T H E U N D E RG R A D UAT E M AG A Z I N E O F C O LU M B I A U N I V E R S I T Y, E S T. 1 8 9 0
THE BLUE AND WHITE Vol. XX No. I
February 2014
“Accessible, Prompt, and Equitable”? An examination of sexual assault at Columbia
The Answer is Luck A conversation with Jennifer Egan Also InsI
de:
A look Into ColumbIA's Investment In FossIl Fuels
TORSTEN ODLAND, CC ’15, Editor in Chief SOMER OMAR, CC ’16, Managing Editor WILL HOLT, CC ’15, Features Editor LUCA MARZORATI, CC ’15, Senior Editor ALEXANDER PINES, CC ’16, Senior Editor NAOMI SHARP, CC ’15, Senior Editor DANIEL STONE, CC ’16, Senior Editor HALLIE NELL SWANSON, CC ’16, Senior Editor JESSIE CHASAN-TABER, CC ’16, Layout Editor LEILA MGALOBLISHVILI, CC ’16, Senior Illustrator MATTHEW SEIFE, CC ’16, Publisher Staff Writers NAOMI COHEN, CC ’15 VIRGINIA FU, CC ’17 CHANNING PREND, CC ’17 TAMSIN PARGITER, BC ’16 ALEXANDRA SVOKOS, CC ’14 Contributors SEAN AUGUSTINE-OBI, CC ’16 JULI BRANDANO, BC ’16 MICHELLE CHERIPKA, CC ’16 TYLER DINGMAN, CC ’16 COOPER LYNN, CC ’17 JOSEPH MILHOLLAND, CC ’17 ANGELICA MODABBER, BC ’16 KATHERINE NEVITT, CC ’16 JENNIFER SLUKA, CC ’17 MATTHEW SEIFE, CC ’16 ETHAN WU, CC ’17 Artists RACHEL AGINS, BC ’17 ZANE BHANSALI, CC ’17 ANGEL JIANG, CC ’15 KATHARINE LIN, CC ’16 PAULINA MANGUBAT, BC ’17 ALEXANDER PINES, CC ’16 ANNE SCOTTI, CC ’16 Editors Emeriti ANNA BAHR, BC ’14 CONOR SKELDING, CC ’14
THE BLUE AND WHITE Vol. XX
FAMAM EXTENDIMUS FACTIS 4 6 8 12 13 25 26 34 35
Torsten Odland & Luca Marzorati Joseph Milholland
Jennifer Sluka
Anna Bahr
Michelle Cheripka
Luca Marzorati
No. I
Columns BlueBook Blue Notes C ampus CharaCters Verily Veritas Curio ColumBiaNa staff p ersoNals m easure for m easure Digitalia ColumBiaNa C ampus g ossip
Features 10 at two sworDs’ l eNgth: a re you a Cop? Our monthly prose and cons 14 fielD of Dreams A history of South Field 15 show m e the moNey Looking into Columbia’s investment in fossil fuels 17
“aCCessiBle, p rompt, aND equitaBle”? An examination of sexual assault at Columbia
24 i’m Not r eally sure where this is g oiNg yet, But Just going off of what has been said about our generation and language 28 the a Nswer is luCk A conversation with Jennifer Egan
theblueandwhite.org
COVER :
“Hurt so Good ” by Leila Mgaloblishvili
BLUE BOOK
letter From tHe eDitor
transaCtions arriVals
long, he crosses paths with a woodsman. “Forester, can you help graze and the sun shines bright.” The woodsman squints: “You never asked me on any damn date!” He walks into the thicket and vanishes.
Recycling bins on Broadway A populist in Gracie Mansion The McConnaissance 50 cent price hike at HamDel Dig Inn Seasonal Market
never go home. I could to return to the city. Now, I enjoyed spending time with my
Departures Your local Citi branch The Heights
where I could really check my email.
Bloomberg’s nanny state Columbia Cottage
But now that I am The Blue and White
Dirty Mike and the Boys
I’m taking the reins at a special moment in the magazine’s all the big stories and ideas. backroom deals? The parties?” It’s good to be the king, brah. — Torsten Odland
4
Come again!?
“Be your tincture Keystone or Nikolai, Belvedere or Four Loko, all drink has the power to turn prince to pauper and then pauper to poet. Give writing a shot—a good old col-
– Kevin Bi, CC ’15, in the Columbia Spectator
The Blue and WhiTe
BLUE BOOK
Happy New year Student A bumps into Student B at Columbia-area bar. Student A: B! Good to see you, dude. How was your break?
Student B: Here’s to that! Freedom is a precious thing, A. It’s hard not to let this University eat up our curiosity, our creative intensity. We may be students, but we own our own time. We got lives to live!
Student B: It was cool. I got to sleep in, watch TV. I love to watch TV with my three brothers. It sure was cold though! In New England! How about yours?
Student B pulls on their red straw, nodding.
Student A: Yeah, I smoked through Sherlock and The West Wing, me and all my sisters. And when I wasn’t watching TV, I was partying or eating dinner. Heh, I guess you could say…
Student A: Seriously dude. It was cold out!
So seriously, what was up with that polar vortex? Yeah? Haha.
Student A raises their gin and tonic and clinks it against B’s.
Their conversation halts. The silence nags at Student A as it grows. Despite a good effort, A still can’t think of anything worthwhile to say. Under the stress, A’s signature facial tic, which is a frozen kissy face, emerges. B sips long and hard.
Heh, I guess you could say I didn’t do shit.
Student B: So, what ah…classes are you taking?
POSTCARD FROM MORNINGSIDE
February 2014
Postcard by Leila Mgaloblishvili
5
BLUE NOTES
A
Eustace Tilley, the New Yorker mascot who appeared on the inaugural cover in 1925. Rea Irvin,
Irvin reportedly based the image on an 1834 th -century Europe. He embodied the Victorian dandy—a man who valued elegance, culture and personal appearance.
rized the New Yorker’s production and publishing lishing executive. His image was hidden throughout the magazine, like a very pretentious Waldo. There is no evidence, however, to suggest that Ford’s character bears any resemblance to Taylor—his unexcepname.
I always thought the monocled man was an arbiter
— Channing Prend
“L
to the magazine or the city. Was Tilley an idealized New Yorker intended demographic? Corey Ford, CC ’23, consummated Irvin’s
in the mirror.” Theories as to what the oddly-shaped,
his humorous series entitled “The Making
Indiana limestone have sat untouched since the archi-
Columbia
students chised writers have reveled in speculating that Ford based the character on Eustace Columbian. Ford’s original stories however, prove the claim
6
Hall’s ornamental clock was intended to be are thin
Havemeyer in the late 1890s, and nobody seems to know exactly why. The building—donated by Theodore A. Chemistry Department. As College President Seth stone, Havemeyer was to be a place where students could explore “what is still unread in the manuis riddled with Beaux Arts details—a neat balustrade
Illustration by Rachel Agins
The Blue and WhiTe
BLUE NOTES ness, and probably truth, as Columbia’s, “Maybe I’ll just sell out and work on Wall Street.” approach a dark brick townhouse, with the address door. It’s all a bit Victorian and I’m a bit intimidated. the man who eventually opens the door. “That’s the next door down”—which is apparently a garage. The club—which is reached via an elevator an exercise in hip: super edgy art lines the walls, ledge—hints that the pediment’s intended design was similarly classical. An 1897 promotional pamphlet, tucked away in the Rare Book and Manuscript against its clock. The story behind the pediment’s abandonment remains a mystery, eluding curators and campus historians alike. A call to Harry W. Havemeyer,
Less Victorian, still intimidating—people keep calling me “madam” and asking me where I’m going. Past the bar (“I think I’ll get the Ivy cocktail ni, diverse in age and nationality, representing lots tell us that we need to go to Lion’s Head Tavern. One
namesake are bewildered. Columbia architectural enthusiast, Raza Panjwani, CC ’07, hypothesizes
a beer,” he says. “The man heard eight beers. They were all lined up.”
a suitable donation that never materialized,” pointing out that several ornaments around campus have -
longstanding example is what one 1955 Spectator the Amsterdam gates’ memorial pylons were meant to
“just chilling.” This leads me to wonder whether I’m getting in the way, but everyone here seems
Preservation Program, assured me that an endeavor
other hand, is relatively hard.
— Alexandra Warrick
T
Dave,” says the other. “Oh, um … do you have a card or something?” Columbia appears to have made this lot no less English. — Hallie Nell Swanson
sentence, “Perhaps I’ll just pack it all in and work
February 2014
Illustrations by Anne Scotti and Angel Jiang
7
Campus Characters the Blue & white introduces you to a handful of Columbians who are up to interesting and extraordinary things and whose stories beg to be shared. If you’d like to suggest a Campus Character, send us an email at editors@theblueandwhite.org.
Seyi AdebAyo
S
ince the sixth grade, Seyi Adebayo, CC ’14,
dedicating more than 50 hours each week both on the
Seyi’s 6’ huddled over a table in the Hungarian Pastry Shop, but he smiles openly as he tells me about his classes
2012 season. With sights on the NFL, he took the recover, deciding to graduate later in order to play
“You could tell Seyi was going through a hard says Hamilton Carner, CC ’
his interest in using statistics to project game atten“I was the biggest supporter, I was the biggest cheerleader on the sidelines, but I was also a big critic and I tried to help the people who were in my position as best as I could,” he says. Seyi’s reign as captain is marked not only by his injuries, but also by a damaged reputation. This “We’ year,” Seyi says. “But we’re doing our best to try to keep that behind us. You can’ past, all you can do is look towards the present and try to make it better.” Hamilton recalls that Seyi would come to his dorm room at 5:30 a.m. to work on speed training, ing. “I just hope when people look back on Seyi’s career here at Columbia they see all the work he Hamilton says. “I hope people use his perseverance and work ethic as a standard to set themselves to.” — Michelle Cheripka
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The Blue and WhiTe
Kem WAlKer
K
emble Walker, CC ’14, brings a bowl
Hungarian Pastry Shop. It’s what he’s been about whether my mic will pick up what he’s saying.) Tomorrow he intends to leave have been a good three-year run. long way away,” an expression that Kem it sounds. enous Australians. Kem convinced his in papers early so that he could return to Australia to participate in mediations between indigenous miners and mining companies. Kem wants “to bring everyone in the world together, so we can work and solve these pressing problems.” He says: “I am a communicator. That’s what I’m doing. I’m around the world and I bridge the worlds.” He hasn’t always been this way. You should understand that Kem was once less global communicator and more international jet-setter—that expensively dressed kid you’re most
out with European girls,” says Kem. A Spectator colescapades: “My stomach churned only with sugared booze and visceral disgust,” he wrote. “It was so inhuman.”
conjectures, “the straw that broke the camel’s back.” Too much. particular, he was taken by the way the movement where they were allowed to be themselves—“unlike community among the Columbia student participants in Occupy. He joined campus drum-circles. Kem spent his junior winter break at the Rainbow Gathering in Palenque, Mexico. When he handle Columbia. He gave away all his possessions
in modeling. Although this hobby only lasted three weeks, it endures in the photographs that appear -
February 2014
and graduate a semester early as an anthropology concentrator. He’s glad to leave Columbia: “I’ve done my time here.” — Daniel Stone
Illustrations by Zane Bhansali
9
AT T W O S W O R D S ’ L E N G T H
Are you Y
ou’re damn right I’m a cop! What makes you so curious huh? Got something to hide, buddy?
windowsills, the glove box where we keep the plantblunts … I intuit them. Every day I wind up breaking
have something to hide, you better believe I’d already be wrist-deep in your ass. No, you can always tell a perp: they sweat, make excuses, they don’t look you in the eye, they’re Mexican or black or something.
that blunt and nailing their asses into the corkboard.
And I will
precinct, I’m the closest thing they’ve got to a Mozart. crack rock. And who’s going to check? The judge? C’maaahn. Maybe I sound arrogant. I am. In my
-
my whole head up there. I look like a cop to you? Thanks, bud. You mean like a tough, authoritative, badass who deep down is a wiseguy/
necessity. When you get entrusted with the legitimate authority to pound ass and fucking arrest people, you have to know you’re always
cop is supposed to look like. Trust me, I spend time, how am I supposed to tell this sixteen-yearold kid that I’m the authority, eh? And, goddamn
assholes. That’s just the partner is an asshole, my
bitches in my unit deserve to get kicked in the ass. I love ’em, but that’s the way we talk, humble enough to admit that, right FFirmative you know? That’s the way it is. And now, in this day and age, we don’t By Torsten Odland some days I just want to rip those have good enough surveillance assholes to pieces. I work a helluva equipment to prevent all crime. But lot harder than they do. someday, with improved technoloSo I guess that means I’m a dedicated cop, right? Maybe idealistic—heh, I’ll plead to that. But good poh-leece. I’m in Vice. Been there three years, but everybody can tell I’m literally the best they’ve I’m serious, buddy—sit back down. You’ve had
a
unit calls me the “Blunt Hound” because catching kids while they’re, ah, Hell, I see blunts everywhere—back pockets,
10
car keys? (That’s on the record now.) Well, I’d have to drink. Or better yet, you’ll buy me a drink.
The Blue and WhiTe
AT T W O S W O R D S ’ L E N G T H
a cop? A
m I a cop? Fuck no, man! I thought I was your boy! A cop? You’ve got to be shitting me. How can you be sure? Man, when’s the last
been like Training Day, except, well…you’re the cop!
mean, remember when
activity. I
Nelson introduced me
don’t judge a cover by its looks. And, truly, I owe you big time—you’ve taught me everything about the game. I know you always tell me, curiosity is my best quality. That’s why I ask you about everything—how your organization works, Security Numbers, where they usually are at about six in the morning—because I want to learn! That’s why I’m so happy you let me install that recording system in your car and let me put that chip in your phone—this way, you
did—POW!—hijack this old lady’s car! Man, that
me in! Every morning,
September 31st! Think about it,
early, and listen to the tapes, and I learn—what would you do in situation x, situation y, how would you handle this, ing? Extortion? Arson? how would you deal I’m no expert in the with that … I’m learncriminal justice system, ing so much! but you’d think you’d I keep those tapes organized, man. You know, back at my place. Sometimes, I look back on our best jobs—those egative are like the Eagles’ greatest hits By Luca Marzorati albums! What, you don’t know the Eagles? Fuck it, it doesn’t matter. How do I know all that? Ha! … maybe because Anyway ... think how good I am with cops! I’m a criminal ? I know you looked it up and it said I When’s the last time you’ve seen a cop drive by, or didn’t have a record, but that’s wrong man—they just mand center inside? They never come around here times that the damn bureaucrats don’t want to embar- anymore. I think it’s because they know I’m bad, rass themselves. man, real bad I mean, you know me. I’m streets, I’m tough, State Police pulled us over on 95? Who’s the one that I work! Yeah, so what? I look like any other shmuck who takes the Long Island Rail Road to his shitty
n
man, but, hey, looks can be deceptive! As they say,
February 2014
Illustrations by Angel Jiang
11
V E R I LY V E R I TA S
TOLD BETWEEN PUFFS In which our hero is scared straight
A
h, it is an inauspicious start to another semester The next day, he makes serious enquiries.
to carry his steamer trunk up to his room and mutters something about ing as a tip. Service means nothing anymore, V.V. tells He
librarian. Oh how she warmly gazes at V.V. who insists on only using the card catalog and who calls her madam. “You keep me young, V. You keep my spirit
struggles
leather wooden box. He
unable to help him. He resorts to crasser means. V.V. decides to knock
being seen drenched in shirtsleeves. Presently, V.V. needs to stretch his legs. The twelve hour air voyage has worn him out. Making matters worse, the woman next to him insisted on telling
houses. His route begins by Strokos, where he enjoys the Greeks always impresses him.) He turns down 113th Street and begins. V.V. stands on the thresh-
she was. Ignoramus supreme. top down. V.V. knows that it best to work ity and gentility. th
“RUSH!” it declares. “Rush!” thinks V.V. Rush. Why not? ternity man. Songs, regulations, nicer quarters. He
and raps at the door. A girl answers. “I want to rush,” he pronounces. She eyes him oddly. V.V. thinks that she admires his necktie. “We are a sorority. No men. Try over there.” She points and slams the door. er men. He ambulates down the street to the greek it even deserves to be called that—can be heard. V.V. knocks on the door and waits, but there characterize the whole establishment, V.V. disre-
ternity, and V.V. considers that aspect appalling. But it represents but a small detail—who has time to They must not take it too seriously. Rush, rush, rush, the wind seems to repeat in his ear. Rush V.V. must.
12
door.
building’s vestibule and sprints back to his dorm room.
The Blue and WhiTe
A
CURIO COLUMBIANA fter the 1968 campus riots, Columbia took a moment to assess itself. The University convened a fact-
to understand the circumstances that precipitated radical action and what had happened. To this end, they interviewed tens of students, administrators and professors who had witnessed the events of the past year. The group produced a slim book, Investigate the Disturbances at Columbia University, which was published in the fall of 1968. Excerpted here is a section titled “Conditions Special to Columbia” that attempts to illuminate what aspects of student life may have contributed to unrest. It begins by quoting a school psychologist’s report of his observations. “Certainly loneliness, isolation, and social awkwardness are not ordinarily strangers tered rather than ameliorated such experiences. Firstly, the dormitories were constructed readings and experience with the wider culture were simply not available. It is by now cliche miration were simply too busy with their own academic careers to devote much energy or
”
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conditions are not wholly remediable in a large urban center without enormous expenditures
-
February 2014
13
HACKENSACK MEETS HARLEM
Field of Dreams A history of South Field BY JOSEPH MILHOLLAND ’s -
B
th subway station’s construction in 1904, Morningside Heights was a barren stretch
prices, so Columbia administrators—ever opportunists—sought to cheaply acquire more land while they still could. South Field, then a large, undeveloped plot to make its market debut. According to Andrew Dolkart’s book Morningside Heights, President
the surroundings.” South Field’s role in the 1968 demonstrations, rallies, and alternative classes secured the on campus. Indeed, a 1971 letter to the editor in the Spectator by Phoebe Greenberg, an employee at
secured.” But as Columbia slipped into decline Spectator
Columbia annexed the land, embracing it in a tight The central space was used as a multipurpose athletic
there.” Through the eighties and nineties, South Field was persistently unmanicured. In 1980 a comcould make a report. In 2000, Facilities re-sodded
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shape.
Columbia employee, wrote in a Letter to the Editor in the Spectator that South Field was an “unsightly Columbia turn it into a parking lot. Reacting to the rule-breaking students. In 1957, Columbia College students petitioned to be allowed to lounge on the grass, but their
14
Communications in Facilities, stated in an e-mail
administrators seeking to project Columbia’s glossy image limit student involvement.
Illustration by Angel Jiang
The Blue and WhiTe
NOT SO WELL-ENDOWED
Show Me The Money Looking into Columbia’s investment in fossil fuels BY JENNIFER SLUKA
S
-
has grown rapidly. Last semester, BCD helped to pass
Columbia’s investments, and meets around 14 times a year to discuss and research Columbia’s investments According to Matthew Chou, CC ’14 and a -
starting in the 1960s, as well as smaller movements question. While BCD suspects that Columbia is heavreleased publicly. Robert Hornsby, Associate Vice -
Columbia community.” From 2006 to 2011, these minutes were posted online, but the postings have become increasingly irregular. In 2011-2012, only This year, none have been posted, prompting BCD to ask the ACSRI to post the minutes more consistently. Despite their promising to do so, the minutes have not been updated since September 2012. When I asked Robert Hornsby about the lack
outside the University’s annual report.” The annual updated. When I checked the website again, minutes University, a 37-page document, does little to describe how Columbia chooses its investments. And the 2011-2012 minutes? Hornsby says that they in real estate, land, buildings, equipment, etc. This $8.1 billion is managed by the Columbia Investment Management Company, LLC (IMC), whose members The IMC does not answer media requests. There is, however, one group that advises the University’s investments. Founded in March 2000, the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible on ethical and social issues that arise in the managements,” according to their website. The ACSRI is members, and three alumni as voting members, and members. Student members are nominated by stu-
Alumni Relations.
February 2014
Illustration by Anne Scotti
15
NOT SO WELL-ENDOWED “were inadvertently lost during a website transition.” The ACSRI has researched controversial investments, including those in munitions and envitenure on the committee, it analyzed companies in Sudan, placing some on a watch list and some on a divestment list. Chou says “these lists are then provided to the Trustees but adds that “a company’s presence on the list does not imply that Columbia has any stake in the company.” It is unclear whether
Meanwhile, Lapidous says that among BCD’s in a community where a non-student minority makes with the growing national student movement.” agenda.” Columbia’s institutional history may provide
recommendations, as no one has been able to provide responsibly. In early November, riding on October’s overlot initiative, BCD members Daniela Lapidous, CC ’16, Ryan Elivo, CC ’15, and Iliana SalazarDodge, CC ’16, presented their case to the ACSRI. By that time, the ACSRI committee to research
the United States econ-
And the 2011-2012 minutes? Hornsby says that they “were inadvertently lost during a website transition.”
business, Todd Gitlin, Gitlin, who was involved
investments, and according to Lapidous, “the ACSRI relationship to explore the issue together.”
parallels between the two movements. He points out that the movement is spread across many campuses
three main requests: increasing transparency by posting their minutes, helping to build a public universities. He also points out that “there’s all kinds -
ing the university”—as a university with a “moral
The BCD members hoped that the ACSRI would be able to make a recommendation to the
whose overriding goal is to maximize its returns.” He added, “In a setting in which the main institu-
but the ACSRI said that its members needed until the
government regulators and the corporations themselves—that it’s then incumbent upon universities to
the drawn-out timeline, Lapidous remains positive about BCD’s collaboration with the ACSRI, adding that she and other BCD members “appreciate their
and when the ACSRI completes its research, we will divestment like they did in 1985.
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The Blue and WhiTe
“A C C E S S I B L E , P R O M P T , A N D E Q U I TA B L E ”?
“Accessible, Prompt, and Equitable”? An examination of sexual assault at Columbia BY ANNA BAHR The controversy over Columbia University’s handling of sexual assault has already hit the mainstream media. But the experiences of assault survivors have yet to be illuminated. This is the first installment of a two-part series sharing their stories and examining Columbia’s judiciary hearing process. Trigger warning for sexual assault and rape on a college campus
T
he three alleged respondents whose identi-
impacted by gender-based discrimination or harassment, and accessible, prompt, and equiIn addition, the University will take steps to
requests. Thus, this story is written solely with the dents involved have been changed to protect their privacy. This two-part article is based primarily on
— Columbia University, Gender-Based and
Columbia and Barnard students lence or harassment on campus during academic years ranging
weren’t in a relationship, but had consensual sex twice.
these ten men and women, six chose to report their assaults to
August, Sara and Tom, both juniors at Columbia, were at a
students, two complaints were carried through the to Sara’s room. Sara said, minutes in, Tom grabbed her wrists and pinned her arms behind her head. He pushed This piece is not intended to evaluate the decidural expectations outlined in its own Gender-Based Misconduct Policy according to assaulted students
struggle, screaming at him to stop, yelling at him to gathered his clothes, and walked out the door, leaving
“Gender-based misconduct is a serious concern on college campuses throughout the country. To address this concern, the University provides educational and preventative pro-
groping, or harassment could potentially receive the
February 2014
Illustration by Alexander Pines
17
“A C C E S S I B L E , P R O M P T , A N D E Q U I TA B L E ”? charged with determining whether the “respondent” is “responsible”—not whether he/she is guilty. in expulsion. Both could result in a written warning. According the Policy on Gender-Based and Sexual the policy, “may be subject to sanctions including, but not limited to, reprimand/warning, disciplinary probation, suspension, and dismissal.” -
though a no-contact directive, preventing either stuHer energies are not devoted to her academic work,
receive. They chose to report their assaults with Tom in the library hall. Her capacity to “realize her their assaulter participate in a remedial, communitybased program was more attractive than expulsion. Sara believed Columbia’s alternative
recently tried to enter a darkroom in which she was working, Sara burst into tears and had to beg her
“Columbia also advertises its resources so much that I thought they would really listen to me. I thought I would
private than turning to the police: “I heard so many horrible stories about how badly the police handle cases like these. Columbia also advertises its resources so much that I thought they would really listen to me. I thought I
ask Tom to leave. She Gender-Based and Sexual Misconduct that Tom is permitted to resume his role as ming coordinator.
Sara never reported Tom to the police or pro-
Tom would be expelled. yer, Columbia’s concern with its public image results to pursue. Then, at a party, she ran into Natalie, CC ’15, cretion more than justice. It is trying so hard to keep these acts discrete that, to some extent, the process Natalie and Tom started dating in 2011, three The Columbia policy on “gender-based misconduct” describes what a court might consider criminal activity with muted euphemisms: rape becomes converts to “non-consensual sexual contact.” ing the hearing panel as “respondents,” and all literature describes claimants as “complainants.” The
iors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate,
two deans/senior administrators and a student, is
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The Blue and WhiTe
“A C C E S S I B L E , P R O M P T , A N D E Q U I TA B L E ”? Natalie tionally abusive relationship. She would later wonder whether Tom used her made their “destructive and unhealthy” physical pinned her arms back against the mattress durup did Natalie recognize this as non-consensual intercourse. Though neither woman had originally consid-
“A specially trained investigator(s) designated by the Assistant Director will interview the complainant, respondent, and any witnesses…This investigator(s) will also gather any pertinent documentation materials. The investigator(s) will then prepare a report detailand the documentation materials gathered.” — Columbia University, Gender-Based and
neutral third party Title IX Investigators, Jilleian Sessions-Stackhouse. She was asked to dictate her narrative to Sessions-Stackhouse, who took notes by hand and without a recording device. seems an odd choice in investigating such serious alleged crimes. “She would write things down that
campus. He had to be stopped. That’s why I decided to report it.” April 18, 2013, under “non-consensual sexual inter-
“Things that weren’t correct. It didn’t come out coherently. It didn’t sound like a strong case.” ing when, how, and in what words their assault
under “intimate partner violence” and “non-consensual sexual intercourse.”
-
Misconduct, specially trained investigator(s) desig-
and sexual violence. Because Natalie reported only two weeks
Siler, begin to gather “pertinent documentation parties as well any communication (text messages, emails) shared between the two students relating to the alleged assault. Interviews are also conducted about the alleged assault.
February 2014
Student Services she wasn’t in the best mental or perate over vacation. Natalie remembers SessionsStackhouse encouraging her to speed up the investigation by participating more actively: “Jillein told me,
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“A C C E S S I B L E , P R O M P T , A N D E Q U I TA B L E ”? Natalie over the phone. calls across times zones nine hours apart and around -
Tom postponed Sara’s case to spent the summer poned until she was ready to participate and returned Sessions-Stackhouse’s emails asking her to call and the investigation. that reasonable suspicion exists to believe that a policy violation occurred.” Student Services never contacted the witness,
‘You’re not going to want to have to think about this over the summer.’”
evidence means that a panel must be convinced
alleged abuse during their relationship, who Natalie provided. With the case closed, Tom regained access to
Sara -
violation was more likely to have occurred than — Columbia University, Gender-Based and Complainants are given the opportunity to review and comment on the respondent’s statement regarding the case. Sessions-Stackhouse suggested ment, that she simply come in and make “Xs” in the margins to mark places where she disagreed with his
initial report…Timelines may vary depending the academic year (e.g. during break periods, — Columbia University, Gender-Based and Sara’s case took seven months. “They dragged it on … torturing me, just to tell me ‘no.’ He gets no punishment at all.” Sara reported her rape to
response. Siler told her that students are not permitted to remove any materials relating to their case
responsible” on November 8.
that Sessions-Stackhouse simply read Tom’s letter to
responsibility in sexual assault cases are made by
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Illustration by Alexander Pines
The Blue and WhiTe
“A C C E S S I B L E , P R O M P T , A N D E Q U I TA B L E ”?
about the assault policy, Valentini “has access to the
hearing process, and how to make decisions in the process.” — Columbia University, Hearing Panel Application
hearing.” as the maxim goes, justice delayed is justice denied: be there. They seemed sympathetic to her story and invested in hearing her voice. Further, as in Natalie’s case, the Title IX Investigator, Jilleian Sessions-Stackhouse, assigned to Sara’s case, recorded her story during their Stackhouse’s hand scribbling notes across a page and saw that she made glaring errors in her transcription. “I would be describing the position I was in when he raped me and her hand just wouldn’t move. She wouldn’t write it down. That’s
lubrication? I don’t understand how it’s possible to have anal sex without using lubrication
Sara watched SessionsStackhouse’s hand scribbling notes across a page and saw that she made glaring errors in her transcription.
It was important enough that the investigator
panelist saying. Sa ra wa s stunned. “Rape is the
shove it in and it hurts like hell and that’s why I was screaming… I couldn’t believe it was my responsibility to educate them about that,” she said. “In situations where the University becomes
collected during multiple interviews, spread in bits the typos and misspellings included in the investigacontrast, Tom wrote his own explanatory statement in addition to the Title IX investigative interview: the hearing panel. It is unclear why Tom was allowed to include an independent additional statement in the investigative report, but the discrepancy seems to contradict the policy’s mandate to ensure balanced hearings. “Hearing panelists receive specialized train-
February 2014
respondents, the University will take appropriate action in an attempt to protect the University community.” — Columbia University, Gender-Based and Finally, there was the evidence not considered assaults on other students. As Arkin, her lawyer, put it, “Prior similar acts
Valentini wrote to Sara to deny her appeal: “I have … concluded that the new evidence
21
“A C C E S S I B L E , P R O M P T , A N D E Q U I TA B L E ”? -
people grabbing my ass in bars—that’s the shitty state policy,” she said.
Sexual Misconduct. According to Valentini, three Josie that she heard he was participating in a hearing panel related to sexual assault, something clicked. Sara’s case. I was really drunk? Those ideas made me very scared third case. That is, until Dean Valentini upheld Tom’s appeal, overturning the panel’s recommendation. Although the hearing was postponed until
JoSie the decision and/or sanctions may be made are: 1. The student believes a procedural error occurred, which 2. The student has substantive new evidence that was not
Sessions-Stackhouse was attentive during her inter-
“The possibility that people think you’re not telling the truth, especially about something so traumatic and intense, is very scary.”
by the “distinctly unbiing panel. the hearing was almost “more emotionally drain-
The possibility that people think you’re not telling the truth, especially about something so traumatic and intense, is very scary. You don’t want these smart, objective people to look at the evidence and say, ‘We can’t convict this person.’”
the hearing and that may change the outcome
the case.” — Columbia University, Gender-Based and
crete impact, the cautionary reprimand is a warning
Josie, BC ’13, was bartending a party in April policies … will likely result in more serious disciplinary action.” “It didn’t change that something shitty happened to me or that he’s walking around. But it did moved toward her aggressively, grabbed her arms, saying, ‘Come on,’ and tried to kiss her. She pushed said Josie. could. wasn’t emotionally scarred or anything. I’m used to
22
his sanction in late November, Josie was employed simply not an option.
The Blue and WhiTe
“A C C E S S I B L E , P R O M P T , A N D E Q U I TA B L E ”?
hour. But reading documents on her work computer She sent Rooker an email: “I’ve decided that I
experience would not be included as valid evidence. Nor, given her work schedule, would she have an opportunity to engage with the panel again. Instead, the panel would have access only to the original question and answer interview between her and Dunn. “I was surprised that they listened to the I wasn’t there. My testimony was not included. It was Then Josie received a letter, dated December
cost Josie the appeal. Rooker responded quickly, telling Josie that the new hearing panel that would ent during the initial hearing, would not have access -
wrote in an email to Josie.
that Josie had violated the misconduct policy. “We were unable to determine that it was more likely than not that you engaged in behavior that missed,” wrote Virginia Ryan, the Interim Assistant
mistake. Mostly, she wondered whether such sloppi-
Columbia Health Communications Manager. After six weeks of email exchange and a request that I pre-submit interview questions, which were “vetted by the department and senior staff,” Ms. Tran denied me a meeting with Rosalie Siler; La’Shawn Rivera, the Director of the Rape Crisis Center; or Melissa Rooker, Columbia’s Title IX Coordinator. of evidence needed to establish a “pattern of behavior,” and the rationale behind an appeal process that disregards previously obtained testimony. I was again declined an interview, and referred back to the policy. respondent. primarily to a petition the Columbia University Democrats circulated during the fall semester, demanding that Columbia disclose “the number and nature of sexual assaults, rapes, and incidents of gender-based harassment and misconduct.” The statement described the interest of the President’s Advisory Committee on Sexual Assault (PACSA) on forming a subcommittee of student leaders interested in discussing the policy. Further, it expressed concern that disclosing such statistics might infringe on the privacy of students, fearing that it might cause individuals involved in a judiciary hearing “to feel as if their cases have been identisurrounding sexual assault at Columbia.
February 2014
23
SPEAK UP
I’m Not Really Sure Where This Is Going Yet Just going off of what has been said about our generation and language BY MICHELLE CHERIPKA
“T
his might be stupid and I don’t know where I’m going with this yet, but—” a classmate
even Bugs Bunny used “interesting” as an adjective
that is neither stupid nor undeveloped. I add a tally cally end statements as questions—otherwise known as uptalk—and as I noticed similar linguistic quirks in other people my age, the list grew. ’re interacting with more people,
become more prevalent as more people
American English is almost oddly nice. There’
-
eration’s inability to commit to anything—even our around us. As Armstrong points out, we are sensitive to our own relations to oth-
The two metaphors aptly capture two prevalent attitudes towards the way in which Millennials speak: as a virus, our current speech patterns have weakened
’re ’ dynamic and you’re negotiating that and John McWhorter sees uptalk as our acknowlargument. “I entertain the idea that there genuinely
two or more agents take and share between them,” Armstrong explains. “As shared past experiences or shared interests overlap, you’re going to get more, thing like the standard English being the state that many people start with—it’ can then be revised.” In this view, uptalk does not merely signal tially a bridge across microlanguages and between has become a standard colloquial
people are less given to pronouncement these days Education means, etymologically, ‘leading out’—and what one serious issues have easy resolutions that everybody is somehow missing.” are constructive epidemics. And in their ability to spread rapidly and ubiquitously, our linguistic quirks
-
language in order to establish a new one. But, I mean,
mation and assumptions.”
24
The Blue and WhiTe
CASUAL ENCOUNTERS
Staff Personals Because even magazine writers want to get laid BY THE STAFF OF THE BLUE AND WHITE The staff of The Blue and White is getting nervous. They don’t want to spend Valentine’s day taking shots and writing aphorisms once again. Should one of these earnest, desperate personals strike a chord in your loin, each is followed by a staff member’s mailbox number. SEEKING MEN: truth. The orgasm. (Altschul 4652) Londoner seeks own Big Ben. (6593) Cub reporter seeks to bare all. (5857) (6485)
Uptown Boy wants entrance to dark Manhattan underworld. Also wants hair tousled. (6555)
Season 6. (9999)
Eccentric world traveler/luggage loser seeks sock collector. (5169)
Feminist seeking the second sex, and the third sex, WHATEVER I CAN GET: Uninitiated international student who wants to
Human Rights Major looking to violate your basic dignity. (5819)
American boy? (5904)
writing about dildos. (6000)
Illustrator would like to trace your dick. (5553) COÖP C wants to rop, bop, and hop all up on you. (2288)
shit? (6816) able. (2179)
lover/oppressor to romance her Thirty Years’ War style. (5892)
I put more than cigarettes in my mouth. (6572)
SEEKING WOMEN: (2139) tion! (4731)
(5485)
Danielle Steel enthusiast seeking childlike play and looser gun laws. (3170)
Fake vegan loves the secret meat. (Altschul 6305)
February 2014
25
M EASURE
FOR
M EASURE
Darkbulb that i would rather be sleeping but “bad” is nothing but a word to describe things we usually want told me that not all problems can be solved with a hammer and i imagined all my problems, condensed into a glowing black cube, suspended in the air and i imagined smashing it with a giant golden hammer it seems like i only think about things that matter at night, when i hear my own words in my skull like stoned bees in a hollow honey cave i don’t think i want to be happy
warm VeiNS
because that’s how chill I am because that’s how human I am sometimes I think there are not enough ways to say I don’t care but sometimes I think about you and I realize that I do sometimes I want to eat up all your words and swallow them and keep them in my belly and under my skin like the only blanket I need
26
The Blue and WhiTe
M EASURE
FOR
M EASURE
tHe legeND of tHe maN formerly kNowN aS ColoNel SartoriS with a bible in one hand and a gold-plated pistol in the other. and some say that he just muttered with conviction: “ulysses”. scholars are convinced that he once summoned a meteor to a small town in Texas at exactly midnight, no one knows his two lucky numbers. divorced her, married her again, shot her, and then buried her in his backyard with his bare hands. they say that he brought her ghost back the next morning so that she could make him his steak and eggs, and they say he pulled a Christ that day. some say the woman was his mother. it was actually his sister. when asked to make a statement on the matter, The General stroked his beard, swallowed deeply and declined. he then shattered like glass into one hundred black-winged golden eagles that vanished into the black Mississippi sky — Kate Gamble
February 2014
27
T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N
The Answer is Luck A conversation with Jennifer Egan BY LUCA MARZORATI Jennifer Egan’s most recent novel, , is a collection of 13 intertwined short stories dealing with time—the titular goon—music, and technology. The book won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, along with dozens of other accolades. Her latest short story, “Black Box,” was tweeted in 140-character increments before appearing in the New Yorker. She is currently working on a historical novel. Egan sat down with Luca Marzorati, CC ’15, at a café near her home in Fort Greene. The Blue and White: What are you reading now?
about which I know nothing. So at this point I have in that era. Very complicated—merchant marines, the
about the Merchant Marine in the twenties and thirlaughs these were published in the eighties, when the speakers were in their sixties, and
World War II. It may be a disaster, we’ll see. B&W
I’ve ever done. I’m not sure whether I’m stymied by not working within my
I did read one contemporary thing that I really liked, which hasn’t come out yet, called The Cold Song by Linn Ullmann, who is a Norwegian writer. It’s a spare murder-mystery that’s put together in these little shards and
me—but this is incredibly hard. I never write autobiographically but I really do use the times and places that I know. I never knew how much I relied on them—remember-
scary, but I really liked it. B&W: I assume the Merchant Marine books
all the little details -
know without knowing you know them. Working outside ing. Just the most basic things I don’t know, and as
cal novel. JE: It takes place in Brooklyn and New York in the thirties and World War II. It’s been a sprawling project so we’ll see what actually happens. When I think, okay, I barely have enough research to deal with what I’ve been writing about,
28
or inhibited, so I keep waiting … The other thing is that maybe I have higher standards than other people have cally. Right now, I’m thinking, how does anyone do it
Illustration by Katharine Lin
The Blue and WhiTe
T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N ever? Why? Does it have any merit? Is there anything just bullshit? I don’t know, but I do like challenges.
sibilities that I wouldn’t have known. In a way, I’m at what the story is, I think, but I also know that I haven’t done the right research and I have a huge amount -
B&W
generating a story. I don’t start with an outline, it’s
day, I may look back and say this is really where I hit my limit—I just can’t thrive in this context as a writer, so I’ll write a crappy book, and the world will not end. laughs B&W not working?
And then, I have an endless revision process where I try to turn all that in a way blather into something that is sharp and controlled and all those things. But the insights, I can’t seem to get to without this blind process. And I write by hand—one way I get that. Journalism is the diametric opposite. I already know the reality. The reality is out there. I don’t understand it. I’m a dunce when I start, but I know what I’m trying
things in Goon Squad that didn’t work actually.
It seemed like such a great idea. It’s amazing how per-
to distill a complicated topic in a compressed way that verse poetry. I still think it would have been so much opposed to writing literally revealing the world to me, the world is there and I need to synthesize it. B&W you write it?
epic poetry and PowerPoint in one book! I was really great rollicking story, the writing is so loose and very
JE: No, my God! This is what is so hard! Because I don’t know what the story is, I don’t know what to
was that morning, and then he’s back in the story. In this very naïve way, I thought, I want to do that.
The Blue and White? WE WANT YOU! Drop by our weekly meeting Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ’s Chapel. Or, email editors@theblueandwhite.org. February 2014
29
T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N who ever wrote! I can’t really write poetry and that was a big problem—it was a deal breaker! That one, it couldn’t actually write the poetry. I couldn’t do it—it was terrible. be resolutely conventional—another strike against
I would love to try that. I think I was just desperate, Goon Squad I wanted to been worth a try. With Twitter, even though I don’t
to write a companion to Goon Squad, actually, down work. The one thing I will say, this piece that I wrote that the New Yorker tweeted, that is one where I
Goon Squad, I used this odd texting at the end, and people have said, “Oh, you’re trying to show ... Are you kidding me? How boring!” example, Facebook—I’m really uninspired by that.
PowerPoint, I didn’t have the story yet, I just had the really Soviet—so it leads me nowhere and that makes me walk away. and that can be hard. B&W: You’ve incorporated PowerPoint, Twitter, and explain your draw to technology?
B&W Goon Squad? JE: The answer is luck. That’s what it is, but how do you get that luck? Because somehow you intersect
JE: There’s this strange thing where I’m very resisby it. It’s a strange paradox. I’m greedy—I’m looking
30
there is a general preoccupation with time that I think is very technology-based. When I taught at Goon Squad
Illustration by Katharine Lin
The Blue and WhiTe
T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N thinking, Wow, this will be great. I hadn’t really written about teens in a while, and my kids were younger, and I want to know how young people are dealing with technology and it will be great to get their perspective. What was weird was when I would younger, who had grown up with things that they had and made me realize that technology makes everyone
mimic online experience. It’s a hyperlink in a certain way—the idea to another and then, oh, there’s that. You can go
never crossed my mind, but I think it was probably the reason it was exciting to me too.
perception happening at once. That’s what I’m always I’ve given that some thought, I’m happy about it and I think that that awareness is in me dating back to college. B&W genres? JE: For me, it’s really necessary. I don’t think I would have the motivation to do -
may look back and say this is really where I hit my limit—I just can’t thrive in this context as a writer, so I’ll write a crappy book, and the world will not end. I hope.”
B&W: How does the literary theory you studied in
It’s true that I don’t have cares? I think that’s a big-
really is my motivation,
struggles, because there think all the time: I don’t have to do this, there are a to the human race. So this is what I’m doing as long
You can think about it or not, but especially with The Keep and Look at Me, the idea that this whole thing may be a document created by the plot you just read
other things that would be interesting and worthwhile.
seeking. I think it’s boring when that becomes the
B&W: What advice would you give to young writers?
there, I think it adds richness. So I think it’s in my
JE: I think the number one thing is just read a lot. That almost matters more than the writing. At this doing what and how to get ahead. It’s so hard not to
things at one time? It’s compression. That’s what it is. so long, but it turns out it’s completely meaningless. It’s so hard to do anything good, and not many people will. That’s what it’s all going to come down to.
February 2014
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February 2014
33
DIGITALIA COLUMBIANA These excerpts were culled from documents left on Columbia’s lab computers. We encourbwgossip@columbia.edu. As time passes, it seems that the acceptable amount
The birth of a monetary dream
We shave our legs (lower and upper halves), armpits, and even sometimes pubes, arms, and unibrows. Apparently, its sexy to be completely hairless except
-
moment. People who are automatically included in the truth are the higher-income individuals and those in a
They were aware she was depressed, but it’s clear not only do they not consider schizophrenia as a possibility, they don’t even consider not including schizophrenia as a possibility.
this truth. Tupac tackles this problem through the lyrics in his song Changes. slogan. Behind this slogan you have conceps related possibilities, which they may not have been able to skin or believes. It’s hard to change or pretend. But people can become has been lacking and seeing a decline is the in game Kinsey capital because I want to become a knowl-
American women.
34
stadiums their product isn’t the same and the league and organizations would be missing out on revenue streams generated on game days such as concessions, merchandise, gate receipts, parking and others.
The Blue and WhiTe
CAMPUS GOSSIP PURE TEMPTATION
A FEAST OF NERDS As annual tradition, the MFA students have a vegan,
good to do it.”
“in between Critical Issues and VALS.” These are
parties.
The Eye
soaps every week. Then I will be hosting another RAs. Tuesdays will now be Soap Soup then Poop.” THE LION’S TEARS A wrestler is sitting in the sauna. Another comes in,
“For these lovely pre/durational/post-pleasures: it
sore throat, and is hungover. They chat ... and when available. With gratitude, xo” First: “You know, not gonna lie, I miss high school. I Judith Butler’s personal email address contains the Second: “Yeah.” WHO NEEDS DOWNTOWN? First: “It’s hard getting your ass kicked all the time.
ing twenty-something was hanging out at Koronets
Second: “Yeah.” approached several students and whispered to them, “I got six bags and I’m sharing.”
February 2014
35
E AT I N ’ G O O D I N T H E N E I G H B O R H O O D
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The Blue and WhiTe