Mills librian assembles Patti Smith collection
See page 5 Volume 98 Issue 19 www.thecampanil.com
Tuesday | March 19, 2013
Campus bullied by itself Natalie Meier Opinions Editor A Facebook page called “Mills College Confessions” has sparked an uproar on campus in the past week, with students becoming increasingly disgruntled over the nature of the page’s posts. College confessions pages are springing up around the country on Facebook. San Francisco State’s confessions page was recently taken down to avoid legal action with the university, an article in SFGate said. The Mills College Confessions page was created anonymously two months ago. “Personally, I’m disgusted by the Mills College Confessions page because I feel that a lot of things on there, people should keep to themselves,” first year Joyelle Baker said. “People are calling people out about cheating, there were a lot of gross things going on, and a lot of things that could put people’s jobs and livelihoods on the line.” Vala Burnett, Mills admissions counselor and head of the college’s social media taskforce, said that she is aware of the page, but has not seen it nor does she have intentions to change how it is run. “It’s a student-run page, so it’s not something that I’m going to try to influence or change in any way,” Burnett said. “One of the biggest things that makes social media so powerful for prospective students is the knowledge that a lot of the content is coming directly from current students.” The page’s description advertises it as a place where students can anonymously submit their secrets,
Facebook page where students can post anonymously has revealed what some students feel is unexeptable sentiments and behavior
which will be posted to the public with a number next to each post to keep track of how many confessions there have been on the page. The content of the confessions varies, but the most popular topic is clear: sex. “It’s not that I think that we should just push it under the rug and not talk about sex, but the way people are talking about it on this page is very vulgar and can be very offensive,” Baker said. The number of confessions that
concern sex have risen considerably since the page was started. Posters openly identified other students they would like to have sex with, broadcasted trysts they claim to have had in different spots on campus, and in one case, claimed to have had sex with a professor. While many students appear to be amused by the sexual confessions, some have confessed on the page that they believe the posts are a form of sexual harassment. The sexual comments have also caused
a considerable amount of discomfort among students. “Our school name is attached to that site, and most of the confessions are immature, bordering on sexual harassment and bashing specific individuals,” senior Kira Lewis said. “It seems to actually be a venue against the many things we are attempting to deconstruct at Mills.” Several posts explicitly identify students, ranging from complaints about post-baccalaureates to sexual
advances towards graduate students. One graduate student, Joshua Marshall, said he was flattered by the posts that were directed towards him, but is concerned about students who may be receiving unwanted attention. “Personally speaking, I have no objection; to the contrary, I’m flattered,” Marshall said. “Consequently, I am concerned about anyone who’s name is featured on the See
Confessions page 3
Tuition and fees to increase for next scholastic year Annie O’Hare News Editor
This week ASMC hosted an open forum to discuss the increase in tuition and fees for fulltime undergraduate and graduate students expected for the 2013/14 scholastic year. About 50 students, mostly members of ASMC gathered to hear the administration’s breakdown of the new costs for students and ask questions. Brian O’Rourke, Vice President for Enrollment Management, took the helm of the forum
and fielded most of the questions from students. Also in attendance from the administration were President DeCourdreaux, Shari Keller, Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid, and Linda Zitzner, Assistant VP for Facilities, Auxiliaries & Campus Planning. O’Rourke first wanted to communicate that he and the administration considered the 3.5% tuition increase and the increases in fees across the board to be necessary. The sharpest fee increase will be for health insurance, 20%, which, along with the transit fee (up 12%), and the meal plan (up 2.7%) according to O’Rourke, are rates set by the outside contractors who provide those services,
Undergraduate full time tuition +3.5% Undergraduate part time tuition per class +3.5% Graduate full time tuition +3.5% Graduateparttimetuitionperclassvaried Housing +2% Campus fee +4.3% Meal plan +2.7% AC transit fee +12% Health insurance +20% and Mills does not control them. “The desire of the administration is to pass as little of the
increase on to the students,” O’Rourke said. To emphasize this sentiment, O’Rourke explained that the bulk of the schools operating costs is defrayed between tuition, fees, and the Mills endowment. “We are pulling way too many funds from the endowment already,” O’Rourke said. So much, O’Rourke said, that Mills was denied a federal grant this year specifically due to the amount of funds the college was taking from the endowment. Beyond the real cost of attending Mills, a number of external changes on a federal and state level has caused the administration to rethink how the $22 million currently set in the budget for
Find more stories, photos, videos and live updates at www.thecampanil.com
financial aid will be distributed to students. Much of this is preparing for a change in aid that cannot be tacked down fully yet. The Cal Grant, which about a third of Mills students receive, according to O’Rourke, is experiencing a reduction, and the recent government sequester has earmarked financial aid as one of the many federal services to be cut. Among the aid O’Rourke said likely be cut was the federal funds for work study. “That puts us in the position as a college that we either have to eliminate student employment positions, or fund those employment positions through Mills,” O’Rourke said. See
Tuition page 2
2
March 19, 2013
News
Discussions facilitate deeper understanding of gender Natalie Meier Opinions Editor The Diversity and Social Justice Resource Committee (DSJRC), the on-campus task force for transgendered issues, released The Transgendered Best Practices Report to the Mills community on Feb 25. The report has spawned several “listening circles” about gender expression and identity in many departments on the Mills College campus in the past week. The initial meeting was an open invitation to the campus to review the report. The attendees were comprised of students, faculty, and staff, who split off into groups and discussed separate sections of the report. The goal of the meeting, according to facilitators, was to listen to concerns that the Mills community still had after reading the report, and to gather suggestions for what could be improved upon for students. The listening circles were
structured to facilitate open dialogue between students, staff, and faculty about the issues surrounding gender identity and expression in each department. Reverend Laura Engelken said that the listening circles are different from that first report review in that they allow for the community to have conversations about gender in different spaces. “The listening circles are a project spearheaded by the Division of Student Life, but various groups and offices like APER — the Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation — are having the conversations in different settings,” Engelken said. “The idea is really to listen to each other and the campus conversations regarding gender at Mills.” In APER’s offices, the Mills athletic community came together to discuss ways of being more inclusive to transgendered and gender non-conforming individuals in sports. Swim coach Neil Virtue said he felt that the APER listening circle was a success,
and that the attendees benefited from it greatly. “It was helpful for me to hear what people had to say, as it is more representative of some experiences students are having,” Virtue said. Virtue said that the listening circle was an opportunity for him to grow as a staff member, and it offered space for students to discuss the gender issues present in athletics. “I also struggled a little with how much to share or not because as a staff member, I really wanted to give space to students and provide my input, keep the event moving along, and try to use potential teachable moments,” Virtue said. “So that was a growth space for me.” A listening circle facilitated by the DSJRC and Mouthing Off!, Mills’ LGBTQ* club, took place on March 14. Rachel Russell, Programs Coordinator for DSJRC, explained to the group that the purpose of the circle was to explore how students feel about the current gender issues present on campus.
Some students may be eligible for more aid Tuition
from page 1
Keller confirmed that no housing discounts will be offered next year, and that free laundry is not going anywhere. For those students who received a discount this year, the real cost of housing will feel as if it has risen more than the 2 percent expected for all residential students. O’Rourke said that students who reapply for aid through FAFSA may be eligible for extra aid in consideration of the rise in cost of attending Mills. He encouraged students to reach out to the financial aid office if they are not satisfied with the amount of aid they receive. One student asked if the
increase in tuition caused a dip in enrollment, would tuition increase even further the year after that. O’Rourke said that there is no direct correlation between change in enrollment and tuition and fees in the future. “Retention is very important to us,” Keller said. “If you have concerns after you receive your financial aid award, after you receive your bill, that’s the time to come talk to Financial Aid and/ or to Student Accounts to see if there is any additional assistance that we can provide”
Tessa Love Acting Editor in Chief eic@thecampanil.com 5000 MacArthur Blvd. Oakland, CA 94613 510.430.2246 phone 510.430.3176 fax
felt that others were simply being ignorant. Some students said that people should be educated when they use offensive language, but there is a fine line between correcting someone and making them feel shut down. “There is correction, and then there is overcorrection,” said Skylar Crownover, Mouthing Off! Vice President. Several students expressed their questions about the inconsistency between the “all-women’s college” label that is part of Mills’ identity and the diverse presence of gender reflected in the student body. Russell discussed the hope that Mills will someday change its policies to accurately reflect the diverse gender representation of the student body, and move beyond the definition of a women’s college. “The mission of Mills College historically was to make education available to those who were denied education based on gender,” Russell said. “But, gender oppression doesn’t just happen to women.”
News from around The Bay Local charter school recognized Lighthouse Community Charter School was named charter school of the year at the Annual California Charter School Conference in San Diego. The school was founded in 2002 with the goal to close the achievement gap for low-income students, students of color, and students who speak a language other than English in the home.
OPD seeks federal grant Local law enforcement is seeking $67 million in federal funding to construct a massive Alameda County crime-suppression team. The grant to pay to hire 30 Oakland police officers, 30 Alameda Country Sherrif’s deputies and 30 California Highway Patrol Officers, but also require that Oakland officers be sent to do some policing outside the city.
Garbage workers strike Trash collection halted Friday morning when East Bay garbage workers carried out a strike against Waste Management for five hours. Workers gathered outside Waste Management’s Alameda headquarters in east Oakland., the Altamont landfill, and the Davis Street Transfer Station in San Leandro to protest what they say was illegal retaliation against union-affiliated employees.
Check out page three for more information about the sequester.
News Editor Annie O’Hare
Lauren-Marie Sliter Editor in Chief (on leave)
One student, Sophie McArthur, expressed her struggles to change her previous understanding of gender. She said that after making several mistakes with language, and with the help of some of her friends who identify as gender non-conforming correcting her in a way that made her feel comfortable, she was able to think of gender as a fluid spectrum of identity and expression. “I used to think that there were just two genders, but that changed,” McArthur said. One of the core questions asked of the group was “What do you think gender means to the college?” “I think that the administration views gender as a statistic or a selling point for the college, not a personal choice,” one student said. The conversation also included student concerns on correcting each other on language concerning gender. The conversation went back and forth between students who felt attacked by others over language, and students who
Design Editor Francesca Twohy-Haines
Asst. News Editor Kate Carmack
Online Editors Jen Mac Ramos and Melodie Miu
Arts & Features Editor Joann Pak
Asst. Online Editor Fatima Sugapong
Asst. Arts & Features Editor Emily Mibach
Photo Editor Chantelle Panackia
Opinions Editor Natalie Meier
Asst. Opinions Editor Octavia Sun Health & Sports Editor Eden Sugay
Multimedia Editor Alheli Cuenca
Webmaster Ching Yu Copy Chief Elizabeth Rico Copy Editors Diana Arbas, Maggie Freeman, Chorel Centers
Find more stories, photos, videos and live updates at www.thecampanil.com
The Campanil welcomes public commentary on subjects of interest to the campus community, as well as feedback on the paper itself. Submissions for Open Forum should be no more than 400 words. Letters to the Editor should be no more than 150 words. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity only. All submissions must include the author’s name and contact information and may be submitted via e-mail or in typewritten form, accompanied by an electronic copy. No anonymous submissions will be accepted. Submissions must be received one week before the publication date to appear in the next issue. The Campanil reserves the right to upload all content published in print, in addition to original content, on our website, www.thecampanil.com. The Campanil is published every Tuesday. The first copy of The Campanil is free. Additional copies are 50 cents. Students interested in joining The Campanil staff should contact the Editor in Chief.
News
March 19, 2013
3
Mills administration braces for cuts to federal aid brought on by the sequester Chorel Centers Contributing Writer As federally-funded programs perpare for the coming acrossthe-board spending cuts, or “the sequester,” representatives of the Financial Aid office said that the decreases in financial aid funding may affect Mills students, but the extent of the cuts is unknown as of now. The sequester went into effect at the beginning of this month. The general cut to domestic and military spending is the result of a failure by the president and Congressional Democrats and Republicans to reach a deal on the federal budget. Federal employees, unemployment funds and education grants, the military, and Medicaid, among other programs, all stand to undergo decreases in funding. In a Feb, 25 article, The New York Times reported that all programs are subject to the same percentage cut, and effects will be more fully felt by the end of this month. The two federal aid programs at Mills that may be targeted for cuts are the federal work-study program and the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), both of which are need based, said Brian O’Rourke, Mills’ Vice President for Enroll-
ment Management. The latter is provided to those students with the highest financial need. Staff in the Mills Financial Aid office said they do not know yet how deeply the cuts will impact Mills. Binh Hua, a financial aid counselor, said that as of now, they do not have information about the possible decrease in federal funds. “We won’t know the extent of the impact [of the cuts] for a while, but this is one of the things to be prepared for” said Shari Keller, Director of Undergraduate Financial Aid. The other things to prepare for, Keller and O’Rourke said, are the tuition hike, and a decrease in the CalGrant, which a third of Mills students receive. “Mills will try to make the impact minimal,” Keller added. Ninety-three percent of Mills undergraduates receive some form of financial aid; of that 93 percent, 95 percent are recipients of Mills aid, according to O’Rourke, who provided information on the tuition hike at an open forum on tuition and fees hosted by the Associated Students of Mills College on March 11. O’Rourke did not provide specifics about the effects of the sequester and said that information is still forthcoming. “We don’t know [yet] where the reduction is going to land,”
umn.edu
Sequester will likely cut federal funding for finacial aid, leaving schools to decide how to fill the gap.
O’Rourke said. Christina Williams, a thirdyear student, said she relies on her work-study award to save money in order to repay her college loans. “Without it I’d be in a bigger hole and have a bigger need,” Williams said. With a 3.5 percent increase in tuition set for the 2013-2014
academic year, the potential hit to federal financial aid may be particularly threatening to students whose aid packages contain work-study or an SEOG, but O’Rourke said that such external factors to reduction in aid will be considered as award packages are put together. “We want to have that conversation with the student who is
having financial difficulties” and considering leaving Mills, Keller agreed. “We want to minimize the impact on needy students.” When asked where additional aid might come from, O’Rourke said that such funds are built into the overall operational budget of the college, which is one of the factors in the need for tuition increases.
Anonymous posts leave some students upset Confessions from page 1 page who takes objection to it all – it’s not clear to me what manner of recourse they might have available to them.” Graduate student Kelsey Thorne was the subject of several sexually explicit confessions on the page, and declined to comment. In addition to posts about sex and sexuality, some confessions detail the places where students have defecated or urinated around campus. “I really don’t want to know who takes a crap on campus,” first-year Maya Nesmith said. “That’s nasty, you shouldn’t do that anyway.” Another hot-button issue ad-
dressed on the Mills College Confessions page is the level of racism students feel from other students on campus. Many of the posts regarding racism have an angry tone, with students arguing with one another through anonymous posts. “#138. Dear 128, I take it you’ve never been a woman of color on Mills campus… because all of those things happen 5 times a week, while many white students at Mills might not realize they are being ignorant,” one anonymous confession said. Despite the arguments taking place on the page about race, Nesmith feels that although the page will inevitably get out of
hand, the discussions being fueled on the page are important, and are not happening elsewhere on campus. “I knew that there were always issues here on campus when it came to how people identified with race, but I didn’t know it was this bad,” Nesmith said. “Even though it’s really uncensored, the kind of dialogue that’s occurring on that page is what I feel we should be having in the classroom, but we’re not.” Some students are conflicted about the page, and believe that there are positives and negatives to it being online and anonymous. “I think it’s an incredibly interesting forum for students to
air their grievances or brag about things they would never tell their friends,” fourth-year Ariana Cuellar said. “That being said, I think a certain type of person will use it more than others, which could lead to combative posts, hurt feelings, and more online aggression, which just adds to infighting.” Other posts include students confessing their struggles with eating disorders and the amount that the campus atmosphere has to do with it. “#23. Living in the dorms around so many body-negative people has intensely brought my eating disorder back. Thanks, Mills!” The advertised anonymity on
the page is not a comfort to some students, who say that the school is so small that it is not hard to figure out who is posting what. “I think that because this is a small school and people are aware of that fact, there are some anonymous confessions on there where I’m pretty sure I know who it is,” Nesmith said. “I’m not saying all women because there are some great people here, but I think it just reflects the level of maturity of the women here.” Attempts to contact the administrators of the page have not been returned. The Mills College Confessions page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/ MillsCollegeConfessions.
Find more stories, photos, videos and live updates at www.thecampanil.com
4 March 19, 2013 Arts & Features
E V E N T S
March 21
Musings on zombies that feel
Throwback Garage Pop concert: King Tuff w/ White Fence UC Berkeley, Sproul Plaza 5pm King Tuff & White Fence will be playing a free show on Upper Sproul . The show is all ages, and free.
April 6 Mills College Event: Art Museum – 2013 Senior Thesis Exhibition Mills College Art Museum 4-7 pm Join MCAM and the exhibiting artists for the opening reception of the 2013 Senior Thesis Exhibition. Refreshments will be provided.
April 5-6 X Sound Festival Littlefield Concert Hall 8 pm A festival of new work by Mills undergraduate students.
April 14 Farallon Recorder Quartet Littlefield Concert Hall 4pm The Moring Star – Music from Northern Europe performed by Letitia Berlin, Frances Blaker, Lousie Carslake and Rotem Gilbert.
Every Wed. Weeding Wednesday Mills College Botanical Garden Every Wednesday between 1 pm and 4 pm
Find more stories, photos, videos and live updates at www.thecampanil.com
There are many reasons why I am not becoming a doctor: the years of studying, the odd work hours, my intellectual disqualifications, but most importantly… blood. Blood and I do not get along. I can look at my own from a cut but the moment blood is coming out of another person’s body, I shut down. Nothing else can happen until the blood stops coming out of that person’s body and no other thought can go through my head besides “Blood. There is blood. Blood.” For this reason, I do not get along with the horror movie genre or even most medical drama TV shows. Yet, I am excited to watch BBC’s new three-part series “In The Flesh.” The series follows reformed zombie Kieren Walker, who is returning to his village and has to cope with alienation from his friends, family, and community. Kieren didn’t fit in from the beginning. He was an “alt kid” who developed a strong friendship (although this label is questionable) with his best mate Rick. After Rick is shipped off to Afghanistan, Kieren is taken over by PDS (aka Partially Deceased Syndrome). He roams the country as a rabid zombie, then is pulled into a Zombie Recovery program which brings him home to his parents once he starts to “feel human” again. Kieren’s half-dead difficulties are unique in that they are completely caused by social intolerance. The story doesn’t focus on exploring the greater, morbid nature of man. Rather it uses the zombie genre to analyze the hateful nature of the living. In addition, the show explores the implied nature of
Spring of Hung Liu
U P C O M I N G
To the Internet and Beyond. Rachel Levinson resident pop culture columnist
Kieren’s sexuality; he has lived as a black sheep his entire life and is now faced with the organized hate of the Human Volunteer Force, a church-run “rotter”-hating group. They’re not quite parallel to the Westboro Baptist Church in radicalism but do show the connections we see throughout history between isolated communities and closemindedness. The rise of the zombies (pun intended) in pop culture has created an interesting mirror to society’s concerns. Since I avoid watching horror movies, I often avoid studying them too. However, whether it was our pre-9/11 fear of biological warfare fueling this zombie-obsession or simply a trend to replace pirates in Hollywood, I can’t say. Other movies about the emotional connection to zombies like “I Am Legend” or “Warm Bodies” have explored themes like love and loss. On the other hand, we see iPhone apps like “Zombies, Run!” which uses the fictional threat of a zombie attack to motivate you to workout harder and faster. While death is often romanticized, zombie movies and products bring a unique point of view. It’s hard to tell whether “In The Flesh” will provide a thought-provoking look at the current state of human rights or if it will just bring another TV show with Twilightstyle cinematography and pretty people with British accents. It’s a lot like how I felt after I saw the pilot of Glee. Either way, don’t miss out on what is bound to have plenty of press coverage, weird mashup blogs, and (probably already has) fanfictions. Check out “In the Flesh” airing on BBC (eventually available online) on March 17.
Opening this week Hung Liu’s retrospective, Summoning Ghosts: The Art of Hung Liu, at the Oakland Museum of California. The exhibit is on show from March 16–June 30, 2013 Hung Liu is a prominent Bay Area artist and Professor of Studio Art at Mills College since 1990. Look out in the next issue for The Campanil’s exclusive feature and review of Hung Liu’s retrospective.
Arts & Features
March 19, 2013
5
Bringing the spirit of Patti Smith to Mills Emily Mibach Asst. Arts & Features Editor For the past 15 years, Robert Byler, the nighttime librarian’s assistant, has been collecting and creating a Patti Smith Special Collection at Mills College. Byler has been working with Janice Braun, the Associate Library Director and Special Collections Librarian, to create this expansive collection, which contains Smith’s poetry, art, music, photographs and even a typed draft with Smith’s hand written notes of Smith’s 2010 bestseller, Just Kids. Which Smith sent to Byler specifically for the collection. Patti Smith, sometimes called the “Godmother of Punk,” has been performing, releasing music, writing and releasing poetry and art since 1971. The collection is focused on Smith’s poetry and art, not necessarily her music, even though Byler does cite “Radio Ethiopia” as his favorite of Smith’s albums. “Focusing on music in a rare book room is kind of odd,” said Byler, who discovered Smith’s poetry in a book store as a teenager. “I had never read anything like
it before – it intrigued me,” Byler said, referring to when he first read Witt, Smith’s book of poems. Byler feels like Mills is the ideal place to have a Patti Smith collection. “She’s like a feminist without explicitly saying she is a feminist,” Byler said. “She’s just herself and broke down so many boundaries, and there was no female at the time being that androgynous” Byler has been working at Mills’ F.W. Olin library since 1995, which was an ideal time to start collecting Smith’s books. “She was just coming back, some early stuff had been re-released, some of her early poetry, and she had just played in San Francisco,” Byler said. “I couldn’t do this collection now, I wouldn’t be able to find everything I have now.” Byler began searching for Smith’s books locally, nationally and internationally. In addition to finding items on sites like eBay and various rare book stores, he got into contact with some of Smith’s publishers in hopes they would have copies for him. Not only publishers and photographers have sent Byler items for the collection, but so has Kim Smith, Smith’s younger sister, and Smith herself. “I met her at a book signing
EMILY MIBACH Mibachack
The collection contains multiple versions of Smith’s memior “Just Kids” in several languages.
and told her about the collection, and she wrote me about it later asking about it,” Byler said. Throughout the years Byler has kept in contact with Smith, and is very respectful of Smith in regards to the collection. If Smith wants something removed or sent to her because she doesn’t have a copy, Byler will happily abide. He has also never asked Smith for anything for the collection. On the Just Kids manuscript that Smith sent, Byler said it was “out of the blue.”
“I mean, people are people, just because you’re in the public light doesn’t mean that you’re any different,” Byler said. While Smith has never visited Mills, Byler does admit to hoping maybe one day Smith will come to see not only the collection, but also the school. “Bryn Mawr (College) just gave her some type of award, I guess we just need throw one together to get her out here,” Byler said. The collection includes all of
Smith’s published works, including international versions and various types of releases. The collection also includes various pictures and art work, along with some of Smith’s tee shirts, donated by her sister. To date the mater list of the collection is over 100 pages long. And as for credit, Byler wants none. “People should always give something back,” Byler said. “This is a gift to the future and a gift to now, and hopefully people can use it and be influenced by it.”
ROBERT BYLER (TOP) AND EMILY MIBACH (BOTTOM right)
Left: Smith’s typer writer. Top Right: Smith (middle) at a gallery. Bottom Right: Tee shirts Smith’s sister, Kim, donated to the collection.
Find more stories, photos, videos and live updates at www.thecampanil.com
6 March 19, 2013
Opinions & Editorial
Staff Editorial
Confessions bear consequences
Although it has been up and running for two months, the Mills College Confessions page garnered overnight attention from the student body this week, and its arsenal of anonymous confessions has been steadily growing ever since. The page has become its own community within the Mills community and, in a way, it functions as a release valve for students to openly speak their minds, uncensored and anonymous, without fear of being penalized or shot down by other students. Students are able to state their fears and have the kinds of conversations surrounding race, sexuality, and political correctness that are not happening on campus. Students have a space to share their innermost thoughts and secrets without feeling like they have to talk about them with anyone when the anonymous mask comes off and there is face-to-face contact. There is also an entertainment
factor present on the page that has students ROFL [rolling on the floor laughing] behind their computers. The reality is that although a good amount of the confessions at first register as shocking, many students are thinking similar thoughts and either do not know how to say them or don’t feel comfortable doing so. The content of the page is humorous for readers because students finally do not have to filter themselves, and there is not currently a space for something like that at Mills. Despite the good that comes out of the page for students, it also has the potential to produce negative consequences. Students targeting one another’s posts and arguing amongst one another can cause feelings of invalidation that could be magnified by the fact that everything is anonymous. In some respects, the page sets the groundwork for more cyberbullying than
what is already happening on the page; it’s becoming the digital form of the Mean Girls “Burn Book.” In addition, some of the confessions are serious accusations, and could potentially be harmful for other people’s livelihoods. Overall, we at The Campanil believe that the page has most positive and negative aspects to it. It can be an untapped source of community for students on campus who otherwise feel unsafe when trying to express their thoughts, feelings, or secrets. It is entertaining and fun for students to read and discuss with one another on a normally quiet campus. At the same time, it is important to note that the page can also have potentially destructive effects to students’ mindsets about their fellow members of the community. It can create negative friction between students because it creates an opportunity for anonymous cyberbullying.
http://www.thecampanil.com/media/2013/03/293739_101 51312950038690_24933363_n-300x300.jp
Q U E ST I O N O F T H E W E E K
If you could change one thing about Mills, what would you change?
“I wish people had more pride for the cheerleading team because we’re awesome.”
—Rachael Evans, First-Year
Letters to the Editor Confessions
The Mills Confession page started off as harmless but then people started to abuse and exploit it. It became a place to air your dirty laundry and grievances about Mills. Some people bragged about past sexual conquests or future fantasies or even about bodily functions. That was not the point of this page, at least not how I envisioned it. If people have to or want to post about hooking up or looking for partners, there should be a separate page for that. One of the biggest issues I have with the Confessions page is the idea of people hiding behind the anonymity of it all. As teenagers, we frequently think, “Oh, I’m invincible, nothing will happen to me, it won’t be me, I won’t get caught.” And that’s not true. Yes, we’re young, and we make mistakes, but we can’t expect to be let off the hook for every single thing we do. We have to take responsibility, and I think that being anonymous in cyberspace really takes away the consequences we would usually face. Almost everything nowadays is accessible on the Internet. Even with privacy settings and everything, nothing is ever truly private. Also, professors could get in serious trouble at Mills if what the students are posting is true. Even if the students are of legal age, the activity is questionable. We have to ask ourselves if the professors are using their best judgment, or if the students are convincing them of quid pro quo, or in layman’s terms, “a lay for an A.” Although it’s unfortunate, the Confessions page is getting to the point where someone with au-
thority needs to step in. If nothing is done, it will come to a point where the page will need to be shut down all together. I don’t think we’re at that point, but I do think there needs to be selectivity and censorship or regulation of what’s being posted. Also, this page looks bad to the outside world. It paints Mills in a negative light. Our name is attached to that page. It’s our reputation on the line. Just like any other thing we post on the Internet, we have to be aware of who can see this. This doesn’t just affect the current students. It affects the teachers, the staff, the alumni, and anyone who has been affiliated with the school. It’s hard to build Mills back up as a credible, authoritative source after it’s been mocked and made out to be a joke. I thought that this Confessions page would be a good thing. I wanted it to be a “safe space.” This school is so small already that it’s too easy to figure out who said what, or more accurately, who DID what. And that’s exactly the opposite of what this page should be for. It should be for people to be free enough to share with a community that is supportive of them and non-judgmental. It could be a place where someone could come out for the first time. I mean, that scenario might never happen, but this page, bottom line, should give people courage to say what they need to say (“need” being the operative word here). Overall, this page has gotten way out of hand and something needs to be done. Students need to find appropriate ways of expressing themselves without damaging the school’s identity. Although
some students don’t care if their reputation is damaged (especially if they are the ones saying controversial ideas), unfortunately this affects more than just them and they have to realize that. I am disappointed in what the Confessions page has become, and I know some of the other students feel the same way. I hope this does not become a bigger issue where serious action needs to take place. Sincerely, Brooke Parker, first-year
“Actively creating a community for transfer students...it took awhile to get settled.”
— Lauren Martin, Senior
Virginity Response I am not the only person who finds the Feb. 19 “Ask Millie” column problematic. And while I don’t speak for everyone, here is a by-no-means-comprehensive list of what I find problematic: 1. Virginity is not “the other big V.” Virginity isn’t a big anything; it is a construct that supports systems of oppression. 2. The erasure of anyone outside the gender binary, asexuals, and poly folks. ‘Nuff said. 3. Slut-shaming is not cool. People who have sex lack neither “self-control” nor “self-respect.” 4. The expectations of sex are problematic. The idea penetrative sex is “full on intercourse” and the end goal of other sexual acts is not true. 5. I do not “gift” myself to anyone or “lose” my bloom or personhood upon having sex. I am a person, not an object. As a women’s college, it’s not becoming of us to promote the very issues we struggle to live in and dismantle. Regards, Stephanie Der
Find more stories, photos, videos and live updates at www.thecampanil.com
“The tendency for some people to discourage people to leave campus to explore Oakland and find a balance between advertising that Mills is a safe place...in a culture-rich city.”
— Avalon Baldwin, Junior
“I would like to change how the science classes are offered each semester since that can make it easier to graduate faster. Also, to have the frozen yogure machine work each time.”
— Harshita Beeravolu, Sophomore
Compiled by Octavia Sun
Health & Sports
March 19, 2013
7
Students desire an outlet for body positivity Eden Sugay
health and sports editor
As the student body recently showed a strong to desire for a platform to promote and share information on healthy body image and self love, freshman Kendall Anderson founded Mills College’s Body Positivity Group as a reaction to Mills’ current lack of resources and support offered for students with body image issues and disorders. “I noticed a lot of negative ‘self-talk‘ and body shaming, dieting, and food calorie talk around campus,” Anderson said. “College students are so susceptible to these issues, and especially with the high standards of achievement at Mills and the diverse student body, we need to put something in place to start combating and fighting against negative body talk.” As a group, they plan to try to make the Mills campus more aware of body image issues such as eating disorders, body dysmorphia, self-esteem, gender identity, and offering support for people who have different needs. “The group will be a safe place for people to talk about eating disorders, gender identity, body image, and other related issues,” Anderson said. “We will offer resources to various support groups, treatment providers, and ways to spread our message across the greater community.” A few days after the group’s creation, students began provid-
ing each other with encouragement and ideas to begin making Mills a more body positive and aware campus. The number of members in the group quickly flourished to over 70. “I am so surprised that this group and movement has grown so quickly,” Anderson said. “I made a Facebook group on Sunday night thinking that maybe five or seven people would join, and it has clearly grown well past that!” Interest in the Body Positivity Group was so overwhelming, Anderson needed to hold three separate introductory meetings, held last Wednesday and Sunday with participants ranging from first to fourth year students, providing a great space to unite Mills students and build a community around such an important topic. Anderson has hopes that this group will extend itself outside Mills’ walls. “We have plans to start spreading our message and raising awareness of the importance of positive body image to high schools in the area,” Anderson said. “Maybe this will even turn into something that spreads to other colleges!” While those hopes high, the Body Positivity Group’s message has spread rapidly on campus with art projects stemming from the group’s purpose to unite people through a body positive mindset. Shortly after the creation of the group, freshman Charley Breyer took it upon himself to initiate a Body Positivity Shoot to promote diverse, real body positivity. This project was inspired by another student providing an outside link
to another “body positive shoot.” “It depicted ‘body positive images’ of women who were white, had long hair, and, to be frank, weren’t really anything other than the standard beauty norm,” Breyer said. The details of the photo shoot are still in the works, but Breyer plans to create a photo shoot featuring the Mills community that creates a more realistic and diverse set of images that promote body positivity and self-love. As it is too late in the semester for the group to apply to become an official club, they are facing challenges in reserving spaces to set up meetings, and are doing whatever they can to keep word of their group flowing. “We asked the staff at Founders if we could display posters or create an art project about positive body image, but they don’t allow posters or group affiliated stuff,” Anderson said. “This was disappointing because a large amount of people have complained of Founders being triggering or feeling like their peers are judging their food choices.” Several members of the group have opened up about previous eating disorders and their feelings about how the Mills College community responds to it. “I know that this campus is really bad for those trying to recover,” Breyer said. “Really bad. So this group is a good idea.” While other students have different personal attachments to this group, each member feels support is necessary to maintain a positive, healthy mindset.
Kai’ja flolo
Taylor Lim and Kendall Anderson at the first meeting.
“This is a great opportunity to raise awareness and to help myself and others become more happy and confident with themselves,” Anderson said. The members of the Body Positivity Group are beginning to meet regularly and are happy to have new people. The group is still working out the details of who they are and what exactly
they want to do in order to accomplish creating a more body positive and aware campus, but they do know that we are all united under the same mission to create a body positive campus. “Although I would like to see the overall climate at Mills change to a more body positive one,” Breyer said,”the possibilities for the future are endless.”
Find more stories, photos, videos and live updates at www.thecampanil.com
8 March 19, 2013 Health & Sports Exploring practices for safe queer sex Octavia Sun Asst. Opinions Editor It is a common fallacy that those who self-identify as queer do not need to worry about the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs), or need birth control, according to the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) report on lesbians having a lower risk of acquiring STIs over other sexual orientations. Colleen Kimsey, a senior majoring in International Public Health and a volunteer with the Community Health Resource Center (CHRC) emphasized that people who identify as queer often discount the need for birth control. Kimsey was not the only one to have noticed the misunderstanding that queer sex makes the need for birth control unnecessary. Students in the Women and Gender Studies Living Learning Community (LLC) have relatively more education on the topic of safe queer sex and its misconceptions. Skylar Crownover, a first-year in the Women and Gender Studies LLC and a member of the Peer Health Exchange said they also run into the misconception that queer sex is somehow safer than heterosexual sex. “While the two are extremely different, both can be protected or unprotected, safe or unsafe, however you want to word it,” Crownover said. “No, queer sex
cannot end in pregnancy, but there are still risks such as the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or STIs.” Getting tested for STDs or STIs is fairly easy for students to access on campus. “The clinic on campus offers STD and STI testing that is fairly comprehensive,” Crownover said. “The clinic also has free condoms that anyone is more than welcome to take.” Charley Breyer, a first-year in the Women and Gender Studies LLC, said being in the Women and Gender Studies LLC has helped the rest of the LLC gain a better understanding on what entails safe queer sex practices. “Although it has not really been a topic we’ve discussed, I think it would be interesting and beneficial to all LLC members and all incoming first years,” Crownover said. Another good resource available on campus for learing about safe queer sex is the CHRC in Cowell. The CHRC at Mills has informational and physical resources for safe queer sex, such as dental dams, condoms, and brochures. One brochure called Safer Sex, provided by the American College Health Association (ACHA), explains how a dental dam, which is a small protective latex or polyurethane sheet that covers the mouth and is used during oral sex, can lower the risk of most orallytransmitted diseases such as the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) through cunnilingus (oralvaginal contact) or rimming (oral-
Gender Identity Listening Circle: the first of its kind Emily Mibach Asst. Arts & Features Editor The Student Athlete Advisory Committee and the Diversity and Social Justice Resource Center (DSJRC) put together one of many listening circles that will occur throughout Mills based on the topic of Gender Identity and Expression in sports at Mills College. The first listening circle took place Wednesday, March 13. Neil Virtue, Mills’ swim team coach, worked with Rachel Russell, the DSJRC Coordinator, and Laura Engelken, the Director of Spiritual and Religious Life, along with students from DSJRC and Student Athlete Advisory Committee, for coordinating the listening circle. Students from all over campus participated, and while most were athletes, other students as well as coaches and APER faculty came to discuss the four main topics at the Listening Circle: “What
does gender mean to you?” “What do you think gender means to the school?” “How do you experience gender at Mills?” and “What is helpful for your own understanding and experience of gender identity and expression? What is a barrier to you?” While the discussion of gender and identity was the main topic, sports at Mills came up as well. Neil Virtue, swim coach and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee Advisor, thought that over all the listening circle was successful. “Since the questions were so broad, what happened was what happened and it felt like attendees got to a deep place, which has possibility for growth,” he said. “And it was helpful for me to hear what people had to say, as it is more representative of some experiences students are having. I wish more student athletes attended.” As for future listening circles, Virtue says that none are planned, but that he thinks the space for this type of dialogue is important.
anal contact) if held in place. If you don’t have access to a dental dam, they can actually be made out of condoms very easily, according to Crownover “Simply cut off the top of the condom, and then cut it open to create a sheet of latex, and there you go,” she said. James Cullen’s brochure, Safer Sex for Transguys: A Guide for the Whole Spectrum, states that cleanliness is an important issue to address while practicing safe queer sex. “The classic act of queer sex is digital penetration and can be very erotic to watch your partner trim their fingernails or wash their hands in preparation for play,” Kimsey said. Despite all of these readily available resources for practic-
ing safe queer sex, queer sex experiences are not the same for everyone. “It’s hard to homogenize the queer sex experience,” Kimsey said. “Trans-men have different health needs than a woman having sex with another woman.” Another important aspect to safe queer sex practices is consent. “Mouthing Off! is a great outlet for learning about how to talk about consent,” Kimsey said. “The counseling department and Spiritual and Religious Life (SRL) can help you learn to articulate your own personal moral code and sense of ethics. Giving and getting good consent is so much more important than knowing your hands are washed or your fingernails are trimmed or you put
a condom on your strap-on.” The biggest thing is to be respectful of the other person and yourself and to not be afraid of setting boundaries. “Since each queer person has mixed pasts, knowing your partner’s past is an important component of practicing safer sex,” Breyer said. Safer sex in this context also isn’t confined to disease prevention. “It’s also about ensuring an emotional and mental wellness for both you and your partner,” Kimsey said. For additional help and resources regarding safer queer sex practices, there are brochures, business cards, and various contraceptives available at the CHRC in Cowell Room 109.
Octavia sun
A few of the safe sex resources provided by the Community Health Resource Center.
Upcoming Games Rowing Opponent: Lewis & Clark Date: March 30
Tennis Opponent: Whittier
Opponent: Occidental
Date: March 24
Date: March 25
Time: 3 p.m.
Time: 3 p.m.
Opponent: Pacific
Opponent: Pacific Lutheran
Date: March 25 Time: 10 a.m.
Hungry for more? Check out new recipes Wednesdays and Fridays on our blog at www.thecampanil.com
Date: March 26 Time: 9 a.m.