Fresh perspectives spring 2017

Volume 9: Essays Selected from Fall 2016 HPU First-Year Writing Courses

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TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORS’ MESSAGES

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UNDERSTANDING THE NATURAL WORLDj “Delving into the Dolphin Brain”

By Grae Maddox

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“The Time is Now: Slowing Coral Reef Bleaching through Artificial Reefs”

By Emma Love

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“The Real Superferry”

By Jordan Carley-Windeler

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“The Not-So-Sweet Truth”

By Shyanne Dela Vega

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“HPU Selling HLC”

By Juliana Freire

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TEXT & GENDER “The Woman Question in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House”

By Ella Willbrand

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“Looking Through the Windows of Feminism: Inside A Doll’s House”

By Elizabeth Fischer

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“The Human Movement: A Different Perspective on the Movement Toward Gender Equality”

By Nicole Masulit

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“Victim to Abuser: The Cycle”

By Victoria Serra

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INVESTIGATING CULTURAL BELIEFS “Window and Frame”

By Dean Ryan-Simmons

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“Fall of a Lifetime”

By Jake Brandt

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“Mixed”

By Kiana Jackon Thorn

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“More than Just a Tattoo”

By Sarah Liva

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APPRECIATION FOR HUMANITY “You’ve Been Trigger Warned”

By Christian Waddle

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“An Eye for an Eye: The Truth about the Death Penalty”

By Rhys Wynbrandt

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“Bloody Fingers”

By Nirmala Young

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“He’s Gone”

By Layla Purdy

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MEET THE AUTHORS

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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EDITORS’ MESSAGES The Editorial Team (right to left): Theodore Simonelli, Julie Flores, Dr. Kathleen Cassity, Lorraine Jimenez, & Jun Dennis Sadang From Julie: Hi! My name is Julie Flores and I will be a senior during the 2017-2018 school year. I am originally from Los Angeles, California, and have been in Hawai‘i , attending HPU, for two years now. I am majoring in English, with a double minor in Film Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies. During my time on the island, I have enjoyed learning about the various components that make up the Hawaiian culture; I am very grateful for the opportunity to learn about the true history, customs, traditions, and practices that exist beyond the pages of brochures normally associated with the Hawaiian Islands. Similarly, being a part of Fresh Perspectives has given me the opportunity to understand the diversity that exists within our university, including global cultures, past experiences, various interests, and different perspectives about our world presented by new members of our community.

From Lorraine: Hi! My name is Lorraine Jimenez, and I'm currently a junior at HPU with a major in computer science. I was born and raised on this island, and Ewa Beach is where I retreat to at the end of the day. Despite the terrible commute to and from school, my college life has been pretty nice. So many places to eat from, so little time! Of course, the classes and student life are great, too. This is my first time being an editor for Fresh Perspectives; I loved going over this semester's submissions and gaining insight into all sorts of topics. I might not switch majors, but I'm glad that I got the chance to do this!

From Jun: Aloha, my name is Jun and I come from the lovely Ewa Beach #76 South. I’m an English major, and I’m in my junior year at HPU. One thing I love about Hawai‘i is the awesome traffic and fluctuating weather, especially when I can wear sweaters and jacket without having to worry about perspiration. (Joke) I really enjoyed reading this semester’s submissions and I want to thank the professors who nominated the essays, the writers themselves, the other editors, and Dr. Cassity!

From Teddy: Aloha! My name is Teddy, and I am a BA TESOL student graduating in May 2017.

I was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan (yes, it’s real!), and transferred to Hawai‘i Pacific University after finishing my Associate’s at my local community college. Upon graduating, I will be moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, with Teach For America, where I hope to teach either middle school Math or English. I will also be pursuing a Master’s degree in Teaching, Learning, and Leadership, with a specialization in Curriculum and Leadership Studies, at Oklahoma State University. I have loved every minute of being in Hawai‘i, and hope to someday move back and 4

work for the Department of Education. Attending HPU has been a great experience, and I am grateful for all of the friends I’ve made and opportunities I’ve been given during my time here. I hope you enjoy this volume of Fresh Perspectives!

From Dr. Cassity: As Interim Assistant Dean of HPU’s College of Liberal Arts, I am pleased to introduce our ninth issue of Fresh Perspectives, featuring essays written for our first-year writing courses in the Fall 2017 semester. As usual, we solicited well-written essays from our first-year writing courses, covering a variety of topics, academic disciplines, discourse communities, and rhetorical approaches. Our goal is to provide a venue for publication and dissemination of provocative and interesting ideas by the newest members of the academy—our first-year students, who may still be learning the nuances of academic discourse yet who have compelling things to say and who offer, in the words of our title, “fresh perspectives.” Essays with potential were nominated by instructors and underwent a full editorial process with the assistance of our amazing student editorial team, pictured above.

You’ll notice a range of genres, from personal narratives to position papers to research essays. You’ll also notice an eclectic choice of topics, as well as diverse points of view. The viewpoints expressed are the opinions of the writers themselves and are not endorsed by HPU, the Department of English & Applied Linguistics, or the editors. (In fact, in more than one instance I would want to argue with the writer!) Rather than selecting pieces that toe any particular “party line,” we have attempted—in the spirit of academic freedom—to present a range of views, some of which may be provocative or generate further discussion. This is only fitting given that our firstyear writing program emphasizes argumentation. We hope you will enjoy reading the viewpoints put forth by some of our most promising first-year writing students here at HPU.

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Delving into the Dolphin Brain

By Grae Maddox Humans have long been interested in dolphins. In some cultures, they have even been viewed as sacred, as guides or ancestral spirits (Cressey 75). It was not until recently, however, that dolphins became a subject of contention in the academic field. In the 1970s, mirror self-recognition (MSR) tests were performed on a number of animals. This test looks at whether an animal, when repeatedly exposed to a mirror, then taken away, given a mark on its face, and replaced in front of the mirror, reaches for the mark on itself (Mitchell 18).

Initially, only the great apes and humans showed evidence of mirror self-recognition, but they were soon joined by animals such as elephants and dolphins (Herman 530). This began a debate of whether animals have self-awareness. Some academics say yes, MSR is evidence, but others say no, demonstration of MSR is not enough to prove self-awareness. In this paper, I will be examining a number of sources to answer two questions. First, do dolphins have self-awareness? That is, do they view themselves as unique individuals, with both agency and ownership of their own actions, and do they attribute these views onto others? Second (and based on the conclusion of the first), can dolphins experience mental illnesses, specifically depression?

Dr. Louis M. Herman, a behavioral psychologist and professor in the Department of Marine Biology at the University of Hawai‘i -Manoa, spent his entire academic career studying dolphin behavior, specifically that of the bottlenose dolphin. Bottlenose dolphins are one of 67 species of cetacean, and are found throughout the world in both saltwater and freshwater (Herman 527). They have a very large brain-to-body ratio or encephalization quotient (EQ), ranging from 4.14 to 4.95 (humans have the greatest, at 7.0). Any EQ above 1.0 is higher than expected (Herman 527).

Notably, dolphins have a larger cerebral cortex (proportionally) compared to humans. A larger cortex also means a greater relative cerebral surface area. The cerebral cortex is the outermost layer of the brain and is the source of most higher-order brain functions, including memory and decision-making (McCaffrey). With their larger cerebral cortex, it would not be surprising to find that dolphins exhibit brain capabilities close or equal to those of humans, including self-awareness.

Academics have long debated the reason for a dolphin’s large brain size. One early hypothesis cited their echolocating capabilities as the source of the enlargement. This hypothesis is unlikely, given that many bat species, as well as the harbor porpoise, have echolocation abilities equal to or greater than that of the dolphin, and though their brain regions for auditory processing are proportionally larger than that of the dolphin, their brains as a whole are not. Additionally, dolphins use vision as much as echolocation for navigation, and possibly in tandem, forming a combined image based on both auditory and visual input, further discounting a hypothesis based on echolocation alone (Herman 528).

The thermogenic hypothesis, proposed by neurologist Paul Manger, states that the “enlargement was simply a response to the cooling of oceanic waters” (Herman 528). This hypothesis was later discounted by the scientific community for being “flawed or misinformed in its key assertions” (Herman 528). The most common and well-accepted hypothesis, however, is that dolphins—as well as apes and humans—developed a large brain because complex society “places a premium on social intelligence” (Herman 528). Baars proposes that “consciousness is a basic biological 7

adaptation, with an evolutionary basis like any other” (Herman 530). In other words, dolphins needed the extra brain space in order to function in a complex society.

Bottlenose dolphin society, specifically the population of Shark Bay, Australia examined by Herman, is characterized by multi-leveled associations, various forms of communication, and elements of what seems to be culture (consisting of specific techniques and practices dependent upon species and location). Herman delves into the specifics of the alliance levels of this society: Males form stable alliances in pairs or trios (first-order alliances) that can last for years; members of an alliance collaborate to capture and control individual females. Second-order alliances may form between first-order alliances to take away a female from another alliance or to defend against others seeking to capture their females. Additionally, some second-order alliances may associate with additional males to form third-order alliances, extending the network of associations and allowing for a wider resource of cooperating males for taking females or defending against others (Herman 527).

Dolphins also communicate through visual contact, vocalizations, and physicality. These are the elements of society which put evolutionary pressure on the increased cortical size of dolphin brains. Each dolphin in a pod will have its own unique set of sounds believed to function as a means of identification. Like humans, dolphins exhibit social imitation wherein an individual imitates an act specifically the form of the act (as opposed to the purpose).

Social imitation is most likely derived from the functional equivalent to the mirror neuron system in humans—a system which is activated in MSR and any time an action is performed or observed (Herman 537). Social imitation can signify a social bond or even embody cultures (Herman 538).

One example of learning a cultural technique through social imitation is the ability of the Shark Bay dolphins to use coral to find food (Herman 539). Further evidence of mirror neurons and imitation in dolphins is a study that was conducted to test a dolphin’s ability to mimic both other dolphins and humans.

The success of this experiment indicates that dolphins “can not only distinguish between themselves and others, but also can understand the body scheme of another creature and mimic the action with their own matched body part (e.g., matching a human leg to the dolphin’s tail)” (Herman 539). Complex society and communication, social imitation, and mimicry of humans and other dolphins, all indicate the possibility that dolphins are self-aware creatures, capable of complex processing and intelligent thinking.

Before considering whether dolphins are self-aware, however, we have to first examine the very concept of “self-awareness.” In addition, what is the difference between having a sense of “self,” having a “self-concept,” and being “self-aware?” According to Herman, there are many conflicting definitions (Herman 530). When asked in an interview to define self-awareness, Dr. Marc Lammers, researcher of marine bioacoustics and cetacean behavior at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, described it as “the ability to think about oneself in an abstract fashion ... projecting yourself into the future or thinking about yourself in the past” (Lammers).

Lammers also points out an issue with humans defining self-awareness, where “we start out with 8

a relatively broad definition ... and when it seems like we’ve met the definition, we restrict the definition more ... so much to where ... the only thing that can meet that definition is a person, a human being” (Lammers). Most agree, however, that there is a multitude of both degrees and types of consciousness. For example, Herman cites zoologist Donald Griffin, who defines selfawareness by distinguishing between “perceptual consciousness,” “body consciousness,” and “self consciousness,” each corresponding to an increase in cognitive ability, respectively (Herman 529).

Herman also quotes psychoanalyst Dorothee Legrand, who differentiates between “self [as] the subject (“I”) and ... self [as] the object (“me”) (qtd in Herman 530).

In MSR, the animal is the self as the subject, and the reflection is the self as the object (Herman 531). Herman defines self-recognition as the understanding that, when viewing a reflection, “that body is me,” and defines self-awareness as understanding, without seeing a reflection, that “this body is me” (Herman 540). It is a combination of thinking of oneself in an abstract fashion, and of knowing that one’s body is one’s own, that will be used as the definition of self-awareness in this paper.

The test for mirror self-recognition (MSR) was initiated by Gordon Gallup Jr., an animal behavioral psychologist, in the 1970s (Herman 530). Dr. Lammers describes MSR as the “classic self-awareness test” (Lammers). Over the years, however, debate has arisen over whether this test actually indicates self-awareness or merely a lower level of self-consciousness, such as body consciousness (Herman 531).

Philippe Rochat, a cognitive and developmental psychologist, and Dan Zahavi, a psychologist focused on self-consciousness, point out a number of potential issues with Gallup’s theory, including the fact that many infants cannot demonstrate MSR until their second year. Infants, however, are certainly conscious before then because they can distinguish between themselves and others, resulting in a false negative MSR. Also, some young children will touch their own nose if they see a mark on their mother’s, meaning that touching one’s own body when in front of a mirror might not indicate self-consciousness one hundred percent of the time, resulting in a false positive MSR (Rochat and Zahavi 206). Rochat and Zahavi argue against Gallup’s claim that demonstrating MSR is evidence of self-awareness and that consciousness is required to understand that the image being seen is of one’s own body (Rochat and Zahavi 206). They have together claimed that, instead, MSR tests show “a mapping of kinesthetically experienced body regions onto the mirror image,” and claim that there is no real concept of self required (Herman 531).

Dr. Robert W. Mitchell, a psychologist focused on animal cognition, supports the kinestheticvisual matching model. This theory was first proposed by Guillaume, and has since arisen to be the main counter-argument to self-awareness as an explanation for MSR (Mitchell 18). Mitchell lays out the kinesthetic-visual model and describes how it can explain MSR. Mitchell discusses how, when placed in front of a mirror, one would see the visual body in front of it, have an idea of its own kinesthetic body, and see that they match, thus essentially recognizing itself in a mirror, without ever having to think consciously about itself (Mitchell 29). He describes how “selfrecognition is dependent upon two capacities: kinesthetic-visual matching and understanding mirror-correspondence,” and states that an organism can recognize itself given these two capacities (Mitchell 31). Mitchell describes how all animals that demonstrate MSR also demonstrate social imitation, and those that don’t exhibit MSR don’t exhibit imitation. Thus, kinesthetic-visual 9

matching, which is certainly required for imitation, would also seem to explain MSR (Mitchell 32). This kinesthetic-visual matching model lays out a strong case against MSR as direct evidence of self-awareness, but fails to address certain drawbacks.

Given the apparent simplicity of kinesthetic-visual matching, it would seem that a great number of animals should have already demonstrated MSR, but only relatively small number of animals have done so. Also, this theory seems to ignore the fact that even if a creature recognizes a reflection as its own because of kinesthetic-visual matching, this still indicates some level of conscious awareness of one’s own body and thus a baseline for self-awareness.

Nevertheless, the mirror test conducted by Gallup is less than perfect (Herman 531). Even Gallup himself said that “there is much more to being self-aware than merely recognizing yourself in a mirror” (qtd. in Herman 531). MSR clearly demonstrates some higher-level functioning in animals, most likely a self-concept, but doesn’t clearly show evidence of self-awareness. It is still a useful tool, however, to determine which animals are most likely to be self-aware.

Interestingly, there is a strong consensus within proponents of animal self-awareness that in order to have self-awareness, one must also have a sense of embodiment or “the subjective experience of having and using a body” (Herman 531). Herman cites psychologists M. Tsakiris and C. Frith, saying that “a principal quality of the self is grounded in the experience of the body as a sensory and motor entity” (Herman 531). Two components of embodiment are body schema and body image. Body schema, the simpler of the two, describes the unconscious, physical sense and motor control of one’s body. Body image, on the other hand, describes the conceptual, changing set of perceptions and feelings about one’s body. As Herman describes it, “conscious awareness and conscious control of one’s own body parts thus seem dependent on the development of a representational body image” (Herman 532).

Further aspects of embodiment include the concepts of agency and ownership. A sense of agency is a sense that “one is the author of one’s own actions,” and implies an understanding of control over and choice concerning one’s body and actions (Herman 534). A sense of ownership, on the other hand, is merely the understanding that the source of an action is one’s body. Together, these senses indicate a consciousness concerning one’s body and an ability to distinguish oneself from others (Herman 534). If a creature were able to demonstrate all of these qualities, it follows that the creature is almost certainly self-aware, given that both possessing a body image and having a sense of agency over one’s actions require abstract considerations of one’s own body and self.

Dolphins have shown evidence that they possess a body image in addition to a basic body schema and have demonstrated both agency and ownership of their actions. In one of Herman’s experiments examining body image, a female dolphin, Elele, was able to learn gestural symbols for different parts of her body, including parts she may not have been aware of (such as her melon, the round part of a dolphin’s head above the nose), and then use those body parts as instructed (Herman 533). It can be postulated from here that she had “conscious awareness and conscious control of her body parts,” in order to successfully complete the commands, which she did. Her ability to assign gestural commands to parts of her body also shows body image plasticity, another indicator of body awareness and self-consciousness (Herman 534).

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Another experiment conducted by Herman used memory to test for agency over one’s actions. By having Elele and another dolphin, Hiapo, either repeat or not repeat a previous action, Herman proved that the dolphins could keep a “representation of working memory of the action just performed” (Herman 535). He argued that retrieval of this memory and further “access [to] the representation of its last behavior to selectively construct its next behavior to be the same as or different from its previous behavior” indicates conscious behavior, providing evidence for not only agency over one’s actions, but also self-awareness (Herman 536).

Elele and Hiapo are just two of many dolphins to exhibit self-regulated behaviors based on body image and agency. These experiments provide the basis for the argument that dolphins are not only conscious of their bodies, but also of their actions, and thus of themselves.

In an interview, Dr. Lammers described his experiences working with dolphins: seeing their interactions, their social structure, their ability to learn “gestural communication systems ... that are, essentially, completely and totally alien to them,” and how each of these qualities seem to fit the definition of self-awareness as an ability to think of oneself abstractly (Lammers). He described their day-to-day “moods” and personalities and explained that self-awareness definitions would have to be extremely restricted to not include dolphins (Lammers).

As far as whether dolphins can communicate with something resembling language, which would certainly be strong evidence for self-consciousness, Dr. Lammers says that in some ways, yes, “they exhibit complex behaviors and ways of coordinating that suggest that they have [complex communication],” but points out that if the definition of language is restricted to include hallmarks of human language, “there is no current way to tell if dolphins possess such abilities” (Lammers).

They can learn human gestural languages, they learn vocal sounds from one another, and there are unique sounds for each individual, but “there’s a whole lot more going on there ... that we don’t know how to interpret” (Lammers). Until technology advances further or research funding increases, humans will remain incapable of speaking with dolphins to determine the full extent of their self-awareness.

All of these studies and accounts, and their implications, can be brought together to form a strong case for dolphin self-awareness. Dolphins have shown evidence that they possess a body image, as well as agency for ownership of their actions, and they can consciously access their own working memory, all of which seem to indicate self-awareness. The probability that dolphins have something similar to language, that they can have daily moods and individual personalities, seems to go beyond merely self-awareness into a more fully developed sense of “self” as a unique individual. Nevertheless, the inability for us to actually speak with dolphins and the fact they are a different species means that it is unlikely that we will be certain—at least in the near future— about whether or not dolphins have a complex view of themselves as humans do. For now, however, it can be said with a significant level of certainty that dolphins are extremely intelligent, and at least self-aware in the sense of being able to consider themselves abstractly and think of themselves as the subject, not object, of their actions.

If we assume that dolphins do possess self-awareness, a second question can be raised concerning whether or not they can experience mental illness similar to humans (we can also assume here that if they can, they probably do). A group of neuroscientists, Boldizsár Czéh Eberhard Fuchs, Ove 11

Wiborg, and Mária Simon, investigated the possibility of replicating human depression in animals.

In humans, major depressive disorder (MDD) is an extremely variant, severe, complex, even lifethreatening chronic mental disorder (Czéh et al. 293). One hypothesis concerning physiological causes is the monoamine imbalance hypothesis, which cites a neurotransmitter imbalance in the brain as a primary source of MDD (Czéh et al. 293). Another theory cites abnormal levels of serotonin and noradrenaline, since antidepressants that increase levels of these neurotransmitters are often effective in reducing or treating MDD (Czéh et al. 293). Further physiological symptoms include varied neurotransmitter levels that deviate from the norm, “dysregulation of hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis,” and changes in microbial makeup of the gut (Czéh et al. 294). All of these symptoms can vary, and none are known for sure to be the root cause of depression in humans.

But can dolphins experience this illness in a way similar to humans? This becomes a complex question to answer, not only because we can’t speak to dolphins or read their minds, but also because most mental illnesses have biological, psychological, physiological, and societal bases.

One article by Nick Carter, who served as Vice-Chairman for the Dolphin Action and Protection Group and has worked with dolphins for 25 years, looks at cases of dolphins in captivity. He said that, given the similar brain complexity between humans and dolphins, “it is therefore reasonable to postulate that the conditions of capture and confinement might be as stressful and harmful to dolphins as they would be to humans” (Carter 193). Carter describes stress as a result of shock, “a condition of collapse that may follow severe psychological or physical pain or injury” (Carter 194). Stress due to shock is present during the capture, separation, transportation, and captivity of dolphins, and may lead to negative psychological and physical effects, including death (Carter 194).

Carter also discusses the use of physical symptoms to diagnose stress and stress-related illnesses.

Often the causes of a dolphin’s death seem to line up with the effects of psychological and physiological disorders such as depression and anxiety (Carter 194). In captivity, many dolphins also exhibit regimented, apparently meaningless behaviors not seen in wild dolphins. These include swimming in circles, resting on the surface, and head bobbing (Carter 196). Carter cites Frank Robson, a marine conservationist, who blames stress and subsequent disorder for the large number of respiratory problems found in captive dolphins (Carter 195). Given all these physical manifestations of apparent mental illness, Carter investigates specific cases of such effects.

In one case, a dolphin whose companions had died exhibited behavioral symptoms similar to those of psychoneurosis, or manic-depressive disorder, before shattering a glass port, and subsequently being released into the wild (Carter 196). In another case, a dolphin had stopped eating due to stress. Due to lack of food, he begins to lose his blubber and, unable to keep his body temperature up, succumbed to pneumonia and eventually died (Carter 195). In yet another case, a dolphin had developed ulcers, and it was discovered that he became anxious due to all the crowds. When they covered the viewing glass, the condition was reversed (Carter 196). In each of these cases stressors experienced in captivity manifested themselves physically, until the situation was changed.

Given that dolphins have complex brains similar to humans, we can assume that they might experience atypical hormonal and neurotransmitter levels similar to humans, but we have no foolproof method of measuring the social effects or causes of dolphin depression. Because a 12

dolphin’s breathing is a conscious act, their brains cannot be examined while they are unconscious.

This creates an issue for trying to determine the similarities and differences between dolphin and human physiology. Also, as noted by Czéh et al., "Some of the key symptoms of human affective disorders, such as depressed mood, loss of mental energy, or recurrent thoughts of death, cannot be modeled directly in animals” (Czéh et al. 299).

According to Dr. Lammers, depression is a condition of neurology and brain chemistry, so an imbalance of serotonin (or the functional equivalent in dolphins) would lead to something like depression in humans. Lammers discusses how depression and other mental illnesses are characteristics of society, and thus would probably be found in other social animals. Given the probable biological, neurological, and social causes of depression, it seems that dolphins are extremely likely to experience this condition in much the same way humans do, considering their similar brain size and complex social structure.

Given these numerous symptoms and possible causes, combined with the fact that MDD may in fact be an “umbrella” diagnoses for a number of similar conditions, it becomes increasingly difficult to measure possible depression in dolphins. Also, though there is evidence of a genetic aspect of the disorder, the specific genetic information has not been located, so it is possible (though statistically unlikely) that dolphins do not have the specific gene(s) in common with humans (Czéh et al. 295). However, a recent study from Texas A&M University has discovered that “every human chromosome had a corollary chromosome in the dolphin,” and that the only significant difference between the two genomes is chromosomal arrangement (Dolphin DNA).

Given this, the likelihood that dolphins share the same basic genetic predisposition for depression that humans do increases significantly. Assuming they do have the same set of genes for depression as humans, they would also likely need the environmental stress often associated with depression’s onset (Czéh et al. 295). Dolphins in captivity are likely to experience levels of environmental stress similar to those that lead to depression in many humans.

There have been many animal studies of depression (mostly concerning rodents), but each of these only exhibits certain aspects of MDD, not the entire condition. But mice and rats are much lowerfunctioning animals than dolphins, so an argument could be made that dolphins might experience a wider range of conditions, including the entirety of MDD. These rodent studies have successfully demonstrated a number of symptoms, including “loss of control by social defeat,” and decreased sucrose consumption in conditions of induced stress. Furthermore, a number of antidepressants have successfully reduced these and other symptoms of MDD in mice (Czéh et al. 300).

Notably, “decreased sucrose consumption is not a physiological phenomenon; it seems to be a mental phenomenon” in response to stress (Czéh et al. 302). Also, depressive symptoms can be bred for in mice, again indicating a genetic basis, which as stated before, since dolphins are more complex than mice, is likely attributable to them as well (Czéh et al. 298). Although all of these studies were done with rodents, not large, complex mammals such as dolphins, it can be extrapolated that dolphins, being more complex both biologically and societally, would experience similar or even more pronounced symptoms of depression.

Whether or not they can experience depression, it seems extremely probable that dolphins 13

experience high volumes of stress in captivity. For example, "disruption of circadian regulations [daily sleep/wake rhythm] in animals can induce depressive-like symptoms," and dolphins in captivity are almost certainly not on the same rhythm they would have been in the wild (Czéh et al. 304). In one study, transgenic mice were put into a stressful situation and some exhibited depressive-like behaviors, indicating presence of a gene that increases likelihood for depression, which could potentially be found in dolphins, especially those in captivity (Cosgrove 66).

Furthermore, there are a number of case examples where dolphins under extreme stress seem to develop psychological disorders such as depression, leading to more severe physical and behavioral effects, and, in some cases, even death. Louis Ng, founder and leader of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES), discusses in an anti-captivity article the differences between wild and captive behaviors in humpback dolphins. He describes how, in the wild, this species is rarely acrobatic and notoriously shy, yet in captivity forced to perform flips and jumps in front of large crowds (Ng 8). Ng also explains that “free-living cetaceans... are capable of deep diving, and many species spend less than 20 percent of their time at the water's surface,” while those in captivity are limited by the size and depth of their tanks (Ng 13).

Ng cites Dr. Giorgio Pilleri, Director of the Brain Anatomy Institute at Berne University, who explains that many dolphins in captivity exhibit “profound psychological disturbance, and neurotic behavior almost identical to that of humans when held in solitary confinement” (Ng 14). Captive dolphins also seem to be the most likely set of dolphins to experience stress-related mental illnesses such as depression, given their stressful lifestyle compared to that of wild dolphins.

There have been two supposed cases of “dolphin suicide” where captive dolphins are said to have stopped breathing, investigated by animal welfare editor Arin Greenwood (Greenwood 2). Given that breathing is a conscious act for dolphins, it would appear that these creatures intentionally ended their lives (Greenwood 3).

But there are a number of problems with this claim. First, there is no way to tell that they chose not to breathe and that something (such as an illness) prevented them from being able to take that next breath. Second, as Brian Palmer puts it, “suicide involves a set of higher-order cognitive abilities,” including both body and self-awareness, a concept of the “future,” and a knowledge of what death is and how to cause it (Greenwood 4). Dolphins are almost certainly self-aware and seem to demonstrate some idea of the future, given a study where a dolphin had to repeat tasks, requiring it to remember the previous task, with the understanding that it may either repeat the task or perform another. But there is no real way to measure what a dolphin understands about death or whether they know what choices may lead to such a result.

On the other hand, Lori Marino brings up what she calls “the soft case for dolphin suicide,” also known as “failure to thrive” (Greenwood 4). In such cases, the dolphin simply stops interacting with others, stops eating, and eventually dies of self-neglect. Though this seems like a form of suicide to some, it leans more toward an indication of depression and a “loss of a will to live”, rather than a conscious choice to die (Greenwood 4). Dr. Lammers describes scenarios where it may be preferable to the dolphin to die in order to escape a situation of more extreme stress, but it is “difficult to say ... how much it was a voluntary act as opposed to just not being able to survive anymore... it’s purely speculative” (Lammers). Nevertheless, dolphins are extremely high14

functioning animals and may have the cognitive capacity to commit suicide, but we can never be certain until we can speak with one.

If dolphins can experience major stress and depression, especially when in captivity, should something be done to decrease the number of dolphins in captivity, perhaps even eliminate the practice? It’s a complicated question, and one that is extremely controversial in our current time.

Dr. Lammers raises the question of the morality of captivity if we attribute all these traits of selfawareness and intelligence to dolphins, but also mentions that “we do lots of morally questionable things” and captivity “just seems to be part of ... what humans do” (Lammers). Humans have always considered themselves to be better than the creatures around us, and it is sometimes hard to remember that we are part of this world too, not separate from it. Thinking of “people [versus] everything else is a maladaptive attitude ... it doesn’t ultimately benefit us,” and the more we can accept that we are a part of the larger system, the better off we will be (Lammers). This will likely include lessening captivity, as well as many of the other impacts we have on our environment.

Given that keeping dolphins in captivity may result in depression for these creatures and exacerbate their suffering, it would seem that captivity is an issue that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

In conclusion, there seems to be overwhelming evidence suggesting that dolphins are indeed selfaware, though we cannot be sure without knowing their thoughts. Dr. Louis Herman’s research was a major resource for determining evidence of cognition and body-awareness in dolphins and provides support for positive conclusions regarding dolphin self-awareness. Given that these creatures are probably self-aware, and given that captive dolphins are often under great stress due to any number of factors, including large crowds, loneliness, or boredom, it seems reasonable to conclude that they are also capable of experiencing depression.

However, even more so than with self-awareness, nothing can be said for sure without knowing their thoughts, since the majority of depressive symptoms have to do with negative thoughts in humans. One of the major implications of dolphins having self-awareness, and even depression, is how we interact with these creatures, and whether these interactions should change. If we assume they do experience depression, we have a moral obligation to do all we can to help their mental states, including, but not limited to, stopping the practice of keeping dolphins captive for entertainment purposes.

WORKS CITED Carter, Nick. "Effects of Psycho-Physiological Stress on Captive Dolphins." Humane Society.

Institute for Science and Policy (1982): n. pag. Science Direct. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

Cosgrove, Victoria E., John R. Kelsoe, and Trisha Suppes. "Toward a Valid Animal Model of Bipolar Disorder: How the Research Domain Criteria Help Bridge the Clinical-Basic Science Divide." Society of Biological Psychiatry (2016): n. pag. Science Direct. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

Cressey, Jason. "Making a Splash in the Pacific: Dolphin and Whale Myths and Legends of Oceania." Rapa Nui Journal 12.3 (1998): 75-84.

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Czéh, Boldizsár, Eberhard Fuchs, Ove Wiborg, and Mária Simon. "Animal Models of Major Depression and Their Clinical Implications." Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry (2015): n. pag. Science Direct. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

"Dolphin DNA Very Close to Human." Reef Science. Reef Relief Founders, 2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2016.

Herman, Louis M. "Body and Self in Dolphins." Consciousness and Cognition 21.1 (2012): 526-45. Science Direct. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

Greenwood, Arin. "What It Means to Say a Dolphin Committed Suicide." The Huffington Post.

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 13 June 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

Lammers, Marc O. Personal interview. 28 Nov. 2016.

McCaffrey, Patrick. "Cerebral Lobes, Cerebral Cortex, and Brodmann's Areas." California State University. CSU Chico, 2014. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

Mitchell, Robert W. "Kinesthetic-Visual Matching and the Self-Concept as Explanations of Mirror-Self-Recognition." Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 27.1 (2001): n. pag. Wiley Online Library. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

Ng, Louis. Suffering, Not Smiling: The Truth about Captive Dolphins. Rep. N.p.: Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, n.d. Print.

Roberts, Sam. "Louis Herman, Who Talked With Dolphins, Died at 86." The New York Times.

Nytimes.com, 12 Aug. 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

Rochat, Philippe, and Dan Zahavi. "The Uncanny Mirror: A Re-framing of Mirror Self-experience." Consciousness and Cognition 20.2 (2011): 204-13. Science Direct.

Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

Smith, J. David, Johnathan Schull, Jared Strote, Kelli McGee, Roian Egnor, and Linda Erb. "The Uncertain Response in the Bottlenosed Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus)." Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 124.4 (1995): 391-408. Science Direct. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

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The Time is Now: Slowing Coral Reef Bleaching through Artificial Reefs

By Emma Love In modern times, almost everybody has heard of global warming and climate change, regardless of whether they chose to accept or reject the evidence for it. Unfortunately, too little is being done to reverse the adverse effects of climate change, which include—according to the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, which is associated with NOAA (2016)—changes in the ocean’s chemistry where the water becomes more acidic and the water temperature rises. This poses a great threat for marine ecosystems, especially the coral reefs that hold the ecosystems together.

Recent articles, such as the infamous “Obituary for the Great Barrier Reef,” have tried to bring the problems caused by these changes by using the shock value of a landmark like the Great Barrier Reef dying in an attempt to change people’s minds (Rowan, 2016). The Great Barrier Reef is not actually dead but is dying, and the problem of mass coral deaths called “coral bleaching” has increased due to rising ocean acidification and rising temperatures. According to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, in 1998, 80% of the coral in the reefs in the Indian Ocean were bleached, while 20% were dead (Ocean Portal Team, 2016).

However, there is still a chance for us to, at the very least, slow down the rate of bleaching long enough to withhold the effects of losing a keystone to the marine ecosystem. One of these ways is to begin building artificial reefs, in order to take away some of the stresses that humans put on the coral reefs long enough for the natural reef to recover under the watchful eye of researchers.

Artificial reefs are one of the best options for slowing down the rate of bleaching because: they provide a way for the natural reef to be protected from humans without being detrimental to tourist economies; they are a far more cost-effective method compared to the costs of losing the reef entirely; and they can attract animals who can benefit the reef and protect them from becoming endangered.

The term “coral bleaching” comes from the white color of dead or dying coral that can be seen typically along dead or dying reefs, although it can be seen in healthy reefs as well. This is due to the death of an algae living on the coral, zooxanthealle. According to the Ocean Portal Team which is associated with The Smithsonian, zooxanhealle is what gives the coral its impressive coloring, and provides the coral with nutrients in a mutual symbiotic relationship through photosynthesis (Ocean Portal Team, 2016). When the temperature of the ocean rises or the ocean becomes more acidic, it can either cause the zooxanthealle to die or to leave the coral, leaving it white and without a way to provide enough nutrients for itself to survive. The coral is not dead just because it is white; rather. it is in the process of dying.

Another thing that causes zooxanthealle to leave the coral is stress placed on them by humans, typically through touching the coral or by stepping on it, which is like Hanauma Bay will make people watch a video before snorkeling that explains not to touch the wildlife or the coral.

Biologists and researchers at the University of Jordan, Fuad Al-Horani and Maroof A. Khalf, did a study on the dying reef in the Gulf of Aqaba in 2008. In the introduction they said the reef was officially classified as critically endangered (F. Al-Horani & A. Khalf, 2013). That same year an artificial reef was built and deployed in the Gulf, where Al-Horani and Khalf studied the effects 17

of the artificial reef on the natural reef for three and a half years. They concluded that “Based on the results obtained, it is highly recommended to use artificial reefs for restoration purposes,” and went on to say that they believed it was successful in helping the natural reef because people were more attracted to the new artificial reef than the one that needed protection (F. Al-Horani & A. Khalf, 2013).

The artificial reefs built and deployed in the study consisted of cubes made by a custom-made concrete material, with holes created through PVC pipes and rocks on the outside to give it a similar texture as rocks, that coral may latch onto and eventually grow to create a reef—although other artificial reefs have been made of anything consisting of rocks to hollowed and emptied ships and planes (F. Al-Horani & A. Khalf, 2013). The reefs can also be deployed with farmed coral already on them, or can be, as in the study’s instance, simply placed in the ocean where they wait for the reef to grow.

Unfortunately, one of the cons to building an artificial reef is the cost. On Sao Miguel Island, an artificial reef was built to remove the stress caused by humans from the coral. The new artificial reef was studied by laboratory assistants and researchers from universities both in Portugal and the U.K. to observe and discuss the possible pros and cons to building an artificial reef. The reef deployed in Sao Miguel costed €264,000, which converts to roughly $280,479 U.S., including an additional 25% for preparation (K. Ng, et al., 2015).

Despite this, the reef proved to help the reef, as “it was noticed that fish inspected the newly deployed reef immediately after deployment. A few days later, the units became greenish in color as a result of algal recruitment on the units.” This was then followed by the algae being eaten off and hard coral and sponges found on the reef (K. Ng, et. al, 2015).

Many people may read the price of the single reef in the Sao Miguel islands and think, “How is something like a reef worth over $280,000 to protect it?” Coral reefs are essential to the sustainability of the marine ecosystem. The Queensland Museum in Australia says that reefs “protect coastlines from the damaging effects of wave action and tropical storms, provide habitats and shelter for many marine organisms, and they are the source of nitrogen and other essential nutrients for marine food chains” (Queensland Museum, 2012). Essentially, without coral reefs, there would be more damage done to beaches and coasts, and fewer marine organisms, meaning a chain reaction that could cause the extinction of marine organisms such as tuna or dolphins that are important to humans. This in turn could result in the complete breakdown of the marine ecosystem.

Furthermore, the museum states, “The fishing industry depends on coral reefs because many fish spawn there and juvenile fish spend time there before making their way to open sea,” meaning that if the reefs died, people in the fishing industry would be out of jobs (Queensland Museum, 2012).

In a 2008 article written in 2008 Oliver for CNN, R. Oliver states, “The worldwide fishing industry employs around 200 million people, generating $80 billion a year” (2008). Many countries with coral reefs have tourist-run economies, meaning that if they simply shut down the natural reef in order to protect it and allow it to recuperate and recover, their economies would suffer greatly.

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The Queensland Museum says, “The Great Barrier Reef generates more than 1.5 billion dollars every year for the Australian economy, from fishing and tourism” (Queensland Museum, 2012).

If the coral reefs ended up dying it would be detrimental to other life in the ocean, as many of the bigger fish that we rely on spend a good portion of their life on the reefs. Without the reefs, there would be a large amount of jobs, such as fishing, lost, which would also result in a big hit to the economies of most, if not all, countries.

Artificial reefs, however, are like the beautiful, colorful reefs that we are used to seeing, and are attracting tourism by providing scuba diving and snorkeling. Because these reefs are attracting people, less stress is being placed on the natural reef, allowing natural reefs to have a “breathing period” where they can recuperate. This was the result of a study done in the Gulf of Aqaba, where the natural reef showed a slowing of the bleaching rate and an increase in life as less stress from humans was placed on it (F. Al-Horani & M. Khalaf, 2013).

In another example along the coast of California and Mexico, another artificial reef was deployed.

This time it was to study the similarities and differences between the fish assemblage, the biodiversity of the species, and the numbers of populations. Biodiversity, which is the number of different species in a given ecosystem, is vastly important to the survival of the ecosystem. In short, the more species in an ecosystem, the better suited the ecosystem is to handle change, and the more species the ecosystem can stand to lose without the entirety of the ecosystem dying with it.

However, if the ecosystem loses a keystone species, the entire ecosystem will collapse, or there will be very little hope for the ecosystem. If the artificial reefs cannot at the very least match the biodiversity and number of populations in natural reefs, then they are not be doing enough to be considered a way to help prevent the death of coral reefs. The study in California and Mexico was done by Jennifer Granneman and Mark Steele, two professors of biology at California State University. They discovered that “the assemblage of species was similar between the artificial and natural reefs,” which was safe for two different fish species found on both the artificial and natural reefs that were not on the other (J. Granneman & M. Steele, 2015). The fish attracted to the reef built up both reefs, which shows that building artificial reefs near natural reefs will provide a habitat for fish that are keystone species to the reef (J. Granneman & M. Steele, 2015).

The artificial reef is similar to the natural reef not only in terms of biodiversity, but also in terms of similar pH levels and substrate levels. This shows that artificial reefs are a reliable and sound way to slow down the rate of coral bleaching in the world by taking some of the stressors off of natural reefs, and by providing for more areas when coupled with natural reefs for fish species to develop, thrive, and continue to keep the reefs alive.

This year alone, the Great Barrier Reef has lost over a quarter of its coral due to climate change, according to Michael Slezak (2016). He provided a map of the parts of the reef affected by the bleaching events, provided to him by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (see Appendix A for map). According to the map, at least a quarter of the reef has had over 81% of its coral severely bleached due to climate change and stresses placed by humans. Slezak says that scientists claim that “it is almost too late to save it,” and that “strong and immediate action is

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required” to save the remaining coral in the reef (M. Slezak, 2016). However, this is not just a problem for the Great Barrier Reef.

Coral reefs all over the world have suffered for years and years due to stressors and have been ignored because they were not as considered important as the Great Barrier Reef. The death of the Great Barrier Reef, or the dying of the Great Barrier Reef, is a bucket of cold water dumped over all our heads because the reef is one of the natural wonders of the world, and “there are more than 70 indigenous groups with a connection to the reef, many of whom depend on it for their livelihoods” (Slezak, 2016).

Strong and immediate action is required to relieve the coral of these stressors, or else we will be forced to deal with the consequences. The loss of keystone species in the marine ecosystem, loss of jobs, loss of wonders like the Great Barrier Reef, the suffering and, perhaps, complete destruction of the economies of areas based on either fishing or on tourism—all of these and more are the consequences we face if we continue down the path we are currently on.

Immediate and radical change is needed to save the reefs, but humans tend to be stubborn creatures set in their ways. There have been many attempts in the past to attempt to show people the effects of humans on the world to try and prevent something like this from happening, and many have failed. However, if we cannot convince everyone to work together to prevent the death of the reefs, we can attempt to band together to slow down the rate of the bleaching through artificial reefs.

Artificial reefs are the way to slow down the rates of bleaching, and perhaps even one day this can be a way to rebuild the reef and attempt bleaching. Artificial reefs can be expensive, as seen in the Sao Miguel islands study and in the discussion of the pros and cons to building an artificial reef. But as shown in the reefs along the coast of California and Mexico, they provide for very nearly the exact same life as seen in the natural reefs (J. Granneman & M. Steele, 2015). Both Slezak and the Queensland Museum have said that the reefs are important not only to the animals that rely on them for shelter while they mature, but also to humans who rely on the animals both for food and for jobs. Reefs will stimulate and keep the economies of tourist-run areas of the world running.

Artificial reefs can provide an alternative to humans so the natural reef can have a “breather period,” as shown in the Gulf of Aqaba where the natural reef is currently being saved by the artificial reef (F. Al-Horani & A. Khalf, 2013). Oliver states that they can save economies since, in 2008, 200 million people were employed in the fishing industry.

There are pros and cons to anything that can be used to try and prevent another bleaching event or to try and “save” the ecosystem, but the problem will only get worse if we simply wait for a miracle or sit around and do nothing. Artificial reefs, at the very least, are needed to slow down the rates of deaths in coral reefs, and we hope one day, to prevent them from dying entirely, for the sake of the marine ecosystem and for humans ourselves.

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WORKS CITED Al-Horani, Fuad A., and Maroof A. Khalaf. “Developing Artificial Reefs for the Mitigation of Man-made Coral Reef Damages in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea: Coral Recruitment after 3.5 years of development.” Marine Biology Research (2013): 249-257. Accessed 10/30/16.

Granneman, Jennifer E., and Mark A. Steele. “Effects of Reef Attributes on Fish Assemblage: Similarity between Artificial and Natural Reefs.” ICES Journal of Marine Science (2015): 2385-2397. Accessed 10/30/16.

Jacobsen, Rowan. “Obituary: Great Barrier Reef (25 Million BC-2016).” Outside Online (2016).

Accessed 11/9/16.

Ng, Kiat; Tony Thomas, Michael R. Phillips, Helena Calado, Paulo Borges, and Fernando VelosoGomes. “Multifunctional Artificial Reefs for Small Islands: An Evaluation of Amenity and Opportunity for Sao Miguel Island, the Azores.” Progress in Physical Geography (2015): 220-257. Accessed 10/30/16.

Northwest Fisheries Science Center. “Ocean Acidification Research.” NOAA Fisheries.

Accessed 12/2/16.

Ocean Portal Team, Knowlton, Nancy. “Corals and Coral Reefs.” Ocean Portal: Smithsonian Natural Museum of Natural History (2016). Accessed 11/9/16.

Oliver, Rachael. “All About: Global Fishing.” CNN (2008). Accessed 12/1/2016.

Queensland Museum. “05. Human Impact on the Reef.” Biodiscovery and the Great Barrier Reef (2012). Accessed 12/2/2016.

Slezak, Michael. “The Great Barrier Reef: A Catastrophe Laid Bare.” The Guardian (2016).

Accessed 12/1/2016.

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Appendix A Map of the bleached and/or endangered areas of the Great Barrier Reef

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The Real Superferry

By Jordan Carley-Windeler Not only is the hassle annoying, but the cost of renting a car on ANY neighbor island is expensive!

From past experience, the cost of renting a car was $50 per day at the least. If you wanted anything larger than a four-door, four-seat car, you needed to pay more. Prices could start at $100 a day for larger vehicles. Do not forget the tourists in front of you in line asking the agent every question possible. On top of the regular hotel, food, and shopping expenses, you also have to add the cost of a round-trip plane ticket. You might even sit next to the family with two noisy kids on the way back over. I almost forgot to mention that the security checkpoint at the airport is backed up again.

You’ve got to make room in your schedule to return the car, run to the terminal, go through security, and then wait for the plane to start boarding. Pity there’s not a more convenient way around this that would allow you to take your car with you as you traveled.

In 2009, there was a way around it, and that was the Superferry. Unfortunately, those in charge had not followed through with qualifying the Superferry for Hawaiian waters. Several news articles and environmental reports will be addressed to provide evidence for my argument that it will be beneficial for the state of Hawai‘i to have an operating ferry system, but we need to take everything into account before we get things underway. The ecosystems on neighbor islands, fuel consumption, waterway traffic, and the sustainability of a ferry all need to be taken into account as well as going through an environmental assessment, which was not completed for the 2009 Superferry.

The first and only ferry in Hawai‘i was the Hawai‘i Superferry. Christopher Pala, a writer for the New York Times, wrote articles regarding the Hawai‘i Superferry in 2007 when it made its first appearance. The 430-foot luxurious catamaran was later halted from continuing service between Maui and Oahu because the ferry did not have a proper environmental assessment (Pala). When asked to run an environmental assessment, former Governor Lingle wanted to continue service, knowing it would take a couple of years to conduct (“Hawai‘i ferry halted”).

An environmental assessment is meant to make sure that any type of new commercial activity is done properly and provides little to no threat to the environment. The chief executive of the Superferry claimed that it had been fitted to address all environmental concerns, saying, “We have special bottom paint that prevents microorganisms from attaching, we don’t discharge any fluids at sea, we have whale watchers with night-vision gear” (Pala).

Those key factors are extremely important to address in Hawai‘i because of the delicate ecosystems. Eucheuma seaweed could be carried by boats traveling between here and neighboring islands. The concern is that the seaweed is only known in Oahu and has done a vast amount of damage to our bays (Pala). If transported to a neighboring island, the effects would devastate their ecosystems. That “special bottom paint” prevents the seaweed from traveling on the ferry. Similar high-speed ferry systems have been known to run into and kill whales in their area (Pala).

Unfortunately, the Superferry was deemed unconstitutional for not having an environmental assessment done before operation. A future ferry would need an assessment before it even made its way to the Hawaiian Islands.

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This new ferry will address all the concerns people had about the original Superferry so that people will not have any doubts. The most significant concern that people had about the Superferry was the environmental assessment. Knowing it would take a couple of years to perform, the assessment needs to begin immediately after the idea is proposed. Those in charge would need to examine the aspects of Hawai‘i mentioned above, to make sure the new ferry has no impact on the Hawaiian environment. The Hawaiian Islands are home to many native species, many of them endangered.

The last thing we need is to upset those that still live here and drive them to extinction.

One of those pests that upsets the lands of Oahu is the mongoose. It has been known to eat endangered bird eggs and prevent those species from multiplying. According to Pala, “Environmentalists are also concerned that the many vehicles the boat can carry will allow mongoose, which have severely depleted Oahu’s bird population, to stow away and be carried to Kauai, which has none” (Pala).

Kauai, one of the neighbor islands, has few to no mongoose, and people are afraid that a ferry could overlook possible species invasion while carrying so many cars and passengers and could transport a mongoose unknowingly to Kauai. Boom! Ecosystem destroyed. One plan that comes to mind is to thoroughly check any ferries headed to Kauai to make sure that no mongoose have sneaked aboard. All Kauai ferries would then leave an hour post-boarding to ensure that no invasive species hitched a ride. Any outbreak in invasive species on neighboring islands would automatically ban ferry activity to that island until an alternative is found.

An equally important concern regarding any endangered species are our humpback whales and local marine life. The humpback whales primarily gather in the Hawaiian waters to birth their calves—a well-known fact to most residents of Hawai‘i. A high-speed ferry could easily kill a whale on the surface of the water. James Darling prepared a report for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Sanctuary, stating that “humpback groups containing a calf occurred in significantly more shallow water and nearer to shore than did groups without a calf during afternoon hours and, late in the season” (Darling 3). Whales use the shallow waters around the islands to stay protected from large predators. Thorough research would be needed to ensure that ferries are not in breeding grounds or calving grounds so that no whales are harmed. Seasonal routes and schedules would need to be determined that ensure ferries do not disturb the whales or upset their migration routes.

The environment is not the only thing that needs to be assessed. The local communities will want to be sure that the ferry is not just another money-making scheme here that invades our unique way of life. The ferry should be managed not by a private organization, but instead the State itself.

From personal experience, I admire the Washington State Ferries that service Puget Sound by Seattle. Ferries run back and forth across the Sound, helping commuters drive from home to work in the morning and then back in evening. The ferry is run by the Washington Department of Transportation (DOT). Our own DOT should have a branch that would help to run the ferry system once the project is was completed. Only then could the local people be sure that the ferry is operated by people who know how this state works.

The old ferry was managed by a private company, The Hawai‘i Superferry, owned by people from out of state (Pala). Jerry Mander and Koohan Paik, both residents of Hawai‘i, wrote an article, 24

“Surfers vs The Superferry,” about the uproar in Hawai‘i when the Superferry appeared, stating: “Many indicated they were not opposed to a ferry if it would operate within community and environmental standards rather than those of an absentee owner with profit motives” (Mander & Paik 1). According to Mander and Paik, most local people were concerned that another moneymaking outsider would intrude on our culture in order to benefit themselves. As long as the new ferry were operated by the DOT, then no private ownership of the ferry could be established. Any concerns regarding its operation would be addressed by people who understand where the local communities were coming from.

Now that the concerns have been addressed, the benefits of a ferry are positive. As previously mentioned, the busy nature of an airport can be stressful. Based on personal experience while traveling to the Big Island, the estimated time of arrival before the flight disembarks can range between one and two hours. Seeing as we are only looking at Neighbor Island flights, the flight times are much shorter than flights to the mainland. Boarding time is approximately 45 minutes before departure and then the flight itself is about one hour. Another 45 minutes is required to disembark, pick up luggage, and proceed directly to the rental car bus station or rental car facility.

Once there, the entire journey has taken around four hours.

A ferry, on the other hand, would need people to arrive only one hour before departure, having tickets in hand. After check-in and examining cars before departure, it would take 30 minutes to load onto the ferry and get situated. According to online tourist guide aloha-hawaii.com, the journey to Hilo on the Superferry was approximately four hours. Upon arrival, another 30 minutes would be needed to disembark. After the first couple of months, the ferry would run like clockwork with minimal delays. Although the ferry may result in a two-hour longer trip, it would be more relaxing, your budget will get a reprieve.

It is safe to say that everyone's wallet is always in consideration when you leave home for any occasion. Let us take a couple who have decided they want to spend three days and two nights in Hilo in July. (All prices fluctuate daily; that is to say, the research conducted here is not definite.)

According to hawaiianarlines.com, a plane ticket for two could range between $120 per ticket to $200 per ticket roundtrip. The $120 per ticket will be used for this estimation, equating to $240 for both persons. After the flight, you have to rent a car since the island is too big to travel on foot comfortably. According to Expedia.com, the price of a car for two people is at least $50/day, which would total $150 for the three days on the island. Adding the expenses up for two people traveling to Hilo for the weekend over the summer equals $390. Food, excursions, and shopping have not been added into the cost. This weekend trip is something that will need planning and budgeting.

Now we can look at the cost of a ferry: “Before closing, it offered one-way fares between $39 and $49.” (Namata). That being said, we’ll approximate the cost of a ferry to $50/ticket one way for one private vehicle. With a ferry, you pay less than a plane ticket, can carry more in your vehicle, and you do not have to rent a car. The total is then reduced to $50 for traveling expenses. That’s $240 less than airfare and rental car service. Sleeping accommodations, food, shopping, and excursion expenses would not be affected by the ferry. Namata quotes Honolulu resident Angie Perez: “‘Here in Hawai‘i, everything is so expensive. Everyone has to shop around for the best deal. I think the more competition we have, the more choices we have, there’s better pricing’” (Namata).

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It is safe to say that the majority of the population here would agree with Perez. Stewart Yerton, a law student at the University of Hawai‘i, wrote an environmental law paper about the Superferry saying, “For Hawai‘i residents, interisland travel is expensive, not only because of the cost of airplane tickets but also because most travelers must rent a car upon arriving at a neighbor island.”

Two different people from different sources both agree with each other. It’s not fair that everything is expensive because there is no competition between airlines. Competition between the ferry and airlines will lower airfares and make traveling easier for the local people. We all enjoy comfort and convenience, and the ferry would help to provide this for locals traveling between the islands.

That being said, the ferry would help to benefit Hawai‘i and its people by providing an alternative to air travel between islands. As stated, it would need to have an environmental assessment completed before it begins operation. That would include examining the ecosystems on all the islands pertaining to invasive species, humpback whales and their breeding grounds, and water traffic traveling between the islands, since the invasion of mongoose on Kauai would deplete the native bird population beyond repair. Humpback whales are already endangered, so ferries would need to stay clear of their breeding grounds. Also as stated, the entire operation would need to be managed by Hawai‘i’s Department of Transportation so that locals will not fret about outside businesses invading the Hawaiian Islands’ pristine waters. That would allow for the ferry to be a local mode of transportation, one that the people can know is in safe hands. Its competition against the airlines would allow people to choose a more convenient and affordable mode of transportation that allows them to carry their own personal vehicle with them to the neighbor islands. Visiting family and friends, or traveling off one's home island, would be less of a hassle and less of a budget breaker.

It is only reasonable to see that a ferry can provide what the people want. It is important to understand where the local people stand because they are ones who will decide if a ferry is right for the Hawaiian Islands. When it is established, it may bring in revenue to help sustain the economy, allowing it to benefit the state of Hawai‘i—as long as it is done properly and with the consent of the local people.

WORKS CITED Darling, James D. Characterization of Behavior of Humpback Whales in Hawaiian Waters. Rep. Vancouver: West Coast Whale Research Foundation, 2001. Print.

Mander, Jerry, and Ko’ohan Paik. "Surfers Vs. The Superferry." Nation 288.10 (2009): 16-19.

Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

Namata, Brigette. "Could the Superferry Make a Comeback?" Khon2. LIN Television Corporation, 4 Feb. 2016. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

Pala, Christopher. "Hawai‘i Ferry Sits Idle Amid Protests and Court Rulings." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 5 Sept. 2007. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.

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Pala, Christopher. "Hawai‘i Ferry Halted for Environment Study." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 10 Oct. 2007. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.

"The Hawai‘i SuperFerry." aloha-hawaii.com. Aloha from Hawai‘i, n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.

Text.

Yerton, Stewart A. "Procedural Standing and the Hawai‘i Superferry Decision…” Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal 12.1 (2010): 330-369. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

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The Not-So-Sweet Truth

By Shyanne Dela Vega Americans are being poisoned by a common additive which is present in a wide array of processed foods and caloric drinks. According to the Corn Refiners Association, this toxic additive is highfructose corn syrup (HFCS), a sweetener made from corn. It comes in two primary compositions, HFCS-42 and HFCS-55 (“About High Fructose Corn Syrup”). This means that HFCS is composed of either 42 percent or 55 percent fructose, with the remaining sugars primarily being glucose and higher sugars (chains of glucose).

Fructose is a naturally occurring, very sweet sugar, produced by many plants (“How Bad for You is High-Fructose Corn Syrup?”). Glucose, also naturally occurring, is the main source of energy in our bodies. Fructose and glucose contain the same type of atoms, but are put together differently.

When you combine fructose with glucose, you wind up with sucrose, which is your basic table sugar. HFCS is in nearly everything: jelly, juice, sodas, cereals, ketchup, yogurt, salad dressing, ice cream, cough syrup, and much more (“How Bad…?”) Excessive consumption of high-fructose corn syrup is linked to various metabolic diseases that are harmful to one’s health.

In 1957, researchers discovered an enzyme that could turn glucose, contained in corn syrup, into fructose. This process was modified and improved upon, making it possible to mass-produce HFCS. In 1970, more than 83 percent of sweeteners consumed in the U.S. were sucrose (“How Bad...?”). By 1997, that number had dropped to 43 percent, due to the excessive price. The rest of the sweeteners being consumed were HFCS, about 57 percent.

In the 1980s, much of the cane sugar used in the food industry was replaced by HFCS. Because of laws that encourage the use of our own domestic sugar supplies (such as those from Hawai‘i), it is expensive to import cheaper foreign sugar into the U.S. As a result, it became much cheaper for food companies to use HFCS rather than cane sugar. This allowed for the average soda size to balloon from 8 ounces to 20 ounces, with little financial cost to manufacturers. HFCS is mainly found in very poor-quality foods, such as sodas, that are nutritionally vacuous. These foods are filled with unhealthy compounds, fats, salts, chemicals, and even mercury.

The mercury contained in high-fructose corn syrup is not regulated or measured by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Mercury is a toxic heavy metal ("Mercury and High Fructose Corn Syrup: Frequently Asked Questions"). The American Academy of Pediatrics declares mercury as a “ubiquitous environmental toxin that causes a wide range of adverse health effects in humans.”

Any form of mercury is toxic and the safest exposure to mercury is none at all.

In fact, an FDA researcher asked corn producers to ship a barrel of high-fructose corn syrup in order to test for contaminants (Hyman). Her repeated requests were refused until she claimed she represented a newly developed soft drink company. She was then promptly shipped a big vat of HFCS, which was used in a study to show that HFCS contains toxic levels of mercury. Huge chlorine (chlor-alkali) plants using mercury cells produce “mercury-grade” caustic soda, hydrochloric acid, and other chemicals ("Mercury…FAQ”). These chemicals are used to produce thousands of other products, including food ingredients such as citric acid, sodium benzoate, and HFCS. 28

When HFCS is run through a chemical analyzer (more specifically, a chromatograph), strange chemical peaks appear, which are not glucose or fructose. Although these strange compounds have not been fully explained or analyzed, we should be protected from the presence of untested chemical compounds in our food supply. This is essential, especially when the contaminated food product comprises 15 to 20 percent of the average American’s daily calorie intake (Hyman).

Many Americans are unaware of the health risks of HFCS, which is one of the most misunderstood products in the food industry. The corn industry is spending millions on false advertisements and campaigns. The goal of the Corn Refiners Association is to dispel the “myth” that HFCS is harmful and no different than cane sugar (Hyman). They seek to convince consumers and health care professionals of the “safety” of their product. But HFCS is an industrial food product far from “natural.” It is the cause of many detrimental diseases. Facebook pages, like “Ban of HFCS,” and movies, like “Food, Inc.” and “King Corn,” promote movements against the distribution of HFCS (Warner). We are consuming HFCS and sugar in pharmacologic quantities never before experienced in human history—140 pounds a year, versus 20 teaspoons a year, about 10,000 years ago (Hyman).

HFCS and sugar are one of the major sources of calories in our diet, made from corn. Corn is a lavishly subsidized crop, contained in many of the foods and drinks we consume (Warner). Studies have shown that when people consume artificial sweeteners, they have an increased desire to continue eating. Unlike glucose, which is metabolized a number of ways by your body, fructose is only metabolized by your liver. When the liver receives more fructose that it can handle, the excess sugars are turned into fats in the form of triglycerides, which are harmful to your arteries and heart (“How Bad...?”). Fructose does not stimulate production of insulin, leptin, or ghrenlin, all of which play a part in telling the body how much it needs to eat. Without receiving these internal signals to stop eating, it becomes that much easier for us to continue chowing down on that pint of chocolate fudge ice cream: thus, the over-consumption of calories. Meal after meal, day after day, all of this extra sugar adds up.

High doses of free fructose have been proven to punch holes in the intestinal lining, allowing nasty by-products of toxic gut bacteria and partially digested food proteins to enter your bloodstream (Hyman). This triggers body-wide inflammation, the root of many metabolic diseases. A high consumption of HFCS can contribute unwanted calories linked to countless health problems: obesity, cancer, gout, damage to the immune system, type-2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, mercury poisoning, high triglyceride levels, and even death (Flavin). This is because ingestion of HFCS leads to more fat production, including increased production of circulating triglycerides (a kind of fat). Obesity rates have been climbing in the U.S since the 1980s (“How Bad...?”). The average American consumes 200 daily calories from HFCS, which is close to 10 percent of all daily calories consumed (Hyman).

Less than half of the population considers that their eating habits might influence their risk of developing cancer (Beliveau). Overall, these impressions suggest that people are generally fatalistic about the possibility of preventing cancer. Yet 30 percent of all cancers are directly related to the type of diet favored by different individuals (Beliveau). In fact, the proportion of deaths due to cancer directly linked to a poor diet may reach 90 percent in the case of cancers affecting the gastrointestinal system (the esophagus, stomach, and colon).

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The rates of certain cancers are increased by lack of fruits and vegetables in one’s diet. The FDA’s Food Guide Pyramid (Figure 1) recommends eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day as part of a varied and balanced diet. An unhealthy diet can cause many health problems.

A recent study by Canadian researchers clearly shows that drinking high-fructose, sugarsweetened beverages is associated with elevated blood levels of uric acid (Flavin). Known as hyperuricemia, this condition is incontrovertibly linked to elevated risk of suffering from the painful joint disease, gout. In another study, researchers at Harvard Medical School analyzed and compared fructose intake with risk of developing kidney stones (Flavin). The relative risks of kidney stones “significantly increased” for subjects with the highest intake of dietary fructose, compared with subjects who had the lowest intake.

Figure 1:

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) quietly entered the food industry decades ago. Today, HFCS is ubiquitous in a wide variety of foods, including pasta sauces and salad dressings. When you consume high doses of HFCS, it increases your risk of various metabolic diseases and conditions, such as obesity, cancer, and death. Many consumers are oblivious to the fact that the toxic levels of mercury present in HFCS are not regulated by the FDA. These consumers fall into the illusion that HFCS is “safe,” due to false advertisements from the corn industry. Do yourself a favor, and refrain from consuming HFCS by maintaining a balanced, healthy diet free from HFCS 30

WORKS CITED "About High Fructose Corn Syrup." Corn Refiners Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

Beliveau, Richard, and Denis Gingras. Foods to Fight Cancer: Essential Foods to Help Prevent Cancer. New York: DK Pub., 2007. Print.

Flavin, MD, Dana. "Metabolic Danger of High-Fructose Corn Syrup." LifeExtension.com. N.p., Dec. 2008. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

"How Bad for You is High-fructose Corn Syrup?" HowStuffWorks. N.p., 30 Dec. 2008. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

Hyman, MD, Mark. "5 Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Will Kill You - Dr. Mark Hyman." Dr. Mark Hyman. N.p., 11 Nov. 2015. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

"Mercury and High Fructose Corn Syrup: Frequently Asked Questions." (2009): n. pag. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. Feb. 2009. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

Smallwood, Karl. The Food Pyramid. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

Warner, Melanie. "For Corn Syrup, the Sweet Talk Gets Harder." The New York Times. N.p., 01 May 2010. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

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HPU Selling HLC

By Juliana Freire The Hawai‘i Loa Campus at Hawai‘i Pacific University is being sold. In 2016, “the university announced it has entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement with Castle Medical Center” (2016).

The plan is that “once the sale is complete, HPU would remain on the property for three to five years while it fully transitions to downtown Honolulu” (Staff, 2016). The campus will now be completely located downtown. Many people, including myself, believe that this is a poor decision because the Hawai‘i Loa campus gives the school it a more traditional college vibe. Furthermore, the selling of Hawai‘i Loa requires an expensive relocation process, and there will be no room to have our own sports facilities.

The Hawai‘i Loa Campus is in a beautiful location with views of the Ko’olau Mountains, a great site for a college. This campus has dorms, is “the home of the College of Natural and Computational Sciences and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences” (Staff, 2016), and offers sports facilities. It is connected and set up like a real college campus, and it is one of the great parts about HPU. When we grow up, there is usually the expectation of going to college. Ever we can remember, an image of what college would be like has been created. Movies and shows have also helped form our expectations. The typical idea of a college campus is one secluded area just for the students, with all buildings, dorms, food places, and sport facilities on one campus. The Hawai‘i Loa Campus attracts students who are “looking for a more traditional residential campus experience” (Staff, 2016), but now HPU won’t have a true college campus feel.

There are two parts of HPU, which separates the students and creates a hassle. Students must travel to downtown by shuttle, which takes about 20 minutes. The students arrive to an area surrounded by outside businesses and many people, including homeless people, are in this area.

Having outside people on a college campus gives the school a bad look, and it is hard to tell who goes to the school or not. The Hawai‘i Loa campus has more of a college campus feeling because the people there are all together and it doesn’t have any outside people. I hear from multiple people at the Aloha Tower that it is hard to get to know the people there, and they all sort of do their own thing. I have realized that the people at the Hawai‘i Loa campus have an easier time getting to know each other, whether it is from having a dining hall, not being in the city, or having more events that are easy to get to because they are right on campus.

Tearing down one place to rebuild in another area costs a lot of money and HPU does not have the type of money needed to do so. By getting rid of the Hawai‘i Loa campus, Ramadna states, “we need to move labs, so we need appropriate space for that, as well as classrooms, offices, and other support areas. So they are looking into a lot of different possibilities in the downtown area, principally within walking distance of Aloha Tower” (2016). The process of moving all the classrooms, other resources, and adding more dorms is expensive and time consuming. The school has to put money into the project up front before creating a better campus for the students.

In this case, we do not have the money and are still trying to go through with plan. Many HPU students do not think it will attract more students, which won’t help HPU make a profit in the long 32

run. The dorms at the Aloha Tower cost a good amount more than the Hawai‘i Loa Campus. This could make incoming students rethink their plan of coming to the school, especially since it is not in a great location and doesn’t yet offer a meal plan.

One way HPU is trying to raise money to expand the downtown campus is by increasing tuition.

This can be a problem for students already attending who are having to take out loans, and for students who want to come to the school but find it is too expensive for them. One HPU student, Trevor, stated, “I think it is a bad idea, because we are putting so much money into Aloha Tower when we should have put all the money here” (Ramadna, 2016) Many of our sport teams have to practice and play their games in high schools or other places. We are lucky to have our own soccer field, softball field, and tennis courts. But once the Hawai‘i Loa campus is completely gone, all our sports are going to have to play at locations that do not belong to the school. It is a disgrace that our school doesn’t have its own sports facilities and that while a local high school has a nice gym where our basketball team plays, while we don’t even have our own gym. With games being at different locations that are not on school property, it makes it hard for people to get to games. This decreases the amount of school pride because there is not a big audience when people have trouble getting to games.

Selling the HLC campus means the campus will finally be all in one place, in downtown Honolulu..

Instead of traveling 20 minutes to get from one campus to another, we will just have to walk from building to building. Perhaps areas will be provided HPU students to park for free downtown since there will no longer be an option of leaving a car at the HLC campus and taking the shuttle to save money. HPU student Jordan said that he liked the idea of having one campus: “If they were to remove it, I think it would be good to have all of the students on one campus” (Ramadna, 2016).

Although these all seem like good reasons for selling the Hawai‘i Loa Campus, it is not a good idea because there probably will not be inexpensive enough places to park, and the relocation is an expensive process, causing us to pay more to go to school at HPU. Hawai‘i Pacific University should be wondering more why many of its students are transferring.

They should solicit student opinions on what they can do better. More people are leaving HPU, yet they are getting rid of one aspect of the school that people really like. We should not sell the Hawai‘i Loa campus because it is a beautiful place and it feels more like an actual campus then what is offered downtown. If anything, we should find a way to move everything over to HLC or a completely different place that isn’t in the city, and make it all in one area.

REFERENCES Ramadna, B. (2016, April 1). HPU explores possibility of selling Hawai‘i Loa campus. KHON News. Retrieved November 27, 2016.

Shimogawa, D. (2016, July 1). HPU's Windward deal could shake Downtown Honolulu.

Bizjournals.com. Retrieved November 27, 2016.

Staff, W. (2016, June 28). Hawai‘i Pacific University announces sale of Hawai‘i Loa campus.

KHON News. Retrieved November 27, 2016.

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The Woman Question in Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”

By Ella Willbrand Today many people all over the world, both men and women, identify as feminist. This means that they believe that political, social, and legal rights for women should be equal to those of men.

Feminists seek equal opportunities for women in education and employment. In 19th-century Europe, the issue was not called “feminism” but was referred to as the “Woman Question,” meaning sympathy for the cause of women. The “Woman Question” arose during a period in the Victorian Era when the nature and role of women was questioned. Some people believed that women should have more economic, political, and professional roles in society, instead of just having the two expected and sometimes limiting roles of wife and mother. The 19th-century play A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen deals in many aspects with “The Woman Question,” making his play feminist even though when asked if his play was in favor of the Woman Question, Hnerik Ibsen said, “Whatever I have written has been without any conscious thought of making propaganda.”

One could say that in “A Doll House,” Ibsen is not specifically talking about 19th-century feminism; he simply “saw an injustice being done to women in society, observed it,” and then wrote about it from a non-biased point of view (“A Doll’s House as a Feminist Play” 1). Also, this play could be seen not as feminist, but as humanist. This means that Ibsen wanted people to see the true theme of the play as the need for the individual, not just women, to find out the kind of person they really are and to attempt to become that person. If the play is about injustice toward any person, then the play could be about injustice toward children or old men, not just women. For instance, when Torvald finds out about Nora borrowing money from Krogstad, he threatens to take their children away from her and says, “I shall not allow you to bring up the children; I dare not trust them to you” (Ibsen 974). Even though Nora made a mistake, the children’s lives will be affected as well because they will not be able to see their mother, which is not fair to them.

Even if Ibsen said he does not mean for A Doll’s House to come across as feminist, many modern viewers and readers of the play do interpret it as a feminist play. These people consider the play “ahead of its time” for talking about controversial topics like the lack of love, negative aspects of traditional husband and wife relations, and the treatment of women in society. During Nora and Torvald’s fight in ACT III, Nora says, “You [Torvald] have never loved me. You have only thought it pleasant to be in love with me!” (984) Nora believes that since Torvald has never truly tried to understand her or listen to her as an equal, that he does not actually love her, he just loves the idea of her. He loves the idea of having a perfect middle-class family, with a wife who is just like a doll—someone Torvald can manipulate to do what he wants and will stay quiet. Feminists believe that women should not have to get married just for convenience, and there should be equal communication between husband and wife. Ibsen also seems to be saying that a woman’s role in marriage should be taken more seriously, and that there are marriages with a lack of true love.

Another feminist topic in the play is husband-and-wife relations. Torvald is controlling and sometimes treats Nora like she is a child, or someone with whom he cannot have an intelligent conversation. He calls her names like “little squirrel” and “little skylark” that seem demeaning.

Nora does not know a lot about how to deal with money, because in the 19th century, this was considered the man’s job. So instead of teaching Nora about money, Torvald scolds her and says, 35

“Has my little spendthrift been wasting money again? […] What are little people called that are always wasting money?” Nora answers, “Spendthrifts—I know” (929). Also, Nora is not supposed to have money of her own, so she borrowed money from Krogstad and took a side job, but her husband could not know. She had to hide this secret from him because she wanted to protect Torvald’s pride and preserve their “perfect” middle-class family. Even though Nora did not do the right thing by borrowing money and lying to her husband, she took charge and did what she thought would help her marriage and family when Torvald was doing nothing.

The major feminist topic covered in A Doll’s House is the treatment of women in society. Ibsen hints at the problems faced by the suppressed and oppressed women of 19th-century Europe. Nora feels like throughout her whole marriage, she has been treated as a doll. She says, “Our home has been nothing but a playroom. I have been your doll-wife, just as at home I was papa’s doll-child; and here the children have been my dolls. I thought it was great fun when you played with me, just as they thought it was great fun when I played with them. That is what our marriage has been, Torvald” (977). During Torvald and Nora’s fight, Torvald finds it shocking that Nora has neglected her most sacred duties: her duties to her husband and children. Nora says, “I have other duties just as sacred […] duties to myself.” Torvald says that “before all else you [Nora] are a wife and a mother” (978). Nora believes that her purpose in life is to not just be a mother and wife; she has other personal duties to herself that she needs to find out and fulfill.

Finally, this is a feminist play because it also talks about individual freedom, which Nora is lacking. Her marriage to Torvald is extremely controlling, showing how conventional marriage can be stifling, especially for the woman. When Nora is talking to Mrs. Linde about how she would make copies for extra money, she says that “Many a time I was desperately tired; but all the same it was a tremendous pleasure to sit there working and earning money. It was like being a man” (936). Nora is not allowed to work and earn money without her husband’s permission, so she has to sneak around him to earn money. She likes working and earning her own money just like a man.

It is one thing in her life that she can control without Torvald knowing about it. Nora got pleasure out of making her own money and going around her husband, because it was the only power she had.

Nora represents all women in certain aspects, making the play feminist. Nora wants her own freedom and individuality, two things that were extremely limited for women in 19th-century Europe. She wants to see what she is capable of on her own, and wants to know what she can accomplish without the societal burden of taking care of her husband and children. Yet in another way, she does not represent all women. Some women do have a healthy relationship with their husbands and children and want to be married, and do not feel stifled by the concept of marriage.

Mrs. Linde gets engaged to Krogstad and seems very excited about it when she says, “I want to be a mother to someone, and your children need a mother. We two need each other. Nils, I have faith in your real character; I can dare to do anything together with you” (966). Her marriage to Krogstad seems like it will be a genuine and happy marriage, because Mrs. Linde has been married before so she knows that she truly wants marriage and a family.

Ibsen wants the readers and viewers of A Doll’s House to see Nora’s final gesture as heroic more than childish or neurotic. Ibsen because he made Torvald seem weak and unheroic, more so than Nora. At the end of the play, Nora has begun her journey of liberation, while Torvald is devastated 36

that his perfect “doll house” has crumbled down. Torvald keeps asking Nora to stay one more night, yelling, “Nora, Nora, not now! Wait until tomorrow”, hoping that she will change her mind and stay with him (980). The audience sympathizes more with Nora than Torvald and is more likely to take her side. Nora has more lines and the play is more from her point of view, about her struggle as a woman in an unhappy marriage.

Ibsen said that he did not mean for his play to cause controversy and stir up discussion about “The Woman Question.” Yet contrary to what he said, Ibsen included feminist-related topics in his play, leading modern readers and viewers to interpret A Doll’s House as feminist.

WORKS CITED “A Doll’s House as a Feminist Play.” Bachelorandmaster.com. N.P., n.d. Web. 01 Dec 2016.

Ibsen, Henrik A Doll’s House. Schilb, John, and John Clifford, eds. aking Literature Matter: An Anthlogy for Readers and Writers. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000. 927- 980. Print.

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Looking Through the Windows of Feminism: Inside “A Doll’s House”

By Elizabeth Fischer For the longest time, women have been subservient to men. Until recent times, a woman’s expected duties solely consisted of watching her children, sitting pretty, and serving her husband. In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Nora Helmer, a picture-perfect wife and mother, realizes how imperfect her life is when secrets are revealed and she has her first argument with her husband of eight years, Torvald Helmer, who treats her in a manner that does not respect her values or character. Since he mistreats her, she decides to take the risk of leaving the life in which she has become comfortable to embark on a journey of self-discovery, an uncommon decision for women to make in the 1800s. Since Nora and a few other female characters in this play make seemingly radical decisions for this time period, this play can be interpreted as an early approach to feminism and a call for strong female heads.

In Act I, Nora is seen as a naive, playful woman, eating macaroons and playing along with Torvald as he calls her childish nicknames, such as “my little squirrel,” or “my singing little lark” (Ibsen 928-975). Some may see these nicknames as forms of affection between a man and wife, but by calling her these pet names, Torvald dehumanizes Nora as a character. This shows how he does not see her as an equal, and, therefore, can help readers foresee that there will be an instance in which he will not treat her as an equal. Since she plays along with Torvald as he calls her names such as these and seems unbothered, it is easy to understand that at this point in the play, Nora is unaware of how imperfect and imbalanced their relationship is.

However, in this first act, Nora also proves that she is not completely naive, weak, and helpless, as she defies Torvald in small, yet significant ways. For example, she eats macaroons, which he forbids her to eat, and lies to him when asked if she had eaten any. The macaroons are symbolic in regards to their relationship because Torvald disapproves of Nora eating them, showing how he can be controlling and how he pitifully attempts to dominate her appearance. By lying that she has not had any macaroons when she has, Nora proves to have some control over her life.

When Nora’s friend, Mrs. Linde, visits her and catches up with her, she makes an offhand remark about how little Nora has had to worry about in life, and even calls her a child. Defensively, Nora reveals that she and Torvald both have had to work hard to fund the life they have, and reveals that when Torvald fell ill early in their marriage, she secretly borrowed money to save his life, which surprises Mrs. Linde, leading her to say, “A wife can’t borrow money without her husband’s consent” (Ibsen 935). During this time it was uncommon and shameful for women to take out loans. Nora tells Mrs. Linde that she lied to Torvald, saying that she used her father’s money when she borrowed money from Krogstad, a banker.

This scene is significant as it shows that women during this time did not have equal rights as men.

Nora represents Ibsen’s views that women should be equal to men and that they are just as capable as men, since Nora saved her husband, showing her strength as a woman. This scene also shows how Nora makes her own decisions and does not need to rely on her husband to take care of herself or her family. Mrs. Linde’s reaction shows how different she is from Nora, and how she, like the rest of society, believes that a woman’s duties are to her husband and her family.

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Another significant event in Act I is when Krogstad, the banker who lent Nora money, visits. He is aware that he will lose his job at the bank once he learns that Mrs. Linde has replaced him and threatens Nora, telling her that he will not hesitate to reveal to Torvald, the new head of the bank, that she owes him money if she does not convince him to let him keep his position. This deeply troubles Nora, as this is what she worries about during the majority of the play. Little does Nora know that the truth behind her hideous secret will be the very thing to set her free from male dominance.

Although different from Nora, Mrs. Linde is another example of a strong female character. As Mrs. Linde visits Nora, she reveals that she is a widow who married for financial security rather than love, to support her family who has recently become capable of supporting themselves. She explains to Nora that she feels that she has no purpose, as she has no one left to work for; she believes life is meaningless without anyone to serve. Mrs. Linde can be seen as a strong female character through her sacrifice. She sacrifices love and autonomy to gain financial security that could support her family, which, in turn sadly distorts her perception of what life is supposed to be about for a woman. However, her character is further strengthened when she offers to financially support Krogstad, showing how a female character can be stronger than a male character. At the same time, while Mrs. Linde is a strong female character, to many she may not be seen as inspirational.

Eventually, when Nora’s secret is revealed, Torvald reacts in a way that surprises Nora and helps her realize that she had been living in a “dollhouse” created by Torvald. He is rude to her and treats her in an unloving, demeaning way, calling her a liar and a criminal, and claiming that she had destroyed all of his happiness. He also coldly says to her that “from this moment, happiness is not the question; all that concerns us is to save the remains, the fragments, the appearance” (Ibsen 974). This is important as it shows how Torvald does not really love Nora. Throughout the play, Nora has sacrificed her true self to be Torvald’s version of a perfect wife, and when her secret is revealed, Torvald is unwilling to sacrifice his masculine image as head of the household to confess to the letter to save Nora. He explains that she must deal with it all on her own, since helping her could completely affect his image. At this point, Nora realizes that she has been suppressed her entire marriage and has allowed every man in her life to define who she is.

When a letter from Krogstad arrives stating that he regrets informing Torvald of Nora’s secret and repents, Torvald believes everything will go back to normal, and that he and Nora can simply move past the argument, as he once again starts calling her his “little lark.” But Nora’s perception of him at this point has completely changed. She takes control of the conversation, telling Torvald to sit down and listen to her. She says that they never really loved one another or understood each other, and that she must leave him in order to understand herself so that she can become capable of understanding him. Nora feels she can better herself, and leaving her husband and children is the only way to do so. She is freed through self-realization, and leaving the “dollhouse” becomes her greatest achievement. Nora’s realization of unequal treatment within her marriage and her impulse to leave the situation is what makes this a feminist play. Ibsen, intentionally or unintentionally, gave women, fictional and true, a voice.

A Doll’s House portrays women as strong and independent. They are given a chance to stand up for themselves, despite the possible consequences of doing so. While it is currently a common 39

concept for women and girls to have the same opportunities, it was not so during Ibsen’s time, which is why a character such as Nora is an early example of a feminist.

WORKS CITED Schaeffer, George, Julie Harris, Christopher Plummer, Jason Robards, and Henrik Ibsen. A Doll's House. New York, N.Y: MGM/UA, 1981.

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The Human Movement: A Different Perspective on the Movement Towards Gender Equality

By Nicole Masulit A woman advocating for women’s rights in the streets of downtown New York may be seen as annoying or problematic, a voice that should be shushed because of all the fuss it is creating in a male-dominated world. Throughout the world, especially in regions such as North Africa and the Middle East, women are being raped, objectified, and systematically and legally denied their basic human rights. If a woman were to protest against these injustices in countries such as these, she would, at the very least, be called out and looked down upon by her male counterparts. She may even undergo execution.

Some may say that the issue of gender inequality is a case solved, a topic given too much attention and therefore its platform should be lowered. Some may hear the phrase “gender inequality” and think, "women’s issues." After all, is not all the talk going around about inequality in the workplace, in education, in cases of rape, etc., primarily about women? “Women don’t get paid enough,” “young girls have less access to primary education than boys,” and “local teenage girl raped by man” are usually the ways the headlines put it. In all of these phrases, the focus is on the woman and what happens to her. Now, change them to: “men get paid more than women,” “young boys get more education than girls,” and “the man raped the woman,” and a person gets a whole different dynamic; the attention is drawn to the male subject. Women are usually the center of attention regarding this issue, but what about men? Do men not have a gender? Gender inequality is not a woman’s issue only; neither is it only a man’s issue. Putting it either way implies that the other sex does not have a gender.

Gender inequality occurs because of failure to recognize the potential of another person primarily because they are a man or a woman. Although gender inequality is often seen as a woman’s issue, it is a human issue first and foremost, because the sociocultural context in which men and boys are raised gives a meaning to masculinity that encourages men’s violence against and discrimination toward women, as well as men’s violence against other men. Also, the constant portrayal of gender inequality in the media as only a “woman’s problem” has caused many men to tune out and dismiss these issues as women’s issues and view feminism as a hostile threat to men’s masculinity.

However, some feminists have viewed men who supported gender equality with suspicion. Those who deny that men can be feminists defeat the purpose of the movement in the first place, which is to achieve equality for both genders.

In the following essay, the paradigm-shifting perspective of author and social activist Jackson Katz will be discussed, as well as the view of the Australian men’s rights movement on feminism. Also, we will look at systematic occurrences of gender inequality experienced by women near and far, as presented by organizations such as The Borgen Project and the United Nations. Finally, we will look at the role of men in contemporary feminism, as discussed in an article by mixed-gender feminist activist Jessica Baily. In analyzing these sources, it is clear that both men and women have experienced some form of gender discrimination, and that the issue of gender inequality hinders the progression of the human species as a whole.

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First of all, our sociocultural context defines masculinity in a way that encourages male violence against both women and other men. Jackson Katz describes in an interview with Lori Lund and Shelly Haddock how media has fueled a definition of “masculinity” encouraging violence: “‘[American] culture is teaching boys and men that part of being a man is being powerful and in control, and that violence or abusive behavior is a means to that end’” (Lund & Haddock 102).

Images of men in Hollywood over the past 50 years have influenced this definition. Take the 1960s portrayal of James Bond, for example. Yet the image of Sean Connery holding a Magnum pales in comparison to Hollywood’s latest depiction of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie Terminator. Schwarzenegger and many Hollywood actors today are portrayed as killing machines, teaching men and boys that they have to be “bigger, stronger, [and] more violent” (Lund & Haddock 103), in order to be considered “manly.”

Furthermore, the frequent presentation of violent men in the media desensitizes men and boys to violence, making acts of violence towards other people seem normal. Given the powerful influence of the media on today’s culture, it is no wonder that over past generations, the definition of masculinity has evolved to a nearly unattainable standard, similar to how magazines and advertisements have often held the appearance of women to an unattainable standard.

Social interactions have also influenced people’s views on masculinity, as men and young boys who are bashed as “gay” get the notion that having a gentler disposition and appearance makes them “feminine.” When a group of boys socially objectify a woman, not only does this encourage mistreatment of women, it also teaches young boys that it is not masculine to care about women as people. Doing so makes them appear weak, sensitive, vulnerable, and even homosexual.

According to Katz, “When a man speaks up and confronts other men about their [objectifying] attitudes or behaviors towards women and girls, one of the first things that people question is his heterosexuality–not just his manhood, but also his heterosexuality” (qtd. in Lund & Haddock 107).

Men and women are both negatively influenced by a society that encourages and normalizes men’s violence and women’s objectification. Therefore the issue of gender inequality is a human issue that needs to be addressed by both genders.

However, our social interactions and cultural portrayals of violent men in Hollywood are not the only influences on gender inequality today. Magazine and journal articles that aim to shed light on the issue are portraying gender inequality as primarily women’s issues, causing some men to tune out and dismiss these problems as women’s problems, or to view feminism as a threat to male dominance. In an article titled “10 Examples of Gender Inequality in the World” by BORGEN Magazine writer Emma McCune, McCune describes several ways women are systematically and legally denied their fundamental human rights. Spread across the top of page above the heading, are pictures of three women with search bars placed over their mouths. Typed into the search engines are phrases such as “women cannot drive” and “women shouldn’t have rights.”

McCune’s creativity is admirable; the photograph metaphorically portrays the fact that many women do not have a say in their basic human rights. Despite this, I cannot help but notice how primarily women-focused this article is, as well as many others on the topic of gender inequality.

In this particular article, McCune describes the many human rights issues women around the world face. In more developed countries, gender inequality remains a problem. The wage gap of women

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earning 77 cents to a man’s dollar is still very much existent, and unequal legal rights regarding rape make women increasingly vulnerable to violence.

While the situations in these countries are relevant, in other countries, gender inequality is a major hindrance to human and societal development (McCune). Women in Saudi Arabia are forbidden to drive and have to rely on their husbands to travel from place to place. In countries such as Egypt and Bahrain, husbands can legally stop their wives from leaving the country (McCune). Forty percent of young women in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are married by the time they turn 18 years old and are denied the human right of choice of partnership. Child marriage is not only wrong from a human rights standpoint, but it also increases the risk of complications during giving birth that are often fatal (McCune). In some countries such as Pakistan, a woman who refuses to accept an arranged marriage will be killed without contest by the government. It is also important to note that more than two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women (McCune).

Throughout the article, McCune focuses primarily on women. Furthermore, social geographer Benjamin Hennig wrote an article about the Gender Inequality Index (GII) compiled by the United Nations Development Programme in 2010. The GII was designed to measure a country’s loss of achievement as a direct effect of women’s inequality: According to the report, discrimination and underrepresentation of women in health, education, politics, work and other parts of life has repercussions for the development of their capabilities and their freedom of choice. Four of these aspects form the index which puts them in a globally measurable and comparable form: reproductive health ... female empowerment ... education ... [and] economic status. (Hennig, 2015) In both sources, women’s issues are the primary focus. So, it is unsurprising to find that some people consider the voices of feminism to be loud and annoying; when the topic of gender issues comes up, the discussion is mostly about women’s problems. In an article by University of Western Sydney researcher Michael Salter, who studies social issues such as men’s violence against women, Salter describes how Australian men’s rights activists have denounced the effort of feminists, claiming that the women’s movement has threatened men’s “hegemonic masculinity” (Salter, 2016, p. 5).

Although women around the world have undoubtedly faced many challenges systematically put forth by their government and these problems should not be seen as any less important, it is time to start asking why men have been allowed such higher power and privilege by governments for so much of human history. Why is it that in so many countries, from Saudi Arabia to Zambia, men have had the advantage?

Hennig’s article raises an important point: women are not the only gender affected by these issues.

The normality of dominance and entitlement towards women created by men who are openly hostile, or apathetic, towards women’s rights, and women who have limited awareness of the rights they should be entitled to or who fear speaking out, establishes itself from generation to generation.

People fail to realize the potential of their country’s advancement if women are allowed an education, permitted to own land, travel around the world, serve in frontline combat, pass citizenship onto their children, or allowed the same rights that men legally have. The continued 43

portrayal of gender inequality as a woman’s issue is part of the problem; it causes men to turn a blind eye, seeing inequality as something that does not involve them, when in fact they are part of the cause that keeps the situation perpetuating.

Furthermore, although there are many men who have stood with women in the movement towards gender equality, some feminists have refused to accept the idea of men becoming feminists and have thus hindered their own movement. These feminists claim that pro-feminist men are raising positional ambivalences for themselves, in which they are challenging their own power and privilege as men. In an article by mixed-gender feminist activist Jessica Baily of the University of Sheffield, Baily explores the recent controversies surrounding men as feminists. She writes that some feminists see men as allies, while others eye the idea of pro-feminist men suspiciously (2014, p. 443).

Admittedly, some contemporary feminists have been turning the tide. The purpose of the movement towards gender equality is to achieve equal human rights for both genders, so who’s to say that men cannot also be involved? There are female feminists who state that pro-feminist men are in a contradictory position because they are challenging their own male power and privileges, but they themselves are challenging their own power to speak out against injustice and achieve equality. Deliberately attempting to weaken the other side defeats the purpose and only weakens the feminist movement. Men who are “contesting” their own power and privilege should be praised for their ability to notice the sexual injustices that are happening around them. As described in the article, men who supported women’s campaigns for suffrage during the 19th and 20th centuries found that “by supporting women’s struggles against sexism, [men] would eventually discover more fulfilling concepts of masculinity, just as women were discovering much more empowering notions of femininity. By helping women to become more liberated, men might free themselves at the same time” (Baily 445).

In addition, Katz emphasizes the strong influence of the women’s movement on women, men, and the progression of the human species as a whole (Lund & Haddock 111). Therefore, it is absurd for feminists today to deny that men can also be feminists because this defeats the goal of gender equality altogether. Unless these women are not advocating for gender equality, it is important for them to realize that turning the tide against male feminists will eventually cause the movement to diminish. Injustice, discrimination, and inequality are forces that will not disappear by practicing them on the other. Regardless of gender, we are all human, and our achievements, including within the feminist movement, are greatly determined by our ability to recognize each other’s potential.

Denying a man’s part in the feminist movement is failing to recognize the potential of a man primarily because of his gender. It is taking a step backwards from progress.

The movement towards gender equality is not one-sided. The issue of gender inequality is too often seen as an “us” versus “them” situation. But when you take a step back, our world is a neverending conundrum of cause and effect, in which we are all intertwined, and in which we may all bring down or empower one another.

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WORKS CITED Baily, Jessica. "Contemporary British Feminism: Opening the Door to Men?" Social Movement Studies 14.4 (2015): 443-58. Informa U.K. Limited, 14 Aug. 2014. Web. 9 Dec. 2016.

Hennig, Benjamin D. "Global Gender Inequality." Views of the World. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

"Jackson Katz." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

Lund, Lori K., and Haddock, Shelly A. "Interview with Jackson Katz, Ed.D." Journal of Feminist Family Therapy 14.3/4 (2002): 101-12. EBSCO Host. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

McCune, Emma. "10 Examples of Gender Inequality in the World." Borgen Magazine. The Borgen Project, 06 June 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

Salter, Michael. "Men's Rights or Men's Needs? Anti-feminism in Australian Men's Health Promotion." Canadian Journal of Women & the Law 28 (2016): 69-90. Academic Search Complete [EBSCO]. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

TEDxTalks, and Jackson Katz. "Violence against Women-it's a Men's Issue: Jackson Katz at TEDxFiDiWomen." YouTube. 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

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Victim to Abuser: The Cycle

By Victoria Serra According to the National Sex Offender Public Website, or NSOPW, approximately 1.8 million adolescents in the United States have been the victims of sexual assault. The “victim to abuser cycle” is a controversial issue. Will victims of sexual abuse follow the pattern and become perpetrators, or whether they will pursue a more positive lifestyle for themselves? What is the actual probability that someone who has been sexually abused will become a perpetrator?

Abuse can leave many effects, and it is important to make sure that those who are abused get the right form of help. If it is true that victims have a higher chance of becoming perpetrators, it is important to find the right therapy and to help police to find early signs of abuse, which could lead to a decrease in sexual assault. Male victims of sexual child abuse are more likely to become perpetrators later in life compared to females because of poor psychological coping mechanisms, unsafe living environments, and lack of proper therapy and treatment.

By looking at case studies, experiments in academic articles, and statistical evidence, the “victim to perpetrator cycle” will be analyzed to show the significance of the data. Case studies will also be addressed to comment on the theories that are skeptical about the accuracy of the experiment results. To clarify this topic, this paper includes two case studies about individuals who were victims of sexual abuse and later on committed sexual assault themselves, one female and the other male. Though the chances are much higher for males to perpetuate sexual abuse than females, both genders can perpetrate sexual assault. An article by Laura Bexson states: Rosemary West was also a co-perpetrator with Fred West, her husband, and they were responsible for the torture, sexual abuse and murder of ten young women including Fred’s own stepdaughter during the early 1990s. The murders were extremely graphic and it is believed that their victims were tied up, tortured, sexually abused before being mutilated and dismembered . . . West was sexually abused herself in childhood which gives weight to the cycle of abuse theory (Bexson 12).

In this case, Rosemary West worked alongside her husband to commit sexual assault against other young females. This is surprising because the majority of sexual abusers are male. Women who have been sexually abused, like Rosemary West, are less likely to become abusers themselves.

This case study may indicate the desire to feel needed by someone, since West could have done this to be seen as accepted by her husband.

Women often have different ways to cope when they have been abused. Bexson states, “Females are generally considered to internalize their emotions, directing any aggression or frustration inwards and attack themselves” (Bexson 8). This can be a major reason why males are more likely to commit sexual crimes against others, because men express their anger externally, whereas most women cope with their emotions internally so they do not inflict pain on others.

The second case study looks at a boy called John, who was sexually assaulted by his stepfather and who then sexually assaulted a boy and later his aunt, who was two years older than him and small. According to University of New South Wales law professors Annie Cossins and Malory 46

Plummer, “John described that he had learnt from his abuser to: be strong, there could be no flaws to me, that ... if I am a man I have to be strong ... Nonetheless, John was unable to fight back when bullied and teased at school for being small” (Cossins and Plummer 16). They continue: By the age of fourteen years, John ... overcame ‘his lack of masculine resources’ by sexually assaulting a younger child, a seven-year- old boy, and interpreted his behavior as “normal sexuality.” Because he did not want to be gay, he turned his attention to girls but was rejected by several, who saw him, in his words, as a “geek, a loser.” He picked his aunt, who was only two years older, because she was smaller, shy, quiet, easy to control, and accessible. (Cossins and Plummer 16) This case study examines a boy who struggled with the feeling of powerlessness. His abuse caused him to feel out of control, making his stepfather the one in power, which explains why he was not able to stand up to bullies at school. To feel in control like his stepfather, John turned to other individuals who were smaller and whom he could have power over, by sexually assaulting them.

John took his anger and emotions on others more vulnerable. These two case studies support the “victim to perpetrator” cycle.

The cycle of “victim to perpetrator” theory claims a correlation between male victims and male perpetrators. Collins and Plummer describe four factors that increases the risk for male victims of sexual abuse to later commit abuse themselves:“(i) are abused when they are twelve years or older; (ii) are subject to frequent sexual abuse (which may lead to increasing severity of abuse); (iii) are subject to serious forms of sexual abuse; (iv) and have been abused by someone, such as a father or father figure, with whom they have a relationship of dependency” (Collins and Plummer 3).

According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, “40-80% of juvenile sex offenders have themselves been victims of sexual abuse” (National Sex Offender). There is a definite correlation between victims of abuse and their likelihood of becoming abusers. These chances increase according to various factors. Since most abusers are people the victim knows, the victim often feels a need to obey or cooperate with the abuser because of the trust developed before the abuse.

Cossins and Plummer further suggest, “Adverse family environments provide the breeding grounds for sexual offending. Lacking nurturance and guidance, the potential sexual offender develops problems in social functioning (e.g., mistrust, hostility, and insecure attachment), that, in turn, are associated with social rejection, loneliness, negative peer associations and delinquent behavior” (Cossins and Plummer 5). Adults who sexually abuse children are shown to have psychological deficits that cause their sexual behavior to become abnormal, and they may also have sexual intimacy issues. As a result, most abusers are characterized by having an inadequate living environment that could have included abuse and neglect, leading to lack of solid relationships.

However, there are those who believe results are biased and that the victim-to-abuser cycle is not as major an issue due to decreasing levels of correlation. An article by Help for Adult Victims of Child Abuse, or HAVOCA, states that “sexual victimization alone is not sufficient to suggest a boy is likely to grow up to become a sex offender” (HAVOCA). It also says, “Twenty-six of the 224 sex abuse victims (12%) later committed sexual offenses, and in almost all cases their victims

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were also children” (HAVOCA). This data shows that the likelihood of an abused child becoming an abuser is not as high as it should be to be considered a correlation.

Although sexual victimization alone is not enough to make a male victim become an abuser, those who come from violent families are “more than three times as likely to become abusers” (HAVOCA). Depending on the factors, the correlation can increase, making this a major problem that needs to be addressed. Many cases are not reported so they are not on file, which could lead to an even more significant increase in abuse and mean more perpetrators. According to a child sexual abuse statistics website, “85% of child abuse victims never report their abuse” (Chaucie’s Place Organization). This an important factor that, if reported, could change data findings and lead to an increase of correlation between victims and abusers.

Another common counterargument against the cycle of victim-to-abuser theory is the debate over detection bias. Cathy Widom, Sally Czaja, and Kimberly DuMont, are all from the psychology department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. They explain, “It is not easy to determine causality for any human behavior, especially in the natural environment, where, in contrast to the laboratory, comparisons are not easy to achieve” (Widom, et al. 1484). The theory of detection bias suggest that those conducting experiments are predisposed to look for correlations between victims and abusers. Yet there are many studies that prove a correlation exists, and evidence of that can be used to help prevent future abuse.

Along with preventing future abuse, it is important to find ways for victims of abuse to cope with its the lingering effects. Every case is different and victims cope in different ways. However, one of the reasons why victims become abusers themselves is to release anger or any other emotions they feel as a result of their own abuse. Dr. Elizabeth Hartney, a registered psychologist and professor, states: By becoming an abuser, a victim of childhood sexual abuse can try to undo the abuse by taking the opposite, seemingly more powerful, position. People who were abused may also feel, on some level, that they are better than others, and have a hard time respecting other people as equals. People who have been abused carry a lot of anger about what happened to them, and abuse can be a way to express that anger. (Hartney) Abuse can leave serious damaging effects to the victim, both physically and psychologically.

When victims do not get proper treatment quickly, they often develop behaviors that are abnormal, including abusing others. Victims of abuse know the pain that it causes, yet most of them act out and put other people in the same situations they were in. With the right forms of counseling and therapy, victims can lower their aggression levels and learn more adaptive ways to cope with posttraumatic symptoms.

Proper therapy is crucial to the prevention of the victim-to-abuser cycle. One recent study has shown that narrative therapy can be a successful treatment method. Joe Wark and Jo-Ann Vis from Kairos Community Resource Centre and the School of Social Work at Lakehead University write, “A narrative approach to therapy embraces the idea of fatherhood as an opportunity for fathers to assume a new narrative, one that is based on competence, growth, and emotional connection rather than on pathology, fear and isolation” (Wark and Vis 9). With the use of narrative therapy, male victims with families can retell their story in a way that makes it more positive and 48

hopeful and gets rid of the thought that abused children will always perpetuate damaging effects.

By using this method of treatment, not only do the fathers of child abuse get help but so do their families, as the risk of the fathers abusing their own children decreases. Male victims can now remake their memories of abuse by creating their own story of events they want and eliminating negative societal beliefs.

It is clear that there is a correlation between male victims of child abuse becoming sexual abusers themselves, supporting the theory of a “victim to abuser” cycle. The earlier child abuse is detected, the less likely that victims will go on to abuse others later in life. Proper therapy is crucial and should occur as soon as possible after abuse occurs. The longer it takes to get proper care, the more damage will be caused to the victims, and the harder it will be for them to heal and repair its post-traumatic effects.

WORKS CITED Bexson, Laura. “‘The Ultimate Betrayal’ Female Child Sex Offenders.” Internet Journal of Criminology. Web. 2011.

Chaucie's Place Organization. “Child Sexual Abuse Statistics.” Web. 2016.

Cossins, A., and M. Plummer. “Masculinity and Sexual Abuse: Explaining the Transition from Victim to Offender.” Men and Masculinities. Web. May 2016, Hartney, Elizabeth. “How to Avoid Repeating Abuse with Your Own Children.” Verywell. Web. 5 Sept. 2016.

Help for Adult Victims of Child Abuse. “Do Sexually Abused Kids Become Abusers?” HAVOCA. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.

National Sex Offender Public Website. “Facts and Statistics.” Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Website. Web. “Statistics on Perpetrators of Child Sexual Abuse.” Statistics on Perpetrators of CSA. Web. Wark, J., and J.A. Vis. “Effects of Child Sexual Abuse on the Parenting of Male Survivors.”

Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. Web. 2016.

Widom, Cathy S., Czaja, Sally J., and DuMont, Kimberly A. “Intergenerational Transmission of Child Abuse and Neglect: Real or Detection Bias?” Science, vol. 347, no. 6229, 2015, pp.

1480–1485. Web.

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50

Window and Frame

By Dean Ryan-Simmons As an individual you have millions of conversations with people, but few of those stick with you for a lifetime. There are a few scenarios that cause words to burn an eternal place in your memory.

This is when words have the ability to change your life. My change inspired me toward a new hobby—photography—and a new perspective.

In 2012, the most influential person in my life passed away. Strangers called her an angel, but I called her Grandma. I remember nearly every conversation approaching the end to her lifetime.

“The eyes are the windows to the soul.” Eyes are windows, the same as pictures, and both communicate emotion, feeling, and thought the same as way those few words did.

My grandma, Barbara Muriel Simmons, was not only influential for family members, but also for the community. In the mid-1990s, my grandmother moved the majority of my family from Baltimore, Maryland, to Minneapolis, Minnesota. At the time Minneapolis was referred to as “Murderapolis,” a term coined by many Minnesotans, then spread through a New York Times article in 1996. The author, Dirk Johnson, compared murder rates to New York City, which showed that Minneapolis had a 70 percent higher murder rate than New York City at the time.

My grandmother first influenced to this area by rebuilding the community, organizing group activities, and building a relationship between police and the African-American community. She proceeded to make the community stronger by organizing events like National Night Out, Juneteenth, and periodic family-friendly block parties. In 2004, she was credited by the Mayor and Colin Powell for her work in South Minneapolis. She was also given the key to the city.

However, the work she did in the community was nothing compared to the work she did domestically. Her focus was her family and ensuring that they would live well past her death. She made a point to have a strong, influential role on all of her grandchildren.

Once when I was a small child, my grandmother caught me watching a horror movie: Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, featuring Freddy Krueger, which she thought I was too young for. She was right; I had nightmares for nearly a month following the film. When she caught me, I was afraid she was going to smack my butt with a fly swatter, which was her favorite way to discipline my cousins and me. Instead, she sat me down on the red velvet couch that was placed between two velvet love seats in the living room. We began to talk about what I had been doing. This conversation was the first time she said, “The eyes are the windows to the soul. I want you to remember that, because you may forget things, but your soul never does. When you die, God doesn’t look at your memories, he's going to look at your soul and he’s going to see everything you have seen. That's what he will judge you off of.” At the time I didn’t understand what she was saying to me, but as I aged, it began to make more sense. That’s when I began to change and photography became a part of my life.

People always say never to look in the eyes of someone who is dying, or that it is not the face of a dead person that's memorable. It's the eyes. They also say that your eyes say more about you than anything else, if you know what to look for. I have found that those statements are correct, at least in my experience. At a certain point in the relationship, you stop seeing the iris, the pupil, or the 51

colors of the eyes; you begin to look through them to feel the emotion held within. In the last two weeks of my grandma’s life, she was on a breathing machine. The only way to communicate with her was through her eyes, aside from the times she mouthed, “Lord help me,” or, “I’m tired,” as she looked into your eyes with such conviction that you felt like she was dissecting your very soul, looking for the memories that you had shared. As I returned her gaze, it was like I could see the pain in her eyes. I could feel the pain that she was experiencing. It clicked for me. It was not like she was looking at me; she was looking through me, similar to the way someone looks through a window, or into a picture. This is when I began to understand the beauty of the eyes, and how sight is truly a gift. Sight is like photography; it allows you to express, to feel, and to communicate things without saying a single word.

Photography is a unique hobby, in the sense that it is so vast in its potential. After you take a picture, you have the ability to create the frame for the window. You can edit in or out anything you want from a picture, setting the tone for the experience of the audience. Then, using the focal point of the images, you express the emotion, the thought, or the feeling that you wish to be expressed. When the audience looks through the figurative window, they take away as much of the experience as they want. They choose whether the experience is to be positive or negative. The whole time not a single word is said, allowing the moment to be pure from all the pollutants that may come, hidden subliminally between the lines.

The key to photography is the eyes. There would be no pure experience if one couldn’t see. The experience would be left to others to describe in the best detail and with as little bias as possible, and then left to the audience to interpret and design the image in their own mind. Eyes are windows, the same as pictures. As a photographer, you have the ability to taint the world with negative images, or create happiness for the souls of those who are viewing.

Eyes are windows, the same as pictures, and both communicate emotion, feeling, and thought, the same as the few words that changed my perspective. Now when people ask, “What are your hobbies?” I respond with “photography.” Explaining it would take too much time, so I reply with a simple, “It allows you to see what I see, or as much of that as you want to see.” However, the reality for me is the beauty behind the picture. You are looking deeper into someone’s mind than ever before. You are looking past all the pre-conceived notions. You are looking through the window. It’s not that one photo is worth a thousand words. It's more that a photo is a window to your mind, your soul—to show what you see, think, and feel, then to experience other perspectives.

Those eight words have influenced my life forever. It makes sense that if you see positive things, you will be happier and healthier, but if you only see the negative side or only show the negative points, then you get distracted from the value of the experience. My grandmother understood that.

She made sure that I understood that. Now I try to share my perspective with those around me in the hopes that it might just help one of them, one picture at a time.

WORKS CITED Johnson, Dirk. “Nice City's Nasty Distinction: Murders Soar in Minneapolis.” The New York Times, 9 June 1996. Accessed 11 Apr. 2017.

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Fall of a Lifetime

By Jake Brandt When I was growing up, I thought I was invincible. I always did crazy things, from downhill mountain biking to rock climbing to sports—you name it, I would try it. During these years, baseball was and still is my passion today. With all the crazy things I did, I never got hurt too seriously. A couple of concussions, bruises, scrapes, and scares, but nothing like the scare I got when I was 18 that changed the way I viewed life forever.

Growing up, baseball was probably the biggest part of my life, and someday I want to make it a career. I practiced every day, playing with kids who were years older than me. I was never good at school, which never interested me much, but the baseball field was one place I could excel over the other kids, whereas I couldn’t in the classroom. I wanted to be outside playing the sport I loved and just being crazy. As I grew older, baseball became more serious and my dad tried to stop me from doing all the things I loved to do, but he could never take the crazy kid out of me.

When I was 12 years old, I joined an American Legion team back in my hometown and it was one of the best teams around. I played for the many age groups of this organization all the way until I was 17. Then, right out of high school, I went to a junior college that would later put me on the track to a four-year college to finally start the journey of becoming a pro. It seemed that all the years and hard work had finally paid off.

My life just seemed like everything was falling into place—I signed to a four-year university, and met the love of my life. I took the summer off to spend the summer with my girlfriend before I left for school. This would be the first summer I had free from baseball in eight years. I needed the rest, and was excited about all the plans we had. We did everything from camping to swimming to beach days, just enjoying the summer.

Bad things usually happen when you least expect it, and I was not expecting what was about to happen, that day on Mt. Diablo that forever changed the way I look at life. The day started off like any other, and it was looking like a great day for a hike at Rock City. We started our hike and quickly reached the top. We stood on the top and looked out over the valley, looking at this cool spot on the other side that we decided we wanted to explore. Instead of hiking all the way around, we started to make our way down the face of a very steep cliff. We got a little way down before we could no long continue due to the sheer drop-off, so we made our way back to the top to go down the trail and continue to the new spot.

This is where everything went downhill—literally. My girlfriend and I were walking at the top of this cliff when suddenly, my foot slipped, and next thing I knew, I was racing down the side of this cliff. Sliding my hands, I grabbed for the trees—anything I could to prevent myself from falling off the cliff that was coming faster and faster. One of my feet got stuck in a crack, sending me head over heels where I hit my head on a rock, sending the loudest thud through my head, disorienting me. I regained my bearings just in time for the finale. I tumbled over the edge of an eighty-foot cliff as I saw my whole life flash before my eyes.

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I hit what I thought was the bottom of this cliff so hard, it took my breath away. In silence, I laid there gasping for air; I had landed on what was a ledge about halfway down the cliff. With my chest over the shelf of this ledge that saved my life, I looked down to the bottom. As pain started to overwhelm my body, I pushed myself up, putting my back against the cliff. As the taste of dirt and blood filled my mouth, I looked at the carnage to my body. Blood dripping off my arms and legs, hands blistered from trying to stop my fall, and tongue bit about halfway through, I realized what must have been going through my girlfriend’s head. Before I could even complete my thoughts, I heard her beautiful voice. She found me like she knew exactly where I was. She looked me over, making sure I was all right—well, as good as you can be after falling off a cliff.

As I sat there and just thought in my head how lucky I was to be alive, I thought about how precious life really is; how it could all be taken away in the blink of an eye. What started as a fun hike changed the way I thought about life. As Frank Ocean said, “Maybe it takes a near death experience to feel alive.” Now I enjoy the little things, the time I have with friends and family, because in the blink of an eye, life can change.

Should I have listened to my dad? Should I have been more carful? To be honest, I would not change a thing about that day. It might sound weird, but it was a perfect day. It showed me how much I love my girlfriend, how strong we truly are together, and a new way of life. This life experience not only gave me a gnarly scare, but also showed me that I’m not invincible and that I should not take anything for granted. I got a new perspective on life, and I’m still pursuing my dreams of going pro even harder now. My whole life could have changed that day on that mountain, and in a way, it did. I left that unappreciative guy on that cliff that day, and now I lead a new life for what that day taught me.

WORKS CITED Ocean, Frank. Thank You's. Tumblr, 4 July 2012, frankocean.tumblr.com/post/26473798723.

Accessed 11 Apr. 2017.

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Mixed

By Kiana Jackon Thorn Being multicultural should be seen as an opportunity, not a punishment. I did not realize visiting the reservation would make me rethink my heritage and what it meant to be mixed. My grandmother on my dad's side is Choctaw, while on my mom's side, my grandfather was from the Nez Perce tribe. I am also black and white.

My grandmother thought it would be a good idea to return to the res’ for the weekend. Headed to the res’ with a beautiful view of the mountains and trees, the wind circulated the smell of Doritos.

I was so pumped for the Fourth of July. Being mixed and trying to find an identity is difficult because characteristics of different races fit you at different times, or all at once. A holiday that stood for independence and freedom for the nation was also a start to a history that hurt me.

Pulling up to the res’, I felt like we were entering another country. Here I was in one of the most beautiful places at the coast of Washington, visiting one of the poorest communities. On the left, there was one of everything and everything was small. And to the right there were more fishing boats than people living on the res’. Kids rode their bikes, leaving dust to blur our view of the small building to our right, but I knew the smell of “fry bread” all too well. Then I saw a five-yearold, trying to keep up with his older siblings, almost tripping over his hair. With so many things to observe, I realized we had finally reached something familiar. We had arrived at my grandmother’s friends’ house. We stepped out the car and immediately roasted in the bright sun, and heard a faint voice say, “Oh Sydney! I’ve missed you so! And those sea blue eyes of yours.”

As they continued talking, I squinted to the sky, imagining the colorful lights against the black night.

On July 3, 2011, I met another friend, Jim who said, “Syd, how are ya? Missed ya and those eyes.”

I looked at my grandmother slightly confused; why were her eyes so important? I had never seen color before this, in the sense of skin color. Growing up I was always taught to see people, before their color. So, when people on the res’ continued commenting on my grandmother's eyes, I didn't really understand why at first. Then, seeing her pale white skin compared to his, I realized she was the only white person here. The idea of seeing my grandmother's color made me uncomfortable.

Then looking at myself, I realized I didn't fit in either because I was not even half native.

When I woke up the next morning, I was no longer thinking about “fry bread.” I just sat in confusion on the beach. The wind blew through my hair while questions swirled in my head. I thought coming to the res’ would help me feel like I belonged to a group, but being mixed, no one group felt like home, and being from many felt confusing and wrong. I'm black, white, Choctaw and Nez Perce. Being from many different backgrounds with severely different histories, is difficult and celebrating the Fourth of July now means something completely different than before.

On July 4, I headed to the Pow Wow, and I was stuck thinking about all the ways I did not make sense. I am from the Native Tribes of Choctaw, Nez Perce, and while being on the res’, celebrating this highly important holiday in our country did not seem right. All I could think about was slavery, massacres, white privilege, and how I am a product of it all.

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I did not feel like celebrating—I felt guilty and confused rather than happy and joyful. I couldn't quite understand why all these natives were celebrating this holiday. I grew up in a huge city, not knowing any of the native language or understanding the culture, and I was upset; all I could think about was “why would they want my grandmother here? And what the hell am I?” I heard a big boom; fireworks were about to start. This did not stop me from my anger and confused thoughts.

I was disturbed from my thoughts by Jim, a family friend of my grandmother, who was giving a speech before the fireworks kicked off. I feared what he was going to say. I was prepared to grab our stuff and leave, but he did something I had never seen before; his speech will forever play in my mind. He said, “Natives celebrating an American holiday. Not only a holiday, but one that did nothing for our people. History tell us to hate this day, it did no good for us in the past, but we belong to this country too. We live in a world where everything and everyone is so intertwined, mixed, that Natives have made this holiday into our own, and we live in a time where it is less about the history of your skin and more about who you are, to yourself and to your people.”

“Less about the history of your skin and more about who you are, to yourself and to your people,” he continued. His words helped shape me into the person I am today. I am not 100% anything.

Race is a made-up term by humans, and has no control over how I identify myself. History is not something to push to the side nor is it to control our lives today. Learn from history and grow the future. Create your future for yourself, not to fix situations from the past.

Reflecting on Jim's words, I know now that being mixed does not mean I don't belong. I am a part of the next generation that is more understanding than the ones before it. Living in a country that is a melting pot, I now know I have the privilege of being from many different backgrounds, and understanding many different people. I no longer think of myself as black, white, or Native American, but as the mixture of colors in the sky against the night. I will make my own identity and do not have to let history make it for me. I felt blessed and fortunate to be about to celebrate the Fourth of July while on the res’.

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More than Just a Tattoo

By Sarah Liva If I had to choose one phrase that I hear the most from my interactions with people, it would have to be, “Wow, you’re tall, what are you?” When I was younger, I honestly used to be a bit ashamed of my height because I would tower over every other kid in my class. From about third grade to even now, I have been considered a giant among my peers. Now, I embrace my height and see it as a blessing attributed to what I am: Samoan. I am completely in love with my ethnicity and its culture, especially when it comes to the traditional Samoan male tattoos called pe’a or malofie, and the traditional female tattoos called malu.

The Samoan culture is full of interesting and beautiful things. My personal favorite is the traditional tattoo, or tatau. According to ancient Samoan legend, the art of tatau was brought to Samoa by two sisters, Taema and Tilafaiga. The legend says they swam across the ocean from Fiti (Fiji) and carried a basket full of tattoo equipment with them. As they travelled, they continually chanted a song: “Only women receive tattoos, not men.”

However, today both men and women get tattoos. The reason, according to the legend, is that while the sisters were traveling and chanting their song, they got distracted by a giant faisua, a large clam considered a delicacy in Samoa. They tried to dive for it, and when they resurfaced, they were disoriented from diving to such deep depths and began chanting instead that men receive tattoos and not women. Once the sisters got to Samoa, they went to two different villages and taught the villagers everything they knew about the art of tatau.

The Samoan word for someone who is very skilled in any specific trade is tufuga. Today, any tufuga ta tatau (master of tattoo) can trace their genealogy back to one of the original villages where the sisters taught the art of tatau (“The Truth about the Samoan Tattoo,” 2013).

Before missionaries came to Samoa in 1830, most of the men and women had tattoos. The missionaries tried to outlaw the practice of tattooing because they believed that it was ungodly to deface the human body in such a way. Despite the missionaries’ efforts, the practice of the Samoan tatau survived to the present day and continues to be a very beautiful cultural practice and symbol in Samoan tradition. The word tatau means “correct or workmanlike.” Tatau also signifies the “correct quadrangular figures in reference to the fact that Samoan tattoo designs do not include circular lines, although other Polynesian tattoo motifs do” (“Samoan Tattoos,” n.d.).

The male version of the Samoan tattoo is called either pe’a or malofie. The malofie begins at the waist and covers almost every inch of skin down to the knees. In the past, the traditional Samoan culture only allowed chiefs, or matai, of villages to get the malofie tatau. The traditional tatau was given to young men usually between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, because it was believed that at those ages their bodies have stopped growing. This was important because they did not want the young men to grow and stretch out the beautiful designs in the malofie. Today, the malofie is given to any young man who proves himself worthy of the tatau (“The Truth about the Samoan Tattoo,” 2013).

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The traditional process of receiving the tatau is very painful and considered a rite of passage for young men into adulthood. The tools used by the tufuga ta tatau are usually handmade of pieces of bone, turtle shell, and wood. The black ink used is made from the soot of burnt candlenut shells.

The whole process starts with the tufuga ta tatau dipping his tool into the ink. Then, using a tattoo comb, he punctures and pushes ink into the skin by repeatedly tapping the tool with a small mallet while creating different designs (Stefanu, 2016). This process is often called tapping.

This process usually takes days, sometimes weeks, and takes several sessions to finish. Because tapping is so painful, most young men find a soa, or another relative of theirs, who is found worthy to receive the malofie, and they get it done together (“The Truth about the Samoan Tattoo,” 2013).

Once a man gets his malofie, he is now known as a sogaimiti instead of tauleale’a, which is what young men are called before they receive their malofie.

The female traditional tatau is called a malu. The malu has much thinner lines than the malofie and mostly consists of lines and dots beginning at the thigh and ending at the knees. Sometimes the tattoo is even applied on their hands. In old Samoan traditions, only the highest-ranking taupou received a malu. A taupou in the Samoan family and village is a rank almost as high as the high chief, and she was very important in the villages. Traditionally, the highest-ranking taupou would perform the taualuga dance at the most prominent events in the village. When the taupou would perform, her skirt was usually pulled high, exposing a lot of her legs. Because of this, the malu was used to decorate her legs so they were more pleasing to look at. The tatau on the hands also aided in making the dance and the woman more beautiful when she did her hand motions (“The Truth about the Samoan Tattoo,” 2013).

There are many different symbols used in Samoan tatau. In the men’s malofie, for example, every single symbol can have several different meanings. For example, a turtle shell can mean peace, fertility, wellness, or longevity. Because there are so many different meanings for every symbol, every tattoo is unique. Other traditional Samoan tatau symbols include spearheads, lizards, fish, the ocean, and the sun (Wilson, 2016). Each of these symbols is combined by the tufuga ta tatau to tell a story unique to each individual receiving the malofie.

When the malofie is applied, it is always applied the same way. The first place to receive a design is the lower back. Figure 1 shows the first symbol which is a large upside-down triangle called the pula tele. This represents a person’s extended family. Inside of that large triangle is a smaller triangle that is often completely filled in with ink and called the pula tama, which can also be seen in Figure 1. The pula tama represents a person’s immediate family (“The Truth about the Samoan Tattoo,” 2013). From there, the tufuga ta tatau continues his story and representation until he gets to the end of the tattoo.

The last place to be tattooed is always the navel. The design around the navel is called the pute and is crucial to the entire design of the tatau: “Without the pute, the tattoo is unfinished and the wearer carries a sense of shame because he was not able to complete the ceremony.” “Meaning, n.d.”). For the female’s malu, the design usually has no specific pattern, but in every malu, there is a diamond-shaped design that is put on the back of the knee (Figure 2). This symbol is also called a malu (“The Meaning of Ta Tau,” n.d.).

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The tatau is very traditional in the Samoan culture and unless you are Samoan, I do not believe that you should receive the traditional malofie or malu. That being said, I do believe that it is okay to get a “tribal” tattoo that includes Samoan symbols in it. For example, there are a lot of people who like to get tribal tattoo sleeves just because they look so amazing. In that tribal tattoo, the artist may use Samoan symbols such as the turtle shell or the spearhead to make the tattoo more beautiful. Although the person who is receiving the tattoo may not know what the symbols mean, I think it is still okay to receive the design as long as people who are not Samoan do not try to receive a malofie or malu.

Samoans, on the other hand, are encouraged to get traditional Samoan tatau done, but only when they fully understand what the tattoo means. This is to show respect for not only the tatau itself, but also their family and ancestors. There is a Samoan saying that goes “E ta muamua le gutu ae le ta le vae” which means “Tattoo the mouth before tattooing the legs.” This means that before you get a tattoo done, you should make an effort to gain a little understanding and wisdom on the Samoan culture (“The Truth about the Samoan Tattoo,” 2013). Samoans especially need to have an understanding of the symbolism in their tattoo in order to fully appreciate the work of art, as well as make sure they receive accurate symbols to represent themselves and their families.

The Samoan culture is very interesting as well as beautiful. One of my favorite aspects of the Samoan culture is the traditional malofie and malu tatau. These tattoos are very symbolic to not only the person who receives them, but also to their entire families and others around them. The pain that is endured and the beauty that is the result of the process are what make the Samoan tatau such an important and amazing part of the Samoan culture. It is seen as an honor and privilege to be able to receive a traditional malofie or malu, and a full understanding of the symbolism involved in Samoan tatau is required so that the wearer can be sure to be respectful and also capture his or her unique family story in each tap of the needle.

REFERENCES Samoan Tattoos - Tribal Tattoos. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.polynesia.com/polynesian_culture/samoa/samoan-tattoos.html Stefanu, V. (5 July 2016). Witnessing a traditional pe'a (tattoo) done in Samoa. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vic-stefanu2/witnessing-atraditional_b_10811326.html The meaning of ta tau-Samoan tattooing. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://australianmuseum.net.au/the-meaning-of-ta-tau-samoan-tattoing The truth about the Samoan tattoo (tatau). (6 December 2013). Retrieved from http://1samoana.com/the-truth-about-the-samoan-tattoo-tatau/ Wilson, M. (22 April 2016). Complete guide to Samoan tattoos. What is it and how to get one?

Tattoo models, designs, quotes and ideas. Retrieved from http://www.tattoomodels.net/complete-guide-samoan-tattoos-get-one/

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FIGURES

Figure 1. Traditional Malofie Tatau. This figure shows just one of many different designs a traditional malofie can have. Notice the large upside-down triangle on the lower back where all malofie are started.

Figure 2. Traditional Malu Tatau. This figure shows not only the feminine design of the malu, but also the difference between the malofie and malu designs. Notice the traditional diamond design directly behind the knee.

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You’ve Been Trigger Warned

By Christian Waddle The opinion piece “Trigger Warnings, Safe Spaces and Free Speech, Too” was written by Sophie Downes, a Chicago University senior, for The New York Times in response to a letter she received from Jay Ellison, Dean of Undergraduate Students. The letter tells the students that trigger warnings and safe spaces should not be counted on in their classes. Ellison said, “The university was dedicated to free speech and would not shield students from ideas they disagreed with or found offensive” (Downes, 2016). Downes took this to mean that the Dean assumes people who use safe spaces and trigger warnings are “narrowed minded” and “easily offended.” She said that the letter misinterpreted the meanings of trigger warnings and safe spaces and that the letter was a way to avert students’ attention from the real problems on their campus.

Downes defines “trigger warnings” as things students need to be able to handle sensitive subjects in class and “safe spaces” as places where students can go to be safe from triggers. She also describes which classes would need them, such as psychology. Later in her essay she says that the university should focus on its real, more important problems such as paying its employees fair wages and how they investigate sexual assault cases.

However important these issues may be, Downes misses the point of the Dean’s letter completely.

It is quite possible the Dean wrote the letter to avoid talking about those specific issues; I cannot say for certain. But what I can say for certain—and Downes actually glanced at this in the latter part of her article—is that there is a wave of political correctness and special treatment that is breeding a generation of overly sensitive people who refuse to listen to opposing opinions.

Downes uses a seminar she took as an example of when a professor would use a trigger warning.

The seminar, Downes said, “dealt with gender, sexuality, and disability… including sexual violence and child abuse” (Downes, 2016). The teacher told her students that she would help anyone who felt like they were having trouble with the class content so that they may partake in class to earn credit. A warning about the class material is a proper way to use a trigger warning, and the safe space the instructor offered was appreciated, I’m sure. Warnings like that are okay and even useful; however, the problem begins when people take it too far. This is seen mostly in the not-so-far reaches of the Internet and you can find it in abundance on the blogging website Tumblr—“it” being the overuse of trigger warnings for things that should not upset people and that they’re being used not to prepare for difficult material, but to avoid it.

There is a difference between looking down on something or thinking it is wrong and being upset about it to the point where one could have a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder episode over it, as if they are soldiers returned from war. There are people who do suffer from PTSD and who can benefit from trigger warnings. No rational person denies that. Jill Filipovic, a writer for The Guardian, wrote a list of some trigger warnings in her article “We've gone too far with 'trigger warnings'” (2014), which she found while exploring the feminist and social justice side of Tumblr.

Some of these trigger warnings included “misogyny, the death penalty, calories in a food item, terrorism, drunk driving, how much a person weighs, racism, gun violence, Stand Your Ground laws, drones, homophobia (Filipovic, 2014). The list goes on.

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Some of these I understand, such as terrorism or drunk driving. However, calories in food items?

Stand Your Ground Laws? These trigger warnings I do not understand. At least warning about racism, misogyny or drones make sense, to an extent. I understand why someone would see trigger warnings for those types of content as helpful, but it also shows how over-sensitive we as humans have become.

Things like racism and misogyny and even homophobia are a part of life. Most people in support of Filipovic said that “trigger warnings don't just warn students of potentially triggering material; they effectively shut down particular lines of discussion with ‘that's triggering’” (Filipovic, 2014).

When people step out into the real world, there are no trigger warnings. You do not know if someone is a racist or is misogynistic, and those showing that side could happen at any time. There will be no warnings, and they certainly won’t care if someone is triggered. In short, trigger warnings can serve a purpose, but people become so reliant on them that when they don’t get one in the real world, they resort to safe spaces.

Downes seems to believe that safe spaces don't hinder the free speech of those who would have a different opinion than those in the safe space. It's not only opinions that fall under the First Amendment, however. For example, let's say someone gets triggered by any talk of rape. They need a safe space in order to be sure that they will not have a reaction triggered by mention of rape.

This closes off all discussion of rape. No one can mention it, whether it's about how to prevent it, a story someone has, or even someone looking for help. If someone does mention it in any form, the safe space is unsafe. Safe spaces, by definition, must mute some sort of speech. And that is not okay. Anyone should be free to discuss whatever they want, when they want. If someone is offended by it or gets triggered it is their own fault, not the speaker’s.

Downes uses her letter to make the assertion that “the administration wants to appear as an intellectual force beating back destabilizing waves of political correctness that have rocked college campuses” (Downes, 2016). She acknowledged the real problem with that. There is a siege on free speech and free thinking in the form of political correctness, on college campuses especially. There is a British journalist and public speaker by the name of Milo Yiannopoulos who is a gay Jewish conservative. He recently has been going around colleges speaking to students on issues such as racism, feminism, this year’s election, and just about any other controversial topic you could think of. Every place he speaks is met with at least one protest, some smaller than others. It is students’ right to protest, of course. But they are not protesting for the right reasons.

A large majority of these protests are against Milo Yiannopoulos’ person, not the content of his speeches which they so vehemently disagree with. So when someone “invades” the over-sensitive students’ safe spaces, they immediately revert to silencing the opposing view rather than having a civil discussion. He has even brought that up in some of his speeches. In fact, Yiannopoulos has been banned from Twitter after writing a bad review for the new Ghostbusters film which ended up getting an actress in the movie, Leslie Jones, attacked by people on Twitter who are actual racists—the point being that one famous person had another person silenced because she couldn't handle strangers on the internet saying mean things.

Terry Moran wrote a report for this for ABC News and he quoted Milo Yiannopoulos saying, “This idea that celebrities are these fragile wallflowers. Give me a break.” This just goes to show you 63

the only place in the real world where people can get away with being overly sensitive is Hollywood (if you can call that the real world).

Sophie Downes turned the letter she got from the Dean of Undergraduate Students into an article about the real problems her school faces and how trigger warnings and safe spaces can fit into certain classes. However, she avoided the real issues involving trigger warnings and spaces. They both have their uses and can be helpful. However, trigger warnings are creating a breed of overly sensitive college students, and safe spaces silence people and hinder their First Amendment right to free speech, in most cases.

REFERENCES Downes, Sophie. (2016. September 10). Trigger Warnings, Safe Spaces and Free Speech, Too. The New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/opinion/trigger-warnings-safe-spaces-and-freespeech-too.html Filipovic, Jill. (2014, March 5). We've gone too far with 'trigger warnings'. The Guardian.

Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/05/triggerwarnings-can-be-counterproductive Moran, Terry. (2016, September 1). Leslie Jones' Twitter Troll Has No Regrets Over Attacking the 'Ghostbusters' Actress. ABC News. Retrieved from: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/leslie-jones-twitter-troll-regrets-attackingghostbusters-actress/story?id=41808886

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An Eye for an Eye: The Truth about the Death Penalty

By Rhys Wynbrandt The death penalty should not be practiced in the United States because it is a violation of the Constitution, it costs the government and taxpayers a significant amount of money, and innocent people can be put to death.

The United States Constitution discusses the use of cruel and unusual punishment in the Eighth Amendment: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (Stevenson & Stinneford n.d.). The use of the death penalty does not meet the requirements of this amendment, as it is a form of cruel and unusual punishment.

There have been numerous times in which using the death penalty has failed, leaving those to suffer for longer periods of time than what should be.

An example of a “botched execution” was a case back in 1989 when Stephen McCoy was executed.

McCoy was sentenced to execution and he had a horrible reaction to the lethal injection chemicals.

It was reported that he “gasped for breath, choked, and arched his back off the gurney” (Miller, 2014). Of the total amount of lethal injections used in the United States, 75 have been unsuccessful (Radelet, 2016).

In March of 1997, a man by the name of Pedro Medina caught on fire as a result death by electrocution; it was implied that the headpiece applied to Medina was not placed on properly (Miller, 2014). There have been 84 reports of death by electrocution cases which failed to execute correctly. Lethal gas has 32 failed cases. This clearly is a form of cruel and unusual punishment; these examples of failed executions failed to serve the job of ending the life of the criminal in a way that is not cruel. Instead, they were left to struggle painfully throughout their death penalty experience. These are examples of cruel and unusual punishment because it is evident that McCoy and Medina suffered and struggled during their executions.

There are currently 31 states here in the United States that utilize the death penalty. The death penalty includes many different forms, such as lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gases, and firing squad (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2011). The practice of lethal injection is the most common form used today. Potassium chloride is the main component used in lethal injections, causing one’s heart to stop in a short amount of time. The first drug used in lethal injection is designed to make the criminal unconscious. The second drug is used to paralyze the person so that they experience a minimal amount of sensation throughout the process. The final drug is potassium chloride. These drugs are given through the use of an IV and are given in that particular order (Kroll, 2014).

The use of electrocution involves strapping a person down to an “electric chair,” where a lethal amount of electricity flows through the body until they are pronounced dead (Methods, n.d.). The lethal gases that are used in administering the death penalty include cyanide and sulfuric acid, which is enough gas to kill a person in no more than 18 minutes. Firing squad is the process in which one shoots the criminal in the back of the head or chest, leaving them to instantaneous death or death by hemorrhage (Methods, n.d.).

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The choice about how an inmate dies can be up to the inmates themselves, depending on the options that each state may have. There is a lengthy amount of time in between the time they are sentenced to the time in which they will be put to death, due to lengthy trials and the possibility of appeals, which can lead to excessive loss of money from the government (Time on Death, n.d.).

A common argument is that the death penalty has worked more times than it has failed so it can’t be as cruel as it is argued it to be. While it is true that out of the total forms of execution, fewer than half that have been failures, this fact does not take away the potential that this will occur again in the future. It can be predicted that there may be more failed executions, especially with the use of lethal injection; the United States is running out of supply of the chemicals used in lethal injections. The United States either has to get its supply from other countries or the states have to find their own forms of lethal injection. European countries are one of the primary sources of lethal injection chemicals for the United States, but the majority of the European countries do not support the death penalty. Therefore, Europe no longer supplies the United States with the drugs that they would need (Rodriguez, 2016).

Because states have discovered that they will not have access to these lethal drugs, they have been forced to experiment with other forms of drugs that would work as replacement. During a lethal injection procedure in Oklahoma performed on Clayton Lockett, drugs were used that had not been utilized before. One such drug is called midazolam (de Vogue, 2016). The drug gave Lockett horrible side effects, making him react violently as a result. If states continue to use lethal injection, they will search for and experiment with new drugs that have not been tested on humans before.

Based on the outcome with Lockett, experimenting with new drugs is cruel and unusual, especially with the gruesome outcomes that can occur. One can only conclude that there is a 50/50 chance of a successful execution, but these odds prove a flaw in the system.

Not only is the death penalty a violation of the Constitution, it also poses the threat of killing a potentially innocent person. In 1991, a man named Cameron Todd and his three daughters were asleep in their home in Texas. During the middle of the night a fire is mysteriously started, leading to the death of the three daughters while Cameron managed to make it out alive (“Cameron Todd Willingham,” 2010). After the scene was analyzed, authorities concluded that Cameron Todd had set this fire to intentionally kill his children. In his trial, Cameron Todd was pronounced guilty of murdering his daughters and was sentenced to lethal injection. Before he was killed, fresh evidence came out to indicate that Todd could not have committed this crime, but the execution continued and a possibly innocent man was put to death (“Cameron Todd Willingham,” 2010).

Situations like these are what make the practice of lethal injection wrong. Some cases may be hard to analyze and there can be a chance that someone on death row could be innocent. With the use of the death penalty, there is no way to undo the process once it is already done; those who are innocent may face the consequences of execution without actually deserving it.

Some may argue that the majority of cases involving the death penalty are very lengthy, which would make the odds of executing the right person greater and such error less likely to occur.

While the time between the dates when he was charged to the date he was executed was about 12 to 13 years, in that time the evidence was not reexamined in a manner that would favor Todd; in addition, his appeal to the Court was declined (“Cameron Todd Willingham,” 2010).

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Some may also argue that not that many of those who are executed are ever found to be innocent later. Since 1915, there have been at least 8 recorded cases in which one who was executed was actually innocent (“8 people,” 2010). While this number may not seem that big, there can never be true certainty as to how many more people who have been executed are likely to have been innocent. Because the court system has proven to be clearly flawed in dealing with the death penalty, the death penalty should not be used. Taking the lives of innocent people should not be gambled with.

In California, it is estimated that the state utilizes $4 billion on lethal injection (“Financial facts,” n.d.). This price includes pre-trial and trial costs, automatic appeals, federal habeas corpus appeals, and the total cost of incarceration. Much of this price difference is primarily due to the lengthy appeals that can drag on for years and years. Usually, it would cost more to house a death row inmate than an average inmate, as they tend to require more security. In order for California to get this kind of money, they need to tax the people more.

California is not the only state which pays an extremely high amount for execution to be administered in their state; Pennsylvania, Nebraska, and Washington are a few more examples of states that pay millions of dollars every year to have the death penalty (“Financial facts…,” n.d.).

Comparing the overall total price of a trial with death penalty being in consideration, it is much cheaper to not have the death penalty. On average, a trial where the death penalty is not in consideration is about $775,000 (“What costs…,” 2011). Therefore, not having a death penalty will save the tax payers a great deal of money. This is mostly because trials with the death penalty under consideration require a lot more investigation and even more appeals, which can take many years to officially complete. Without the death penalty, the trials can take much less time and save states a great deal of money The use of execution has proven to be cruel and unusual, highly expensive, and severely flawed.

Eliminating the death penalty would agree with the Constitution without violating the Eighth Amendment. The specific states that utilize the lethal injection would be saving a great deal of money due to the fact that life in prison is cheaper. Not having lethal injection would also prevent the possibility of executing someone who could potentially be innocent. It is important that, as a country, we eliminate the death penalty, as it better serves us both ethically and economically.

REFERENCES Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2011). Authorized methods. deathpenaltyinfo.org. Retrieved from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution Cameron Todd Willingham: Wrongfully convicted and executed in Texas. (2010). innocenceproject.org. Retrieved from http://www.innocenceproject.org/cameron-toddwillingham-wrongfully-convicted-and-executed-in-texas/#summary de Vogue, A. (2015). New documents reveal botched Oklahoma execution details. cnn.com.

Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/16/politics/clayton-lockett-oklahomaexecution/ 67

Financial facts about the death penalty. (n.d.). deathpenaltyinfo.org. Retrieved from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty Kroll, D. (2014). The drugs used in execution by lethal injection. forbes.com. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkroll/2014/05/01/the-pharmacology-and-toxicology-ofexecution-by-lethal-injection/#307475fa3d72 Methods of execution. (n.d.) clarkprosecutor.org. Retrieved from http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/methods.htm Miller, G. (2014). America’s long and gruesome history of botched executions. wired.com.

Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/2014/05/botched-executions-austin-sarat/ Radelet, M. (2016, February 4) Examples of post-Furman botched executions. deathpenaltyinfo.org. Retrieved from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/some-examplespost-furman-botched-executions Rodriguez, N. (2016) Suppressing the truth: States purposeful violation of the right to no cruel or unusual punishment in lethal injection executions. St. Mary’s Law Journal, 47, 684-688.

Stevenson, B. & Stinneford, J. (n.d.) The Eighth Amendment. constitutioncenter.org. Retrieved from https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-viii Time on death row. (n.d.) deathpenalty.org. Retrieved from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/time-death-row What costs more the death penalty or life in prison? (2011). nbcrightnow.com. Retrieved from http://www.nbcrightnow.com/story/15519792/what-costs-more-the-death-penalty-or-lifein-prison 8 people who were executed and later found innocent. (2010). stories.avvo.com. Retrieved from http://stories.avvo.com/crime/murder/8-people-who-were-executed-and-later-foundinnocent.html

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Bloody Fingers

By Nirmala Young On the outside, it is easy to think someone's got it all figured out. That I must not have a care in the world because my hair is neatly brushed and my makeup is perfectly done. As though people expect me to wear my demons as a scarlet letter pinned to my chest. That pain is defined as how much blood you're losing, or how long your arm will be slung in a cast. That if you cannot see it, that it must not exist.

But sometimes, the most painful demons are the ones people cannot see.

I am part of the 18% of Americans who struggle with anxiety ("Facts & Statistics," 2016). Over 40 million people in the U.S. struggle every day with this disease. Anxiety is a common disease, but it comes in highs and lows. As a woman, I am two times more likely to have anxiety than a man. I have a specific kind of anxiety called social anxiety. This is defined as fear of social situations that involve interaction with other people. It is fear of being negatively judged and evaluated by other people.

We are stereotyped as being shy, withdrawn, unfriendly, or nervous, when really, people just cannot see the cogs constantly turning in our brains. We are often nervous. Our hearts race trying to keep up with the amount of seconds that one minute has allowed us. We fear that you can see everything that is happening behind our eyes that are darting around the room, actively avoiding locking eyes with you.

You can always tell how my day is going by the way my fingers look. On bad days, they have been picked raw and blood will be streaming down from them. My brain tells me that the physical pain is much better than the fuzziness at the front of my head. That it will help the tightness in my back. That the stress I store in between my shoulder blades is less than I think.

I hear buzzing in my ears, and my ears grow hot. In a chair, my legs begin to swing, keeping time with the pounding of the off-beat metronome that is the beating of my heart. Shivers circulate through my body, starting from my head and ending in my toes. They leave me wondering if it is the 73-degree air in the space I call home, or if it is my brain lying to me, trying to make everything okay again. Every second, I feel like I could self-destruct, fall apart, and have to pick myself back up like I have done so many times before. That I’m the only lifeline holding myself together.

I discovered lying to myself is one of the easiest things to do. I can lie to myself that I did better on a test than I really did to ease the constant tension in my neck. I tell myself that I did work even when I did not, because that is easier than facing the stress from the fact I did not get nearly enough work done. I make a to-do list every day, and I check off more things than I have actually done because it is easier to lie to myself than watch my fingers stream blood. I lie to myself that everything is going to be okay.

Society says anxiety is not an excuse: “In the eyes of others it makes me a liar. Lazy. Inadequate.

Delusional. Crazy” (Wynne, 2016). That it is just something we are making up in our heads. They say that it is something we can overcome. They say we are overthinking. They tell you, 69

“Everything’s fine, you just need to get over yourself.” They tell us “it's just a fear you can overpower.” They write it off as though it is not pain because you cannot physically see it or touch it. That what is going on inside our heads is invalid. That the blood streaming from my fingers is not enough to show them that I am trying to dull the panic in my mind. That the nervous cracking of my knuckles is me trying to hide my insecurities, of feeling like you are judging my every word.

That I am not making eye contact; not because I am not listening to you, but because I am trying to calm the thoughts about how to answer what you're asking me. It is because I am trying to figure out how to respond in a way that seems appropriate to the topic at hand. Society says that all of these things are not acceptable because people cannot see what is going on when it is plainly written on my face.

I do not speak up in class, not because I do not know the answer, but because I can see that everyone is looking at me, and that all I can hear is the screaming of insecurities in my ears. I sit there, hoping that you cannot hear them. I sit there patiently, minding my own business; not because I am stuck up or shy, but because I am terrified of judgment. I sit there quietly because I am terrified of how people will react to the shakiness in my voice. I am afraid to answer with anything except the correct answer.

I do not like speaking to people who I do not know because I am afraid they will hear that I forgot to speak with nothing but insecurity behind my words. That they will hear the off-beat metronome of my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I pray that they cannot see the cogs in my brain all turning at once, searching for the right thing to say.

In social situations, I worry that I am being too quiet, or that I am being too loud. I just sit back and let it all consume me. I look down and play with the rings on my finger so you cannot see the blurriness in my eyes. I look down, hoping you cannot see the clenching of my jaws because I am hoping that somehow, their strength will hold my pieces together instead of shattering apart. I lie and pretend I am a social butterfly when I just hope that you cannot see the blurry lines of my thoughts racing across the front of my mind. I cannot add them all up like high school mathematics.

I cannot carry the 3 and find the square root of this endless problem. Most of the time, there is no problem.

Some days are better than others, but I remember they are just days. And I have a whole lot more where they come from.

REFERENCES Facts & Statistics. (2016, August). Retrieved November 6, 2016, from https://www.adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics.

Wynne, K. (2016, October 20). Anxiety is an invalid excuse. Retrieved November 1, 2016, from http://www.justcutthebullshit.com/home/2016/10/20/anxiety-is-an-invalid-excuse

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He's Gone

By Layla Purdy My mother picked up the phone and burst into tears. She looked at me and told me, “He’s gone.”

Suddenly, everything seemed still. I no longer saw the leaves falling from the tall oaks. I could not hear the small noise of my cat’s paws against the hard floor. My eyes were fixed on my mother’s tear-stained face. All I could hear was the slow beating of my heart. I felt my stomach fall to my feet. I wish those words had stayed as vague as they seemed, but I knew exactly what they meant. Renee, my best friend, had lost her father. I did not realize the significance of loss until someone had made it real.

Renee and I met at the age of three, and we have been best friends ever since. Our friendship grew from the roots our families had planted in the small town in which we lived. It did not feel as though we had separate families. I would refer to her parents as my own, and she would do the same with mine. As most moms do, Renee’s mother and mine would protect us from many things, even if those things were related to our families.

Renee’s father suffered from an illness for years even prior to her birth. When she was born, the symptoms of her father’s sickness seemed to subside. Renee and I remained clueless. After Renee left for college, his old habits seemed to regain their strength. Incidents occurred, and no longer could our mothers protect us from the truth that he was an alcoholic. Finding out that Renee’s father was an alcoholic was shocking but bearable. It was oddly common to hear about alcoholics, and it never seemed to be a serious issue. Most people who suffered from addictions just needed help; they could be cured.

Within the first year that Renee went to college, her father’s sickness had reached a new high. No incident, whether it was the DUI from a late-night drive or the black eye from a bar fight, ever seemed terminal. All he needed was some help. The thought that someone could not be affected by counseling or treatment was not considered.

One summer morning, my mother told me that Renee’s father had been admitted into a hospital for a broken leg. He fell from an outdoor staircase; he had been drinking. The garbage men found him lying on the ground, barely conscious. He was rushed to shock trauma, only to find out that they could not perform surgery due to his weak liver and heart. It was only a couple of days after the incident that my mother received the phone call that left her sobbing, and me in utter shock.

My best friend’s father, a second father to me, was dead. The doctors said the blood had begun to pool in his leg, and his body couldn't handle the stress of surgery. His heart failed under the pressure.

I felt the pain for my best friend. I felt the pain for my family. The funeral was deemed healing for all those who were related to him. The room was filled with arrangements of various flowers. One set of flowers created a horseshoe-like shape. This was referring to his long trend of involvement in horse racing. Each year he claimed that it would be the year that he won it all; his horse would win the race. Although that never happened, it was a source of amusement for those who attended the service. Objects were placed in the front of the room that described him well. Among the 71

things was a hammer, because he was deemed the neighborhood handyman. If something needed to be fixed, he was there to help.

Every person who walked through the doors was dressed well, in slacks or a nice dress. I couldn't help but think how ironic this was because Renee’s father only owned one suit. His wardrobe consisted of solid color T-shirts and black or grey athletic shorts. A majority of his outfits had holes and paint splatters. If he could have attended his own funeral, I don’t believe he would have been dressed to fit in with everyone else.

I watched people from town cry and laugh as they shared stories. I thought of my own stories. One in particular came to mind as I saw a picture in the slide show appear of him, Renee, and me rolling down a hill at a wedding, but I stayed emotionless; a tear did not fall from my eyes. The story of that day came to mind, but I stayed emotionless; not a single tear fell from my eyes. It did not feel as if I was remembering him. It simply seemed to me that I was just thinking about a memory of ours. It felt like he was still at home, sitting in his recliner and watching his various sports games, or fixing the neighbor’s roof. My state of shock seemed to last longer than any of the others affected by the loss.

A couple weeks after Mr. Tony’s death and a few days before I was supposed to leave for college, I had a going-away party. I was able to say goodbye to the many people I care for. I opened many letters and read the excerpts of advice given to me as farewell tokens. I opened a card and it had the cliché quote along the lines of congratulations, but written in pen was, “Good luck. We love you. Love, Renee, Ms. Sandra, and Mr. Tony.”

I cried. For the first time since his death, I cried. I realized that not all the people I had expected to be there when I returned from school would be there. The home I knew was no longer my home.

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MEET THE AUTHORS Shyanne Dela Vega Shyanne was born and raised in Honolulu. Her major is Nursing, and her intended career plan is to work in the medical field and become a nurse anesthetist. She is passionate about helping others and making a difference in people's lives. Her favorite thing about living in Hawai’i is being with her family and friends: “I love the beautiful weather, beaches, and local food. The community is friendly and filled with aloha spirit.”

Elizabeth Fischer Originally from Aiea, Hawaii, Elizabeth is majoring in Biology (Human and Health Sciences Concentration) and pursuing a career as a pediatrician. She loves living in Hawai’i; the food, the sights, the beaches, and aloha spirit. She loves HPU because it offers a wide range of opportunities to better her future.

Juliana Freire Juliana is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is majoring in Hospitality & Tourism Management. She doesn’t have an exact idea of what she intends to do in the future, but she would like to travel and make a difference, maybe working her way up to working for a resort. She loves being in Hawai’i because of its positive, happy vibe: “There are so many amazing people here and there are so many fun activities to do such as hiking, surfing, and going to beautiful beaches. I can't imagine myself attending any other college.”

Emma Love Emma came to HPU from Salem, Oregon, and is majoring in Marine Biology with the hopes of becoming a veterinarian specializing in marine life. Her favorite thing about living in Hawai'i and attending HPU is being able to experience and learn about the mix of cultures that both the school and the islands offer.

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Sarah Liva Sarah is from Mililani, here on the island of Oahu, and she attended school in Mililani from grades 1-12. She is currently a Psychology major who wants to be an elementary school teacher initially. She hopes she can eventually work on her Master’s in Psychology with a focus in school counseling, to become a school counselor someday. Her favorite thing is that she gets to live at home with her family, and she can go to the beach whenever she wants.

Grae Maddox Originally from Austin, Texas, Grae is pursuing a dual major in Marine Biology and Psychology. Her intended career plans are to work with marine mammals in rescue, rehabilitation, release, as well as to someday be a teacher. Her favorite thing about living in Hawai’i is being able to learn about a traditional culture that revolved around sustainability and respect for the land. She also loves exploring the island, and meeting people from all walks of life.

Nicole Masulit Nicole was born and raised in Lihu'e, on the island of Kaua'i. She is majoring in Computer Science and is m interested in going into computer programming or web development. Her favorite thing about living in Hawai’i is the sense of community: “Growing up in Hawai’i, it was always a place where the aloha spirit brought people together, even the most diverse groups of people. To have the opportunity to attend HPU, a university that embodies that diversity and spirit of aloha, is definitely inspiring.”

Layla Purdy Layla is originally from Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, and is major in Psychology. Her future goal is to join the Air Force, then go back to school to earn her Ph.D. in Psychology. Her ultimate goal is to help Veterans who suffer with PTSD. Her favorite thing about Hawai‘i is its diversity: “I have been exposed to many different cultures, which has led me to stepping out of my comfort zone.”

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Dean Ryan-Simmons [photo not available] Dean is from St. Paul, Minnesota, and his major is 3-2 engineering/mathematics. He intends to graduate and seek employment through military contract, or through a large aeroengineering business. His favorite thing about living in Hawai’i is that everyone is their own individual, and that there is no pervasive racism due to color.

Victoria Serra Victoria is a Psychology major originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina. Her future career plans include getting her Master’s degree and working with adolescents who suffer from abuse. Her favorite thing about living in Hawai’i is the great weather year round and easy access to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world: “Attending HPU has given me many opportunities to meet new people and discover more about this wonderful island we live on.”

Christian Waddle Originally from Vancouver, Washington, Christopher has lived on Oahu for almost four years. He is majoring in Criminal Justice, with the end goal of working for the FBI as a special agent. He loves the small class sizes at HPU that give students a chance to get to know their professors.

His favorite thing about Hawai’i is that it's almost always a sunny day.

Rhys Wynbrandt Rhys is originally from Sacramento, California. Her major is Nursing, and she hopes to earn enough money to go to medical school and become a pediatric oncologist. Her favorite thing about HPU has been her ability to continue her soccer career on the women’s soccer team while also getting a quality education.

Nirmala Young Nirmala is originally from a small island off the coast of Maine, called Peaks Island. She is a Mass Communications major, with a dream job of working for National Geographic. Her favorite thing about living in Hawai’i is having nature always at her fingertips: “Whether it’s hiking or surfing, you can always find me outside.”

Not Pictured: Jake Brandt, Jordan Carley-Windeler, Kiana Thorn, Ella Willbrand 75

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Mahalo to all those who have contributed in various ways to Fresh Perspectives, our First-Year Writing Program at HPU, the Department of English and Applied Linguistics, and the College of Liberal Arts: William Potter, Interim Dean, HPU College of Liberal Arts Kathleen Cassity, Interim Assistant Dean, HPU College of Liberal Arts Joan Ishaque, Assistant to the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Stephanie Fepuleai, Administrative Assistant for English & Applied Linguistics Mikael Ladegaard, HPU Web Services Julie Flores, Student Assistant Volunteer Lorraine Jimenez, Student Assistant Volunteer Jun Dennis Sadang, Editorial Intern Theodore Simonelli, Editorial Intern

Mahalo also to those First-Year Writing Instructors who nominated the essays included here: David Falgout Kathryn Heath Lisa Kawai Tad Matsunaga Deborah Ross Carol Polcovar Christy Williams

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