Community
Arts
Andrew Jennings offers a master class on string instruments.
What does the future of Grinnell look like?
page 5
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the
Sports Check out the Athlete Spotlight on Darice Wheeler ’21! page 9
Scarlet & Black Volume 134, Issue 20
April 6, 2018 • Grinnell, Iowa
In Memoriam: Jack Gustafson ’19
thesandb.com
Jacob “Jack” Gustafson ’19 passed away in Germany on Friday, April 30. Students, faculty, staff and members of the wider Grinnell community shared their memories of Jack at a vigil held in JRC 101 on April 2. Jack held a presence in all parts of campus life, from the track field to Frisbee, to Read Hall, the psychology SEPC and Prairie Canary. The S&B received the following quotes in remembrance of Jack. Jack Gustafson and I first talked about a month before college began. He ended our conversation over Facebook by saying, "Carrie, I think we're going to be great friends." I doubted him, but I would learn to never doubt the love and intentions of this man. He was more right than either of us could have imagined. Jackie Boy was my best friend, and I am by far the luckiest person ever to have known such unconditional, unadulterated love from him. He never faltered, and used everyday to show me the kind of love and friendship he thought I deserved. I could write books about this man, and I will. Jack wanted the best life for me. He comforted me in my darkest times, every time, in hopes that they would be only memories and not common occurrences. I will continue to try to live the life that Jack wanted for me — a happy one, and lovefilled one, a beautiful one. He did his best everyday to give me that. - Carrie Stallings '19
Jack was a truly luminescent human being. I met him when we were on Loosehead student staff together and he immediately delighted me with his enthusiasm for literally everything. Group bonding activities, his Pokemon door decs, room draw, Jack could get pumped up for anything. Beyond being a CA, he also was on the ultimate frisbee team, the psychology SEPC and even founded his own club: Smash Club. He said it was a beautiful sight to behold to see 20 people laughing and playing Smash together. Jack was one of the people who truly took joy in seeing those around him happy. He was famous for his great hugs and winning smile. He loved meeting new people and welcoming them into his life. He loved going on adventures and I was really happy to see him go abroad, and even though it breaks my heart that I won’t see him again, I know that he lives on through all the people’s lives that he touched. - Emily McClure '18
"I only got to know Jack for a brief time through our German 101 class last semester. I will
Draft of Diversity and Inclusion Plan unveiled to the campus Student input will reportedly be reiterated to President Kington, adminstration By Kelly Page pagekell@grinnell.edu After two years of work, the Council of Diversity and Inclusion has published a draft of the Diversity and Inclusion Plan. After seeking feedback from the Grinnell College community, the Council will present a final plan to President Raynard Kington which will include what the College website describes as “strategic recommendations to the President on how to develop and sustain an inclusive and diverse campus community.” The Council sent a draft of the plan to all members of the student body, along with a form for students to give feedback on the draft and an invitation to discuss the plan with Lakesia Johnson, chair and co-convener of the Council, and Maure Smith-Benanti, the other coconvener, at two events on Tuesday, April 3 and Wednesday, April 4. At the events, Johnson and Smith-Benanti proposed changes that include downplaying the role of standardized testing in admissions, extending diversity and inclusion training for students past New Student Orientation, having “cultural centers [like the Conney M. Kimbo Black Cultural Center and the Monday Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha Harris Cinema Center, 7:30 p.m.
Stonewall Resource Center] that reflect best practices” as determined by an advisory board, creating an identity-based mentoring program to help students after they graduate, establishing a multicultural alumni weekend and adding a question in budget request forms about how funding would contribute to diversity
and inclusion. Additional recommendations contained in the draft include continuing the College’s partnership with Community Based Organizations (CBOs) like QuestBridge and RaiseMe, and developing a historical tour of Grinnell that shows “its social justice
past.” They also hope to send the message that “promoting student healing” should be a priority, and plan to do so by teaching students “self-care strategies,” instituting a mandatory diversity and inclusion course for first-years which could possibly be included in tutorial classes and expanding all-gender restrooms to every building in the College. The Council also recommended changes that would make Grinnell a better workplace, especially for staff, who tend to be less satisfied with working at Grinnell than faculty are. This would include “professional development on inclusive practice for managers and supervisors” and the creation of a mentoring program for new staff. This year’s plan is an update to a similar plan from 2011, which an ad hoc committee released in response to issues they saw from a campus climate survey from 2009. The 2011 plan led to the institution of a protocol for addressing bias-related incidents and the establishment of the Peer Connection Pre-Orientation Program and writing mentors. In 2015, the Council of Diversity and Inclusion, itself a product of the 2011 committee’s recommendations, >> See Drafted page 3
Tuesday Mando Memorial Lecture: Steve Kuusisto JRC 101, 4:15 p.m.
Tuesday Making a Killing: Guns, Greed and the NRA Harris Cinema Center, 7:00 p.m.
"When you’re on the front lines [of Diversity and Inclusion work], you hear a lot of things from students and faculty, so you have a sense for, at least on the anecdotal level, how people were experiencing the climate" Lakeisha Johnson, chair and cocovener of Council of Diversity and Inclusion
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miss his distinctive, hearty laugh. I attended his informative psychology presentation and loved the humor he added into it. I especially loved the part where Jack told us he walked all around University of Wisconsin-Madison's campus with his resume and tirelessly looked for someone who would allow him to conduct his research until he succeeded." - Linnet Adams '21
Jack was an amazing teammate, friend, and brother. His ever-present smile and outgoing nature made him a friend to all. He had a tremendous impact across our entire campus community. We miss you Jack. - Coach Jeff Pedersen, track and field
I had Jack in two classes: Social Psychology with Lab and Research Methods — both during his second year. Jack's enthusiasm, positive outlook, and genuine interest in others all contributed to a great classroom dynamic. We had a gathering with psychology majors yesterday; one of the recurring themes was his positive relationships with others — both faculty and students - Professo Laura Sinnett, psychology
The psychology faculty all are profoundly saddened to hear of the loss of psychology major Jack Gustafson. Jack was an active member of our psychology community, he represented his classmates on our SEPC, he was a member of Psi Chi, and he was wellknown around campus. Jack was a lively, caring, and engaged individual, and we all will miss him deeply. - Ann Ellis on Behalf of the Psychology Faculty: Janet Gibson, Emma Kelty-Stephen, Damian Kelty-Stephen, David Lopatto, Ellen O’Malley, Chris Ralston, Nancy Rempel-Clower, Laura Sinnett, Andi Tracy
Annual fundraiser for the College kicks off By Kate Irwin irwinkat@grinnell.edu This past Thursday, April 5 marked the fourth annual Scarlet and Give Back Day. Scarlet and Give Back is a 24-hour giving day that encourages the Grinnell College community to give back to the College. While the day focuses on donations, the College says that it hopes to stress the importance of current and former Grinnell College students participating in philanthropy at Grinnell College, whether that be monetary donations or other ways of contributing to the school. Scarlet and Give Back Day originally started as a donor challenge,
but it has undergone a few changes in the past years. “It has really morphed into this awesome celebration of the College in ways that people can give back and giving is just one way we look at philanthropy,” said Mae Parker, Director of Annual Giving. “We really focus this day about participation — it's not about how much money you raise but having everyone in our community participate and feel encouraged about the College.” “[Scarlet and Give Back Day] educates students about the unity within donors and how students themselves can be donors. Essentially, >> See Scarlet and Give Back page 2
Andrea Conner leaves the College for dean positon By Ahon Gooptu gooptuah@grinnell.edu Andrea Conner, associate vice president for student affairs (AVP), will conclude her nine-year tenure at Grinnell College at the end of this semester. The College announced in a special campus memo on Thursday, April 5 that Conner will be replaced by Sarah Moschenross, who is currently dean of students. Prior to serving as AVP for four years, Conner held a position that has now been broken down into two jobs. “I was assistant dean of students that worked with residence life and orientation. So I supervised RLCs
and planned orientation,” she said. Conner has enjoyed her time in Grinnell for nearly a decade. However, with a six-year-old child in the picture, Conner and her partner began to talk about raising their child in an urban area. “We both love it here, alas. I love my job and the people that I work with here are fantastic and are among the best in the country in what they do,” she said. As luck would have it, the first job that Conner applied to appeared to be her next calling. Conner will be leaving Grinnell to join Lake Forest College, located in the northern >> See Conner page 2
Tuesday Mando Memorial Reading
Thursday Beatriz Padilla campus talk
JRC 101, 8:00 p.m.
JRC 101 4:15 p.m.
Features 3 | Arts 5 | Community 7 | Sports 9 | Opinions 11
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News
Edited by hermanal17@grinnell.edu & mettleca@grinnell.edu
Dining Services chooses Jeanette Moser as Director
By Alice Herman hermanal17@grinnell.edu
Following a 22-year career as the assistant director of dining services at the College, Jeanette Moser will fill the position of director of dining services. Dick Williams, former head of dining, retired this spring, leaving Moser in his place. “Dick was here eighteen years, and they put out a national search [for his position], so I put in my application. I felt really ... blessed that I got an interview and then selected for the job,” Moser said. In her position as assistant director of dining services, Moser worked to develop some of the less visible aspects of dining services, including “student employment, student employment training, [questions about] medical diets … and cashiering procedures.” In her new position as director of dining services, Moser will assume responsibility for implementing longer-term initiatives in the department. She says that her responsibilities will include developing “a vision for dining services,”
and articulating “the mission and values, so that we have a direction, [asking], What’s our space? How can we utilize our space better?” Among others, Moser will work to address the ways in which the College chooses to source its food. Recent efforts by members of the College community have culminated in the College Garden initiative, which, spearheaded by Professor Jon Andelson, anthropology, provides the dining hall with fresh vegetables during the summer and fall seasons. In her new position, Moser will also work to address “the needs of the overall population, or specific groups, [people with] medical diets, vegan, religious diets.” Just a month into her tenure as director of dining services, Moser says that she is currently working on the “information-gathering stage” of the job. Before implementing new policies and programs, she is committed to weighing the dining desires of students and employees of the College. “We hired a consultant to come in and review dining services,
and they’ve done their review. And there’s been a dining services survey that went out, and I’m making observations [about] how we operate. ... With that information, this summer we want to look at our mission and our vision and the future incorporating this information,” Moser said. Looking forward, Moser is optimistic about her new role at the College, and says that she is prepared for the challenges inherent to the position. One of them, she says, is the problem of labor: employers in Iowa are reporting a shortage of qualified applicants throughout the state, with the College’s dining services no exception. “Grinnell College’s dining services has focused on quality and service. And service requires a labor force, and labor is tough right now. In Iowa, pretty much the people who want to work are working, and we have a real shortage of staffing, and we need to overcome that,” Moser said. A persistent shortage of student workers has affected dining services for as long as the dining hall
Scarlet and Give Back Day hopes to generate substantial donations from Grinnell College community Continued from Front Page it reflects on the Grinnell experience and who supports the Grinnell experience and its donors,” said Mitch Wolff, Assistant Director of Student Programs. Historically, Scarlet and Give Back Day has succeeded in raising money quickly. Past total donations have ranged from over $700,000 to over $1,000,000. Often, a specific donor or donors will raise “matching challenges,” in which they agree
part of the College’s operating budget. In the last five to six years, the College has had a strong push to encourage more donations. Previously, five percent of the overall budget was from donations, but following efforts to facilitate higher levels of donations over the past few years, monetary donations have increased to fill 6.5 to 7 percent of the budget. Donations from alumni are especially desirable, as their donation statistics are frequently used to determine if a College is eligible to
dollars and participation, are average. “When we talk about participation, looking at our Peer 16, we're probably middle or higher middle of the pack. ... In terms of total dollars, [Grinnell College is] middle or lower middle,” Parker said. While Grinnell College is slightly below average in terms of total dollars donated, factors such as enrollment may account for this discrepancy. The enrollment at Grinnell College is lower than many peer institutions and donations may vary accordingly.
CONTRIBUTED
The unofficial campus mascot went around encouraging students to donate and participate in I Love GC Week. to match the amount raised by the Grinnell College community. Typically, the amount raised on Scarlet and Give Back Days falls between $200,000 and $300,000, which donors then match. Contributions support funds and programs such as the Pioneer Fund, financial aid, the Center for Careers, Life, and Service, Global Grinnell, the Humanities and Social Sciences Center and others. According to Parker, Scarlet and Give Back Day focuses on participation and not dollar amounts. Parker feels that this is important as it fosters a community of giving that everyone in the Grinnell College community, especially students, can take part in. “We want students to know their gifts all matter,” Parker said. Donations make up an important
receive grant money to fund projects. Parker believes that the increase in overall donations is due to overall increased engagement from the alumni community with both the current students and campus environment. “[Donors] come and they meet with students, sit in on courses, and meet faculty members who are able to talk about their programs. ... So really it’s our whole community helping us.” Alumni typically contribute larger total donations than parents of current students, as there is a greater number of alumni than parents. Parents typically donate between $400,000 and $600,000 annually, while alumni donate in the millions. “Typically, alumni are our largest source [of donations], and parents are next,” Parker added. In comparison to peer institutions, Grinnell College’s donations, both in
Parker believes that significant improvements have been made over the past few years. “I think we're in a much better position for continued success. Alumni want to do more, and do better, and see Grinnell achieve,” she said. Parker believes that improved efforts to tell the “Grinnell Story” and engage alumni with the current campus has increased donations. “I think Grinnell is doing a better job of actually asking people [to donate] and giving them the opportunity to say yes or no, and being able to share our compelling stories, or invite them back to campus to live the story themselves,” she added. While Grinnell College may have made considerable progress in terms of donations, the College hopes that donations will make up ten percent of the budget in the future.
Drafted College Diversity Plan hopes to address concerns Continued from Front Page decided to conduct a new climate survey to help create new recommendations that they could make to the president to improve the College. The Committee released the new climate survey to students in 2016, and the results demonstrated clearly what the Committee already knew: non-dominant groups of students felt less comfortable on campus. “When you’re on the front lines [of Diversity and Inclusion work], you hear a lot of things from students and faculty, so you have a sense
for, at least on the anecdotal level, how people were experiencing the climate,” Johnson said at a discussion of the plan held on Wednesday, April 4. “So we had the survey and it showed that people in non-dominant groups were experiencing the climate in very different ways than those in a privileged group. That didn’t really surprise us but now we have the numbers to prove it.” After gathering data through the survey, the Council created their draft of the plan over the course of two years. Its recommendations are structured around the College’s
pre-existing Strategic Plan, which focuses on enrollment, teaching and learning, post-graduate success and management of infrastructure resources. “We want to make diversity and inclusion work business as usual here at Grinnell. … We talked about ways to make this part of the institution so we looked at the College’s strategic plan. The strategic plan is reviewed on a regular basis… so we thought if we connected what we’re doing to the strategic plan we would make it part of what we’re doing every day to make a better place,” Johnson said.
has hired students. And the general labor shortage has compounded the
now operated by diners who fry and scramble their own eggs to-go.
MAI PHUONG VU
Jeanette Moser intends to bring more local foods to the Dining Hall and address hiring issues that have arisen during her time at the College. problem, forcing dining services to close food stations and change the functioning of others, such as the “eggs to order” station, which, previously run by dining employees, is
For anyone with ideas or questions about dining services, Moser will continue to hold weekly office hours, listed in upcoming campus memos.
Conner takes new position at Lake Forest College, will be dean of students Continued from Front Page Chicago suburbs, as Vice President and Dean of Students, “a combination of a couple of positions here.” “I fell in love with them and they fell in love with me,” she said. Although she has never lived in the Chicagoland area, Lake Forest feels very familiar to Conner, as it is a part of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM). Having attended Coe College as a music and theatre major in Iowa and previously worked at Macalester College in Minnesota and Knox College in Illinois, Lake Forest will be the fifth college under the ACM that she will have attended or worked for. “My career in student affairs was inspired in a small, private, residential liberal arts college. Those are the environments that work best for me. The students and often the faculty and staff, live and work right here in the community. There’s something really vibrant about that, something really dynamic about the energy. I don’t think I would be a good fit for a big university, frankly,” she said. Conner’s job in Grinnell requires her to work closely with the president’s cabinet and the vice
and investing in campus safety constitute only some of the major changes that student affairs has seen under Conner’s time as AVP. “I think whoever leads the division of student affairs next will reap the benefits of a very strong staff, who are so good at their jobs and eager for change and improvement. They are hard workers, dedicated professionals who are focused on the well being of our students,” she said.
"I feel like I’ve contributed a lot to the division of student affairs, mostly by hiring really great people who know what they’re doing so that I could support them and make some fantastic improvements for the benefit of our students" Andrea Conner, Vice President of Student Affairs
Continuing in positions similar to her current one seems to be Conner’s trajectory. The only other
CONTRIBUTED
After almost a decade at the College, Andrea Conner leaves for Lake Forest College located in Lake Forest, IL.
president for academic affairs. But primarily, she supervises all the departments in student affairs, including campus safety, SHACS, religious life, international student life, intercultural affairs, student activities and residence life. “I feel like I’ve contributed a lot to the division of student affairs, mostly by hiring really great people who know what they’re doing so that I could support them and make some fantastic improvements for the benefit of our students,” she said. Stabilizing the turnover of employees in SHACS, making the decision to include intercultural life as a part of student affairs, “which was able to serve the underserved people in the institution” such as students of color and LGBT students,
thing on her bucket list is acquiring a doctorate degree, while working part-time. “This has been my entire career. I fell in love with higher education in the liberal arts when I was an undergraduate. So my Masters degree is in higher education administration, which is not a thing that I knew you could study!” As a farewell to the students and her colleagues here at Grinnell, she wanted everyone to know “how much I’ve appreciated my time here and I’m excited to go but reluctant to leave.” Announced in a Campus Memo Thursday afternoon, Sarah Moschenross, current Dean of Students, will fill Andrea Conner’s position as AVP.
Features
Edited by weberama@grinnell.edu
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Grinnell's own (very early) spring fashion The S&B's Zoe Fruchter and photographer Elena Copell went around campus and asked six Grinnell students about their fashion preferences. The result is this year's spring fashion inspiration — get with the trends and hear from some of Grinnell's most stylish students.
What’s your aesthetic? If Goodwill threw up on me. What are you excited for in terms of spring fashion? Wearing shorts, Birkenstocks as sandals, cute shirts. How are you dealing with this erratic weather? I’m just kind of living my life, ignoring the weather even though I freeze off every part of my body everyday. Who’s your style inspiration? My style inspiration at Grinnell is Esmé Rummelhart and in life ... Kim Kardashian.
to incorporate. ... I’m trying to be seen a little more.
“As a counter to the fact that it looks like spring is never coming, I said I'm not going to wait for spring to come — I'm gonna wear bright colors myself.” Kyle Lindsey '19
Julia Dursztman ’19 What’s your aesthetic? My aesthetic is very whatever's clean, definitely kind of granola. I like to wear things that I could camp in. Crunchy. What are you excited for in terms of spring fashion? I'm excited to break out all of my shortalls and all of my T-shirts without anything on top. How are you dealing with this erratic weather? I hate it. I'm not dealing, I would say. Not coping. A lot of layers. Who’s your style inspiration? Definitely not what I’m wearing now, but always and forever Ellen Page — kind of skater middle-aged lesbian.
Kyle Lindsey ’19 What’s your aesthetic? I think this spring, I’m going for bright and clear. What are you excited for in terms of spring fashion? As a counter to the fact that it looks like spring is never coming, I said I’m not going to wait for spring to come — I’m gonna wear bright colors myself. This is actually a shirt that I've always been meaning to buy, but it’s sold out when I have money, so finally it was in stock when I had money. It’s from a website called shoptheread.com — it’s a store for a podcast called “The Read.” How are you dealing with this erratic weather? A lot of moisturizers, lot of butters, lot of lotions. Who’s your style inspiration? I'd say my fashion inspiration is another student here — Rayyon Robinson ’19 — because she has a somewhat similar aesthetic. She often wears stuff that's a little wider and always tries to bring some color into whatever she's wearing, and that's really something I’m trying
“I'm just kind of living my life, ignoring the weather even though I freeze off every part of my body everyday.” James Coffey '21
That’s a good question. When it’s cold I’m fine with that because I’m Russian, so I have a Russian coat and just wear that. It’s almost bulletproof. Who’s your style inspiration? My roommate. He once wore three shirts.
“When it's cold I'm fine with that because I'm Russian, so I have a Russian coat and just wear that. It's almost bulletproof.” Bogdan Abaev '20
Paige Oamek ’20 What’s your aesthetic? I'd say aspiring health goth, but practically ironic androgynous chic. What are you excited for in terms of spring fashion? Oh my gosh, just being able to wear dresses and skirts more without the layers of clothing I have underneath them right now. How are you dealing with this erratic weather? Perfect example is what I'm wearing. I'm wearing a mock turtleneck under a T-shirt and tights under a shirt because I want to embrace spring but instead I’m just gonna layer five things on top of each other. Who’s your style inspiration? My two roommates Amelia Darling ’20 and Francess Dunbar ’20. I watch what they're wearing in the morning and then we just steal each others’ clothes.
Khalil Epps ’18
Bogdan Abaev '20
James Coffey ’21
What’s your aesthetic? I like something more or less official, that's where the coat comes in. But also college life gets kind of hard, so you don't get to bother with shirts or blazers because, like, I had an exam today, I don’t care. What are you excited for in terms of spring fashion? I'm looking forward to it getting warm. I like leather jackets. How are you dealing with this erratic weather?
What’s your aesthetic? I've been told I wear 50 different colors every day. It’s preppy and laidback. What are you excited for in terms of spring fashion? I love wearing shorts, and shoes where I don’t have to wear socks. How are you dealing with this erratic weather? It’s pissing me off because it looks beautiful outside but it’s really cold. ... It’s brick. Who’s your style inspiration? Probably my dad, he buys most of my clothes. But I don’t know, ... sometimes I just throw stuff on.
LSATs, GREs and MCATs — oh my! By Seth Taylor taylorse@grinnell.edu
school may be considered a less viable option by some students. “There’s definitely accessibility issues,” Ackerman said. “I think we see it in graduate school and in medical school matriculates. We’re not seeing the same diversity even that we’re seeing in undergrad or that we’re seeing in our general population.” Accessibility issues aside, Ackerman is happy with her performance on the MCAT.
While some Grinnell students spent their spring break relaxing, travelling and maybe taking in a sunset on the beach, others used those two weeks to study for tests that could shape the rest of their lives. Standardized admission tests, which many Grinnellians believed they left behind after the SAT or ACT, only intensify if students hope to further their education in graduate school. These include the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
For the MCAT specifically, the average score for Grinnell students from January 2015 to August 2017 was 506.3, compared to a national average of 500.6. Graduate school admission tests can be intensive. Some are entirely online, while others are taken with pen and paper. They range from three and a half hours to seven hours long. They come with a cost, too. Graduate school admission tests cost anywhere from $180 for the LSAT to $315 for the MCAT, not including any study materials students may need to prepare. Katie Ackerman ’18 has taken both the MCAT and the GRE during her time at Grinnell. A biochemistry major, Ackerman will go on to medical school at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima, Washington after graduation. Ackerman created her fouryear plan with the MCAT in mind,
“Remember it's not the end of the world... It's not the end-all-be-all. You're going to be stressed out—that's okay. But you'll get there. It all works out in the end .” Katie Ackerman '18
knowing from the start she wanted to attend medical school after graduating from Grinnell. For the second semester of her third year she only registered for three classes, using her free time to study for the MCAT.
The Kaplan program Ackerman used normally costs $2,499. Other programs... cost anywhere from $699 to $1,499. After completing the MCAT, she began studying for the GRE over the summer — while simultaneously taking a summer course on anatomy and physiology at Boise State University — which she took in August. In preparation for the MCAT,
Ackerman signed up for the Kaplan test preparation course. This course is one of many that have extensive programs with online materials, workbooks and even live virtual classes, but all for a price. The Kaplan program Ackerman used normally costs $2,499. Other programs for tests like the LSAT, GMAT and GRE cost anywhere from $699 to $1,499. The large price tag for Kaplan programs is lower for Grinnell students because of a deal the College has with Kaplan Test Prep. Besides such deals, the CLS works with students to offset the costs to take and prepare for the test if the student has demonstrated financial need. Nonetheless, for many the sticker price is still a daunting obstacle.
“There's definitely accessibility issues... I think we see it in graduate school and in medical school matriculates. We're not seeing the same diversity even that we're seeing in undergrad or that we're seeing in our general population.” Katie Ackerman '18 For students without transportation or financial stability, taking these tests can seem out of reach — let alone doing well on them. This raises issues of accessibility, as the tests and consequently graduate
“I’m not going to complain because I got into med school!” she laughed. Ackerman believes the classes at Grinnell broadly prepared her for the MCAT and GRE, sharpening her writing and critical thinking skills. While classes offered at the College are not designed to help students with any one test, Grinnell students still experience broad success. For the MCAT specifically, the average score for Grinnell students from January 2015 to August 2017 was 506.3, compared to a national average of 500.6. For all those students planning on taking the MCAT, the GRE or other tests like them, Ackerman said, “Remember it’s not the end of the world. … It’s not the end-all-be-all. You’re going to be stressed out — that’s okay. But you’ll get there. It all works out in the end.”
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Features Student globetrotters visit Costa Rica, Cuba and Taiwan for course-embedded travel
Edited by weberama@grinnell.edu
CONTRIBUTED
15 first-year students had the chance to travel to Costa Rica and Cuba over the break for the Global Learning Program. By Ahon Gooptu gooptuah@grinnell.edu Over spring break, five professors and 38 students traveled overseas as part of three different courses. Professors Shannon Hinsa-Leasure and Susan Ferguson, biology and sociology respectively, accompanied 15 first-year students in the Global Learning Program to Cuba and Costa Rica. The course, which investigates the structure of health care systems in United States as compared to the ones in Costa Rica, Cuba and Denmark, attracted applicants interested in a range of issues associated with the topic.
“Going into the trip ... we didn't really know each other that well. ... Halfway through the trip, the program coordinator in Cuba looked at us and said, 'I'm surprised you guys don't know each other, you act like brothers and sisters!'”
Sammie Stagg '21
“Coming here, one of my biggest academic interests was public health — and obviously, travel, when it’s covered by the school, is very appealing. … To be able to learn outside a classroom, to see the real situations, that was one of the main reasons I applied,” said participant Jasper Yang ’21. The students visited several hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, traveling every step of the
way with respected and experienced doctors. Yang really appreciated the magnitude of access that they had to these individuals, who were only too happy to share their stories. The preparation for the trip (which included both readings and Skype-in conference calls with guests) had been intense in the first half of the semester, leaving most of the lecturers in Cuba and Costa Rica really surprised by the amount that the students already knew. But culturally, there were many things that took the students by surprise. Yang, who had a preconceived notion of Cuba thanks to its disreputable representation in American media, was quite taken aback by some of the “liberal paintings” and “loud expressions” in an art museum, such as a clown in the military or people portrayed kissing with a barrier of condoms between their lips. Sammie Stagg ’21, who was more interested in the nutrition side of global health, reminisced about the bond that the students shared by the end of the trip. “Going into the trip, even though we had spent half the semester together, we didn’t really know each other that well outside of class, besides a friendly ‘hello’ every so often. … Halfway through the trip, the program coordinator in Cuba looked at us and said, ‘I’m surprised you guys didn’t know each other, you act like brothers and sisters!’” Stagg said. The class will be traveling to Denmark at the end of the semester for an additional half credit to explore the health care systems there. Students taking “Art, Media and the Built Environment Within the
Revolution in Cuba” also traveled to Cuba with Professor Fredo Rivera, art and art history.
“To be able to learn outside a classroom, to see the real situations, that was one of the main reasons I applied.” Jasper Yang '21 Nicole Rosengurt ’20, who has a special interest in the Soviet influence in Cuban art as well as the intersection of politics and art, recalls reading about the different political scenarios that Cuba witnessed prior
to the 1959 revolution as primary preparation for the trip. One of the stops on the trip, the National Art School in Cuba, symbolizes both the highest and lowest points of the revolution for Rosengurt. This is because of the historical and cultural significance of the Art School right after the revolution, as well as its failure after being militarized. She also appreciated the fact that they did not stay in one part of the island for too long and instead got to see the metropolitan side, the rural side and the commercial hubs of Cuba. For the second half of the semester, the students have been divided into groups in order to focus on specific parts of Havana, from museums to their version of Broadway. The goal is to create distributable media packets, similar to the ones in Cuba, and a final presentation scheduled in early May highlighting each of the segments being explored. “Just For You,” a class comprised of four studio art majors and four theatre majors, culminated in a series of collaborative performances-for-one in Taipei, Taiwan's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). They traveled across the Pacific to Taipei with Professors Andrew Kaufman and Craig Quintero, art and art history and theatre and dance respectively. Preparation for the course involved exploration of what sense, intimacy, the subconscious and ventriloquism meant to the performers. From basement installations with cloths and mirrors creating disjointed images, to a divide made with string in the curved corridor behind
Sebring-Lewis, the students created their own performances-for-one in Grinnell before traveling. But many ideas during the course of the class were not even used in the final performance or the space that they created themselves. “How do you build the performance if you don’t know what the space is like and how do you build the space if you don’t know what the performance is going to be?” said Judith Chong ’20.
“How do you build the performance if you don't know what the space is like and how do you build the space if you don't know what the performance is going to be?”
Judith Chong '20
The team managed to decide on their final performance two days prior to the first show, which left many in tears. A lot of the performance was less about the content and more about the experience of connecting. “There was a lady who was terrified by what was happening in there. She was shivering and it seemed like she was going through some personal stuff,” said Sooji Son ’18. For Yi-Chia Wang ’20, who is from Taiwan, this trip marked the second time she traveled to Taiwan as part of a course. Although she spent most of her time painting and joint compounding before joining her classmates in 63 performances over five days, she did make time to go home this time around.
CONTRIBUTED
Another group of eight students — composed of theater and studio arts majors — had the opportunity to travel to and perform in Taipei, Taiwan.
Service, travel and community: Grinnell Alternative Break 2018
By Lauren Miller millerla@grinnell.edu
Every spring break, Grinnell students face a variety of options for how they spend their two weeks off. While some coordinate externships, others travel on athletic training trips or spend time at home. Still others opt to spend their time on one of Grinnell’s alternative break trips. This past break, there were two of these trips: one to South Dakota and the other to Fairfield, Iowa. The group that went to South Dakota, led by Yuejun Chen ’20 and Kosuke Yo ’20, went to a Native American reservation and focused
in on current issues that indigenous people face.
“We focused on the holistic dynamic of the group... we were looking for leaders...” Yuejun Chen '20 The leaders chose to work with the Sioux YMCA because according to Chen ’20, “They had a structured program for volunteers, and I could feel their passion [for working with Native Americans] right away.” For the most part, the nine participants interacted with the kids and
teens at the organization, both playing games with them and making and serving meals through the afterschool program. In order to choose who went, Chen and Yo took an approach that focused on the diverse backgrounds and experiences of applicants in selecting a handful of the around 30 people who applied. “We focused on the holistic dynamic of the group … we were looking for leaders — for people who had a lot of experience with Native American rights, and people who [barely had] any experience volunteering,” Chen said. “Everyone had their unique perspectives on the issues and contributed in their own way. … All of us played a part.”
“Everyone had their unique perspectives on the issues and contributed in their own way. ... All of us played a part.” Yuejun Chen '20
CONTRIBUTED
An Alt-Break group led by Kosuke Yo ’20 and Yuejuen Chen ’20 went to a Native American reservation in South Dakota, where they volunteered at the Sioux YMCA.
Sophie Macklem-Johnson ’18 was one participant with background knowledge on reservation history. “Even with my [history] seminar on reservations this semester, I was surprised by how much I didn’t know,” she said. Macklem-Johnson added that she was grateful she had the opportunity provided by the alt-break trip to
spend time getting a feel for life on the reservation.
“Even with my [history] seminar on reservations this semester, I was surprised by how much I didn't know.” Sophie Macklem-Johnson '18 However, Chen and Yo were sure to emphasize that the group was not there to make any big changes in such a short time. “I’m trying to understand the issues and allow those with the expertise to be able to better do their jobs,” Chen said. Yo expanded on the importance of being active citizens in our own communities, as well as the challenge presented to the group now that the trip is over. The other trip, led by Quinn Ercolani ’20 and Runyao Yin ’20, had the same community-minded approach, traveling within Iowa to the Maharishi University of Management in the small town of Fairfield. The focus of the trip, according to Ercolani, was to get a better grasp on the agricultural system in Iowa as well as to compare the town of Grinnell to another small Midwestern college town. On the trip, the seven participants engaged in service learning, which is at the core of all alternative break trips. They made a community meal
and brought it to the local church one evening and went to the university farm to help with repair work another day. Ercolani described how although “a week isn’t enough to get to know any community … the snippets we were able to grasp won’t be soon forgotten.”
“Alternative-break trips provide an opportunity to students who don't have the financial resources to get out of Grinnell and into another community … to do meaningful work that can be brought back to our community when the trip is over.” Quinn Ercolani '20 On a personal level, Ercolani felt the trip was eye-opening to today’s agricultural practices, especially because agriculture is not something that many students at Grinnell get to learn about through their time here, despite being in Iowa. “Alternative-break trips provide an opportunity to students who don’t have the financial resources to get out of Grinnell and into another community … to do meaningful work that can be brought back to our community when the trip is over,” Ercolani said.
Edited by suetamay@grinnell.edu
Students publish their creative works through Press
Arts Andrew Jennings teaches master class
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REINA SHAHI
Andrew Jennings, professor of violin and chamber music at the University of Michigan, taught a master class on string instruments. By Mayo Sueta suetamay@grinnell.edu
CONTRIBUTED
Amelia Darling ’20 published “You Have Your Whole Life Ahead of Me,” a collection of illustrations and excerpts from her journal and poetry. By Kelly Page pagekell@grinnell.edu Passing through the mailroom, Grinnellians are presented with a counter covered with publications created by fellow students: art collections, books of literature and even sheet music. Any Grinnell student can submit their work to Press, a student organization devoted to publishing student work, and many mailroom publications have been one of the handful of works chosen each semester to publish and distribute to students for free. Amelia Darling ’20 published a book this semester called “You Have Your Whole Life Ahead of Me.” She describes it as “a collection of the stuff that came out of my head during the fall semester last year.” The book is a chronological look into Darling’s life as an artist and a writer, a collection of work from her journal and poems she wrote in a Grinnell class. Darling published the book as a way to find closure after trauma. The book contains four sections, “Prelude,” “Entree,” “Learning” and “Forgiving,” each of which focuses on a distinct time in Darling’s life. Her journal entries, mostly in the form of drawings, are sometimes humorous, like a drawing with the caption, “Dragging my lifeless corpse to DHall at 12 PM after a night of debauchery,” but other entries are wrought with emotion, like a line drawing of a tree with eyes in the rain captioned, “Oh … It hurts.” “It was kind of me reframing [trauma] to fit my narrative, so it gave me closure and gave me a start and an end,” Darling said of the book.
"It was kind of me reframing [trauma] to fit my narrative, so it gave me closure and gave me a start and an end." Amelia Darling '20 The inside covers of the book show a collage of men holding up fish on Tinder, just the tip of the iceberg of an ongoing project where Darling collects Tinder fish pictures. “That’s been a project I’ve been working on for like five years. I have like 400 of them. I used to put them on Facebook but that just got to be too much,” she said. Last year, Katie Ackerman ’18 published a book of photographs called “Sonder,” a made-up word from a YouTube series called “The Dictionary of Unknown Sorrows” which creates words for things that are not in the English language. The definition of “sonder,” printed within Ackerman’s book is, “the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own.” Like Darling, Ackerman’s book came from a very personal place. “My grandmother really loved hands and she had passed away the semester before, and I’d taken some pictures of her hands and that’s sort of where I started, so I went around
Copenhagen taking pictures of people’s hands, and when I came back I photographed people on campus and at home.” Ackerman explores the idea that people’s personal stories can be told through their hands. The book shows her grandmother’s hands clasped on top of a quilt she made, two hands holding onto each other tenuously, a hand with purple nail polish holding a phone and many others. Ackerman chose to put a quote from the American poet Sarah Kay in the book, which reads “Some people read palms to tell your future, but I read hands to tell your past. Each scar makes a story worth telling. Each callused palm, each cracked knuckle is a missed punch or years in a factory.” This is the philosophy that unifies “Sonder.” Josie Sloyan ’18 also published a book last year, entitled “Ethics of Skin” after a Faulconer Gallery exhibit by Swedish artist Anders Krisár, which contained sculptures and paintings of young boys, some chopped in half or otherwise manipulated. “I read a lot of literature about [the exhibit] because it was very interesting and spooky and what Krisár deals with is the space between connecting with a thing and penetrating it and the implicit violence in trying to access something,” Sloyan said. Sloyan felt that the themes of the exhibit directly correlated with the themes in the short stories she had been writing for the past two years. “The stories were things that I had written in the years before then and up until then, and it was lucky that I found something that I felt was thematic through the stories that I had written because I was trying to deal with the idea of violence and the rights of the writer to look at a thing and go into a thing and what kind of implicit violence was there,” she said. The collection of eight short stories features sketches inspired by Krisár, which show simple figures in surreal representations. They represent much of the content of Sloyan’s writing, which often falls into the genre of magical realism. In the first story, “Josie Makes Excuses,” the speaker’s sister arrives for a visit as a ten-year-old vegan cat, “for security measures.” Another story, “Wings,” is narrated by someone who fell in love with a college student who has wings in her back. Sloyan’s stories also deal with darker topics, like “Incident (II)” which portrays a woman’s experience with sexual assault. Sloyan sees Press as an important resource on campus for artists and writers. “I think anybody who’s thinking about writing or thinking about their art should send their stuff to Press. Putting your stuff into the world like that as a collection and sort of the audacity of saying like ‘this is my book’ is a really important and scary first step for kids who want to be writers and artists,” she said.
Andrew Jennings, professor of violin and chamber music at the School of Music, Theatre and Dance at the University of Michigan, came to campus on April 2 and 3 to perform violin and teach a master class on string instruments. According to his profile on the University of Michigan website, Jennings “was a founding member of the Concord String Quartet,” a quartet that went on to receive three nominations for the Grammy Awards.
"He really emphasized the level of concentration and shaping a phrase really intentionally." Joe Reck '20 His visit to campus was funded by the Donald S. Noyce ’44 Master Class Project Endowed Fund, which was founded in the honor of Robert Noyce’s brother and Grinnell alumnus who started playing the cello at age 47. The fund was established “to offer annual master classes in a stringed instrument to provide Grinnell College students the opportunity to improve their musical skill,” according to the
Grinnell College website. For participant Joe Reck ’20, Jennings’s master class was enjoyable and made him look at music from a different point of view. “I enjoyed it. It was good to have a new perspective on music. … It’s a real gift that we’re able to have that at Grinnell. He’s a good teacher and he really made me justify everything, every phrase musically,” Reck said. “He really emphasized the level of concentration and shaping a phrase really intentionally.” Reck had the opportunity to work with Jennings for both his solo piece and his chamber group piece. “I got to play solo repertoire for him for 30 minutes and then 45 minutes of work with my chamber group, so I got to work with him twice at two different settings,” Reck said. Erin Kim ’21 also worked with Jennings both individually and as part of a group, and took away different lessons from each session. “In the chamber music, he definitely focused on some ensemble stuff, keeping the tempo and staying together, being consistent the entire time, while with the solo you can be more free,” she said. Kim felt that the master class challenged her outside of the technical aspects of playing music. “He asked us to imagine a lot of
things, so we could have an image in our mind in order to portray something. He asked me to think of something sad and … I’m not exactly very good at … imagining things to connect it to the music so that was kind of challenging,” she said. “He was extremely energetic and very enthusiastic and he definitely had an idea of what he wanted the music to sound like and he tried to use imagination to cue us to get the sound.”
"He asked us to imagine a lot of things ... " Erin Kim '21 She also noticed that some of Jennings’ suggestions about her piece differed from what her instructors at Grinnell had given, giving her a possible different interpretation for her piece. “Some of the suggestions that he had were really different from what Professor [Nancy] Gaub, [music], offered. … Some notes he preferred separated, while Professor Gaub told us that she liked it more connected so … it was interesting to hear someone else’s opinion on the pieces because there’s just a million different ways you can play it,” Kim said. “Every musician has their own taste, I guess.”
Hugo Hamilton teaches Contemporary Irish Literature
SARINA LINCOLN
Hugo Hamilton taught his first class on Contemporary Irish Literature on Monday from 7 to 10 p.m. By Gabriel Loewenson loewenso2@grinnell.edu This semester, Hugo Hamilton, an Irish writer, is teaching a short course on Contemporary Irish Literature. Hamilton is from Dublin, Ireland, and is of mixed German and Irish descent. He mostly writes memoirs based on actual events in his life. “For me place and location are everything, and language, countries. My mother was German, my father was Irish. So I was born with that sort [of] enforced fascination for identity and place,” he said. In fact, Irish literature itself revolves around a similar theme. “Irish literature is very taken by the whole business of sense of place. Ireland has had a huge history of emigration. A lot of people coming to the USA, and so, a lot of Irish writing focus on the gaps left behind by emigrants, by emigration itself,” Hamilton said. He said that he tries to draw upon this background to grant students greater insight into the mind of a writer and help them draw upon their own
creativity. “I think that it’s probably important that students get a view of a working novelist, and a working writer,” Hamilton said. “How the creative process works for me, what my obsessions are, and to explore their own obsessions then, their own wishes, and then how they want to be creators.” Hamilton says that he first heard of Grinnell after being approached by Professor Brigittine French, anthropology, who invited him as a visiting professor in 2016. “We met in Dublin and she invit[ed] me as a [John R. Heath Visiting] Professor for 2016. So the fall of 2016, I was here for a semester. … [This semester] I’m coming back for a short course,” he said. In the short course, students will be reading novels by three contemporary Irish writers. “We are having a look at three Irish novelists, three Irish women writers: Anne Enright, Edna O’ Brien and Molly McCloskey. In a three week course there won’t be time to look at the work in great detail, but its sort of an example of what’s going on
in contemporary writing in Ireland. And hopefully it’s a sort of way of finding motivation to look at the work and create your own,” Hamilton said. Through the class, he hopes to give students a view on both the thought process of a writer, and on Irish literature. “I think that the goal of the class is to give people a view of me as a writer, the inner workings and contradictions of a writer and also on contemporary Irish literature, where it’s going to and how that might potentially stimulate the process of writing in students attending the course,” Hamilton said. Hamilton noted that it is also a personal pleasure for him to be teaching the course. “For me it is always a huge inspiration to work with young people in a classroom situation. I possibly get more out of this than any of the students,” he said. “It’s a really sort of inspiring, stimulating moment for me as a writer. To see what young people are thinking, their thoughts and what my students think about migration and sense of home and all of those things.”
Arts
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Edited by suetamay@grinnell.edu
Sydney Quartey By Candace Mettle mettleca@grinnell.edu In high school, Sydney Quartey ’18 tailored his academic career to become a medical professional. By the third year of his college career, Quartey declared theater and dance as a second major and started to envision himself as a screen actor. Now he wants to take the skills gained from his stage and set crew career and to build up his production portfolio after writing off craft studies for so long. “A big contribution to the delayed change was trying to convince my loved ones and friends,” Quartey said. “[L]eading up to college I was putting a lot of stuff in place to make sure that I can get this medical degree … and then all of the sudden I want to do acting. It’s kind of like it got to a point that it couldn’t just be my words that would convince people — I gotta start showing them things.” Quartey acted in high school and always enjoyed entertaining others, but it was not until entering college that his acting activities became more formal. After Quartey auditioned for a play in his first semester at the College and failed, he took opportunities to improve his acting abilities. The flexibility of a liberal arts education, he claims, made it possible to intensively study acting while also fulfilling his STEM studies. “In a weird way, I was kind of happy I got rejected because if I hadn’t, I probably would have begun to think that I was invincible. … It definitely humbled me,” he said. “I have to give credit to this program. … Even though I don’t know what my future will hold, I am defi-
nitely a much happier person … I don’t feel like I’m just trying to please my parents or look educated and smart so … thank you Grinnell!” Although Quartey still majors in biology, he does not see it as related to his acting career, nor does he necessarily want to connect the two disciplines together. However, he notices that the deductive and empirical reasoning skills found in the sciences allow him to critically analyze his roles and productions. “My fave has definitely been ‘Elephant’s Graveyard’, because the play had no real protagonist and it was like eight or nine actors all on a level playing field. We also made all the choreography ourselves so it was very collaborative effort with the director, Sophiyaa Nayar ’17,” he said. Up to date, Quartey has starred in two student projects and worked crew three times, with “The Royale” being one of the last performances of his college career. In “The Royale,” directed by Dru Greenwood ’18, Quartey plays the main character, Jay Jackson, a heavyweight boxer trying to earn recognition for his skill in segregated 20th century America. “Quoting my director, Dru Greenwood, ‘it’s the first play majorly depicting the lives of black people/people of color being put on in Grinnell in the past decade.’ That definitely was a big motivation for me to get involved,” Quartey said. “‘The Royale’ was one of the plays I was given the opportunity to see [while studying theater in London] and [I] immediately fell in love with it. The situation was similar. We had been seeing so many plays portraying only white characters and it was just a blessing to finally
witness such a talented majority black cast.” Quartey attributes his global travels as providing him with interesting backgrounds that have become a part of his personality. From his native home of Ghana, to a childhood home in Rome and to spending the seasons between New York City and the cornfields of Iowa, his travels have not only filled up three passport booklets, but also provided him with a catalogue of personalities and characters available to perform. “I kind of feel like there are multiple cultures in my identity and I kind of grab from all of them so maybe at first, acting kind of just felt like me expressing those others cultures. I think I have a lot more traveling to do. … Maybe I haven’t even finished accumulating all my cultures yet.” One strong point Quartery claims to have is accents, partly influenced by his globe trekking. Having multiple accents adds depth to characters because their voice distinguishes them from their appearances. “I don’t feel like I really have one accent, my accent is always kind of changing. … I did performances recently when we have to transition between five different characters in a span of two minutes, and without the voice, without the accent, that transition doesn’t have the same magic,” he said. Subsequently, Quartey believes that the best roles he has are the ones opposite of his perception of himself. Citing British actor Tom Hardy as a standard to aspire to, Quartery believes that, “when I feel like I’ve done my best job as an actor is when the role is something completely opposite
from what I feel like I am.” Acting also holds a communal value for Quartey. So far, he has had a support system that, in his words, remind him of philanthropists in the way they are always ready to watch and advocate for his work. Quartey hopes to return the favor in his work. “It’s actually only recently that I realized how much you can impact people with acting. You can create art through film that will touch people and it doesn’t even always have to be a non-fictional story.” Quartey made do without the Col-
lege having a film program by making projects independent from the College. However, the lack of an academic film program has not been much of a hurdle for exploring his screen interests. “If you really want to do something that benefits yourself outside of school, it’s going to have to be independent.” As Quartey works on his portfolio — website upcoming — he encourages people to see “The Royale.” Performances will be held from April 12 to April 15. Tickets are available at the Box Office.
SARINA LINCOLN
Sydney Quartey ’18 has been involved in theater throughout his time in Grinnell, and “The Royale” will be his last performance before graduation.
Writers@Grinnell: Marlon James Marlon James was this year's distinguished author for Writers@ Grinnell. His novel "A Brief History of Seven Killings" received the Man Booker Prize in 2015. The S&B's Mayo Sueta sat down with him to talk about writing and reading. The S&B: What inspired you to pursue writing? Marlon James: I think what inspired me initially was reading novels and finally coming across novels that made me go, I wanna write this. Like, there are tons of books you read and go, That’s a nice story, but there are things you come across that make you go, No I wanna write, … I want to do for somebody else what that book, and in my case sometimes comics [did for me]… Taking classes and just reading more authors and trying and failing and just realizing how important stories are … to people. And after a while, I also realized that it was the only thing that made me happy. … Even just for having done it. Even when I didn’t make a cent from it, I was more happy having written something than earning whatever money. … It’s almost like I woke up one day and realized, Oh crap, I’m a writer. The S&B: Does your job teaching inform your writing in any way? MJ: It affects my writing in that I’m always around creative people. And the great thing about teaching undergrads is that they’re just creating for creativity’s sake. Which if you’re … as old as me, you’re rarely doing. You’re thinking about audience, you’re thinking, Will this sell? You’re thinking, Who’s gonna read it? Whereas they’re just expressing and sometimes that’s a reminder to me [as to] why I’m doing this. It is art, too. Also I learn from my students. … It was a student who came into my office one day, … crying because he was so tired of people linking metal illness to crime. Which is something that every cliché story does. … To
The S&B: Who do you go to when you’re stuck? MJ: My first defense when I’m stuck is usually reading. … You know if I’m stuck there are writers I can talk to … usually other writers — actually other artists. Because Rachel is a dancer. And most of the people I go to tend to be creative people who are actually aren’t writers. … How does a choreographer solve this problem? How does a musician solve this problem? And sometimes that can be a break through [that you haven’t even been] thinking about because you’ve been thinking too much like a writer.
ELENA COPELL
Marlon James answered questions about his writing and publishing process during the roundtable, and read from a few of his works during the reading. look through his eyes and to see what he is seeing everyday … made me realize that I have to be more careful with how I create characters and I need to learn more, but I learned it from my students, I didn’t learn it from other writers. The S&B: Why do you read? MJ: Because I wanna have more than one life. … Terry Tempest Williams said that, she said that about writing, I say that about reading, I wanna have more than one life, I wanna have more than one adventure, I wanna be more than one person and I wanna experience other things including the bad things. … I wanna experience heartache, I wanna experience bigotry, I … would also wanna experience bliss and joy and family and I have a lot of that in my own life but … I think part of being human is letting these other stories in your life. … Reading books can change your life. Especially with someone like me, it’s … your first experience of the world. For some people it’s their only expe-
rience. … I, also on a very basic level, just love stories. I just love being told something or reading something and being transported to a whole other world which might as well be just like mine but not. And that in itself is super fantastic. You open a book and go, Where am I gonna go today? The S&B: What is it like writing about Jamaica while living in the U.S.? MJ: There are good things and bad things about it. The good thing is that you get perspective because you have distance and I don’t just write about Jamaica, I write about Jamaica in the past. … Some of them, like in my last book, I experienced it, but to a huge extent it’s stuff that I haven’t experienced, … stuff that I need perspective to write about. … The thing is you can also run the risk of being out of touch. I think people forget that. … Even though I am here [in the U.S], when I’m not in dialogue with Jamaica, I cannot write about it. So it’s a
double-edged sword. The S&B: I read that when you started writing “A Brief History of Seven Killings,” it started off as a story about one character. How did you develop it into a story with so many different perspectives? MJ: Each character for a while wasn’t a new character in a novel, each character was a new novel. … For a long time, I didn’t think I was writing a multi-character novel. I thought I was writing these failed single character novels. … It wasn’t my idea that it was a multi-character novel, it was my friend Rachel’s idea. I had dinner with her, I was panicking, I don’t know whose story this is. And she said, Why do you think it’s one person’s story? And she said, Go back and read “As I Lay Dying.” And that was the big eureka moment. … You know, most of the turning points in my novels have always been some outside person says some random thing, and I go, Here we go.
The S&B: I read that your first book was rejected 78 times. Why did you keep with the book? MJ: The thing is I didn’t keep with the book — I actually destroyed it. We’ll back track a little bit. I didn’t realize it was 78. … It’s not like I was counting. … It wasn’t until after a while I stopped to go, how many of these have I sent out? And that’s when it hit me that it was 78. So of course that hit me like a battering ram … like, damn, that many people said no. And actually I didn’t save the book, I got rid of it. I destroyed it. … I deleted it from every computer I could delete it from. … I was at a workshop and this writer demanded to see my work and I was like I don’t write books anymore, I’m not a writer, and everybody who was in the class was like, he wrote a novel he just doesn’t want to show you, and she says she’s not leaving Jamaica until she gets it, so I go scrambling to find this book that I deleted and I found it in an email outbox from years, years, years ago. … Two lessons from that: One, never destroy your work, and two, listen to people but believe in your work because you may come across a period in your life when you’re the only person who does. And sometimes people are right. But can 78 people be wrong? Yeah, 78 people can be wrong.
Sports
Edited by schultej@grinnell.edu
Men's golf team looks to Bunis' leadership for success in 2018 season
By Lily Böhlke bohlkeli@grinnell.edu
After spending a week training in Tucson, Arizona sponsored by the athletic department, the golf team kicked off their season last weekend at a match in Tucson against Pima County Community College. “The match in AZ could not have gone better, in my opinion. The match was played at Univ. of AZ home golf course (Sewailo) and it is just a great venue,” wrote Coach Brian Jaworski in an email to The S&B. “As I have stated many times before, the relationship we have with our opponent that day (Pima County Community College) is special. Their coaching staff and players are always very welcoming and they are a fun group to compete against because they are very good.” Evan Bunis ’18, the “lone senior” on the team according to Jaworski, stood out in Tucson, a testament to his hard work and skills that he’s developed through nearly four years in the program. “It was a really good first test for him and I think he capitalized on his opportunity that day to build a little early-season confidence,” Jaworski wrote. “[Bunis] has taken complete ownership of his scores, is our hardest working player, and is leading by
example.” The conditions at the match were less than ideal, according to Bunis, in part due to 40 mile per hour winds. Hailing from the East Coast, Bunis never really golfed in strong winds until arriving at Grinnell. However, playing in Tucson was an opportunity for developing his game in tougher conditions. “Tree branches were breaking and they would fall onto the green, and sort of a lot of shmutz all over the place which can make it really tough to play,” Bunis said. “But I think moments like that are sometimes the best opportunities to improve your game and see where you’re at. … You sort of have to play a different game in the wind — you have to hit the ball lower, any sorts of mistakes get amplified by the wind, but adding those skills to your arsenal make you a much better player.” Some of Bunis’s and Jaworski’s goals for the season include preparing for the conference tournament at the end of the semester, building skills and working hard. “We are also very committed as a team to finalize what is shaping up to be a very strong and deep 2018 recruiting class. Adding numbers and skill to the golf team is also one of our main goals this season,” Jaworski wrote.
“Our goals are to improve and to enjoy the season as much as we can,” Bunis added. Since Bunis’s first year at Grinnell, the size of the team has decreased, and currently there are five athletes on the men’s team. “With a big team, there’s more talent to choose from when you’re picking out your roster but there are many benefits to having a small team in terms of how you can practice. … Such a large group can sometimes be limiting,” Bunis said. For Jaworski, while the numbers have decreased, the strong team dynamic has remained. His favorite part about Grinnell golf is interacting and building relationships with people. “It doesn’t matter if you have three guys, seven guys or 30 guys, the fun for me is to see the team play hard, come together as a group, and have as much fun as possible,” Jaworski wrote. “We spend a lot of time together and I have been rewarded with incredible memories working with such loyal, dedicated, and talented golfers for the last 12 years.” The men’s team has meets throughout April in May in Iowa and Illinois, but their sole home meet is April 21, which is a duel against Central College.
Evan Bunis '18 following through on a shot taken during the golf team's spring break trip to Arizona.
CONTRIBUTED
Baseball team splits doubleheader with Illinois College
SARAH RUIZ
The Pioneer baseball team split their double-header against Illinois College Thursday, losing the first game 9-3 and winning the second 8-6. Brock Weirather '21 was the winning pitcher in the second game, and Charles Carr finished the game with a save. The team travels back to Illinois College over the weekend for another double-header.
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Athlete Spotlight: Darice Wheeler '21
ANDREW TUCKER
Darice Wheeler ’21 already has a school record for home runs in a season. By Quan Tran tranminh2@grinnell.edu At one point in first-year Darice Wheeler’s record-breaking hitting stretch during the Pioneer softball team’s spring break trip, she went on a cold streak, batting 0-7. This was unprecedented. She was surprised and knew right away the one person she would get an earful from after the match — her dad, who over time became a motivating force in her growth as a softball player. “To be honest, he wasn’t very happy. [The cold streak] took him by surprise,” Wheeler said. Cold streaks aside, her performance was impressive enough to garner national attention, getting her name in the “Top Performances” list of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). By the end of the Florida trip, Wheeler tied the school’s season record of six home runs while hitting .458 and going 11-24 at the plate with four doubles, 13 RBIs and seven runs scored. Of the 18 home runs the Pioneers have hit this season, she accounts for 10 of them. Head softball coach Amanda Reckamp expects nothing less from the freshman, who is only a few weeks into her career as a collegiate softball player. “I wouldn’t say I’m surprised [because] I knew she is capable of doing things like this. The crazy part is that she hasn’t even hit her ceiling yet. She’s [only] starting to show us what kind of impact she can make.” The confidence shows not just in Wheeler’s actions but also in her words. She couldn’t help but smile when talking about her accomplishments. “I came to the school expecting to do big things … [so] this meant a lot to me. I'm really excited that I'm off to a great start to my final four years,” Wheeler said. Adjusting to Grinnell might come more naturally to Wheeler than some other Grinnellians. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she has had a fair share of transitions. She then moved to Felton, Delaware, then to Chicago before finally settling in Evanston, Illinois. Like many other Pioneers student-athletes, she was drawn to Grinnell for its academic rigor offered side-by-side with a chance to play
competitive sports for an extra four years. Wheeler hopes to major in biochemistry with a concentration in neuroscience but also has an interest in economics. To her, and especially to her parents, academics is more important than softball, even though the sport means a lot to her. “I know you love softball but I’m going to make [sure] your academics come first and that’s that. There’s no discussion about it,” Wheeler said when recalling what her father said to her during her recruiting process. Surprisingly, Wheeler started playing baseball at a young age and didn’t switch to softball until later. Following the decision to switch was a rough couple of years where she always played with older girls. She admits there were certain mental aspects of the game that she didn’t understand. “I was never afraid of being [on the team] and I never felt out of place. It was just mentally I wasn’t ready. My maturity level wasn’t up there,” Wheeler said. It wasn’t until age 11 that softball clicked for her. “It was a defining moment [for me]. Most people when they switch over [from baseball to softball], they can’t do it; but when I did … at that moment I felt like I could kill the game if I wanted to.” Still, Wheeler sometimes thinks about what might have been had she stuck to baseball. At the time, it was very difficult for girls to play baseball, as they are normally forced to switch to softball eventually. Her father knew she had potential as a softball player, though, and he encouraged her to try pitching. “If you asked me how my talent got to the way it is today I would say it’s all him. No question about it. He’s been my coach since day one,” Wheeler said about her father. Now that softball is in season, the team is even more focused than ever. Riding on a successful spring break trip, everybody is locked in as conference matches start from this week. The end goal is nothing less than a championship, something no Pioneers softball team has ever done before. Wheeler certainly has her sights on a trophy during her first season. “I want the trophy. I want our name plastered on something that we can hold.”
FRESHER
FASTER IT’S JUST THE WAY I ROLL
WE DELIVER! VISIT JIMMYJOHNS.COM TO FIND A LOCATION NEAR YOU
Edited by mikekben@grinnell.edu
Community
Democrats choose delegates for gubernatorial race, Republicans approve anti-abortion addendum at county conventions
By Chloe Wray wraychlo@grinnell.edu
The Poweshiek County Democratic Party held its convention on March 17 in Malcom, Iowa. Sayles Kasten ’19 was among a group of 14 Grinnell College students representing Grinnell’s First Ward at the Convention. “Specifically, for me, the convention was really important because it showed that student power is a growing force in Iowa, probably a determining factor in the next couple of election cycles,” Kasten said. “I’d like to see Iowa students changing politics in a major way, for the better.” Kasten and other students played a major role in the Feb. 5 Democratic Caucus, and have been involved with Iowa Student Action in organizing students to attend the caucus and subsequently the convention in support of gubernatorial candidate Cathy Glasson. The official date for Iowa’s Democratic County Conventions was March 24. However, Poweshiek County held its convention a week early to accommodate Grinnell College student delegates who would otherwise have been on spring break. Poweshiek County’s Republican Party held its convention on March 10. The delegates representing each precinct at the conventions were chosen at preliminary caucuses held on Feb. 5. Poweshiek County is a part of District 1, which covers the northeastern corner of the state, and on April 28, the Republican and Democratic Parties will meet for district conventions. The district conventions precede a state convention for each party on June 16, following statewide primaries on June 5. According to Chris Varney, chair of Poweshiek County’s Republican Party, the main objectives of any county convention are to select delegates to go on to represent the county at the district and state level, debate platform planks submitted on caucus night or propose new ones and to hear any candidates running for office. At Poweshiek County’s Demo-
cratic Convention, of the 89 delegates in attendance, six were chosen to continue to the district and state conventions. Three of those were Grinnell College students: Abby Frerick ’21, Arish Vale ’21 and Kate Menner ’18. The state convention will draw around 1,000 Democratic delegates. Given that there are multiple candidates running for governor as Democrats, the delegates chosen to represent the county at the district and state conventions “voted to split into ‘preference groups’ by gubernatorial candidates,” wrote John Grennan, Poweshiek County Democrats co-chair, in an email to The S&B. “This means that delegates were chosen to represent certain candidates for governor (though these commitments are nonbinding). Our groups picked two delegates for Cathy Glasson, one for Nate Boulton, one for Fred Hubbell, one for John Norris and one for ‘uncommitted’ (delegates who have not made a choice of who they are
supporting for governor). Across the state, Nate Boulton won the most committed delegates, followed by Cathy Glasson and Fred Hubbell. But the largest group of delegates statewide are ‘uncommitted.’” The choice of delegates plays an important part in the selection of candidates. “If no candidate for governor wins 35 percent or more of the vote in the June primary, the state convention will choose the candidate that will represent the Democratic Party,” Grennan wrote. “That's one of the reasons the elections for these delegates are important.” Kasten and other students pushed for the preferential voting because the large number of Democratic candidates leads to a relatively high likelihood that no candidate will win the requisite 35 percent in the primary election and the choice will fall to the delegates at the state convention. Additionally, Kasten felt that by bring-
ing people out to the caucuses and conventions in support of a candidate, momentum would be built, proving the strength of the candidate’s support base and the power of a grassroots movement. As incumbent Gov. Kim Reynolds is unopposed, the Republican Party did not enter preferential voting. Of the 35 delegates chosen at the February caucuses to represent their respective wards, 20 attended the Republican County Convention. 12 delegates and 12 alternates were chosen for the district and state conventions, and those chosen need not have attended the convention to be appointed as a delegate. “We want to re-elect Gov. Reynolds, that’s probably our biggest priority from a state-wide perspective,” Varney said. Ron Corbett, the mayor of Cedar Rapids, had previously been slated to oppose Reynolds, but did not collect enough valid signatures on his petition to run to earn a spot on the ballot. Because Reynolds will be unopposed in the primaries, the party is focusing on supporting those running for other offices in the primaries and drawing continued support for the general elections. The delegates in attendance at Poweshiek’s Republican County Convention decided to support the “Heartbeat Bill,” which will be added as an addendum to the Party’s platform. The bill is an anti-abortion measure that prevents abortions, with the exception of saving a woman’s life, after the first detection of a fetal heartbeat, as early as the sixth week of pregnancy. “By passing this as a county, it means we support this piece of legislature that is before the Iowa State Legislature, and we hope that they would listen to our opinions on the matter,” Varney said. Poweshiek County’s Republican Party did not choose to add any other addendums to their platform. In addition to the issues of CAFOs and the minimum wage, the function of caucuses was called into question at the Democratic convention. “Caucuses are really undemo-
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cratic. They really favor people who can be at a certain place at a certain time, who have a certain means,” Kasten said. However, the issue was not discussed at length, and the proposed Democratic Party county platform was approved by a voice vote. The Republican convention heard from Dave Maxwell, a current Iowa State Representative up for re-election; Trevor White, a Poweshiek County supervisor up for re-election; Merle Doty, who is running for Poweshiek County Board of Supervisors and Craig Lang, who is from Poweshiek County and running for Iowa State Secretary of Agriculture in the primaries. At the Democratic County Convention, gubernatorial candidates John Norris, Andy McGuire, Nate Boulton and Fred Hubbell presented to delegates. Representatives and individuals in support of candidates who were unable to attend were welcome to speak at the conventions on their behalf. “Iowans have a lot of pride in their first-of-the-year caucus; Iowans have a lot of pride in the political process, and the process continues even though you’re not electing a president,” Varney said. “We’re just going to the district convention to listen to new ideas, maybe give some new ideas, to have a voice in the system. It’s important for every county to have a voice.” Varney acknowledged the difficulties associated with an off-year election, but was hopeful in the high level of participation he sees amongst the party. “Our goal as a party is to support the candidates that the largest percentage of Iowan Democrats trust to promote the health, economic well-being, and civil rights of all Iowans, as well the state's long-term commitments to the environment and public education,” Grennan wrote. “We plan to accomplish these goals through a robust volunteer effort to reach voters before the November election.” Primaries for both parties will be held on June 5, while the general election is slated to take place on Nov. 6.
Chamber holds annual awards dinner, considers future
By Rachel Eber eberrach@grinnell.edu
On March 14, the Grinnell Area Chamber of Commerce hosted its Annual Celebration to recognize outstanding local businesses and workers. This year, almost 200 business owners, employees and community members attended the event, which was held at Hotel Grinnell. Awards were presented for Retail Business of the Year, Anna Kayte’s Boutique, Service Business of the Year, Renfrow Senior Care, Entrepreneur of the Year, Joey and Haylee Pagliai of Pagliai’s Pizza, Economic Impact Award, Hotel Grinnell, Community Betterment Award, Central Park, and Volunteer of the Year, Paragon Church. In addition to these business-focused awards, the Chamber’s “20 under 40” awards recognized 20 individuals under 40 years of age for doing exemplary work as part of a company, either as a leader or as an employee. The 20 recipients included Amelia Nickle of Hotel Grinnell, Ashley Grundler of Big Brothers Big Sisters and Brian Conway of the Grinnell-Newburg School District. Five “One to Watch” awards were given to individuals who have been involved in starting their own businesses. “These are people who we think are going to go on to do great things,” said Rachael Kinnick, Director of the Chamber. “Some of them meet the ‘20 under 40’ criteria, [and] maybe have already been recognized in that capacity in the past, but some of them are just at that breaking point.” Any member of the Grinnell community had the opportunity to nominate a business or individual.
Movies at the Strand
Chamber staff vetted those nominations, and the Executive Committee ultimately decided on the winners. According to Kinnick, the volume of nominations made decision-making process difficult. “We had so many nominations that it was really challenging to choose who is doing the best of the best,” Kinnick said. The annual awards ceremony and celebration, though, is far from the only project of the Grinnell Area Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber’s other activities, based on a strategic plan created in fall 2017 by the Chamber’s Board of Directors, focus on three main areas: community growth, business development and community vitality. The community growth committee is currently partnering with Early Childhood Iowa and Poweshiek Iowa Development to finalize their childcare survey, the aim of which is to identify solutions to Poweshiek County’s childcare desert. They are also working to survey employees of Grinnell businesses on current strengths and possible areas of improvement in the community. The business development team, on the other hand, works to pair entrepreneurs with capital investors to create “in essence, a shark tank kind of model,” Kinnick said, adding that the Chamber expects doing so will yield a couple of new businesses in the community. The team is also working to implement a succession plan to help business owners plan for the future. “Most times, businesses are so in the day-to-day that they don’t think about what’s next, and ‘how do I get out of this if and when I want to,’” Kinnick said. “We clearly have a few businesses that we want
to make sure are here long term, and we’re working with those business owners to make sure that happens.” Finally, the community vitality committee is focusing on attracting more visitors to Grinnell through a community-wide marketing campaign, and by organizing community events in Central Park now that construction is complete. According to Kinnick, one of the Chamber’s overarching goals
is to facilitate connections between businesses and people, and the Annual Celebration is the perfect way to do just that. Kinnick noted that the event is more than simply an awards ceremony. “Instead of hosting just a sitdown dinner where everyone comes and sits with the same people, [it is] more of a networking event where people can really meet other people and get to know others in a different
setting,” Kinnick said. “This event is a great opportunity to bring people together in a different way, get them to interact, make new connections, meet new people … and to ultimately learn more about the work that we’re doing and how they can help.” A full list of the 2018 award winners is posted on the Grinnell Area Chamber of Commerce website.
MAHIRA FARAN
The Grinnell Area Chamber of Commerce held its annual awards event on March 14.
READY PLAYER ONE
Showtimes: 3:40 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m. This is the world in which you will be living in 27 years. Preview your midlife crisis.
A QUIET PLACE
Showtimes: 4:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 9:20 p.m. If you read this out loud, you are already dead.
I CAN ONLY IMAGINE
Showtimes: 3:50 p.m., 6:45 p.m., 9:10 p.m. No, you cannot.
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Community League hosts Rock Creek State Park takes steps discussion of recentlyagainst emerald ash borer passed mental health legislation
Edited by mikekben@grinnell.edu
By Vera Kahn kahnvera@grinnell.edu
Since 2002, parks departments across the United States have been engaged in a battle against an elusive foe: the emerald ash borer. The insect, whose native range extends across temperate forests in east Asia, was unintentionally introduced to the U.S. state of Michigan 16 years ago. The borer resides in and consumes ash trees, progressively doing enough damage to topple the trees. The bug most likely came to North America on wooden shipping materials like pallets, and, since the species has no natural predators in the United States, emerald ash borers have spread to more than 29 states. Their rapid expansion in the U.S. has been helped along by humans, who unwittingly aid their migration by transporting firewood contaminated with the bugs, their eggs or their larvae. Iowa is officially a quarantine state when it
comes to the emerald ash borer, and it is against the law to move firewood across the state border, although it can be moved within the state. The ban, though, is as much to keep the bugs in as to keep them out. According to Kory Kinnick, a park ranger at Rock Creek State Park, the emerald ash borer has been “physically discovered” in “roughly fifty counties out of ninety-nine in the state of Iowa.” Even if bugs have not been physically discovered in a given county, a threat may still exist. Poweshiek County is not immune to the spread of this invasive insect. At Rock Creek State Park, located just seven miles west of Grinnell College, no specimens of the beetle have been found. However, the signatures of the bugs presence, such as the holes left by woodpeckers hunting for larvae have be seen. In light of these signature markings, the park has been forced to re-
move all ash trees. Kinnick said that this step was mandated by state policy: “Any tree that is in an area where people are going to recreate must come down.”
“We see a lot of magnificently beautiful ash trees out at the Rock Creek State Park campgrounds, but we can't risk a life versus a tree."
Kory Kinnick, park ranger The emerald ash borer eats away at the inside of ash trees, eventually rendering them brittle and liable to snap off during stormy, windy weather. This creates a risk to human life, as trees can fall on trails, in campgrounds or in electrical areas. To make matters worse, ash trees are common in Rock Creek State Park. Kinnick explained that Rock Creek was established after an epidemic of Dutch Elm disease wiped out other species, and that ash trees became “that go-to bulletproof tree, and they planted a lot of them.” By Kinnick’s count, there are less than 50 ash trees still standing. This summer will see a thinning of those trees, and the rest of them should be down by next winter. “It’s disheartening,” Kinnick said. “We see a lot of magnificently beautiful ash trees out at the Rock Creek State Park campgrounds, but we can’t risk a life versus a tree.” The trees that are felled will not go to waste. They can be salvaged for firewood — provided it does not leave Iowa.
Rural development council hosts second annual summit By Kate Irwin irwinkat@grinnell.edu The Iowa Rural Development Summit took place on April 5 and 6 at Hotel Grinnell. The two-day event was attended by groups of three individuals from rural communities across Iowa, who discussed strategies for rural development and what has
300 people attended the Summit to discuss which development strategies did and did not work in their communities. Menner described these collaborations as the source of progress, and noted that that there is strength in numbers. “How do you make projects happen in a small town? Part of it's from learning through other towns and
to their towns with momentum built, making it more likely that change will take place than if only one voice was heard. Multiple activities took place during the Summit. Various keynote speakers were in attendance, including Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg. Break-out sessions allowed a more narrow focus on spe-
CONTRIBUTED
Speakers including Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds addressed a gathering of groups from rural communities at the second annual Rural Development Summit and has not been successful in the past. The Summit is a new strategy to better connect rural communities to foster collaboration and ideas for development. The first Summit took place in November of 2016 in Jefferson, Iowa. This year’s Summit was only the second Summit to ever take place, but the Rural Development Council has been around since the 1990s and the Summit is an extension of the roles of the Council. “[The Rural Development Council] had traditionally been a forum for partners to get together once a quarter to talk about the work they were doing in small towns,” said Bill Menner, Executive Director of the Iowa Rural Development Council. “It was lots of information sharing, and it was [in] 2016 that the group said, 'we get together once a quarter, we have all these really powerful partners, we could do a lot more.’ We started talking about the need for capacity building in rural communities.” In addition to his role in the organization, the Rural Development Council is also a client of Menner’s consulting firm. The 2016 Summit was created to start a dialogue about development between rural communities. Over
how they're doing it,” he said. The theme of this year's Summit was housing in the rural setting. The two-day length of the gathering creates more opportunities for networking and connections between different communities.
“[A community] may think that [they are] operating in a vacuum, but in fact there's probably a hundred other towns that are doing the same thing." Bill Menner, Executive Director of the IRDC “[A community] may think that [they are] operating in a vacuum, but in fact there's probably a hundred other towns that are doing the same thing,” Menner said. “If you get them in the same room at the same time, and they start talking about this stuff, there's this great flow of ideas.” The only requirement for participating in the Summit is that towns must send teams of three. Any person could be on the team, but the members are typically involved in development. The rationale behind the number is that teams will go back
cific aspects of rural communities. There were numerous chances for discussion among people from different communities, including the lunch served during group discussions. Additionally, there was a Rural Recognition Reception that honored local leadership. Even a YouTube star, Scott Siepker, creator of the hit series Iowa Nice, attended the event. Ultimately, the goal of the Summit was to provide communities with resources and opportunities for development that they may not have the ability to access. “Part of it is introducing ideas, part of it is sharing best practices and part of it, we hope, is getting [communities] to think strategically about what their community is going to look like,” Menner said. “The status quo is not an option. They have to be thinking ahead, because if they think they can leave things as they are, or go back to 1950, that's not an answer.” Menner intends to continue the Iowa Rural Development Summit and expand the program. For next year, Menner plans to focus the Summit on the social determinants of health, providing an opportunity to consider the factors in a community that directly impact individual health.
SARAH RUIZ
The League of Women Voters hosted an event to discuss that Gov. Kim Reynolds has proposed an executive order to address children’s mental By Seth Taylor taylorse@grinnell.edu On Wednesday, April 5, the Grinnell League of Women Voters hosted an event to discuss the state of mental healthcare in Iowa at Drake Community Library. The event was held in response to recently-passed legislation meant to upgrade the state’s dismal mental health services. The Iowa House and Senate both voted unanimously in favor of the Complex Needs Bill in a rare show of bipartisan agreement on a major issue, likely prompted by near-universal public opinion. A February Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, for instance, showed that 73 percent of Iowans believe the mental health system in Iowa is in crisis or is a big problem. The Complex Needs Bill provides for the creation of “access centers” designed to offer short-term care to those suffering from less severe mental health afflictions, freeing up longterm care resources. The bill will also create Assertive Community Treatment teams, which will interact with community members suffering from mental illness and hopefully reduce the need for hospitalization. Alongside the Complex Needs Bill, the House and Senate also passed a bill meant to reduce teen suicide by mandating that all Iowa teachers receive suicide prevention training. In the wake of the new legislation, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced her intention to issue an executive order to establish a system for children’s mental healthcare, based on recommendations by the Children’s Advisory Committee. However, it remains unclear how that executive order would be carried out. A press release from the Governor’s office hailed this legislation as representing “Iowa’s commitment to treating Iowans facing mental health challenges with compassion and dignity.” Others identified the legislation as a necessary but far from complete framework for mental healthcare reform in Iowa. Discussing this wave of recent actions was among the main goals of the League of Women Voters event. The League invited Professor Tammy Nyden, philosophy and Jody Eaton, CEO
of Central Iowa Community Services, to speak. They discussed the new legislation and the broader state of Iowa’s mental healthcare. In addition to her role at Central Iowa Community Services, Eaton is a member of the Complex Services Needs Workgroup, the group responsible for the basis of the Complex Needs Bill. She is also a member of the Iowa Mental Health and Disability Services (MHDS) committee, which will be tasked with transforming the bill into workable policy. During the event, Eaton described the range of services the CICS provides for those mentally ill Iowans suffering from a lack of resources, specifically a lack of in-patient beds. She is excited for the opportunities this legislation creates, but cautioned that funding is yet to be solidified. Some point to Republican legislation slashing state revenue that has already passed the Senate as cause for concern, though the House has yet to pass a version of the bill. Nyden, a philosophy professor at Grinnell College and the mother of a child with mental illness, is primarily an advocate for children’s mental healthcare. Iowa has no statewide children’s mental healthcare system, which, according to Nyden, is a grievous mistake. Nyden argued that the establishment of a children’s mental healthcare system is vital to long-term mental health success in Iowa. “We know that up until the mid-twenties is the best, most effective time to treat the brain, because that’s when it’s developing, when you can do the most good in treatment,” she said. “We are paying, right now for not having a child’s mental health system.” Nyden accused state legislators of shying away from serious action whenever substantial amounts of money were requested and intentionally limiting the voices of reform committees, putting the health and wellbeing of Iowa children at risk. Despite the newly-minted legislation, most of those in attendance seemed to reflect that opinion, expressing frustration with politicians they saw as shirking their responsibility to provide services to those most at risk, contradicting the narrative state legislators have spun of the Complex Needs Bill as a historic success in reforming Iowa mental healthcare.
SARAH RUIZ
Philosophy Professor Tammy Nyden and and CEO of Central Iowa Community Services Jody Eaton discussed mental health legislation passed unanimously by both houses of the Iowa legislature.
Sports
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Edited by schultej@grinnell.edu
Athletic department works toward a coach review process that works for both players and coaches By Candace Mettle mettleca@grinnell.edu This year, the Athletic Department piloted a post-season review program to have more opportunities for athletes to evaluate coaches and comment on their athletic experience. After every athlete’s athletic season, they receive an electronic survey to rate their experience. The survey includes questions related to everything from athletic growth under their coach to the emotional support and camaraderie. Athletic Director Andy Hamilton wanted to introduce a post-season review program after attending a conference on administrative athletics. “In my first year [as Athletic Director], I was invited to … national athletics administrative training programs and at one of the training programs one of the segments was evaluation and it was made pretty clear that we needed a tool and fortunately there were several people in the room who offered a tool,” Hamilton said. The post-season review will not be a factor in upcoming review processes and contract renewals because it is not a part of the Dean’s faculty policy. However, Hamilton hopes that this could be the start of long-term evaluation tool. The main review of coaches in the post-season in this past has come from the “captains’ review,” a write-up on the season written by
captains. Athletic coaches undergo the same hiring and review process as academic professors and, depending on their term, have faculty status. The dean’s office, which athletic coaches go through during the review and hiring process, evaluates professors on the quality of their teaching, their scholarship and service. For athletic personnel, the dean’s office and the athletic department follow the same guidelines but include recruitment as a factor for teaching, service and scholarship. The athletic department and the dean’s office consider head coaches as “faculty coaches,” which allow head coaches to teach credited courses. The athletic department initially contracts coaches for three years and reviews the coach in the second year of the term to determine eligibility for contract renewal. If the coach passes, they earn the renewal, and in their fifth year they must undergo a “complete” review. The complete review includes data gathered from captains and SEPC members, input from alumni and current students and a faculty equity advocate involved in every “deliberative” meeting. Passing the complete review process makes an athletic coach eligible for a faculty coach position and/or a longer contract. “Longer contracts allow for fac-
ulty coaches to get through difficult times, to have a longer arch to be able to address or utilize their strengths and address their weakness so I think it’s very beneficial. Faculty coach positions are pretty unique and we feel fortunate to have that opportunity,” Hamilton said. “I think if you look at the whole continuum of how Grinnell creates faculty coach positions, hires, evaluates, it’s a really healthy process and I take real pride in that whole picture.” Head soccer coach Brian Jaworski is hopeful about the review process, as it provides information on how he can improve his coaching. “Anytime you can get feedback, it can be a valuable source of information because so much about coaching is making adjustments from day to day, from week to week, and from year to year. I'll go through the same routine I do every year and that is all for the purpose of being a little bit better every time I step on the field to coach. I certainly don’t see any harm in the post-review program,” Jaworski wrote in an email to The S&B. Student athletes hope that a post-season review will hold coaches and the Athletic Department accountable for conflicts that arise during the season. For example, conflicts arose last fall between some players and Coach Jaworski. Team captains Francisco
Conde-Sanchez, Artis Curiskis and Antonio DiMarco, all ’18, mediated meetings between players, coaches and the Athletic Department. As representatives of students and a liaison between students and staff, they saw their position as one of making compromises and advocating for concerned parties. “I saw genuine attempt by the coaching staff and by most players — not all players — to make changes so that our team could come together as one and have a good season,” DiMarco said. “In the classroom there are expectations as far as behavior goes and at times I think a player can overstep and the coach can overstep but we can come together and come to a solution about that,” Curiskis said. “I think that towards the end of the season, after discussing things with our coach from our perspective, he made pretty drastic attempts to change as seen in his interactions and I think that was a testament to how much he really cares about the players and how much he’s really trying to better the program,” Sanchez-Conde said. Hamilton recommends that, “if a student has a problem with a faculty coach, they work with the faculty coach first. And then we recommend that the student goes to the head of the department. I can meet students re-
garding their concerns; also there are smaller mechanisms such as [Student Athlete Mentors] and team captains. … If the student still has concerns, then a student can go to someone in the dean’s office or student affairs but we try to treat this as if it’s an academic concern when possible.” Some players did leave the team, though, and have decided to remain off the team until they believe that more accountability is in place. As of now, Jaworski will keep his faculty coach position. Hamilton and Jaworski hope that they can move forward and make improvements where they need to be. “The chair of the department needs to provide the coach to operate and in these circumstances. … My job as the chair is to communicate with the faculty coach and I’ve been processing that way. … There’s internal work with the coach and the team and that is probably the place where work needs to occur,” Hamilton said. “I stand by my approach to coaching as a soccer coach and golf coach. No coach is a perfect coach and no player is a perfect player, but I am extremely proud of the men's soccer program we have built here at Grinnell. I'm confident that myself and all the players learned a lot this past season and my sense is we will be a more experienced, close-knit group,” Jaworski said.
First-years stand out in track & field meet at Emory
By Quan Tran tranminh2@grinnell.edu
Over spring break, the men’s and women’s track and field teams spent a week training and competing in Florida and Georgia, with a goal to get as many training sessions in as possible. At the end of the week, they traveled to Atlanta to compete in the Emory Classic at Emory University. After spending a week doing grueling workouts in the heat, their performances exceeded expectations. “We really enjoyed competing in warm weather because it’s been a little challenging here [at Grinnell]. We were able to work on specific outdoor events that we don’t do. That being said, having gone through a week of pretty hard training we don’t go to the meet expecting to perform at our best, but we had some pretty good results here and there at the end,” said head
women’s track and field coach Evelyn Freeman. Different from typical track and field meets, the Emory Classic has a wider range of competitors, most of whom the Pioneers have never heard of or competed against before. The event consists of community colleges in the nearby area, along with Division II and III programs, as well as any other schools that happened to be around at the time. With such diverse levels of competition, both the men’s and women’s team managed to produce outstanding performances, especially from first-years Lucas Chamberland and Agne Lukoseviciute. On the opening Friday of Emory Classic, Chamberland placed second in the 10,000-meter run, clocking a 34:26.01, and it was the first time he’d ever run a 10k. He sees such a successful event this early in his student-athlete career as a confirmation
of his ability and a personal motivation for future improvements, especially for the upcoming outdoor championships. “As it was my first 10k ever, I was quite satisfied with my time. It’s always great to be able to get points for the team. I wanted to run under 35 minutes, and I achieved that. I’m looking to improve more for the Midwest Conference meet though,” Chamberland wrote in an email to The S&B. “10k is not something that you run frequently during the season because it’s pretty long. So to get one in great weather conditions was a nice advantage for him. [Overall], we were pretty happy with the results and I think he was pretty happy too,” Freeman added. On the women’s team, on Friday, Agne Lukoseviciute finished 14th in the hammer toss event with a toss of 119-10, which is fourth-best in school
history. In a similar vein to Chamberland’s success, this was the first hammer throw competition for Lukoseviciute. Then, on Saturday, she outdid herself by placing seventh in discus toss with a personal record best of 126-1. This put her third in the event in school history and was the best performance the Pioneers have seen for more than a decade. Even Freeman, who knows about Lukoseviciute’s prowess in the discus, was surprised at by the success. “We knew she was talented, and discus had always been her strong suit in high school, but we didn’t expect her to perform this well this early in the season. She did a fabulous job,” Freeman said. Lukoseviciute, on the other hand, keeps herself to a humble tone when speaking about her accomplishments. “I’m happy about it, and my coach is
especially excited at the hammer toss. Coming to the event, I was just hoping to improve on my high school records in discus and try my best at the hammer,” she said. Looking past the feat last weekend, both first-years know they have more room to improve in order to be in the best shape possible for the remainder of the season. Chamberland has had his eye set on beating the 33:30 mark in the 10k, while Lukoseviciute is aiming to extend her discus to 40 meters. With the two talents as spearheads for the freshman class, Freeman is very optimistic about their future. “We’re delighted when people start out their first season of competition on a fairly high note. It just makes us all feel like there’s even greater potential for improvement. … We hope [they get] better and better [with] the more opportunities they have.”
Thoughts on a new pro baseball season
Last weekend marked the beginning of a new Major League Baseball season. Grinnell students share what they hope to see out of the 2018 season. The S&B's Vera Kahn and photographer Mai Phuong Vu went to the Spencer Grill and Laurel Leaf Lounge to find out about how people feel about this season.
Pictured L-R: Alice Herman ’18, Candace Mettle ’19, Nate Williams ’20
Jack Lunn ’20 on opening day: “I'm a White Sox fan and we scored 14 runs and we won, so that's cool.”
Herman: “I know there's gonna be some big wins” Williams: “Apparently the MLB app, one of the software developers put bitcoin mining software into the app and the millions of people who had the app downloaded to their phones were quickly losing.”
Harry Gale ’20: “I think [the Yankees] are gonna have like three games in the regular season against the Red Sox instead of two, which is a little more fun. Maybe I'll be home this summer to watch some. The thing with baseball is when you watch it it's really slow, so you miss a lot of stuff, but it's a very fun atmosphere. People do the wave, peanuts and beer, so that's what I'm looking forward to.”
Looking forward to: “The White Sox have a really young team, so we're not really supposed to win a lot of games this year, but seeing a lot of younger guys develop as players.”
Sam Bilsky ’20 and Ian Donaldson ’20 on the Washington Nationals this season: Ian: “Playoffs, out first round.” Sam: “I think they'll make it to the second round of the playoffs, but D.C. could never win a championship. It's never gonna happen.”
Edited by fentonma@grinnell.edu
Sexplanations: Workplace issues and sexual assault awareness
Opinions
IoWhat is going on in politics? Our rights we maintain
The same support and resources will be available from the Title IX office. This month is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Is Grinnell doing anything?
Sexplanations is an anonymous Q&A column about sex, sexual health, sexuality, gender, relationships and the promotion of respect at Grinnell College. Questions are answered collaboratively by the Sexual Health Information Center (SHIC), the Stonewall Resource Center (SRC) and the Office of Wellness and Prevention. If you have a question or comment, submit it anonymously at https://goo. gl/forms/36C5fLe9DeRdi48k2 or email [howeemil]. There’s someone in my on-campus job that is always rude to me. Their comments are rude and often aimed towards my gender and sexuality. I need the job, and I’m not sure if my boss will believe me or help me switch shifts. Is there anything that could be done? First, I’m so sorry that’s happening to you and that you don’t feel safe and comfortable. I appreciate you reaching out to us. If you feel comfortable switching shifts or talking to your boss, you’re welcome to. Another option may be reaching out to the Title IX team. Title IX covers sexual discrimination which includes sexual harassment, as well as stalking, sexual violence, sexual assault and intimate partner violence. Part of working towards an educational environment free of sex-based discrimination includes creating a safe on-campus work environment. Thus, the Title IX team could help rearrange shifts so that the person who is harassing you is working a different shift from you.
Part of working towards an educational environment free of sex-based discrimination includes creating a safe on-campus work environment. A campus no-contact order may also be beneficial. The Title IX office can support you through a number of different resources, including counseling and academic support. If you would like, you could also pursue a conduct case. As for any Title IX case, the cases are conducted by an outside agency. If the person harassing you is doing so repeatedly, including through electronics and social media, this is defined as stalking.
Yes! A number of Grinnell organizations are collaborating to put together a number of events. The schedule will be officially unveiled next Tuesday, April 10 at 7 p.m. in the Wellness Lounge during tea time. That same week, there will be a dinner for first years to reflect on the culture of sexual respect at Grinnell. On Thursday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m., the Stonewall Resource Center and Title IX office are collaborating to bring alum Isabel Cooke ’16 to campus to discuss health communication. Isabel is a local sex educator in town who recently taught the Our Whole Lives (OWL) Sex and Sexuality curriculum to local middle school students. Her workshop will focus on communicating with a partner, particularly on difficult topics. The workshop will be interactive. The following week, on April 17 at 7:30 p.m., Mellisa Holtzman, a sociology professor from Ball State, will be presenting. Her work focuses on sexual assault prevention and programming. She has received numerous recognitions for her work. If you’d like to learn more, you can look up her TEDx Talk.
A number of Grinnell organizations are collaborating to put together a number of events [for Sexual Assault Awareness Month]. Holtzman’s event is being sponsored by Title IX. Other events that are still being finalized include a viewing of “Together,” a film produced by a Bowdoin College graduate, on the experience of being a sexual assault survivor on small college campus similar to Grinnell. This event is sponsored by Grinnell Advocates. Intercultural Affairs and the department of gender, women’s and sexuality studies will be showing the documentary “Anita: Truth to Power,” followed by a roundtable discussion. Finally, there will be a number of active bystander trainings happening throughout the month, with one specifically focusing on the role of active bystanders on social media. Keep an eye out for more information and promotional materials coming soon! If you are interested in getting more information on these events or interested in helping, please reach out to Emily Howe at [howeemil2].
The Scarlet & Black Staff Editors-in-Chief News Editors Features Editor Sports Editor Arts Editor Community Editor Opinions Editor Copy Editors Graphics Editor Photo Editor Video Editor Business Manager Staff Writer Honorary Editor
Lily Bohlke Emma Friedlander Alice Herman Candace Mettle Amanda Weber Jackson Schulte Mayo Sueta Ben Mikek Maxwell Fenton Kelly Page Chloe Wray Lica Ishida Andrew Tucker Helena Gruensteidl Riley Murphy Kate Irwin Joni Mitchell
by Austin Wadle If you’ve ever found your way to High Street on a weekend night, you might have noticed a house with two flags used as curtains. This is my room. In one window, there is a pride flag — given my previous columns, this should be no surprise. And then, in the other window, you’ll see the Iowa State flag. As someone who grew up in Florida, this is a little bit unusual. Since arriving in Iowa, I have fallen in love with the state and its people. I have adopted the state in the same way it adopted me when I came here. I also fell in love with the flag. The general design principles of an attractive flag are not followed. There’s a fair amount of text, which is hated by many design-minded flag enthusiasts. It is also not just a flag with a seal on it, so it does earn some points there. Still, the words on it are what I find most powerful: “Our liberties we prize, and our rights we shall maintain.”
anced with these principles are the right to a quality education, the right to economic justice, and many more rights that are necessary to live a full life. Given the state of much of our politics and government, this is more aspirational than anything. We have yet to realize the right to healthcare here in Iowa, and with the privatization of Medicaid, we are moving further away from realizing this human right. Even still, these words inspire me to take action. When the right to privacy in the form of access to abortions is threatened, I am upholding the words that I wake up to in my window by fighting for reproductive justice.
[Steve King] is known nationally for vehemently racist actions, often during TV appearances. In one of the mildest cases, he had a Confederate flag on his desk in a mug full of other national and state flags, despite the fact that Iowa fought for the Union in the
I am inspired by the values put forward in this quote. It is a charge to balance the individual freedoms that lead to full expression and the rights we all should have fulfilled. These are the kind of liberties that promote artistic expression and political activism to fight for what is right. Bal-
I am not under the impression that everyone in Iowa imagines these policy prescriptions from the values espoused on the flag. There is a strong majority of state legislators in Des Moines who would vehemently disagree with me, making their preferences abundantly clear this legislative session. I first became aware of this difference in interpretation after reading an article about a recent public appearance by Representative Steve King, a Republican from Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District, at a town hall for the Sioux County Conservatives. On all promotional materials, King includes those same words I quoted above. He is known nationally for vehemently racist actions, often during TV appearances. In one of the mildest cases, he had
Dusty
by Phoebe Schreckinger
A state flag is really just a piece of political publicity to associate with a specific political unit. But the quote on the flag is not the only thing that influences government decisions.
11
a Confederate flag on his desk in a mug full of other national and state flags, despite the fact that Iowa fought for the Union in the Civil War. He has stated that, “[The United States] can’t restore our civilization with somebody else's babies” and posed the question, “Where did any other subgroup of people [other than white] contribute more to civilization?” King and those who most actively support him, members of the Sioux County Conservatives, are inspired by the same words that inspire me to advocate for policies in direct opposition to theirs. If I and many other progressive Iowans from my adopted state can come to such different conclusions than those who so actively support King, what are Iowa values and what is the actual meaning of those words inscribed on the Iowa flag? My urge is to try to instill my interpretation in everyone I meet here in Iowa. But at the end, that is a political consideration. A state flag is really just a piece of political publicity to associate with a specific political unit. But the quote on the flag is not the only thing that influences government decisions. When the Supreme Court of Iowa legalized marriage equality nine years ago this week, they did not rely on the state flag to make this legal decision. They were able to unanimously rule in favor of those queer couples because in an earlier legislative session, Democratic majorities in the State House, Senate and a Democrat in the Governor's mansion were able to ban discrimination on the basis of sexuality here in Iowa. It did not necessarily matter if most Iowans considered the right to marry regardless of gender identity when they read the words “our rights we shall maintain.” And today, it matters that they think this phrase means that we should have an inclusive Iowa with a government that works to substantially better the lives of its constituents.
SPARC Policy The Scarlet & Black is published on Fridays by students of Grinnell College and is printed by Times Republican of Marshalltown. The newspaper is funded in part by the Student Publications and Radio Committee (SPARC) and also relies on advertising revenue to cover operating costs. All publications funded by SPARC are copyright of SPARC and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without specific written consent from SPARC. Contributions The Scarlet & Black welcomes story ideas from students, faculty and other members of the town and college community. If there is any story that should be covered, please email newspapr@grinnell.edu or visit thesandb.com Send letters to the editor via email at newspapr@grinnell.edu or mail them to Box 5886. The author’s name must be included, but letters can be published anonymously in certain occasions. Letters will be printed at the discretion of the editor. The opinions expressed in this section do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff. The S&B reserves the right to edit any and all submissions. Advertising Advertising inquiries should be directed to the business manager, Riley Murphy, who can be reached at sandbads@ grinnell.edu or by mail at 1115 8th Avenue Grinnell College Box 5886, Grinnell, IA 50112.
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Viva Cuba.
Arbitrary Analysis Social Calendar
Dolly Parton
Snedge
Emmylou Harris
This week, Maxwell Fenton '19 polled students asking: Hot Take or Hot Mess?
Friday
12:00 p.m. Roxane Gay @ Harris Cinema 7:15/9:31 p.m. Mother! @ Harris Cinema 10:00 p.m. Talking Heads Gardner @ Gardner Lounge
North Loggia
Saturday
6:00 p.m. BAX @ Faulconer Gallery 10:00 p.m. Disco Harris @ Harris Center
Pub Quiz
1. How Many Kars Will Ray K Have When We Graduate? (Disqualified) 2. Bees Do So Much (Disqualified) 3. Butts to You by Juicy/Juice & We Love Horse Girls
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Rants & Raves:
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Shania Twain The Signs as New Age Bullshit
Aries: The Secret Taurus: Astrology itself Gemini: Enya Cancer: Pyramid power Leo: Crystals Virgo: Enneagram (fight me) Libra: Himalayan pink salt Scorpio: Indigo Children Sagittarius: The wisdom of dolphins Capricorn: Atlantis Aquarius: The Age of Aquarius Pisces: Reducing your Thetan levels — Sister Aurora Impulse
Students speak about what’s on their minds in 80 words or fewer, and you’re invited! If you have a rant or a rave, email it to [newspapr] or [fentonma]
Aesthetic appropriation
E-mail rage
Summer bummer
Cold weather
The queer community loves the lesbian aesthetic, but hates lesbians.
DO NOT REPLY ALL TO MASS EMAILS, ESPECIALLY IF THERE ARE 120+ OTHER PEOPLE ON THE LIST!
I'm hungering for some warm weather so I can drive around in my truck listening to folk music.
I love low power mode but I hate how it makes my phone shut down in cold weather.
- Maxwell Fenton '19
- Summer can't cum fast enough
- Apple User
- Joie
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