed and fourth in points allowed per game. The Jets offense

New York Giants (4-3) at New Orleans Saints (3-4) The Saints surprised me in Week 7 when they beat the Colts 27-21. The biggest surprise came from running back Mark Ingram, a name that’s lost its glitter in the past few seasons. Ingram ran for 143 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown. Ingram also had help in short-yard situations from Khiry Robinson, who ran 14 times for 28 yards and two touchdowns.

The Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys last weekend for the first time since 2012, in a game where no players really stood out.

In fact, two of the three Giants touchdowns were NOT scored by their offense (one defensive and one special teams TD).

An interesting fact to consider is that the Giants and Saints defenses are ranked No. 29 and No. 30, respectively.

That being said, expect a lot of points in this game.

Giants 30 Saints 37

RECENT GAMES MEN’S SWIMMING W 139-110 vs. Birmingham-Southern & DIVING WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING W 155-111 vs. Birmingham-Southern GOLF 6 out of 18 at Bryant/Jensen Memorial MEN’S SOCCER W 1-0 (OT) vs. Birmingham-Southern

Read the Wheel.

It’s “doggone good!”