Volume 133, Issue 16

Community

Arts

Sports

S&B staffers survey Mexican food and margaritas

"I don't know what I can say about it, other than to create it."

"Professor Vicki BentleyCondit is in better shape than you"

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the

Scarlet & Black Volume 133, Issue 16

thesandb.com

February 17, 2016 • Grinnell, Iowa

Students ask for transparency in Junot Díaz speaks on Grinnell's sustainability commitment the value of activism

By Kate Irwin irwinkat@grinnell.edu

Grinnell College claims to be committed to sustainability, but in light of recent events, many students feel that the College is not doing enough.

Tackling the problem of how to be sustainable is difficult. Often times people rally behind large movements for change, which can attract a large following. Sometimes, according to President Raynard Kington, there are smaller steps that need to be taken first.

However, some students feel that there is a lack of transparency in terms of these goals toward sustainability.

Food for Thought, an organization on campus which is a chapter of the national campaign Real Foods Challenge, works to get food on campus to be “local, ecologically sound, humane and fair,” according to Ceci Bergman ’19, representative from Food for Thought.

“We pride ourselves on social justice and environmental and food

justice and inextricably integral to that narrative [is divestment]. If Kington doesn’t support divestment, what does he support? What are goals for this college in regards to sustainability — actual tangible goals and means to achieve them? I would love to see more of that from the College because then we can help to work towards them,” Bergman said.

According to Kington, the smaller day-to-day aspects of sustainability can be more important than attempting to solve a complex problem. It is difficult to make immediate change while dealing with such issues like divestment. There is specific coverage of the College’s goals for sustainability on Grinnell’s website under “Missions and Values”. However, according to Bergman, much of this information is out of date and communication needs to be cleared up if students are to understand how they can be involved in making these smaller steps happen on campus.

“It says under sustainability that we signed the American college and university presidents’ commitment

to achieve climate neutrality, but we haven’t reached any of the benchmarks indicated. … There is a lack of transparency on tangible goals that our college has for sustainability and so the superficial achievements on our website do not mean much to me,” Bergman said.

Kington further explained why divesting from fossil fuels is more difficult than he perceives many students assume. Grinnell hires money managers to oversee their funds.

When the contracts with the managers are created, Grinnell's funds are mixed with other funds within a pool of various investments, none of which are guaranteed to be free of fossil fuel shares. If Grinnell wished to divest from investment pools that include fossil fuels, it would be necessary to change every contract and find new managers, who may not be as qualified as the ones the College already has.

If Grinnell decreased its returns, there would be consequences. Money would have to be stripped from other accounts to compensate for that which >> See Sustainability page 2

Practical Political Education brought back onto campus

CRSSJ and language houses to be relocated

By Zane Silk silkzane@grinnell.edu

is frustrated and upset about the loss.

“I don’t understand why there is not one single small space in this entire campus which they can give to Muslim students to pray. Do they even think that this is an important issue? Because if they did they would be able to find a room,” Omer said.

Benefits of the move include >> See CRSSJ page 3 Friday Ready to Run: Campaign Training for Women Harris, 9 a.m.; JRC 209, 2 p.m.

By Mira Braneck & Louise Carhart braneckm@grinnell.edu & carhartl17grinnell.edu Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz visited Grinnell this past Monday, Feb. 13, leading several Q&A sessions with students, as well as a reading in JRC. Diverging from the usual Writers@Grinnell model, Díaz branched out from creative writing in his discussions to topics like resistance, diversity, civic duty and neoliberalism.

At the roundtable discussion, Díaz talked about the place of art in activism, civic action and how to

resist in the current trying times.

“We’ll be fucked if all of y’all claim that whatever art you’re making is activism,” he said. “We live in a culture that ultimately – we can’t help it – we’re really self-serving. So if you’re an artist, you’re like, ‘how can my art do everything?’ ... But the thing is art is just good for human beings. ... There have always been artists involved in all sorts of movements.

They’ve contributed their tremendous talents to movements. ... My argument is the sensibility that one’s entire civic >> See Díaz page 7

Campus council debates antifa ideals and rhetoric

The Center for Religion, Spirituality and Social Justice (CRSSJ) will be downsizing and losing its Muslim prayer space at the end of the semester to make space for the construction of a new Admissions/Financial Aid Center at the southwest corner of 8th Ave. and Park St. Additionally, three language houses that also occupy the planned building’s site will be relocated over the course of the summer and fall.

Currently, the admissions office is housed in the John Crystal Center (JCC), but the College decided that there was a need for a new building that will be warmer and more welcoming for prospective students.

The resulting relocation of the CRSSJ will result in a reduction of space for many users, most notably with the elimination of the current Muslim Cultural Suite, which is used both as a prayer room and for events. Farah Omer ’19, co-leader of the Muslim Students Association,

" I don't understand why there is not one single small space they can give to Muslim students to pray.

A muslim prayer space does not require a lot. … What if there's a meeting scheduled and then they cannot pray … some Muslims pray five times a day. " Farah Omer '19

SOFIA MENDEZ

Junot Díaz came to Grinnell and spoke about the value of activism.

By Lily Bohlke bohlkeli@grinnell.edu

FROM THE ARCHIVES

PPPE brought political figures to campus in the 1960s and 1970s.

By Alice Herman hermanal17@grinnell.edu Political Science professor Barbara Trish is working to bring the Program in Practical Political Education (PPPE) — an organization that was influential in the 1960s and has since fallen into relative inactivity — back into Grinnell College campus life.

According to a report on the history of the PPPE by Anna Bosak ’12, the program was created in 1959 with the intention of fostering appreciation for state and local politics within the College’s student body. Professor C. Edwin Gilmour, then-director of the program, created Saturday Billiards Tournament JRC Game Room, Noon

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the PPPE in response to what he considered to be a dearth of interest in politics within the student body.

In a PPPE grant proposal to the Falk Foundation — a national foundation that allotted yearly grants for academic institutions promoting political awareness among students in the 1960s — Gilmour wrote that “it must be admitted that the political awareness, let alone the political participation of the Grinnell student body, is less evident than might be hoped for.”

From its inception in 1959 and until Professor Edwin Gilmour took leave of the program in 1970, the PPPE sponsored internships >> See PPPE page 3

Saturday Craft & the Fruitcake: "Spoon Carving for Novices" Bucksbaum 23, 1 p.m.

At Campus Council on Wednesday night, Delegate Isaac Gold ’19 and Junze Yao ’20 came forward with a request to discuss “the art and ideals of antifa,” according to SGA Senator Jenkin Benson ’17. Gold said that he was concerned by a group labeling itself as antifa, short for anti-fascist, at Grinnell, referring to an incident at UC Berkeley where protests stopped Milo Yiannopolous from speaking, also causing monetary damages to the institution. Gold said he associated the label of antifa with violence.

Gold felt that some of the images used by antifa groups suggest that Grinnell as an institution is fascist.

“The antifa signs that came up … to me sounded like a call for violence,” Gold said. “Are they trying to say that Grinnell College is a Nazi? I wanted clarification on that, because obviously it would be ridiculous to assume that a liberal arts college that supports social justice, diversity and inclusivity would be called a Nazi. It’s entirely

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Saturday Grinnell Symphony Orchestra Sebring-Lewis Hall, 2 p.m.

the opposite.”

According to Benson, Gold and Yao thought that an anonymously published zine was intended to encourage violence against anyone who doesn’t agree with antifa ideology. The zine in question was not associated with antifa or any official student group.

“They presented antifa ideology as ‘anti-Grinnellian’ and illiberal.

And like, in their defense, yes antifa is a leftist organization opposed to liberalism, but no, people who subscribe to leftism are not going to roundhouse kick liberals, or even conservatives,” Benson wrote in an email to The S&B. Gold said that the response from members of antifa, as well as other students not directly involved with the group, was that antifa does not intend to encourage people to beat up conservatives or destroy things.

“It’s in a metaphorical sense,” Gold said he realized after the clarifying discussion. “From other antifa groups [on other campuses] we had seen that if you support Trump, if you support Republicans, or if you just don’t even agree with us, we label you fascist. They explained it’s in a metaphorical sense.”

Benson said that his understanding was that Gold and Yao wanted to urge antifa further towards civility politics, which antifa opposed.

“The general consensus [among antifa] was that debating whether or not art that conveys active opposition to neo-Nazis and white supremacy is ridiculous,” Benson wrote. “Nazism is obviously indefensible.”

Thursday Crossing the Line: An Open Conversation Falcouner, 4 p.m.

Sports 4 | Features 6 | Arts 7 | Community 9 | Opinions 11

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Edited by bohlkeli@grinnell.edu & braneckm@grinnell.edu

Students ask for further commitment to sustainability by administration Colleges Investment in Fossil Fuels and Global Environment Fund

Grinnell's Investment Office invests in fund managers rather than individual assets. The amount of capital in holdings can change significantly day to day. In 2014, the College had over $120 million invested in fossil fuels. Fossil fuel holdings include Console Energy (CNX), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Cabot Oil and Gas (COG), EOG Resources (EOG), Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), Noble Energy (NBL) and Anadarko Petroleum (APC). The College's only explicitly sustainable energy is invested in the Global Environment Fun (GEF). $37.9 million $7.6 million

The College has $37.9 million invested in fossil fuels, and $7.6 millon invested in explicitly sustainable holdings.

Continued from Front Page was lost. Whether that would be less money for student organizations or laying off staff, the education at Grinnell would inevitably suffer, Kington explained.

"The idea that we won't pay

a price is fiction," Kington said.

"I know that there are those who believe that we won't pay a price. … The question is, ‘is it worth the price?’ And that's where reasonable people can disagree."

Current sustainability efforts include a new landscape master

plan featuring bioswales for storm water and permeable sidewalks that lower the amount of runoff water.

Other current projects that are small scale include the yearly renovation of dorms to increase energy savings, installing submeters in dorms to encourage students to track energy consumption, switching to LED lights, recycling and reusing abandoned items, using singlestream recycling and composting food waste.

These steps towards sustainability are relatively new. "In earnest, we've really ramped up our efforts starting around year 2001," said Rick Whitney, assistant vice president for facilities management.

Despite the fact that Grinnell's efforts towards a more sustainable campus were rather late, Kington pledges a commitment towards improvement.

The Humanities and Social Sciences Complex (HSSC) is a groundbreaking step towards sustainability, according to Whitney, employing both geothermal technology and chilled beam technology for heating and cooling.

A current energy model estimates that nearly two million kilowatts per hour will be saved annually in

comparison to an average building.

"The amount of energy savings realized by this facility is going to be unprecedented on campus," Whitney said.

"The idea that we won't pay a price is fiction. ... The question is, 'is it worth the price?' And that's where reasonable people can disagree."

Galen describes SEC “a more general environmental education and personal action [group]."

Initiatives from SEC include establishing postering boards in the North and South loggia to reduce paper waste, minimizing paper waste at the Grill by encouraging students to bring their own mug and creating a mug rack for storage, cutting down on tray usage in the dining hall to lower food waste and placing composting bins in student housing, like the language houses.

Raynard Kington President of the College "The amount of energy Through implementation of savings realized by updated heating and cooling systems, this facility is going to current facilities such as Carnegie be unprecedented on Hall, the Alumni Recreation Hall and campus." the new Admissions and Financial Aid building will become more sustainable. All of these buildings will run within one system, ensuring that they are as energy efficient as possible.

In addition to the administration, various student groups are committed to creating a more sustainable campus. Eve Galen '19, president of Student Environmental Committee (SEC) has a lot planned to make this possible. Galen believes change begins at a personal level.

Rick Whitney, Assistant Vice President for Facilities Management Galen expresses her hope and belief for sustainability at Grinnell, despite the uncertainty a lot of students are exhibiting.

"There's a lot of really big and exciting things to be done ... people just have to come together," Galen said.

Mayflower Community Residents come to discuss conflict, difference and threats towards immigrants and refugees

MAYU SAKAE

Students dined with residents of the Mayflower Community and discussed different issues that have arisen recently in the current political climate.

By Steve Yang yangstev17@grinnell.edu In the current political climate, issues of safety and personal wellbeing have come up repeatedly in campus conversation. In this context, residents of the Mayflower Community, a retirement home situated approximately a mile from the College, expressed interest in meeting with Grinnell students and discussing conflict, difference and threats towards immigrants and refugees. Subsequently, a lunch was organized on Thursday in JRC 101, where students from the Multicultural Leadership Council, International Student Organization (ISO) and Posse had the chance to exchange their perspectives and stories with Mayflower visitors over lunch.

“Due to many of our students feeling unsafe on campus and in

the community of Grinnell (because of the current state of our country), we are having a (last minute) lunch with some residents of the Mayflower,” organizer Katy Zart wrote in an email to The S&B. “The residents have concerns and want to let students know that they want them to feel safe in Grinnell, and want to meet some of the students and offer their support/words of encouragement.”

In support of those efforts, an estimated 15 Mayflower residents, including some retired professors and college alumni, met with approximately 20 students who signed up on a first-come, firstserve basis, faculty and staff.

Jonathan Rebelsky ’20, a Grinnell local, said that the chance to meet with members of a community whom he was familiar with through high school gatherings was a great opportunity to meet new people and

hang out with old friends.

“When I was growing up, interacting with people at Mayflower has been unanimously positive,” Rebelsky said. “They would sometimes just bring Mayflower people to just speak to our [high school] classes.”

"The residents have concerns and want to let students know that they want them to feel safe in Grinnell, and want to meet some of the students and offer their support/words of encouragement."

Katy Zart, Program Advisor Rebelsky said that the engagement provided a valuable learning opportunity about the history of the town and the College, and how they’ve gotten along.

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“It’s really a problem when the town and the College feel like they’re different identities.

The College is part of the town,” Rebelsky said.

Rebelsky added that he participated in discussions examining the advancements that American society has made, on issues such as rights for transgender people and interracial marriage. He also learned about the history of self-governance at the College, and how that’s changed as well.

“One thing I learned ... was that self-gov hasn’t always been a thing at Grinnell. A person who graduated in 1950s said that it hasn’t really been a thing,” he noted.

As a representative of the Office for Intercultural Affairs and ISO, Takahiro Omura ’17 said that he thought the meeting with Mayflower residents was a good step towards building bridges, feeling appreciated, and receiving reassurance from the community as an international student.

“At the ISO, we thought we needed to reach out to the community more as a student body, given this political climate. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to go meet some of the residents and talk about these current issues that both the community and the students have been facing,” Omura said.

Omura added that members of the community had participated in marches in 1964 for civil rights, which helped him feel more historical connections to the town as both a student and as a resident. However, he added that the responsibility of fostering a sense of inclusion should be a two-way

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“It was interesting because the residents were talking about how some community residents might not feel welcome on campus. There’s no activity not welcoming them, but there’s some atmosphere preventing community residents from coming and participating in campus events,” Omura recalled. “So it made more sense for students to reach out to the community, to make it more of a two-way interaction.”

"I thought it was a perfect opportunity to go and meet some of the residents and talk about these current issues that both the community and the students have been facing."

Takahiro Omura '17, Intercultural Affairs and ISO The College’s purchases of more properties around town was cast in a positive light in the conversations that Omura had as well. The Mayflower residents saw it as a first step in increasing interactions between the College and the community.

“Students would go downtown more often, whatever’s going to be built there, and so the community [would be] engaged with students more,” Omura said. “I think as a Grinnell College student, you are part of the Grinnell community as a whole. I feel that it is both interesting and our responsibility to really interact with the residents in the community, to get to know them as well as they get to know us.”

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New CRSSJ will not have a Muslim prayer center

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Off-Campus Safety Coalition begins training

By Zane Silk silkzane@grinnell.edu

The CRSSJ is one of the buildings being relocated for the new admissions building.

Continued from Front Page that, unlike the current space, the CRSSJ’s new home at 913 8th Ave. will be partially accessible and have a finished basement. Among the downsides are that Muslim students will be only able to pray in either in a small shared meditation area or in the shared prayer garage, which according to Omer fails to meet the needs of the Muslim community.

“A Muslim prayer space does not require a lot. It just requires a room that is clean, that has no shoes [allowed] and is not shared by anyone who … does not understand the conduct of being in the prayer room,” said Omer, adding that the prayer garage, “ will not provide a space … where [Muslim students] can come in any time of the day.

What if there’s a meeting scheduled and then they cannot pray … some

"A Muslim prayer space does not require a lot. It just requires a room that is clean, that has no shoes [allowed], and is not shared by anyone who does not understand the conduct of being in the prayer room. " Farah Omer '19 Muslims pray five times a day.”

In addition to the loss of the Muslim space, the new building will feature a significant reduction in size of the Hindu Cultural Suite as well as less general space for students to study and relax. For Omer the losses are part of broader pattern in how the College treats religious students, which has left her feeling that Grinnell is not committed to religious diversity. Omer wishes there had been broader consultation to ensure that the different affected communities’ needs were met, and she is left with questions about why

it was decided that the loss of space was acceptable.

However, finding answers to those questions will be challenging, as there are competing narratives from Facilities Management (FM) and the CRSSJ staff surrounding the search for a new building. Director of FM Rick Whitney, who was tasked with working with the CRSSJ staff to find a new space, said that he was under the impression that the chosen site would in fact accommodate all of the center’s current users.

“Everything I understood to date is that we did match one for one … there was never any discussion about any existing space being excluded in the new space,” Whitney said, who added that he was not aware of the existence of the current Muslim space.

However, Chaplain Deanna Shorb, who heads the CRSSJ, said that she made Whitney aware that new building would not meet everyone’s needs, and she asked about the possibility about building an addition to prevent any losses.

“A dream would be in the future … to have an addition to have some of these cultural and prayer spaces for other world religions,” said Shorb, referring primarily to Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism.

According to Whitney, the decision about an addition is the responsibility of staff higher up in the administration. Despite her qualms about the new building, Shorb said she will try to make the best of what she has been given.

Unlike the case of the CRSSJ, the move of three language houses one block north will only result in temporary inconveniences.

The planned site for the houses is currently occupied by a vegetable garden and the Reading Lab. And in advance of spring planting, the garden will be relocated to Elm St. north of 6th Ave. By the end of the semester, the Reading Lab’s current

MAHIRA FARAN

home will be demolished and it will move to 1204 East St. Finally, over the summer the language houses will be detached from their current foundations and rolled down the street on logs and placed in their new location. The news that the affected language communities will be housed in the residence halls until the houses are ready for occupancy during Fall Break is getting a mixed reaction from current residents.

Leah Reuber, Assistant Director of Residence Life, acknowledged that the temporary move to residence halls will not be able to recreate the

" A dream would be in the future … to have an addition to have some of these cultural and prayer spaces for other word religions. " Deanna Shorb, Dean of Religious Life

experience that the language houses provide.

“The project houses are a physical space that really is conducive to the purpose of these language communities, in that can be completely immersive … in a way that is not physically allowed by a residence hall,” Reuber said.

“But we are working hand in hand with faculty to make sure we can preserve that as much as possible.”

For Danica Bojovik ‘19, who lives in Russian House, one the biggest losses will be the lack of a dedicated kitchen for the preparation of food and hosting events.

“I think having those events would be possible, you can always just make some tea in the kitchen on the floor, but there would definitely not be that atmosphere,” she said.

“The Russian language assistant just loves baking pies, having coffee and tea and other things to offer and that comes with [the Russian House] space and kitchen.”

Many students feel that safety is lacking in the off-campus party scene, which has led Ella Williams ’19 to organize the new Off Campus Safety Coalition (OSC) to serve as an informal network of students with the skills to act when unsafe situations arise. To get things started, she helped organize an active bystander training session this past Wednesday, Feb. 15.

Williams hopes that events like this and the coalition will result in a party culture in which students can both have fun and be in a safe environment over time.

“It was an idea that I had last semester after just experiencing going to some off campus parties that were pretty rowdy and fun, but then having conversations with people … about how a lot of people were experiencing really uncomfortable situations.

The common theme was ‘I want to help, but I don’t know what to do,’” Williams said.

After deciding to create the OSC and concluding that an active bystander training session would be a good place to start, Williams connected with Colton Silvia ’16 to run the session. Silvia is a Post-Baccalaureate Fellow who works with the Director of Wellness Jennifer Jacobsen, who also helped out with the training. According to Jacobsen, Silvia was especially well suited to delivering the training as a former student.

“Colton, as a highly-trained recent graduate, brings both expertise in facilitation and current best practices, plus an understanding of the off campus culture,” Jacobsen wrote in an email to The S&B. In Silvia’s trainings, students split up into small groups and then both acted out and discussed different scenarios that can occur.

According to Silvia it is often the case that when unsafe situations arise, students want to act but are afraid of being uncomfortable, and he teaches techniques that help people overcome those barriers to action. Silvia said that he was excited to lead this training because he believes that off campus parties in particular have safety issues that on campus events do not.

“Let’s look at a party on East St.,

and then a party in Harris. The party in Harris has ACESS, it has trained servers now when there is alcohol … not to mention there [are] probably CAs there. Whereas a party on East St. — you might not even know who lives in the house. “ A few days before the training Williams said there were multiple issues she hoped attendees would come away with tools to address, including alcohol and unwanted physical contact.

“I think often at parties unwanted touching is a really common thing that I’ve experienced, and that many people I’ve talked to have experienced,” said Williams. “Also, just how to know if a friend has had too much to drink, and is actually blackout and just seeming like they’re okay.”

Williams has tried to get the word out about the work she is doing through social media, email and word of mouth, and she has received an overwhelmingly positive response.

“I [had] 40 people enthusiastically RSVPing, so I think it’s clearly something people have wanted to see for a while,” said Williams in advance of the training. “We’ll probably have more trainings if there are a good amount of people who can’t make this one.”

Williams hopes that the coordinator role she has taken on will become a paid position, but she wants the OSC to remain a studentdriven effort that is not about policing behavior but rather equipping people with the tools to help out.

“It’s definitely something that I need to think about a little more — how to keep it loose and selfgov. But if there’s money involved, I think it would have to be a little more coordinated. … It’s something that I’ll be thinking about, and definitely open to input,” Williams said.

Even as she figures out exactly what shape the OSC will take, Williams has a clear vision of what she is working towards.

“Hopefully in future years … everybody who hosts parties will have this training, most people who attend parties will have this training,” she said. “I think just creating a culture of informed bystanders is essential to making sure Grinnell is a good place for everybody.”

JEFF LI

Off Campus Safety Coalition leads bystander trainings to help students take action when they see inappropriate actions at parties off campus.

Political science professor brings Program in Practical Political Education back to campus after 50 year hiatus Continued from Front Page in state legislative offices, held mock presidential elections and conventions in which up to 80 percent of the student body voted and brought former presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower to the College to not only deliver speeches but also to meet with student organizations and sit in on classes.

According to Bosak’s report, as students’ interest in politics shifted from the electoral to the direct action-based civil rights and antiwar movements, Gilmour opened the PPPE up to a range of political organizers, including activist Julian Bond, who gave a lecture entitled “The Political Outsiders: The Poor, The Black, The Young.”

The College disapproved of the PPPE’s new direction, and in times of financial instability, dramatically reduced funds for the program, whose activities were put on hold indefinitely. The PPPE has remained an organization on campus, but its activities have diminished in scope and frequency since its heyday in the 1960s.

Now, Trish, the current director of the PPPE, hopes to bring the

program back into student awareness.

Rather than responding to a lack of student interest in politics, however, Trish sees the program as potentially complementary to existing student political engagement.

"I think that we are a stronger institution and individually politically if we have a breadth of ideas that are represented. " Barb Trish, Director of PPPE “I have thought about this for literally decades, but this just seems like a good moment,” Trish said. “I think there’s interest among [the students] who I talked to, some older alumni, and the administration.”

Like Gilmour, Trish envisions the PPPE bringing students closer to issues in current politics by allowing them to interact directly with individuals involved in the political process. The program could introduce students to technical aspects of work in politics by connecting students with, for example, alumni who work in journalism and computer science.

“I think that that there are all these jobs out there in politics that we might overlook,” she said. “And I

think broadly it would include people who make the practice of politics work, so journalists, computer scientists, anyone who has their hand in it.”

In addition to connecting the campus with individuals in politics, Trish noted that by bringing politicians that represent a variety of political affiliations to campus, the PPPE could potentially promote more political dialogue within the College community.

“I do think that having people come to campus to talk about their work and what they do has the potential for a byproduct of maybe ... facilitating open dialogue on campus,” Trish said. “I think that we are a stronger institution and individually politically if we have a breadth of ideas that are represented — I don’t feel like this program can ensure that this happens, but I think that’s one angle on it that might get people into the same room,” Trish said.

Although the specifics of the Program are yet to be determined, there is at least one way in which today’s PPPE will fundamentally differ from the Program’s original form. Unlike the PPPE of the 1960s,

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The Program in Practical Political Education, started by Professor Edwin Gilmour, was a Grinnell institution in the 1960s. the new PPPE will not restrict its programming to the two-party political system.

“I can pretty much guarantee that

it won’t be something that pushes for two-party politics,” Trish said, “but the exact form of that remains to be seen.”

Sports

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Edited by carhartl17@grinnell.edu

Men's Basketball team has roller coaster season topped by historic win

By Carter Howe howethom@grinnell.edu

Last week the Men’s Basketball team beat St. Norbert College, whose team is ranked 9th place nationally.

"This year you could tell the chemistry’s better, the energy is way up. Anyone that’s around us can tell the difference" Andrew Redhead '18

The Pioneers’ first win against them since 2013 put their record at 15-7 as the season winds down. After losing 73-100 in their last game against St. Norbert earlier this season, this victory was over the highest ranked team they have ever beaten.

Good chemistry, high energy and better defense were important factors in the team’s victory, according to Andrew Redhead ’18. “We played very good defense, it was definitely a lot lower scoring game than it usually is versus them … everybody who

CONTRIBUTED

Julian Marx '17 plays in a game from this past season. Marx was in the running for top scorer throughout the season.

got into the game contributed and did their part and we were just flying around the entire game,” he said.

“We were firmly in the playoffs and then immediately you get taken out of it …we’re not going to get in the tournament, but at the same time since we’ve heard the news we’ve gone three and zero. We have one more game left and we beat a top ten team in the country” Andrew Redhead '18 Even though six players from last year’s team transferred out and many did not think the Pioneers would perform well this season, Redhead said this year’s team atmosphere is much more positive, which helps explain their success.

“Last year was definitely a down year … this year not many people outside of our team thought that we had any chance to do anything,” Redhead said. “We had the talent last year, for one reason or another it didn’t come together, but this year you could tell the chemistry’s better, the energy is way up. Anyone that’s around us can tell the difference.”

The large and spirited crowd at the game was another reason for the Pioneers’ success. “There were a lot of people there. It was a good student

environment, and you could tell that when St. Norbert walked out, they were a little intimidated,” said captain Michael Porter ’17.

“I remember almost the entire football team was there, almost the entire baseball team was there and even non-athletes. There were a lot of non-athletes, a lot of people from town came. It was definitely the most packed I’ve ever seen. You could just tell [from] the atmosphere, everyone was live and it was fun to be a part of,” Redhead added.

The win was also a boost for the team, as they were forced to forfeit six games and will no longer be advancing to the playoffs.

“There were a lot of people there. It was a good student environment, and you could tell that when St. Norbert walked out, they were a little intimidated” Michael Porter '17 “Because we weren’t going to make it to the playoffs and the real championship, we really saw this game as our championship and beating a team like them, we’re happy with the result,” Porter said.

Redhead agreed, citing the team’s excellent record since the forfeit.

“We were firmly in the playoffs and then immediately you get taken out of it …we’re not going to get in

CONTRIBUTED

Vinny Curta '19 was the top scorer this year.

the tournament, but at the same time since we’ve heard the news we’ve gone three and zero. We have one more game left and we beat a top ten team in the country,” Redhead said.

Despite losing three senior captains this year, Redhead is confident about the prospects for next year’s team. “I feel like we set a new culture definitely … everybody on the team wanted to play. We have six juniors right now … so we’ll have a pretty senior laden team and I think the leadership will definitely be there and the culture won’t change.”

Dining Hall recaps Super Bowl performance

By Julia Echikson echikson@grinnell.edu Two Sundays ago as the Super Bowl was set to begin, a projector screen was installed in the dining hall, allowing students to simultaneously eat and watch the event together. The Superbowl is one of several nights each semester that the dining hall transforms into a themed dinner. Past events have been themed and dedicated to local foods, Halloween, old fashioned candy and holiday extravaganza.

“When we [Dining Hall Staff] pick a theme, we usually stick with that,” said Jeanette Moser, the Associate Director of Dining Services.

The menu boasted new foods and dishes. The stir-fry section served orange chicken, the Honor G Grill had fried brownies and macaroni & cheese bites with bacon and the salad bar had fresh avocados.

Laura Kaiser, the Assistant Director of Dining Services, added that the foods were ones that “you would find at a friend’s house.” Decorations were also added with footballs and ribbons were hanging from the ceiling.

Upcoming events include a steak night in March, a special salad buffet in April and the ‘Backyard BBQ’ in May. Because most students eat at the dining hall, the turnout was not larger than regular nights.

“The count was not unusual. It was on the high end, but nothing unusual,” Moser said.

Yet, people stayed longer than on regular nights to watch game. Though the food section of the dining hall closed before the game ended, the seating section stayed open until the end of the game. They also stress that the washing machine breakdown was

not linked to the Super Bowl night.

These themed dining hall nights are what Moser calls “monotonous breakers.” In the midst of the repeated menus, the dining hall will offer dishes that are completely different to satisfy students.

“It’s always fun to do a special.

People get excited because it’s something different. It’s out of the ordinary,” Kaiser said.

"It's fun for them and fun for us," Moser added.

These nights require meticulous planning. Kaiser explains that aberrations in menus demand purchasing, staffing and even venue changes.

"You have to contact your retailers and make sure you can get the products, which are different of what you would normally use. Sometimes, it requires changes in staffing because we might decide have different venues open as it goes more with that theme,” she said.

LIAM LI

Football shaped burgers are a staple of the Super Bowl menu, which features old standbyes like wings with new additions every year.

Despite the popularity of the Super Bowl themed night, there are no plans to show another televised event this year. Upcoming events include a steak night in March, a special salad buffet in April and the ‘Backyard

BBQ’ in May. Moser is “open to suggestions” for themed nights from students. She recommends that they voice their ideas to the Grinnell student union, UGSDW.

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Edited by carhartl17@grinnell.edu

5

Queer Athletes and Allies strive to make all in the community welcome at the Bear

TAKAHIRO OMURA

John Gallagher '17. Polly Carr '18 and Karin Yndestad '17 lead the Queer Athletes and Allies. about, and we were super excited

By Philip Kiely about having her come on board,” kielyphi@grinnell.edu said John Gallagher ’17, one of the Queer Athletes and Allies leaders of QAA. Roepke was the media director (QAA) has a new staff advocate, Holly Roepke, the newly hired As- for a college conference in Calisistant Athletic Director for diver- fornia before coming to Grinnell. sity and inclusion. She is replacing Because she is a long-time soccer Justin Thaxton, who left Grinnell player and coach, as well as a native Iowan, QAA is hopeful that she last year. will support the group in all neces"We will help [teams] think sary ways.

“It was hard not having someof ways to be more inclusive one to help support our group; we of people with their actions kind of had to pick different people and their language” within different departments, since John Gallagher '17 we didn’t have someone dedicated just towards our group,” Gallagher “She’s been in the area before said.

Given the nature of the issues and knows what Grinnell is all

By Lucia Tonachel tonachel@grinnell.edu

faced by members of QAA, the group requires relatively extensive staff involvement, though it is connected with both the Stonewall Resource Center and the Athletics department.

“It was started a couple of years ago to give students within the athletic department who identified as queer a space and a group to meet other people in and to help build inclusion across campus,” Gallagher said. “Right now we work on promoting inclusion as much as possible, working with the teams, the faculty, the coaches and the athletic department in general to help make people feel included and support athletes of all identities.”

“I think it’s hard because a lot of us come in from high school programs and there are a lot of stereotypes around being a high school athlete, that you had to follow some gendered expectations … and I think that our goal is to dismantle that” John Gallagher '17 Roepke will also work with other student athlete groups that QAA partners with.

“We do a bit of working with other groups that we have in the athletic departments … [such as] Student Athletes for Social Change and Pioneer Diversity Council, there’s a couple of others that do work similar to us like the Student Athlete Mentors, so we’ve been doing a bit with them as well,” Gallagher said.

Roepke will assist with various aspects of QAA’s mission. The group currently strives to increase acceptance in the Grinnell athletic community through a variety of strategies.

“One of the main things we’ve been doing is [with] each team we’ve been having an inclusion talk. It’s usually over dinner or a meal in the dining hall, we get one of those classrooms and start asking them a bit about what their team defines as inclusion and trying to figure out ways to help people of all identities within their team, particularly queer identities, but we’re not going to say that we can’t talk about other stuff. We will help them think of ways to be more inclusive of people with their actions and their language,” Gallagher said.

Grinnell athletics are more accepting to people of queer identities than many other schools are, and according to a recent survey of Grinnell athletes thirteen percent

identify as queer. However, QAA still has their work cut out for them.

“Right now we work on promoting inclusion as much as possible, working with the teams, the faculty, the coaches and the athletic department in general to help make people feel included and support athletes of all identities.”

John Gallagher '17 “Student athletes [at Grinnell] are more connected to the community in different areas, it’s not just ‘you’re a division one athlete and that’s your primary identity,’ but I do think that there are moments when stereotypes within sports can still exist in our department, and a lot of what we’re trying to do is let students know that if they run against the grain of those stereotypes that is accepted and welcomed and encouraged,” Gallagher said. “I think it’s hard because a lot of us come in from high school programs and there are a lot of stereotypes around being a high school athlete, that you had to follow some gendered expectations … and I think that our goal is to dismantle that.”

Professor Vicki Bentley-Condit is in better shape than you

On January 15, Professor Vicki “The Breeze” Bentley-Condit, anthropology, ran the Maui Oceanfront Marathon. Besides being an impressive physical feat, the race in Wailea, Hawaii completed Bentley-Condit’s goal of running a marathon in each state plus Washington, D.C. Although she seems nonchalant about this accomplishment, it places her in an elite category of runners across the country.

Bentley-Condit runs amidst very different groups of runners: some, like Marathon Maniacs, an international running club, aim to complete as many marathons as possible within a given time frame, but often race with less competitive times. To join the group, you must complete two marathons within 16 days or 3 marathons within 90 days, minimum, according to Marathon Maniacs.

But don’t mistake Bentley-Condit for a slow runner. On the contrary, Bentley-Condit places in the top of her age group for most races she runs. Given her speed, one of Bentley-Condit’s many goals for the

By Steve Yang yangstev@grinnell.edu The Bear’s fitness center can be a loud and intimidating place to work out. Finding one’s groove can take some time amidst the rhythms of heavy weights thumping and thudding on the squat racks, or the grunts and shouts of effort being produced indiscriminately against the steady backbeat of pop station 106.1. But for the Women’s Basketball team, who are 13-9 overall this season, making the fitness center home is the product of unwavering support and conscious dedication to inclusivity on an academic, athletic and personal level.

“Off the court, we go to each other's extra-curricular activities, like

future is to complete a marathon in each state plus Washington, D.C. with a Boston Marathon qualifying time in each. Some of her other goals include running her 75th marathon on her upcoming birthday and racing 100 marathons in total.

Though Bentley-Condit’s accomplishments are extensive, she has been racing for a relatively short time. After starting to run during graduate school in Atlanta, she was inspired when doing fieldwork in Kenya, though her initial attempts didn’t go far. After returning to the states, her first race was the Peach Tree 10k in Atlanta. However Bentley-Condit was challenged by the weather when she moved to Grinnell after the race.

“It’s really cold and it’s really hard … basically I quit because it’s so darn hard here. And then it took me … probably six years or so before I started running again,” Bentley-Condit said. The first race she ran in Iowa was the Happy Days 10k.

“So I did the 10k, and still had that ‘you know, I wonder if I could do a half marathon … you know I might try that down the road’… so [the Des

Moines Half Marathon] was my first distance race,” Bentley-Condit said.

“When I did that, I wondered ‘you know I wonder if I could do a marathon, I wonder what that would be like. So the next year I ran the marathon, and it was hard, and it took me a long time…but it was okay, and so that was my marathon,” The marathon, all 26.2 miles, has since become her primary distance, although Bentley-Condit still races other distances. Perhaps the most notable include both 50k and 50 mile distances, some of those including trail running, which can be quite technical.

Since her first marathon, Bentley-Condit has never followed a training plan. “I’ve never had a coach, I don’t run with other people, never have consulted, just one foot in front of the other,” she said.

While many runners are gear and training-obsessed, Bentley-Condit is practiced and follows what works best for her. When asked about recovery time, Bentley-Condit smiled and explained that training plans focus on what you can’t do.

For Bentley-Condit, a week

CONTRIBUTED

Professor Vicki Bentley- Condit, anthropology, celebrating a recent marathon finish in Hawaii. of running consists of about three runs, each clocking in around half marathon length (13.1 miles). Bentley-Condit runs only in the morning and listens to metal music. Her runs are a solo endeavor, a time to think about things in the day ahead. While she does not stretch and only rolls muscles out when painful, Bentley-Condit looks forward to chocolate milk after her runs.

Bentley-Condit is an accomplished runner who gives no regard

Positivity and sports: Women's Basketball puts in the work MAP presentations, concerts, art performances; we’re there,” said Ariel Keller ’17. “Someone will put something in the team group message: the event is at this time, and if they can make it, the whole team is likely to show up.”

Keller added that the team works to cultivate a culture of caring, from simple high-fives to getting up early together to study while on the road.

“Recognize that a team is a support network. You can use it effectively, or not use it at all,” she said.

“Seeing people work on their work is contagious. People are always willing to offer help and support.”

Occasionally, the best days at the gym are attributed to anger or rage:

SARAH RUIZ

Kayla Morrissey '18 pumps some iron surrounded by her teammates. The Women's Basketball team makes a point of creating a family-like atmosphere.

lifts can become easier when all that energy is channeled into something simple and productive. But the women’s team works hard to make sure that all the energy they exude and draw on is positive, rather than negative. Keller credits good communication and positivity in maintaining team chemistry in the four seasons that she’s played for the Pioneers.

“For everything we say, we try to make it positive. Regardless of what you say, if you don’t have a positive tone, it comes off in a negative way,” Keller explained. “The way we’re encouraging is kind of like, we’re goofy ... We scream, [we] make jokes at each other. We will scream sometimes when things go well and ... say absurd things that don’t make sense.”

Guard Haley Lopez ‘17 agrees that lightheartedness and a more fun-loving attitude to the possible stressors found in the fitness center and the Bear make the whole process more enjoyable. She emphasized that there is a gentle balance between fun and hard work, to both have a lot of fun but to work equally hard.

“When people are weightlifting, we shout, ‘Let’s go women’s basketball!’ to the entire room,” Lopez noted.

“There are times for all of us to be crazy together, but every moment in the gym together is taken very seriously in terms of achieving goals.”

Lopez added that various members of the team have their unique flairs for

to the advice of others, but rather to her body. It would be easy for ‘The Breeze’ to brag about her accomplishments, and with good reason.

But even after completing 67 races, Bentley-Condit is clear about what it means to be a runner and to run a marathon.

“No matter what [speed], running a marathon is hard work. You’re on your feet, and you’re pushing … running marathons doesn’t get easier.

It’s always hard work.”

making workouts more fun, like shouting lyrics from rapper D.R.A.M.’s “Broccoli,” making eye contact with each other and singing together all the time. Specifically, she noted that Hanna Kessel frequently serves as a team cheerleader.

while the game against St. Norbert was much more difficult. Although their expectations were not terribly high, head coach Dana Harrold was on leave and consequently the players needed to depend on each other to start the next practice feeling normal.

“Recognize that a team is a support network. You can use it effectively, or not use it at all,” she said. “Seeing people work on their work is contagious. People are always willing to offer help and support” Ariel Keller '17

“We show up the next day to practice to work just as hard, as if nothing was wrong,” Keller said.

That attitude often leaves a lasting impression on prospective team members and first-years, who may feel intimidated by joining a college team. Keller said that the team goes out of its way to be overwhelmingly welcome to first years, and to care for one another on and off the court.

“People reach out to us on Facebook, and we’re always excited for someone to be part of the Grinnell women’s basketball family,” she said.

“Alissa Hirsh [’16] always said: ‘Grinnell women’s basketball has a soul.’”

It is that spirit that has become a defining part of who Keller and Lopez say they are today as Grinnellians, Pioneers and a part of their team.

“This connection that we have is for life. The memories that we’ve created as a group of women are going to be ones that we talk about for the rest of our lives,” Lopez said.

“I fear what happens when the season is over, but I know the network extends long beyond Grinnell,” Keller added.

“I want to thank Hanna for being who she is. For us, she’s one of the most incredible support systems that we have in competitions,” Lopez said. “Her excitement and passion is unwavering for every single person on the team. It makes us all want to give back to each other when we hear that from her.”

That positive energy has carried the team through particularly difficult stretches, such as backto-back losses against Midwestern Conference standouts Ripon College and St. Norbert College. The match against Ripon was a close one that got away from the Pioneers in the end,

Features

6

Patricia Finkelman '80 shares thoughts on the role of the board of trustees area. That has really been a career for me, I’ve been involved in nonprofit governance, nonprofit fundraising pretty much my whole career, I’m pretty much a very busy volunteer.

CONTRIBUTED

Patricia Finkelman ’80 is currently the Chair of the Board of Trustees at Grinnell College. She was an economics major who came to Grinnell from Pittsburg and has served on numerous nonprofit boards throughout her career. When she returned to campus in early February for the board’s quarterly meeting, she sat down with The S&B’s Philip Kiely and shared her thoughts about how the College has changed since her time as a student.

The S&B: How did you choose Grinnell?

Patricia Finkelman: I actually had my heart set on going to Middlebury, and I got waitlisted by Middlebury. The new president at Grinnell, at the time, had just come from Middlebury; he was the provost there, and he sent a letter to all accepted students quoting Robert Frost. I took that as a sign that I was meant to come to Grinnell.

The S&B: How did you become the Chair of the Board of Trustees?

PF: That’s a really long story. I’ve been an active volunteer with the college since I graduated. I started doing admissions interviews and going to college fairs right away, I did that for years and years. I joined the alumni council in 1990 and by 1997, I was president of the alumni council. The president of the alumni council is an ex-officio member of the board. So for a year I was an ex-officio trustee, and it happened to be the year that we had a change in presidents, and there was a search going on, and I was on the search committee, so I got to know the trustees really well, better than a lot of alumni council presidents are able to. At the end of the year they elected me to the board.

The S&B: Aside from the board of trustees, what else do you do?

PF: My husband and I are semi-retired, we’re empty nesters … I serve on several other boards, I live outside of Columbus, Ohio and I serve on several other boards in the Columbus

The S&B: How did your Grinnell education prepare you for that?

PF: My Grinnell education taught me a lot of things. It taught me how to think critically about things, and I take that so for granted that I’m always surprised when people don’t or can’t think critically and can’t look at multiple sides of an issue because I think that at Grinnell I really learned how to do that, and I think that it’s a gift. Grinnell also, even though we weren’t as diverse then as we are now, I learned to live with and work with people who came from different backgrounds than mine, who had different life experiences, and that serves me very well in the work that I do.

The S&B: What do you think has been the biggest change in Grinnell since you graduated?

PF: That’s a really interesting question because we talk so much about what’s the same. I think the diversity of the student body, absolutely, both domestic diversity and international diversity.

The S&B: In your opinion, what is the role of the Board of Trustees?

What is your most important mission for the college?

PF: Our role is to make sure that the college is living up to its mission. At the end of the day we are responsible.

Some people would say that our role is very simple: we hire the President and we manage the endowment. That’s very simplistic, we do a lot more than that, but really the President runs the college, we make sure that we have the best person in that spot, and then we have fiduciary responsibility for the college’s resources. That’s a pretty big responsibility, we take it very seriously. Our board is … probably 80 percent alums, maybe 90 percent, so we start out in board service with a passion for the institution.

The S&B: How can the board help shape Grinnell’s story?

PF: I think that the board, along with the administration and the faculty, we’re so intimately knowledgeable about Grinnell’s strengths that we can help craft the message. I think that we need the outside experts to help us fi-

Edited by kielyphi@grinnell.edu

DOG promotes activism

nalize it, but we know the institution, we know its strengths, and we’re passionate about this place.

The S&B: What are some of the day-to-day things that you do?

PF: Leadership … is twofold. One is keeping things moving, and that requires a lot of communication, whether it is communication between the administration and the board members, communication within the board leadership, so there’s a lot of communication. I spend a lot of time on the phone and a lot of time emailing. There’s a responsibility to make sure that the relationship between the board and the administration is strong and collaborative. The President and I, at the end of the day, it’s our responsibility to make sure that it’s working well.

The S&B: What do you see as some of the biggest challenges facing the college right now?

PF: I think that they are the same challenges that are facing a lot of institutions of higher education, college is increasingly expensive, and that’s an issue that we’ve been really fortunate at Grinnell that we’ve had the resources to be very generous with financial aid but costs are just going to continue to go up, so that’s a challenge.

The S&B: What are the biggest opportunities for growth here at Grinnell?

PF: There are a couple of areas that I would focus on. One is my passion, which is around Careers, Life and Service. I think Grinnell has room not just to grow but really to lead in the field, to demonstrate … to students and families, that not only are we giving students a world-class education but we’re really helping them think about what’s next … and giving them the tools to get there.

I also think Global Grinnell … in some respects we’ve hidden our light under a bushel on that one. We are incredibly diverse, our students study abroad in great numbers, we have a great international curriculum, but we haven’t put all of that together and said to the rest of the world ‘look what you can get here in the Iowa prairie.’

You take global, you take CLS and you take our individually advised curriculum … you might get one of those things somewhere else but I think that the combination of all three is pretty unique and pretty remarkable.”

Wynn takes position as therapy dog

GARRETT WANG

"Doing Organizing at Grinnell" strives to organize Grinnell activists.

By Ridhika Agrawal agrawalr@grinnell.edu “Doing Organizing at Grinnell,” a new publication at Grinnell College, intends to support activism and organization on campus. It is led by Nate Williams ’20 and Ella Williams ’19.

So far, they have had two publications, one of which was a preview and the other a full version. A conversation about the campus’s response to the current social and political environment inspired the publication. "[Nate] is my brother and it was his idea, actually, he and I were talking about it a lot over break at home and it was sort of like, it came out of this discussion we were having about how there are a lot of organizations at Grinnell and they seem sort of disconnected sometimes. And instead of starting more organizations, to connect the other organizations, we decided to make a publication so that people could see all of the information and the activist events, the affinity groups and have all the information compiled in one place.” Ella Williams said.

But the publication has another, more universal objective, apart from organizing at Grinnell.

“Institutional memory is something that we are trying to tackle as well. Because there is a cycle at a lot of campuses where every four years there will be a huge movement for something and the students will achieve that and the administration will implement it but then two or three years later when those people who fought for that are gone, the administration will make those changes back and there will have to a whole other

fight again,” Nate Williams said.

The project also intends to preserve a record of current activism.

“It can also be more of a subtle thing. Being at Grinnell, we do have the archives in the basement of Burling but there isn’t really any compilation of all the activism that has happened in it. As a school that has such a rich history of activism, I think we need that. This is also serving as an archival project to document everything that is happening,” Ella Williams said.

The publication intends to serve as a complete guide for how to be an activist on campus.

“It has a blurb about who we are, contact info, events all related to activism, there is a lot of art because art here is very intertwined with activism and each issue we are going to have some opinion pieces. We also have a little game at the end, also the resources are on the back. It’s like a guide of how someone can be active on campus” Ella Williams said.

They have also been working on further improving the publication and its contents.

“We are working with people to get DOG into the archives and the archives into DOG. I met with Chris Jones [Archivist of the College] and Allison Hack [Library Assistant] and they talked a lot about publications from the past in Grinnell that had been like this. We might implement a weekly section that says something like ‘on this day in 1957 there was a protest and this is what happened’.

So this continues along the theme of communicating between people across both the campus and time,” Nate Williams said.

Burling gets lit

Cohen wrote in an email to The S&B. The school hopes that Wynn’s likeable personality and warmth will help students deal with stress and contribute to creating a healthier environment for those in our community who deal with mental illness.

It was this mission and their love of dogs that attracted Cohen and ColeKink to the position.

"I truly believe animals can have a real and meaningful relationship [with] people."

HELENA GRUENSTEIDL

Wynn, a four-year-old licensed therapy dog, is Grinnell College's first therapy dog. The program intends to support mental health on campus.

By Jon Sundby sundbyjo17@grinnell.edu Wynn’s life is a rags-to-riches story. Formerly a street dog, she was adopted while still a puppy by Keira Wilson, Assistant Director of Service and Social Innovation, and brought into a loving Grinnell home. Now she’s employed by the College to play and snuggle with her handlers, Charlotte Cohen ‘19 and Jasper Cole-Kink ‘19 and with the whole Grinnell community — any dog’s dream job.

Wynn is four-year old “All-American” mutt, who is about to start her term as Grinnell College’s first therapy dog. She’s a grey, medium sized dog, who likely has some greyhound and Australian Shepherd in her. She also possess the world’s cutest ears.

“They’re very soft, very expressive,” Cole-Kink said. “When she smells a piece of cheese they're just like ‘PHEWW’ [Cole-Kink jolted their hands towards ceiling]. They’re too fluffy to be perked up, but the surface area is still there.”

Trained at the Des Moines Obedience Training Center, Wynn will

earn her Therapy Dogs International certification this Sunday and is ready to start helping the student body within the month. While naturally a loving and laid-back dog, Wynn had to learn a few more skills in order to qualify for the title “therapy dog”. “[We had to] make sure that she’s not too dead set on following you everywhere you go, so making sure she can stay with other people, or be independent of the handler but also very much under control,” ColeKink explained.

"I've seen what licensed therapy and service dogs can do, and the improvement that they can make in people's lives.”

–Jasper Cole-Kink '19 Luckily, this part of the training came easy to Wynn, who is comfortable with nearly everyone. ColeKink describes her as “a couch dog.”

Her favorite activity is getting cozy and chilling near a petting hand.

“Wynn is always adorable but if you tell her to sit on the couch with you she loves to curl up on your lap,”

–Charlotte Cohen '19 “I’ve seen what licensed therapy and service dogs can do, and the improvement that they can make in people’s lives...anything I can do to make people’s lives better by giving them dog time is a good thing,” Cole-Kink said. “I truly believe animals can have a real and meaningful relationship [with] people which benefits physical and mental health,” Cohen added.

The handlers themselves also have to go through three-weeks of training to be able to run the program, and are currently working through the logistics of the program. There will be open office hours throughout the week, which will most likely be held in Harris. Autumn Wilke, Assistant Dean for Disability Resources, and the handlers are looking into times when Wynn can attend different campus events and study breaks as well.

Additionally, students can connect with Wynn in a 21st century fashion — on social media. ColeKink and Cohen are currently looking to set up a Facebook page, Instagram account, Snapchat and Twitter profiles to both spread the word about the resource as well as to document all of Wynn’s cutest moments.

“Follow her!” Cole-Kink said.

SOFIA MENDEZ

New, energy-efficient LED bulbs replace outdated CFL bulbs in three hundred locations in Burling Library.

By Andrea Baumgartel baumgart1@grinnell.edu Over the weekend in Burling Library, The SGA Green Committee hosted an informal lightbulb-reinstatement event in which students were invited to switch outdated compact florescent lamp (CFL) bulbs in accessible areas such as desks and tables for an environmentally friendly and lower-cost LED alternative.

Representing the committee were Emily Burgess '19, Zach Steckel '18, and Andrew Zdechlik '19. The event itself was the brainchild of Kara Nielsen '17, who did the majority the organization and planning.

From 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., The Green Committee annexed two long rectangular tables on the first floor and filled them with 300 fresh-out-of-the-box LEDs, a suggestion form, fruit and cookies. Industrious workers and procrastinators alike were dispatched through the dusty shelves to abolish the inefficient bulbs and screw in the new. All of the old CFL bulbs are being donated to Second Mile or any student who wants one.

The idea was partially inspired by the inaccessible nature of participation in hands-on change for many college students.

"As students, it's often hard to do hands-on stuff," Nielsen said, but emphasized that sometimes the simplest

actions can bring about the most immediate change.

"We thought that this event was a great way to combine green initiative with student engagement and outreach," Nielsen said, "We didn't just transfer the lightbulbs, we were able to get other students in on the action in a public setting. This [project] is just the kick-off of many."

The Green Committee was granted $20,000 just for this semester to explore and institute more green ideas, policies and innovations.

It plans to track the amount of energy saved with the LEDs compared to CFLs, and present their findings to President Kington and other members of administration in order to garner more support for environmental sustainability on campus.

Other projects that are in the works include installing energy monitors into dorms to increase awareness of energy usage.

"We also want to do some projects that bring solar and/or wind power to campus. A personal goal of mine would be putting a large chunk of our budget in collaboration with other funds to make a building on campus entirely solar powered," Zdechlik said, "with such a large budget, we really want others to have a say as well. We encourage anyone who has other ideas [for the Green Committee] to share them."

7

Arts

Edited by coghlann17@grinnell.edu

Díaz talks activism, freedom and finding your place

CONT. FROM FRONT PAGE contribution is their art is ... self-serving.”

“What is it about art that’s so special that you can’t say, ‘well, my job is my contribution.’ Why can’t the rest of us say that? Is it only because art is somehow fetishized in this extra dimensional nature? Why can’t I say well, the fact that I’m polite is my contribution – then I seem absurd. The line is, you know, thin.”

Díaz spoke of the importance of hands-on civic action as a form of resistance. He sees volunteering as one of the most effective ways to get through the disenfranchisement and hopelessness that many people feel, both on campus and in the country at large.

"It sounds completely anti-intuitive, but the best way to break out of this funk is to help other people."

Junot Diaz “Look: you can be as broke as you are, and you can have children, and you could be incredibly busy, but ultimately, all of us have to participate in the civic. ... I think the idea is that civic labor is what we do above and beyond anything that can help us as human beings. ...

And I think that that’s really, really important. ... The civic actually involves us disrupting our lives. It’s the nature of the civic.”

“There are a million ways for folks to figure out how to do their art, but I’m not trying to get at that, I’m not trying to argue that,” he said. “I’m trying to argue for a civic sensibility.”

This civic sensibility, for Díaz, means simply spending time helping others.

“It sounds completely anti-intuitive, but the best way to break out of this funk is to help other people. ... Why is it important to help other people? Part of the reason we feel overwhelmed and negative ... is because we have no context other than our fear and our pain,” he said.

“Our imagination shuts down, we only think in the simplest ways. ... Fear shuts down cognitive function. I tell every one of my students to volunteer. ... What happens when you begin to help other people is you discover that your pain is on a continuum. And what you become aware of is not your incapacity— what you become aware of when you help other people is vast privilege. And how much room for operation you got, how much room for generative action you have.”

“We ain’t fucking losing. We ain’t fucking undone. We ain’t fucking lost.”

One student, Luke Jarynza ’18, asked how Díaz felt about Chance the Rapper’s Grammy acceptance speech, in which he said, “I know that people think independence means you do it by yourself, but independence means freedom,” in terms of Díaz’s association with a university through his teaching position as a creative writer.

Díaz, rather than discussing his creative freedoms as a professor, turned to his and ultimately all of our place in neoliberalism.

“I don’t know anything about freedom,” he said. “We are all caught in this crazy ass oppressive nature. Some of us can accumulate the kind of privilege that permits us to duck, right, a lot of the real terrible ravages of this shit. But all of us are bounded and implicated.”

“Sort of like the Titanic—we’re all on the boat, and we’re all going down,” Díaz continued. “This whole system, we’re all enmeshed in it, no one is outside of the boat. Even people who ‘leave the system’ —that’s part of the system. That’s the nature of it. ... I’ve never felt like there was anything that I could do that would make me less implicated in the exact system. Now there are ways that we can turn our privilege into good effects and ways that we can fight, which I think we all need to do.”

He did, however, have a moment to talk about Beyoncé and the racism implicit in the Grammys.

“I’m still bugging out on Beyoncé.

SOFIA MENDEZ

Junot Díaz addressed a packed JRC 101 on Tuesday night.

Explain that to me,” he said. “That’s what happens when you have a bunch of white voters, though. For real. I mean it’s a bugged out situation. And that’s what the weirdest thing is when you think about this ... the majority of our cultural evaluation mechanisms, the people who run them are hostile to the primary cultural creators. So the Grammys is just like an anti-black, anti-Latino, anti-indigenous, anti-queer machine.”

"Part of the reason we feel overwhelmed and negative... is because we have no context other than our fear and our pain."

Junot Diaz Conversations from previous sessions continued later in the day, as students, faculty, members of the community and even out-of-state visitors packed into JRC 101 to hear Díaz read and answer questions from the audience. Díaz began as he had in earlier meetings, asking specifically for questions from women

of color.

The discussion began as a safe space that Díaz had created and despite some pushback, JRC 101 was transformed into a place of honesty. Delving into topics such as the place of the N-word in literature and classrooms and the mental health situation in the United States, he advocated for self-care on the personal level. For Díaz, this self-care is integral to resistance to oppressive systems.

“If you’re like me, I grew up thinking … because I wasn’t white, I was the ugliest person in the world. Looking at my skin, looking at my hair, thinking about what I found desirable, it’s hard to remember this young person that had these toxic ideas … we’ve got to put love back into that system,” he said.

Speaking to a crowd reeling from the recent actions taken by the president’s administration, Díaz touched upon activism as crucial to the dismantling of current power structures. He advocated for finding antagonists and fighting to end their oppression.

This fervent adherence to a

political life had a profound effect on the audience, as questions became more pointed and directed at his political beliefs. Díaz expressed himself and his opinions as an immigrant of color who had seen what life outside the United States was like and decided that he was in a unique place of privilege.

"We are all caught in this crazy ass oppressive nature.

Some of us can accumulate the kind of privilege that permits us to duck ... but all of us are bounded and implicated."

Junot Diaz

“There ain’t no money in this society that isn’t dripping in blood.

The reason I say this is because it’s true. Now, this doesn’t alter the equation,” Díaz said. “The question is how many people is this an antagonistic contradiction. How many people are going to say ‘this battle of all the battles is a good one to fight’ and sure, I encourage that …

It’s not like I don’t practice this, I believe in it.”

French actor debuts film at Strand Spoon Carver to Theatre downtown visit campus and hold workshop Saturday

By Teresa Fleming flemingt17@grinnell.edu

CONTRIBUTED

Students will spend a full day learning how to carve spoons in the latest in a series of wooden cutlery workshops that have been sponsored by the College this Saturday, Feb. 18. The workshop, which focuses on local materials and traditional knife strokes, will be hosted by expert woodworker Fred Livesay.

Livesay, a Saint Paul native, began carving spoons at the age of seven and claims a broad range of experiences working as a wheelwright and carriage builder. His interest in spoons developed out of his experience with Scandinavian folk art, gained studying in Sweden and Milan.

In addition to sharing the material skills of his craft, Livesay will reflect on the evolving role of handcrafts in the digital age and his experience founding a folk arts school. Students will spend the day crafting a spoon made of wood harvested from campus trees. But a press release from the College warned that participants may experience consequences lasting long beyond the weekend: “Spoon carving has been called the gateway drug to woodworking. Once you experience the satisfaction of crafting something beautiful and useful, you may never stop.”

While participants in the workshop were required to sign up last Monday, all community members are welcome to stop by and observe the activities this Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Bucksbaum room 32.

mance from its actors. He reflected that it was these moments of organic interaction that were the most difficult to portray as an actor.

“To be human, to be simple, no act, is one of the most challenging things we are asked to do,” Recoing said. “It was a strange film to produce because everyone was feeling the distance and difficulty of togetherness, on an island which is very small.”

Recoing addressed the spiritual undercurrents that characterize the film as an essential part of the relationship between the island’s inhabitants and their coastal home village.

“The sea has been a monster for many centuries. Spirituality is a link between humans and the sea- the word religion comes from the word relier, which means to reconnect, to link up with something. And religion serves as a link between humans and the sea.”

Students who wish to see more of Recoing’s work can join him this Saturday, Feb. 18, at 3 p.m. in Bucksbaum 152 for a screening of his film, “Tout un hiver sans feu,” or “An entire winter without fire.”

CONTRIBUTED

Aurélien Recoing's film "Souffler plus fort que la mer," premiered in Grinnell on Wednesday night.

By Teresa Fleming flemingt17@grinnell.edu It’s a rarity for a French film to hold its world premiere in rural Iowa, but last Wednesday, Feb. 15, students, faculty and community members crowded into the Strand Theater for the first public screening of “Souffler plus fort que la mer,” or “To breathe more strongly than the sea.” The screening drew students and faculty from across disciplines as disparate as French and film studies for the screening and discussion with French actor Aurélien Recoing, who starred as a father and fisherman attempting to guide his family through tumultuous times. The event was sponsored by the Institute for Global Engagement and the Department of French and Arabic.

The film examines a family and a village on the brink of economic collapse as they face the repossession of the last fishing boat on their small island, and was inspired by the real economic crises that have affected rural France. It frames the coming of age story of Julie, a young girl who searches for a path forward after her family’s livelihood disappears. Re-

coing explained that the film was shot in only 5 weeks on location on an island off the western coast of France. While living there with the rest of the crew, he witnessed firsthand the consequences communities face when the industries that used to sustain them disappear.

“This island is very small, it has only one hundred residents in the winter, and we feel the problems that result from that – alcoholism, unemployment – but also the solidarity that emerges,” Recoing said. “The director [Marine Place] travelled to this island because it had to be real, for her it was this feeling how to tell the story of people who have lost their jobs but must continue.”

Part of the film’s sense of authenticity emerged from its partially improvised script. Recoing recounted filming scenes where he and his fellow actors would shout at one another incoherently to capture the dynamics of a family fraught with tension. For Recoing, this ad-lib work was reminiscent of his experiences filming “Blue is the Warmest Color,” an acclaimed French film which relied heavily on improvised perfor-

8

Arts

Edited by coghlann17@grinnell.edu

Grinnell Artists: Tim Dooley '17 "I don't know what I can say about it, other than to create it"

NORA COGHLAN

By Andrea Baumgartel baumgart@grinnell.edu On a cloudy Wednesday afternoon, as I stepped into Bucksbaum studio 128B, I found Tim Dooley ‘17 in a continuous mental and physical rumination over his artwork.

Much like his deeply conceptual, cerebral prints, the creative process of the fourth-year Studio Art major, SEPC member and visual artist is equally abstract. Dooley himself had trouble translating his geometric projections into words.

“Something will hit me … I try to keep track of those thoughts that will resonate in me. I start to constantly turn them over and over in my head and exploit them in my mind,” he said, speaking with his hands and shifting his eyes far past the corners of the room, as if searching for answers in an invisible space.

He trailed off, but it was clear that he wasn’t finished speaking.

Choosing his words like his carefully-cut vinyl stencils, he continued.

“I actually don’t think much about how people will receive my work. I don’t expect a certain reaction to any particular part of my work ... I like different reactions. But I’m more concerned with making things I want to see,” he explained.

“I guess a lot of the times I’m just playing with shapes and seeing

how I can create a tension between the flatness of the plane and the sense of volume something in that plane can provide, and mess with perceptions.”

For Dooley, movement and space are two themes that demand to be explored through art.

“It’s one of those things where ... how can you talk about space? The word itself can mean so many things.

I don’t know what I can say about it other than to create it ... all of this is still very new to me.”

In fact, prior to arriving at Grinnell, Dooley did not consider himself an artist. But after exploring different styles and sifting through the course catalog, Dooley found himself drawn to studio courses, his artistry more or less falling into his lap.

“It kind of happened by accident, and I ended up really enjoying it, and I had the credits, so I decided to major [in Studio Art] and never looked back,” Dooley admitted.

This go with the flow attitude and willingness to explore have served Dooley well, allowing his work to develop through what he deems a pattern of “convenient accidents.”

On a strangely warm day in December, Dooley grabbed a camera and a bicycle and set out into the cornfields, not knowing what he would find.

“Sort of out of nowhere, it started to rain and then that quickly passed, and then these huge thunder clouds rolled and created this drama,” he said. “It drew me in. And then the tornado sirens started wailing.”

So naturally, instead of seeking refuge, Dooley started capturing the storm with his camera. Some of the resulting photos, which have undergone vast manipulation in the studio, will be on display next week in Smith Gallery.

“Everyone always talks about the Iowa Sky,” Dooley said. “I’m from

Looking for a campus job?

Minneapolis, which is so different, of course. Photography is an outlet that allows me to bring in parts of the world and as many points of view as possible into my work.”

Although Dooley firmly denies any ownership of an organizational personality, the Grinnell art scene has allowed him to take charge.

“Being in the studio is the one place where I can tap into that. When it comes to art, I am so detailed-oriented,” he explained.

The intensely methodical pace which Dooley approaches his work is perfectly complemented by the joy art elicits.

“Being a Studio Art major is just ... so fun,” he said, grinning. “The thing is, I can see myself in another major, but there’s just something special about this major ... along with the work being fun, there’s this community of very exciting, very eclectic and collaborative people.”

This collaborative aspect in the discipline happens on a lot of levels.

“It makes the world a little easier to have people doing the same but different work alongside you, where everyone is so supportive of everyone else’s endeavors” he said.

Dooley’s passion for the arts community is transcendent; it is a part of his current and future identity.

“In pursuing the visual arts, there’s such a tight-knit community that comes along with that. So finding that creative network is something that’s really important to me ... I think a lot about volunteering and finding different ways to be involved.”

And for Dooley, being involved doesn’t always mean exclusively creating art. He also aims to create space for himself and other artists to feel safe and accepted. “[We need] spaces for artists to express themselves and be recognized. Especially now,” he winced, thinking about the prospects for artists under our current presidential administration. “That safety is so important.”

Along with the other members of the Studio Art SEPC, Dooley is currently working to create such a space in Bucksbaum. “[It will be a space] where anyone can just come and chill, draw, take their mind off of things. I have some friends that have never set foot in Bucksbaum, don’t really know what amazing things go on here, and we want to open it up to the rest of campus.”

Dooley’s work will be on display in Smith Gallery beginning Monday, Feb. 20.

NORA COGHLAN

[newspapr] join S&B as

PHOTOGRAPHERS & Sundays Writers JRC 220

come stories @3

photos @3:30

Community

Edited by vitaioli@grinnell.edu

Grinnell adapts to CIFP closing

9

Des Moines school district approves sanctuary schools

By Jon Sundby sundbyjo17@grinnell.edu

XIANOXUAN YANG

Central Iowa Family Planning closed its doors in November and Grinnell has been seeking alternatives since.

By Mira Braneck braneckm@grinnell.edu Ever since the closing of Central Iowa Family Planning (CIFP), a Title X funded family planning clinic that provided feminist and LGBTQIA friendly health care, the Grinnell community has been lacking an important health resource.

However, the medical community of Grinnell and the surrounding areas, in partnership with the College, is currently working to open a new clinic or provide the lost services to the community.

Primary Health Care (PHC), based out of Marshalltown, IA, worked in partnership with CIFP. PHC is currently considering purchasing a mobile unit as another option for care. This service would not be available until July 1.

PHC is also considering opening another Title X funded clinic in Grinnell. If a clinic were to open in Grinnell, the Grinnell Regional Medical Center has stated that they would help by providing space.

“The hospital has suggested that Primary Health Care may be able to use free clinic space,” said Angela Voos, vice president for strategic planning. This space would be at the Light Center, the free clinic near the hospital.

“PHC noted that their board is concerned about making a decision right now due to the potential changes with the ACA (Affordable Care Act) and cuts in funding, but noted that they are open to “exploring all options,” wrote Deb Shill, director of SHACS operations, in an email to The S&B. “With the funding in jeopardy in Iowa, and probably in the federal government ... it’s really up in the air, and [that’s] deeply disturbing,” Voos said.

In the meantime, the College is working with PHC to extend their Saturday hours and provide a shuttle for both college students and community members. “They thought that twice a month they could do a pick-up and take-back service, and we said, help us help you. Period,” Voos said. “If you have the transportation and you need funding to pay for that transport, please help us help you.”

The College does not consider a shuttle service to be a permanent solution. “That’s like a short-term fix until they can get things figured out,” Shill said.

The opening of a mobile clinic or the transporting of Grinnellians to Marshalltown would not affect the local medical community in a negative way. “My understanding is that this would not impede on their own practices. This is a population that is deeply underserved, and we are not over-supplied in medical care,” Voos said. “That was my understanding ... that this would not be competition” The closing of CIFP left an important gap in resources for those that need confidential care or more affordable care. Voos worries about those populations. “On this side, there’s frustration that it’s taking forever. I’m glad to know that a lot of people are taking advantage of the care that’s here,” she said. “The remaining concerns are twofold: one, about high school students and middle school students, and indigent families here, because I don’t know where they’re getting their care. And the second, the LGBTQIA community. ... The family practice here, I think is great, but we want to make sure all those pieces, as community members, are picked up.”

SHACS can provide a variety of care as well, including Plan B for

Movies at the Strand

20 dollars, at cost, HIV testing, STD testing and safe sex supplies. Shill is also working on a contract for Ella, a weight-based Plan B. SHACS also has funding set aside to help students make some medical payments, including the cost of pill packs.

Shill emphasized that she wanted students to use SHACS as an important resource. “We want to encourage [students] to do that, to come and see the nurses. ... We can look at their insurance plan, we can call and schedule the appointments, we can help with transportation,” she said.

SHACS can also help students work through insurance issues. “We can connect them to Medicaid resources. ... If they don’t have insurance and they don’t want to College to know because every student is required, we would help them get connected with Medicaid ... confidentially.”

When CIFP closed, the only OBGYN at GRMC was on maternity leave. She is now back at work, and much of the care lost by the closing of CIFP can be found in town.

“Pretty much most of the care can be delivered here in the community through our local providers — they can do the STD testing, they can do the implants,” Shill said. “It’s for those that have limited funding, and that’s the community that we are trying to support in addition to all of our students, because of course funding is always a challenge when you’re a college student.”

While PHC considers applying to open a clinic in Grinnell, Shill and Voos are both working to help supplement the services available in the community.

“In the interim, we need to still move forward, because the services are still needed here,” Shill said.

FIFTY SHADES DARKER

Showtimes: 4:10 p.m. 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m.

Twilight fanfiction takes the screen again as Anastasia tries to cure sadboi Christian of his S&Bdsm ways.

When President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 27 detailing a more aggressive stance on illegal immigration than his predecessor, both his supporters and critics realized that the President intended to follow through on his campaign promises. This realization motivated the board of directors for the Des Moines Public School District to pass two “sanctuary” resolutions on Feb. 7, which both reaffirm the district’s support for students of all backgrounds and set up a protocol in case one of their schools ever encounters Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The school district is the first in Iowa to pass such resolutions.

“Given the demographic profile of Des Moines Public Schools, we thought that it was critically important that we create the right sort of protocol and policy that would ensure that our students and their families would not only feel welcome, but protected, in our district,” said Teree Caldwell-Johnson, Chair of the Board of Directors for Des Moines Public Schools.

The first resolution establishes a chain of command wherein if ICE contacts a school official, they should refer the agency to the Superintendent, who would be advised by legal counsel when speaking with the agency. Unlike many designations of “sanctuary” jurisdictions, this resolution does not advocate for non-compliance, but merely the streamlining of requests to one official who would have access to legal knowledge regarding what they can do to help their students.

“We were very specific in our [resolution] that the Superintendent would serve as the clearinghouse for any requests, so that building level administrators and others aren’t put upon to respond or act. It is really more of a district level decision to allow the superintendent, supported by a general consul, to field all requests and manage those appropriately so that we’re consistent across the district,” Caldwell-Johnson said.

But despite the practicality of the resolution, the board has already received pushback from one notable Iowa lawmaker — Congressman Steve King. Right after the board passed the resolutions, Caldwell-Johnson received a letter from the Congressman who claimed the school district's actions were in violation of two federal laws and the Constitution.

“This resolution looks to violate constitutional law, civil law and criminal law,” stated King in his let-

SPLIT Showtimes: 3:50 p.m., 6:45 p.m., 9:20 p.m.

In this thriller, three teens are abducted by James McAvoy as a nine-year-old, James McAvoy as a British woman, James McAvoy as a man with OCD and James McAvoy as 20 other personaliteies.

ter to the school board. “It behooves all parties contemplating this course of action to think deeply about the serious legal ramifications...If there is a disagreement on immigration law, then all are free to attempt to change it through the political process. However, no one is free to act in violation of the law simply because they do not agree with it.”

Caldwell-Johnson was puzzled by the letter, both because of its inaccuracies regarding the substance and legality of their policy, as well as the fact that Steve King does not represent Des Moines and has never shown interest in any previous issues regarding the district.

In response, Caldwell-Johnson and the Superintendent, Thomas Ahart, drafted a letter to King in which they pointed to their lawyer’s legal analysis, several other districts actions and pieces of ICEs own internal policy, which supported their stance. Caldwell-Johnson also mentioned that King’s letter completely ignored the Supreme Court ruling of Plyer v. Doe, which guaranteed the right of every child, documented or otherwise, to a public education.

“It came as somewhat a surprise that you chose to write a letter that appeared to be an attempt to intimidate our school district from supporting our immigrant and refugee students or interfering with the long-established legal right that all children — regardless of immigration status — have to receive a free public education in the United States of America,” wrote Caldwell-Johnson and Ahart in their response to King.

One of the driving forces behind the resolutions was school board member Robert Barron ‘02, a Grinnell alum and one of 16 elected Latino officials in Iowa. In an interview with the Des Moines Register, Barron emphasized that these actions were intended to help the whole system, not just undocumented students, as “good ethical governance...puts the needs of the whole first by acting to improve outcomes for those with a pronounced disadvantage.”

Des Moines Public Schools are most likely the first district to create a protocol to deal with ICE since they are the largest by student population and currently serve 4,000 students who were born outside of the United States. Caldwell-Johnson thought smaller districts, like Grinnell-Newburg, would not have to create such a protocol since their undocumented student population is smaller. Indeed, when asked about whether Grinnell’s school board was thinking of taking similar steps, Board Chair Barbara Brown said that the topic had never arisen.

A DOG'S PURPOSE Standard: 3:50 p.m., 6:45 p.m.

3D: 9:10 p.m.

A boy and his dog share a special bond.

Then dog dies, and the dog comes back as another dog and another dog and another dog and another dog.

10

Community

The S&B Reviews:

Edited by vitaioli@grinnell.edu

Mexican Food

Los Girasoles by keli vitaioli

Los Girasoles, located at 101 West St., is the newest addition to Grinnell’s roster of Mexican restaurants. A bit beyond walking distance from the College, I believed it was The S&B’s responsibility to determine for ourselves if this mysterious newcomer was worth the trek.

The S&B staff, represented by myself, Louise Carhart and Teresa Fleming, both ’17, spent a romantic Valentine’s Day evening testing out how Los Girasoles stacked up against the heavy competition of Casa de Pancho, La Casa Margaritas and the ever controversial Taco Bell.

Upon entering Los Girasoles I was blown away by the sunny, cheerful décor. With mosaics, palm ferns and a decorative sombrero-filled wheelbarrow, the forty-degree weather outside was quickly forgotten as I was transported to a southwestern escape. Not to mention the abundance of sunflowers, more than living up to the name, covering walls, menus, booths and even tables. Fleming described it as “an oasis in the corn fields.”

When our food arrived, it became clear serving sizes are also an added plus to Los Girasoles. Carhart’s and my orders came with an ample amount of refried beans, rice and even a shredded lettuce salad. The plate was larger than my face, possibly larger than all three of our faces combined.

I ordered a Spanish omelette, which featured a tasty blend of eggs, peppers, mushrooms and salsa. Being someone who typically doesn’t stray far beyond a veggie burrito, I was pleasantly surprised at the added pizazz and protein the egg brought to my meal. Overall, the dish exceeded my expectations in taste, flavor, spicy-ness and mouth-feel.

Fleming ordered nachos with shredded beef while Carhart chose the

How's it stack up?

The S&B rates the food and drinks at local Mexican restaurants

veggie quesadilla. Similar to my order, the plate sizes could be likened to a 50 lb weight plate from the Bear.

“It was delicious, I enjoyed every bite until I had arrived at the end of my chips and I realized I had a whole third of my plate left that was just cheese, beef and guac, so it was a ratio issue, and I don’t enjoy food waste. But I enjoyed 66.6 percent of the bites,” Fleming said.

“It had a good mix of vegetables, but it could’ve been fried a little bit longer,” Carhart said.

Teresa Fleming and Louise Carhart both ’17 and the staff’s resident margarita experts, sampled the restaurant’s mango and raspberry margarita options respectively.* “It was smooth and tasted like mango,” Fleming said. “At Casa de Pancho, they tend to taste more like tequila, and this was way better.”

“It tasted better than most margaritas I’ve had,” Carhart said, which is high praise considering her margarita expert status.

The crowd at Los Girasoles was also a refreshing surprise — I spotted nary neither an underage drunken baseball player nor a gaggle of CLS advisors exchanging resume horror stories over salsa. Our corner booth, decorated generously with sunflowers, provided enough isolation for us to enjoy each other’s company while the pleasant din of other diners was merely ambiance and not a distraction.

Our waitress was not overly attentive, but she was quick to take our orders and ask how our meals were, ideal for our romantic dinner date. With entrees ranging from seven to 15 dollars, the meal was worth the five-minute drive. When it comes to Mexican food in Grinnell, Los Girasoles is definitely the new fan favorite.

“I think it is a fresh new voice in

La Casa De Pancho

Food: margaritas

the Mexican food scene in Grinnell,” Fleming said. “I really enjoyed my evening there, and I will definitely be coming back.”

“I liked the ambiance a lot more than other Mexican restaurants in town, and I will definitely return,” Carhart said. “And, it’s a lot of food.” *Please enjoy your margaritas responsibly and use tasty nachos to bribe a friend to DD

Arbitrary analysis Food:

4.5/5 5/5

Margaritas:

ALL PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED

Carhart, Fleming and Vitaioli enjoy large plates, sunflower decor and an all-around great Valentine's Day meal.

La Casa Margaritas

Taco Johns Food: 2/5 margaritas: N/A

Food: margaritas

4/5 4/5

Taco Bell Food: margaritas: N/A

5/5

3.5/5 2.5/5

SEG hosts pie fundraiser, spreads awareness

By Steve Yang yangstev17@grinnell.edu If you enjoy eating pie, baking pie or providing microloans to fellow members of the Grinnell community, the Social Entrepreneurs of Grinnell (SEG) hope that you will find time to attend their pie fundraiser “Slices for SEG” at Saints Rest this Sunday, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

SEG hopes the pie fundraiser will serve two purposes: increase awareness about the group and its efforts, and raise funds that will supplement the group’s ability to provide microloans in the future.

Director Jenn Latham explained that while SEG has been active for a number of years, it has been operating behind the scenes for a while and wanted to host an event that would do the tasks of marketing and fundraising simultaneously.

The pie fundraiser breaks down into two parts, those interested in submitting pies to the competition will bring in two pies of the same recipe to Saints Rest at 3:30 p.m. where they will be judged. Beginning at 5:30 p.m. the public is invited to come learn more about SEG’s work over coffee and a slice of pie, with awards being distributed at 6:15 p.m.

Although previous events have been hosted in the past like letter-writing campaigns, regular mailings and physical challenges taken on by Professor Monty Rop-

er, anthropology, the board wanted to find a new way to expand its impact.

“The fundraiser can raise awareness of what SEG does. For a lot of our work, people find us through word of mouth,” Latham said. “Part of that is a limited amount of funds. It’s difficult to market without funds, and ... we wanted something that appeals to families. ... Who doesn’t like pies?”

“It’s difficult to market without funds, and ... we wanted something that appeals to families. ... Who doesn’t like pies?”

Jenn Latham Founded by Grinnell College students, SEG was originally an international microfinance club that raised money from around campus to put into a Kiva Microfund that provides loans to entrepreneurs requesting small start-up loans. These funds were subsequently provided in the form of direct international microloans through faculty connections, and SEG received a federal nonprofit 501 (c)(3) designation alongside recognition from the White House for the group’s efforts.

Nowadays, the group’s efforts focus primarily on emergency loans to individuals, with the explicit goal of avoiding the pitfalls of payday loans. Latham explains that these payday loans are poorly regulated

and charge incredibly high interest rates that can trap borrowers in a debt spiral.

“It can get to the point where you’re paying a 300 percent interest rate. That kind of interest rate can put you under: you’ll never get out from that,” Latham said.

Latham said that SEG’s goal is to provide small emergency loans, averaging about six hundred dollars, to borrowers to insure that they are not in danger of being taken advantage of by payday loans.

She mentioned that although laws are slowly being passed to protect people and raise awareness, it’s still incredibly expensive to be poor.

“If you have a bill and you write a check and you overdraw your account, you immediately get charged fees. There are plenty of people in town who do not have bank accounts. They have to go somewhere to pay a fee to cash a check ... and you end up paying extra,” she explained. “We’d like to make it so that people don’t have to go for those kinds of loans.”

“It can get to the point where you’re paying a 300% interest rate. That kind of interest rate can put you under: you’ll never get out from that.”

Jenn Latham To make the application process as simple and straightforward

CONTRIBUTED

Attendees to "Slices for SEG" can learn about the organization over a slice of pie. as possible, the application for a microloan through SEG is only two pages long and asks for basic personal and financial information, and the reason for applying. Applicants who have even a small amount of money at the end of each month, as little as ten dollars, can work with SEG to slowly pay off the zero-interest loans. Subsequently, all donations at the pie fundraiser will go directly to helping fund these loans, as SEG is volunteers-only.

“All donations go to loans, as our ... overhead is pretty much just postage and renting out a post office box,” Latham said.

But Sunday’s fundraiser is more than just an opportunity to donate: it’s a chance for everyone in the community to participate, including those who may be interested in taking out a loan in the future.

Latham envisions the event as a true community gathering, not just a donation opportunity.

“People who are privileged to donate money to SEG are welcome, and people who might not donate are also welcome.”

Jenn Latham “It’s not something where people who might take or need our loans couldn’t come,” Latham noted. “People who are privileged to donate money to SEG are welcome, and people who might not donate are also welcome. Do we want to do something that will exclude the people we are really trying to serve?”

Opinions

Edited by mettleca@grinnell.edu

Despite the times, Grinnell Advocates stand by their values

The state of Iowa is currently proposing to cut funding for sexual assault and domestic violence assistance programs. Budget cuts will dramatically impact the services available to survivors. Without adequate funding, not only would future on-campus Advocates lack appropriate training, but our parent organization, Crisis Intervention Services, would be unable to offer adequate shelter to women across the state of Iowa.

In response, Grinnell Advocates will be attending Lobby Day at the Capitol on February 21 in hopes of swaying our legislators. In the mean time, Advocates would like to offer our support to the campus community, and inform Grinnellians about the resources that we offer.

Although the current presidential

administration threatens to cut programs like ours, we are committed to ensuring the safety and security of all students.

sion of response to sexual assault and incidents of dating violence, to educate the campus and to promote inclusivity in our cause.

***Trigger Warning—This letter contains information regarding sexual assault prevention and awareness.*** Who are Grinnell Advocates?

We are state-certified student-advocates for sexual assault response in the state of Iowa. Each advocate undergoes thirty hours of training with Crisis Intervention Services. We focus specifically on response and education. Unlike Residence Life and Student Affairs, every Advocate is strictly and legally recognized as a confidential resource. We work to uphold a mis-

What do Advocates do?

Advocates service a 24-hour text and call line. When serving as an on-call Advocate, our goal is to listen to, support and inform victim-survivors of their options and resources. Our unique role is to be sure that they feel safe, heard and supported without pressure. We do not provide long-term therapy, but instead offer immediate emotional support and planning for continued assistance. We provide information about the medical, legal, mental health and campus systems to ensure that no survivor has to go through the process alone.

Max Fenton

thing that an increasingly divided America seems to agree on, it is the immediate relevance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and the immediate irrelevance of most social sciences and (especially) the humanities.

Where science is infallible, the humanities are easily warped towards a particular ideology.

Science has become a catch-all term for knowledge, specifically of the natural world. But what does science actually mean? Though its definition is increasingly tortuous, the meaning of the word has its roots in method, the pre-ordained procedures and techniques of hypothesis and experimentation that organize how phenomena are meant to be investigated. But in the modern sense, “science” as we know it is both an incredibly broad and narrowing conception. It ranges from the hailed successes of NASA and SpaceX on social media to amazing new discoveries published in peer-reviewed journals to a broader, abstract notion equalizing “science” with “progress” (It is this latter type

of science that I will denote with a capital S).

Science has become the catchall term for rapid modernization, and at the same time, it has narrowed acceptable discourse, education and belief to a tiny sliver. If Science is ever questioned by religion, social criticism, the humanities, or even morality, those who do not automatically support Science fall on the incorrect side of history, a group of luddites determined to hamstring inevitable modernity.

Modern Science has thus totalized itself as the sole true way of describing reality. It has immunized itself of any criticism, and has been placed in our overriding quest for modernity as the source of truth. Along the way, proponents of Science have demonized critics and have attempted to regulate what is truly considered knowledge.

Though meaningful social criticism is always healthy and should be encouraged, Science has been deemed as free of any potentially problematic values.

From its use as justification for

Who can call or text a campus Advocate?

Any member of the Grinnell campus community can reach out to an Advocate. We also offer the option of speaking with an Advocate not affiliated with the college program. This can be requested upon calling or texting our crisis line.

What is next for Advocates?

Along with the support of other campus groups, Advocates will host Sexual Assault Awareness Week (February 27-March 3). The week’s open events include informational tabling, a clothesline project, two coffee talks in residence hall lounges facilitated by Advocates on how you can support a friend, a student-athlete panel on preventing sexual misconduct and promoting

11

sexual respect, and the set-up of the labyrinth in JRC 101 for a day of reflection and healing. Additional coffee talks on other topics will be held throughout the semester, as well as some other awareness events.

How can you get involved?

If you are interested in becoming a certified Advocate please email [advocates] and we will add you to our recruitment mailing list.

If you would like to get involved with some of our upcoming events for Sexual Assault Awareness Week, we would love your help—email us!

Thank you, Grinnell Advocates [Advocates]

Life During Wartime: Unreasonable Science

An odd education policy debate has raged in state legislatures for the past year — whether or not computer-coding classes should be as treated a foreign language. After all, computers speak their own kind of language, and coding is a valuable skill both as a form of communication and as a practical tool. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Georgia and Rhode Island are expected to take up this debate during the 2017 legislative session, and the larger policy debate is very much unresolved.

But why has computer coding suddenly struck the fancy of education experts and politicians? The answer lies in a larger, more national obsession with the sciences that has colored national discourse on a variety of topics. If there is one

The Scarlet & Black Staff Editors-in-Chief

Managing Editor News Editors Features Editor Sports Editor Arts Editor Community Editor Opinions Editor Copy Editors Photo Editor Business Manager Staff Writer Honorary Editor

Teresa Fleming Eva Lilienfeld Steve Yang Lily Bohlke Mira Braneck Philip Kiely Louise Carhart Nora Coghlan Keli Vitaioli Candace Mettle Michael Cummings Jon Sundby Sarah Ruiz Jenny Dong Andrea Baumgartel Zane Silk Junot Diaz

racism in the 18th and 19th centuries, to the use of vivisection without anesthesia up until the 20th century and to the more modern concerns of animal testing, Science certainly should not be immune from righteous criticism. But our national discourse on Science has taken care to sweep these ethical concerns under the rug, doing the most die-hard Science proponents a favor in freeing them of responsibility to check their own beliefs.

Perhaps the most recognizable facet of this new dogmatic obsession with science is the elitism of scientists in the academy. Perhaps I am little more than a bitter humanities major preaching to the choir, but the obsession with STEM and Science-as-Truth has delegitimized entire fields of study and has propagated the “easy major” myth. Contrary to the worst myths of STEM elitism, my philosophy major is not easy. Like science, it requires the comprehension of specific processes, arguments and hypotheses. And for those who would argue that it’s all made up, consider that the scien-

tific method is itself an entirely arbitrary construction, and that methods are themselves “made up” to help understand the world.

Furthermore, a common point I hear from other humanities and social sciences majors is on the real, raw, emotional labor that is poured in to writing a paper or book. Majors other than STEM require a considerable deal of effort, even if it is applied differently, and we are passionate about what we study, often for purely existential purposes.

Entire fields — queer theory, gender studies, and various forms of ethnic and cultural studies are the product of a desire for recognition and ultimately survival.

If you still refuse to consider this work hard emotional labor, then you are missing the point. If the ultimate quest of education is to search for truth, the scientific or the humanistic are both valid pursuits. But holding the former over the latter, or worse, as its substitute, threatens to poison discourse and insulate critical thinking from necessary criticism.

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, Jenny Dong, who can be reached at sandbads@ grinnell.edu or by mail at 1115 8th Avenue Grinnell College Box 5886, Grinnell, IA 50112.

the

Back Page Volume 133, Issue 16

thesandb.com

"The best thing since the front page!"

Photo of the Week

Got a backpage-worthy photo? Submit it to [mettleca] and earn $5 for contributing a winner!

The trees outside of Noyce glow in evening.

Arbitrary Analysis Social Calendar

Flynn Resigning

8:00 a.m. Swimming & Diving Midwest Conference @ Russell K Osgood Natatorium 2:00 p.m. Getting your campaign start @ JRC 209 7:00 p.m. Spoon Carving Talk @ Main Hall Gardner

1. Bush's Baked Beans of Love

JRC tinlautem ChPolacrboajobiw neerlSuSpteraVw8%0s% 36rie 90%

Saturday​

1:00 p.m. Spoon Carving for Novices @ Bucksbaum, Room 23 2:00 p.m. Grinnell Symphony Orchestra @ Sebring-Lewis Hall @ Harris Cinema Center 5:30 p.m. Loving Platinum Vajine 80% 7:30 p.m. 24-Hour Theatre Project @ Wall Theatre Lab

ARH

2. Dangerous When Whet

Go PeSrseBxuldToen onarrliyts ityo 210B0%o%w l 64%

3. Trump University Alumni

or

check us out:

um Platinne Vaji 78%

@thesandb /thescarletandblack thesandb.com @newspapr

Rants & Raves:

Pub Quiz Winners

This week, Mira Berkson '20 and Nora Coghlan '17 polled students asking: Golden Personality or Platinum Vajine

8:00 p.m. 13th @ ARH 302

Like what you see?

Trump Nominees

The CIA

Snedge

Friday

ETHAN EVANS

Go Pers lden on 22%ality

Staff Shoutout

Shoutout to Junot Diaz for coming to campus and enlightening us, and for the students that made it happen! Diaz was the highlight of the year thus far.

Students speak about what’s on their minds in 100 words or fewer, and you’re invited! If you have a rant or a rave, email it to [mettleca]

Keep your grubby hands off

Sugary warmth for my heart

Your activism is invasive

Say my name

College policy says all signs must be marked with email addresses. [divest] and [antifa] are both email addresses. We aren't hiding who we are or how we feel. Stop removing our art.

s/o to the grille for those delicious v-day brownies! i may be a salty bitch, but a warmed-up heart-shaped brownie warms my heart. need more of them in my lyfe!!!

Could Grinnellians learn how to stay in their lane? Could they also learn to allow for spaces that engage the campus on race as they do with fossils? Bodies of color would also like to be taken as seriously as dead dinosaurs.

-Sandy Barnard '17

-xoxo, Saltbae

I’ve grown to love hearing my name in Spanish! When I was a kid, I just accepted how my teachers and friends would anglicize my name without really thinking about it. I accepted it as the name I have when I’m not home. Having friends here who use the Spanish pronunciation made me realize how much better I like it said that way. I might just start introducing myself like that.

-a sister of color

-Rene Ayala