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Scarlet & Black Volume 134, Issue 16
February 16, 2018 • Grinnell, Iowa
The College's Gift Acceptance Policy subject to revision at trustees general meeting
SARINA LINCOLN
The Old Glove Factory houses many offices that deal with the College's finances and donations. By Kate Irwin irwinkat@grinnell.edu At last week’s Board of Trustees meeting, members endorsed a revised version of the Gift Acceptance Policy, featuring four major changes. Two of these adjustments were included in a campus memo in December 2017 and two more revisions were incorporated into the policy more recently. The changes in part are a result of campus conversations around the question of whether the College should accept monetary donations from Pete Brownell who is the owner of the firearm store Brownells, a local philanthropist and the current president of the National Rifle Association (NRA). The two most recent changes that have been accepted in the Gift Acceptance Policy include a new paragraph in the introduction and a revised “Guiding Principles” section. The new paragraph states that “[t]he source of funds may be a factor when determining whether Grinnell College should accept or decline a gift.” The second change is a small reworking of language that makes the “Guiding
Principles” statements clearer. Another change provides for input from the parties benefiting from donations to the College: “In cases where gift proposals would benefit a specific program, department, or unity on campus, leadership of relevant campus constituencies will be involved in proposal screening,” the policy reads. The revised policy also stipulates
"But it's surprisingly difficult to decide what fits with our values, it may seem obvious in some cases, but it's actually not often very obvious" Raynard Kington, President of the College
that the president of the Grinnell College Alumni Council have a seat on the Gift Acceptance Committee that reviews “the appropriateness of accepting certain gifts.”
While the ad hoc Advancement Committee ultimately endorsed the changes, the Committee received plenty of outside input. “In addition to the comments provided by the audience of the concerned alumni, a number of other resources including direct communication from folks who were interested in that topic of discussion, all of those materials were considered,” said Adam Laug, director of development. Grinnell College has a matched donation policy that allows participating employers to match the donations of their employees; a list of the companies that have matched donations to the College is released on a yearly basis on the donor honor roll. As of now, this matched donation policy remains unchanged. “These types of policies inevitably evolve as we sort of have a better understanding about how it might be implemented, and what the challenges are, so I'm fairly confident that we'll continue to revisit the policy in various ways to try and make it better,” said Raynard Kington, president >> See Gift Acceptance page 2
thesandb.com
Vigil staged at Brownells following Parkland shooting
By Kelly Page pagekell@grinnell.edu Following the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida on Wednesday, which left 17 dead and 14 wounded, a group of concerned Iowans congregated outside the Brownells firearm outlet to hold a vigil for the Parkland victims. The vigil, which was coordinated by some of the same activists who organized the 26 Days of Action to End Gun Violence, was advertised online as “Local citizens in Grinnell […] planning to gather at Brownells to bear witness to the epidemic of gun violence in our nation, and … welcome others to join them. Brownells bills itself as the world’s largest supplier of firearms accessories and is headed by Pete Brownell, national President of the NRA. The tone of this action will be one of mourning.” A group of people from Grinnell, Des Moines and other Iowa towns, some of whom were Grinnell College students and professors, stood in front of the Brownells
facilities from 4 to 5 p.m. on Thursday. Many held signs and all discussed the Parkland shooting and the larger pattern of gun violence in the country, hoping to spread a message in favor of stronger gun safety in America. This vigil took place just two months after the 26 Days of Action Against Gun Violence which occurred in Grinnell in November and December of 2017, and also involved a procession to the gun facility. Rev. Wendy Abrahamson, rector for St. Paul’s Episcopal church in Grinnell and an organizer of the vigil, spoke about the need to both mourn gun violence and take action for gun safety. “I just don’t know what else to do,” Abrahamson said. “I feel like I wanna fall on the ground and weep, you know. And as fate would have it, the president of the NRA has a facility in this little town. And so I just feel compelled to stand here and say ‘please.’ Being here for me is an expression of grief. I think it’s pretty amazing that a lot of people feel >> See Iowans page 3
KELLY PAGE
The Reverend Wendy Abrahamson and fellow community members protest at Brownells to push for gun control measures.
Student Trustees, administration revisit need-blind admissions Initiatives pass with flying colors
Kington assured the college community that, “We’re not here to get rid of need-blind.” The question is up for debate again, however. Patricia Finkelman, chair of the Board of Trustees, explained that “The Board of Trustees voted in 2015 to retain our policies of need-blind admission and meeting 100 percent of demonstrated financial need for domestic students. We planned to revisit that decision in 2018.” According to Joe Bagnoli, dean of admissions, the trustees indicat-
ed little interest in eliminating it this time, either. “To be clear, I did not observe a high degree of interest among board members in abandoning the need-blind policy at this point in our history,” Bagnoli wrote in an email to The S&B. Despite both the trustees and the administration stating opposition to the removal of need-blind admission, discussions continue about the preservation of such a financial policy amid concerns about budget sustainability. “Essentially, need-blind admission policies became part of the higher education landscape in the late 1970s/early 1980s when colleges realized that low-income students might not apply for admission if they believed the College would either deny them due to limited financial resources to pay the costs of attendance or because they would not be able to afford to attend even if admitted,” Bagnoli wrote. “As the years have gone by, many early adopters of these policies were forced to abandon them because they couldn’t control their financial aid expenditures and found that it was necessary to include a reference to family financial circumstances (i.e., become “need-aware”) in their comprehensive review of an applicant’s file. This became neces-
sary in order to insure that enough student revenue was generated to support the costs associated with regular college operations.” Bagnoli noted that the College is concerned about the sustainability of their funding model due to the large proportion of students with financial need that attend the College. According to an Inside Higher Ed article, the College did begin to recruit more wealthy students, and raise the cap on loans (see https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/25/ grinnell-will-stay-need-blind-seekmore-students-ability-pay). “The reasons Grinnell’s board has been thinking about the sustainability of the policies here are because we serve a larger than typical share of students with financial need (and therefore expend considerable resources from our endowment to cover operational costs each year),” Bagnoli wrote. “Of course, our endowment is large enough to contribute toward higher-than-typical investments in institutional financial aid, but it isn’t bottomless and spending from our endowment is not replaced by philanthropic support at the same rate as at most of our peers,” he wrote. In addition to the endowment, >> See 2018 page 3
Tuesday "Riding the Underground Railroad" Burling 1st Floor, 4:15 p.m.
Wednesday "Of Men and Gods" film screening Faulconer Gallery, 4:00 p.m.
Thursday Accomondations Discussion Noiyce 1245, 11:00 a.m.
By Max Fenton fentonma@grinnell.edu All 14 proposed student initiatives for the Spring 2018 semester passed, garnering at least 66.67 percent of the vote, according to an e-mail from Student Government Association (SGA). On Feb. 5. 853 students in total voted, surpassing the required 50 percent participation threshold for initiatives to pass. Student initiatives carry a special significance for the student body, as they are an opportunity for students to have their voices heard and to participate in student government. Proposed initiatives can result in changes to the basics of campus life as well as broader issues facing the College. The ever-present issue of divestment was on the ballot this semester, encouraging the College to divest from its holdings in fossil fuel investments. But such hot-button political issues were not the focus >> See Current SGA page 2
Friday I Wanna Be Americano ARH 120, 4:14 p.m.
CONTRIBUTED
Joe Bagnoli aims for a finanacial aid policy that prioritzes the best students. By Gabe Loewenson loewenso2@grinnell.edu At a recent meeting, the Board of Trustees and the admissions office of the College discussed potential changes to the need-blind admissions policy. The College has previously considered such changes, as reported by The S&B in 2012, and chosen not to eliminate the policy (see http:// www.thesandb.com/news/needblind-likely-to-be-spared-as-college-plots-financial-future.html). At the time, College President Raynard Saturday Lunar New Year Carnival Harris Center Concert Hall, 6:00 p.m.
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News Visiting scholar Dr. Dominic Rubin discusses Islam in Russia at Scholars' Convocation
Edited by hermanal17@grinnell.edu & mettleca@grinnell.edu
By Marysia Ciupka ciupkama@grinnell.edu This week’s Scholars’ Convocation featured a talk given by Dr. Dominic Rubin, professor of philosophy and religious studies at Higher School of Economics in Moscow. Rubin spoke about the important role that Islam has come to play in Russia’s contemporary politics and culture.
"As a researcher of Islam, I felt that he could understand an important part of my heritage and the place I was coming from really well." Erhaan Ahmad '18 He is also an instructor at Dickinson-in-Moscow program, as part of which Erhaan Ahmad ’18 took a class with him while studying abroad in Moscow three semesters ago. After coming back from his study abroad, Ahmad suggested to Professor Todd Armstrong, chair of the Russian department, that Grinnell should invite Rubin to give a talk about religion in Russia at the Scholars’ Convocation at Grinnell. “I and Dr. Rubin established a close relationship,” Ahmad said. “As a researcher of Islam, I felt that he could understand an important part of my heritage and the place I was coming from really well.” Rubin opened his lecture by stating that Islam in Russia is generally a question of “triple
periphery.” “Russia is on the periphery of Europe,” he said, “and Muslims in Russia are on the periphery of Russian society, while Muslims in Russia are peripheral to the Middle East. They are Muslim and Turkic speaking people but they don’t leave in Turkey or in the Middle East.” At the same time, the issues that pertain to Islam in Russia remain relevant and worth learning about since it has become an significant element of Russia’s public life. Muslims in today’s Russia — both native and immigrants from Muslim Central Asia — make up 16 percent of its population. Rubin suggested that mainstream debate on Islam in Russia usually comes down to two alternatives: either associating it with Ramzan Kadyrov, pro-Putin head of the Chechen Republic; or reducing the issue to discussion of Russian Muslims who have chosen to “opt out of the Russian story by going to Syria and becoming jihadis.” Instead, Rubin decided to frame the issue through the following questions: what is Russian about Russian Islam? What is Islamic about Russian Islam? And, whether Russian Islam exists at all? While talking about the Russianness of Islam in Russia, an important distinction is made between what is considered russkii (русский) — ethnically Russian and connected to the historical and linguistic heritage of Rus’ — and rossiickii (российский) — an adjective pertaining to the state of Russia,
which at the linguistic level allows for the inclusion of non-ethnically Russian groups into the broader notion of Russianness. Another important factor
of most of this semester’s student initiatives. Many proposals this semester focused on promoting a better quality of student life, mainly in residence areas and public spaces. At a meeting on Feb. 8, SGA officials and representatives for various initiatives gathered to discuss the proposals passed by the student body. Among these suggestions were adding mint tea and protein powder to the dining hall, adding non-caffeinated herbal tea in the libraries, painting student murals in campus basements, adding water filters, toasters and kettles to resi-
campus, especially during football season,” Becker said.
"Ultimately, the final decision is whether the authors want to make it a reality." Antonio DiMarco '18, Stuudent Initiative Fund (STI) Committee Chair Another of Becker’s proposals, inclusion of gender pronouns on DB, grew out of his work on the issue last semester. Becker had already put in some groundwork on the proposals, working with officials in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and In-
SARINA LINCOLN
that, according to Rubin, needs to be considered in tackling the issue of Islam in Russia is the political ideology of “the Eurasian” that emerged at the end of the 19th century. It is based on the idea that Russia is not Western, but that it is a “specific combination of RussianWestern elements.” As Rubin suggests, appealing to this ideology allows Russian Muslims to “keep in touch with their Islamic-Eastern roots” while still being situated “in the similar ideological space to the Slavic Russians.” Simultaneously, the spread of “Eurasianist” ideology ties well into the political interests
of implementing. We give a stage to implement their vision of what Grinnell should be. We help them connect to the resources they need to make their vision a reality. … Just because an initiative is passed by the student body doesn’t mean it has to be implemented. Ultimately, the final decision is whether the authors want to make it a reality,” DiMarco said. Rather than a purely facilitator role, SGA acts as a middleman between the authors of student initiatives and sources of funding and all pertinent resources to implement initiatives. Ultimately, the authors of initiatives are responsible for their implementation. According to Di-
second.” The fact that the largest mosque in Europe was completed in 2015 in Moscow should therefore not seem incidental.
"Religion can be instrumentalized as we see it in Russia ... so it's important to know ... what is true religion and what is false religion," Dr. Dominic Rubin In this and many other ways, Rubin was trying to show that the
Continued from front page of the College. Professor Eliza Willis, political science, who organized the Community Hour on the Gift Acceptance Policy, said that she is pleased that the College revised the policy to allow for the rejection of gifts, but wishes that more had been added to the revision.
Raynard Kington, President of the College MAHIRA FARAN
The STI Fund committee meets to discuss the student initiatives of Spring 2018. formation Technology Services. 97 percent of the students who voted supported the proposal. “We’ve been talking about this since probably late September or early October. I wanted pronouns on DB. That passed with [President Kington’s] signature last semester. … It’s definitely going to happen. … The policy has been approved, and Administration has indicated this is something they are prioritizing, but the issue now is that the architecture for DB is very old, and ITS wants to move that into GrinnellShare,” Becker said. But even if a student initiative is passed with considerable support, there is no guarantee it will be put into action. Student Initiative Fund Committee Chair Antonio DiMarco ’18 explained the role of the Committee and SGA in the process of implementation. “We have a committee with a couple senators involved, and it’s really our job to facilitate the process
Marco, “We act as a mediator for that process. It’s a good mix of both … but I would say it falls more in [the students’] hands to see their initiative into fruition.” Funding student initiatives are not the express responsibility of the Student Initiative Fund, though the roughly $2,500 allocated to SGA for this purpose does play a part. A number of student initiatives this semester will likely use resources outside the Fund to be implemented, a common practice for student initiatives given the limited amount of money allocated to them. These may include acquiring funding from SHACS for “happy lamps,” or assistance from Facilities Management to make updates to residence areas, among other possibilities. “If you have an idea, you can go and do that, even without the Student Initiative Fund,” DiMarco said. “But we will make it a lot easier for you to get in contact with people, and to provide funding.”
with rich historical traditions — in the end, Islam came to Russia’s territory way before Christianity. “I don’t think religion has lost its role in the world. I think that religion is very important and gives meaning,” Rubin said when asked about the importance of studying religion. “One should know about religion. … Religion can be instrumentalized, as we see it in Russia … so it’s important to know … what is true religion and what is false religion. … The difference between what political leaders are putting out there and how does it relate to the classical sources.”
Gift Acceptance Policy undergoes revisions, adds new commitee members
"These types of policies inevitably evolve as we sort of have a better understanding about how it might be implemented, and what the challenges are, so I'm fairly confident that we'll continue to revisit the policy in various ways to try and make it better."
dence hall kitchens, acquiring light therapy “happy lamps” for residence hall lounges, purchasing hand dryers for residence hall bathrooms, fixing shrill squeaky chairs above the Grill, procuring occupied/free plaques for Bucksbaum practice spaces, updating televisions in residence halls, allowing the option for inclusion of gender pronouns on the Grinnell Database (DB), and setting up a system to alert students about available laundry facilities and completed laundry cycles. SGA Technical Advisor and Senator Myles Becker ’19 spearheaded the initiatives to update residence halls televisions, add gender pronouns on DB and obtain laundry alert systems. The motivation for submitting these proposals came out of disappointments with technology on campus, Becker explained. “Some things I brought up in discussions with the AV center were students reporting lackluster experiences with the television[s] on
discussion of Russian Islam can be executed outside of simplifying it into an issue of international security, but can be seen as a complex and developing movement
“Russia is on the periphery of Europe, and Muslims in Russia are on the periphery of Russian society.”
Current SGA works to implement student intiatives Continued from front page
of Vladimir Putin, who reciprocates by recognizing the importance of Islam in Russian public life and by supporting the political-religious hierarchy of “Orthodoxy first, Islam
“I wish the Board had shared some ideas about what procedure we should follow in reviewing gifts. I believe these details will be worked out but it would have been good to have had direction from the trustees. I wish we had more information about when the Gift Acceptance Committee will be constituted and operational. The establishment of a timeline would have been useful,” Willis wrote in an email to The S&B. Many individuals and groups offered their advice on how to revise the Gift Acceptance Policy, and one of these groups was the Concerned Alumni. The Concerned Alumni proposed to have a seat for an alumnus on the Gift Acceptance Committee, and this was one of the accepted changes. Alana Smart ’68, co-chair of Colorado Faith Communities United to End Gun Violence, and Chuck Connerly ’68, professor of urban planning at the University of Iowa, are part of the Concerned Alumni Group. Both Smart and Connerly feel that while these changes were a step in the right
direction, more needs to be done. “We are concerned that the suggested distinctions between personal and organizational donations will be used as a pretext to allow donations from leaders of organizations whose values are at odds with the social justice values of the college — by simply enabling them to make their donations with a personal check,” cowrote Smart and Connerly in an email to The S&B. The next steps in the process of continuing to improve and evaluate the policy will be the first meeting of the Gift Acceptance Committee. There is not a current date set for the meeting of the Committee as members are still being finalized. The Committee will meet at least one annually and on an as-needed basis.
"We are concerned that the suggested distinctions between personal and organizational donations will be used as a pretext to allow donations from leaders of organizations whose values are at odds with the social justice values of the College — by simply enabling them to make their donations with a personal check " Alana Smart '68 and Chuck Connerly '68, Concderned Alumni members Kington and Laug emphasized that the revision process is not complete — the Gift Acceptance Policy will continue to be evaluated and improved. The changes that were made are simply a first step to allow for a more comprehensive policy. “I'm sure that there will be ongoing conversations about this as we’ll see how the various gifts work their way through the system. ... But it's surprisingly difficult to decide what fits with our values, it may seem obvious in some cases, but it's actually not often very obvious,” Kington said.
Edited by hermanal17@grinnell.edu & mettleca@grinnell.edu
News
Q&A with Patricia Finkelman '80, Chair of the Board of Trustees Last week, Feb. 8-10, the Trustees held their second semester meeting and discussed what they believed were the appropriate courses of action on issues pertinent to the College community. The S&B was not granted access to the General Meeting, where a broad overview of plans is given, but Patricia Finkelman ’80, current chair of the Board of Trustees, agreed to answer questions regarding financial aid, the Posse program and other topics in an email interview with The S&B’s Carter Howe ’20 afterwards.
CONTRIBUTED
Patricia Fineklman ’80 has served on the board of trustees for a number of years and claims to remain committed to making the best decisions for the College's future.
The S&B: Since the administration decided not to continue its partnership with the Posse Foundation, many students feel that it has provided little clarity on what steps it is taking to ensure that students from historically underrepresented backgrounds have both the opportunity to attend Grinnell and the necessary support
once they get here. Does the administration have a plan in place to provide a substitute for the Posse program or a program that accomplishes similar goals? What does this plan entail, and how far along in the implementation process is the administration? Patricia Finkelman: The Council on Diversity and Inclusion provided the board with an update about the Grinnell College diversity plan being developed, and an overview of major diversity initiatives, during the Board of Trustees meeting Feb. 1-3. The Council plans to roll out the diversity plan to the campus community for feedback before the final plan is presented to the board at its April meeting. While not intended to be an exhaustive list of initiatives, I can provide two examples of the ways in which the College continues to develop programs to support students from historically underrepresented populations. To ensure equal opportunity to attend Grinnell and receive support once they get here, the Office of Admission has developed a number of strategies to identify, recruit and enroll underrepresented student populations. For example, the College has partnered with the QuestBridge Program to bring some of the nation’s brightest students of color from low-income backgrounds into Grinnell’s student body. The Peer Connections PreOrientation Program (PCPOP)
has expanded into a yearlong program for first year students from historically marginalized identities and backgrounds, including but not limited to students of color, first-generation students, students with disabilities and LGBTQIA+ students. PCPOP provides opportunities for emerging student leaders to develop their leadership skills. Also, PCPOP encourages students to build relationships with other students, faculty and staff, thereby enhancing the students’ academic, social and cultural experiences. How will the recently passed tax law affect financial aid at Grinnell? Will it limit the ability of the College to offer financial aid to accepted students and incoming first-years? Generally, how does the tax plan affect Grinnell’s endowment? While the impact of the tax law is not yet certain, it will not change the College's commitment to making a Grinnell education affordable by providing entering and current domestic students with financial assistance that meets their full demonstrated need. At this time, we believe the endowment will be subject to a 1.4 percent excise tax calculated on net investment income. The rules determining the calculation are still being defined, so the Investment Office is gauging the potential cost based on current information. Concerning the controversy surrounding the College’s gift acceptance policy, did the Advancement Committee vote
to present the proposed changes to the policy to the Board of Trustees? If so, how did the board vote? How does the board feel about the gift acceptance policy and the controversial donations from National Rifle Association President Pete Brownell and his wife to the College? Board members endorsed a revised Gift Acceptance Policy as recommended by the ad hoc Advancement Committee. This policy was developed to outline the procedures for assessing and accepting gifts to Grinnell College for the College’s benefit. The Redmond/Brownell gift was not on the board’s agenda. Grinnell is known for its history of self-governance among students. Recently, the student body voted in favor of an initiative to grant a student position on the Board of Trustees. Does the board support this position? Why? The initiative to add a student as a voting member of the board was not on the board's agenda. However, SGA leadership shared the initiative with board leadership and we referred the matter to the Governance Committee which will review the issue and make a recommendation to the full board. Within the established higher education framework of shared governance where trustees, administration and faculty hold defined roles, I believe we all value and respect our students’ voice in the dialogue about matters of importance at the College.
2018: Need blind revisited
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Continued from Front Page the school also relies on donations and tuition revenue to support the need-blind policy. Bagnoli expressed optimism regarding the current status of donations and “student revenue,” or income generated by tuition. “Fortunately, we have had impressive gains in charitable contributions from our alumni and several years of growth in student revenue. Consequently, the board appears supportive of retaining the policy as long as we can continue to balance our funding sources so that the endowment isn’t compromised over the long-term,” Bagnoli wrote. Bagnoli stated that even if the policy was abandoned, it would have little effect on the amount of aid enrolled students would receive, or on support for students of color. He acknowledged however, that full pay students would be given preference over those unable to pay. “A change in the policy at Grinnell, in all likelihood, would not affect the amount of financial aid an individual student receives because the board is committed to meeting 100 percent of every student’s financial need with financial aid,” Bagnoli wrote. “It is also not likely to mean that we would see a drop in service to domestic students of color since there is universal support at Grinnell for diversity in the student body. However, it’s possible that Grinnell would become less diverse internationally or would demonstrate a preference for the most highly qualified majority students who would be willing to pay a large portion of what their families can afford to attend Grinnell.”
D-Hall searches for new director of dining services
REINA SHAHI
Students grab grub during the lunch rush. By Clara Larson larsoncl@grinnell.edu Since Dick Williams retired from his position as director of Dining Services at Grinnell College in the beginning of the 2017-18 academic year, the College has searched for a new dining director. According to Quinn Ercolani ’20, a student member of the Dining Committee that has participated in the search, executive chef Scott Turley and Associate Director of Dining Jeannette Moser hold duties of the director as a team
while the search continues. Ercolani said that currently the search has narrowed down to Moser and two other candidates who currently hold the positions of director of Dining Services and director of residential dining at two other schools in the United States. John Kalkbrenner, assistant vice president for auxiliary services and economic development and chair of the search committee, wrote in an email to The S&B that he “hope[s] that [the Committee] will have a decision by spring break.” Ercolani believes that the position of director of Dining Services impacts
student life, because the directors “coordinate, functionally, everything that goes on in dinning services, so they have a hand in making sure the menu is what it is.” But the effects for student Dining Services employees reach far beyond menu offerings: Ercolani said that the director of Dining Services “is directly involved in the contract negotiation sessions. They are one of the people sitting across the table from the union.” Ercolani said that not only was SGA Vice President of Student Affairs Kahlil Epps ’18 part of the Search Committee, but that “there was … a
student panel that was in on some of the interviews.” Ercolani said that “the students on the committee were given materials by John Kalkbrenner to submit our impressions of the candidates to him so that way when the search committee makes a decision they have our impressions on record.” One priority for both students and administrators is that the new director is committed to using and supporting local foods. Ercolani said that the students on the panel would like a Director with a “focus on local food developments,” and Kalkbrenner wrote that the College values candidates with
“an interest in providing locally grown foods, as the director must know how to source local foods and work closely with campus groups interested in this issue.” The inclusion of local foods in the dining hall has already begun. In fall 2017, The S&B wrote a story about the Grinnell College Garden, which a group of volunteers from the student body, faculty and greater community created to provide fresh food to the dining hall and Mid-Iowa Community Action, Inc. (MICA). Both students and administration are also interested in choosing a candidate who will be able to maintain a strong rapport with the student body. “Of course, the director has to be able to work closely with students,” Kalkbrenner wrote. “The student Dining Hall is by far the largest and most important part of Dining Services. Working collaboratively with our student customers is essential.” Student Dining Hall employees, however, may be looking for something else in a director of Dining Services. “I would like someone who’s cheerful and uplifting and brings a positive attitude to Grinnell Dining Services,” said a student employee who wished remain anonymous. “There’s a difference between leading people and telling them what to do.” The S&B also reached out to several non-student employees of Dining Services, who preferred to not be interviewed on the subject.
Iowans converged at Brownells firearms outlet to grieve, protest lax gun laws Continued from Front Page compelled to be here. Asking legislators, reaching out to the president of the NRA, … there’s no response, and I think we’re at a point where we just have to weep.” Abrahamson drew parallels to Bible passages connected to mourning and violence. “I think about Rachel wailing and refusing to be comforted. I refuse to be comforted now. And throughout this whole thing I’ve thought a lot about Cain and Abel, and God says, ‘Where’s your brother,’ and Cain says, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ and God says, ‘Your brother’s blood is crying up to me
from the ground.’ I feel like blood is crying up to us from this ground here. It’s so shattering that this keeps happening and we have to just keep drawing attention to it.”
"I think about how I could send my children to school and then get a phone call from my son saying 'Mom, there's a shooting, what do I do." Nicolene Junge Abrahamson hopes that the government will pass laws that necessitate stronger requirements for
gun ownership, such as background checks. She also hopes that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) will be able to investigate gun violence as a public health issue; Congress forced the organization to halt such research in 1996 due to pressure from the NRA. Community member and mother Nicolene Junge spoke about her reasons for attending the vigil — she felt responsibility as a neighbor of the NRA president and as a mother of children going to school in Grinnell. “As Grinnellians, we have a special responsibility because this is here in our own backyard. We need to have our voices be heard because this is our home and it’s also home
to these things,” Junge said. “It’s important to me because I’m a mom. There’s a lot of very, very scary places in the world. I moved from South Africa, I lived in a refugee camp, and I moved to America because ‘it’s safe’ and ‘it’s a nice place.’ I think about how I could send my children to school and then get a phone call from my son saying ‘Mom, there’s a shooting, what do I do,’ which is what parents heard from their kids yesterday, and what could I do? There’s nothing that I would be able to do and that doesn’t sit well with me and I know that doesn’t sit well with any other parent and even people who don’t have kids. Our fellow human beings are dying for no reason ev-
ery single day and it has got to stop. It’s one thing when you send your son or daughter off to war and you get that phone call saying that your child is gone, but to get that phone call saying your five-year-old was shot in their classroom? That’s disgusting and everyone should just be revolted by it.” The Brownells website features the same model of AR-15 rifle which was used in the Parkland shooting and instructions on how to build your own. While shootings happened on Wednesday, the NRA tweeted to “buy your loved one a gun.” The organization has remained silent about the shooting, but local activists are making sure to speak up as much as they can.
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Community
Edited by mikekben@grinnell.edu
“We actually lost a lot of prairie because of high corn prices,” he said. “A lot of lands in the Midwest got plowed that should be grasslands, but economics ruled, and a lot were destroyed … there’s been a huge change in landscape in the last 10 to 15 years.” Kessler recalled seeing a plot of virgin, unplowed, prairie in 1974 be converted to farmland the following year. “I saw that incredibly beautiful landscape that was Iowa just disappear in front of my eyes,” he said. While it broke his heart to see such destruction, the experience served to motivated him and his wife, Kathy. A high school biology teacher in Newton, Iowa, Jim Kessler used to cultivate a small plot of prairie behind the high school and would take his classes out to do experiments. He and Kathy, an avid birder, also housed backyard butterfly gardens. The couple made the 1998 land purchase with the hope of expanding their efforts. “When we started there were just a few native species on the place, and now there are over 275 native species,” Jim Kessler said. “We’ve worked really hard to make sure the species we’ve reintroduced are native to Poweshiek country.” The Kesslers’ land requires a variety of upkeep methods. For the prairie, the land was turned and replanted when it was first acquired by the Kes-
sion. “The Kessler property is a beautiful example of a family loving and nurturing the land, protecting its natural beauty and environmental integrity,” Wright wrote. “They have worked countless hours and decades to provide a legacy for future generations, not only their grandchildren, but everyone else’s.” Land trusts, however, are not the only initiatives to preserve nature in Iowa. Other types of projects, such as prairie strips around corn and soy fields, are being implemented by groups such as the University of Iowa. According to Jim Kessler, the prairie strips reduce erosion and fertilizer runoff while providing habitats for pollinators. “There’s a movement in that direction. It’s slow, and people think about the dollar, trying to make a living,” Jim Kessler said. The Kesslers still own the two acres of land on which their house stands, and although they have granted the Bur Oak Land Trust responsibility for the land’s upkeep, the Kesslers will continue to maintain the land for as long as they are able. In addition to maintaining his own land, Jim Kessler continues to teach biology at the Iowa Valley Community College and gives talks to community groups across the state and country on prairie restoration and backyard butterfly gardens.
Couple donates land to conservation trust
By Chloe Wray wraychlo@grinnell.edu On Dec. 8, 2017, Jim and Kathy Kessler donated a large chunk of land just south of Interstate 80 to the Bur Oak Land Trust. The Kesslers bought the 30-acre parcel of land in 1998. Over the past 20 years, the Kesslers and their oldest son have spent thousands of hours restoring this land. “[We restored this land] to a hab-
itat [of] prairie, wetland, oak savanna and a woodland that are in as close to a natural state as we can get,” Jim Kessler said. When Jim Kessler was growing up in Iowa, most farming was inherently organic. Chemicals and pesticides were not introduced until after World War II and did not become widespread until the 1970s. According to Kessler, prairie in Iowa has seen a drastic reduction ever since.
slers. The other habitats were spread with seeds and then burned. A burn schedule of every three to four years has since been administered by the Kesslers to control invasive weeds. After this decades-long restoration project, the Kesslers decided at the end of last year to donate their land to the Bur Oak Land Trust. “We just couldn’t bear the idea of it getting plowed in a day, or turned into houses,” Kessler said. Based in Iowa City, Bur Oak Land Trust owns “10 parcels totaling ~375 acres and hold[s] conservation easements on another 13 parcels totaling 335 acres,” wrote Tammy Wright, executive director of the trust, in an email to The S&B. The Bur Oak Land Trust relied on over 300 volunteers in 2017 to work on their properties, which are donated in varying conditions, some reconstructed and some native prairies or woodlands. “[The trust's mission] is to protect and conserve natural areas of Johnson and surrounding counties for future generations,” Wright wrote. “The land that we protect offers future generations open spaces that harbor many species of plants, animals and other wildlife. … Once it becomes asphalt and rooftops, it's very difficult to return it to nature.” Although further west than most of Bur Oak’s holdings, the Kessler’s donation fits in with the Trust’s mis-
Fire department releases annual report School bond issue fails at the polls
By Seth Taylor taylorse@grinnell.edu
By Chloe Wray wraychlo@grinnell.edu
Most city departments in Grinnell are required to produce an annual report, which records the state of the department and any notable incidents of the year. The Grinnell fire department released their 2017 report last month. The report includes the number of calls the department received, in addition to the reasons for them. Any changes in personnel are listed, as well as significant fires or accidents to which the department responded. The report also outlines training and outreach efforts. Dan Sicard, the fire chief of the Grinnell fire department for the past 14 years, said that the report is meant to keep city administrators and concerned citizens abreast of the fire department’s activities. According to the report, the Grinnell fire department received 652 calls in 2017, a slight increase from 2016 but still within the typical yearly ebb and flow of calls received, Sicard said. Those 652 calls included everything from house fires to vehicle extractions to false alarms. “We do everything from getting the cat out of the tree — literally — to hazardous materials,” Sicard said. Most of the calls received by the fire department garner little to no media attention, but Sicard pointed out that if no one notices, that means that the fire department is doing a good job. “We always joke about when we do our best job is when we can stop the fire before it’s, you know, coming out [of] the roof. Nobody really sees that,” he said. The report included a list of the 2017 fire department personnel: five full-time workers, three part-time workers and 24 volunteers. Due to this heavy reliance on volunteers, Sicard stressed the importance of recruitment. He also predicted increased difficulty in attracting volunteers in the future, something consistent with the nationwide trend of fewer and fewer people volunteering for the fire department.
ELENA COPELL
The Grinnell Fire Department hopes to purchase a new ladder truck. The report detailed fire prevention and training programs as well. In 2017, the Grinnell fire department continued a program that provides free smoke detector installation in homes across Grinnell and engaged in multiple public education programs. “It’s a lot easier to prevent the fire than to put it out,” Sicard said. The firefighters themselves are involved in continuous training. “The number one priority for us, other than providing protection for the city and town, is we have to keep our own people safe,” Sicard said. “If we’re not safe and well-trained to do what we do, we’re not helping the public.” Grinnell’s volunteer firefighters train for three hours twice a month, not including training sessions every few months that last entire weekends. Although there have been no notable increases in fire activity in Grinnell in recent years, Sicard noted that an increase in rural calls has occurred during his time as chief. He attributes this to both a rising number of city people who move to rural areas and still expect city services, and to the increase in popularity
of cellphones, which allow passersby to more easily notify emergency services, to which the department is obligated to respond. In 2018 Sicard hopes to have a “fire safe year,” in which there are no injuries or fatalities. He also hopes that fire department will continue to work towards the purchase of a new ladder truck. Despite the national standard of replacement after 20 years, the Grinnell ladder truck is 27 years old. “We’ve serviced it well, we’ve kept it in good shape, but it’s getting to the end of its lifespan, so our goal here is to replace [the truck],” Sicard said. That being said, Sicard estimates the cost of a new ladder truck to be “just under a million dollars,” a hefty price for a small community like Grinnell. The report ends with a summation of the work and mission of the Grinnell Fire Department: “The Grinnell Fire Department strives to continue protecting life and property to the highest standard. We also plan on continuing our efforts to contribute to, and be a part of, what makes the Grinnell community a special place to live.”
Some buildings of particular interest in the presentation include the Union Depot (now The Peppertree restaurant), the Jewel Box Bank and the Joe Rosenfield Center. The Jewel Box Bank was designed by Louis Sullivan, an architect famous for building skyscrapers in Chicago and St. Louis. Rivera connected the Jewel Box Bank specifically with Sullivan’s Wainwright Building in St. Louis. “What I wanted to do with [the Sullivan] comparison is relate these two periods Sullivan is best known for. This period where he was influential with the skyscraper in the U.S., and elements within that building which can relate to his later work, which is sort of these small-town jewel box banks,” Rivera said. “He was no longer getting huge commissions, and he was going around the Midwest trying to make big architectural statements.” More contemporarily, he present-
ed on the Joe Rosenfield Center, which was designed by world-famous architect Cesar Pelli, who is most famous for designing the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Rivera also fielded questions from the audience. “It was really interesting — a lot of [the audience] had roots in the town and at the College,” Rivera said. “A lot of questions were about architecture on the campus.” There is also a connection between Rivera’s Grinnell architectural history bucket course and the Modern Architecture and Globalization course he taught last fall. “In my ‘Modern Architecture and Globalization’ course, I have students write about buildings in Grinnell, and that influenced my lecture. And I included excerpts from students’ papers in the presentation,” Rivera said. Rivera believes that the buildings
On Tuesday, Feb. 6, the Grinnell-Newburg School District held a vote on the school bond issue from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the Elk’s Lodge. “Grinnell held public measure for school bond levy pursuant to Iowa Code Section 298.18 and needed 60 [percent plus one] to pass,” wrote Missy Eilander, Poweshiek County auditor and elections commissioner, in an email to The S&B. The proposed $60 million bond did not pass, receiving only 52 percent of the vote, or 214 votes fewer than necessary. “When you see that the simple majority of people in Grinnell want this to pass, you don’t change the plan,” said Dr. Janet Stutz, superintendent of the Grinnell-Newburg School District. Stutz intends to bring the same $60 million bond plan, which calls for combining the three current elementary schools into a new building, gutting and renovating the middle school and a substantial renovation for the high school, back to a vote in the future. According to Eilander, the district must wait six months before holding another bond election. The next potential dates for a 2018 election are Sept. 11 and Dec. 4. The School Board would have to approve the bond again before signatures to hold an election could be collected. Stutz intends to hold the next election at two separate polling stations to reduce the long lines that crowded the Elk’s Lodge last Tuesday. Before the process begins again, Stutz will meet with the Bond Committee, a group of dedicated locals which has grown since the bond failed. Stutz is unable to advocate for the bond; she can only provide facts. She will work with the Committee to develop visuals and edit the group’s poster to make it clearer for the public, reducing confusion surrounding the wording of the ballot. The ballot actually included two separate measures, both of which were required for the bond to succeed. The
first included the approval to raise taxes to fund the project, while the second regarded approval for the project itself. The direct cost of the bond plan would have raised property taxes for district residents by $4.05 per $1,000 of assessed property, but by rebalancing other levies, the school district planned to offset the price and produce a net tax increase of only $2.60 per $1,000 of assessed property value. Despite the failure of the initiative, the first step of the proposed project, replacing the Wi-Fi in the high school during summer 2018, will still be carried out. With millions of dollars invested in individual computers for students, the district will dip into their savings to complete this revamp. Although they pay taxes only indirectly, Grinnell students were eligible to vote in the election, and Stutz claimed that the student vote is essential to drawing in college faculty and in turn revitalizing the town. “By [college students] voting in this election, it enables us to have the ability to do everything that the city is doing by upgrading Grinnell, that the College is doing … and [the schools] are one of the key components why people move to a town. Right now, we’re left out of [that]. By having all of us on the same page … it's going to be a vibrant town where people want to come visit, where people want to send their kids to school here,” Stutz said. Since December, Stutz has met with over 30 groups of parents and business leaders, among others. She says that if she has to, she will meet with 30 more to educate them on the bond before it goes to a vote again. “We’re also going to work real hard to sell this Iowa Telecom property, because I think that’s a hang up for people,” Stutz said, addressing the concerns of those who voted no to the bond. Stutz is not worried about the feasibility of selling the old elementary school buildings after the new building was built, if the bond were to pass. “We’re gonna keep going back [un]til it passes.”
Bucket course connects local architecture to history
By Jackson Schulte schultej@grinnell.edu On Wednesday, Feb. 14, Grinnell’s own Professor Fredo Rivera ’06 presented the talk “Modern Architecture in Grinnell” at Drake Community Library. The lecture is part of the Grinnell Community Education Council (CEC)’s Bucket Course series, in which “Grinnell College professors, medical professionals and career scientists” teach topics worth learning about before kicking the bucket. Rivera’s course on Grinnell architecture focused on seven buildings in Grinnell and explored how they reflect different styles of architecture around the world. “I chose Grinnell as a way to look at modern architecture,” Rivera said. “Grinnell is a really fascinating place to think about the history of modern architecture.”
MAI PHUONG VU
Professor Fredo Rivera, art history, led the course on Grinnell’s architecture. from every era, both in town and on campus, make Grinnell a special place for architecture. “Grinnell is a really fascinating place to think about the history of modern architecture because of the diversity of examples,” Rivera said. “One of the audience members made a comment of, ‘What’s your perception
of thinking about Grinnell in relation to other places, and why does this campus have a reputation of being a hodge-podge?’ I made the argument that, yes, it is a bit [of a] hodge-podge. But it makes it convenient for someone teaching modern architecture because you have a diversity of styles with which to inform the survey.”
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AN OPEN LETTER TO GRINNELL COLLEGE STUDENTS Dear Students, As we are sure most of you are aware, the #metoo movement is empowering women across the country to speak about their experiences of sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination in the workplace. Like discussions related to sexual misconduct on college campuses, the #metoo movement is about much more than individual experiences or even patterns of tolerated behavior in specific locations. Both #metoo and high rates of campus sexual misconduct reflect a larger problem in the sexual culture of this country. There are many facets of this problem: heteronormativity, toxic masculinity, transphobia, homophobia, fetishization, racism … the list goes on and on. But what it all adds up to is a sexual culture that oppresses, degrades and harms — some of us more so than others. Grinnell College is not immune to this sexual culture. Many of us on the faculty and staff have had our own #metoo moments, either here or at other points in our education and careers. Many of us have stood with our friends and colleagues to support them as they first endured and then challenged academia’s harmful sexual culture. We recognize that even despite our best efforts to evoke change, we continue to perpetuate this sexual culture in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Like you, we, too, are products of our culture. But we all can do better. This is why we are writing this letter and asking for it to be shared here today. We want you to know that we stand with you, whenever and however you experience your #metoo moment. And we promise that we will continue in our efforts to foster a healthier campus sexual culture for all of you. This includes ensuring that our classrooms are spaces in which every student is treated with dignity and no student is targeted because of their gender or sexuality or any other aspect of their identity. Moreover, we promise to continue holding each other accountable to this — challenging each other to do more, calling each other out and working together to find pedagogical tools and methods that reflect the social justice ethos that is at the very heart of Grinnell College. Sincerely, Carolyn Herbst Lewis Caleb Iyer Elfenbein In Solidarity: P. Albert Lacson
Astrid Henry
Valérie Benoist
Katy Zart
Samuel A. Rebelsky
Kelly Maynard
Eric Ohrn
Deanna Shorb
Timothy S. Dobe
Shannon Hinsa-Leasure
Leah Allen
Ralph Savarese
Joshua C. Sandquist
Barbara J Breen
Qiaomei Tang
Susie Duke
Anya E. Vostinar
Maria Tapias
Chisato Kojima
Sarah Barks
Tamara McGavock
Bill Ferguson
Charvann Bailey
Jin Feng
Tim Arner
Brigittine M. French
Anson Koch-Rein
Sarah Moschenross
Mark Laver
Fredo Rivera
Carolyn Jacobson
Callie Hoover
Mirzam Perez
Man-Ching Stella Chan
Angelo Mercado
John Garrison
Danielle N. Lussier
Kristin Moriah
Patty Amador-Lacson
Susan Sanning
Deborah L. Michaels
Tammy Nyden
Lisa Behrends
Maisha Kamunde-Devonish
Tyler Roberts
Patrick Inglis
Autumn Wilke
Alicia Stanley
Laura Sivert
Tony Perman
Mike Guenther
Molly Campe
Sarah J. Purcell
Logan Lee
Jean Ketter
Kelly Sandquist
Charlie Curtsinger
Paul Hutchison
Lakesia D. Johnson
Adrienne Hardin
Karla A. Erickson
Todd Armstrong
Karen Edwards
Debra Lukehart
R. Cecilia Knight
Elaine Marzluff
Mariko Shigeta Schimmel
Kate Patch
Eiren Shea
Mark Christel
Brenda Strong
Adam Gilbert
Elias G. Saba
Mervat Youssef
Leah Reuber
Eli Vitulli
Susan J. Ferguson
Damian Kelty-Stephen
Erick Leggans
Vrinda Varia
Rebecca Ciota
Alissa Nutting
Evette Massey
Sarah Eagan Anderson
Elizabeth Prevost
Celeste Miller
Cora Ann Jakubiak
Erik Simpson
Liz Rodrigues
Xavier Escandell
Jaime Chambers
Angelina Ahrens
Titus H. Klinge
Cynthia Hansen
Andrea Conner
Rob Cabelli
Ross Haenfler
Jennifer Snook
Maure Smith-Benanti
Alan Hastings
John Petrus
Liz Queathem
Joe Rolón
Justin Hayworth
Eliza Kempton
John David Stone
Joyce Stern
Keith Brouhle
Edward Cohn
Jennifer Dobe
Angela Voos
T. Andrew Mobley
Charlotte Christensen
Daniel Reynolds
Tina Iyer Elfenbein
Arts Smith Gallery continues to feature student art
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Edited by suetamay@grinnell.edu
SARAH RUIZ
Helen Lant ’18 is currently presenting an exhibit called “Capsus Corpus” in the Smith Gallery. Student shows in the Smith rotate every two weeks.
By Zoe Fruchter fruchter@grinnell.edu While waiting in a long line for lunch at the Dining Hall, you may notice a small room to your left. This is the Smith Gallery, a room that has hosted the work of 12 years of Grinnell College art students, offering a fascinating view into the creative culture of the College. The gallery is named after Edith Renfrow Smith ’37, the first African American woman to graduate from Grinnell College. Since its inception in 2006, it has consistently hosted exhibits featuring both students and visiting artists. The gallery often features the projects of studio art majors, but any student can apply to have a
show in it to experience the process of curating and showing at a gallery. “The Smith’s primary function is as a pedagogical tool to give students experience setting up and installing and planning their own show,” said Joe Lacina, the College’s art technician. “It relies on the students showing to take initiative and be involved in all aspects of what it would mean to show in a professional gallery.” The Smith occupies the space between a professional gallery, such as Faulconer Gallery, and shows of work from art classes. “[The Smith Gallery] is a professional gallery that’s part of Grinnell College but less rigid than other structures,” Lacina said. He himself had an exhibit in 2017 with a show he
"Moonlight" to be screened at Grinnell, followed by panel discussion By Vera Kahn kahnvera@grinnell.edu Next Friday, Feb. 23, the Cultural Film Committee is sponsoring a screening of “Moonlight” at 6 p.m. at the Harris Cinema. The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Erin Whalen ’12, TJ Calhoun ’20, Simmone Carlton ’18, Sean Wright ’20 and Professor Mirzam Perez, Spanish, moderated by Professor Sharon Quinsaat, sociology. The event, which is titled “Racecraft, Representations and Afro-Latinos,” will be preceded by a vegetarian Cuban buffet beginning at 5:30 p.m. “Moonlight” follows protagonist Chiron through three stages in his life: childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Throughout the movie he grapples with sexual identity, drugs and the trials of growing up in relative solitude.
“[It's important for] people that aren't Black to be a part of this conversation..." Sean Wright '20 The event was spearheaded by Professor Katya Gibel Mevorach, anthropology, who is part of the Cultural Film Committee. She selected “Moonlight” because of its relevance to the Grinnell community. “[‘Moonlight’] answered and addressed a lot of questions and topics that are being conducted on campus,” she said, including “questions of masculinity, questions of sexuality, support systems, how does somebody support a parent that’s not a parent — that’s a class issue. … It puts Black
bodies on a screen without fetishizing them.” One aim of the panel is to combat the erasure of Afro-Latinx identities. The film addresses the erasure experienced by Black Cubans in Miami. Juan, Chiron’s mentor and one of the main characters of the film, is Black and Cuban. “In America, there’s almost no attention paid to [Afro-Latinxs],” Gibel Mevorach said. Gibel Mevorach reached out to alumnus Erin Whalen ’12 to speak on the panel, in part because he is from Miami. Whalen is an educator currently based in Los Angeles, where he recently won a grant to start a school for homeless and foster youth. Another aim of the event is to inspire conversation across different lines of identity. As Wright puts it, the event should “get people talking about race, ... social stratification and disenfranchisement.” Gibel Mevorach hopes that people will not only come away from the event talking about race, but that the “our conversations will bridge gaps between those groups and break down those separated, bounded, public group identities.” To this end, the speakers on the panel were intentionally selected in order to represent various racialized groups, genders and nationalities. However, this event is in no way exclusive to one particular group. “[It's important for] people that aren’t Black to be a part of this conversation and get something from what is being said at this event,” Wright said. “As much as it’s for the people of color on campus, it’s for the allies.”
described as “weird and normcore.” Lacina filled in after a visiting artist dropped out of their slot, so he has firsthand knowledge of both the challenges and opportunities of showing work at the Smith.
“I eventually decided that to keep my personal influences private would be to betray the emotion and power that went into creating this exhibit... " Helen Lant '18 “It’s a really small space so that kind of limits what you can do and how elaborate the show can be …
but since it’s so small you’re able to experiment and do additional things that you wouldn’t do in a more traditional space,” Lacina said. The current exhibit on display is “Capsus Corpus,” created by studio art major Helen Lant ’18. Lant wrote in an email to The S&B that her show focuses on “memory and the way we leave traces of ourselves that are not related to our bodies: the way we smell, foods we like, the sounds we make and all the little things that make each person an individual. This has been influenced by dealing with my mother’s fight with cancer, which has led me to notice the ways in which she is present in my life outside of her physicality.” Lant wrote that deciding to display this very personal and emotional work in the Smith was challenging. Because of its central location, the Smith is easily accessible by the entirety of campus. “Did I want people to know what exactly I was grappling with? What would the audience take from it if they didn't know the weight behind this? I eventually decided that to keep my personal influences private would be to betray the emotion and power that went into creating this exhibit, and am happy that I decided to be open about the tough subject I’m dealing with,” Lant wrote. Another challenge Lant described was how to use the space effectively. Lant’s show consists of objects suspended from the ceiling, framed with metal boxes and wrapped in wire. There is also an auditory component that plays on loop in the space. Lant wrote that her work “doesn’t take up very much of the space, so deciding how I’d like the viewer to spatially relate to my work
was very influential.”
"What's this little nook and how can it be activated and seen through a different lens?" Joe Lacina, art technician Lant’s exhibition follows Anne Roger ’19’s show, “holding my own.” The show featured mixed media works on walnut dyed handmade paper and examined “the impermanence and intangibility of memory, but also its realness — that memories continue to appear in your mind even when you forgot you remembered them,” according to the informational flier that accompanied the exhibit. The exhibit featured paper that Rogers made during an internship with Cave Paper in Minneapolis. Rogers crumpled the paper and folded it in the shape of maps, building upon her previous explorations of the practice of mapping memories. Computer science and studio art double major Beatriz Herce-Hagiwara ’18 will show at the Smith from Feb. 24 to March 10 and Clara Bertaut ’18 and Julia Cory ’18 will exhibit their work after spring break. In May, the Smith Gallery will host the Advanced Studio Exhibit and the 2018 Senior Showcase. The Smith’s packed schedule attests not only to the creativity of Grinnell’s students but also to the versatility and power that even such a small space can hold. “There’s lots of weird architecture around campus,” Lacina observed. “What’s this little nook and
how can it be activated and seen through a different lens?”
Ferguson discusses post-Grinnell theater life and performs "I'm a slut, Sababa"
SARAH RUIZ
Beckwith-Ferguson ’14 talked about her experiences with theatre after graduation and how she came to produce her own play. By Saiham Sharif sharifsa@grinnell.edu On Sunday Feb. 12 at 6 p.m., Caitlin Beckwith-Ferguson ’14 discussed her experiences with theatre and presented a staged reading of her one-woman play “I’m a Slut, Sababa.” The discussion, which was facilitated by Professor Craig Quintero, theatre and dance, enabled students to learn from Ferguson’s experiences. Ferguson majored in English while taking some theatre courses at Grinnell, a testament to the value of a liberal arts education. After graduation, she completed a teaching fellowship in Israel, started working as the literary manager at Mosaic Theatre Company of D.C and eventually moved on to producing her own play. As a playwrite, she said that she experiences many struggles common among
young artists: putting yourself out there, trying to “make it” in a hardto-break-through field and using resources ingeniously. “I actually staffed a Birthright trip — that’s how I got my flight over,” she said. For her play, Ferguson interviewed twenty Israeli women, distilling their experiences into five central characters, each of whom dispel stereotypes about Israeli women. She included various perspectives, exploring topics like rape and sexual exploitation. When asked about the perspectives she included in her play, Ferguson said, “I don’t want to have one Muslim character that ends up being stereotypical. There are also so many different types of Jews in the play that I think I could just do a show about Jewish identity.” During the staged reading,
,Beckwith-Ferguson impressively used her limited environment to convey the essence of her characters by skillfully changing her voice to fit the accent of the characters, using hand gestures to convey personality and using body position to express ethos. She expressed frustration at the artistic process, but pushed through. “I think I edited it over two years. It’s something that I want to share with people and that motivated me to keep working on it,” she said. Connecting with people was a key component to the play’s promotion.
“I don't want to have one Muslim character that ends up being stereotypical." Caitlin Beckwith-Ferguson '14 “We had a huge Facebook event. We all invited everyone we knew. I think the night coming up to it we posted Facebook statuses of our favorite line. I also knew someone that ran this newsletter that a lot of people read in Tel Aviv and I asked if he could put [the play] in the newsletter. I didn’t know if he was going to, but he did.” Ferguson originally only expected 50 people to show up at the 150 maximum capacity venue on release night. However, she was surprised at the turnout. “There ended being a lot of people standing. It was definitely a fire hazard,” she said.
SARAH RUIZ
Ferguson did a staged reading of her one-woman show “I'm a Slut, Sababa,” for which she interviewed twenty Israeli women.
Arts
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Edited by suetamay@grinnell.edu
Calvin Tang
By Lily Böhlke bohlkeli@grinnell.edu Music major, member of the band Migratory Birds and jazz enthusiast Calvin Tang ’20 has always been interested in music. His parents used to play classical music around the house, and as a child whenever he passed a music store he would very quickly be sitting in it, tinkering around with instruments. Eventually, he found jazz, which became his passion.
“Jazz to me is kind of the pinnacle of musical achievement. " Calvin Tang '20 When he was in school, he was required to learn to play an instrument. Now, he plays the piano, guitar and tenor saxophone, his primary instrument. He is a member of the Jazz Ensemble and currently takes jazz piano lessons. “Jazz to me is kind of the pinnacle of musical achievement. The history of jazz is so rich, if you look at what it has stood for, what it stands for now and all of the changes that it went through. I think you can even look back at that, and it all just tells a story,” Tang said. One element of the genre that attracts Tang is its collaboration with different types of music, a feature which many other genres do not have. “It certainly builds upon classical and all these older musical theories, but it does so in a way that’s very interesting and it stems from people just taking what was already there but then adding different elements to it and just doing things that people
have never heard before,” Tang said. Through Jazz Ensemble and music theory classes at Grinnell, Tang has been able to learn about sides of music which he had not had much exposure to before arriving here. Tang has started to develop an appreciation for music for not only how it sounds to the ear, but also for its construction and the intentions of the artist. “In high school I was only in bands — I didn’t take music theory in high school. So to approach it from a more academic standpoint kind of rounds out who I am as a musician. It benefits me in different aspects, especially since I want to get into jazz and you really need to be solid on your theory,” Tang said. “I think it’s a chance to practice that, and branch out and learn, … because I was never huge on classical music, but after taking Music Theory I and II, I’m looking at why the composers did what they did and looking at which structural elements you get to appreciate. I think through the major I’ll begin to appreciate more forms of music, ones that I’ve been more closed off from before.”
“I think through the major I'll begin to appreciate more forms of music, ones that I've been more closed off from before." Calvin Tang '20 Tang began writing music last semester in his first composition class. Although it involved many long nights, he said he enjoyed every minute of it. He wrote pieces for individual instruments throughout the semester, culminating in his grand final project, a composition for a clarinet, three strings and a piano. While
he has never played some of these instruments before, being a music major at Grinnell has given him the opportunity to study many of their scores, although he said maybe he hadn’t even studied enough.
“When we play in some of these Freesound concerts or at the Grinnellian, it all kind of pays off and you're out there doing what you love..."
In the past, Migratory Birds has played in The Grinnellian, the ISO Cultural Evening and the Spring Festival held by the Chinese Student Association (CSA). This semester, they plan to audition to play in the ISO Cultural Evening again. “When we play in some of these
Freesound concerts or at the Grinnellian, it all kind of pays off and you’re out there doing what you love,” Tang said. “You also get to see all the other student bands perform too, and it’s really awesome to see the community come together and I think that’s really beautiful.”
Calvin Tang '20 “I was trying to piece together different aspects that I kind of like, and I drew from different composers. It’s one thing to try to reinvent the wheel, to try to do something completely off the path — which is really awesome too, in composition class we study a lot of those out-there ideas — but for me I wanted to kind of keep it simple,” Tang said. Tang is also a member of Migratory Birds, a band composed of Kosuke Yo ’20 on the drums, Sara Tantiviramond ’20 on the piano, Will Em ’20 on the bass and Yi-Chia Wang ’20 on vocals. They typically play pop and soft rock, which strays away from Tang’s affinity for jazz. According to Tang experiences with a student band are beneficial for different reasons than participating in a jazz band, where like-minded students come together to express appreciation for a genre. “With the student group, it’s more of a time where you get together with people that you really like, and then again you do something that you really like — make music. … It’s kind of more like bare-bones and there’s a bit more grit — you can feel the edges more,” Tang said.
HELENA GRUENSTEIDL
Tang plays the piano, guitar and tenor saxophone, and has immersed himself in various genres of music, including jazz and classical.
Students explore Theater and Dance through MAP
MAI VU PHUONG
Charlie Rosenblum, Liana Butchard and Dru Greenwood, left to right, all ’18, are each exploring their academic and personal interests through a MAP in the theater and dance department. By Kate Irwin irwinkat@grinnell.edu This year, Liana Butchard, Dru Greenwood and Charlie Rosenblum, all ’18, are each working on Mentored Advanced Projects (MAPs) in the theater and dance department. Each MAP is unique to the person and reflects their interests, both inside and out of the classroom. Unique to the College, MAPs are projects where students work closely with a faculty member to research an area of interest to them and receive credit. MAPs can be an expansion of previous coursework and contribute to a student’s major, or they can be based on students’ interests, not directly related to their majors. Butchard's MAP is titled “Choreography in the Environment” and she is working with the National Water Dance, a collection of dances that address water issues in the United States. Artists, like Butchard, can apply to upload a recording of their dance to the website. A powerful aspect of the dances for the National Water Dance
is that each dance has the same opening and closing gesture phrase. All the dances are then live-streamed on the same day at the same time. Butchard's focus is on the relationship between the prairie and water, so she is using the Conrad Environmental Research Area (CERA) for the site of her dance. “My piece is looking a lot at the relationship between how people have engaged with prairie spaces, largely being that they have destroyed prairie spaces, since 99.9 percent of prairie space is now gone. And kind of looking at the intersections between utility and beauty, so in place of music I'm using a piece of text by Paul Gruchow called ‘What the Prairie Teaches Us,’” Butchard said. Butchard is a history and French double major with a concentration in global development studies, so her MAP falls outside of her primary subjects of study. However, Butchard has been involved with dance throughout her time at Grinnell College, and is involved with and has worked for the Center for Prairie Studies. Butchard's
MAP has allowed her to pursue two of her interests that go beyond her majors and concentration. While Butchard’s MAP handles issues surrounding water and the prairie, Greenwood’s MAP takes on the topic of Black identities in the context of America context. Currently, he is directing a performance of “The Royale” by Marco Ramirez. He finished casting his play last semester and is currently focused on rehearsals, ensuring that momentum is not lost. “I wanted to do a play about Black people by a person of color that dealt with Black identities within the American context. I wanted to do that because there hasn't been a play that fit all of those attributes in a really long time at Grinnell,” Greenwood said. Greenwood's MAP is a way for him to do what he has wanted but never had the chance to do, due to the lack of representation of works by people of color in theater courses. “Instead of waiting around for a professor to stage [a play like this], I felt that I might as well use the MAP
to get school funding and resources,” Greenwood said. Greenwood wants to direct plays after he graduates, so his MAP is the perfect way to experience what directing is truly like.
“Instead of waiting around for a professor to stage [a play like this], I felt that I might as well use the MAP to get school funding and resources." Dru Greenwood '18 “This is real-world practice for me. Most students would not get the opportunity to do something like this, at this caliber,” he said. Rosenblum’s MAP similarly tackles the intersection of performance and social issues, studying the long-term effects of sexual assault and the various relationships that survivors have after traumatic events. He hopes to reexamine the common narrative that people use to understand the effects of sexual assault and bring
to light other aspects of the survivor’s experience. “What I'd like to visualize for this performance is detailing the effects of sexual assault long-term, not just right after, but PTSD, depression. I don't want it to be solely about the survivors’ experiences, I want it to be about the healing process as well,” Rosenblum said. Rosenblum is a French and economics major, and his interest in dance led him to this MAP. Like Butchard, Rosenblum has also engaged with dance throughout his time at Grinnell. “I want to do something that is personal, but also shed light on the very political and social topic [of sexual assault],” he said. These theater and dance MAPs provide Butchard, Greenwood and Rosenblum with the chance to pursue their academic and personal interests through an individual research experience. Their MAPs allow them the opportunity to push themselves to combine their varied interests into a completely unique project.
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Sports
Rueter's Digest: Indian mascot removal isn't enough
By Sam Rueter ruetersa@grinnell.edu Last month Major League Baseball (MLB) announced that “Chief Wahoo,” the Cleveland Indians’ mascot, will no longer appear as a logo on players’ hats or jerseys starting in the 2019-2020 season. Now more cartoonish than ever before, the logo itself portrays a beaming, highly-caricatured, redfaced man with a feather tucked into his hair. In use since 1948, today Chief Wahoo smiles out from the top of hats which adorn the heads of Little Leaguers across the country, most of whom are probably blissfully unaware of the problematic racial and cultural implications that the symbol evokes. A longstanding source of consternation in the baseball community, interest in the mascot issue was reignited when MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred declared it a top priority of his to do away with a logo that he deemed “no longer appropriate for use on the baseball field.” Although its mascot has changed, the team name itself, “Indians,” is here to stay, which puts it at the bottom of a growing list of American professional sports teams that utilize stereotypical symbols of Native American culture and history to market their players and brand. The Kansas City Chiefs (NFL), Atlanta Braves (MLB) and Washington Redskins (NFL) are just a few examples of teams that have been called out for their distasteful names. The Redskins and team owner Daniel Snyder have come under particularly intense criticism for refusing to yield to very public protests decrying the hurtful and insensitive nature of their name and logo. Although professional franchises serve as high-profile examples of the conflicts that arise when mixing culture and branding, high schools
and colleges are the most prevalent places for mascots and logos which allude to Native American tribes, traditions and figures. For example, in my hometown of Winchester, MA, the local public high school sports teams are called “the Sachems,” and our logo consists of a red-faced figure with a “chief's headdress.” Of the thousands of students who suited up for the Sachems throughout their four years in high school, I doubt that very many even gave the logo and name a second thought — and that is a key part of the problem. The silent and systematic degradation of Native American history and culture has been in place since Columbus “sailed the ocean blue in 1492,” and from then on many Americans have been all too content to forget the contentious nature of the interactions between settlers and Native peoples.
“In use since 1948, today Chief Wahoo smiles out from the top of hats which adorn the heads of Little Leaguers across the country..."
Sam Rueter '21
In school, most children are taught about the “Trail of Tears,” learning that diseases wiped out entire tribal populations and read ingabout the forceful resettlement of native communities. However, the underlying issues at play — conflicting notions of land ownership, cultural barriers, discriminatory leanings — are only touched on in a superficial way that allows for the proliferation of false and offensive notions of Native American culture in the sports sphere. Though there are factions of Native American populations which do indeed support the usage of names such as “Redskins” for sports teams,
the loudest voices arguing out against changing problematic names are those who have the biggest emotional stake in a team: long-time fans. It is understandable that some of these fans may have come to associate team names with meaningful family relationships or their hometowns, but it would be silly to value sentimentality over cultural respect. Another major argument from those who wish to keep names such as the “Indians” is the fact that nearly every team name can be construed in an offensive light. For example, The College of the Holy Cross recently sparked a national debate as they considered whether to change their name from the “Crusaders.” While they eventually decided against it under pressure from famous alumni like Bob Cousy, who called the issue “political correctness run-a-muck,” the story raised questions about what constituted an offensive team name and who had the power and the right to advocate for a change. At the end of the day, though, it is hard to understand how sports teams can continue to be allowed to play under names like the “Chiefs,” “Braves,” “Redskins” and “Indians,” whether it be a youth sports team or professional franchise. By its very nature, any caricature of a cultural or ethnic group is inherently problematic because it exaggerates traits and appearances purely for effect. Furthermore, the fact that the legacy of the treatment of Native Americans in this country is riddled with inequity and violence only further necessitates the need for broad, institutional changes. While it is wonderful that Chief Wahoo is finally going away, we are doing a disservice to attempts of cultural competency as long as “Indians” and other words like it remain in the American sports landscape.
Athlete spotlight: Summer White aims for gold at conference
Edited by schultej@grinnell.edu
Athletics clarifies its campus visit policy
By Will Telingator telingat@grinnell.edu
Recently, questions have been raised about the College’s overnight visit policy for prospective students, with concern that prospective student-athletes receive special privileges during campus visits. Currently, the College tries to address potential issues that may arise during overnight visits by restricting overnights for the general prospective student population on Fridays and Saturdays, when minors are more likely to be exposed to substances. For some sports teams, however, it appears that this policy is more flexible. In an email to The S&B, Joe Bagnoli, the vice president for enrollment and dean of admission and financial aid, outlined the Admission Office policy surrounding overnight campus visits. “The Admission Office policy is that we do not allow Friday or Saturday overnight visits to campus,” Bagnoli wrote. This policy stems from the College’s desire to provide every prospective student with the safest and most enjoyable campus visit possible. “Our highest priority for overnight visits is to provide prospective students with an experience that permits first-hand access to campus life at Grinnell while protecting the health and well-being of all visitors, many of whom are still minors at that stage of the college search process,” Bagnoli said. However, there has been recent speculation that prospective student-athletes have been allowed to sidestep the admissions office’s official policy regarding overnight visits on Friday and Saturday nights. Athletic Director Andy Hamilton was quick to clarify any misconceptions about the athletic department’s policies surrounding prospective student-athlete overnight visits. “Generally, we try to have the athletic department right in step with the admissions department when it comes to prospective students and prospective student-athlete visits,” Hamilton said. “That policy is designed to protect the prospective student. Typically, the prospective student is a minor, and if they are on campus on Friday or Saturday night as a minor, it could be a
difficult situation.” Yet on certain occasions, the athletic department does make an exception for prospective student-athletes. Sometimes, due to the timing of visits and scheduling constraints, it makes the most sense for prospective student-athletes to stay overnight on a Friday or Saturday night so that they can experience a team practice or competition the following day. In the instances when Friday or Saturday night visits might be the most viable option, the athletic department works with the Dean’s office to coordinate the student visit and ensure that the prospective student-athletes are well taken care of. “Campus safety and security are alerted to who the prospective student is, who the host is … and this is all based on trying to provide a safe visit and be prepared if there is any sort of odd circumstance or something.” While prospective student-athletes are occasionally allowed to stay overnight on Friday or Saturday night, Hamilton pointed out that this does not happen often. “This scenario that we’ve talked about has probably happened six or seven times this year. That’s a very small number — we’ve probably had 110 visits and it’s happened six or seven times,” Hamilton said. For the most part, the athletic department works to adhere to the official admissions office policy regarding overnight campus visits. “As a department, we really emphasize the Sunday through Thursday [policy] … and it’s very few cases where prospective student-athletes stay overnight on Friday or Saturday]. …We have a very structured protocol we go through before we allow it and there is a structured protocol while the visit is occurring,” Hamilton concluded. In a follow-up email to Hamilton, The S&B asked to clarify whether prospective student-athletes have been found in situations where alcohol and other drugs might have been present. Hamilton replied, “It is because of concern for prospective students’ safety that the No Weekend Overnight Visit policy was enacted. Knowledge of potentially unsafe situations pertaining to prospect visits helped inform our decision making on this matter.”
Men win, women fall in last home basketball game against Knox
ELENA COPELL
Summer White hopes to cap off her Pioneer career with a win at the conference swim and dive meet. By Lily Seibert seibertl@grinnell.edu When it comes to juggling multiple responsibilities, few Grinnell students have more experience than Summer White ’18, SGA President and a member of the women’s swim and dive team. Throughout her career, White has been lauded a several time Midwest Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Performer of the Week, Academic All-Conference recipient and MWC Women’s Diver of the Year in 2017. She looks to culminate her success in this weekend’s Conference Championship Meet.
“I want to dive to win." Summer White '18 “I want to dive to win,” White said. “That’s a motto that my coach says often. And by that he means for each of our teammates to do our best and try to beat each other.” White began her career early, joining her neighborhood diving team when she was just a toddler. Although she claims that “fouryear-old Summer diving was probably just me waddling off the board,” she stuck with it and competed every summer into her late teens. She gradually learned the intricacies of the sport, which is evaluated by judges who watch for various elements of the dive such as form, entry into the water and position in the
air. Each diver then receives a score between one and ten. Even before Grinnell, White was accustomed to taking on several different commitments. In addition to swimming and diving, she participated in competitive cheerleading in high school, an experience that likely assisted her ability to move gracefully through the air during a dive. However, she eventually had to narrow her options in order to excel and prepare for a college diving career. “It got to a point where my summer league coach thought that I had potential and should capitalize on that by diving year round,” White said. In addition to her success in the pool, White has benefitted from several other aspects of her involvement on the team. She asserts that the support and companionship of her teammates has had a crucial role in making her Grinnell experience as fulfilling as it has been thus far. In addition, she has used her opportunities here to build on her already impressive abilities as a diver. “I came into college thinking that I had kind of plateaued and that I could do everything I could possibly do in diving, but I’ve been learning new things every season which has been really cool,” White said. While diving has undoubtedly been a positive force on her college experience, it has also added to the
number of obligations that fall in her lap as she remains a very active member of the community. In addition to addressing all of the tasks that come with serving as the SGA President, White also maintains a heavy coursehold as a political science major with a concentration in policy studies. However, she handles her duties with the poise and composure of a professional. “I would say I make it fit in well, as well as I can,” White said. “That doesn’t come without sacrifice. My role as SGA President is important to me, diving and staying physically active is important to me, classes are obviously going to be a top priority, besides just sustaining my life as a person by eating and sleeping and that kind of stuff. I do the things that I need to do so that I have time to do the things that I want to do.”
“I came into college thinking that I had kind of plateaued and that I could do everything I could possibly do in diving, but I've been learning new things every season."
Summer White '18
With the final meet of her career coming up this weekend, White hopes to put herself in a position to beat her personal record and compete at her very best. The swim and dive teams host conference this weekend in the natatorium.
REINA SHAHI
Tommy Smith ’21 jumps for the tipoff at Darby Gymnasium on Tuesday. By Jackson Schulte schultej@grinnell.edu This past week, the Grinnell men’s basketball team avenged their loss to Knox a week before by winning at Darby Gymnasium 115-90. Vinny Curta ’19, the nation’s leading scorer, tallied 31 points. Curta needs to make five free throws away in order to achieve a Division III record in made free throws in a season. Curta found support from Sean Cullinane ’18 with 18 points and Ky-Sean Johnson ’19
with 13. The men sit in the middle of the conference standings at fifth. The women’s team’s turn in the double header resulted in a 74-62 loss. Kayla Morrissey ’18 scored 26 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Tyria Heath ’21 added 10 points and five assists for the Pioneers, while Regan Kasprak ’19 added another five assists and two steals. The women are eighth in the Midwest Conference. Both the men’s and women’s teams have their final games of the season on Saturday at Illinois College.
Edited by schultej@grinnell.edu
Sports
Inside practice with the men's tennis team: friendly competition fuels games and drills at every practice The S&B is going inside sports practices to get a glimpse of what Grinnell student-athletes are actually doing at the Bear in the afternoon. We sent writer Quan Tran ’21 and photographer Reina Shahi ’21 to scope out men's tennis practice.
Walking into a Grinnell College men’s tennis practice, one sees what they might expect: a flying yellow ball being pounded back and forth across the net. Yet, once accustomed to it — like when I joined the team for one of their practice sessions this past week — it is easy to marvel at the complexity behind hitting a tennis ball over a net. With the outdoor courts piled up with snow at the moment, men’s tennis holds practice from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. every weekday inside the Grinnell College fieldhouse. Practice always starts with the guys spending a half hour warming up. This is when each individual's skill set is best showcased, since there are no restrictions on strokes. One can easily tell if a player is a forehander or a backhander, baseliner or serveand-volley. At 4:30 p.m., all the members gather around the coaches to hear about the upcoming workouts. Interestingly enough, men’s tennis has different themes every week that focus on various skill sets. This week, the theme is “Pressuring opponents. Take time away. Consistent strategy.” And today is doubles day.
"For singles, we work more on strategies and points. With doubles, it’s more about quick reaction time."
Paige Madara, head men's and women's tennis coach “We always break up the week and do about two singles days and two doubles days. It kind of depends on what we’re focusing on. For singles, we work more on strategies and points. With doubles, it’s more about quick reaction time,” said Paige Madara, men’s tennis head coach. On doubles days, players pair up with their official line-up partners so they can get comfortable playing with their counterparts ahead of time. Then, they spread the courts and start the drills. From crosscourt and net-approaching volleys, to countering overhead smashes and down the line rallies, the Pioneers put up a powerful display of attacking tennis — an art that seems all but lost in modern day tennis. Throughout practice, Madara is always on the sideline, giving the players corrections and encouragements.
Men’s tennis has different themes every week that focus on various skill sets. This week, the theme is “Pressuring opponents. Take time away. Consistent strategy.”
REINA SHAHI
The men's tennis team practices in the Bear's fieldhouse facility. Pictured are various Pioneers hitting back and forth.
It is known that NCAA Division III sports are very self-reliant, and tennis is where one can see it
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best. Here in the fieldhouse, the student-athletes have to put up the nets, pick up the balls, then restart their rallies. During matches, they have to keep score by themselves. There are no linesmen, no umpires and no ball boys. Nevertheless, that fact never seems to bother these guys. The tennis players seem to be having fun throughout the practice, and the background music certainly helps.
"I'd love it for them [to be] out here having a good time. We see [the game] as a nice stress relief from academics." Paige Madara, head men's and women's tennis coach Don’t let the atmosphere fool you, though. As much as they are about academics, the Pioneers are very competitive with one another. It isn’t for nothing that Grinnell tennis has dominated the Midwest Conference every year and has made several trips to the national tournament. The athleticism is visible even in post-practice activities. After a running drill, the team split and played “bobsled.” In this game, to put it simply, the player who cannot return a rally has to sit down right on the court. The players were in the zone right from the get go. They challenged every questionable line call and seriously went at each other. All in all, it was a very fun bonding activity. “I’d love it for them [to be] out here having a good time. We see [the game] as a nice stress relief from academics. We’ve [also] been working really hard in practice. On a day like today where they’ve given their all in, we can end it on a little bit of a lighter note,” Madara said. Two hours can pass by really fast with relatively few drills, thus it seems easy to question the time these guys spend on the courts. However, Madara reminded me how easy it is to forget that these athletes are, at the end of the day, also students.
"I think to go over two hours [a day] is very hard for balancing academics. We tried not to go over two hours because they also need time to relax physically and to recover." Paige Madara, head men's and women's tennis coach “I think to go over two hours [a day] is very hard for balancing academics. We tried not to go over two hours because they also need time to relax physically and to recover,” Madara said. Even if tennis is an individual sport, here in the fieldhouse camaraderie feels alive and well. The men compete in Ripon, Wisconsin this weekend, and will participate in indoor competitions until traveling to play in Florida over spring break, which transitions them into the outdoor season.
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Features
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Edited by weberama@grinnell.edu
On the meme scene: Grinnell's underground meme culture ous messages. For example, a recent article in The Des Moines Register featured a tweet from @TheGHallReview that called on the College to divest from fossil fuels. The creator ultimately prides themself on making content that will bring students together to laugh about things specific to their Grinnell experience, asserting that “no one else outside of this campus would have any idea what we’re talking about.”
turns, for example in addressing the new organization of tables in the Dining Hall during fall break. Both creators emphasized their goal of addressing relevant events around campus through their various mediums. “A lot of it just has to do with what me or my friends have just commented on. What’s the food today, what’s a pun that could come out of
it,” the creator of @TheGHallReview said. “So sometimes there have been inactive weeks because nothing happens, but then the Winter Waltz will happen and there’s just a lot of material.” Both of these social media account creators have found a way to bring people together and make their mark on the social scene of Grinnell, one tweet at a time.
Both of these social media account creators have found a way to bring people together and make their mark on the social scene of Grinnell, one tweet at a time. CONTRIBUTED
Many a relatable meme can be found on Grinnell Memes for Self-Governing Teens, often poking fun at the administration as with the above meme, created by August Peterson. By Lily Seibert seibertl@grinnell.edu In the last several years, Grinnell has seen a growing community of social media parody accounts addressing various aspects of the College. This began in 2014, with a satirical version of College President Raynard Kington on Twitter. Numerous other accounts have cropped up on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram since then, imitating organizations such as the Dining Hall and Campus Safety. Each one is student-run and unaffiliated with the College. Many of the account creators, who wish to remain anonymous, began their pages for purely comedic purposes. Noticing a number of trends specific to Grinnell, they decided that bringing their findings to social media would help to establish solidarity among students and bring amusement to their peers. Much of their content stems from the quirks and patterns occurring around campus that all Grinnell students have witnessed.
"It's been mostly just making fun of things that most of the students can relate to ... Like, 'oh, there's nothing to eat tonight for the seventh night in a row.' Or, 'the line for mac and cheese is out the door again.'" Creator of @TheGHall Review “It’s been mostly just making fun of things that most of the students can relate to,” said the creator of the Dining Hall parody Twitter, @TheGHallReview. “Like, ‘oh, there’s nothing to eat tonight for the seventh night in a row.’ Or, ‘the line for mac and cheese is out the door again.’” While most of the tweets center around light subjects such as the rotating ice cream flavors and absence of the eggs-to-order station, it has occasionally touched on more seri-
Inspired by the @TheGHallReview, the creator of the parody Grinnell Campus Safety Undercover Operations, @GrinnellSafety, also intended to make light of one of Grinnell’s key institutions. “It kind of started out as a mix of things that could be feasibly considered real tweets that would be tweeted if Campus Safety actually had a Twitter account, mixed with some things that were slightly implausible or maybe some things that might be associated with an older internet user, not really knowing how internet works and mistaking Twitter for the Google search box or something,” the creator said.
“No one else outside this campus would have any idea what we're talking about." Creator of @TheGHallReview The account is also satirical, touching on relevant topics such as the tendency for Campus Safety carts to patrol the construction zone on Mac Field or break up rowdy events. However, the page has taken serious
CONTRIBUTED
The Twitter account @GrinnellSafety (top and bottom) was inspired by forerunner @TheGHallReview, and both serve to satirize some of the most prominent services on campus.
Valentine's Day edition: what is love?
The S&B's Seth Taylor approached Grinnell students to find answers to the the time-honored question: what is love, really? From companionship to chemicals, interpretations of the l-word vary widely. Oddly enough, "baby don't hurt me" is not among the responses. Photos by Mahira Faran.
“It’s good shit.”
“Love is companionship … — knowing that you’re happy in someone’s company.” — Saketan Anand ’21
— Regina Logan ’20
“Love is making sacrifices and love is taking the time out of your day to do things for others that brings joy to their life which brings joy back to your life.” — Michael Schroeder ’19
“As a wise man once said, love is just a chemical reaction, and we’re all fooled by it.” — Jonathan Dowell ’18
“Love is putting those you care about ahead of yourself.” — Isabel Ambrosoli ’21
“Love is missing someone when you’re not with them.” — Lizzy Hinman ’20
Features
Edited by weberama@grinnell.edu
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Day in the Life (in Budapest): Addi Gould '19 7:06 p.m.—Wake up and eat overnight oats. Contemplate why sinks are so small here. 8 a.m.—Step out of apartment building, walking carefully because on side streets people will often let their dog sh*t and not clean it up. 8:05 a.m.—Start 45-minute commute to class via tram. King Krule in my ears for the ride because I’m seeing his show next week on a boat. 8:20 a.m.—Switch from tram to suburban rail after crossing the Danube into Buda. Missing my two-minute journey from Cleveland to D-Hall. 8:50 a.m.—Arrive at the Aquincum Institute of Technology. Semantic and Declarative Technologies up first, then Hungarian before lunch. 12 p.m.—Work on first assignment for Semantic and Declarative in the lounge. Guy from Harvey Mudd going hard on the piano in the corner is nice background noise. 1 p.m.—Out for lunch. Goulash soup warms the belly and the soul. 2 p.m.—Data Mining class with Papa Kojo Ampim-Darko ’19 and Vincent Noh ’19. 4 p.m.—Head back home. Being able to navigate without internet maps is a good feeling.
4:45 p.m.—Finally arrive in my neighborhood in Pest’s District VIII. I like my tram stop because it’s right outside my apartment and because it’s still fun to hear the automated voice say “Harminckettesek.” 4:50 p.m.—Stop at grocery store on the corner of my block on way home. Pick up salami, bread and horseradish for my lunches. Grab a few bottles of wine for ~$1 apiece just in case. Language skills are strong enough that I can usually conduct the transaction entirely in Hungarian. 5:30 p.m.—Head to my gym because Paps and I haven’t yet found a local pick-up soccer group to replace International Soccer Club. The “Iron Gym” features deteriorating equipment, thumping techno music and two dogs that strangely resemble the gym’s owners. 7:00 p.m.—Black beans with peppers, onions and paprika plus a salami sandwich for dinner. Invite people over to our five-person apartment for a pregame. 7:30 p.m.—Bathe. Picture a shower, but the shower head isn’t mounted on anything and there is no curtain. Showers are not leisurely anymore as I have to always be mindful to not
CONTRIBUTED
Addi Gould ’19 poses in front of a Hungarian cityscape, a feature of his computer science study abroad program. soak the entire bathroom. 9:30 p.m.—More people than expected come over to our apartment. Feel glad I bought the extra wine. Flatmates and I keep having to run up and down four stories to let people in because we haven’t figured out which buzzer button is ours. 10:15 p.m.—Direct crowd of American students to tram towards the Jewish Quarter. Observe lack of enforcement on open container laws.
10:30 p.m.—Arrive at the most famous ruin pub, Szimpla Kert. It’s 20+ bars, all with their own room and all interconnected. Someone is selling whole carrots on the second floor. A remix of Arcade Fire is playing and the projector screen is playing parkour highlight videos. 11:30 p.m.—Follow friends to Fogasház. It’s another ruin bar but definitely has an environment getting closer to a “club.” Bemoan that my four-month
streak of not hearing “Gasolina” is over. Repeatedly tell men to not touch my friends without their consent. Pay 200 forints to use the toilet. 12:45 a.m.—Stop at the kebab shop on my block with friends. The employees will probably know us by name by the end of the semester. 1:15 a.m.—Crawl into bed. I’d describe it as a super-thick mattress topper on wooden slats. Pass out immediately.
Tutorial 101: the process behind Grinnell's universal course
SARINA LINCOLN
Professor Gaub, music, who has taught tutorial previously, has been enlisted to teach the course again next fall. By Lauren Miller millerla@grinnell.edu
department. Depending on professors’ schedules, they may teach one every two years or so.
From “Are We Too Clean?” to “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club,” there was something for everyone in this past semester’s tutorials. Tutorials are a staple of the Grinnell College experience, as every first year first semester student is required to choose from an array of special topics. Now that this year’s tutorials have ended, many professors are already busy planning their topics for next semester.
"You get to know [the students] better and get to know their strengths and weaknesses early on."
Professors often choose tutorial topics as a means to explore something they are interested in themselves and would like to know more about. Every year, the Dean’s office sends a request for an allotted number of tutorials from each academic
Professor Wayne Moyer, political science The process of choosing tutorial topics, of course, varies from faculty member to faculty member. However, professors often choose tutorial topics as a means to explore something they are interested in themselves and would like to know more about. Professor Charlotte Christensen, physics, said that archaeoastronomy, her potential tutorial topic for next fall, is “something I want to learn more about.” While Christensen has taught
this same topic once before, Professor Gene Gaub, music, described how his topics have been all over the place, and his ideas for topics “percolate in the back of my mind for months, if not years.” For his eighth tutorial, he hopes to cover something along the lines of mythology, legends and music. Tutorials also have the benefit of a budget. For one of his uses of the budget, Gaub went on a trip to Chicago with his students a few years ago when he taught a tutorial on architecture. Other ways that tutorial professors use this money include tutorial dinners or trips into town. For many students, these special topic courses are a highlight of their time at Grinnell. However, students are not alone in this sentiment. Professor Wayne Moyer, political science, said that in particular he likes “the informality of the tutorial [as opposed to more traditional classes].” The smaller, more intimate class sizes — usually of about 12 students — that are standard in tutorials may add to this more relaxed feel. Moyer additionally described how with these smaller groups, “you get to know [the students] better and get to know their strengths and weaknesses early on.” This is especially important because a student’s tutorial professor becomes their academic advisor until they declare a major.
close-knit community than with other larger classes. By getting to know students during their first months on campus, professors have the benefit of being able to follow students and keep in touch throughout their college experience.
Next year’s tutorials will offer a whole new slew of special topics that incoming students will likely have a hard time narrowing down and ranking, but the benefits of this framework are applicable to all tutorial courses.
Tutorials are a staple of the Grinnell College experience... Not only does tutorial offer reciprocal benefits for both students and staff hoping to explore a topic that they may not get to as in depth otherwise, it often creates a more
MAI PHUONG VU
Professor Charlotte Christensen, physics (top) and Professor Wayne Moyer, political science (bottom) have also been recruited to teach a tutorial course again next fall.
Edited by fentonma@grinnell.edu
IoWhat is going on in politics? Trans identities, Iowa policies
by Austin Wadle When you are trans, you get reminded of it constantly. For me, it comes up a lot when I fill out forms. It sucks when I re-register to vote and have to misgender myself as male, because I know that is the only thing that will ensure my change of address is approved. This is a fact I have become used to ever since I came out as non-binary. I am not either of the societally prescribed binary genders, neither in my identity nor in my expression. This hit me hard when I was working in the basement of Mears one night, as a student manager for Phonathon. It came in the form of a considerate email from one of my graduate school recommenders. I was dealing with the stress of writing personal statements, taking the GRE and figuring out application fees all pretty well. In the midst, I forgot to tell my recommenders what pronouns to use in their letters about me. The one who sent me the email was just confirming with me which he should use, for which I am incredibly thankful. However, I then had to have awkward conversations with my two other professors, informing them about my pronouns. Thankfully, they both were respectful and kind and worked with me. But I was lucky — many other people are not this fortunate.
The way the law is written prevents the perpetrators from being prosecuted for a heinous crime. They contribute to the culture that causes record homelessness among transgender youth and higher rates of suicide among transgender people. My own experience might one day become the norm. This is what gives me hope, whether it comes from individuals like my professors or institutions like the University of Iowa, where I was able to specify my gender identity and pronouns on my application. My legislators and governor can
Dusty
do something positive if they have the courage. States like California and Oregon have started issuing legal documents with non-binary gender markings. They can also update the hate crime laws to include gender identity and expression, so that these crimes motivated by this kind of bigotry can be prosecuted to the fullest extent. The current state of trans politics in Iowa encourages trans Iowans to leave the state for a place that will respect their identities, at least for those that can afford it. This sort of brain drain has horrible consequences for rural towns across the state. But what is most morally reprehensible is that my representatives are contributing to a culture that delegitimizes the very existence of the trans people in this state. Their silence on these issues only emboldens people, such as those who murdered Kedarie Johnson in Burlington. The way the law is written prevents the perpetrators from being prosecuted for a heinous crime. They contribute to the culture that causes record homelessness among transgender youth and higher rates of suicide among transgender people. So I have a request for Governor Reynolds, Senator Kapucian and Representative Maxwell: will you stand with your constituents?
But what is most morally reprehensible is that my representatives are contributing to a culture that delegitimizes the very existence of the trans people in this state. Their silence on these issues only emboldens people, such as those who murdered Kedarie Johnson in Burlington. Lastly, since it is 2018 and there is a midterm election coming soon, I ask the same of those seeking office at every level. Before they come to me asking for my vote, they need to think carefully about what they would do to support my vulnerable community. In particular, they should consider that we are not a monolith, and that the trans identity intersects with others that make it hard to access opportunities others already have. Empty words of support for the transgender community will not amount to much. Stand on the higher ground with words and actions in your campaign and you can make the change that trans people, like me, need.
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Sexplanations: Reading signals and testing positive
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]. Question: How do I know if the cutie who asked me to Netflix and chill is actually looking to chill, or if they have something hotter in mind? — Netflix&NotThrilled Hey Netflix&NotThrilled, You’re coming in with one of my all time biggest frustrations about hook-up culture. As titillating and exciting as it can sometimes be to play that will-they-won’t-they game of whether or not that cutie wants to kiss you, it’s anxiety producing! And that anxiety is doubly extra when we only want to watch a movie and discourse about it over a cup of tea afterwards, and definitely not have sexy times. Yikes. It’s hard to prepare mentally when we aren’t given clear indications of desires and expectations, and that extends into our bodies. If I’ve readied myself to have a relaxing evening getting to know a cutie and suddenly they’re giving me the eyes, my whole body gets thrown out of whack. If the cutie isn’t receptive to my response, this usually results in me being very clearly flustered and then running away. Sad! Not ideal for either of us. And even more, say I adjust to the intimate advance and decide that yes, I’d really like to get pounded that evening. If I didn’t plan for doing more, then I just might be shit out of luck because for me to feel comfortable and confident in getting intimate, I want to know what the evening has in store. If this clown hasn’t given me the proper heads up to know in advance that they’re
more interested in being more intimate than watching David Letterman’s miserable new talk show, then it becomes both of our problems. With just a dash of added clarity — “Hey, want to come over and watch some Netflix and maybe sometime after get plowed?” — I would happily mentally and physically prepare for the encounter and continue the conversation when we meet in case either of us feel like doing something different. Plus wow, what a hot-as-heck proposition! While I’m advocating here for explicitly expressing sexual desire when asking to hang out with people, the reality is that sometimes we don’t know what we’re looking for, and maybe we really do at first intend to platonically hang out but then during the hangout get a better look at that undercut and WOOF we’ve got the hots and so do they. That’s absolutely fine! In fact, those moments of discovering desire and affection are some of my favorites. But make sure you verbalize your wants and desires to your bae so that they are able to respond with their needs and wants as well. When we do very well know what we want whether it’s chilling or getting sexy, ask for it! It’s so much better than missing opportunities for raunchy, ready fun. Or, if you attended the workshop by Isabel Cooke ’16 last week, you’ll know there are lots of ways to get intimate besides sexual intercourse. Be creative and consensual! Question: I got STI tested last week, and I’m really worried that I might test positive. What do I do if it is positive? How will I know? Do I have to tell my partner(s)? First of all, it’s okay if you test positive. Almost all STIs are treatable, and the chlamydia and gonorrhea which were tested on campus for last week are treated with a prescription of antibiotics. If you test positive, you will receive a call from Primary Health Care. If you don’t test positive, you will not receive a call. They will help you set up an appointment to receive free treatment, antibiotics, at their mobile clinic on Monday afternoons and evenings in Grinnell or Marshalltown offices. You can also see your primary care provider, but the antibiotic prescription will not be free. Your provider will coach you on how to talk to your partner(s). It’s best practice to talk to your
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past partners in person, whether that be in your dorm room or via Facetime. When you talk to a partner about STIs, make sure you find a good time where you will be uninterrupted and that you’ll both be comfortable. Know your facts on the subject, ask your questions to the provider who calls with the test results or get information from trusted sources such as SHACS nurses, Scarleteen (every CA and SAM has their book), Planned Parenthood, Go Ask Alice or the American Sexual Health Association.
It’s hard to prepare mentally when we aren’t given clear indications of desires and expectations, and that extends into our bodies. If I’ve readied myself to have a relaxing evening getting to know a cutie and suddenly they’re giving me the eyes, my whole body gets thrown out of whack. If the cutie isn’t receptive to my response, this usually ends up in me being very clearly flustered and then running away. Sad! Not ideal for either of us. Ensure that you communicate to your partner that you are telling them because you care about them. Try to remain calm as possible throughout the conversation, and offer to go to the testing with your partner. Work hard not to play the blame game. It’s normal to be worried about a partner’s response. If you feel like you are unable to tell a partner or past partner, for whatever reason, there are many online sources you can use to tell them anonymously. You should talk to all your partners since your last test. If you have not previously had an STI test, you should tell all your previous partners. Just like you need to process the news of having an STI, your partner may also need some time to process it. If a partner or friend approaches you about having an STI, try to be receptive, have empathy (this is a challenging conversation!) and avoid blame. Your partner is telling you because they care about you and your health, and although the initial response may be panic, there’s a remedy — antibiotics, communication and support.
by Phoebe Schreckinger
The Scarlet & Black Staff Editors-in-Chief
Opinions
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 The Troggs
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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Back Page Volume 134, Issue 16
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ANDREW TUCKER
"Make your heart like a lake, with a calm, still surface, and great depths of kindness." — Lao Tzu
Genghis Khan
Tamerlane
Snedge
This week, Maxwell Fenton '19 and Candace Mettle '19 polled students asking: Opiate of the Masses or Shake Your Asses?
Friday
Steiner
8:00 p.m. Ritalin Test Squad @ Loose Hall Lounge 10:00 p.m. Justin Bieber Gardner @ Gardner Lounge
Saturday
Pub Quiz
Like what you see?
ARH
check us out:
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Rants & Raves:
The Signs as Songs Played at Wedding Receptions
Aries: Push It Taurus: Pour Some Sugar On Me Gemini: Celebration Cancer: Sandstorm Leo: Y.M.C.A. Virgo: Dancing Queen Libra: Come On Eileen Scorpio: Hot in Here Sagittarius: Cotton Eye Joe Capricorn: Brown Eyed Girl Aquarius: I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) Pisces: Love Shack
7:00 p.m. Bioethics Film: The Constant Gardener @ Noyce 2021 7:00 p.m. Infinite Coincidence @ JRC 209 10:00 p.m. Frank @ Younker Hall Lounge
1. The Fast and the Butt Juiciest 2. Beans of the Stone Age 3. Dunkin Honuts
Attila the Hun
— 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]
Breaking down bond issues
Swine sorrow
Problems with Pixar
BANKS IS BAE
My wonderful hometown of Grinnell recently voted down a 60 million dollar bond issue that would have provided: 1) a singular elementary school (it's now broken into 3 decrepit buildings) 2) a remodeled middle school (which the current life sucking building has literally no natural light coming in. As if middle school didn't suck anyway) and 3) some renovations at the high school. My ask is this. When this comes to bond again, go out and vote yes for it. Piss off some people in the process as there is a contingent of local residents that don't believe your vote counts since you are only here 4 years. .
I feel like Joni Ernst cucked me.
I don't understand the hype about Incredibles 2.
AZEALIA BANKS IS THE ONLY SKINNY LEGEND HERE FUCK BLUE LIVES
- Maxwell Fenton '19
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- Concerned Grinnellian
- hogglov3r
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