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Commentary: Finally, pens for girls. See PG. 33
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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2012
FALL 2012
6
weeks left
VOLUME 48, ISSUE 10
Photo illustration Zach Stemerick and Rena Naltsas THE CHRONICLE
Homeless students largely unaccounted for in federal, college data by Alexandra Kukulka Campus Editor
DURING THE 2011 blizzard, dubbed the “Snowpocalypse,” most college students were busy partying indoors as snow piled up outside. However, one student spent those days huddled at a bus stop, trying to
stay warm. With his clean shirt and jeans, trimmed hair and bright smile, it isn’t obvious that Aaron James Flowers, a junior radio student who also goes by Jay Babii SwagLoud, was recently homeless. But Flowers is just one of the many college students nationwide who have battled homelessness. According to FAFSA data, 33,039 college students identified themselves as homeless in the 2010–
2011 academic year, and partial data for 2011–2012 shows there were 22,296 homeless students, as of July 2012. “It was hard [being homeless],” Flowers said. “It was hard knowing that I was by myself, alone and nobody was trying to help me, and I wasn’t a bad person.” Flowers said he became homeless during his sophomore year of high school when his grandmother kicked him and his family out of her
house following an altercation. His family moved to a home in Waukegan, Ill., but they had to move out after six months because it was too expensive, he said. Flowers said being homeless in high school wasn’t difficult to manage, although his friends were surprised he dressed so well. “Being homeless doesn’t mean you walk around looking like a bum, or that you aren’t eating or that you aren’t showering,” Flowers said.
Flowers came to Columbia in 2010 and moved into the Dwight Lofts, but said he was kicked out shortly after an incident with his roommates. He said after he told Residence Life he was homeless, they suggested he move into the 2 East 8th residence hall, which the college didn’t own at the time. Flowers said it was too expensive, and he was left with no alternative. xx SEE HOMELESS, PG. 3
Buttering up Obama by Trevor Ballanger
Assistant Arts & Culture Editor
Carolina Sanchez THE CHRONICLE
Mathew Wilson and Adam Brooks, creators of Industry of the Ordinary, hired Ohio-based sculptor Bob Kling to create a 70-pound bust of President Barack Obama made of sculpted butter.
CAMPUS
SPORTS & HEALTH
TWO INSTRUCTORS IN the Art & Design Department are leaving the public with a taste of the extraordinary, or at least a craving for all things buttery. Industry of the Ordinary, an artistic venture founded in 2003 by artists Mathew Wilson and Adam Brooks, has a history of challenging common perceptions of familiar objects. Its latest performance art piece involved pushing a bust of President Barack Obama made entirely of butter through the streets of Chicago while filming the reactions of passersby.
ARTS & CULTURE
Though the artwork depicts Obama, Wilson said the piece is more about provoking a reaction from audiences than it is a political statement. He said the responses from pedestrians, who saw him and Brooks navigating the streets with their 70-pound butter Obama on Oct. 26, ranged from amused to offended, while some paid little attention. “Regardless of your political views and who you might be voting for, we think our interest in Obama was of his unique place in American cultural and political history,” Wilson said. Wilson, who moved to the U.S. from England 15 years ago, said
METRO
the act of butter sculpting fascinates and inspires him. While he and Brooks were conceptualizing the butter bust, Wilson found that several state capitals hosted butter carving contests. After searching the Internet for an artist, they commissioned Ohio-based sculptor Bob Kling, who has been sculpting at the Ohio State Fair for the past 13 years. According to Kling, the American Dairy Association Mideast typically hosts these fairs, and the sculptures are often recycled and made into ethanol. In the past, the butter was discarded because it had been handled. He said he’s seen very xx SEE BUTTER, PG. 28
Campus ..................................................3 Sports & Health ....................................13 Arts & Culture .......................................19 Commentary .......................................32 Metro ..................................................35
Missing student procedure• page 4
Blue Demons continue to grow • page 13
Drug use for artistic expression • page 22
Campaigns seek undecided vote• page 38