The Puyallup Post | Volume 22 | Issue 6 | March 14, 2017

The Puyallup Post VOLUME 22 ISSUE 6 | MARCH 14, 2017 | PUYALLUPPOST.COM

SERVING THE STUDENTS OF

PIERCE COLLEGE

Strength t r s a e ditio u l a ethnicity yV

it diversity munrace

Com

people

PUYALLUP SINCE 1994

nsUn

Spirit

ity

Bel ief

Shared Inclusive

Religion

participatory prejudices custom society past

organizational multiculturalism Bias

Culture

Ancestry RIghts

Understanding Difference Tolerance Morality Kindness

Equality Art Minority CLass Self-perception UnityRespect Food Clothessexuality

&

rootsMusic

personality

Gender Critisism

belonging

Language

Heritage

Behavior

celebrations

acculturation Nationality Discrimination group experiences

Identity

Opinion

kinship

views

bonds

Rights Class Character

origins Location Norms Integrated Cross-cultural disposition Education Political views Friendships representation Collectivity Blended

Inside The Puyallup Post Staff

4

Co-Editor-in-Chief Chase Charaba

253-912-2399 ext: 8632 | ccharaba@pierce.ctc.edu

The Puyallup Post

Co-Editor-in-Chief Armani Jackson

253-912-2399 ext: 8630 | ajackson@pierce.ctc.edu

Online/Social Media Manager Hannah Pederson

5

253-912-2399 ext: 8628 | hpederson@pierce.ctc.edu

Senior Reporter

Volume 22 Issue 6 March 14, 2017

4 History of OSL

Suzanne Buchholz

11-31

253-912-2399 ext: 8722 | sbuchholz@pierce.ctc.edu

Reporter

clashes with student opinion

Rebecca Dickson

253-912-2399 ext: 8624 | rdickson@pierce.ctc.edu

Reporter

An in depth look at how the Office of Student Life operates, and how students are actually affected.

Jared Leingang 253-912-2399 ext: 8601 | jleingang@pierce.ctc.edu

Reporter

Andrea Mendoza

253-912-2399 ext: 8651 | amendoza@pierce.ctc.edu

Culture & 11-31 Identity special edition

Reporter

Brenna Smark

253-912-2399 ext: | bsmark@pierce.ctc.edu

Online Reporter Daniel Pollock

253-912-2399 ext: 8587| dpollock@pierce.ctc.edu

Take a look at some of the various cultures represented on campus

36

Online Reporter Colton Swanson

253-912-2399 ext: 8811 | cswanson@pierce.ctc.edu

36 Student feature:

Office Manager/Reporter James McCraw

Julian Howard

253-840-8496 | jmccraw@pierce.ctc.edu

Graphics Manager Katie Foster

253-840-8496 | kfoster@pierce.ctc.edu

Adviser

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Teresa Josten

253-912-2399 ext: 8509 | tjosten@pierce.ctc.edu

An avid lacross player, musician, and more.

Learn about student Julian Howard.

The Puyallup Post is produced entirely by students attending Pierce College Puyallup This publication is intended as a public forum.

Published materials are the sole responsibility of the editors, reporters and photographers and are not intended to represent Pierce College’s policies.

For more information on advertising rates call (253) 840-8496 or email puypost@pierce.ctc.edu.

The student newspaper is in room C218 in the College Center.

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www.puyalluppost.com MARCH 14, 2017

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The Puyallup Post Pierce College Puyallup 1601 39th Avenue SE Puyallup, WA 98374

THE PUYALLUP POST

News

Rebecca Dickson

Rebecca Dickson

Shuttles transport detainees to Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma (left). Northwest Detention Center is a private, for-profit immigration detention center.

Community deportations defer DREAMers

While DACA protects some undocumented students from deportation, others face legal action pending policy changes at the federal level As she left the political rally, she was arrested. Her DACA exemption expired on Feb. 28. She was expected to be Reporter magine this: a student pays $495 in order to ensure their deported to Argentina, a country she hasn’t been to since ability to stay inside the U.S. to complete their degree. the age of 7. She was released from a detention center on After making plans to attend University of Washington March 10. and finding ways to pay tuition, the student faces an issue.

Concerns about possible ICE detention are spreading The day before graduation from Pierce College, the student at Pierce. is detained, sent to Northwest Detention Center and then In an email sent to Pierce employees, Greon wrote deported. that posters have been put up around Washington State This is a possibility for DREAMers, people who are University’s campus about undocumented immigrants. covered under former President Barack Obama’s Deferred The posters read, “It is your civic duty to report any illegal Action for Childhood Arrivals Program. While all are aliens to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement”, undocumented immigrants, each person is allowed to and leaves a number for people to call the ICE hotline to defer deportation for two years if they are accepted into the report undocumented immigrants. program. The hope is that Greon explained to people can keep applying “We need to be aware of the faculty that some may be to be DREAMers until this isn’t their policies towards unaware they apply and are government’s legal duty as citizens. accepted to become U.S. immigrants because some of our “Please know that citizens. it’s not our civic duty to DACA allows people students are immigrants: documented report anybody and we who came to the United and undocumented. Some are under have not broken the law if States without proper we do not report,” Greon documentation before 14 DACA, some aren’t. They have a right said. “Our presidents and years of age to remain to their education and we have a duty chancellor have signed (a) in the country on a letter to Trump, supporting renewable, temporary to provide them with that education. immigrant students and basis for two years. I’m not sure that everybody knows highlighting a welcoming However, this program is environment.” likely to change under the that they attend our colleges legally.” The letter sent to President Trump administration Trump urges him to not With President Donald Trump’s executive order of eliminate DACA, as many students in college don’t “protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the have connections to their “country of origin” because they United States,” many organizations are left questioning entered the U.S. at a young age. whether the president’s future executive orders will affect If an ICE officer detains a student, the officer must have DACA. a federal warrant for that student in particular. However, if In the Obama administration, officials prioritized the other undocumented students are found in the process of deportation of serious violence offenders. arresting that student, then other students may be arrested “We need to be aware of the government’s policies as well. These are often called “ICE raids.” towards immigrants because some of our students are “We are always trying to remove obstacles to education. immigrants: documented and undocumented,” professor Being hunted by ICE, the threat of being separated from Jo Anne Greon said. “Some are under DACA, some family, home, education and country is what some of our aren’t. They have a right to their education and we have a students are currently experiencing,” Greon said. “Some duty to provide them with that education. I’m not sure that are afraid for their loved ones who are undocumented. everybody knows that they attend our colleges legally.”

These fears will, of course, affect their ability to focus and On Feb. 21, President Trump broadened the types succeed here. And if campus isn’t a safe place, that’s an of undocumented Americans that were to be deported. obstacle to successful education as well.”

Although DREAMers are exempt from deportation, If a student was arrested during an ICE raid, they’d it’s questionable whether this will be the policy moving likely be taken to Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. forward.

This for-profit detention center is accused by the Justice On March 1, DREAMer Daniela Vargas, 22, spoke Department for violating policies corresponding with about her family’s detention at a Mississippi political rally. human rights violations, including improper documentation

Rebecca Dickson

I

WWW.PUYALLUPPOST.COM

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of injuries sustained within the prison, the blocking of fire safety equipment and unsanitary conditions.

The detention center is owned by The Geo Group, which has recently been accused of forced labor practices.

In Aurora, Colo., for example, The Geo Group has been accused of forcing inmates to work for $1 a day or for no pay. An estimated 60,000 former or current inmates who may receive reparations from a class action lawsuit.

President Trump’s stance on immigration brings relief to some while distress for others.

“I personally like Trump’s stance on immigration,” student Tabita Dejeu said. “He’s not anti-immigration. He, like many of us, want to know who’s in this country. He wants people to do it legally.”

However, Pierce is trying to push to allow students to complete their education within the United States documented or undocumented.

“All employees and students need to know that it is not our responsibility to report anybody, that Gov. Jay Inslee is trying to block ICE sweeps and that our own college presidents and chancellor have signed letters to the POTUS asking him to support our undocumented students and allow them to safely complete their education,” Greon said. “The role of faculty toward DACA and undocumented students is the same as for any other student – help them succeed.”

DACA Facts

17,000

DREAMers are in Washington

2 Years

is how long DACA allows someone to stay in the U.S.

$495

is the cost to file a DACA application Source: The Seattle Times, USCIS MARCH 14, 2017

News

Rebecca Dickson

Rebecca Dickson

Rebecca Dickson

Noah Peevel, clubs coordinator, looks over club paperwork to verify its completeness. Clubs must complete several pieces of paperwork in order to have events. (left) The International Club has put on several events using ICC funding including bowling and the culture around the world event. (top and bottom right)

History of OSL clashes with student opinions Rebecca Dickson and Suzanne Buchholz Reporter & Senior Reporter

T

he Office of Student Life manages much more than what students may realize. With different positions, committees, offices and parts, the OSL can be more intricately designed than students may know. The three branches of the OSL include Student Government, Activities Board and Clubs Board. All of these are headed by Director of Student Life Sean Cooke.

Cooke received his position four years ago after working in the military and working as a student Sean Cook engagement specialist at Clover Park Technical College. He originally started becoming interested in working as the Director of Student Life when he was a student at Pierce College.

“I became a student body president here in this office, and I loved it,” Cooke said.

“I was like 26 or 27 when I was a student leader here, and I was just blown away by the power of the experience and the way I saw it change other people. I felt like that was an experience I thought I would be able to facilitate for other students. It was the first time in my life that I found something I loved so much that I could see making it a career. Everything else seemed like it would be a compromise , like ‘It wouldn’t be so bad’. I always wanted a moment in my life where I was struck by a lightening bolt of inspiration that ‘This is what I want to do.’ That had never happened (before).”

Cooke was originally attending Pierce College Puyallup to take a few classes in order to improve his position in his career in the military. After he realized the military wasn’t his permanent career path, he decided to pursue a career in business, until he realized that he could eventually work as the Director of Student Life.

“I always imagined coming back and

MARCH 14, 2017

working at Pierce,” Cooke said. “I just wanted to come back and be part of the legacy”.

Cooke serves primarily as an advisor to the students in the OSL. “This is their organization,” Cooke said. “All of these organizations, they are student organizations led by students.

They choose the direction, and I’m there to advise them and tell them what I think will and won’t work.”

While the Student Government and Activites Board are granted a budget from the Student Activities and Tech Fee Committee, whose student representatives are approved by student council, clubs have a separate process to go through. This combined committee, chaired this year

by The Puyallup Post’s Online Managing Editor Hannah Pederson approves the budget for each board.

“We apply for an annual budget for them, and then we teach them how to use it, and I do sign off on their stuff just to make sure no one wants to buy gold-plated volleyballs or something like that,” Cooke said. “I try and keep a level of control over that kind of stuff. There is advising happening when they are making those decisions.”

All clubs on campus submit a graphics request, funding request, room request and event request in order to have an event on campus. Any funding which they request comes from the Interclub’s Council, an organization under the Club’s Board which is voted upon by club leaders.

The estimated balance of funds for clubs for the 2016-2017 school year was about $30,000 as of Oct. 24.

From Oct. 24 to Jan. 10, about $13,930 in funds were awarded to clubs. Activities are approved and funds are provided through a democratic process during meetings of the Interclub Council.

“You go to the meeting and the clubs will present the stuff they’ve gotten cleared through everybody, and say this is what we want to do with the money, and the budget

4

breakdown and this is why we should do the motion is taken to a club’s coordinator it,” Ink Slingers Club President Morgan for discussion and to file necessary orders.

Pasquier said. “All the coordinators have a Additional paperwork is mandatory if chance to ask questions and decide whether extras such as food need to be ordered, that money should go there. And we get an and if it’s going to be a public event it’s update on how much money we have left at required to order graphics to advertise it. every ICC meeting.”

This seems like a lot of paperwork to turn Every request for funds must be in and that it’s hard to schedule events in presented before ICC and discussed with advance due to the process, Webber said. a clubs’ coordinator, whether it’s for an “There’s a lot of deadlines you have event or a small expense such as a plate of to meet,” Webber said. “You’re supposed food for an event. to turn in all these papers for your event A few club presidents said they weren’t two weeks before the next ICC meeting, sure the democratic voting method was and you’re supposed to have graphics out, effective in making financial decisions. you need graphics out and advertising two Gay Straight Alliance Club President Rhi weeks in advance for your event. But you Webber said they felt this method restricted need the request in two weeks before that. people from expressing what they really So basically you’re wasting six weeks is thought about a proposal and somewhat what I feel.” coerced them to agree even if they felt it If paperwork isn’t completed on time wasn’t a great idea. or correctly, the club president has to redo “We do vote on how it’s being used, but it before it can be put on the agenda for I feel like people don’t feel like they can discussion. say no to it,” Webber said. “The club will “They’ve blocked my paperwork before come up with a proposition and then too, so I’ve had to do it it kind of feels like you don’t want again,” Pasquier said. “And to be that guy who says no. Even if I have been pushed back they can’t make any repercussions through no fault of mine.” you don’t want to be a jerk.”

Some changes have been Political Debate Club President made to the way clubs are Madeline Hornbuckle said another run this year. One change aspect she thought affected the is that, in previous quarters, process was that the people involved there was only one club’s with the voting process as well as coordinator to handle club Morgan the club presidents are within the same affairs. This year, two more Pasquier club’s coordinators have age group. The majority of them are Running Start students or generally young, been hired, and a club’s president was also and she said that no one wants to deny their added. peers of funds for activities.

In fall quarter, all clubs were required to “I honestly think that if they did ballots hold at least one event per quarter in order or something where you couldn’t see how to remain a club. This has been annulled other people voted, we wouldn’t feel the in winter quarter, which Hornbuckle said same peer pressure to say yes,” Hornbuckle was good as the requirement used up time said. and money.

To make a proposal for a club event, a club “They got rid of that (requirement) president must attend an ICC meeting and thankfully, because a lot of clubs had explain what’s the event’s purpose, what’s issues,” Hornbuckle said needed to host the event and how much Continued on page 5 money will be required. Once approved,

THE PUYALLUP POST

News OSL clashes with student opinions. continued from page 5 “For instance, my club isn’t doing an event this quarter, because it’s my first time taking in-room classes and it’s a lot more work than I thought, so I don’t have time to do all the paperwork, because you have to meet with a coordinator and go over it and it’s so much work.”

Clubs can now request funding for events at any point, with no requirements for amount of events or whether it’s public or private.

Webber said the GSA is requesting funding for a panel as their next event, and Pasquier said the Ink Slingers Club was approved $600 for an Escape Room event exclusive for their club and to host a creative writing open mic event.

Club presidents have said they would like more transparency on certain procedures and issues involving clubs. Webber said they think the coordinators are transparent to a certain degree, but they still aren’t on the same level of understanding as most of the club presidents in making sure procedures and other information are clear.

“I know a lot of the presidents I talked to have trouble figuring out what paperwork I need to fill out, what’s going on in the office, have my things been ordered, stuff like that,” Webber said.

Pasquier said she feels coordinators should explain the reason behind certain new rules and regulations club presidents are expected to follow. One new rule being instilled is that club presidents are required to take a headcount of attendees at every meeting and report these numbers to the coordinators at the end of each quarter. For Pasquier, the reason behind this rule was never made clear.

“They didn’t tell me why, they just say you’re supposed to do that now and give it to them at the end of the quarter,” Pasquier said. “I’m wondering why that might be, what’s the point. It sounds like a lot of extra

work for no reason unless they’re planning on doing something like hierarchy.”

Pasquier also said two clubs coordinators will be leaving their positions at the end of the quarter and two new ones will be hired, but that she hadn’t been informed of this change and had to ask about it herself despite working with the coordinators frequently.

Other aspects of how clubs are being organized have gained positive reception by club presidents. Hornbuckle said the board seem to be drawing in a lot of perspective new clubs, the most Pierce has had in a long time.

“I think they’re actually doing a really great job with getting people interested in creating their own clubs,” Hornbuckle said.

“They’re talking about how this quarter they’re going to have 20 or 30 clubs total, which is really amazing because last year they didn’t have that many and in years before that they had next to none.”

All positions on the ASPCP Government, Activities Board and Clubs Board are appointed, not elected. For some students, this is quite surprising.

According to a previous edition of The Puyallup Post, volume 3, issue 9, originally the ASPCP Student Government positions were elected. After some debate, the OSL wished to change the system to the appointment system. In order to do this, the OSL would need to change their constitution, which would require a student vote. According to volume 3, issue 9, “Students voted overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the election process.” However, due to a lack of voting from the student population, as 11 percent of students voted, the change was made regardless.

Recently, some students have been questioning why the positions aren’t elected like they are at Pierce Fort Steilacoom.

Cooke explained that the OSL changed to appointments for multiple reasons.

“I would love for (student government)

to be elected,” Cooke said. “I want students to have the government that best represents their interests. The situation we are having and the reason why the majority of community and technical colleges especially across the state have switched to a selection process versus an elected process is that they can’t get students to run. They can’t get students to run and they can’t get them to vote, and when they do have elections, it’s often people running uncontested. And so, whoever decides they want that position and they want that power, they become the leader of the entire student body, which has led to, I would say probably in many cases, not the best representation that students could have.”

Cooke said the OSL tried many different options to get students to run and vote for positions in the OSL, including student forums, student debates and even handing out candy bars to those who would come to vote.

“Nobody comes except for the people who are actually debating. I don’t know why. We tried really hard to promote it,” Cooke said. “Students didn’t care. They didn’t participate. And I would argue candy bar democracy is not democracy.”

Instead, all OSL Officials are selected through an appointment process. This process includes interviews with previous OSL officials, students-at-large, the Student Engagement Specialist, and the Director of OSL. “They were able to choose students who exemplified exactly what Pierce College represents,” Madison Martin, ASPCP president, said.

After the individual interviews, selected students are put in groups for group interviews. Cooke said this is because teamwork is important to the OSL’s goals and mission. .“If you want a government that represents students, yes, I would love to have elections. But the conditions that I

think would need to be in place in order for elections to be successful just historically haven’t been there. And it’s not just us.

It’s so many community and technical colleges across the state have switched because they’ve elected students who act like tyrants or disappear after three weeks, or engage in a wide variety of behaviors that are less than beneficial to the students that they serve.” Cooke said. “And in seeking to find solutions to these problems, more and more of them have gone to a selection process and have been much, much happier as a result. Ultimately, what the Office of Student Life is here to do is to insure good service to students. We find that we’re getting it so much more through the selection process.”

Currently, the OSL is working towards creating many events, as well as getting different changes to facilities on campus, including the addition of security cameras in the parking lot.

Martin works with administration to achieve these goals and others.

“I lead student council meetings and student government meetings. And I sit on several other committees (such as) S&A Tech fee and the Executive Cabinet with the Chancellor. I do monthly meetings with the president of the college and I do oneon-ones with all of my team members,” Martin said. “My entire intention is to make sure that I can manage the student voices in a way that fosters inclusion, diversity and equity.”

Specifically for goals such as installing security cameras, Martin works with many different groups, including facilities, the Board of Trustees and the president.

“We are recognizing the struggles with speaking with so many people because we have to approve it through so many different groups, it becomes hard,” Martin said. “Administration knows what we are trying to do and they are supportive. It just takes a lot of time.”

Funds given to clubs from Oct 24 to Jan. 10 $113 to the American Honors Club

$116 to the Phi Thetta Kappa Club $120 to the Black Student Union $150 to the Culture and Cinema Club

$2,025 to the Swing Dance Club $2,150 to the International Club

$300 to the Ping Pong Club $440 to the Gay Straight Alliance $675 to the Political Debate Club

$2,835 to the Business Club $1,820 to the Geology Club

$700 to Raider’s Rescue $889 to the Drama Club WWW.PUYALLUPPOST.COM

Katie Foster

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$1,300 to the Ambiance Club MARCH 14, 2017

News

Katie Foster

Washington first state to sue Trump Suzanne Buchholz

W

Senior Reporter

ashington’s Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, the Department of Homeland Security and other Trump administration officials on Jan. 30. Washington’s the first state to sue the Trump administration following an executive order to block refugees and citizens from seven Muslim countries (including green card holders) from entering the United States, put in effect Jan. 27.

The countries Trump’s banned include Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya and Sudan. The ban is to be in effect for three to four months, although citizens of Syria are being blocked for an indefinite amount of time, according to an article by The Stranger. The block caused people from these countries attempting to travel into the United States to be detained at airports or sent back to their country of origin.

The lawsuit was filed by a federal court in Seattle and is available online. The introduction of the complaint said Trump’s executive order is “separating Washington families, harming thousands of Washington residents, damaging Washington’s economy, hurting Washingtonbased companies, and undermining Washington’s sovereign interest in remaining a welcoming place for immigrants and refugees.” The document goes on to

explain specifically how this executive order would harm these aspects of the state.

Washington state officials also filed a motion to enter a temporary nationwide restraining order to prevent parts of the ban from being enforced. The restraining order was granted on Feb. 3 and put into immediate effect to allow those with travel visas and citizenship to enter the country.

Several Washington-based companies pledged agreement to this notion by filing official support, according to an article by GeekWire. These companies include Amazon, Expedia and Microsoft. Other companies such as Starbucks, REI, Zillow and Redfin have also expressed concern over the ban and said they’re willing to aid the cause. Other companies such as Costco, Darigold, Boeing, Nordstrom and Alaska Air have either declined to comment or have yet to provide insight on the topic.

Colleges such as Washington State University and the University of Washington, which have several students who are from Trump’s banned countries, reported being affected by the ban. Some students have been unable to fulfill certain academic requirements that’d require them to travel outside of the U.S., such as attending conferences and doing field research, according to an article by The Stranger. Gonzaga University hasn’t reported personal issues thus far, but wrote a letter offering support to those who are struggling as a result of the ban.

The ban will also limit the funding for sanctuary cities, which are cities in various parts of the country that follow certain procedures to ensure immigrant safety. Washington has several sanctuary cities including Issaquah, Kent, Puyallup and various counties.

Pierce College Puyallup students voiced opinions on the subject.

Student Regan Austin said she’d heard about Washington suing Trump, but that her knowledge of the subject was limited.

“I haven’t really looked into it,” Austin said.

Student Bailey Shippy said she realized the negative aspects in how Trump was carrying out his laws, but that she could see some reasoning in his purpose for doing so.

She said immigrants entering the country for the first time should be checked.

“Immigrants coming into the country should show motivation to work,” Shippy said.

Student Kyle Pierson said he agreed with Washington’s stance on the issue, and that Trump’s method of asserting his law wasn’t right.

“It’s interesting to watch the government system work, what it’s supposed to do with the checks and balances,” Pierson said. “The off-the-handle law (of Trump) wasn’t good.”

Tech Fee and S&A committees become one Brenna Smark

T

Reporter

he Tech Fee and Student Activities committees are the committees which decide where the money from student fees go and how it gets spent. The Tech Fee Committee decides what money gets put towards technology at the college, such as the computer labs. The S&A Committee decides what money gets put towards things such as funding for clubs at Pierce.

In past years, the two have been separate committees, each handling their own money requests separately, but due to some recent issues and dilemmas it has been decided that the two committees should be combined.

The decision was made last year by the Office of Student Life Directors of both the Fort Steilacoom and Puyallup campuses.

While the Student Life Directors made the decision to combine the committees, the changes had to be drafted into one financial code and voted on by the District Policy and Governance Cabinet.

The decision was made due to some issues the two committees were experiencing. When putting in requests for funding, students and faculty found that their requests would often get mixed up between Sammi the committees and that was causing delays in deciding whether or Goddard not the requests were denied or approved.

“In the past, requesting parties would submit a request to either the S&A or Tech Fee budget committees and the committee would determine that the request was more appropriate for the adjacent committee,” ASPCFS President Kate Hummel said.

“By combining the two, it eliminates the mix up of having a request bounce between committees.”

Along with fixing the issue of request confusion, the combination of the two committees will also help to more appropriately decide where the funds will be spent.

“By reviewing technology requests and S&A requests together, it allows the committee to see where approving funds would be most appropriate across the departments,” Hummel said.

MARCH 14, 2017

Another issue between separate committees was that it was difficult to schedule for everyone in the committees to meet.

“With so many representatives on the committees, it was almost impossible to schedule important meetings around everyone’s schedule,” Director of Student Life Sean Cooke said. “With one committee it won’t be as much work and it’ll be much easier to gather all members of the committee.”

While, the combination of the committees has some benefits, there is a rising concern.

The Tech Fee and S&A committees were typically made up of the ASPCP President, one faculty representative and five student representatives each, two of which are employees in the OSL. With the committees now being combined this year, the number of student representatives will be cut in half to just five on the one committee instead of ten over all.

This leads to the concern of whether or not student voice and opinion on funds will be accurately represented through only five student representatives.

Despite this concern, committee officials don’t think it’ll be a problem. Committee officials think that the open Student Activities meetings will combat the issue.

“All S&A meetings are open meetings. Also, the student members are not student government affiliated except for myself and a non-voting member who records minutes,” Hummel said. “I also want to not that we have an open forum at each student government meeting (if time permits, which it almost always does) where students may address concerns or ideas to our Student Government Team.”

Students also aren’t expressing much concern on this issue.

“More isn’t always better,” student Sammi Goddard said. “Sometimes having more people prevents the work from getting done as efficiently. Less can be easier to handle” Other students aren’t don’t see themselves as being affected by the changes, so they don’t have any concerns with how the combination of the committees plays out.

“I don’t really have an opinion,” student Shaian Jenkins said. “It doesn’t really matter to me because I’m just here to take classes and pass them.”

6

THE PUYALLUP POST

Opinion Fightin’ Words Yes

Is there enough diversity on campus?

No

Andrea Mendoza

Brenna Smark

N

I

Reporter

Reporter

o, there isn’t enough diversity on campus. Diversity is defined as showing a great deal of variety. Therefore, diversity encompasses people with disabilities, different ethnic and racial backgrounds, religious affiliation, gender identity and sexual orientation. .....There’s a negative cognition around diversity. These negative remarks make institutions ensure they have a diverse set of people because the truth is that institutions don’t want to be considered a non-inclusive, non-diverse environment. That’s why many establishments always go out of their way to make sure that everyone knows they’re always trying to include a diverse group of people. Being called a discriminatory establishment doesn’t look good for any company. Compared to other higher-education institutions, Pierce College Puyallup might not be the most diverse campus out there, but this isn’t Pierce’s fault.

The majority of students attending classes at the Puyallup campus come from more white communities, higher socioeconomic levels and more students participating in Running Start. This is because the city of Puyallup has a higher white population density. While the Fort Steilacoom campus draws from a larger racial/ethnic mix of the Lakewood area due to the proximity of JBLM. There is also a greater growing number of immigrant communities in the Lakewood and Fort Steilacoom area, making students who attend Pierce over at the Fort Steilacoom campus have a more international student population.

There’s an absence of direction around diversity at Pierce. Although there are many clubs that welcome diversity, such as the Gay-Straight Alliance and the Black Student Union, there’s no department dedicated to diversity on campus and it’s obvious that certain groups are less represented on campus than other groups.

For example, Latinos are some of the many groups that aren’t represented at the Puyallup campus. The Office of Student Life does hold events that provide insight to different cultures and backgrounds, but unfortunately, most events are held during the day and therefore students who have evening classes don’t have the same opportunity to attend these events and learn about them There was an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion survey conducted in December 2015, where both faculty and students could participate and express their concern for accessibility to diversity on campus. Some concerns on the climate survey were the language on syllabi to address students with disabilities, easier access to buildings for students with disabilities and the security of transgender bathrooms. According to the climate survey, faculty had concerns about certain curriculums being Eurocentric. Any use of inclusive materials is uneven and seem superficial, and therefore faculty desire more control of the curriculum. Also, due to lack of knowledge about access to the college’s diversity resources, individuals rely on word of mouth for information about resources or learn of such resources during a crisis.

This is also true in higher level administration. Diversity recruitment had decreased as well as the number of employees of color. The survey explained that African American employees believe they’re treated differently than white employees in terms of hiring, retention, promotion and discipline; that some of their behaviors are described negatively, while the same behaviors exhibited in white employees are dismissed. Administrators create opportunities for unqualified staff to gain experience so that they become qualified to fill related job openings. People of color don’t see themselves being selected for these positions.

Although Pierce does its best to include all sets of people, it’s obvious there’s some concern about diversity on campus from students and staff.

t’s safe to say that discrimination is a sensitive and well talked about topic amongst people. Discrimination is looked down upon and people tend to make efforts towards creating a vast amount of diversity in their community, or creating equal opportunities for everyone despite their ethnicity or race. .....Among all the students that attend Pierce College Puyallup, one will find a copious amount of students of different ethnicities and races. Pierce has worked hard to create a diverse environment and give everyone the same opportunities for success. In this, they have been quite successful.

Students of different races and ethnicities feel comfortable and welcome at Pierce. They’re given the same opportunities and benefits as anybody else. Pierce has Muslims and students of different races working in our Office of Student Life. There are multiple races and racially mixed students in American Honors, for example. If one were to look at the clubs they’d find that the members encompass different races and ethnicities.

Diversity is clear even in the types of clubs there are. The Black Student Union, for example, is a great opportunity for students to interact with individuals of African American ethnicity. In creating the BSU, Pierce has given African American students a voice to fight against any discrimination they might face.

If a Caucasian student and a student of a different race were to apply for the same job at the college, there would be no discrimination or bias and they both would have an equal and fair chance of getting the job.

While Pierce successfully strives toward a diverse environment, they aren’t immune to the fact that discrimination isn’t completely eliminated. While one of Pierce’s most important goals is to have diversity on campus, another goal that works hand-in-hand with that is making people aware of the discrimination that still exists. Pierce and the OSL strive towards this goal through the events they host on campus.

Over the course of winter quarter, Pierce has planned certain events in the hopes of drawing attention to the discrimination that’s still present and the diversity they hope to achieve. On Jan. 18, the college gave a warm welcome to Syrian-American slam poet Amal Kassir, who spoke about Syria and the discrimination she’s received due to being Muslim. The Black Student Union hosted a cultural appreciation panel. Pierce shined the spotlight on Anthony McPherson, a Nuyorican slam poet, for their Poetic Justice event.

While race and ethnicity are the two things that first come to mind when the word discrimination is brought into conversation, they are not the only concerns. Disability is also a victim of discrimination. Whether it be a learning or physical disability, it is still something some students may feel discriminated against. Again, Pierce makes consulting these concerns one of their top priorities.

Pierce realizes that there are great challenges that come with disabilities and do their best to accommodate for these challenges. There are some faculty at Pierce that work with students who have learning disabilities one on one. They help these students learn the same material, just in a different way that fits their specific ways of understanding.

Pierce also tries to accommodate for the challenges that students with physical abilities face. In classrooms one will find at least one special desk that’s raised to a certain height that best fits a wheelchair. There are also elevators in each building for easy access for any given physical disability.

The diversity at Pierce is clearly evident. From the welcoming environment and equal opportunities they give to all students without discrimination, to the events they host in hopes of bringing all students of different ethnicities together, Pierce is obviously a diverse environment.

Shout Outs

Is there enough diversity on campus?

Interviews and Photos by Rebecca Dickson

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Brandon McDew “It’s a pretty good amount, but there’s a lot of white people.”

Rhianna Anderson I think there is. It’s not just students from one ethnicity and there’s a lot of activities for students to learn about different countries & cultures.

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Bassili Wilson “I think it’s cool. I think it’s enough. You see different cultures here, different races I didn’t see back in high school.”

Aurora Sacksteder “I think there is. I just feel like with all the clubs on campus like the international club and the GSA. We have clubs which represent students on campus.”

MARCH 14, 2017

Opinion Jared Leingang

White guilt is a myth

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Reporter

t’s come to the point where people feel bad for having a certain skin pigmentation.

White people feel bad for something they have no control over. White guilt is wrongly used as an excuse to divert the real problem and disguise it as something else.

When people apologize for the actions of their ancestors, they aren’t acknowledging the wrongdoings of the past, they do it to feel good about themselves by feeling bad about being white. They aren’t focusing on the acts that happened, but the acceptance they’ll receive from the person they’re apologizing to.

Feeling guilty for something someone never did makes no sense. It may make them seem like a good person for apologizing for the acts of a racist white person that lived years ago, but then that brings up the question what a good white person is.

People blame the fact that ancestors contributed to everything negative like imperialism and slavery and will continue to people of color. It doesn’t make sense for someone to feel inherited guilt for something they were never apart of and had no control over.

Sure slavery and the violence of the past were terrible and the lowest point of human history (so far) but that isn’t what’s allowing racism to live on today.

Instead of feeling guilty and living in the past, white people need to actually take action and try to fix the problem. Apologizing means nothing unless an action is taken on that apology.

Guilt implies the understanding of the harm one has inflicted, and it’s highly doubtful one understands the pain their ancestors caused on another. People apologize for the past to make themselves feel better.

It’s a narcissistic mentality. Apologizing for the past and feeling guilt is incomprehensible. Someone can’t apologize for something they had no part of. It makes no sense.

Don’t feel guilty, act on it. It’s not productive to feel guilty, but being aware is.

That’s what white people should focus on. Not about apologizing and wallowing in guilt, but being aware of the past and taking actions that will positively affect society today.

The first step is acknowledging white privilege. It’s real, and it’s apparent in our everyday lives.

Anti-racism activist Peggy McIntosh wrote a paper called White Privilege:

Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, which outlines the various privileges white people have. From the sense of security walking down the street to knowing their socioeconomic status won’t be judged based off the level of melanin in someone’s skin.

Most white people don’t realize they have this privilege. It has been slowly developing and evolving over the years and was subtly forced upon society through history books, the media and people in power. It’s kept secret from the people who have this privilege, so when someone brings it up, they deny it.

White privilege is a social construct that quietly reinforces racism and stereotypes Skin color doesn’t and shouldn’t give someone certain advantages over another group. Skin color is all biological and based off the demographics of where someone’s ancestors lived. White people have these intangible and seemingly invisible privileges due to a various reasons.

It starts off with looking back into history. White people consistently enslaved and overran other societies and viewed these societies as lesser beings and dehumanized them. White people wouldn’t adjust to other societies, so they’d force those societies to conform to western culture. Eventually, as society became overall more liberal, equality was earned by people of color.

But there’s still the stigma that if someone’s white then they have an advantage in life. They’re expected to succeed and are given more opportunities than people of color.

Since the Civil Rights Movement in the ‘60s, the common assumption is we’re a more equal nation. Now people should be focusing on equity.

For example, there’s an image by a professor named Craig Froehle that has been circulating around social media. The image portrays three people watching a baseball game. One half of the image represents equality, in that half, each person gets a stool to stand on to see over the fence to see the game. The problem is, one person is short, that even with the stool they can’t see the game.

The other half of the image represents equity in that the shorter person gets a taller stool while the other 2 people who can easily see the game get a smaller stool. Everyone can watch the game but one person, the shorter person, receives more help to watch it.

In America today almost everyone has the same opportunity to succeed, but it’s not just about opportunity.

Some people need that extra boost and need more help to be successful. That’s what equity would help provide, and what equality currently doesn’t.

Institutionalized Racism: Black history is bigger than the month Armani Jackson

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Co-Editor-in-Chief

lack History Month became officially recognized in 1976 after enough white presidents thought it was time to start celebrating the unknown accomplishments of black people, a group of races starting to become the majority in some areas. Black history, however, started as Negro History Week by historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans in 1915. This was due to the fact that Woodson saw that black people were “underrepresented in the books and conversations that shaped the study of American history,” according to Time magazine.

The evolution to a month-long event occurred during the height of the Civil Rights movement in the ‘60s, and it continues to be celebrated according to history.com.

The problem here lies with the fact that black people accomplish things all the time and one month doesn’t seem to cut it. It’s all too often that someone pulls up Google and the front page is glorifying another birthday of some white person. It’s discouraging. The month was created out of concern and oppression, which was great for the time, but being in 2017, it’s baffling that oppression and racism still has to be talked about.

In a country where citizens are told that they’re blessed with all the freedoms, it’s not right that anyone who is black or mixed with black is paraded around for 28-29 days of the year. It can’t be fair that blacks

MARCH 14, 2017

are appreciated this one time, as an exception when white people are given trophies and prizes every day.

It’s hard to talk about this kind of oppression as the only person of black descent on the news staff.

Puyallup is an 84 percent white city, according to the U.S. Census, so it makes sense that this school will reflect the greater community. But, it shouldn’t be the responsibility of the only partially black person on staff. It’s got to be bigger than that. It’s not fair that this writer has to sit here and try to represent the feelings of the entire black community when she’s only half of it. But, it can’t be delegated to someone else because white people, at least at this school, aren’t opinionated about the topics affecting those around them.

Nayaba Arinde, the editor of Amsterdam News, mentioned some pivotal points in a piece she wrote for CNN on Feb. 23. A key aspect of Black History Month is the acknowledgment that black people had a relative triumph during the African Holocaust, also called the Maafa meaning “Great Disaster” in Swahili. The term was introduced by anthropologist Marimba Ani in her 1994 book tilted Yurugu: An African-Centered Critique of European Cultural Thought and Behavior. In the book, she talked about how black people were impacted (more specifically devastated) by enslavement, imperialism, colonialism and Jim Crowism.

Based on this, it would make sense to conclude as to why black people wouldn’t seek validation for their

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celebratory month from white people, Arinde said.

This celebration is forgotten by white people up until Jan. 20, through Feb. 12 (mind you they take a break for Valentine’s Day) and picked up again for maybe a week until they realize that St. Patrick’s Day is coming.

But to someone who identifies with black, this history and culture emanates from their bones. These people have shaped their entire culture as well as how black people view themselves in today’s society. It can’t be fair that people forget about the struggles black people face for 11 out of the 12 months. Black history needs to be something that’s celebrated every day along with white history. It’s time that people realize that black people have been here for a very long time and have created things that a lot of people enjoy.

It’s discriminating to have a month to talk about black people’s accomplishments when it’s something that a month can’t contain. It’s so sad to live a life not embracing your blackness because of what white people try to do to make up for their mistakes. White people will never be able to repay black people for what they have done and continue to do. Assuming that one month can encompass everything black people accomplish is ignorant.

So, here’s to another year of discrimination, oppression and people telling you that black people don’t do anything unless it’s talked about in the month of February.

THE PUYALLUP POST

Opinion Culture in media: What Hollywood is doing wrong Media is constantly growing and changing, but it might still use some adjusting when it comes to cultural representation even led to cries of cultural appropriation from displeased fans. While praised for its presentation of the Pacific edia consumption has reached all-time highs, Islander culture for the most part, Disney came under fire with most Americans interacting with various at the time of Moana’s release due to a costume being forms of media for an estimated 15 hours per sold in their stores and websites that people claimed was day, according to statistics by University of South Carolina insensitive to the culture. The costume, depicting the Marshall School of Business. Now more than ever, people character Maui, included a brown-skinned body suit and are engaging with media for entertainment as well as for tattoos as seen in the movie. Disney was forced to pull the work, such as watching movies and television and listening costume amid these protests and issued an apology, but to music. One would think that, with an increasing the damage had already been done at this point. The fact audience, media producers would take advantage of the is that, no matter what effort Disney puts into producing opportunity and make an effort to produce more media that an accurate and culturally sensitive film, the marketing could spread cultural awareness or accurately represent department is always looking to cash in on the film with different cultures. However, this isn’t always the case. products like this, products kids will love but that might Most movie-goers are probably familiar with this raise eyebrows of adults who know better. overused plot: white man meets white woman, they feel It doesn’t end with merchandise though. As hard as an instant attraction, conflict they try, Disney, isn’t always arises but by some miraculous “Whitewashing has been a entirely accurate, such as means they overcome it and the case with Mulan. Upon in Hollywood for its release, Chinese viewers live happily ever after. One problem could easily ramble off an decades, and while there are were reportedly upset with entire list of movies with the film’s confusion among this plot, spanning from The a few attempts to correct this, Chinese, Japanese and even Holiday to Confessions of a it hasn’t been nearly enough. Native American culture Shopaholic and everything in being combined, and some between. Movies focusing on In modern society there’s a aspects of their culture being a diverse mix of cultures or plethora of actors and actresses misinterpreted. When The presenting different cultures Princess and the Frog was aren’t impossible to find in a of different races that would released, it was met with sea of sappy romance films, be perfectly fitting in roles that controversy and criticism but it might take longer to for potential stereotypes and find than one would hope. keep getting handed over to the racism in black culture, such as Furthermore, accuracy in the main character Tiana being white actors. “ presentation of cultures might a waitress rather than a princess prove to be a separate issue and having an affluent white entirely. friend. Claims such as these are dependent on individual One company that seems to be taking a step in the viewpoints rather than solid evidence, so Disney may not right direction, or at least trying to, is the Walt Disney be fully to blame for dissatisfied patrons. However, this Company. Through the past several years Disney seems doesn’t mean they’re completely off the hook if they make to be catering to a more diverse cast in their movies, big mistakes or manage to misrepresent an entire culture. featuring characters of various ethnicities and cultures.

Research and cultural presentation aren’t the only Recently they’ve represented the Pacific Islander culture issues of culture in media. Another problem can be seen in Moana, and in Big Hero 6 the main characters, all of in casting, as Hollywood continues the trend of hiring various ethnicities, live in a city called San Fransokyo white actors and actresses in the roles of characters from that combines American and Japanese cultures in a unique different races. This problem is prevalent in Laika’s movie hybrid. The Princess and the Frog introduced Disney’s Kubo and the Two Strings, which takes place in ancient first black princess, and Mulan not only introduced their Japan. While extensive research was put into creating first East Asian princess but also a story steeped in Chinese accurate costumes and presenting a believable story based history. on Japanese folklore, the casting department faltered by But Disney isn’t without flaws in terms of accurately filling the main roles--all Asian characters--with all-white portraying culture, and their drive to sell merchandise has cast members. The few Asian cast members, such as

Suzanne Buchholz

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Senior Reporter

George Takei, played only minor roles in the film, having maybe two or three lines in an hour and forty minutes. The team behind Dreamwork’s Ghost in the Shell, a live-action adaptation of a popular anime movie, has been accused of whitewashing by casting white actors and actresses, such as Scarlett Johansson, in the roles of Japanese characters.

Whitewashing has been a problem in Hollywood for decades, and while there are a few attempts to correct this, it hasn’t been nearly enough. In modern society there’s a plethora of actors and actresses of different races that would be perfectly fitting in roles that keep getting handed over to the white actors. While casting is all up to who would best carry out the role based on past experience or connection to character, that’s no excuse for not hiring more multiracial actors to portray these characters as there are plenty who are equally talented and skilled.

There are so many measures that can be taken to increase diversity in films, which could then expand to other media forms such as television and music.

First of all, when creating a movie that heavily focuses on a particular culture, especially if it’s based on a folktale from that culture or taking place during a certain period in history, producers need to ensure they’re thoroughly researching this culture and have their facts checked by natives of the culture for the most effective results.

Research for movies has improved over the years, but mistakes are still being made. When these mistakes occur, producers need to own up to them and apologize, rather than cross their fingers and hope the outrage passes.

Second, if it’s applicable to the particular movie, merchandising departments need to make sure that any products they release to tie into a movie aren’t culturally insensitive. This task is as easy as asking people from this culture if the product would be offensive to them in any way. If they approve it, then sell it. But if it raises any questions or discomfort, scrap the idea and keep thinking on how to improve it. A simple procedure like this can prevent major loss later.

Finally, producers need to stop whitewashing cast members in films with ethnically diverse characters. The previous steps are futile if this one keeps up any longer.

Producers need to search for a cast that actually fits the race they’re trying to portray, even if it delays development, as the long term pay off will be worth it.

This may take time to normalize in Hollywood, which is a shame as one might think it’d be the norm already.

But when it does, once Hollywood can finally fully accept cultural diversity, maybe the rest of the world has a chance of embracing it as well.

A white perspective on white privilege T Shelby Cross Contributing Writer

here are facts and there are opinions. White privilege exists, white people can receive racism and white privilege not being the same thing as racism are all facts. The definition of white privilege and racism are interpreted differently in the eyes of the person hearing them. That makes those definitions opinions.

A common opinion is that racism toward white people either doesn’t exist or isn’t as bad as it is toward every other race. Taking a second to process that, one might realize that that thought in itself is indeed racist.

Every racial group has to deal with racism. Saying that one can’t be racist toward a white person is incorrect, as racism doesn’t apply to a single race, but all of them. Belittling racism toward other groups of people doesn’t help the larger

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issue.

Everyone of every race and ethnicity has economic issues such as poverty, homelessness, hunger, lack of education and beyond. But. for whatever the exact reason may be, in the past white people have been favored over everyone else in America. They didn’t have to go through the same volume of horrific events. But, in today’s society, that problem’s been addressed and most who are controlling this issue, the ones who are in charge and favoring white people, have ignored it.

I didn’t choose to be white, just as no one else gets to choose what color they are. Judging anyone based on the color of their skin is the literal meaning of racism.

It’s wrong to assume all white people are racist. Some may be ignorant, and some may be blatantly hateful. Those are the people to address.

It has been pointed out that judging

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people based on what they look like is wrong. Everyone knows that not all Muslim people are terrorists, not all African-Americans are criminals, not all Americans are obese and not all gay people have AIDS. Everyone knows these things, so why is it wrong to ask the general public to also understand that not all white people are racist.

I’m very upset when I see examples of racism, when I hear stories of wrongful police shootings, when I learn about horrible things white people did on social media instead of the news. I was so angry when I heard about the genocide of millions of Native Americans from a college level class, instead of secondary public school.

The genocide of Natives in the last few centuries should be included in public school curriculum. But it’s not, because it portrays white people in a terrible light. But school officials have deemed it

totally fine to talk about what the Nazis did, because they’re German and this is America. Right. That also means that most people who didn’t go to college or seek out information wouldn’t know about this mass genocide. Examples like this outrage everyone, including tons of white people.

This proves that everyone needs to make an effort to educate themselves to get rid of ignorance and hatred.

White people simply denying racism because they’re not isn’t good enough. And it doesn’t fix anything. Excluding oneself from an issue this large doesn’t promote growth.

Students at Pierce are a part of the future, and it’s important to learn and understand the correct way to handle situations like these. This way, everyone knows how to contribute to a better future.

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Culture & Identity Editors’ Note:

Pages 12-31

In this edition of The Puyallup Post, we take an in-depth look at various cultures represented at Pierce College Puyallup and in East Pierce County. This special section includes personal experiences from Post staffers and community members. These accounts stray from traditional journalistic writing to give a more inclusive and diverse look at our communities.

The idea for this issue came from a keynote speech by Jose Antonio Vargas at the Associated Collegiate Press National Journalism Conference in Washington, D.C. in October. Co-Editor-in-Chief Armani Jackson was inspired

by Vargas’ words and personal struggles during the flight back to Seattle, she worked with Co-Editor-in-Chief Chase Charaba to brainstorm ideas for an edition on race and ethnicity. Over time, it evolved into an issue on culture and identity.

Some of the topics explored in this section include Islamophobia, homophobic bullying, Salvadorian culture, current events in Crimea and Donbass, Ukraine; Irish culture, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Indian culture, white culture, Japanese culture and more.

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MARCH 14, 2017

Focus Homophobic bullying not Islamophobia in being reported on campus the media, politics Suzanne Buchholz

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Senior Reporter

espite messages and programs intended to increase awareness and embrace acceptance of differences, homophobic bullying continues to be a problem in schools and communities. Students are targeted for their sexual and gender identity and don’t feel safe to be themselves. According to statistics by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, surveys showed that 82 percent of students have been bullied in relation to sexual orientation.

Homophobic bullying hasn’t been prevalent at Pierce College though, Vice President for Human Resources Holly Gorski said. The last time any complaints related to this were filed was in 2015, when two gender-related incidents were reported.

“There was one (incident) at Fort Steilacoom and one at Puyallup, Holly but that was a year and a half ago,” Gorski Gorski said. “I haven’t had other complaints that would fall under that sexual orientation, gender identity umbrella since then.”

Despite official reports. it’s still happening on campus, but sudents who’ve experienced homophobic bullying haven’t been reporting it.

Students at Pierce are protected against homophobic bullying by Title IX, a federal law prohibiting any form of gender-based discrimination in educational institutes, according to the Pierce website. The law covers a broad range of topics regarding gender discrimination such as protecting women’s rights to participate in sports, dating and domestic violence, in addition to discouraging discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Gorski is the district coordinator of Title IX at Pierce, and students facing problems against discrimination at the college can report them to her.

Students are also protected by Pierce’s Discrimination and Harassment Policy, which was put into effect in 2015. If students feel they’ve been discriminated against, they’d follow the procedure according to the policy to file a complaint. The procedure is still in its draft stages as it hasn’t completed the Washington Administrative Code process yet, but Gorski said they’re trying to get that done this year.

When a complaint is filed with the college, a number of steps are taken by administrators to ensure student security and rights.

“If we’re able to, we talk to the person who raised the issue to get more information,” Gorski said. “Usually we conduct an investigation but not always, it depends on the topic, what the complaint is. And then after we have

the results of the investigation one of the things that I do in terms of being the Title IX coordinator is I have to determine based on the results of the investigation if our school’s discrimination and harassment policy was violated.”

If a student’s involved in the complaint and a policy violation has been confirmed, the issue is forwarded to a student conduct committee so they can evaluate it and determine the appropriate course of action against the student.

In addition to Title IX and the Pierce policy, students have various other resources for finding support at Pierce, Gorski said. Clubs such as the Gay Straight Alliance offer students an outlet for discussion and generally helping members in any way they can, and activities and events have been arranged to continue promoting diversity.

“The Puyallup students did a campaign about a year or two ago that was specifically about restroom use and the rights of individual students for transgender students,” Gorski said. “That was something that came up a while ago that we did put out an official statement on at the college, but the students really led the way in terms of promoting that positive atmosphere and having kind of a campaign that they completely did on their own for that, that was very positive.”

Pierce is also planning on offering campus-wide training on broader topics such as sexual harassment, which ties into the issue of homophobic bullying and gender discrimination. The training will be online and is expected to launch soon. Students will receive a message through their student email once the training is ready.

Student Trinity Rich said the environment at Pierce was good, but bullying would have a harmful effect on it.

“I think (the atmosphere) is somewhat positive,” Rich said. “I wouldn’t react (to bullying) in a good way.”

Student Shelby Wood said bullying on campus would upset her, but that she would most likely not get involved.

“I think I would view it as a negative thing,” Wood said. “But I kind of do my own thing and wouldn’t inject myself into it.”

Gorski said homophobic bullying could pose a problem for school morale, but that Pierce is striving toward creating a diverse and welcoming environment for all students through their services.

“For the person that is the victim of such behavior, it would be negative and damaging to them. But I also believe that when things like that happen, they create a larger negative climate for the students that know about it or see it,” Gorski said. “So Pierce College is very interested in helping all of its students succeed. We want there to be the opposite of that, we want there to be a positive environment, not a bullying environment.”

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MARCH 14, 2017

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and United States Andrea Mendoza

A Reporter

fter the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, there was a spike in hate crimes against Muslim Americans. In recent months, a specific phobia has gripped Western societies – Islamophobia, or as others may call it, Muslimphobia.

“It’s the fear of people from Islam and people from that area of the world,” student Kathryn McGinnis said.

Islamophobia has to do with prejudice as well. In the U.S., about one-half of nationally representative samples of Mormons, Protestants, Catholics, Muslims and Jews agreed that in general, most Americans are prejudiced toward Muslim Americans.

Specifically, 66 percent of Jewish Americans and 60 percent of Muslim Americans say that Americans in general are prejudiced toward Muslim Americans, according to a Gallup poll. Muslims are more likely than Americans of other major religious groups to say they personally have experienced racial or religious discrimination in the past year.

Muslim Americans are more than twice as likely as Jews, Catholics and Protestants to say they experienced such discrimination in the past year.

“I think there’s this negativity around them, which is not true,” student Tevin McClain said. “I think it’s because all this talk about ISIS that makes them look like they are bad people.”

Muslims have long been particularly vulnerable to backlash driven by negative stereotypes in part because they make up a relatively small slice of the overall U.S. population. But when a major-party nominee endorses and reinforces those stereotypes, American Muslims face serious risks of increased marginalization and targeted violence.

“Donald Trump is really spitting hate at Muslims and just people in general,” student Ally Morford said. “I don’t think he realizes how much his words affect the public and probably doesn’t care either.”

Since President Trump entered the White House, mosques have been vandalized and even set on fire, a prominent Muslim civil rights leader has been threatened with physical assault and Muslim university students have been targeted with racist fliers and propaganda according to The Huffington Post.

Islamophobia is deeply institutionalized.

Americans are exposed to political campaigns, news coverage and movies that portray Muslims as outsiders and villains.

Structural forms of discrimination, such as media coverage or political campaigns that call for a ban on Muslims, help normalize discriminatory attitudes and create the institutional system of discrimination.

“Well, I mean if you have politicians saying bad things about Muslims, it’s obvious that people are going to hear these things,” student Hayden Graveseth said. “It’s awful what they’re saying out there in the news.”

THE PUYALLUP POST

Focus Graphical representation of whites in Pierce County, Puyallup, Sumner and Orting

This is the percentage of white people in Puyallup and South Hill. The Sumner doesn’t have as many white households as we originally darker the area, the more white households are present in that area. thought. The lighter areas refer to African American, Asian, Hispanic and Multiracial households.

Orting is a predominately white city. In the few lighter areas, the households identify as Asian and Multirace.

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Pierce County is mostly white. However, in the lighter sections there are households who identify as American Indian and other races, making it the most diverse compared to the other cities listed.

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MARCH 14, 2017

Focus

Discovering

Japanese

books translated into Japanese and vice versa, travel books Suzanne Buchholz Reporter and other cultural books describing Japanese lifestyles and he word Japan might bring different thoughts to mind. CDs that span across various Asian cultures. One could For some people, it could conjure up images of cherry spend hours here browsing through books and shelves of blossoms and pagodas, while others might think of their merchandise that offer figures, posters, keychains and more. favorite Japanese foods such as sushi and ramen. Others still The Japanese presence and culture in Washington itself is might think more of the pop culture phenomena that spawns strong due to Japanese citizens immigrating to the area in the from Japan and prattle off the names of favorite manga, anime 1880s. Many reside in Seattle, where a population of about and music groups. The country’s culture is expansive and 7,800 lived in 2010. As a result, the state has experienced diverse, but can also be riddled with misinterpretations. an infusion of Japanese culture and organizations have been Situated in the Pacific Ocean near China’s border, Japan is formed to help maintain and celebrate the cultural identities comprised of 6,852 islands, the four main ones being Honshu, of ethnic Japanese citizens. It used to be a huge and thriving - which is home to the capital of Tokyo - Hokkaido, Shikoku culture in the region before World War II. and Kyushu. Each of these islands have varied and unique One of the first organizations to connect Japanese and cultures under the larger umbrella of Japanese culture.

American cultures in Washington is the Japan-America In Japanese culture, showing respect and being polite Society of the State of Washington. Founded in 1923, JASSW’s are both prevalent aspects. Bowing is a common practice in purpose is to create friendship and understanding between Japanese culture, which can have many Japan and Washington by meanings depending on the scenario, allowing the exchange but is often used to greet someone, “Another common practice that of ideas, information and express gratitude or ask forgiveness. differs from western culture is culture, according to its Another common practice that differs website. Members maintain from western culture is how people react how people react to eye and trade, business and cultural to eye and physical contact. Staring or physical contact. Staring or activities that further enhance making direct eye contact is considered the relationship between rude in Japan, as it can be seen as making direct eye contact is the two cultures as well as an invasion of privacy, and showing considered rude in Japan, as it can educating students in their extreme emotions or publicly displaying respective school districts affection are also considered socially be seen as an invasion of privacy.” about being sensitive to other unacceptable because they can make cultures and keeping peace. people feel uncomfortable.

Another organization, the Japanese Cultural and Certain etiquette surrounds eating in Japan as well, Community Center of Washington, was established in 2003. particularly in regard to chopsticks. For example, sticking Built on the site of the original Seattle Japanese Language chopsticks upright in rice is considered inappropriate in most School, the center’s main goal is to preserve and celebrate situations as this is a custom to honor the dead at a funeral, Japanese and Japanese-American history and culture through and stabbing food with chopsticks rather than using them various programs and events. It serves as a community properly is ill-mannered. Sanitation is key as well, which is gathering place that hosts annual events and teaches citizens why many restaurants offer disposable wooden chopsticks Japanese language and customs as well as the value of mutual instead of ones that are cleaned and reused. Should one be in understanding, according to their website. a situation where they’re sharing food with others, they would JCCCW provides numerous programs to foster preservation use the wide end of the chopsticks to pass it rather than the and education of Japanese culture in Seattle, three of which narrow end that goes in their mouth. are the Omoide Project, the Hunt Hostel and the Northwest Typical Japanese meals include rice, vegetables and Nikkei Museum, in addition to classes and summer camps. some kind of meat, which is usually based on what’s fresh The Omoide Project’s prime goal is to collect personal and available that season. A popular meal is a hotpot, which accounts of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans combines various vegetables and meats such as chicken, beef and their effect on people, and present them in the form of and seafood into one dish. Other favorite dishes include sushi, children’s books to promote knowledge and understanding at sashimi, tempura and noodles. a young age. The Hunt Hostel program strives to reconstruct Ethics and manners carry over into the workplace for the history of the Hunt Hostel, whose records were destroyed Japanese citizens as well. Work is highly prioritized in Japan, in a fire back in 1976. The Northwest Nikkei Museum allows with many employees putting in long hours and working Japanese American citizens to record their personal histories overtime. In their free time, Japanese citizens have a variety of to be shared with future generations and presents various entertainment options open to them such as karaoke, pachinko exhibits displaying Japanese culture, ranging from the history (a game that’s a cross between pinball and a slot machine) and of Japanese baseball players to the events of WWII. hot springs (public baths where people go to relax and soak in Museum Coordinator and Collections Manager Stephanie mineral waters). Some forms of entertainment that originated Ikeda started working for JCCCW during her time in graduate in Japan, such as manga and anime, have become popular in school at University of Washington, and has been working as America as well. a professional there for the past two years. She said she spoke I listened to some traditional Japanese music to immerse with the people at the center out of her personal interest to myself in the culture, and it was an interesting and fun learn more about Japanese culture. experience. Each genre of music has its own unique sound.

“I met some representatives from the cultural center and Theatrical music mainly involves string instruments and deep since I’m half Japanese, I was really interested,” Ikeda said. vocals, while court (also known as gagaku) music focuses on “I’ve always been really interested in Japanese-American flutes and drums. One that struck me as the most engaging culture, so I started talking to them about it. They seemed was traditional instrumental music, which combines wind, really excited to have me on board as an intern, so I stayed as string and drums in an arrangement that’s nice to listen to. an intern my entire two years of grad school.”

Recently, I visited Uwajimaya. Located in Seattle’s As part of the small team working at the center, Ikeda International District with additional stores in Renton and said she does a variety of tasks each day and that each team Bellevue, Uwajimaya is a supermarket specializing in Asian member has different responsibilities. A big part of her job is grocery and gifts in the Northwest. Rows of shelves in the organizing the library and museum collections, which she said grocery section offer various Japanese foods that range from are both a work in progress as they still aren’t fully and easily snacks and meals to seasonings. A portion of the store is accessible to the public. devoted to a food court where shoppers can sample authentic Ikeda said she thinks Japanese culture in Washington is Asian cuisine and a bakery sells fresh-made products daily. underrepresented as many people in the area are unaware of The Seattle location I visited also includes the Kinokuniya certain significant events that have occurred locally in terms Bookstore. The two-story shop is crammed full of products of Japanese-American history. One aspect of this culture many including merchandise for various anime and manga, English

Culture Photos by Suzanne Buchholz

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MARCH 14, 2017

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Lisa Edwards

Natsuko Nakanishi

Quynh Huynh THE PUYALLUP POST

Focus Katie Foster

Japanese Culture, continued from page 14 people hadn’t heard about before visiting the center is that there used to be an entire city in Seattle where many JapaneseAmericans citizens lived.

“I talk to a lot of people who don’t know that there used to be a Japan Town in Seattle,” Ikeda said. “That was a really big, significant town with a lot of JapaneseAmericans living in the same neighborhood before World War II. But it was basically wiped out by the WWII incarceration. So that piece of Seattle history is kind of not talked about, and people don’t know that there’s still a lot of buildings and businesses from that time.”Parts of the center Ikeda said are going well include its events and its Japanese Language School. Anyone in the community can attend events at their leisure with no admission fee. These events can help raise awareness of Japanese culture and JCCCW’s purpose. The language programs also don’t involve special enrollment, as they’re an independent program from universities and high schools, allowing anyone who wants to participate in a language class to do so. These are all efforts the center is taking to educate Washington citizens on Japanese culture, Ikeda said.

“I really think my work is kind of impacting the community through its cultural center,” Ikeda said.

Japanese culture is represented to a degree at Pierce College, but if it’s represented enough is a matter of opinion. Some students think it is, while others see room for improvement.

On Feb. 14, the International Club hosted a Culture Around the World event focused on Japan. During this event student Lisa Edwards gave a presentation on the history, clothing, holidays and other traditional customs from the culture, and Japanese food such as sushi and noodles were served. International Club President Quynh Huynh said about 25 students attended the event and they all seemed to enjoy the presentation.

“For me, the thing that I like the most about (Japan) is definitely their language or their writing system,” Huynh said. “They use three different kinds of writing systems, so one from China, Chinese characters, and the two other ones which are very simple and they use it for different kinds of things. And apart from that their culture, their summer festivals. I like Japan as a whole, it’s like my favorite country.”

Huynh said there’s not much representation of Japanese students or culture on the Puyallup campus. She said she remembers a welcome days event in which Japanese students were given a tour of the campus, but in general the Japanese population in the area isn’t big enough to have an impact on Pierce.

“I heard it from my friend over at the other campus, they always see Japanese students and Japanese students are always very nice to them,” Huynh said. “And everybody knows at least one Japanese student. But here it’s a lot rarer. I only know two on this campus,and it’s only by accident.”

One way Huynh thought would help increase representation would be through more language classes that would introduce more students to culture.

“I saw that we used to have some Japanese and Chinese classes but that was around like four or five years ago,” Huynh said. “If we had more of that I think it’d be really cool because I would sign up for it.”

Edwards said she was first approached by the International Club because she has friends in the club who were hoping she’d want to do a presentation on Japan. She enjoyed giving the presentation because it allowed her to share her culture with people who seemed interested in learning more about it.

“I was very, very happy that many people wanted to know about Japan,” Edwards said.

“So I was like, ‘yeah, I want to (do the presentation), I want them to know more about Japan.’”

Edwards said she likes attending Pierce, as it gives her an opportunity to improve her English and meet new people from different countries.

She said she enjoys being able to share stories and hear about different backgrounds.

One difference Edwards has noticed between America and Japan involves work ethics with others. In Japan, she said people work more collectively and in groups rather than on their own, while in America people tend to work singularly.

“Being individual is totally okay here,” Edwards said. “Over there, yeah we work individually too sometimes, but we work as a group more. And we care about group members a lot. So we all work together.”

Edwards said that in recent years, she’s noticed a change taking place in Japan in that more people are immigrating there. People from other Asian countries such as China, Korea and Vietnam are beginning to move to Japan.

“Last summer I went there as my first time going back since I moved to this country, and I realized that there are so many foreigners, especially Chinese people there,” Edwards said. “But when I lived there, there weren’t so many foreigners. That was about three or four years ago. So many people get so interested in Japan and we’re happy about it.”

Another aspect of Japanese culture seen at Pierce is the Japanese Culture Club. The club’s purpose is to explore and celebrate different aspects of the Japanese lifestyle such as entertainment. Club president Dustin Ramsey said he started to club out of his own passion for the culture and desire to engage with it more.

“I’ve always been interested in Japanese culture and I’ve always had a heart for Japan,” Ramsey said. “I want to go there one day.”

Ramsey said he personally hasn’t heard any negative feedback about the club, and that he’s in the process of looking for a new room to hold meetings now that the time slot has been changed.

Ramsey said he hadn’t noticed a lack of representation of Japanese culture on campus or that it mattered much. He said diversity shouldn’t be forced and should occur on its own to be successful.

“The main thing is you just have know I don’t really care much about diversity, I don’t hate it or anything but I’m indifferent to it,” Ramsey said. “We don’t need to make things diverse, just let things happen naturally.”

Student Natsuko Nakanishi travelled here with her boyfriend when he came to Puyallup.

She said she’s been to other college campuses and enjoys Pierce because it’s a clean campus surrounded by greenery.

Nakanishi said she’s able to enjoy parts of Japanese culture in Washington. One of her favorite parts are summer festivals, which are special Japanese events celebrating such cultural aspects as religion and tradition. One specific festival, Bon Odori, is held every summer at the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple.

“We wear yukata (a casual version of a kimono) and we dance,” Nakanishi said. “And I enjoy it now even though I’m here, I feel real close to Japan.”

Nakanishi said she’s noticed a few differences in culture between Japan and America.

One difference is that in Japan it’s customary for children to give thanks before a meal for the food, their parents and teachers, and to finish all the food served to them as it’s polite, while in America this is much more relaxed. Another difference in culture is in scheduling and transportation.

“We are very strict, like with time. We are always on time,” Nakanishi said. “The trains or buses, exactly on time. If they’re a few minutes late the driver apologizes. But here the buses are always late.”

Japanese culture is rich and unique, based on honor and respect as well as celebration of tradition. It’s gained a lot of interest among students at Pierce, and efforts are being made to increase representation in Washington to bring more history and customs to America. The culture goes beyond what might be portrayed in media and pop culture, and should be explored to avoid perpetuating any stereotypes.

Make Your Own Sukiyai INGREDIENTS

Suzanne Buchholz

Sukiyai is one of the most popular types of hot pot.

It traditionally features thinly sliced meat and vegetables cooked in a sweet and salty sauce. This recipe also includes dashi stock, a stock made with a combination of dried kelp and dried fish; mirin, a type of red wine with a low alcohol content; and shirataki noodles, which are thin, translucent noodles.

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1 ½ cup prepared dashi stock ¾ cup soy sauce ¾ cup mirin ¼ cup sugar 8 ounces shirataki noodles 2 tablespoons canola oil 1 pound top beef sirloin, thinly sliced 1 onion, thinly sliced 1 tablespoon canola oil 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced 2 carrots, thinly sliced 5 green onions, cut into 2 inch pieces 4 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms 1 (14 ounce) package tofu, cut into cubes

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DIRECTIONS 1. Combine dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sugar in a bowl and set aside.

2. Soak noodle in boiling water for 1 minute; drain and rinse under cold water.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil; cook and stir beef in hot oil until completely browned, about 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Drain meat and set aside.

5. Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in the skillet; cook and stir onion, celery, carrot and mushrooms until soft, about 4 minutes.

6. Stir in green onions, sauce, noodles, beef and tofu.

7. Bring to a simmer. Serves four.

MARCH 14, 2017

Focus

Culture

Flags by Katie Foster

Rebecca Dickson

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Reporter

Photo courtesy of Liza Vykhovanets

Photo courtesy of Liza Vykhovanets

Photo courtesy of Liza Vykhovanets

The Vykonvanets family travels to Victoria, Canada in a family trip (top). Anna Vykonvanets poses with her father and mother in a family photo in Ukraine (middle). Liza Vyknovanets celebrates a childhood birthday in her first apartment. Arriving in the U.S., her family stayed at a friends house before moving into an inexpensive apartment (bottom).

March 1, 2014President Putin receives necessary support to invade Ukraine

March 6, 2014- EU attempts to pressure Russia to remove troops.

Crimean Parliament votes to join Russia.

MARCH 14, 2017

reezing temperatures, vodka-fueled fighting and folk songs - these are the images many people think of when asked about Ukraine. With the current conflicts in the Crimean Peninsula and Donbass, it’s no wonder why this is what most think about the country.

Yet, Ukraine has a rich history fraught with battles, changes in government, and poverty and famine which cause several differences in its culture.

“Let me put it this way- Russia and Ukraine are very closely related nations. The ethnic Russians and the ethnic Ukrainians are kin peoples,” professor Christopher Vanneson said.

“They are closely related genetically. They are closely related culture-wise. They are closely related language-wise.”

Although Ukrainian history dates back to 800 CE, there only has been two successful attempts at becoming an independent nation. The first lasted one and a half years from 1918-1919 and was unsuccessful. The second was in December 1991 and has lasted up until present day. These few eras of independence have led to a joint history and culture shared between Ukrainians and Russians.

“Ukraine and Russia, a country next door, have, should I say, a joint history until very recently,” Vanneson said. “For a very long time, for hundreds of years, Ukraine and Russia were together within the framework of the so-called Russian Empire or prior to that, simply Russia.”

In the 800s the three main branches of slavic tribes were the East Slavs, which included tribes from present day Russia, Ukraine and Belarus; the West Slavs, encompassing the Poles, Czechs and Slovaks and the South Slavs, which encompassed the Slovenians, Croatians, Bosnians, Serbs, Macedonians and Bulgarians.

Russians and Ukrainians, as part of the Eastern Slovak group, have similar cultures. This led to similar languages and cultural ideals.

Liza Vykhovanets, a junior at Fife High School, moved with her family from Ukraine to the United States at 11 months old. During her schooldays, she often made friends with Russians, even though she is Ukrainian American.

“When you are a part of another culture and you meet someone (of the same culture) you bond,” Vykhovanets said. “Russia is like the main branch. Ukraine has a slightly different alphabet. (Ukraine) is basically the daughter of mother Russia.”

By 860, Eastern Slavic tribes formed a federation to attempt to stop fighting throughout tribes. Although the eastern Slavic tribes wished to unite and have one great country, the leaders were in debate on whom should lead the country.

March 18, 2014- March 27, 2014- UN President Putin General Assembly signs decree call- denounces Russian ing Crimea a free annexation of and independent Crimea. nation.

April 18, 2014- Russian government IDs are issued to all in Crimean Peninsula

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May 18, 2014Journalists arrested by Russian Authorities, accused of extremism.

Finally, the tribal leaders agreed that Rurik from a viking tribe in present day Sweden should rule over the newly formed alliance.

The Rus tribe moved to northwestern European Russia and selected Novgorod as the selected capitol for Rusland. In 880, the official capital was renamed Kiev, the current capital of Ukraine.

Because of this federation of tribes, Ukraine and Russia weren’t distinguishable for a long time.

In 988, Vladimir the Great, prince of Kiev, converted the country to Christianity. This made Orthodox Christianity commonplace in Ukraine, Russia and other countries which participated in the eastern Slav alliance.

“That is still the dominant religion in Ukraine and Russia and also neighboring Belarus or white Russia,” Vanneson said. “Modern-day Ukrainians and Russians and Belarusians the religious people among them are mostly Orthodox Christians, which is another reason I say that they are closely related. “ Although Vykhovanets attended the Christian Faith Center as a child, she’s not as active in her church as many other Russian or Ukrainian families. However, when her family went to the services, they received Russian translations of them, as her mother also speaks Russian.

As Russian is close to Ukrainian, Vykhovanets learned how to write and read in Russian from her grandmother two years ago while her grandmother came to America to visit.

As time moved on, Russian princes divided their land among their heirs, resulting in 20 principalities. The alliance of the eastern Slavs lasted until the early 1200s, when the Russian principalities were attacked by the Mongols. While some princes surrendered and were converted by the Mongols into puppet governments, others didn’t and weren’t spared by the Mongols.

The Mongols built the largest empire, which covered most of Asia and Europe.

Eventually, the Mongols lost their empire due to infighting between different Clans. After a few generations of rule by the Mongols, the greatgrandsons of Genghis Khan, the original leader of the Mongols, fought over who would be the great Khan.

By this date, Ukraine and Russia were able to overthrow the Mongol government. Poland and Lithuania also overthrew the Mongols, and were united by the marriage of their royals. Together, they controlled Ukraine. Because of the several different rates of control Ukraine was under, the term Ukrainian or even the term Ukraine were not used until the late 1500s. The idea of Ukrainian nationalism became popular when Russia and Ukraine were split.

July 17, 2014- Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashes over East Ukraine, killing all on board.

Sept. 1, 2014- Crimean Tatars representative building vandalized, showing more antiTatar aggression.

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Photo courtesy of Liza Vykhovanets

Rebecca Dickson

Liza Vyknovanets cooks with her father. Immigrants often keep their native culture by cooking their traditional cultural foods (left). Lievian chocolates can be found in several Ukrianian-Russain grocery stores. Immigrants from Ukraine and Russia often support family grocery stores which sell foods from their culture (middle). Anna Vyknovanets reenact a circus act with a friend in Ukraine. Ukrainian culture is a mix of individualistic and collectivist culture due to Soviet and Western influence (top right).

Gregory, Liza, and Anna Vyknovanets pose alongside other family members in Crimea.

Crimea was annexed by Russia in March of 2014 (bottom right).

Ukranian & Russian culture, continued from page 16 Although Americans use the term Ukrainian almost exclusively, some Ukrainians referred to themselves as “Little Russians.” However, due to the current conflicts in Donbass and Crimea, many Ukrainians have stopped using this term.

In the early- to mid-1600s, Poland controlled Ukraine.

Poland’s rule in Russia is notable mostly for the burdens it put on those who were Orthodox Christians. As Poland is mostly Catholic, they wished for Ukrainians to convert and therefore put tax burdens on Orthodox Christians. Vanneson said Orthodox Christians were treated as second-class citizens.

In 1660, there was an uprising against the Polish government. In 1667, Russia had intervened in Poland.

By 1790, Poland didn’t exist.

After being controlled by Russia, Ukraine attempted to gain its independence in 1917. This revolution sought to create a democratic government in Russia. However, communists overthrew the new democratic government within one and a half years of the revolution.

From 1917 to 1991, Ukraine was controlled by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. However, by 1991, Ukraine declared independence from Russia after the fall of the USSR. Ever since, Ukraine has been independent from Russia, with periods of time where the leadership of Ukraine was pro-Russian or prowestern governments.

Because of all this, I found that Ukraine has close ties with Russian culture. This identity’s rather unique compared to other cultures. Where other cultures may have large differences, I’ve found that Russia and Ukraine have smaller differences.

In America, Ukrainian culture is ever-present.

Immigration of Native-born immigrants has increased in the past few years, which has put many immigrants into the position of attempting to assimilate. According to Vykhovanets, Her family has faced many difficulties in moving to America. One of the most notable being speaking English instead of Ukrainian.

“Imagine going to Germany, and not knowing German,” Vykhovanets said.

Vykhovanets explained that her mother new limited English from school, which made the transition a bit easier. However, it’s still difficult to attempt to get a job and live in a country where people don’t speak your native language, her mother found out.

As Vykhovanets’ parents didn’t have college degrees when they came to the U.S., they didn’t have the ability to get high paying jobs right away.

“It wasn’t that great. I grew up, basically with not as much (as non-immigrants),” Vykhovanets said.

September 9, 2014- Dutch officials report that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was hit by shrapnel from missiles. Suspicion rises that it is from Pro-Russian Separatists in Ukraine.

Nov. 2, 2014- Pro-Russian Ukrainian Separatists hold elections which were called ‘illegitimate’ by the US and Ukraine.

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“Growing up, there’s been hard times on my family. I learned not to take things for granted.”

In order to further understand Ukrainian culture, I went to a family-owned Ukrainian-Russian bakery. While there, I realized that there are still Soviet influences on food and beverages of Ukrainian and Russian culture.

For example, the daughter of the owner of Gyro Grocery recommended that I try Kavass, a traditional Russian/ Ukrainian drink. This drink happens to have 0.5 percent alcohol in it. After doing some research, I found that this drink is very popular in Ukraine and Russia, mostly due to historical lack of water purification after World War II. Some traditional foods include borscht, salami and peymani, a traditional Ukrainian recipe that has stuffed dough with meat, potatoes and grains.

“It’s definitely been a part of my diet,” Vykhovanets said. “Russians (and Ukrainians) especially like fish.”

Overall, I have found that history and culture of Ukraine and Russia have influenced millions, if not billions of people. This culture can be found anywhere on the globe even in a small city, and sticks with someone for a lifetime. The experiences of immigrants are unique, in order to understand, those who aren’t immigrants must first be willing to listen.

One thing that I‘ve found identical with almost all immigrants or first generation Americans is the fight to make the long journey worth it.

I am the daughter of a first generation American and I have a family tree that stems back to the signing of the U.S. Constitution. While I may sometimes take the privilege I receive for being an American with automatic citizenship for granted, many immigrants feel a duty toward their family or their new country to honor the journey they face while coming to America.

This journey is unique, and can’t be replicated.

“I try to really work hard because my family deserves it,” Vykhovanets said. “They struggled more than you, and they fed you at the end of the day.”

Despite the challenging history Ukraine and Russia have, many times we forget that there are real people behind the history and conflict found within the region. Remembering that each individual has their own inherent rights and value is important. Without that, we lose the diversity which makes this country so unique. The history behind countries influences cultural significance, and can’t be laid forgotten, lest we forget the history and culture of our neighbors. While we are all unique with different cultural backgrounds, each individual is part of a complex mosaic of culture, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity and country of origin. All belong, regardless of any of these factors.

November 12, 2014- NATO officials identify Russian troops entering Ukraine.

Photo courtesy of Liza Vykhovanets

Photo courtesy of Liza Vykhovanets

FAST FACTS

• President: Petro Poroshenko • GDP: $131,806,000,000 • Form of Government: Parliamentary Republic • National Language: Ukrainian • National Anthem: Ще не вмерли України ні слава ні воля/The Glory and the Freedom of Ukraine Has Not Yet Died • Population: 44,624,000 • Religion: 97 percent Christian, 1 percent Islamic or Jewish, 2 percent other, agnostic, or atheist • Sources: United Nations, CIA World Factbook

Nov. 17, 2014- Human Rights Watch publishes report “Rights in Retreat: Abuses in Crimea”, claiming that Russian troops violate the rights of natives by denying “free expression, restricted peaceful assembly” and other rights. Tatars, a racial minority, are particularly targeted.

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April 1, 2015- Tatar minority news media are forcibly shut down.

Nov. 12, 2015Ukrainian parliament officially recognized 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars as genocide.

MARCH 14, 2017

Focus

Discovering

El Salvadorian Culture

Salvadoreans celebrate their independence.

Photo courtesy of Ramsey Flores

Andrea Mendoza

“I watched a whole lot of shows in English to help me out,” Anzora said. “Nickelodeon and Disney channel were my life and education. I learned better watching TV rather than he Salvadoran culture is full of many traditions and customs. In order to dive into being in class.” the Salvadoran culture, one must know a few basic facts about the country.

For Salvadorans, their flag might seem to represent corruption within the country, El Salvador is a nation of 8,260 square miles in Central America between as El Salvador is ranked the fifth most dangerous country in South America, according Guatemala and Honduras. Mountains separate the country into the southern coastal belt, to worldatlas.com. But, for some, the flag represents pride and honor. The flag consists the central valleys and plateaus and the northern mountains. These regions have created of two blue horizontal stripes with a white stripe in the middle. In the center is a coat slight cultural variations because of the different crops of arms inscribed “1821,” the year of independence. Salvadorans grown in each one. Coffee grown in the mountains and in the United States often have plaques that contain the flag as a cane grown on the coast provide the rural population “For Salvadorans, their flag might symbol of national pride. Since independence, the blue in the flag with paid labor, while in the central valleys corn and seem to represent corruption has symbolized support for the ruling oligarchy. beans are grown for private consumption and sale. Most For former Pierce student Ramsay Flores, the flag represents industry is in the center of the country where the capital, within the country, as El Salvador pride and solidarity. Flores is a recruiter for the U.S. Marine Corps San Salvador, is located. Other large cities include San is ranked the fifth most dangerous and came to the U.S. at the age of 17. He came to study civil Miguel in the east and Santa Ana in the west. engineering, but eventually decided to join the armed forces. in South America, Katherine Valle, a student at Pierce College, was country “I lived most of my life in El Salvador, and when I came here born in the city of San Salvador and lived there until her according to worldatlas.com. the atmosphere was just very different,” Flores said. “Everyone family migrated to the U.S when she was 10 years old. says that living in the U.S. is the best thing ever, but I hated it. It Her story is that of many immigrants coming here to the But, for some, the flag represents wasn’t until I joined the Marines that I really got a sense of what this U.S. Valle’s family came to the U.S. in search for “el country was all about, but I still miss my Salvador.” pride and honor. “ sueno Americano,” or the American dream. She left her El Salvador is a society that holds onto a traditional machismo friends, family, culture and home to come to America. attitude, in which females stay home and tend to household chores “I remember coming here and going to Walmart,” Valle said. “I was literally shocked while men go to work and support the family. However, those roles are challenged when I saw so much food and the TVs. On our TV back home, I would see American by women who seek employment. Many marriages are informal, meaning a couple commercials about these skinny TV’s and the first ones I saw were at Walmart.” starts a household and bypasses a church service. This is a legally-recognized union.

Almost all residents speak Spanish, which was brought in by the conquistadors. Before Unions that involve a religious ceremony are also legally-recognized; however, they the Spanish conquest, the area was inhabited by the Pipil Indians. Very few Salvadorans are typically considered permanent bonds. Roughly 75 percent of Salvadorans consider now speak the indigenous language, which virtually disappeared after 1932, when General themselves Roman Catholic and the Church traditionally frowns upon divorce according Maximilio Hernández Martínez suppressed rural resistance by massacring 30,000 mostly to worldatlas.com.

Indian rural peasants. Those who survived la Matanza (“the massacre”) hid their Indian “I grew up with the mentality of having to be that breadwinner of the house,” former identity by changing their dress and speaking only Spanish. Some remnants of the Pipil student Carlos Molina said. “In my country, gender roles are very divided. I think it’s very language remain in everyday Salvadoran Spanish. much like that in other places too you know, not just in El Salvador. My dad is very harsh Pierce student Denis Anzora was also born in El Salvador. He came to the U.S. at on me because he wants me to be the only one able to provide for my future, my family.”

13 and struggled with the language barrier in school. He felt his home was a haven from Both Carlos and his sister Karla Molina, a former Pierce student, remember what it’s like school as he found it very difficult to learn English. growing up with the machismo attitude.

Reporter

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Andrea Mendoza

Photo courtesy of Ramsey Flores

Employees at the Salvadorean Embassy are in charge of renewing passports, visas, etc. (left). Salvadorians take to the streets to celebrate the independence of El Salvador (right).

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THE PUYALLUP POST

Focus

Photo courtesy of Ramsey Flores

Photo courtesy of Katherine Vale

Photo courtesy of Denis Anzora

Photo courtesy of Carlos & Karla

People from El Salvador are called Salvadoreos. These are some of the many Salvadoreos at Pierce College.

Discovering El Salvadorian culture, continued from page 18 “Our parents are the typical machismo couple,” Karla Molina said. “I mean our mom works because she’s putting us through college, but she still has to come home and make dinner, clean the house and do those housewife-like things.”

Some traditions of El Salvador include displaying fireworks during Christmas, devoting nine nights of prayer for the souls of the dead and using traditional medicine for folk illnesses. These customs are deeply rooted in most Salvadorans as well as natural medicine and healing. While modern medicine has a place in El Salvador, traditional healers also maintain a role in society, along with folk illnesses. For example, traditional Salvadoran beliefs imply that babies suffering from a fever might also be suffering from “evil eye,” a condition that is only resolved when the person responsible for passing on the evil eye chews herbs and applies the resulting liquid on the baby.

“My grandma doesn’t believe in pills,” student Diego Ramirez said. “If you have a cough or something she’ll give you this nasty tasting syrup thing she makes at home and if you’re seriously dying that’s when she’ll start thinking about going to see the doctor, she just doesn’t believe in doctors and hospitals.”

Salvadorans find pride in their culture, especially their food and love for soccer.

Salvadorans are soccer fanatics and have made it their national sport. The Estadio Cuscatlán in San Salvador is the largest stadium in Central America, with a capacity of just more than 45,000. The stadium is the home of the national soccer team, as well as club teams Alianza F.C. and San Salvador F.C. “Everything is beautiful about soccer,” Carlos Molina said. “Football is the universal and best sport there is. Everyone in Salvador wants to be a soccer player.”

As for the food in El Salvador, corn is the staple of the diet and is most often made into thick tortillas that are eaten at every meal and are also served as tamales and in a thick corn drink called atol. Small red beans are another staple, as they are often served with a variety of fruits and vegetables including mango, papaya, tamarind, oranges, bananas, watermelon, cucumber, pacaya, lettuce, tomatoes and radish. Salvadorans also eat rice, eggs, chicken, pork, beef, fish and seafood and some game meats. Coffee is the most common drink, along with highly sugared fruit drinks. Elotes (new corn) are eaten in September before the corn hardens. Out of these elotes, corn tamales are made. These tamales are often eaten on special occasions.

Every second Sunday of November, the country of El Salvador and all international Salvadoran communities celebrate the National Day of Pupusas. Pupusas are the main

national dish in El Salvador. You can find pupusas anywhere in the world where there is a Salvadoran community.

So, in order to fully understand the Salvadoran culture, one has to go out and try experience the culture themselves, as I did.

Fortunately, Washington has a large Salvadoran community, and thus there are many restaurants that offer authentic Salvadoran food. There are about 15 Salvadoran restaurants located in the Puget Sound area. Restaurants that serve delicious pupusas include Mi Chalateca in Federal Way, El Pulgarcito in Lakewood and Las Palmas restaurant in SeaTac. Pupusas are made of a thick handmade corn tortilla that is filled with a variety of ingredients – soft cheese, refried beans, pork, vegetables, etc. – pupusas are eaten typically with a slightly fermented cabbage and carrot salad marinated in vinegar, called a curtido. Pupusas have been around for centuries, first created by the Pipil tribes. The pupusa is a very simple dish that can be manipulated to virtually have anything you want on it and that’s what makes this dish very interesting; you can have it any way you want it.

To investigate the hype of the pupusa, I took a trip up north to Federal Way and visited Mi Chalateca. It would be easy to overlook Mi Chalateca hiding among the car dealerships and banks lining Pacific highway, but be prepared to receive the precious gift that is the pupusa. The interior is simple, a little run down, but always clean. The place is run by attentive and friendly staff. The pupusas are always made fresh and take some time make, therefore patience is recommended if you want to eat here. The pupusas are fluffy on the outside and warm and gooey on the inside. The bean and cheese filling sticks in your mouth making the heavenly flavor last longer for your taste buds. There are many choices of fillings, tangy curtido, and flavorful and spicy hot sauce.

Aside from pupusas, their menu also serves other Salvadorean food like, yucca con chicharron which is a dish of potato like root, serves with cabbage salad and fried pork, pastelitos de carne, which are foiled and fried corn tortilla filled with vegetable and beef, and empanadas de platano, which is fried plantain dumplings filled with creamy milk. I was able to try most of the food items on the menu, as the food wasn’t very expensive.

Plates range from $2.50 to $13. Everything was made from scratch once we put the order in so nothing was cold when it arrived at our table. Everything really tasted like it was made in heaven and no Salvadoran experience would be complete without tasting this food.

El Salvador is a country full of traditions and customs. It’s rich with traditions like natural healing, passions for soccer and staple foods like pupusas.

Andrea Mendoza

Andrea Mendoza

Andrea Mendoza

Salvadorian food is available 13.2 miles from Pierce College Puyallup. Food from El Salvador includes refried beans, rice, pupusas and tamales (left).

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MARCH 14, 2017

Focus Discovering

Buddhist

Photo courtesy of Rev. Kakahara

Culture

Photo courtesy of Rev. Kakahara

The Tacoma Buddhist temple is often visited by University of Washington Tacoma students (left). The Buddhist altar has various designs to represent purity, continuity and universality (right).

Origins of Buddhism

Jared Leingang

I

Reporter

ncense and lots of it. The smell of burning incense is what the nose of anyone who enters a Buddhist temple is treated tor.

The incense is burned to symbolize the necessity to burn away negative qualities within someone to reveal their pure self within. The incense is made up of herbs and other flowers and the fragrance helps purify the air to assist people in developing a clear mind.

Buddhism is less of a religion and more of a guide on how to live life.

When the term religion is brought up, the immediate question is, “What god do I worship?”

That’s what makes Buddhism unique. There’s no pledge to worship a divine being. There’s just the pledge to live a happy life.

That’s what makes Buddhism so appealing to others. Buddhism has also become popular among vegetarians and vegans because they have the belief that all life is equal and Buddhism reinforces that belief.

The more I looked into the religion, the more I realized Buddhism is one of the first religions myself or anyone can utilitize and learn how to live a optimal life.

My Experience

Buddhism is definitely an interesting religion and during my immersion into it, it led me to a Buddhist Temple in Tacoma.

When I think of a Buddhist temple, I imagine a sacred place where people are quiet and meditating.

But when I walked in, I was immediately noticed as a newcomer and greeted. People were happy to see me and answered my every question. I was expecting to see the temple full of people of Asian descent, but it was a decent split between Asians and white people, which was a shock to me.

The diversity in the temple and the peoples’ friendliness made the experience amazing. I was given information packets to help follow along during the service and was helped by other members of the temple as well. The main messages of the service was that nothing is permanent, everything changes, live in the moment and find something in the present that you can appreciate. The service was led by Rev. Kakahara, who spoke on many subjects like acceptance.

“Buddhism is a religion for everyone, it’s for all cultures and races,” Kakahara said. “Buddhism will accept you for who you are, no matter your past or where you came from.”

Every service has a dharma, which means the teachings the Buddha taught. The dharma is the main lesson of the service. The sensei leads the dharma message and it consists of the sensei speaking to the people. It’s comparable to how a priest does their homily in the Catholic faith.

When someone’s a follower of Buddhism, they’re called the sangha.

Sangha originally meant a group of disciples which assembled around the Buddha.

Beliefs

One of the main ways to reach enlightenment is to follow the three disciplines, disciplines for practical behavior, right concentration of mind and discipline of wisdom.

The concentration of mind means to denounce greedy and evil desires. Wisdom refers to the ability to be patient and accept the four noble truths, knowing the source of suffering and to know that the Noble Path leads to the end of suffering.

The four noble truths are: the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering and the truth of the path that frees us from suffering.

When new to Buddhism, the first truth is touched on most often. This truth touches on what is temporary and that life is impermanent.

Buddhism is a religion that doesn’t focus on the worship of a deity that may not even exist. It focuses Katie Foster on the proper way to live life, and how one chooses to interpret that is up to them. Buddhism can help explain injustice and inequalities in the world. It goes beyond religion and provides a foundation on how to live life.

Followers of Buddhism don’t worship a god, but they pay respect to statutes of the Buddha, not to ask for favors from the Buddha, but for the reminder that peace and love comes from within.

Buddhism is also tolerant of other religions’ morals and agrees with some as well. Buddhism is unique in that it doesn’t actively try to convert people into the religion, and only explain the teachings if someone inquires about them.

MARCH 14, 2017

Buddhism first originated from the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who was born a Buddhist prince and realized that no matter the situation, people still work, get sick, age and die. It was a repeating cycle that didn’t bring any happiness. He left his life as a prince, traveled and followed the teachings of a few gurus. Gautama still felt he didn’t have the answers he wanted, so he sat and meditated for seven days under the Bodhi tree and became enlightened. He then became the Buddha and started to spread his teachings. One aspect that made him different than other messengers or teachers in other religions was that Gautama didn’t exalt himself over his followers but instead encouraged them to enter the path of enlightenment themselves.

A common question that comes with Buddhism is: What is enlightenment?

Enlightenment can be simplified to finding the truth in life, but it varies by person.

Five-year Buddhist Nathan Porter said his idea of enlightenment is real, unconditional love.

“There’s a whole lot more to enlightenment than loving and kindness but it’s impossible without it,” Porter said.

Buddhism wasn’t the first choice for Porter, as he was born and raised as an Evangelical Christian, but over time he rejected the idea of God and the supernatural. Porter still felt like he was missing something in his life, so he researched every religion and was intrigued by the authors Alan Watts and the Dalai Lama. The more he read about Buddhism, the more he realized that it was his path to happiness.

Porter, since practicing Buddhism, noticed certain behavioral changes.

“I’m not as irritable. I’m not as quick to anger, not as self-centered,” Porter said. “It all stems from the fact that I know those things will only bring me unhappiness now or later.”

Symbols

Many different symbols play important roles in Buddhism. One of the most prominent is the lotus flower, which represents purity and enlightenment. The dharma wheel is one of the most universally accepted symbols of Buddhism. It is a wheel with eight spokes, which represent the Buddha’s eightfold path. The eternal knot represents an important aspect of buddhism. The knot shows how everything and everyone is connected and how wisdom and passion are both connected to each other.

The lion is another one of Buddhism’s most important symbols. It symbolizes the royalty the Buddha was a part of before obtaining enlightenment and how the Buddha’s teaching is quiet yet powerful.

The begging bowl symbol represents the Buddhist monks way of life; going from the monastery to the village every day and living off of what is put into it by other people.

Conclusion

As I have immersed myself in this religion, I have realized that it’s less of a religion and more of a moral code. Religion is defined as belief in and worship of some supernatural power.

In Buddhism there is no worship, and followers have the belief in themselves to become the best humans they can be.

Everyone I have talked to that practice Buddhism seem to be at peace and have this sense of oneness. I’m an active Catholic and wasn’t expecting to connect to Buddhism as much as I have.

When someone is born into a religion, the expectation is they stay attached to it, so that’s why people don’t switch religions often. With Buddhism it’s like I wasn’t even going against my religion, it was enhancing the way I understand myself and how I view life.

One of the main points I got out of Buddhism was you can’t understand others until you fully understand yourself.

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THE PUYALLUP POST

Focus A look at

Chris ianity 2

1 Chase Charaba

Chase Charaba

I

Co-Editor-in-Chief

n the small, white-walled conference room at Holy Disciples Parish on the border of South Hill and Graham, I took a seat in a green armchair facing Rev. Matthew O’Leary. A yellow notepad sat on my lap. I set my bulky Canon DSLR camera on the floor and armed my iPhone for recording. That’s how I started the second phase of my quest to understand the traditions of Christianity just over a week ago.

As an atheist, the concept of faith is beyond my reach. Christianity seemed so fractured and implausible. It’s so different from what I believe, but I found much to my surprise how similar we all are.

So what’s Christianity and why do people follow this particular faith tradition? Well, it’s different depending on whom I asked. I’ve discovered that faith is more than just a religion.

For those who believe, it’s a guide for life.

What is Christianity?

Christianity arose from Judaism in the days of the Roman Empire. Early Christians believed that Jesus Christ was the one who was promised and was conceived by the spirit of God to establish a connection with the world.

“Ultimately, Jesus of Nazareth, we believe, was conceived by the spirit of God in our biblical tradition,” O’Leary said. “He was conceived by the power of the spirit of God and born of Mary of Nazareth, the Virgin Mary as we call her. By this incredible action, God actually came into the world to make this extraordinary and intimate connection with all of creation and to effectively show us how to live and love as best as it can be done.”

These early followers of Jesus created Christianity, believing that Jesus was a savior.

They had witnessed his deeds, teachings and his eventual death and resurrection, which is depicted in the New Testament of the Bible.

“Christians early on saw that in his death, there was this most radical action of surrender to God, to surrender to goodness and to surrender even to the love of others,” O’Leary said. “In this extraordinary radical action, Jesus somehow managed to turn a new page in human history.”

At the start of Christianity, only one church, or radition of belief, existed. Over time, geographic, political and institutional conflicts along with different interpretations of the Bible led to a split in the church. This created the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church along the political lines of the Western and Eastern Roman Empire.

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Chase Charaba

With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Catholic Church was responsible for providing order in many of the empire’s former lands through the Pope. Over time, new groups of people moving to Western Europe became Catholics.

In the 16th century, reform movements beginning with Martin Luther in 1517 led to further fracturing among the Catholic Church and introduced new Christian denominations.

“The reformation in the 16th and really going into the 17th century, it succeed wherever it was adopted, embraced and supported by local rulers, whether they be kings, princes or queens, or some lesser nobility, or even a city council or something that was the governing authority of the day,” O’Leary said. “If they embraced one of the reform traditions, that’s where it took hold and it generally stayed that way over time.”

These continuing reform movements and ideological variations based on different interpretations of the Bible has led to the variety of Christian churches that exist today, including Protestants, Baptists, Evangelicals, nondenominations, Presbyterians, Lutherans and more.

While Christianity can be defined as an umbrella religion for various denominations and traditions that centers on a belief of Jesus Christ as the savior and the almighty God who created all, it means different things to different people.

For Pastoral Assistant for Outreach Aleah Patulot at All Saints Parish, being a Christian means being loved by Jesus and then sharing that love with others.

“Christianity to me means being a disciple of Jesus, of Christ, and to me personally, that means more than anything knowing that I’m loved by God,” Patulot said. “I’m called as a disciple to share that love with everyone I meet, particularly those who are poor and vulnerable. That’s what Christianity means for me.”

For others, Christianity is a guide to life. It gives people who believe and follow this faith a message of hope by showing them that there’s a way to get closer to God and Christ. “(It’s) about that relationship that we build with Christ and how that really plays out in our lives,” Director for Outreach at South Hill Baptist Church Calvin Breamfield said.

It’s surprising that being a Christian was more to those I interviewed than just their beliefs in God and Christ. It was about how they’ve decided to live their lives and devote their time to helping others.

Continued on page 22

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3

4

Chase Charaba

Chase Charaba

1 - A statue of Mary and Jesus at Holy Disciples Parish.

2- A stained glass window inside All Saints Parish in Puyallup.

3 - All Saints Parish in Puyallup is a historic Catholic church located just north of the Washington State Fairgrounds.

4 - Father Matthew O’Leary explains the role of the Pope in the Catholic tradition at Holy Disciples Parish.

MARCH 14, 2017

Focus Christianity Continued from page 21 Beliefs and Practices Every denomination or faith tradition within Christianity has a different approach and interpretation of the Bible, which has led to a variety of beliefs and practices. Overall, most Christians believe in an almighty God who created all and that Jesus is the savior who was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

Christians believe Jesus’ actions opened up the possibility for eternal life with God, although every faith tradition has a different stance on how this can be achieved.

“Generic Christianity is going to embrace (Jesus) as the savior of the world in that sense,” O’Leary said. “Now, there will be lots of nuances and disagreements with just how one goes about becoming who is saved and who isn’t, or what’s involved in all of this. There will be lots of different responses to how that works. My hunch would be that today, the differences among a lot of Christians aren’t as sharp as they were back in the 16th and 17th centuries.”

A common practice for a majority of Christians is to be baptized. O’Leary said a baptized follower of Jesus is one definition of a Christian. Baptism symbolizes admission to Christianity through a form of purification, although it’s not required to attend church. It is, however, considered a sacrament in many denominations.

Some traditions celebrate communion, where church members eat bread and drink wine in Jesus’ memory.

Depending on the denomination, beliefs surrounding communion differ. O’Leary said in the Catholic tradition, Holy Communion, or Eucharist, is a direct experience of the glorified body and blood of Jesus Christ. Catholics believe at the end of the respective prayers for the Passover bread and wine, Jesus told his followers that the bread was now his body, and the wine, now his blood.

“We believe that each time we partake in Holy Communion, we are transformed (sanctified) a little more

by God’s sanctifying grace (God’s freely given love),” O’Leary said. “It’s important to realize that the first time Jesus’ followers would have celebrated Holy Communion would have been after his resurrection. Therefore, the Eucharistic or Communion service (also called “Mass” from the final blessing and commission) isn’t a reenactment of the Last Supper but a sharing in the glorified (that is risen or resurrected) body and blood of Christ.”

Other practices include church services to worship and pray. Breamfield said at South Hill Baptist, the service starts at 11 a.m. on Sundays and includes the singing of worship songs and prayer. They also encourage kids to attend a kids’ church while adults listen to various Bible stories and applications of those stories for life.

“Then we do a little more worship,” Breamfield said.

“We like to sing and pray. We usually end with prayer and a benediction, which is usually scripture from the Bible that we use to encourage and uplift people.”

How Christianity Has Affected Its Followers When one starts to believe in Christianity and follow its teachings, it becomes more than a religion and becomes a lifestyle.

Breamfield grew up going to church, but his belief in the Christian faith developed as he became older. He said new believers look at the Bible differently. They see it more as a set of instructions on how to have a relationship with Christ than truly living out that belief and applying it.

In his early 20s, Breamfield began to try to love out the faith.

“I believed (what the pastor said) because he said it, but I never really applied it to my own life or situations,” Breamfield said. “It wasn’t really until I was about 23 or 24 years old that I had somebody approach me and ask me, not only what I believe, but why I believed it.”

He said it took someone more mature in the faith to help guide him and answer his questions to determine what it

meant for him to be a Christian.

“I definitely am fully ascribed to the fact that I believe Christianity has made me a better person in general just from my character, not only what I believe and what I stand up for, but just how I view people and how I tend to view negative situations and positive situations,” Breamfield said. “The ability to interact with people without being judgemental because I really believe that’s a key part to Christianity. Being able to speak what I think is the truth of my faith without judging someone else, even if what they believe is completely opposite of mine.”

Patulot from All Saints Parish also grew up a Christian and considers herself a cradle Catholic, someone who was born into a Catholic family. She said it’s hard for her to separate her Catholic identity from her cultural and ethnic identities. Patulot’s father is from the Philippines, a country where 400 years of Spanish rule left the culture steeped in Catholicism.

“I come from a family (where) three of my great aunts were nuns,” Patulot said. “One of them is still with us, actually. She’s like 95 now. My uncle’s a priest. He’s still a priest in the Philippines.”

Patulot went to mass and attended Catholic schools growing up, so being a part of the Catholic experience was all around her.

She believes that being a disciple of Christ means to care for others, which is why she became a social worker and why she tries to help the community in any way she can.

O’Leary, a priest at Holy Disciples Parish, was also raised a Catholic. He went to church, where his father was involved in the life and leadership of the church communities. Because he moved around a lot, he frequently changed schools and parishes. However, being involved in the church gave him an anchoring in faith no matter where he was.

“Living in different places, we were exposed to a lot of people from different parts of the world,” O’Leary said.

“They were still Catholics, and so it showed me early on the really incredible, universal nature of our church.”

As O’Leary grew older, he began to understand more of what Christianity was about. He was deeply touched by the prayers, rituals and sacred hymns in the Catholic Church, and as he studied more he realized that there was no other explanation for life being here.

“As I got older and began studying the faith, studying both the faith and its history, I came to a better understanding of just what it is that we believe,” O’Leary said. “(I came to my) absolute conviction that there’s just no way all that’s around us is here by some random act and chance. There are far too many things that seem to work in almost a perfect sequence that almost defy the human imagination to try to structure.”

He said he was fortunate to know clergy, priests, nuns and laypeople who live out Christian values. They taught him these values and this human contact underscored the conclusions that he had reached about his faith.

He came to his faith as an adult early in life, meaning he went from understanding who God is and what God wants and knowing the rules, to changing his life to follow those values. He decided he was going to try to live more to serve those Christian values.

“I’ve always felt called from very early in life to serve this mission by serving the Church, and in our (Catholic) tradition, for me that meant doing it as a priest,” O’Leary said.

Community Involvement No matter what one may think about Christianity, it can be hard to argue that churches don’t give back to their communities. My experience interviewing people who are involved in their churches has revealed that they do a lot more for the greater community than I previously thought.

Holy Disciples Parish hosts the Graham-South Hill Foodbank with FISH foodbanks of Pierce County, which is

next to the church. The Parish is also committed to helping the St. Vincent de Paul ministry, which helps people with financial and material assistance.

“In addition to that, we take on civic projects now and then just as citizens and members of the community,” O’Leary said. “We’ll be involved in cleaning up some public place, making sandwiches for Special Olympics or other community events.”

South Hill Baptist Church members are involved in the Freezing Nights program, where a church provides shelter and food for the homeless during the winter.

“We actually have joined with High Pointe Church to provide shelter and food,” Breamfield said. “We provide dinner and breakfast at this location and, obviously, the shelter from the elements, a warm and safe place to stay for the night.”

Breamfield said South Hill Baptist also partners with Woodland and Karshner elementary schools to tutor students and participate in the Weekend Backpack Program, where church members fill backpacks with enough food for the weekend for low-income families.

The church members also coach a basketball team for fifth and sixth grade boys at Karshner.

As pastor assistant for outreach, Patulot oversees All Saints’ outreach to people in need, which includes a delivery food bank program, providing meals at New Hope Resource Center and assisting other churches with Freezing Nights. “(The delivery food bank program) is the only one of its kind in East Pierce County,” Patulot said. “It’s a delivery service because we have lots of folks in this area who can’t get to a food bank, but they can still cook food at home.

We have volunteers, about 50 people from the church, who are involved in some aspect of the food bank every week.”

These volunteers perform tasks such as answering phone calls, scheduling food deliveries, delivering the food and stocking the food and supplies. The program is designed to help those who are elderly, disabled or lacking transportation to a food bank because most places in East Pierce County aren’t serviced by mass transit.

Patulot said All Saints Parish also has a prescription assistance program to help community members who can’t afford their essential medications for asthma, diabetes and heart problems, among others. However, with changes in the county’s healthcare, Patulot said church members don’t know if many of the community members will be able to afford their medications anymore.

“When I started working here in 2011, we were spending, I think it’s 75 percent more money on prescriptions in need in our community than we are now,” Patulot said. “It was Obamacare that covered our most low-income people. It ensured that they would have their prescriptions paid for.”

Conclusion While I don’t see myself becoming a Christian, I found the faith interesting. It was amazing to have the opportunity to learn more about what others believe and to take a look at the churches where worship takes place.

I can take away principles from this experience, even if I don’t see myself being religious. These principles include treating others with respect, helping those who are less fortunate, not judging others for what they believe and working toward the common good of our society. These universal traits that go beyond the Christian faith.

Christianity is a subject too big and too broad to learn about in the time I spent researching and interviewing for this article. I didn’t have the opportunity to touch on the beliefs of every denomination or explore areas with much depth.

Without spending years studying the faith, I don’t believe I’ll ever know just how vast Christianity is and how different every tradition is. But, I’ll do my best to keep an open mind and continue exploring what others believe.

Favorite verses from the Bible

Isaiah 40:31

Calvin Breamfield MARCH 14, 2017

Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

John 3:16

Fr. Matthew O’Leary

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

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Aleah Patulot

Matthew 25:35-46

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and...

THE PUYALLUP POST

Focus Through a different lens:

India

Colton Swanson

T

Reporter

o the southwest of the Chinese border lies the country of India, and a culture that can be seen as both flourishing and suffering depending on one’s viewpoint. It’s a culture that’s so very different from our own and yet has many shared customs and traditions. India has seen many triumphs and it’s fair share of setbacks.

It’s a place where an ethnocentric reaction is not enough to base a generalization behind. India’s a place where ideas of our world view must be put into perspective and looked at from the other side.

The caste system is a type of societal construct that’s become very famous in the Indian culture. It’s a way of ranking people into a specific class. There’s no moving throughout the caste system, so whatever rank you are born into is generally the one in which you stay. The system, which is often figured to be over 3,000 years old according to the BBC, is the social stratification of Hindus based upon their religion and their work.

In descending order, the caste system is broken up into the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas, the Shudras and finally the Dalits or the untouchables.

This stratification of people gives the upper levels of the system a huge advantage in both jobs and other types of pleasures throughout the country. On the other side of the spectrum, the lower parts of the caste often live in poverty and are left to scrape the bottom of the barrel for employment.

Dalits, also known as the untouchables, are often responsible for the brutal ceremonies and rituals that have become custom in the society.

These ceremonies often take place on the shore of the Ganges river. The bodies are prepared generally by the family before they are cremated on a pyre.

The caste system social construct doesn’t affect India as much now as it did in the past. However, looking at a picture of New Delhi, the capital of India, it is clear that there is still a large margin between the rich and the poor. On one side of a river lies the large buildings and bumbling city of New Delhi, whereas just on the other side lies a plethora of shabby houses in a poverty stricken town.

Just a few thousand feet apart, the difference between the two is shocking.

Student Manjinder Sandhu, who has family from the state of Punjab in India, notes that the caste system is still a huge problem in India.

“That’s (the Caste System) very discriminatory,” Sandhu said. “That thing is horrible and really demeaning to human life but it still exists somehow. It’s messed up.”

Whether everyone in India feels the same way as Sandhu, he says that it depends on who you talk to. “If all people felt like the Caste system was bad then it would be gone already,” Sandhu said.

Sandhu also recounted some of the time he has spent in India and the state of Punjab.

“The one thing I really love about Punjab is the openness.

It’s farmland everywhere,” Sandhu said. Punjab is located in the northern part of India.

One of the many differences between the U.S and India is safety according to Sandhu. “What you consider a stuntman over here is like a normal person over there,” he said.

Hinduism is a very spiritual religion that’s widely practiced in India. When a person dies, a light is placed where they died to help guide their spirit. The mouth of the body is filled with food as a type of nourishment and the cremation of the body is believed to help release the soul quickly so it may continue its journey. If possible, the ashes are spread into a river or across the land.

The religion bases much of its spiritual ways from the four “pillars” of Hinduism as well as nine beliefs. Also, the idea of reincarnation, or eternal rebirth, is very prominent in Hindu culture. It’s believed that the soul will continue to be reborn until it completes a certain amount of karma, allowing it to finally be released The diffusion of Western ideas in both architecture and eateries has greatly impacted the culture in India.

On one side of the street, one could find a traditional Indian restaurant whereas just across from it could lie a McDonalds with familiar items found throughout the chain. The inside of modern day restaurants in India can anywhere from an elegant room filled with art and vibrant colors to an old restaurant with traditional Indian decor.

Indian food, when thought about from an American perspective, is generally perceived as a spicy dish that contrasts greatly from our normal diets. A lot of traditional Indian food combines meats, locally grown herbs and spices along with rice.

Karma Indian Cuisine is an Indian restaurant in Puyallup. Located just a few miles from campus, Karma has both Indian and Vegetarian dishes, including curry, Vindaloo and Tikka Masala. With over 50 dishes to choose from, Karma is one of the premiere authentic Indian restaurants in Pierce County. The restaurant is 20 years old and according to their website, the “the cuisine has evolved of thousands of years while absorbing influences from the Persians and the Portuguese.”

The discrimination against members of the Indian culture is prevalent in the United States still. “Being born and raised here, I was raised in like a traditional Punjabi setting but I also go to school with primarily people that are caucasian,” Sandhu said. “It was weird for me growing up because it was kind of like meshed together and now that I’m getting older, I can finally start seeing where I meshed them together and where they are definitely separate.

It is definitely a culture shock. When I first became religious and started wearing a turban, I did face a lot of

Katie Foster

discrimination from people at my junior high and high school. I still get weird looks from some people.”

The government in India is considered a democracy but this is not necessarily the case. In 1984, Sikhs were attacked along with anti Sikh riots in India that the media would blackout and hide from the world.

“When I heard about that, it made me sick. That’s disgusting,” Sandhu said. “The stuff that they did that I know about is disgusting. The amount of human lives lost for no reason at all, there was no point, it’s just pointless violence.”

The Indian government officially reported about 2,800 deaths while other reports say the number is north of 8,000. The fighting started when the Prime Minister was assassinated by two Sikh bodyguards after she has initiated an attack that had killed more Sikhs. The censorship of this event really hits home for Sandhu.

“In 9th grade, there was a chapter about it and it mentioned it from the side of the Indian government.

A history book, that for the next ten years, everyone in this school will be reading, and it’s just wrong,” Sandhu said. “They talked about how it was good and they didn’t mention the fact that thousands and thousands of Sikhs were killed within three days, they only talked about the fact that the Prime Minister was assassinated.”

When he visited India, Sandhu remembers immediately being recognized as someone from raised in different country due to an accent he would have when he would speak Punjabi. They also noticed that his skin tone was a bit lighter than their own. Because he wears a turban, Sandhu is often asked where he was born even though he has lived in Washington his own life.

A Sikh man was shot in the arm in Kent and told to “Go back to his own country.” Sandhu, also a member of the Sikh religion, doesn’t see the point behind the xenophobic incidents occurring.

“Thats horrible. There’s a lot of hate for different religions especially after 9/11,” Sandhu said.

Another part of the Sikh religion is being mistaken for Muslims. “Muslims don’t really wear turbans. Sikhs do, it’s part of our identity as a person. If you see somebody wearing a turban in the Western World, I’ll bet you 99.9 percent of the time it’s a Sikh, if not 100 (Percent).”

The history behind the turban for a Sikh is one of great importance to their culture. Before police, Sikhs would wear turbans to signify that they were willing to help anyone. It is a way for others to know that if there is a problem, a person wearing a turban is one that will help them. “When a policeman gets on a train, you feel okay.

When a Sikh gets on a train, you feel safe.”

Stereotypes and generalizations play a big part in the way the world views a certain race or ethnicity. Not everything people see is what they should believe and there is always another story behind the culture that is not apparent.

Katie Foster

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MARCH 14, 2017

Focus

Discovering Brenna Smark

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Reporter

t. Patrick is known as the patron Saint of Ireland. He wasn’t born Irish, but he’s become an integral part of Irish heritage, mostly through his services across Ireland in the fifth century.

Patrick grew up like other kids in what’s now Great Britain. However, one day a band of pirates landed in south Wales and kidnapped him along with many others.

They sold him into slavery in Ireland. He was imprisoned there for six years and this was when changes came to him.

“He dreamed of having seen God,” Heather Murphy, chair of the Green Stripe and board member of the Irish Heritage Club, said. “Legend says, he was then dictated by God to escape with a getaway ship.”

He did escape and went to Britain and then on to France, where he joined a monastery and studied under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre.

“When he became a bishop he dreamed that the Irish were calling him back to Ireland to tell them about God,” Murphy said.

He set out for Ireland and there he converted the Gaelic Irish, who were then mostly Pagans, to Christianity.

“Patrick was said to be successful at winning converts,” Murphy said. “Through active preaching, he made important converts even among the royal families, and this fact upset the Celtic druids.”

Patrick was arrested several times but managed to escape. For 20 years he traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his conversion. He developed a native clergy, fostered the growth of monasticism, established dioceses and held church councils.

The shamrock has been recognized for centuries as a symbol associated with St. Patrick. According to legend, this three-leaf member of the clover family was used by the Emerald Isle’s patron saint to explain the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity to the ancient Celts. Over time, the shamrock has gone beyond its connection to St. Patrick and has become a national symbol of Ireland.

“Even though St. Patrick lived during the fifth century, it was not until 1675 that a visible image linking him to the shamrock appeared on coins,” John Keane, treasurer of the

Irish

Irish Heritage Club, said. “The St. Patrick coppers had the saint addressing a crowd while holding a shamrock.”

According to Keane, by the late 18th century, local militias formed to defend Ireland against possible invaders from France and Spain. These militias were the Irish Volunteers and they used the shamrock on flags of the various groups.

It was during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 that shamrock history began to change from a symbol of St. Patrick to one of Irish patriotism. At the same time, revolutionary groups such as the United Irishmen had incorporated the shade of green that was close to the shamrock for their uniforms and hat ribbons.

Community

People that are interested in the Irish culture may have a hard time finding places in the Puyallup community that celebrate it. If one were to Google Irish vicinities, they would mostly come up with Irish pubs.

One pub in particular, Flanagan’s Craft pub, is a fairly new and popular pub in downtown Puyallup.

Karl Ashmore, co-owner and manager of Flanagan’s, is originally from Dublin.

“I left Dublin when I was 20 and I went and lived in the Caribbean for 20 years,” Ashmore said. “I came here on vacation with my girlfriend, now wife, and saw the lack of customer and community service. It absolutely baffled me.”

This bafflement is what motivated Ashmore to move to Pierce County and open Flanagan’s. He saw opportunity here.

“I’ve always wanted to run a pub,” Ashmore said. “I felt that a pub was the best way to express the community and customer service that I saw lacking, which I wanted to give.”

Ashmore said that he definitely lets his Irish roots influence Flanagan’s. From the Reuben sandwiches to the cocktails and beer that’s served, one can see the Irish influence in the menu.

According to The News Tribune, upon entering the pub, one will be greeted by a casual and noisy atmosphere, as live music will often be playing for entertainment.

“Live music is really what the Irish is all about,” Ashmore said.

One can also see Irish influence in the music that’s played.

In choosing the bands that play at Flanagan’s, common

culture sounds they look for are that of guitars, fiddles and drums, as these are common instruments played in Irish music.

Music

In Gaelic Ireland, there were at least ten instruments in general use. These were the cruit (a small harp) and clairseach (a bigger harp with typically 30 strings), the timpan (a small string instrument played with a bow or plectrum), the feadan (a fife), the buinne (an oboe or flute), the guthbuinne (a bassoon type horn), the bennbuabhal and corn (hornpipes), the cuislenna (bagpipes), the stoc and sturgan (clarions or trumpets) and the cnamha (castanets).

Like all traditional music, Irish folk music has changed slowly. Most folk songs are less than two hundred years old. One measure of its age is the language used. Modern Irish songs are written in English and Irish. Most of the oldest songs and tunes are rural in origin and come from the older Irish language tradition. Irish traditional music has survived more strongly against the forces of cinema, radio and the mass media than the indigenous folk music of most European countries. This was possibly because the country was not a geographical battleground in either of the two world wars.

Irish traditional music was largely meant for dancing at celebrations for weddings, saint’s days or other observances. Tunes are most usually divided into two eight-bar strains which are each played as many times as the performers feel is appropriate; Irish dance music is isometric. This makes for an eminently danceable music, and Irish dance has been widely exported abroad.

16 measures are known as a “step”, with one eight bar strain for a “right foot” and the second for the “left foot” of the step. Tunes that aren’t so evenly divided are called “crooked”.

The most common instruments used in Irish traditional dance music, whose history goes back several hundred years, are the fiddle, tin whistle, flute and uilleann pipes.

Instruments such as button accordion and concertina made their appearances in Irish traditional music late in the 19th century. The four-string tenor banjo, first used

by Irish musicians in the U.S. in the 1920s, is now fully accepted. The guitar was used as far back as the 1930s first appearing on some of the recordings of Michael Coleman and his contemporaries.

Brenna Smark

St. Andrews Catholic Parish on Valley Ave. in Sumner.

MARCH 14, 2017

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THE PUYALLUP POST

Focus Discovering Irish culture, continued from page 24

Sports

With Ireland under the rule of the British crown, a group of Irish nationalists met in the Hayes Hotel in Thurles, County Tipperary on Nov. 1, 1884 to establish an organization for Irish athletes, the Gaelic Athletic Association.

“Given these nationalist roots, it comes as no surprise that the GAA has always promoted more than just sports,” Brian White, committee chair of the Seattle Gaels, said.

In fact, Gaelic sports played a role in the Irish independence movement in the early part of the 20th century. The “Bloody Sunday” massacres took place in November 1920. That afternoon, members of the British military opened fire on the crowd at a Gaelic football match in Croke Park, killing 14 civilians and wounding at least 60. That evening, three IRA suspects being held in Dublin Castle were beaten and killed by their captors, who claimed they were trying to escape. This event cemented Gaelic sports as integral elements of Irish political culture and as such, the games are still viewed as shows of Irish independence.

Gaelic games are sports played in Ireland under the

Katie Foster

auspices of the GAA. Gaelic football and hurling are the two main games. Women’s versions of hurling and football are also played.

“Today, Gaelic games are the most popular games in Ireland in terms of supporter attendance, with as many as 100,000 people turning out to games at Dublin’s Croke Park for the football and hurling championships in September,” White said.

According to Eamonn Colman, Men’s Gaelic Football manager, Gaelic football is played by teams of 15 on a rectangular grass pitch with H-shaped goals at each end. The primary object is to score by driving the ball through the goals, which is known as a goal (worth three points), or by kicking the ball over the bar, which is known as a point (worth one point). The team with the highest point score at the end of the match wins. The female version of the game is known as ladies’ Gaelic football and is similar to the men’s game with a few minor rule changes.

Gaelic Football has been played in the Pacific Northwest since the 1920s. In the early years, it was usually in the form of pick-up games at the annual Irish Club picnic. However, in the late 1950s, the game became better organized in the Northwest. Team jerseys were purchased and challenge games were organized against teams from Vancouver, B.C. and as far away as San Francisco.

“Formal affiliation with the GAA did not come about, and in the late 1960s, Gaelic Football basically became dormant in the Seattle area,” White said. he game was revived here in 1979 when the Seattle Gaels Club was formed.

Camogie is the women’s form of the Irish sport of hurling, commonly called the fastest sport on grass due to how fast the ball travels through the air. The first official rules for camogie were drawn up in 1903.

“As with women’s sports in the U.S., Camogie has struggled to gain the same amount of acceptance and recognition as men’s hurling, even up to today,” Vanessa Peterson, Camogie manager of the Seattle Gaels, said.

According to Peterson, each team consists of 15 players, each outfitted with an axe-shaped stick that has a flattened end, called a hurley or hurl.

Official matches consist of two 30 minute halves on pitches 130 yards long by 70 yards wide. By comparison, an American football field is 120 yards by 53 yards, including the end zones. In the U.S., they play with 13 players due to the smaller field sizes. Each half begins with players in their starting positions on the field - opposite how soccer starts with each team on their own half of the field. For 15 players, the positions would be: goalkeeper, three full backs, three halfbacks, two midfielders, three half forwards, and three full forwards.

Game play starts with the “throw-in” where the referee throws/rolls the ball - called a “sliotar” - to the midfielders in the center of the pitch.

A sliotar looks a bit like a baseball with the stitching on the outside, and it’s a bit softer.

In the U.S., camogie falls under the governing body of the U.S. Gaelic Athletic Association.

Camogie is split into three different divisions in the U.S. as well: junior, intermediate and senior. The junior level is meant for clubs that have just started out and that have non-Irish players. Once a club has won the junior championship, they move to intermediate the next year. Intermediate and senior levels will also typically have a higher concentration of Irish-born players.

Food

The arrival of the Anglo-Normans in Ireland in 1169 affected both farming and diet in Ireland.

Wheat, peas and beans became staple foods and people began preparing more elaborate dishes.

Food customs were also changing, as French and Italian cooking customs influenced the upperclass cuisine.

The potato was introduced to Ireland by the late 1500s. Within 200 years it had replaced older staples, including oats and dairy products. The potato became the mainstay of the Irish diet. In the 1840s, the country’s heavy reliance on potatoes led to the disaster known as the Irish Potato Famine. Most Irish farmers grew one particular variety of potato, which turned out to be highly sensitive to disease. A potato blight that had started in Belgium swept the country. It destroyed one-third of Ireland’s potato crop in 1845 and triggered widespread famine. In the next two years, two-thirds of the crop were destroyed. As soon as the spread of the disease stopped, the potato returned to its place as the staple food in the Irish diet. Farmers began to spray their crops with chemicals to protect them from disease. As of 2001 the Irish were consuming more potatoes than most countries in the world.

Irish food is known for the quality and freshness of its ingredients. Most cooking is done without herbs or spices, except for salt and pepper. Foods are usually served without sauce or gravy.

The staples of the Irish diet have traditionally been potatoes, grains (especially oats) and dairy products. Potatoes still appear at most Irish meals, with potato scones, similar to biscuits or muffins, a specialty in the north. The Irish have also been accomplished cheesemakers for centuries. Ireland makes about fifty types of homemade “farmhouse” cheeses, which are considered delicacies.

Soups of all types, seafood and meats also play important roles in the Irish diet. Irish soups are thick, hearty and filling, with potatoes, seafood and various meats being common ingredients.

Since their country is surrounded by water, the Irish enjoy many types of seafood, including salmon, scallops, lobster, mussels and oysters. However, meat is eaten more frequently at Irish meals. The most common meats are beef, lamb and pork. A typical Irish dinner consists of potatoes (cooked whole), cabbage and meat.

Bread is an important part of Irish culture. Fresh soda bread, a crusty brown bread made from whole-wheat flour and buttermilk, is a national dish of Ireland. Irish bakers don’t stop with soda bread, however. They bake a wide variety of other hearty breads and cakes.

The most common everyday beverage in Ireland is tea. Popular alcoholic beverages include whiskey, beer and ale. Coffee mixed with whiskey and whipped cream is known throughout the world as “Irish coffee.”

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Brenna Smark

Flanagan’s Craft Pub on South Meridian in downtown Puyallup.

MARCH 14, 2017

Focus

A tradition of family: Two students share their experiences as Jews in the 21st century Daniel Pollock

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Reporter

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Katie Foster

Katie Foster

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Ingredients

Katie Foster

1½ tablespoon instant yeast ¾ cup warm water (about 100 degrees) ¼ cup sugar 1 large eggs and 3 egg yolks, plus one for glazing ¼ cup vegetable oil ¼ cup honey (trick, measure the honey after the oil and it will slide right out!)

1½ teaspoons kosher salt 3¾ cups bread flour

Directions 1. Prepare the yeast in a large mixing bowl for a stand mixer by whisking it with warm water and 1 teaspoon sugar Let stand until it foams and puffs up, about 10 minutes.

2. Using a whisk or whisk attachment mix the remaining sugar, eggs, oil, and honey. Gradually add 3 cups flour and salt, either on medium speed or a spoon and your hands until the dough begins to pull away from the sides.

Dough should still be slightly sticky and soft.

Add more flour if the dough is very sticky.

3. Then divide your dough into six even pieces. I used a food scale to weigh them out.

4. Flatten out each piece and put some gel food coloring of each color of the rainbow in the middle of each one. Then mix until your dough is dyed. This will take a few minutes for each, so be prepared. Add more color as needed, and wear gloves if you don’t want purple hands.

5. Place the dough in a bowl greased with oil and cover. Let dough rise in a warm place until it has at least doubled in size, about 2–3 hours.

6. Take one of each color and make six even strands. Line them up in rainbow order and pinch at the top to secure the end. Then take the purple strand on the right and weave it to the left over two strand, under one strand and over two strands. Repeat with the blue strand, then the green, etc. until you reach the bottom.

Secure the other ends together and tuck them under the challah. Repeat with other challah.

7. Then let your challah proof again on a parchment lined baking sheet, lightly covered, until doubled in size and appears light and fluffy, about an hour and a half.

8. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. 9. Glaze the breads with the last egg and bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees, rotating pans halfway through.

10. If the challah start to brown too fast, cover with foil until done.

11. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe from whatjewwannaeat.com

MARCH 14, 2017

n 1585, the first Jew immigrated to North America.

His name was Joachim Gans. According to the National Park Service’s website, Gans, born in Prague, was a mining expert whom Sir Walter Raleigh selected to go to Roanoke Island. Gans was chosen to mine for precious metals in the new land.

Now, 432 years later, - based on a Pew Research Center study - with an estimated population of 5.3 million people, Judaism decorates a significant part of America’s cultural fabric.

According to Pierce College Puyallup student Esther Larson, Jewish culture and religion is saturated in tradition.

“I feel like there’s so much tradition to it,” Larson said. “And part of the tradition is to keep family together and to worship G-d.”

One of the ways Judaism keeps Larson’s family together is through their weekly gatherings. Each Friday evening, the family comes together to welcome the Shabbat. The Shabbat begins at sunset on Friday evening and ends an hour after sunset on Saturday.

Shabbat, translated from Hebrew, means ‘rest,’ which is an accurate descriptor for the day. Jews are sure to prepare all foods, complete all work before sundown on Friday to assure they can fully rest during the Shabbat. This observance is listed as one of the Ten Commandments.

Recorded in the book of Exodus, G-d said to Moses, “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the L-rd your G‑d. On it you shall not do any manner of work...”

Larson describes the Shabbat as a time celebrated with much food: falafel, grilled lamb with rosemary, homemade hummus and stuffed peppers. Larson added that her favorite is pairing the lamb with hummus, a combination she says most people don’t like.

“It’s tons of food and everyone is home, so it’s kinda loud,” Larson said. “And we make the challah bread and there’s usually wine or grape juice.”

On average, five to 12 people attend Larson’s home on Friday nights.

“It’s a common time to have close relatives over, or very close friends,” Larson said. “It’s kinda like an honor to have them over on a Friday night.”

Two candles are lit and the mother covers her head with a prayer shawl, beginning the weekly Shabbat

by giving a blessing. Before the Friday meal, some families also attend an evening service.

Larson believes the Shabbat has knitted her family closer together.

“Resting together and being united, that’s the main tradition my family has kept and I feel like it really brings us together,” Larson said.

Besides the weekly Shabbat, Larson finds it difficult to participate in her culture. She lives in Alder and the nearest Synagogue is in North Tacoma, 40 miles away.

“I don’t know very many other Jewish people and that makes it hard, not having someone else to relate to in that way,” Larson said.

But Larson, who’s dad is a Christian, has become involved in her local Christian community.

“Since my dad is a Christian, I’ve connected more to the Christian community,” Larson said.

Confusing is the word Larson uses to describe blending the Jewish and Christian religions in her home. She remembers having to hide her cross necklace whenever she would attend the synagogue.

“It was confusing to all of us, all my siblings,” Larson said. “I felt double-sided all the time.”

Larson has four siblings. Her two sisters have completely converted to Judaism, while her brothers have completely converted to Christianity. Larson calls herself a Christian who’s ethnically Jewish.

“I’ve kind of stayed half and half, if that makes sense,” Larson said.

She feels like she would lose an aspect of her identity is she was too Jewish or too Christian.

Like Larson, student Ruth Rios comes from a Jewish-Christian household.

“On Saturdays we go to synagogue, and since my dad’s Christian, on Sundays we go to church,” Rios said. “I get the best of both worlds.”

Also like Larson, Rios has chosen to stay ‘half and half.’

“I’m a Jewish-Christian and a Christian-Jew,” Rios said. “You compromise. You get both sides.”

Rios is a fan of traditional Jewish foods. Latkes, similar to potato pancakes, are a favorite of hers.

“You can eat them with sour cream, you can eat them with honey, you can put sugar on them, you can eat them plain,” Rios said. “They taste just perfect.”

Latkes are commonly eaten during the Hanukkah season. Hanukkah is an eight day festival, which begins on the 25th day of the Hebrew month, Kislev, around the middle of December.

Photos courtesy of Ruth Rios

Rios’ table prepared for the Passover. In ancient Egypt, G-d warned Moses that He was going to kill the first born of every Egyptian, He commanded the Israelites to mark their homes with goats blood to protect their own sons. Passover is celebrated to remember God’s preservation (left). Rios and her brothers gathered around a table decorated for Hanukah. Fried foods, such as latkes, are eaten during the eight day festival (right).

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Focus A tradition of family, continued from page 26 The Hebrew word Hanukkah translates to dedication; the festival is a time for Jews to remember the rededication of the temple.

In 139 BCE, a group of brothers known as the Maccabees, led by a man named Judah “Maccabee,” liberated Jerusalem. Before then, Israel was ruled by the Syrian-Greek Empire. After re-taking the city, the Maccabees removed all Syrian idols. The Syrians had looted the temple and the Maccabees had to rebuild the altar and make a new menorah.

The menorah is a seven-branched candelabra made from pure gold. The Maccabees had to use a cheaper metal for their make-shift menorah. With only enough olive oil to light the menorah for one day, the menorah was lit as part of the rededication. But by a miracle of G-d, the menorah remained burning for eight days, hence the eight day festival.

Menorahs are commonly seen in homes during the Hanukkah season; lighting the candles each night is included in the festivities as a reminder of the Maccabees’ work and G-d’s provision. Although there are more than a dozen annual Jewish holidays, the Hanukkah festival is a highlight of Rios’ year.

“At my house, (Hanukkah’s) the time when there’s a lot of people coming over, there’s a lot of food going around, there’s a lot of games being played,” Rios said. “Just a bunch of fun.”

Rios adds how she and her siblings once made up a song about latkes.

“We would run around the house screaming it,” Rios said.

Along with homemade menorahs, Rios’ house is decorated with a Christmas tree. Her family participates in both holidays, an example of a mixed household.

Rios’ family was completely Jewish until after her dad died, and then her mom married a Christian. According to Rios, the combination of both religions in her family was a fairly simple process; this was partly due to her mom coming from a Christian background.

Nearer to the Synagogue than Larson, Rios is able to be more involved with her community. She attends a young adult class at the local Synagogue, but admits she’d like to have more involvement.

“I think it would be interesting to go around and seeing other communities and how they differ or are the same,” Rios said.

“One of the big parts of Judaism is, you know, being together.”

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Because of the small amount of Jews at Pierce and in the Puyallup area, “being together” is not easy. Neither Rios nor Larson have met fellow Jews on campus. The two girls have never met.

Not having someone to relate to, being a cultural minority, has been a challenge for Larson.

“The biggest struggle would be that I feel lonely a lot of the times,” Larson said.

She recalls her trip to Jerusalem, where she felt a real sense of community and belonging.

“Going there was eye-opening to me, to be around people of my culture and feel connected,” Larson said. “Having people that understood the struggles, being together in a team in my culture just made me feel at home.”

Her trip to Jerusalem impacted her spiritually as well, especially the Wailing Wall.

The Wailing Wall, also known as the western wall, is the last remains of the second temple of Jerusalem. It’s a place of pilgrimage for many Jews.

“I felt close to G-d, being there, praying there,” Larson said.

Larson traveled to Jerusalem to visit her sister, a Zionist. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Zionists believe in the development of the nation-state of Israel and for the return of the Jewish people to Israel.

Larson calls her trip to Israel “a time of exploration,” where she got to see her culture and, her people.

“It gave me a sense of connection to my community,” Larson said.

Ever since her second sister decided to attend Weizmann University in Rehovot, Israel, Larson has considered moving herself, but is unsure.

“I love being here in the United States,” Larson said. “There’s people here I love and people there I love.”

Israel is the location of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both nations are disputing the placement of their shared border. Larson remembers walking around Jerusalem, feeling the tension between the Jews, Christians and Muslims all packed into the walled city.

“The height of intensity is how to explain it,” Larson said. “You could feel it in the air.”

Symbols of Judaism

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1.Menorah 2. Kippah 3. Torah 4. Hamsa 5. Chai

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article, the Stroum Jewish Center on Mercer Island was evacuated Both Rios’ and Larson’s families have spent generations living Katie Foster due to a bomb threat on Monday, Feb. 27. outside Israel. Rios’ grandmother left Germany before the onset of the There has also been vandalization to some Jewish cemeteries across World War II; Larson’s family escaped the Spanish Inquisition. the nation.

These anti-semitic actions have received federal attention.

Compared to their ancestors, according to Rios, tension amongst Jews According to a Washington Post article, Vice-President Mike Pence visited and others in America aren’t as grim. For Rios, the most difficult part of a Jewish Cemetery in Missouri. practicing her faith are the dietary restrictions.

“We condemn this vile act of vandalism and those who perpetrated it in the According to the Jewish Virtual Library, “Kashrut is the body of Jewish law strongest possible terms,” Pence said. dealing with what foods can and cannot be eaten and how those foods must be But despite the anti-semitism, despite being a minority, despite feeling lonely, prepared.”

Rios and Larson are both proud to be Jewish.

The Hebrew word, “kashrut,” means fit, proper, or correct; this is where the word “I’m proud to be Jewish and I’m not afraid to be,” Larson said. “I’m proud of how ‘kosher’ comes from. The non-permissible foods are listed in the Hebrew Bible. Nonmuch love there is for your family.

It’s such a family-oriented culture.” kosher foods include some meat and fish, such as pork and shellfish. Eating meat together Larson remembers how her sister was once harassed for wearing a shirt which said with dairy is also forbidden. ‘the Jewish people live.’

Rios describes the toughest trial she has faced as a Jew: picking the pepperoni off a “‘The Jewish people live,’ that’s an amazing fact to me,” Larson said. “The fact that pizza at a birthday party. there’s been the Holocaust and the Spanish Inquisition and, well, the Jewish people still But there are also serious challenges facing the Jewish-American population, such as live.

We’re here.” the widespread bomb threats Jewish Centers are receiving. According to a KOMO news

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MARCH 14, 2017

Focus

Islam: Teaching tolerance and peace since the 600s CE Hannah Pederson Online Managing Editor

Hijab and feminism in Islam n the larger false narrative surrounding Islam, it seems as though the misconception that the religion encourages the oppression of women is prominent. Some people view hijabi as women forced into submission, repressed and unable to truly express themselves.

This view is based in ignorance and lack of understanding what exactly hijab means and what the Quran says.

“Hijab isn’t necessarily a scarf, hijab translates to barrier, a barrier between man and woman, which can be interpreted many ways,” Student Engagement Specialist Kelsie Nabass said.

Typically, Muslim girls put on the hijab around age 12, but some wait much longer or choose not to wear it at all.

Becoming a hijabi is a deeply personal choice, and it’s never intended to be forced.

“When you say that a woman’s oppressed because of the modesty of hijab, yes there are men that ask their wives and daughters to wear it and they have the right to ask that, but women have the right to say no,” Nabass said. “It can’t be forced on her, hijab is a choice in the Quran.”

The reasons behind choosing to wear hijab are as diverse as the women they cover, but the basis is to establish a personal connection between a person and God.

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For Student Advocacy Senator Nadine Nabass, it was because she views hijab as a tool of empowerment, modesty and an identification of Islam.

“The premise behind it differs, because it’s such a unique thing. For me, it’s modesty and empowerment because it’s covering and desexualizing a woman that’s so hypersexualized in society,” Nadine said. “It takes away her body, her hair, any feminine specific things that can sexualize a woman and just strips her down to her personality and her being.”

For both women, the early years of outwardly appearing Muslim weren’t without difficulty, especially in an area that’s predominantly white and Christian.

“Having that personal choice, keeping it on and keeping with it is difficult sometimes, especially when you’re in ninth and 10th grade and you want to go swimming with your friends and go to dances and take of your hijab and show off your hair to all the dudes,” Nadine said.

Kelsie was the only hijabi in her junior high school of around 800 students.

“Junior high was a hard time, wearing hijab and being outwardly Muslim with people saying ‘oh, she has a bomb’ or ‘oh, she’s a terrorist’ was difficult,” Kelsie said.

“I wore hijab because I chose to, I wanted to experiment and see where I could take it, what it meant, before learning enough about my religion to defend it.”

The Quran offers guidelines for many different aspects of daily life including treatment of women, and throughout the history Muslim world these guidelines have led to women being able to vote, own land and property and keep their own last name after marrying among others.

“Before any other religion or government or people, before anyone else granted rights to women, it was written in the Quran,” Kelsie said. “It’s not that feminism is a foundation of Islam, but it branched out of Islam.”

The distinction people commonly fail to recognize is between the teachings of Islam and the cultures and traditions of the people that practice the religion.

Much of what people may view as repression in the Muslim world don’t come from the Quran, they come from the government of that particular nation or group of people.

“The whole thing in Saudi Arabia where women can’t drive and that Islam doesn’t give women rights, that’s Saudi Arabia being stupid and sexist,” Nadine said. “That’s not associated with Islam at all, Islam gives a lot of empowerment to women. Women are supposed to be protected, but that can be misinterpreted culturally as women aren’t allowed to do anything or women don’t have rights, but no. Women are equals.”

The vilification of Islam In recent years Islam has become a scapegoat for fears and frustrations not only in the United States, but in countries like Britain and France, where prominent candidates for the highest possible office campaign on promises like forbidding Muslim women from wearing hijab in public.

In this hostile climate muslims may feel endangered even openly expressing themselves, let alone dispelling the misinformation that perpetuates these fears.

“Being victimized and villainized all the time, I didn’t stand up for myself early on,” Kelsie said. “I didn’t have any religious knowledge to be like ‘hey this is actually why I’m doing these things.”

The expectation that every Muslim person is like an ambassador to their religion is unrealistic and exhausting to many, especially when they come from strangers out of nowhere.

“Oftentimes people just assume I’m like an Islamic encyclopedia and I’m not,” Nadine said. “ Sometimes I’m forced to be a spokesperson, and I hate answering things that I’m not 100 percent certain on because I feel like if I don’t give the right information to someone that I might mislead them. I feel like I always have to be super educated on my religion.”

Passages from the Quran (English)

O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another.

For you is your religion, and for me is my religion.

Passages from the Quran (Arabic)

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Focus Islam: Teaching tolerance and peace since the 600s C, continued from page 28 This pressure to always be informed and ready to educate can be an added burden, but one that some have come to embrace.

“If no one is going to educate the ignorant and the ignorant aren’t going to educate themselves, then I guess at the end of the day as a Muslim woman, I put it upon myself to breakdown the generalizations, break down the stereotypes, clear the air of all these things,” Kelsie said. “As sucky as it is for those people to just walk up to you and ask random questions, at least they’re trying to seek knowledge regardless of what other ways they could’ve done it. Not to say you’re allowed to target me, but if I am targeted, I guess I don’t mind telling people to kind of spread the awareness.”

These experiences can also be an opportunity to grow as a person, according to Nadine.

“I’ve learned a lot of patience and a lot of kindness,” she said. “It’s not tolerance, because I’m not tolerating your ignorance and disrespect. I’m being kind to you and I will offer counter information, and if they don’t accept it I just end it there. I understand that you’re not going to change your view of me, I hope you have a nice day, and the last thing you remember is this Muslim girl smiling and waving at you.”

Being unconditionally kind and accepting isn’t easy in a time when an islamophobic narrative has been dominating the political arena, but sometimes it can be worth it.

“Some people do change with that kindness and that’s what I’ve found,” Nadine said.

“There was a guy who was protesting our mosque, and he stayed for one of our prayer services and said ‘oh, I’m actually really interested in this’ and now he comes and listens and he’s considering converting.”

Myths and Misconception The majority of Muslims live in the Middle East.

Although 91 percent of people in the Middle East are Muslim, the Middle East only accounts for one fifth of the roughly 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, according to pewforum.org.

There are no predominantly Muslim countries outside of the Middle East.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any nation in the world, let alone the middle east. Out of a population of nearly 250 million, over 87 percent are Muslim, according to the Pew Research Center.

The Quran says the ultimate goal of Islam is world domination and killing all infidels.

The Quran has been passed down verbatim through the centuries, and because it’s never been altered or updated in any way, many things are up to interpretation. The only killing permitted in Islam is in warfare, and even then there are strict rules treating fallen enemies respectfully.

A select group of extremists may pick the very few lines in the Quran that mention violence and choose to fixate and elaborate on them, but this in no way reflects the beliefs of the global Muslim community.

Christianity is right and Islam is wrong or vice versa.

Islam, Christianity and Judaism all share the same roots and the same God, and together they’re referred to as the Abrahamic religions. As such, they share many beliefs and much of the Old Testament. Islam considers Adam to be the first prophet, and Muhammad to be the last.

Jesus is a prophet, but not believed to be the son of God. Islam has only created negative things.

Terrorism was not created by Islam, but Muslims did invent algebra, the first hospital and the first university, modern surgery among many others, according to cnn.com.

References

• The Quran ~The holy book of Islam, written by the prophet Muhammad in the 600s CE and unchanged since that time.

• Mosque ~ A place of worship unique from churches in that services are held multiple times per day everyday.

• Mecca (or Mekkah) ~ The birthplace of Islam, Mecca is a holy site located in Saudi Arabia that Muslim pilgrims visit during Dhul Hijjah.

5 Pillars of Islam 1.)Shahadah (Testimony of Faith) The shadahah is the core belief of Islam, a statement every Muslim must make sincerely and knowingly that there is nothing worthy of worship except God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God 2.) Salah (Prayer) Prayer is an important part of maintaining spirituality in Islam, and occurs five times a day at dawn, midday, the late afternoon, right after sunset and then between sunset and midnight. For a Muslim, prayer isn’t just a recitation of scripture, it’s a time to clear their mind and focus on their faith. It’s accompanied by a set of movements directed toward Mecca (or Makkah) and can happen anywhere, not just in a place of worship.

3.) Zakah (Charity) Charity plays a large role in Islam, manifesting in an annual donation of 2.5 percent of a person’s wealth to those in need if they are above a certain income bracket.

It’s intended to encourage selflessness and detachment from greed and a sense of possession and in most cases isn’t obligatory.

4.) Sawm (Fasting) During Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar that can last 29 or 30 days, muslims fast from dawn to sunset, eating typically a large meal right before dawn and a smaller meal after sunset. The fast includes food, drink and sexual activity and only applies to able bodied people adults. The reasons for the fast are diverse, and include celebrating the creation of the Quran, strengthening spirituality and building a sense of fellowship within the muslim community.

5.) Haji (Pilgrimage) The pilgrimage to Mecca is a deeply spiritual endeavor that every Muslim, as long as they’re physically and financially capable, must take once in their lifetime. It takes place once a year during the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar, Dhul Hijjah, and once in Mecca all differences are stripped away and every worshipper is viewed as equal.

• Hijabi ~ A woman that chooses to wear a headcovering.

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MARCH 14, 2017

Focus Defining Whiteness : Armani Jackson

W

Co-Editor-in-Chief

hite culture is ambiguous. Depending on who’s asked, the responses vary somewhere between “white people have no culture,” and “white people need to be preserved.”

At Pierce, white culture is the most representative as 53.7 percent of students are white as of fall 2015.

But to fully immerse myself in this culture I should first have a solid definition of white culture.

In short, most whites are European. To most people, white or not, white people don’t have a culture because it’s not something they identify with. After countless interviews with white supremacists, students of color, white students and internet research about white culture since December, I’m still clueless. White culture is a convoluted and complex issue that no one can explain. There’s no music, food or clothing exclusive to them that’s not a stereotype. The key to unlocking white culture is learning that white people have made their own by stealing from others while at the same time using what they know from Europe.

For Black Student Union President Victoria Miles, white isn’t a race. It’s more of a melting pot of Europeans who came to America to throw away their ethnic identities to be elevated to a certain standard in the current society. White culture doesn’t have much to it simply because there isn’t one.

“In every facet of black life, for example when we look at beauty standards, people might not think this is a form of white supremacy,” Miles said. “Racism is white supremacy. I don’t know why people try to differentiate. That’s what it is. When you look at beauty standards, whiteness is leveled at that’s the up, and we’re down here. Like hiring standards too. Who are the people hiring you? Who do you work with, what’s the racial makeup? When you’re black, you’re seen as that token.”

However, this isn’t a common view for everyone. Founder and editor of American Renaissance Jared Taylor feels strongly that whites need to be preserved and aren’t recognizing that they’re in danger of extinction. American Renaissance considers themselves to be the Internet’s premier race-realist site, according to their website.

This publication is seen as promoting white nationalism, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center where they state, “But, regardless of its calm tone and academic look and feel, the magazine openly peddles white nationalism and Taylor supports the idea of America as ‘a self-consciously European, majoritywhite nation.’”

“White culture is anything that finds itself in the European continent,” Taylor said. “The white race is four, five, maybe even up to seven different human races with its own distinctive history and quantities. It’s very clear that they (races) aren’t (equal and interchangeable). Different races build different societies. I happen to like the societies the whites build. I think it’s natural that people have a preference for their own race and the culture that has grown out of that.”

Taylor said affirmative action is used to discriminate against whites. His example was if a student was applying to Harvard, your chances of getting in are much better if you’re black. This is because the selective schools are using it to prove that they’re not racist (because they have good racial diversity) even if it means they have to turn away better qualified whites or Asians.

“I think it’s unfair,” Taylor said. “Asians are vastly overrepresented on elite campuses because they get the highest test scores and they get the best grades. Is it true? That’s the point.

Do they or don’t they get the highest test scores? They do. Do they or don’t they get the highest grades? They do. I mean, you want a stereotype, it’s a fact.”

To him, whites need to recognize that they’re being shoved aside as the world becomes more diverse, and they need to do something about it. However, if they were to do something, they’d be considered a racist.

“In the 21st century, whites are finally waking up to the fact that every other racial group acts together to advance its own interests,” Taylor said. “Whites are being shoved aside both demographically and culturally and in every other way. This is something that whites are finally waking up to, and you see this all around the world. Whites have never been asked, ‘Do you want to be a minority in your own country?’ But now anyone who would prefer to live in majority white neighborhood is a wicked, horrible racist.”

A key facet of white culture is the alt-right movement that was brought to light after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

In short, it’s a movement to preserve the white race.

“It’s a racial-conscious movement,” Taylor said. “It’s a recognition that whites do have legitimate group interests. Up until now, and still, if a group organizes to discuss the interest of whites, they’re considered hate mongers or white supremacists Nobody is explicitly on the lookout for the whites. I think, ultimately, a multiracial country is asking for trouble. Homogeneous countries are much more healthy. We made a terrible mistake bringing by blacks and other races (in). It brings more conflict and tension.”

Miles has an opposing view of white preservation. To her, it involves status and the power whites have in American society.

“What are they trying to achieve with white preservation is what I want to know besides racist ideals and continuing that?” Miles said.

It makes it sound like white people are going extinct, like it’s something so precious. It plays into how they don’t like racial mixing.

Armani Jackson

Armani Jackson

The McChevron on 9th St is a common stereotypical white establishment (left). PHS is a majority white high school in Puyallup (right).

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Focus What white culture is and how it evolved Defining Whiteness, continued from page 30 You want to preserve whites, so you’re against people not having (multiracial) relationships? That in itself is racist.

I think there’s not only a status issue, but a power issue and privilege issue. Because if you’re able to preserve that, you’re able to continue systems that are affecting people of color.”

BSU’s Vice President Shakita Etheridge expressed a similar viewpoint.

“It sounds like they want to put them in like a little zoo and contain them and make sure nothing happens to them,” Etheridge said. “I honestly think keeping white preservation is keeping that status (alive).”

A common denominator between the views is that most white people are European. It’s whether white people have accomplished good things where the opinions differ. But if I have learned anything from this experience, it’s that white supremacists don’t recognize themselves as such and tend to contradict themselves in their arguments. The world is becoming more diverse and not everyone is ready for that to happen.

“When white people are asked to celebrate diversity, they’re asked to celebrate increasing numbers of people unlike themselves,” Taylor said. “Which is crazy when you think about it. Why should white have to celebrate their declining numbers and dwindling influence?”

YouTuber European Resistance Media is a little more torn on the topic of white culture.

His thoughts on the white race matches Miles, but then turn into an opinion closer to Taylor’s. “‘White’ is just a colour (sic), it has no meaning attached to it. What I am is a European.

But, for the purpose of this article, I will forget about that. Our ancestors were conquerors and explorers, a race that took Africa, the Americas and South Asia out of savagery and introduced them to modernity, our impact in those regions will last forever. True whiteness is about being the best of who you can be, and progressing until you are the dominant force in nature. In the past half - century, whiteness has been corrupted, we have been demonised (sic), blamed for all the problems in the world and our traditions, cultures and nations have been almost destroyed by the global establishment. Jewish academics and self-hating White people claim that whiteness is just a social construct, but I assure you, whiteness is very real, and in the next decade, white people will awaken to who they truly are.”

Even with everything that’s going on in the community, Pierce is working on becoming a more diverse and inclusive campus.

“If you look at as who are drawing from, what our general community looks like, our generally community is just under 79 percent white,” Chancellor Michelle Johnson said. “Yet, the Puyallup campus is only 51.9 percent white.”

When asked why Pierce is more diverse, she said one reason may be the fact that the college is attracting students from other communities. Another reason could be that Pierce is focusing a lot of time on equity.

They’re working hard, but the fact is that they’ll never make Pierce more diverse. Equity and diversity is one of the core values of the college, yet it seems like the only people who know about those values and actually work towards them is administration.

Puyallup, South Hill and the schools they’re pulling from are mostly white. There’s nothing they can do about that. To fix the campus, they first must fix the greater community which is a feat no one here gets paid enough to do. Plus, this isn’t a part of Achieving the Dream so administration will find some excuse to slide pass this incredibly concerning problem. They can’t and won’t shift their focus from anything but making the college look good no matter how much they try to convince us otherwise.

The systems in place were made to benefit the people, yet they don’t. By addressing the real issues, no one will get promoted and the college won’t make money because this isn’t and will never be the plan. They should instead spend more time and money helping the students of other races that are already present on campus. They need to have resources available to help them feel safe and appreciated in this all white community. Students who aren’t white won’t make it through because Pierce’s administration isn’t and can’t cater to their needs. The good news is that per the U.S. census in 2010, South Hill is 78.2 percent white which means that Pierce is more diverse than the surrounding community.

These issues don’t seem to impact white students as much since they live in a majority white area.

“Honestly, I don’t really think about it,” student Wesley Bergman said. “My girlfriend just happened to live in this area when I moved in with her. After living here for awhile, I did start to notice that a majority of the population here are your typical middle class white people though. I’m usually shunned, to my delight, by these type of people because I don’t fit into that mold. Racism is definitely still prevalent these days, but it’s not restricted to any one race.”

The bottom line, is that these are tough issues to address in a community where people don’t care, or take notice as much because it’s predominantly white.

There’s a lot the college thinks they’re doing but can’t achieve simply because of the love of a positive reputation.

White culture is something that can’t be learned about in the span of a few months, rather you have to be born into it in order to grasp it. Especially in a predominately white community, my experience as a black woman wasn’t that good. Puyallup is a very passive aggressive community and Pierce kind of absorbed that attitude. Trying to assimilate the entirety of a culture that doesn’t exist to white people, but simultaneously does to someone of color. It’s an aggravating enigma. If anything came of this experience, it’s more hate from white people.

Armani Jackson

Armani Jackson

Anthem is a popular coffee shop on W Pioneer Ave for the Puyallup community (left). This house models the basic white American dream with a sign showing their support for President Donald Trump (right).

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MARCH 14, 2017

Campus Life

Jared Leingang

Chris Davis, BSU President Victoria Miles and Vice President Shakita Etheridge led the discussion on the Black Panther Party (left). Robert Britton’s main point was that everyone can make positive changes in their community (right).

Black Student Union hosts Liberating Minds event O Jared Leingang Reporter

pen minds and the will to learn about a history that’s often misconstrued was the mindset required at the Liberating Minds event hosted by the Black Student Union on Feb. 28.

The event was held in the Connection Cafe in the College Center and consisted of a panel made up of BSU members.

Robert Britton, a custodian at Pierce College Fort Steilacoom, spoke first about untold stories of black people in America. He cited the recent movie Hidden Figures and other sources as examples.

“There are so many stories underneath the fabric of American history that it’s really our story,” Britton said. “And that story hasn’t been told, and it hasn’t been told to the masses. There are pockets of our society that don’t really know our history because we have written books that don’t get into the classroom.”

Britton went on to reference the book To Be Popular or Smart: The Black Peer Group written by Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu. The book outlines how black students commonly use jokes instead of their intellectual ability to get noticed in class.

Britton went on to talk about how the black youth should put themselves out there and try to be excellent in everything they do.

“No matter where you sit, no matter where you are, you can make a contribution to the organization you’re a part of,” Britton said. “But the question really becomes, how will you write the legacy that will become the the things that you’re known for. You have to write legacies everyday, you have to write history everyday and you control that narrative.”

The event also talked about the history of the Black Panther Party and the Black Lives Matter movements and how some facts have been left out regarding those movements.

The panelists discussed BLM and how the fact that it was created by three lesbian women is often left out of dialogue around the movement.

Victoria Miles, president of the BSU, talked about the BPP and the misconceptions around them such as how the party wasn’t pro-violence.

“They weren’t for violence because they utilized the rights of the Second Amendment,” Miles said. “They did believe in self-defense against violence perpetuated against them in their own community.”

Miles outlined the goal of the BPP and how the party contributed to various programs that are still utilized today like the Free Breakfast for Children Program started by the party that’s used today in many schools.

Other topics talked about were community activism and other activists that may not be as well known like Angela Davis.

Student Bud Metzger, one of the people who attended the event, talked about the past and current injustices and barriers facing colored people in society and other topics.

“If they rob you of your ability to dream, how can you move forward?” Metzger said.

“We need to empower people to dream.”

Student Joey Adams, who also attended the event, appreciated the opportunity to talk about the issues.

“Something like this here in Puyallup is huge,” Adams said. “There’s too much misinformation out there and this is an opportunity for people to sit down and feel like they are getting the correct information.”

Students voice opinions on Trump’s executive orders Brenna Smark

E

Reporter

xecutive orders are assigned numbers and published in the federal register, similar to laws passed by Congress, and typically direct members of the executive branch to follow a new policy or directive. Scholars have typically used the number of executive orders per term to measure how much a president has exercised their power.

President Donald Trump so far has issued 16 executive orders in his presidency.

Three of these executive orders are defunding Planned Parenthood in an effort to stop abortions, the order to build a wall on the border between the United States and Mexico and the order signed in an attempt to combat criminal organizations, reduce crime and further protect law enforcement agents.

The executive order to defund Planned Parenthood caused some concern for political repercussions in the White House, so they made a proposal to preserve federal payments to the group if they discontinue providing abortions. Planned Parenthood has shown a negative reaction to this proposal due to the fact that none of the annual $500 million they receive covers abortions. Since none of the federal funds actually goes towards abortions, the executive order is defunding typical

MARCH 14, 2017

women’s health services rather than stopping abortion. Students also show a negative reaction to this order.

“The idea is just ridiculous,” student Kristina Jackson said. “Their efforts to stop abortions are pointless and are causing more of a disservice by defunding Planned Parenthood.”

Some students see the order as being pointless and a waste of time and energy.

“The idea of even attempting to stop abortions is dumb,” student Brandie Davis said. “Women are going to get abortions whether or not they’re funded, so putting a fruitless effort into this is just adding to the shit show.”

Students also share the opinion of defunding to stop abortions as infringing on a women’s basic rights.

“Accidents happen and not every woman is gonna be able to take care of a child they didn’t plan for,” student Analiese Garcia said. “It’s their option to fix their mistake if that’s what they see it as and trying to infringe upon that is inhumane in my opinion.”

The executive order of building a wall on the border between the United States of Mexico has been one of Trump’s main campaign promises from day one. This is expected to restrict the flow of refugees to the United States. The proposed plans include at least a four-month halt on all

refugee admissions, as well as a temporary ban on people coming from some Muslim majority countries. The order also directs the immediate detainment and deportation of illegal immigrants, and requires state and federal agencies to tally up how much foreign aid they are sending to Mexico within 30 days, and tells the US Customs and Border Protection to hire 5,000 additional border patrol agents. While Trump has claimed Mexico will pay for the wall, his administration has since softened this pledge, indicating U.S. taxpayers may have to foot the bill, at least at first.

Students are expressing some mixed opinions on this order, depending on whether they are for or against Trump.

“Building a wall is even more ridiculous and not at all feasible,” Jackson said. “No matter what Trump says, this will end up coming out of taxpayer’s money and it’s a waste of money for something the majority of people don’t want.”

Some students are of the opposing view.

“I think the wall is a great idea,” student Madison Meier said. “While immigrants are beneficial to our economy, immigration does need to be better controlled because right now a lot of them don’t follow all the legal processes of becoming a citizen and they’re taking advantage.”

The order signed to reduce criminal activity has the intended goal of bringing

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down criminal organizations, including criminal gangs and cartels. The action directs law enforcement to apprehend and prosecute citizens, and deport non-citizens involved in criminal activities including the illegal smuggling and trafficking of humans, drugs or other substances. The order also seeks to create new laws that will protect law enforcement, and increase the penalties for crimes committed against them. It also directs the attorney general to review existing federal grant funding programs to law enforcement agencies, and recommend changes to the programs if they don’t adequately protect law enforcement.

Students are of the opinion that the intention of this order are good, but that it will have some serious repercussions.

“This order is just not useful,” Jackson said. “It’s just going to turn into a ticket to enforce police violence and make it easier to deport.”

Other students think that the goal of reducing drug cartel overall is a waste of money and resources.

“The country already puts a lot of funding towards this cause and it isn’t doing any good,” Davis said. “If we really wanted to see change, we would work on tackling the issue at the heart by working with addiction and rehabilitation centers.”

THE PUYALLUP POST

Campus Life Students show off talents at Pierce Got Talent O Brenna Smark Reporter

n Feb. 23 the Office of Student Life hosted the Pierce Got Talent Show from 6-8:30 p.m. It was hosted in the downstairs of the College Center in the dining commons where participants gathered to show their talents.

According to Entertainment Coordinator Justin Malepe, planning for the talent show started back in December. The idea for the theme and name of the show came from the televised talent show, America’s Got Talent. Auditions weren’t required to perform, all one had to do was sign up.

Food was also present for the taking. Lancer set up a table laid out with tortilla chips, potato chips, macaroni and cheese and desserts including M&M brownies, chocolate chip cookies and chocolate white macadamia nut cookies.

Custodial Manager Patrick Carter, President of Raiders Rescue Easton Sears and President of the Black Student Union Victoria Miles sat in as the judges for the event.

As the rows of seats started to fill up, Malepe took the stage to start the show and introduce the first performance of the night.

To kick off the evening, the swing dance club performed an intricate swing dance routine that resulted with a standing ovation and whistling applause to get the crowd excited and on their feet.

Following the swing dance performance, McKensie Bell took the stage with a performance of the song Gimme Gimme from the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.

The audience gave a round of applause as the official talent show competition began.

Student Gabby Mendeola then took the stage with her guitar, performing an original song that had a message of striving and perseverance. The audience followed the performance with a round of approving applause.

Student Savvy Brower then took the stage. Standing behind the keys of an electronic keyboard, she performed Demi Lovato’s song Stone Cold. The audience gave a round of applause in approval of Brower’s ability to hit all the high notes the song contains.

About halfway through the talent show the OSL coordinators introduced the online submission portion of the show. To better convenience online students at Pierce, the OSL

offered online submissions so that their talents could also be seen.

The online submissions included Grace Thomas performing a duet of an original song called To The Day Where We All Ran Free, Cecilia Tofia performing The Star Spangled Banner, Linzay Louis Ashbey starring in a Harley Quinn music video that she put together and Vivian Anderson performing Adele’s Someone Like You. After all the online submissions were viewed, the audience was given the opportunity to vote through text which submission they thought was best. After counting all the votes Malepe announced that Grace Thomas was the majority’s top choice.

After the online submissions, Jessica Furnstahl took the stage performing She Used To Be Mine by Sara Bareilles and the night was finished off by a hip-hop dance routine performed by The Navy Brothers.

While the judges were tallying up the scores for who won the talent show, Malepe brought up ASPCP President Madi Martin for a surprise performance of Lady Gaga’s Million Reasons. Following Martin, Andrew Bottcher came to the stage for another surprise performance of his original song Altered Time Period.

After tallying up the scores, the judges put in their choices for first, second and third place winners for the show. The Navy Brothers came in at third, Jessica Furnstahl took second place, and Gabby Mendeola was announced as the winner of the Pierce Got Talent Show.

As the evening came to an end, individuals had an overall positive review of the show.

“The event was hosted very well,” Miles said. “It turned out way better than I had anticipated when I got asked to be a judge, though I would suggest more advertising.”

The performances were also praised.

“All of the performers were awesome,” Sears said. “Some were very good, some were alright but there weren’t any bad performances.”

Overall the talent show was reviewed as being a success and the OSL were proud of how well it went.

“The whole process of planning the event and carrying it out went much more smoothly than we had anticipated,” Malepe said. “We’re hoping to plan another event similar to this next year. The idea is very achievable considering how well this event went over.”

Hannah Pederson

BSU Vice President Shakita Etheridge introduces the panel; (from right to left) Club President Victoria Miles, Americorp/STEM Service Coordinator Christopher Davis and student Raven Walker (left). Walker discusses her experiences with black love while Davis looks on

Black Student Union dives into black love and sexuality Hannah Pederson Online Managing Editor

F

rom 1-2 p.m. on Feb. 14 in the Connection Café, the Black Student Union held a panel discussing black love and sexuality with club President Victoria Miles, student Raven Walker and Americorp/STEM Service Coordinator Christopher Davis and Vice President Shakita Etheridge facilitating.

The majority of the available seats were filled, with some students standing to listen to the panelists discuss black love, internalized racism in relationships with black partners, the sexualization and fetishization of black bodies and love in the black church.

Miles began the event by providing a brief, overarching definition of black love before moving on to the discussion.

“The concept of black love is very complex, it’s usually the act of loving another black person and I feel like this act is very complicated for a lot of different reasons,” she said.

Miles described her personal experience struggling with self love in an area that wouldn’t accept her unless she appeared “less black”.

“In order to be what people deem attractive and what was deemed worthy of love, I would do things like always straighten my hair, I would attempt to lighten my skin with bleaching creams or face washes,” Miles said. “Systems of whiteness, especially eurocentric beauty standards, plagued every nook and cranny of my life and it affected how I viewed myself to the point where I didn’t accept myself as being black and I didn’t want to be black.”

She explained that loving another black person is a

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radical act, because with the current systematically racist institutions in place you’re taking a chance on someone that can be lost at any moment.

Davis discussed how he had viewed his own blackness as unworthy, and alongside Walker talked about their shared experience having parents that actively encouraged whiteness. He went on to explain that black love isn’t about skin color, it’s about a shared struggle.

At this point, a man standing in the back row interrupted the speakers to ask them if they thought it was more important to be black or to be a part of American society, and what it meant to them to be black.

Walker explained that for him, being black in America is still a struggle despite all the progress the black community has advocated for.

Every panelist followed his lead, including club advisor Vicki Howell-Williams who had been sitting in the front row, student Donovan Saunders attempted to clarify by separating the terms American and black american, until Custodial Services Manager Patrick Carter gave the man a satisfying explanation and he went on his way.

Walker turned the conversation to internalized racism with dating other black people, sharing her experience of being told she wasn’t cute because she was black.

On the other hand, Davis used his experience being fetishized for his features to breech the subject of the fetishization of black men and the stereotypes he encountered.

When the topic of allyship came up, Davis condensed it into one simple message, “when black hate comes up in conversation, confront it,” he said.

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The panel turned to racism and sexism in black love, with Miles discussing the hypocritical nature of the expectations placed on black women and girls.

“White patriarchy is forced on black women,” she said.

“Black women are raised to be independent and strong because black men are pulled away from the family structure. My partners want me to be vulnerable but I was raised not to be.”

After this the panel transitioned to talking about the sexualization of black women’s bodies, which Miles tied back to the era of slavery.

“Black women were deemed sexually insatiable to justify rape and sexual abuse,” she said. “Black women didn’t own their own sexuality, your body was used to create more bodies.”

This led to a discussion of the fetishization of black bodies, and Walker brought up the point that things deemed sexy on black bodies aren’t on black bodies, but are instead more valuable on white bodies.

“It wasn’t that they (her partners) were interested in me romantically, it was just aspects of me,” Miles said.

“Fetishizing and loving are two different things, loving is loving every aspect of someone.”

The panel ended with Davis and Miles sharing their experiences in the black church, his with homophobia and hers with modesty culture.

If students are interested in attending any future BSU meetings, the club meets on Tuesdays from 4:30-6 p.m. in the Health Education Center room 207.

MARCH 14, 2017

Features

Rebecca Dickson

Irene Vu chats with Giovany Gonzalez (left) and Khoa Nguyen at International Club’s event “Culture around the world,” which is an ongoing event exploring different cultures.

A comparison of cultures: Vietnam & America Rebecca Dickson

subjects than American schools In addition, Vu said the American education is more tudent Irene Vu spoke excitedly with her fellow practical, with more hands-on learning. members of International Club. The ongoing event Vu identified several differences in culture between Cultures Around the World focuses on a variety of the U.S. and Vietnam. One of the biggest differences she cultures so international and domestic students can learn identified was in food preparation. about the different cultures. Many students didn’t know Vu said Vietnamese food tends to have more seasoning about these cultures before attending. than American food. Traditional Vietnamese food has Vu, however, has wanted to travel for a long time and spices and sweet and sour flavors. This is contrasted with has studied many cultures. the taste of American food.

“Coming to America is like a dream to me,” Vu said. “It’s “America is either saucy or plain,” Vu said. been an experience. It’s not easy, but it’s not really bad.”

While most wouldn’t think of what method to use to Although Vu came to the United States in order to study heat something up, Vu does. She stated that the methods for high school and college, she was also curious about of cooking are different between the two countries. While other cities. Vu had the opportunity to travel to New York, Americans tend to put things in the oven and wait for it to which was a life-changing experience for her. be ready, traditional Vietnamese food often calls for the “I really loved New York before I (went) to New York. use stovetops and for special ingredients.

I loved the big city,” Vu said. “(It was) A trip mainly for “The texture is different when you use the oven,” Vu shopping, but we saw a Broadway show.” said. “America really likes leftovers”.

At 17 years old, Vu crossed the Pacific Ocean to come Vu said that in Vietnam, most house parties have one to America. Originally, she came to participate in a high big table where everyone sits down and eats, with the host school. Michigan, also titled “the freezing state” by Vu, providing food for the guests. In America, Vu said, that’s was a change in weather and less common. perspective. While Michigan Another big difference While Vu wanted to come to has colder weather, Vietnam is between the two cultures America, she knew it would be is language. While Vu took more tropical. “(In Vietnam) we try to a big change from her culture. English in school, she speaks avoid sunlight as best as we Vietnamese as her first can,” Vu said. “We don’t like However, the exchange program language. to be tan. Pale skin is like the at the high school in Vietnam Vu said there are differences standard of beauty. We like the in the meanings words that are provided a unique opportunity used. thing we don’t usually have.”

While Vu wanted to come to for learning and for travel. “It “In Vietnamese, one word America, she knew it would be has a lot of meaning,” Vu said. a big change from her culture. was an opportunity to come to “(In English,) there’s not really However, the exchange America,” Vu said. “I wanted to try.” a lot of inferred meaning.” program at the high school in Another difference is the Vietnam provided a unique placement of accents Vu said opportunity for learning and for travel. accents can change a language and accents can “It was an opportunity to come to America,” Vu change the entire meaning of a word. said. “I wanted to try.”

“In English, we don’t have the accents, which makes Vu said that the education she received in Vietnam is quite (each word have) one meaning,” Vu said. different from the education she’s currently receiving Vu also spoke about traditional beauty standards in in the U.S. Vietnamese schools last longer, with more Vietnam. Vu said there are several differences in these Reporter

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standards between Vietnam and the U.S. One beauty standard in Vietnam is the belief that pale skin is more beautiful than darker skin.

“Usually the older women, they will say that (babies with pale skin) are pretty,” Vu said.

Vu said the traditional beauty standard for Vietnamese women is a woman who is thin and has pale skin. This seems to be a big difference to Vu, as she said American culture praises full figured, strong women.

Another strong beauty standard in Vietnam is the existence of tattoos. When a person has a tattoo in America, they’re often seen as normal or acceptable. However, in Vietnam, this is less acceptable.

“To Vietnamese, (most) older people oppose the tattoo culture. We are traditional, so we want to keep that (belief),” Vu said. “It’s hard for them to accept the new things different from traditions.”

There also are strong gender roles in Vietnamese society. Although in the main cities tend to have more equality, the countryside has more defined gender roles.

“In (the) countryside, men have the more important role, but it depends on the family,” Vu said. “We usually listen to the men, (but that is changing slowly). We receive the influence from the outside.”

Overall, Vu noted that Americans seem more outgoing, while people from her culture are more reserved.

“Americans are more active, and Asians are more conservative,” Vu said. “(We) wait for others to approach up until we are more open to them”.

Some of this comes out in the perceived closeness to others Americans demonstrate.

“Americans give random compliments. We usually don’t (do) that. We say (complements) to close friends,” Vu said. “(Vietnamese) tease each other. I don’t know if Americans are telling the truth or teasing us”.

Vu is currently working to graduate Pierce with an Associate of Science, where she will transfer to a 4 year University. Although Vu isn’t positive to where she will go to University, she said the U.S. is a choice she may choose.

“It depends on the University I go to,” Vu said. “The USA isn’t a bad place. It’s already great. You don’t need to make it great again.”

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Features Professional to student: a snapshot of John Sanford’s life Brenna Smark

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Reporter

ohn Sanford is a computer network engineering student and the multimedia facilitator through the Student Technology Assistance Team at Pierce College Puyallup.

Students may recognize Sanford working at the front desk of the Student Media Center in the Arts and Allied Health Building.

The SMC is a computer lab specific in software and additional features for web design, such as Adobe Photoshop. Working in the SMC opposed to all the other labs was optimal for him because of his background in photography and editing, Sanford said.

“Back in the day I used to be a certified Photoshop master,” Sanford said. “I used to work Photoshop about 30-50 hours a week for 15 years.”

Sanford became introduced to Photoshop through his career as a photographer.

“I used to freelance, and when my son was born I got offered a job at a department store in Portland called Meier and Frank,” Sanford said. “They owned about 16 stores and the way it used to work is the photographer would set up with the stylist and shoot, and they would retest their stuff and turn it in for layout, so that’s where I learned.”

Sanford enjoys working in the SMC and helping students learn how to use Photoshop because in the modern era, the original ways of doing edits with Photoshop have been diminishing.

“Nowadays you may do color balancing, and if you’re fast and sneaky, maybe do a little clean up,” Sanford said. “They have digital retouchers now and that’s all they do. So you shoot it up, put in a folder and something else does it for you now.”

The process of photo editing has become compartmentalized over the years for efficiency’s sake, but for someone such as Sanford who had to complete the whole process himself, it’s easy to see mistakes that are made in modern publications. The original process of editing is his personal preference because he has control over such mistakes, Sanford said.

“Most people don’t see the mistakes, but I’ve got that experienced eye and it’s just annoying,” Sanford said. “If it’s my stuff, I want it done right.”

Sanford holds a passion for photography, but it’s been his strongest passion since he was 10 years old.

“I had watched a movie called The Pleasure Seekers. It was a James Bondish kinda movie and there was a scene with a fashion photographer on this roof doing this big, cool fashion photoshoot,” Sanford said. “I was just amazed. My mother remembers me saying I wanna do that when I grow up, I wanna take pictures of beautiful girls. What a dork.”

Sanford had some bumps on his way to following photography as his passion.

“I tried to get into photo class in high school, but back then there was only six spots and I never got in the entire three years I tried. So, that kind of bummed me out,” Sanford said.

Sanford’s luck changed, however, when he went to college.

“I went to college, took a photo class, and I found out about a school called Brooks Institute of Photography. It was a world class place to go,” Sanford said. “I went to Brooks and my eyes were stretched wide open as to what photography really was.”

After attending Brooks, Sanford spent 27 years taking photos professionally. A lot of his work revolved around advertising photography, Sanford said.

“I enjoy doing photography for fun, artsy things to, but when your passion becomes your business you do a lot of work,” Sanford said. “For the first 12 years of my career my work days were 10 hours easy. So, you get home and it’s like you’ve done more than enough and you don’t really have the motivation or time to do fun stuff like shooting your cousin’s wedding.”

Using his passion for work and working 10 hour or more days, however, never hindered Sanford’s love for photography and Photoshop.

“I still love it. It’s like putting together a puzzle. When you’re doing it professionally you really have to know what you’re doing and know how to solve problems,” Sanford said. “People would get so bored with retouching and Photoshop stuff and I’d just be fascinated in how it works and how it changes things.”

Sanford embraced the challenges that his passion brought him face to face with.

“If you take two photos of the same thing and one’s really nicely retouched and done up and the other one’s not, people can clearly tell which one’s nicer. They may not be able to tell you why, but they can tell which one is nicer,” Sanford said. “That’s the goal. The goal is to not leave any footprints, so there’s always this challenge.”

Sanford has enjoyed and appreciated all the opportunities that photography has given him.

“I’ve hung out with Aerosmith. I’ve shot the drive shaft of a nuclear power plant, I’ve photographed Serena Williams, and I’ve been on the set with Green Day,” Sanford said.

After a long career with photography, Sanford said he’s done with it now.

“It’s kinda sad, but I was the senior photographer for the Home Shopping Network for the past eight years. I’ve shot all kinds of stuff and I’ve got ads all over the place in Vanity Fairs and Better Homes and Gardens and such, and after doing something professionally for that long it kinda dies down,” Sanford says. “We moved up here from Florida and after looking for a good job for two and a half years I couldn’t find one. So it’s good work if you can get it, but if you can’t get it, it doesn’t pay the bills.”

Photography is opinionated work, Sanford said. If a company doesn’t like a photographer’s stuff, they just won’t hire them.

Sanford doesn’t see himself as an advertiser for his work. He refers to himself as a doer. He said he’s good at what he does, but he doesn’t advertise it very well. That’s part of the problem with finding good work.

This is why Sanford started working at the SMC. Studying to become a computer network engineer and helping to teach others his passions is the next best thing, Sanford said.

Sanford talks about his personal experiences as a photographer.

Brenna Smark

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MARCH 14, 2017

Features

Julian Howard Chase Charaba

Lacrosse player, jazz saxophonist and future med student Chase Charaba

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Co-Editor-in-Chief

Photos courtesy of Julian Howard

Photos courtesy of Julian Howard

Photos courtesy of Julian Howard

Julian Howard at practice (top). Howard performs a faceoff in lacrosse (middle).

Howard dodging by a defender at an Adreanaline All-Star Tournament for an elite West Coast lacrosse team (bottom).

MARCH 14, 2017

acrosse is said to be the fastest sport on two feet.

For student Julian Howard, playing lacrosse has been a lifelong passion.

Howard started playing lacrosse when he was in third grade after receiving his first stick for Christmas.

“You can’t start playing lacrosse until you’re in third grade,” Howard said. “I just played around whenever I could. So, finally when third grade came around, that’s when I was officially about to join the team.”

He started playing for his local club team Maniax Lacrosse before moving to Sea-Town Kings Elite.

Howard also has played on West Coast Starz, a Northwest travel team that’s regarded as a top lacrosse team in the United States, for about five years and on Team USA’s U19 box lacrosse team.

Playing lacrosse has made Howard more organized because his activities are based around a tight schedule.

On a typical game day, Howard wakes up at about 4:30 a.m. to get ready for practice.

“I’ll get up at around 4:30-5 in the morning to go to our morning practice at 5:45,” Howard said. “We’ll practice until about 7:20 and then we hit the showers. We do a little bit of cardio and stuff like that and we don’t want to wear ourselves out.”

Then he’ll go to classes until it’s time for his team to study film of the team they’re playing against next. After going out for a team dinner, players head to the field to get another practice in or, if they’re playing away, they’ll load the bus and go.

Howard said lacrosse has also strengthened his character because it has given him self-confidence.

“I used to get bullied a lot for always being the smallest and for having a different style than everyone else,” Howard said. “Lacrosse just showed me that if I put effort into something, then I can prove everyone wrong. Now even though I’m the smallest on the field, people know my name and they know what I can do. My skills on the field have given me credibility, and that has given me confidence.”

Some of the people Howard looks up to in lacrosse include Coach Mark, Greg Gurenlian and Alf Jacques.

“My first one would probably be my coach, Coach Mark,” Howard said. “He has really helped me grow as a player. I took clinics with him when I first started playing, and he’s really helped me throughout the sport and getting out there.”

Gurenlian is another inspiration for Howard because he’s considered the best faceoff player in the U.S., which is the position Howard plays in lacrosse. Howard said he watches his videos a lot to learn from him.

Jacques is a member of the Onondaga Nation in New York and he makes traditional wood lacrosse sticks.

“He’s just so connected to the game, man,” Howard said. “Every time you hear him talk about the game, it’s just like you’re hearing about it for the first time. And, he doesn’t refer to it as lacrosse, he refers to it as the medicine man’s game.”

Howard said that’s because Native Americans used to

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play the game across miles of territory to settle arguments and disputes and the game is said to heal those who play it.

When Howard was in third grade, he made the elite team for third and fourth graders. During a game, the coaches put him in a braveheart, which is a one-on-one match when the game goes into overtime. Teams each send out a player and a goalie, and the winner of the braveheart wins the game for their team.

“They put me in as a new player because they trusted me enough and they thought I was good enough,” Howard said. “I scored the winning goal to win our championship.”

Howard said it meant a lot to him because they usually put only the best and most experienced players in bravehearts.

In addition to playing lacrosse, Howard keeps himself busy with other activities. He started playing violin when he was in third grade and he started playing tenor saxophone in fifth grade, both of which he still plays.

“I only play jazz with saxophone because I absolutely love jazz,” Howard said.

His favorite jazz musician is John Coltrane and his favorite song by Coltrane is Central Park West, which he describes as a mellow tune that he listens to when he needs to lose himself and forget about things for a minute.

“When some people play jazz, they just play the music that they see on the page, but Coltrane, he has this way of expressing himself and he has just this hearty sound that’s just unique and you can pick him out easily in a crowd,” Howard said. “It’s just his own, unique style and I just think that’s just, it’s super gnarly.”

Howard also practices calligraphy because it calms his down when he’s stressed out.

Almost every weekend during the winter, Howard tries to snowboard as much as possible at Crystal and Snoqualmie Passes. Howard also likes to go hiking on local trails such as Mount Peak, Mount Si and Rattlesnake.

“Occasionally me and my buddies or my significant other will go backpacking in Oregon for the weekend or we’ll head up to my buddy’s cabin in Winthrop and backpack some of the local trails there,” Howard said.

As for Howard’s future, he currently has a full-ride to Michigan for lacrosse, but he isn’t sure if he’ll go through with it.

“I kind of want to stay local because I want to go to medical school to be a CRNA, so if I could, I would love to play throughout and college and maybe get into the pros, but that’s going to be really hard,” Howard said.

“But, so far, I’m just kind of sticking toward going to medical school.”

He’s thinking about attending University of Washington in Seattle for medical school.

“I’ve always wanted to do something to help others and I’ve always wanted to have a stable career,” Howard said. “There’s never going to be a shortage of people being sick.”

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