The Columbia Chronicle, October 14, 2019

PAGE 4: Campus group receives money after fundraising confusion

PAGES 8-9: Global Education Office’s effectiveness questioned after staffing cuts

PAGE 6: New exhibit brings feminist and lesbian history to life PAGE 13: New location for Church of Scientology piques interest Volume 55, Issue 7

October 14, 2019

ColumbiaChronicle.com

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TO OVERSEE CFAC ELECTION » ALEXANDRA YETTER CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FOLLOWING TWO COMPLAINTS from Columbia part-time faculty members alleging the past two union elections were not conducted properly, the U.S. Department of Labor will oversee the upcoming election.

The DoL investigation found that CFAC failed to hold an officer election at least once in the last three years, according to the Office of Labor-Management Standards. “[The Office of Labor-Management Standards] determined that the four at-large Steering Committee members contemplated in CFAC’s 2015 Constitution and Bylaws must be elected to the foregoing four offices directly,” the DoL stated in its Voluntary Compliance Agreement with CFAC. “Although the CFAC voluntarily amended its Constitution and Bylaws on August 27, 2019, to provide for the direct election of officers, CFAC denies that its 2017 election cycle violated [federal law].”

Per CFAC’s constitution, elections occur every two years for officer and department representative positions. It was updated in August 2019 along with the vote to affiliate with the Illinois Federation of Teachers, as reported Sept. 9 by the Chronicle.

In past elections, the process began with a call for nominations—members could either

nominate someone or self-nominate—and closed on a specified date. The president of the union then formed an election committee, responsible for distributing information about the nominees to all union members who were eligible to vote and counting ballots.

In those past elections, members did not vote directly for those on the union’s Steering Committee, which includes the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and membership chair positions, said Jason Betke, adjunct professor in the Cinema and Television Art Department.

Instead, members would elect departmental representatives, who would then elect the Steering Committee, he said.

In a follow-up email, CFAC President Diana Vallera disputed Betke’s description of the process and said members voted for which nominees they wanted on the Steering Committee, but voters did not choose which nominees would occupy what position.

Adjunct Professor in the Science and Mathematics Department Michele Hoffman, who filed the original complaint to the DoL in fall 2018, alleges she did not receive a ballot to vote in the 2015 and 2017 elections. A second similar complaint to the DoL was from an unnamed union member, but the complaint has been echoed by multiple union members interviewed by the Chronicle.

SEE CFAC ELECTION, PAGE 3

» WESLEY ENRIQUEZ & MADDY ASMA/CHRONICLE

editor’s note

Global Education Office issues bad for business » ALEXANDRA YETTER CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MANAGEMENT

S

tudying abroad in Paris for the 2019 Creative Writing J-term was one of the highlights of my college experience, especially because I was in the city during the intense and historic Yellow Vest riots, as reported Jan. 22 by the Chronicle.

Had anything gone wrong because of those riots, I was confident Columbia’s Global Education Office would be there to help. Today, for students currently studying abroad, that same confidence may not exist.

Over the summer, widespread staff layoffs pinched the Global Education Office—which handles both study abroad and international studies—leading to a restructuring that left too much work in too few hands, as reported on pages 8–9 of this week’s issue.

“It feels like we have students out in the world, and I hope nothing falls through the cracks,” said Brian Shaw, a professor in the Theatre Department who assists in the coordination of exchange programs for theatre students.

The college says the reorganization of the office is merely a first step in expanding study abroad opportunities and adding future staff members, including a director of Education Abroad, according to a Sept. 12 email from Lambrini Lukidis, assistant vice president of Strategic Communications and External Relations.

“The recent re-organization of Global Education was a strategic move to better support the department and expand its footprint,” Lukidis said.

It is embarrassing that staff members have to hope “nothing falls through the cracks” in regards to students’ personal safety. Columbia’s study abroad programs are located in countries that often offer their own security risks.

Take the three different summer programs in Prague, for example. In June, Prague saw its largest demonstration since the fall of communism, as Czechs called for Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’ resignation. Students could have easily been lost in the crowd of 250,000 people or potentially harmed had the protest turned violent.

Meanwhile, more than 4,000 miles away, the few remaining staffers in the Global Education Office were wrestling with their new, overextended workloads.

2 THE CHRONICLE OCTOBER 14, 2019

CO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Blaise Mesa Alexandra Yetter

MANAGING EDITOR

Miranda Manier

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Grace Senior

DIGITAL CONTENT & BRAND MANAGER

Micha Thurston

REPORTERS NEWS EDITORS

Katherine Savage Kendall Polidori Paige Barnes Isaiah Colbert Dyana Daniels Mari Devereaux Mateusz Janik Knox Keranen Lauren Leazenby

REPORTERS

Enrollment among international students has been on the rise since 2010, while enrollment among U.S. students has been on the decline ever since then, as reported Sept. 27 by the Chronicle. In Fall 2010, there were 166 international students enrolled at the college. By Fall 2019, that number skyrocketed to 375— approximately a 125% increase. In the Fall 2019 freshman class, international students come from Italy, Korea, Poland and more, according to Institutional Effectiveness data.

Nationally, there is a trend of declining international student enrollment. With Columbia’s upward trajectory of international students in mind, it is a fiscal and corporate mistake to begin neglecting this large demographic of students enrolling at Columbia, especially considering the college’s financial state.

The college even requires students to take a Global Awareness course in order to graduate, which demonstrates the college’s understanding of the importance of globalism in education.

Senior Vice President and Provost Marcella David publicly stated she aims to expand study abroad opportunities, and I sincerely hope she does, as I’ve only ever heard phenomenal, life-changing experiences from fellow students who have studied abroad.

David, herself, studied abroad during her time in college, as reported June 3 by the Chronicle.

Moving forward, it is pivotal for both the college’s future success and students’ educational opportunities that international students and study abroad options are not swept under the rug in the reorganization process. ayetter@columbiachronicle.com

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Sept. 27 union-wide email from CFAC leadership, the DoL “investigated and dismissed the [first] complaint. However, CFAC was forced to spend time and financial resources over a several month period to ensure the complaint was dismissed.”

Hoffman alleges the reason her complaint was dismissed was because she was expelled by the Membership Integrity Committee—making the complaint no longer from a member in good standing—but that her complaint was the main reason she was expelled.

The Integrity Committee is an anonymous group within CFAC that expelled five union members in fall 2018, as reported Dec. 10, 2018, by the Chicago Reader. An Oct. 28, 2018, email sent to Hoffman from the committee regarding the allegations said Hoffman was charged with “taking actions that are causing harm to the union, to union president Diana Vallera and are undermining the bargaining committee during contract negotiations.”

Although Hoffman’s hearing before the Integrity Committee was scheduled for December—which she did not attend because she was not permitted by CFAC to bring legal counsel—she did not receive notice of her expulsion until March 13 when she said, coincidentally, her DoL complaint was still being processed.

“The Department of Labor would not be coming to us if [CFAC] had not violated federal law,” Hoffman said. “The lies have to stop. This is not just because they weren’t voting for specific positions, this is because the DoL found they did not properly hold a vote, period.”

In an Oct. 10 email statement to the Chronicle, the CFAC Steering Committee said it was not made aware of why the DoL dismissed the first complaint, just that it was dismissed. “[DoL’s] stated concern was with the constitutional provision relating to the [at-large election of] officers,” the Steering Committee wrote in its statement. “The only issue cited was with how the constitution and bylaws were written. We agree the best practice is to vote the officers in directly.”

DoL representatives held a pre-election information session Oct. 7, alongside IFT representatives and CFAC leadership to answer questions from members about the upcoming election. After not receiving a single ballot within the time he has worked part-time at the college since 2013, Adjunct Professor in the Music Department Derek Fawcett said he was reassured of the integrity of the election following ACCORDING TO THE

the meeting.

“The last email from union leadership downplayed the role of the Department of Labor,” Fawcett said. “This meeting made it clear that this is a pretty complete takeover.”

Chris Johannesson—an adjunct professor and LE IC N union representative O in the Cinema and Television Arts Department—was not happy to see the DoL’s involvement. “ People a re trying to sell it like some kind of punishment for two little things that were filed with the Department of Labor,” Johannesson said. “This is the Trump Department of Labor.

When you’re talking about them being involved in an election, that little adjective makes a difference because we’re talking about the poster boy for rigging elections.”

Although questions surrounding the two complaints to the DoL were the “twoton elephant in the room” during the meeting, and there were some moments of tension between the DoL and leadership, Fawcett said the representatives made it very clear that if anything went wrong during the election, the DoL would run a separate election.

In order to create a “foolproof” process, Fawcett said DoL representatives outlined how this election would proceed. He said candidacy nomination notices are tentatively set to open Oct. 21 and close Nov. 4; ballots are expected to be sent out Nov. 18 and the tally is expected to be announced Dec. 9, just in time for the end of the Fall semester.

The election will also be conducted using print ballots to be sent to members’ U.S. post office mailboxes, because while electronic voting may be more efficient, it is not as secure, nor is putting ballots in unguarded faculty mailboxes, Fawcett said.

Johannesson is troubled by the use of print ballots because he sees it as a “serious effort” to suppress voter turnout after “wonderful participation” in the August affiliation vote, which had a 57% participation rate. Likening the print ballot process to “Civil War” times, Johannesson said it will “radically diminish the participation,” whereas previous voting— run through a “vetted” company—has been “absolutely, flawlessly clean.”

Moving forward, Johannesson said he YA

CFAC ELECTION, FROM FRONT

CFAC issues Letter to the Editor in response to this story » ColumbiaChronicle.com

» M A DD

campus

will be hyper-vigilant and that everyone will be “suspiciously” watching the process unfold.

Fawcett said members were told that all official emails sent out by CFAC concerning the election would need to be approved by the DoL first, and that no candidates are permitted to campaign while teaching or during contracted union hours.

Betke said one issue that needs to be addressed is the union not having the correct number of representatives, and members like him said they were never told how many representatives each department is missing.

Under the constitutional changes made during the August IFT vote to comply with federal law, members will vote directly for Steering Committee members.

“In a lot of ways, our union is undemocratic,” Betke said. “Leadership would not be voluntarily letting the DoL supervise if there weren’t legitimate complaints in the past about how the election was managed.”

In the Voluntary Compliance Agreement with the DoL, signed Sept. 26 by Vallera, CFAC agreed to conduct nominations, election and officer installment under the DoL, but the agreement does not admit any violation of federal law by the union.

“The DoL informed us that even though no problematic conduct was found and even though we already remedied the constitution and bylaws, they would like to oversee the upcoming election in order to check off they had some remedy,” the Sept.

27 email from union leadership to members stated. “They asked us to voluntarily agree to allow the DoL to supervise the election committee and the upcoming elections.”

Betke referred to CFAC’s touting of the voluntary nature of the compliance agreement as “baloney,” while Hoffman pointed to the alternative of signing a voluntary compliance agreement—a DoL lawsuit—making the decision seem less voluntary.

Still, Johannesson emphasized the voluntary nature of the agreement and cooperation between CFAC and the DoL. “It’s like vampires,” he said. “You have to invite them in.”

The Sept. 27 email from CFAC said it showed evidence contrary to the two DoL complaints, including affidavits, to demonstrate that all members received emailed election information in 2015 and 2017. CFAC noted that complaints were not filed with CFAC or the DoL between 2015 and 2017 when the elections in question allegedly occurred.

When looking back at emails from 2015 and 2017, Betke found “scant” evidence of election materials and said members are just now beginning to file complaints with the DoL because they want to be sure the 2019 election will be fair. Betke said CFAC leadership is attempting to villainize the DoL and make the department seem like an “intruder.”

“Before going further,” CFAC said in the announcement, “it is important to point out that with a different federal administration, we believe it is unlikely these complaints would have been pursued by the DoL.” This was in reference to the Trump adm inistration’s tightening of unionization rights.

“That’s lunacy,” Hoffman said, in response to CFAC. “That’s something Trump would say, to be honest.”

According to a memo by the IFT, the complaints to the DoL were unfounded, but the DoL “did find that CFAC’s method of electing officers was not in compliance” with federal labor law, specifically with the at-large voting for the Steering Committee.

This was remedied with the August bundled vote for constitutional changes in addition to affiliation with IFT. “As you can see, CFAC was proactive in amending their constitution prior to the current election cycle,” said IFT spokesperson Monica Trevino in an Oct. 8 email to the Chronicle. “We look forward to a well-run election process, and will assist local 6602 [CFAC] as much [as] possible to make sure all members in good standing have the opportunity to participate.”

For now, many CFAC members are put at ease by the DoL’s presence in this election and are eager to get the campaigning started, but would like leadership to be more straightforward in recognizing the DoL’s role.

“If they’re taking this long, hard look at us ... alongside the fact that there is this sense of mistrust and lack of transparency and all these unanswered questions—and all of a sudden things start to look way worse,” Fawcett said. “After this election happens, we all need to be a union together, still. … We need to be a stronger body when we’re done with all of this.” ayetter@columbiachronicle.com

OCTOBER 14, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 3

campus

» MATEUSZ JANIK STAFF REPORTER THE PUBLIC RELATIONS Student Society of America initially walked away from a recent fundraiser having raised no funds due to a contractual technicality, but when the Chronicle contacted the parent company, things changed.

PRSSA hosted its Sept. 16 fundraising event in partnership with Chipotle, 10 E. Jackson Blvd.

Student organizations often host events and other fundraising initiatives throughout the year to secure additional funding. The Student Organization Council allots the more than 50 registered student organizations on campus up to $1,400 annually, according to the college’s website. However, any leftover money does not roll over into the next school year, leading groups to look for outside funding.

Per Chipotle’s fundraising requirements, groups must accumulate at least $300 in total

sales before they see any revenue in return.

In order to accumulate funds, customers must tell cashiers upon check-out that they would like a portion of their money to go toward the fundraiser. Otherwise, those funds are not designated for the group.

If the $300 requirement is met, Chipotle will give 33% of sales to the group, which is explained under the federal tax ID request form before an individual submits an application on the company’s website to host a fundraiser.

However, PRSSA generated approximately $175 in sales at the restaurant during their designated four-hour period and, because of this, did not receive any of the funds, said PRSSA President Alana Pendergraft, junior public relations major.

“It’s definitely a sucky situation that I wish we weren’t in,” Pendergraft said. “I’m sure that it was in the fine print somewhere, [but] it was unfortunately something

that I missed or that I thought was achievable for us.”

The fundraiser itself went through the Chipotle corporation and not the local restaurant, Pendergraft said. Therefore, there was no communication with the onsite manager throughout the process.

Having done fundraisers in the past, Anne Marie Mitchell—PRSSA faculty adviser and associate professor in the Communication Department—has never come across this problem before, but said she does not interfere with the planning of events since it is an opportunity for students to learn from the experience.

“It’s a little bit of a slap in the face,” Mitchell said. “I mean, a big corporation would not mind letting us promote their organization for a week and then give us only four hours to try to raise $300.”

Members from PRSSA posted on social media the week before and handed out flyers that

» PHOTOS MIKE RUNDLE/CHRONICLE

Chipotle fundraiser ends in good taste with PRSSA

were designed within Chipotle’s branding requirements the day of the fundraiser to bring in more customers.

“In an effort to always maintain their brand in good standing with a group of college students, they should have gone ahead and given them whatever they initially agreed [on],” said Eva Bongiovanni, principal at BonMot Consulting and adjunct professor at Benedictine University.

Four hours after the Chronicle contacted Chipotle’s Media Relations office for comment, a Chipotle representative said they would issue PRSSA a check for $58, 33% of the $175 they raised.

“We try to give back more than anyone,” said Kevin McCulloch, Chipotle’s community roots manager, who said that in the last five

years, Chipotle has given over $65 million total to more than 200,000 organizations.

“It speaks volumes to how Chipotle cares about the community and how we want to give back as a brand,” McCulloch said.

After hearing the news, Mitchell was thrilled with the company’s response.

“This feels like a warm hug,” Mitchell said. “Chipotle is doing the right thing. I think if they’re going to invite organizations to come and raise funds for them, they should give something back.”

As for PRSSA, they are already planning their next fundraiser, Oct. 17 at Panda Express, 515 S. State St., right next door to the University Center. mjanik@columbiachronicle.com

Columbia’s PRSSA chapter held a fundraiser at Chipotle, 10 E. Jackson Blvd., Sept. 16 from 4-8 p.m. Required to meet a sales goal of $300 to receive 33% of the profits in return, they attracted around 20 people.

4 THE CHRONICLE OCTOBER 14, 2019

Mother’s dreams take flight » KNOX KERANEN STAFF REPORTER

» IGNACIO CALDERON/CHRONICLE

FOLLOWING THE DEATH of his mother in February, Dominic Calabrese is renaming a scholarship to honor her, calling it the Elizabeth Frances Calabrese Publicity Club of Chicago Award. He is also doubling the amount of the award, funded by his personal savings.

Calabrese, an adjunct professor

in the Communication Department for the past 21 years, created the then-Dominic Calabrese Publicity Club of Chicago Scholarship Awards last year, as reported Oct. 8, 2018, by the Chronicle.

The passing of Calabrese’s mother caused him to move from Chicago to Columbia, South Carolina, in order to be closer to family. Despite the move, he flies more than 750 miles from Char-

Dominic Calabrese travels 750 miles weekly to teach two public relations courses.

lotte, North Carolina, to Chicago each week to teach two public relations courses at Columbia.

Prior to the move, Calabrese also served 15 years as senior vice president for the Chicago Lighthouse, a nonprofit social service organization serving the blind, visually-impaired, disabled and veteran communities.

Calabrese spoke with the Chronicle about how he is adjusting to his new life, about his mother and how she impacted the scholarship’s changes.

THE CHRONICLE: What has the past year been like?

CALABRESE: It has been a year that I will never forget. I have had tremendous highs and lows.

Losing my mother certainly was the lowest point of my life, but a few months after that, in June, I received the top honor from [the Publicity Club of Chicago]. I got their Lifetime Achievement Award for my service to the club

campus and to the public relations profession, which has certainly been the biggest honor I have received.

you can do in this world is to be a teacher, where you are shaping someone else’s life.

What is your commute like?

[I fly] up on a Wednesday and back on a Friday after my classes.

I would be less than honest if I said it isn’t tiring. Columbia, [South Carolina], itself isn’t a very large city, and it doesn’t have very good air service. I have to drive up to Charlotte, which is about a two-hour drive. [Then], it’s about a two-hour flight.

I am not used to flying [or] constant travel back and forth, but the opportunity to continue to teach here and work with our students has meant a lot to me and I wanted to continue it.

Why are scholarships important to you?

I know how important an education is, and my mother was a big believer in education. All three of her sons, interestingly enough, are teachers. So, as I say, I thought this would be a really good way to honor her. I wanted the students who were applying to understand ... what made her special.

Why do you have such a dedication to Columbia?

I have come into contact with some wonderful students, many of whom have contacted me and told me how helpful I was to their career. That means so much to me, to get that feedback because probably the most noble thing

What does this specific scholarship mean to you?

My mother never had the chance to go to college and I wanted to help someone fulfill that dream ... and I thought that would be a good way to honor her memory. So, I have $10,000 from my personal savings account that I am donating for these scholarships.

Visit ColumbiaChronicle.com for additional reporting kkeranen@columbiachronicle.com

The Music Center at Columbia College Chicago 1014 S. Michigan Avenue

M u s i c

D e p a r t m e n t

E v e n t s

Monday October 14 Hip Hop Ensemble & American Roots Ensemble 7:00 pm

Tuesday October 15 Fusion Ensemble & R&B Ensemble Showcase

Wednesday October 16 Student Piano & Strings Recital #3 Wednesday Noon Guitar Concert Series at the Conaway Center

7:00 pm

12:00 pm 12:00 pm

OCTOBER 14, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 5

arts culture

“Water Dancer” links racial disparities » ColumbiaChronicle.com

» COURTESY LAVENDER WOMAN

» MIRANDA MANIER MANAGING EDITOR

» COURTESY GERBER/HART’S COLLECTION

IN THE 1970S and 1980s, lesbians and feminists in Chicago did not have to look far to find spaces to call their own.

In Wrigleyville, they could hole up in Susan B’s, a restaurant that only served two kinds of soups, which rotated daily. On the Near South Side, they could share a beer in MS, an intersectional and intentionally unsegregated bar. In Lincoln Park, they could wander the shelves of the activist bookstore Pride and Prejudice.

In its exhibit, “Lavender Women and Killer Dykes,” opening with a reception Oct. 12 at 7 p.m., Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, 6500 N. Clark St., will bring spaces like these, as well as the people and activist movements behind them, back to life, at least for the duration of the exhibit.

The title of the exhibit references two Chicago publications from the 1970s and 1980s, which served as source material for the exhibit—Lavender Woman, an explicitly lesbian feminist newspaper that included everything from surveys of lesbian bars in Chicago to articles about single mothers—and The Killer Dyke, a radical and satirical newspaper that was run by the Flippies, or the “feminist and lesbian intergalactic party.”

The exhibit was co-curated by Gerber/ Hart volunteers Jen Dentel, Erik Rebain, Isabel Singer and David Sievers. It will examine lesbian and feminist community spaces from the time in all forms, such as bars, restaurants, health centers, music

Linda Shear 1975 vinyl LP

6 THE CHRONICLE OCTOBER 14, 2019

» COURTESY THE CHICAGO WOMEN’S HISTORY CENTER

Intergalactic lesbians, lavender labryses and everything in between

A June 1973 issue of Lavender Woman, Chicago’s first lesbian newspaper

venues, publishing presses and bookstores.

While the original intention was to specifically highlight lesbian feminist spaces and groups, that scope expanded as the curators realized the tension that exists over the term “lesbian feminism.”

“It’s an interesting idea,” Rebain said, “because there was the whole concept at the time of political lesbianism. So it was, you don’t have to be sexually attracted to women, you just have to give your energy to women to be a lesbian. So people who were sexually interested in women and people who were not kind of clashed on that. … It was contentious. So we’re looking at both lesbians who are sexually interested [in women], and then just feminists, because that covers a much broader spectrum.”

A lot of underlying tension arose in feminist and lesbian activist movements at the time, particularly around the idea of separatism.

Mary Ann Johnson—president of the Chicago Women’s History Center, which co-sponsored the exhibit with Gerber/Hart—said separatists were women who advocated for the refusal to “deal with” men in any way, whether this meant rejecting them from physical spaces dedicated to women or not welcoming men into their lives at all.

A regional example of a separatist space was the Michigan Womyn’s

Music Festival, an annual music festival that was held in western Michigan.

If someone hadn’t gone to the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, Rebain said, “you’d kinda lie about it and say that you went so you’re [considered] a real lesbian.”

Women’s publishing houses and female vendors selling feminist and lesbian items, such as the labrys—a double-bladed battle axe symbol of lesbian strength and independence—populated the festival camping grounds. The festival ran from 1976 to 2015, Rebain said, and had a strict no-men policy, which included children.

Women who brought their sons had to keep them in a sectioned-off area, away from the rest of the festival. It was eventually shut down because of the national backlash it received for its trans-exclusive policies, as it only allowed “women-born-women” to attend.

Despite these transphobic and separatist divides in the lesbian and feminist movements, there were intersectional and inclusive spaces and organizations throughout Chicago, one being the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union, a socialist feminist organization.

CWLU stood apart from other feminist organizations because it advocated for

lesbian causes, while many mainstream feminist groups thought that mentioning lesbian rights would be “distracting,” Sievers said.

The Lesbian Feminist Center, originally named the Chicago Women’s Center, also ensured it brought groups together, Johnson said. It included a bookstore that sold lesbian and feminist books, the New Alexandria Library for Women and lesbianpositive counseling services provided by lesbian therapists.

Dentel hopes the exhibit will not only educate the public about history that often flies under the radar, but that it will also shine a spotlight on grassroots activism and community work that has long gone unrecognized.

“When there’s this telling of queer history, you get Stonewall, AIDS, gay marriage, that’s kind of all you get. And it’s like, well, that’s not all [there is],” Dentel said. “Chicago gets left out of a lot of the conversations about [LGBTQ+] history. ... So being able to celebrate Chicago and actually look at those physical spaces that existed in Chicago, and the women that were in Chicago, is important.” mmanier@columbiachronicle.com

arts & culture

Trauma survivors’ art makes ‘something beautiful out of tragedy’

» CAMILLA FORTE/CHRONICLE

of blackout poetry all the way from Brooklyn, said the work she created explores nearly two decades of sexual abuse by a high school teacher she was close to. » MARI DEVEREAUX stems from racism, sexual abuse, “There are people that make art “When I couldn’t talk about [the STAFF REPORTER mental illness and violence. that is disturbing or upsetting trauma] anymore with my theraDianna Long, director, founder because that’s been their reality,” pist, the art is what really helped SHARON BURRINK STANDS before and curator at CUARC, said Long said. “It might disturb or me to process those feelings,” her neatly-framed work with a the exhibit is a safe place for upset you, but this is my life. This Williams said. sense of accomplishment. Hang- people to express themselves is something I want to talk about, About a year ago, Williams ing around the artist and teacher in a meaningful way, even this is something I want to share.” was inspired to start a “book in a small, cluttered room are if the pieces are not always Amy Williams, an artist and treatment project,” vowing to dozens of art pieces with themes comfortable to look at. gallery director who sent pieces use the next novel she found on of trauma and healing. the street as inspiration through After 12 years of working which she could look inward. through trauma and repressed It was through this “serenmemories, art became the voice dipitous” process that Williams Burrink never had to express what began working with a vintage she was going through. copy of Ernest Hemingway’s “A “I wanted a testimony to the Farewell to Arms,” underlining pain that other people are going words that spoke to her and through when they’ve been helped her understand how she abused,” Burrink said. was exploited.

The Chicago Urban Art “I’m talking about it publicly, so Retreat Center, 1957 S. maybe someone can identify with Spaulding Ave., held the opening it and find their own courage to night of its exhibit, “Survivors speak out,” Williams said. of Trauma,” Oct. 4, featuring Rosie Solano, a 21-year-old artists’ work from around the Dianna Long, (left) director and founder of the Chicago Urban Art Retreat Center, artist who moved to the city from world depicting trauma that welcomed viewers on the Oct. 4. opening night of the “Survivors of Trauma” exhibit. Kewanee, Illinois, submitted two

mixed-media collages chronicling her struggles with manic depression, anorexia, medication and racism.

“It’s kind of a messed up situation, but it’s sort of comforting that you can look at it all in one set and see that it all still works together,” Solano said.

Since founding the center in 1984, Long said CUARC has stuck to its mission of education, bringing awareness to social justice issues and the trauma of victimization.

Long said the arts help people express themselves and learn more about who they are, ultimately making the world a better place.

Burrink said through sharing her own artistic process and experiences dealing with trauma, she aims to leave people with a message of hope.

“It’s trying to find the little treasures, ” Burrink said. “And [trying] to make something beautiful out of tragedy.” mdevereaux@columbiachronicle.com

» DYANA DANIELS STAFF REPORTER IN AN UNASSUMING neighborhood, situated down the street from a family community center and a church, sits the home of a small, international art fair. With an industrial look on its exterior, the side of the building is covered in vines with a sign that reads “Arts.”

In order to get into the fair, a patron must call or text the number written on a piece of blue electrical tape stuck to the door.

The Barely Fair, 3311 W. Carroll Ave., is a contemporary art exhibition space that puts a new twist on the concept. From Malta to Canada to America, 24 pieces of miniature artwork are on display Sundays through mid-October.

Created by an artist-run project space known as Julius Caesar, co-directors are switched out each year among School of the Art Institute of Chicago

graduates. This year, artists Kate Sierzputowski, Josh Dihle, Tony Lewis and Roland Miller are in charge of the fair.

“At the beginning of this year, I was talking about wanting to do an exhibition of all miniature art spaces inside of the gallery,” Sierzputowski said. “[Dihle] suggested that we do an art fair instead.”

Each artist was given the prompt of creating a piece of work that would fit in the size of a shoebox. For each booth, Julius Caesar charged galleries $25, rather than thousands, to participate.

Barely Fair was asked to be a part of the New Art Dealers Alliance panel. Julius Caesar came up with the idea to create three, 15-minute panels on the “Economics of Scale,” or how artists make their living, especially if they have a 9-to-5 job.

“I saw that there were a couple of other spaces in Los Angeles

that were involved, people who are basically my neighbors and friends,” said Daniel Bowman, a participant in the panel held last month and co-founder of Bozo Mag, an artist-run gallery. “They made it sound enticing. They were trying to do something funky and alternative to expo and to NADA.” Bozo Mag, located in L.A., contributed two pieces to Barely Fair, one by Adam Rabinowitz and the other by Hayley Barker.

Barker’s piece is a drawing.

Rabinowitz’s piece, “Earth Revisited 2,” is a textile printing on canvas that sits inside the shoe box booth, leaning against the booth’s back wall.

“I think [about] size and the largeness of spaces, the amount of money that people spend to rent a booth, essentially,” Bowman said.

“Everything is modular, so it is all about size, money, extremes.

Almost like the grotesque nature of contemporary art.”

» IGNACIO CALDERON/CHRONICLE

International art fair of miniatures brings big impact, ideas to Chicago

Flyweight Projects, a Brooklyn exhibition space, presented a collaborative piece (above) by Samantha Bittman, Cameron Granger, Barb Smith and Alessandro Teoldi.

When Julius Caesar was trying to find people interested in participating in Barely Fair, they reached out to the people who are in their network.

Some galleries opted for more interactive booths, instead of just installations. “It was interesting to see how everyone interpreted it,” Sierzputowski said.

The Barely Fair is open for one more Sunday in October, but the creators hope this is just the

beginning of their prompt.

“We definitely want to expand it outside of Julius Caesar,” Sierzputowski said. “We would love to do it in Chicago again, but possibly some other cities as well. I like the scale. I like 24 spaces. It feels manageable, but I feel like that’s something that could also change in different or future iterations.” ddaniels@columbiachronicle.com

OCTOBER 14, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 7

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‘Challenging task at best’: Global Edu » SH A

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left Columbia Sept. 27 for a job at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In her time with Global Education, she was convinced the college was invested in the program and noted

ICL E

» BLAISE MESA CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FIVE

MONTHS

AFTER

almost half of the staff members in the Global Education Office were terminated, the office remains understaffed, causing a sense of disarray among students who relied on the office and staff responsible for assisting them.

One remaining staff member sent an email to more than 30 faculty and staff who worked with Global Education, pleading for help with an office in chaos.

“All study abroad programming responsibilities have fallen to me with very little training and information provided to me by [former employees] before their departure,” Assistant Provost of Global Education David Comp said in the Sept. 11 email. “This includes all administrative tasks falling to me such as paying invoices, coordinating interviews with director candidates and everything in between, as I have no administrative assistant.”

The Chronicle made multiple attempts to interview Comp, but the News Office intervened and said Comp was not available for an interview.

In May, four employees were terminated when their positions were eliminated, as reported May 22 by the Chronicle.

Now, the five employees who remain in the office work with the more than 300 international students currently enrolled at the college in addition to Columbia students studying abroad. The college does not have registration figures on the number of students studying abroad, but plans to track it in the future.

In her first collegewide address Aug. 19, Senior Vice President and Provost Marcella David said she would like to expand study abroad opportunities.

8 THE CHRONICLE OCTOBER 14, 2019

Lambrini Lukidis, assistant vice president of Strategic Communications and External Relations, said in a Sept. 12 email to the Chronicle that the college is committed to supporting its international and study abroad students.

“In fact, the recent re-organization of Global Education was a strategic move to better support the department and expand its footprint,” Lukidis said.

A plea for help In the two years he has been at the college, Comp in his email said he was not involved in administrative tasks with faculty-led study abroad and exchange programs, which were previously carried out by the employees who were terminated over the summer.

Comp has one “moderately helpful” student worker in the office, according to his email.

“Every step for both faculty-led and exchange programs is new to me,” Comp wrote. He added that the new responsibilities, such as going through databases and systems he was not familiar with, are taking “a tremendous amount of time.”

Comp said in the email former employees “placed important program information” in separate databases, and it is “a challenging task at best” to gather it all. Comp also asked email recipients for specific program descriptions for faculty-led programs.

Susan Strow, former director of International Admissions and Recruitment,

strategic marketing and enrollment management offered a lot of support.

Strow performed a variety of tasks, from recruiting students to supporting them on-campus, and said her job was “full-time plus.”

Skye Rust, assistant director of International Admissions, will take over leadership of International Admissions and Recruitment while the college looks for Strow’s replacement. To streamline the process, the college waived the waiting period required for filling new positions.

Under Global Education’s previous office structure, the vice provost of Global Education would strategize international enrollment and education abroad, Lukidis said in a Sept. 25 email. In Global Education’s revised structure, the Vice President of Enrollment Management, Michael Joseph, handles these tasks.

Additionally, Comp now reports to the Provost’s Office while managing Education Abroad programs.

These actions were taken because international student enrollment and study abroad options are “critical parts” of the college’s plan, Lukidis said.

Lukidis said David and Joseph were unavailable to comment.

Last year, Brian Shaw—a professor in the Theatre Department who helps coordinate international exchange programs for theatre students—would speak with staff in the Global Education Office on a weekly or biweekly basis. However, this semester, Shaw said communication with Global Education has decreased, as he does not want to overburden the employees.

The Theatre Department partners with about five international institutions and was in the process of developing another exchange program. Shaw said progress was being made last semester, but after much of the Global Education

staff was terminated, the plans to partner with the institution are in limbo.

“I have no idea what, or if, there is a plan for growth or further development,” he said. “It feels like we have students out in the world, and I hope nothing falls through the cracks.”

Shaw said the department’s international studies were otherwise running smoothly, but said there are always unpredictable issues that arise Kathie Bergquist, adjunct faculty in the English and Creative Writing Department, was abroad with students when she learned of Global Education’s reorganization.

Bergquist is the program manager for the English and Creative Writing Department’s Summer in Prague program and its Paris J-term program. She finds herself doing the little things this semester to prepare for the class, such as designing the J-term’s poster. Bergquist does not have graphic design experience.

“That’s what we have to do to get the word out to the students,” she said. “The posters have to happen.”

She is also gathering “legal compliance forms” for her courses. Bergquist has faith the administration has the students’ best interest in mind.

“We are all committed enough to the work that we are doing and [are] competent enough professionals to flow with it while things sort themselves in Global [Education],” Bergquist said.

Last semester, the Global Education Office assisted Associate Professor and Chair of the Communication Department Suzanne McBride with her Ireland J-term course. Mark Chakoian, former assistant director of Global Education, played an important role in coordinating faculty-led programs, McBride said, but Chakoian is no longer at the college.

McBride—like Bergquist—is now handling the application process for her Ireland J-term course, a task she also handled before the Global Education office was established.

Alex Riepl Broz was the assistant director of Exchanges and Education Abroad until his position was eliminated this summer. He and Chakoain would coordinate with faculty-led programs and international-partner institutions. Broz helped build and manage partnerships with around 20 institutions worldwide.

Broz helped the college retain an estimated $500,000 in tuition annually from

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ucation carries on after reorganization exchange and study abroad programs, he said.

Broz would help ensure studyabroad credits transferred properly and checked in with students as needed. During the 2015 terrorist attack in Paris, Broz coordinated with students abroad to make sure everyone was safe.

When a new Director of Education Abroad is hired, Lukidis said that person will be crucial in developing and implementing David’s goals of expanding study abroad opportunities. The position is expected to be filled by the end of the school year, she said. Originally, the position was going to be filled by the end of October.

Because of the current situation with staffing cuts, the Study Abroad Fair was canceled by Global Education this semester, according to Comp’s Sept.

11 email. The fair’s mission is to educate students on Columbia’s study abroad opportunities.

However, McBride said the Study Abroad Fair was too important to cancel.

McBride, along with other department chairs, helped put on the fair, which was held Oct. 8. The event was done without the assistance of Global Education, she said. “[It’s] a really great opportunity for students to learn about study abroad so they can make plans down the road to participate,” she said.

After the event, which attracted more than 100 students, McBride said more than 30 were interested in the Ireland J-term course she instructs.

Students feel unsupported Current and former employees are not alone in their concern surrounding Global Education initiatives, specifically with the future of the study abroad programs.

When Kevin Obomanu, former coordinator of International Student and Scholar Services, was terminated, he sent an email to international students letting them know he was no longer at the college because he felt so connected to them.

“What are we going to do now?” asked Ayako Kanroji, an international student from Tokyo and sophomore advertising art direction major, when she heard from Obomanu, whom she described as “very, very helpful.”

Lukidis said the college acknowledges transitional periods are difficult, and students bond with certain staff members in the office, but said staff currently in place are able to address students’ needs.

Obomanu helped coordinate events for the Buddy Program—a support system for first-semester international students—and he assisted with the International Student Organization and went on recruitment trips for the college.

Obomanu also focused on the social and emotional needs of international students by hosting events and speaking with students. Conversations ranged from discussing U.S. culture to speaking with Mexican students who were afraid to come to the U.S. under the Trump administration.

Kanroji, who is a member of the Buddy Program, said it held more activities in Spring 2019 before the cuts. She remembered the program hosting educational events, such as a session on the LGBTQ+ community for students coming from countries that are not as open about LGBTQ+ issues.

Tyra Guan, an international student from Beijing and junior arts management major, also noticed fewer cultural events hosted by the Buddy Program.

She recalled having “party dinners,” where students would eat food from their home countries and talk about their cultures. Event planning used to be done, in part, by Global Education staffers.

“There [are] not so many familiar faces around,” Guan said.

Júlia D’Aló, an international student from Brazil and sophomore acting major, feels less supported by Columbia in the wake of the terminations.

“When everything happened, it did affect me [emotionally],” she said. “I felt as if the college was letting me down.”

Kanroji, along with international students in the Buddy Program, sent an email to administrators stating the staff in Global Education was a valuable resource to them and that administrators made a mistake in eliminating their positions. Kanroji did not receive a response, but Lukidis said students with specific questions were responded to.

Dominik Bluesse, a 2019 ASL English and interpretation alumnus from Ger-

many, received a response from then-Interim Vice President and Provost Suzanne Blum Malley.

“We are forecasting strong growth in the number of international students, and the organizational changes we made last week are designed to best support that goal,” Blum Malley said in an email response to the students’ May 24 message. “Growing international-student enrollment and solidifying education-abroad options are critical parts of our plans moving forward.”

It was a “huge mistake” to lay off employees from Global Education, said Samuel Cox, 2019 audio design and production alumnus, because employees such as Broz conv inced him

tional community are incredibly important,” he said.

Obomanu was confused by the college’s decision to reorganize the office because enrollment among international students has grown over the last decade.

When the college saw decreased enrollment between 2010 and 2019, the number of international students more than doubled in that same time frame. It has only plateaued since 2017.

“Right now, everything is functioning just enough,” Kanroji said. “At some point that is going to be an issue.” bmesa@columbiachronicle.com

t o study a br oa d , where he learned a lot from his experiences.

Cox studied abroad twice and said he would do it again.

“Our relationship and interaction with the internaOCTOBER 14, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 9

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Stop masquerading your hate as religion

A

» MADDY ASMA/CHRONICLE

slip of the tongue is a term often used by people trying to justify their actions.

However, in 2019, these slips need to be taken seriously, lest more people use it as an excuse for intolerance.

In 2018, Peter Vlaming—a high school French teacher at West Point High School in Virginia—was fired for choosing not to use the male pronouns of his transgender student. Now, nearly a year later, Vlaming is filing a

lawsuit against school district officials, claiming they breached his contract.

His larger claim is that he could not, “in good conscience,” use the student’s pronouns because this would go against his religious beliefs, as cited in the lawsuit.

“Mr. Vlaming’s conscience and religious practice prohibits him from intentionally lying, and he sincerely believes that referring to a female as a male by using an objectively male pronoun is telling a lie,” the lawsuit states.

Vlaming is seeking $500,000 in lost wages and benefits, and another $500,000 for suffering and emotional distress. He is also asking for his job back.

Vlaming’s wishes seem steep given the fact that he could not allow his student the courtesy to fulfill his desire to be correctly gendered. The unnamed student even addressed Vlaming after class one day saying, “Mr. Vlaming, you may have your religion, but you need to respect who I am!” according to the lawsuit.

Time to wake up and educate our youth about jury duty Fessing up to his actions, Somerville told Judge John Kastrenakis the truth about his absence from court that day.

Kastrenakis responded by sentencing him to 10 days in jail, 150 hours of community service, one year of probation, a 100 word minimum written apology and $233 in fees, according to court records.

After his sentencing, Somerville served his 10-day sentence in jail only to come out on the other side and appeal the rest of his sentence. His one year of probation was reduced to only three months and the 150 hours » WESLEY ENRIQUEZ/CHRONICLE

P

ressing the snooze button may be one of the few simple pleasures in the rat race of society. It is the one buffer between the warmth of sleep and the reality of morning routine. Now, imagine if pressing your snooze button landed you in jail.

In August, 21-year-old Deandre Somerville, of West Palm Beach, Florida, was selected to be on a civil jury. However, on what became his own day of judgment, Somerville accidentally overslept and missed the trial to which he was assigned as a juror.

To address this mishap, he was summoned for a Sept. 20 court hearing where he was instructed by his grandfather to “go in and be honest.”

Despite using the student’s preferred name, Vlaming repeatedly used the incorrect pronouns, though he claims this was a slip of the tongue.

And while accidents are prone to happen, especially in an ever-evolving world that asks for ever-conscious action from its participants, this slip-up is about more than just language. Respect, or lack thereof, is at the heart of this issue.

If Vlaming practiced active respect with his students, his religion would not have a part in his classroom in the first place. Moreover, working in a public institution means you check your personal affiliations at the door.

The catch to Vlaming’s claims is that he believes these pronouns are a fabrication, as if they are meant to deceive him and others. This assumption is void of respect. And instead of wrapping his head around the idea that different people exist in different ways, he doubled down on the idea that the reality of his student will skew his moral compass.

The fact that lying, in regards to religion, was the final moral straw seems specious at best, and solidifies that religious rhetoric is a weaponized tool used against the people it does not support.

EDITORIAL In a school setting, as regrettable as it may be, teachers cannot be expected to educate and inform the future leaders of this world while not being equipped for the present. Therefore, it falls on the shoulders of institutions to update and educate their staff.

At Columbia, teachers are encouraged to include their pronouns in their email signatures and inquire about students’ pronouns their first day of classes.

Public school teachers have professional development days annually, during which issues of inclusivity in the classroom should be addressed. Even simply crafting syllabi and handbooks that use inclusive language in support of transgender and gender-nonconforming students could be powerful.

Freedom of speech and freedom of religion exist because people should have a right to navigate their own existence.

However, the right to exist as you choose cannot impede the rights of others.

For that reason, Mr. Vlaming, you may have your religion, but you cannot use your ideology as an excuse for your contempt for the changing times. chronicle@colum.edu

EDITORIAL of community service were reduced to 30 hours. Part of this community service will require him to come to the jury office once a week to promote the importance of jury duty, as reported Oct. 4 by CNN. Nevertheless, Somerville accepted the front-end of his punishment and found it to be traumatic. As this story weaves its way out of the headlines, there is still the injustice that remains: Young people, like Somerville, have little to no education about the reality of the criminal justice system and how it works—especially when it imposes itself on the innocent.

Another inadequacy of the justice system is brought into the light at the unfortunate expense of a young man who

doesn’t understand how it works. One might wonder, do most 21-year-olds know the extent of the punishment they face if they miss jury duty, or for going toe-to-toe with the law in any scenario?

Maybe they should, but it is not as though the practicalities of jury duty—or most legal proceedings for that matter—are at the top of their web browsing history. If we want young adults in America to know the impact their actions have in society, then the education needs to be there.

Schools can post signs in hallways advocating for this education; social media platforms can do what they were intended to do and spread information to people who may not have access to it traditionally. Let’s make the time to educate our young people about the duty of every American citizen. chronicle@colum.edu

Editorial Board Members Blaise Mesa Co-Editor-in-Chief Margaret Smith Copy Chief Katherine Savage News Editor Kaci Watt Copy Editor Yasmeen Sheikah Podcast Producer Dyana Daniels Staff Reporter

10 THE CHRONICLE OCTOBER 14, 2019

Knox Keranen Staff Reporter Lauren Leazenby Staff Reporter Kathryn Williams Media Sales Rep

Did you catch a mistake, think we could have covered a story better or have strong beliefs about an issue that faces all of us here at Columbia?

Why not write a letter to the editor? At the bottom of Page 2, you’ll find a set of guidelines on how to do this. Let us hear from you. —The Columbia Chronicle Editorial Board

opinions

COMMENTARY

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»GETTY IMAGES VINCE BUCCI

» KENDALL POLIDORI NEWS EDITOR

ome of the music scene’s most renowned rock names–blink-182, Green Day and Fall Out Boy– have been making comebacks in 2019 with new albums, tours and sounds.

However, many diehard fans have been vocal about not liking these transitions. After the May release

reviews and many fans, including myself, were still on the fence about the band continuing without DeLonge.

But, with its recent Sept. 20 release of the album “Nine,” it is clear the punk rock collective needed the transition toward a more pop rock sound.

And, let’s face it, these guys are not in their 20s anymore. I’m no longer the fourth grader I was when I first discovered them. As bands age, so do their original fans. With new material could also come new fans. If they weren’t changing their sound at some point, then they would be stuck in the past, trying to keep up with an image that no longer applies to them.

The reason fans held back their feelings about the band’s transition is because guitarist and vocalist Skiba himself had not fully indulged in the band’s sound. But with “Nine,” he blew it out of the water, loosening up and better demonstrating his talent and value to blink-182. The »GETTY IMAGES FRAZER HARRISON

Musicians deserve room to grow and experiment

of blink-182’s single “Blame It On My Youth,” fans took to Twitter, pleading with the band to “return to their old sound.” But these changes are necessary for the band’s artistic growth and individual maturity.

Blink-182 has undergone changes since the early ‘90s. The most detrimental change was the departure of lead vocalist and guitarist Tom DeLonge in 2015. With blink-182 being my favorite band, it was hard to accept its shift in sound with the addition of Matt Skiba, Chicago-native and frontman for Alkaline Trio.

Blink-182’s first album without DeLonge, “California,” received mixed

»GRAPHIC SHANE TOLENTINO/CHRONICLE

band is no longer the “crappy punk rock” trio fans adored, but, as matured musicians, that is certainly a good thing. Vocalist and bassist Mark Hoppus even said the band is not trying to adhere to any particular sound, they are just writing songs they love.

Two other big-house names in the punk rock scene—Green Day and Fall Out Boy—announced Sept. 10 their joint “Hella Mega Tour,” a summer 2020 stadium tour with Weezer set to kick off March 8. Similar to blink-182, the bands have released new music far from what they were making 10 or even 20 years ago.

Compared to their start in Chicago’s hardcore punk scene, Fall Out Boy’s latest album, “Mania,” takes the band into a new realm of sound.

Dipping their toes into a more synth-heavy, pop sound, the band took a step out of its comfort zone.

It can be difficult to adjust to your favorite band’s new sound and experimentation, but it is absolutely necessary in order for the musicians to grow personally in their art, as well as mature in their career as a band. kpolidori@columbiachronicle.com

1. ENROLL IN COLLEGE 2. MOVE TO CHICAGO 3. EAT DEEP DISH PIZZA 4. GO TO CLASSES 5. VISIT THE BEAN 6. MAKE MEDIA Eager for experience on sets, in writers rooms and in edit bays? Frequency TV is Columbia College Chicago student’s opportunity to get started.

frequencytv.colum.edu/volunteer

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1101 S. Wabash | 312-488-0820 | meisasian.com OCTOBER 14, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 11

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12 THE CHRONICLE OCTOBER 14, 2019

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2020 candidate Marianne Williamson talks LGBTQ+ issues » ColumbiaChronicle.com/Multimedia

Students intrigued by Dwight Lofts’ new neighbor: the Church of Scientology » PAIGE BARNES

STAFF REPORTER JUNIOR FILMMAKING MAJOR Aaron Biggers,

who lived in the Dwight Lofts for the 2018– 2019 academic year, was curious to find out what was happening next door after passing by the construction.

Biggers eventually learned the construction site neighboring the Dwight Lofts, 642 S. Clark St., will be home to the relocated Church of Scientology of Chicago, as reported by the Chronicle April 13, 2015.

The church currently has a Chicago location at 3011 N. Lincoln Ave. “I saw the construction outside last year … and we were all wondering what it was,” Biggers said. “As I passed by after class one day, there was some paperwork on some wood paneling that said something like, ‘If you have a problem with the construction, notify the Church of Scientology Illinois.’”

Church of Scientology of Chicago spokesperson Rebecca Cusano told the Chronicle in the 2015 article that renovations on the building, 650 S. Clark St., were intended to be finished by the start of 2016.

Cusano said at the time the church chose the location next to the Dwight for its historic architecture, and indicated in 2015 the slow construction process was to avoid damage to the building.

The Church of Scientology of Chicago has not responded to numerous requests for an interview and an update on the progress of the renovation as of press time.

Scientology was founded in 1952 and is based on the book “Dianetics,” written by L. Ron Hubbard. The religion of Scientology “addresses the spirit—not the body or mind— and believes that Man is far more than a product of his environment, or his genes,” according to the church’s website.

Sara True, the director of public relations at the Church of Scientology Greater Cincinnati, has been a member of the church for 44 years. She was first introduced to the religion by her parents.

“I have been tremendously helped by technology in Scientology,” True said in an Oct. 4 email statement to the Chronicle. “But, more importantly, [I] have been able to use the knowledge and tools that I have learned to help others.”

» CAMILLA FORTE/CHRONICLE

She explained that in Scientology, there True said the goal of Scientology is to “wake the individual up” by making people are eight dynamics that interact with one aware of their surroundings. She practices it another. Thus, when making decisions, all daily for her own “survival.” A lowered “spir- areas of life that are represented through the itual awareness” can cause difficulties with dynamics must be considered and balanced.

Seaman has been a Scientologist for 31 others, illness and unhappiness, she said.

Initially, Biggers thought the construction years and was referred by a friend to check was a new shop because of the other shops it out after going through a difficult time in in the area and found it “weird” a Church of her life.

“I’m opinionless as long as they’re good Scientology was moving directly next to a neighbors,” said Shea Wight, managing college residence building.

Biggers, a Lutheran Christian, said he has partner of First Draft, 649 S. Clark St., a an interest in checking it out after learning bar across the street from the church’s new about Scientology in his high school world location. “If they want to come in here and religions class, but most likely will not join. eat and drink and be a part of the community, Bennette Seaman, public relations officer that’s one thing. If they’re coming in here to for the Church of Scientology Kansas City, recruit, that’s different. I wouldn’t be for that.”

Freshman acting major Nicolette Hummel said people will need to go and find out for themselves what Scientology is, and not said they grew up with a Scientology church base their opinions on it from the likes of down the road from their high school in celebrities such as Tom Cruise, who has Minnesota and they’re concerned about the been a well-known Scientologist since join- new location.

“They actively target younger people,” ing the church in 1990.

Seaman said she could not quickly sum- Hummel said. “It’s really scary because I feel marize the key beliefs of Scientologists nor like a lot of the kids coming [to the Dwight] do the religion justice since there were so are freshmen.”

Erick Hernandez, a freshman music major many important principles. who identifies as agnostic, is interested in knowing what the church’s mission is but feels he cannot access that information unless he is a member.

“It’s very controversial because … it’s a very secretive organization,” Hernandez said. “It’s very cult-like.”

Seaman said Scientology is not a “cult” because its members are not controlled by who they can or cannot talk to, nor are they “sequestered” by the church.

Jamie Lesk, a coach at Clark Street CrossFit and Nutrition, 730 S. Clark St., has only heard about Scientology from the media and does not know much about the religion.

Lesk said people would not care as much if it were a Catholic church moving to the South Loop location.

Michael Owens has lived in the South Loop community for nearly a year and said he does not have a problem with the church moving in the area as long as the church attendees do not impose their beliefs on the community.

“Similar to a resident, if this is a … ‘home,’ they have the same rights as any one of us,” Owens said. “I don’t see an issue with it versus any one of us living here.”

The new location for the Church of Scientology was chosen due to its historical architecure and will be housed right next to Dwight Lofts, 642 S. Clark St.

pbarnes@columbiachronicle.com

OCTOBER 14, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 13

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Presidential candidates talk LGBTQ+ youth, healthcare and protests at historic town hall

» MIRANDA MANIER MANAGING EDITOR

Protesters At three distinct points throughout the four and a half hours of the town hall, protesters interrupted the goings-on to bring attention to trans women of color.

The first was during Buttigieg’s time. Before he had even spoken, protesters holding a transgender f lag marched dow n the a isle, cha nting, “ Tra ns people a re dying.” Once they had been quieted, CNN anchor and town hall moderator Anderson Cooper said that protest has been a part of the LGBTQ+ 14 THE CHRONICLE OCTOBER 14, 2019

was about to ask a question and grabbed the microphone to vocalize her anger with the fact that not a single black transgender man or woman had asked a question throughout the town hall thus far.

“CNN, you have erased black trans women for the last time,” Brown said.

Equality Act and LGBTQ+ Rights Every participating candidate agreed that the Equality Act would be a priority for them as president.

The Equality Act is a bill that would protect LGBTQ+ Americans from discrimination in employment, housing and all other private and public services, regardless of religious exemption. In light of the recent arguments made before the Supreme Court about employment rights of the LGBTQ+ community, the Equality Act would ensure the community’s protection no matter what.

Buttigieg said he would sign the bill “the moment it hit his desk,” and Biden said that it would come “first and foremost.”

Booker, one of the original sponsors of the Equality Act, also stressed its importance, though he dodged giving a direct answer on whether or not religious institutions should lose their tax-exempt status if they oppose LGBTQ+ rights.

Tax exemption came up several times throughout the night, with O’Rourke in particular taking a strong stance on the matter.

“There can be no reward, no benefit, no tax break for anyone or any institution, any organization in America that denies the full human rights or the full civil rights of every single one of us,” he said.

Many candidates also committed to ensuring that violence against LGBTQ+ people would be treated as hate crimes, and Biden and Castro went so far as to outline provisions that would make aid to foreign countries contingent on their respect of LGBTQ+ rights.

HIV/AIDS and Blood Donations A hot-button topic for the evening was the decriminalization of HIV. In some states it is still illegal to not disclose HIV status to sexual partners. Many candidates argued that HIV that has been treated to the point of being undetectable and therefore cannot be transmitted to others should be decriminalized.

Buttigieg called for the decriminalization of HIV, as well as for the Food and Drug Administration to change its blood donation policy that prohibits cisgender men who have had sex with a not her ci sgender m a n

within a year from donating.

“When I’m president,” he said, “I will direct the FDA to revise the rules based on evidence, based on individual risk factors, and without regard to the prejudice that has driven the current policy.”

Harris also said that she would ensure that HIV and AIDS were eliminated within a generation, particularly focusing on the way black LGBTQ+ people are disproportionately affected.

LBGTQ+ Youth Two talking points that arose around LGBTQ+ youth included homelessness and comprehensive gender and sexuality education.

Warren said she would make a program specifically dedicated to LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, and expressed her support for age-appropriate LGBTQ+ sex education in public schools.

Harris said that LGBTQ+ youth homelessness is “one of the biggest issues that we are not talking enough about.” She pointed to her proposed Rent Relief Act, which would provide a tax credit for people who spend 30% or more of their income on rent and utilities as a potential way to ease this crisis. mmanier@columbiachronicle.com » MADDY ASMA /CHRONICLE

ON THE EVE of the 31st anniversary of National Coming Out Day, and two days after the Supreme Court heard arguments regarding LGBTQ+ workers’ rights, nine Democratic presidential candidates gathered in Los Angeles for the first-ever town hall focusing on LGBTQ+ issues aired on a major network.

Co-hosted by CNN and the Human Rights Campaign, the nine candidates who participated were: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.); former Vice President Joe Biden; South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg; Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.); former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas); Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.); former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro; and businessman Tom Steyer.

The town hall primarily consisted of questions f rom member s of t he audience who were LGBTQ+ or allies of the commun i t y.

Each ca ndidate was given 30 minutes to address various topics relating to some of the issues facing, and in some cases threatening, LGBTQ+ Americans today.

The Chronicle has broken down some of the standout discussion topics:

community for a long time, and Buttigieg agreed.

“I do want to acknowledge what these demonstrators were speaking about, which is the epidemic of violence against black trans women in this country right now,” Buttigieg said. “And I believe or would like to believe that everybody here is committed to ending that epidemic, and that does include lifting up its visibility and speaking to it.”

At one point, Harris was interrupted by a member of the audience who shouted, “How do we get those men to stop killing us? How do we get those men to stop killing trans women of color? We are hunted. Systematically hunted.

How can they do that?”

Harris responded by saying that there must be “serious consequence and accountability” for acts of violence against transgender people of color, and she cited her record as proof that she could do this, pointing to both her time as San Francisco district attorney when she established a hate crimes unit and her time as California attorney general when she pressed to abolish “gay panic” and “transgender panic” defenses in criminal trials.

The final and most visible interruption of the town hall was by a black transgender woman who self-identified as Blossom C. Brown. Brown intervened when another audience member

Impeachment process, explained » ALEXANDRA YETTER CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF WHEN NEWS BROKE of the U.S. House of Representatives moving forward with a formal impeachment inquiry, many automatically assumed impeachment and removal from office were one and the same. Fact check: They’re not.

Throughout American history, the U.S. Congress has only made strides toward removing three

presidents. Though two were impeached, neither were removed from office.

The modern American public has little experience with impeachment, aside from those who lived through Richard Nixon’s and Bill Clinton’s impeachment inquiries. This has contributed to a misunderstanding of what President Donald Trump currently faces, said Dick Simpson, a political science professor at the » MADDY ASMA/CHRONICLE

University of Illinois at Chicago and a former alderperson for the 44th ward.

“Impeachment is not an everyday process,” Simpson said.

Impeachment begins with the announcement of an inquiry, which was carried out Sept. 24 by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Then, House committees submit evidence for impeachment, although the Intelligence Committee has been designated

by Pelosi to lead the investigation.

This is where Congress currently stands in the process.

If the committee finds there is sufficient evidence to impeach, the Judiciary Committee will send articles of impeachment to the full House floor for a vote, which will require a simple majority to pass.

Articles of impeachment are charges, not a removal from office.

No articles of impeachment have been drawn up for Trump, as of press time. In Clinton’s case, his four articles of impeachment were

metro on the basis of a double charge of perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power. Nixon was charged with five articles of impeachment—although two did not pass before he resigned—and Andrew Johnson was charged with eleven.

Given the House is comprised of a Democratic majority, there is a high likelihood the House will vote to impeach Trump.

This does not mean Trump will be sent packing from the White House, though.

The articles of impeachment would be sent to the U.S. Senate where Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has multiple options on how to proceed: McConnell could call for a vote on whether to dismiss the articles outright or hold a trial conducted by the Senate.

If the articles are not dismissed during a potential vote, the Senate will hold a trial before the Chief Justice of the United States.

Articles are then voted on individually by the Senate during a trial.

If, after the trial, less than twothirds of the Senate vote to convict,

Trump will not be removed from office. If two-thirds do—however, this is unlikely in the Republicancontrolled Senate—Trump will be removed from office and Vice President Mike Pence will likely take over executive duties.

Still, there is always the possibility Trump, and even Pence, will be pressured into resigning from office, as Nixon did in August 1974 after White House subpoenas were sent by Congress in relation to the Watergate scandal. One former Trump Organization executive predicted on CNN that Trump will resign rather than face impeachment.

There is also the chance that Pence will be impeached or forced to resign given his alleged involvement in the Ukraine scandal that ignited the inquiry. In this case, Pelosi would take over the executive office, per the constitutional line of succession.

Visit ColumbiaChronicle.com for additional reporting. ayetter@columbiachronicle.com

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