Volume 133, Issue 20

Sports "I was so surprised that I cried when they won, I didn’t think I was that emotionally invested" page 3

Community The S&B reviews Slingin' Ink.

Features "I went to Budapest and partied on a yacht."

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the

Scarlet & Black Volume 133, Issue 20

thesandb.com

April 7, 2017 • Grinnell, Iowa

Mando Montaño Memorial Lecture Watson Fellowship awarded to Sasha Kuzura brings Pulitzer winning journalists and Ale Rodriguez

HELENA GRUENSTEIDL

On the left, Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson speak in the first annual Armando Montaño Memorial Lecture. On the right, Diane Alters '71, the mother of Mando Montaño '12, introduces the newly endowed speaker fund, which will bring journalists to campus annually. HELENA GRUNSTEIDL

Sasha Kuzura '17 and Ale Rodriguez '17, this year's recipients of the Watson Fellowship, will spend the next year travelling the world. By Megan Tcheng tchengme@grinnell.edu Two members of this year’s graduating class, Oleksandr "Sasha" Kuzura ’17 and Alejandra "Ale" Rodriguez Wheelock ’17, have been selected as recipients of the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. As part of their award, Watson Fellows receive a 30,000 dollar to travel abroad and pursue an independently designed academic project. During the yearlong span of their fellowship, the students will live abroad, immerse themselves in local communities and engage in their personal research topics on a global scale. During his fellowship, Kuzura plans to travel to Thailand, Peru, India and Bosnia to explore the applications of shoestring engineering across a range of cultures. Kuzura hopes to identify the different ways that folk engineers respond to the limited resources made available to them through the application of endless ingenuity, innovation and shared knowledge.

Kuzura’s project was inspired by his two grandfathers, who are both engineers, and the summers he spent with them in Ukraine as a child. Specifically, Kuzura drew comparisons between their approaches to engineering and those exposed to him in college. As a physics major at Grinnell and a student in the 3–2 engineering program with Dartmouth College, Kuzura is distinctly aware of the different ways attitudes towards engineering have been shaped by culture and social biases. “One of them built a house … in two weeks, with both of his hands, all by himself,” Kurzura said of his grandfather. “When I started reflecting on engineering in the West … and then the way things are done where I grew up, I was struck by how incredible [folk engineering] is. Here, we have all of these prefab houses and hyper-technological advancements — but do we really need all of that?” During his yearlong exploration into community engineering practices, Kuzura plans to interview locals, observe their engineering >> See Watson page 2

By Jon Sundby sundbyjo17@grinnell.edu When Armando ‘Mando’ Montaño ‘12 first met Dale Maharidge, the two hit it off immediately. Maharidge was coming through to congratulate Montaño’s parents on their recent marriage, but instead of sitting around and talking with the adults, Maharidge and Montaño spent the day “goofing off.” By all accounts, however, this wasn’t unusual. The bright-eyed four year old had a tendency to pull most people easily into his orbit — even serious Pulitzer-prize winning journalists. “They just liked each other,” said Diane Alters ’71, Montaño’s mother and a professor of journalism at Colorado College. Always surrounded by journalists, Montaño quickly combined his enthusiasm for life with an affection for writing. He carried this disposition into college and beyond, working for The S&B while at Grinnell and then for the Associated Press after graduation. In 2012, he died while covering violence in Mexico City. In honor of Montaño, his parents, Alters and Mario Montaño, worked to set up a speaker fund,

"Professors Without Borders" talks about international identities in the US By Zane Silk silkzane@grinnell.edu Three professors gathered in JRC 101 on Thursday, March 6 to speak about their experiences coming to the United States and navigating their multiple identities here. The event, “Professors Without Borders: Identity and Sense of Belonging,” featured Professors Gemma Sala, political science, Marc Chamberland, mathematics, and Yee Mon Thu, biology. The event was organized by three students, Danica Bojovic ’19, Erhaan Ahmad ‘18 and Anastasiia Morozova ’18. The Office of International Student Affairs sponsored the event in an effort to kick-start discussion about how migration across borders creates challenges while also presenting opportunities. Yee Mon Thu, who comes from Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) spoke about her struggle with English, which she has slowly been overcoming. “At the beginning you miss home, and then you miss this kind of food, and you miss speaking in your own language, and you struggle speaking English,” she said. “I used to directly translate what I was thinking in my head into English, and then sometimes it didn’t really work … however I noticed more and more I don’t directly Friday Opening Reception: BAX and Robert Hodierne exhibits Faulconer Gallery, 4:30 p.m.

translate any more and I started thinking in English.” As Yee Mon Thu has spent more time here, she has found herself changing in small ways that add up. “I used to think that eating salad is a little weird for me, because in Asia we don’t really eat vegetables raw, so now I actually like salad,” Yee Mon Thu said. Sala, who is from Spain, did not set out with the goal to become an American, but rather stayed in the US because she was provided an opportunity to teach at Grinnell. “I thought I had this short-term opportunity to go to graduate school in the United States, and I remember my mother crying when I got that fellowship, and I told her that it was just going to be a couple years. … So

I didn’t come to move here, to become an American, and now I feel like I’m being more and more forced to become one,” Sala said. However, though America has changed her, Sala believes she will never truly be American. “I guess that I’m going to be an outsider forever,” Sala said. “I have this accent that I know will never go away — that’s a perpetual reminder. And there are things that, for better or worse, I’ve never been adjusted to. … Here you have to go back to work after dinner, which just destroys the whole thing.” Sala’s feeling of being 'other' is reinforced by how many Americans treat her, such as what recently happened when she was returning from >> See Professors page 2

MAYU SAKAE

People gathered to hear professors talk about their international identities. Tuesday 20 Minutes@11: Hai-Dang Phan on Vietnam war photographs Faulconer Gallery, 11 a.m.

Follow us on twitter @thesandb

Tuesday Can the Muslim Speak? Islam in global conversations JRC 101, 7:30 p.m.

the Armando Montaño Memorial Lecture, to bring more journalist speakers to campus. To inaugurate the series, the College and Alters brought in Maharidge and his friend and partner Michael Williamson, a photojournalist, to both attend a series of Q&As and deliver a lecture about their careers in the field.

"Very quickly we knew we had a big story: why are they out here doing this? Where did they come from? Dale Maharidge, reporter

Williamson and Maharidge first met while working for the Sacramento Bee in the late 1970s, where they were under the editorial guidance of Alters. A friendship quickly formed among the three easygoing, young journalists and they soon found themselves collaborating more and more. “We hung out together, we liked working together,” Maharidge said. “We realized we liked working on the same kinds of things, so we quickly bonded.” From the beginning the stories that connected Maharidge and Williamson were those that dealt

with the trials of working class America. Maharidge grew up near Cleveland, OH, the son of a steelworker, and Williamson was orphaned as a young child, only eventually finding himself in the loving home of an exceptional foster family. It was these circumstances, both Maharidge and Williamson say, that were responsible for their interest in those left behind during America’s economic growth. While they may have already been primed to empathize with their subjects, the catalyst to their careers began with an investigative piece on the “modern day hobo” in 1982. The pair was initially excited simply for an excuse to jump trains for a couple days, but after talking with the new “hobos,” Maharidge and Williamson quickly realized that the heart of the story lay deeper than the California rails. “The trains were full of jobseeking hobos, new hobos, just like in the 1930s — looking for work,” Maharidge said. “Very quickly we knew we had a big story: why are they out here doing this? Where did they come from?” To answer this question, Williamson and Maharidge spent the next several years travelling >> See Dale Maharidge page 2

Grant to study Ghandi's engagement with the Muslim community By Saiham Sharif sharifsa@grinnell.edu Professor Timothy Dobe, religious studies, won the prestigious Burkhardt Fellowship for his research on Mahatma Gandhi’s engagement with the Muslim community. The fellowship will provide Dobe with 95,000 dollars, as well as funds for research and associated costs. Through the fellowship, Dobe will spend the 2018-2019 academic year at Duke University’s Islamic Studies Center, where he will devote the year to his project, “The Muslim Gandhi: Islamicate Hinduism, Alternative Communities and Radical Religious Love.”

Gandhi's connection with Christianity has been researched, but his engagement with the Muslim community has not been, and it's unclear why. Dobe’s project will involve translating works into Urdu and investigating Gandhi's engagement with the Muslim Community. Although Gandhi's collected works are available in English, Dobe believes that using Urdu translations of his work will provide more knowledge about Gandhi's ideas. Thursday Spark Tank Pitch Contest Harris Concert Hall, 11 a.m.

Certain concepts lose meaning through translation — the idea that Gandhi connected with commoners by criticizing spiritual leaders is conveyed through his use of the terms shastri, which means ‘learned scholar’ and mullah, which means ‘religious authority.’ English translations of these terms, however, lose some of the implications.

Dobe believes that using Urdu translation of [Gandhi's] work will provide more knowledge about Gandhi's ideas. Certain concepts lose meaning through translation. Further, Dobe said that Gandhi's connection with Christianity has been researched, but his engagement with the Muslim community has not been, and it’s unclear why. Gandhi studied the Quran and learned Urdu. It was a Muslim trader who brought Gandhi to South Africa. Gandhi's alliance with Muslim leaders was significant. Nathuram Godse assassinated Gandhi because he believed his policies were too pro-Muslim — Gandhi had proposed sending a large sum of money to Pakistan after partition. Dobe’s research fits into a larger >> See Dobe page 2 Thursday "Man Enough? Politics of Presidential Masculinity" Harris Cinema, 7 p.m.

Sports 3 | Community 4 | Features 5 | Arts 6 | Opinions 7

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Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson speak on their long journalism careers together

HELENA GRUENSTEIDL

Diane Alters created the fund to honor her son, a Grinnell grad. Continued from Front Page around the country, exploring the shadows of American prosperity. They eventually ended up in Rust Belt, Maharidge’s home territory, to witness the fallout from the destruction of the manufacturing sector. “I heard about the steelworks in Youngstown being dynamited. In the 1930s, they put the [steel] mills on ‘hot idle,’ they would lay people off and then they would start it up again. But no, [this time] they were blowing up the mills. Jobs were permanently leaving America,” Maharidge said. Their tragic mission chronicling the process of globalization and the hardships of workers culminated in two books, And Their Children After Them and Journey to Nowhere: the Saga of the New Underclass, the former which won a Pulitzer and the later which inspired Bruce Springsteen to write his famous ballad “Youngstown.”

"...then a guy comes along and says, 'I know who the boogeyman is, it's all of Washington, and it's all liberals and it's NAFTA and it's immigrants.'" Michael Williamson, reporter The two journalists talked extensively about their continuing friendship with “The Boss,” as their focus on the working class meshed well with musician's own lyrical subjects. One night, Springsteen goaded both Maharidge and Williamson into sneaking

onto a crumbling steel mill near Youngstown, Ohio so that the singer could witness firsthand what he had sung about. Having lived and traveled with American workers for several decades, Maharidge and Williamson have watched an anger in the working class slowly simmer to the surface. They both attribute the nationalism and xenophobia that has taken hold of the nation as a byproduct of this anger, crudely structured and fueled by the campaign and presidency of Donald Trump. “There was a recovery [from the 2008 crash] … but for the coal miner, nothing. Yet they had to watch another Best Buy be built, they had to watch another Bed, Bath and Beyond ... then a guy comes along and says ‘I know who the boogeyman is, it’s all of Washington, and it’s all liberals and it’s NAFTA and it’s immigrants.’ And while they used to have to dog whistle, now they could put their confederate flag in the front yard,” Williamson explained. While the situation does not look good now, Maharidge and Williamson look to the example of California, which experienced a similar bout of xenophobia in the 1990s, only to be overcome through the work of a diverse, multicultural voting base. They could only express hope that a similar phenomenon will happen on nationwide scale. But for now, the pair will continue their work shedding light on the struggles and injustices faced by people here and around the globe — as well as helping prepare students of journalism to carry on this important work with the help of the Armando Mantaño Memorial Lecture Fund.

Dobe funded to study Gandhi and the Muslim community

News

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

Watson Fellows Kuzura and Rodriguez prepare to travel the world next year

Continued from Front Page practices and directly work alongside them in their various projects. Reflecting on his upcoming travels, Kuzura emphasized the personal responsibility he feels over his Watson Fellowship project. “A year of time is significant — it’s huge. And when we’re given an opportunity like this, it’s our responsibility to use it for all its worth. I’m hoping that I’ll have the self-awareness to know that I’m living the year to its full potential,” Kuzura said. In contrast to Kuzura, Rodriguez Wheelock plans to spend her Watson Fellowship exploring the way that counseling interventions provided in pediatric cancer centers have been shaped by cultural, historical and religious attitudes towards death. As a philosophy and psychology major with a concentration in neuroscience, Rodriguez Wheelock partially credits her personal experiences and her academic pursuits at Grinnell with the development of her research project.

“My time as a student not only gave me the philosophical and psychological basis to realize this project — [it also] gave me the confidence to try something that has never been done before … Having the confidence to say ‘I’m going to do this’ came from being in Grinnell and being faced with a lot of academic challenges,” Rodriguez Wheelock said. Rodriguez Wheelock’s project will take her to a range of different pediatric clinics and hospitals in the United Kingdom, Rwanda, India and the Dominican Republic. In each country, she plans to shadow counselors and observe the way social and psychological interventions vary from culture to culture. “I don’t know where these stories will take me. I’m just trying to follow through and see what will happen … I’m going to try to understand something that some of the greatest minds in history have written about and tried to understand. What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? Why do we constantly fight something like

cancer?” Rodriguez Wheelock said. Kuzura and Rodriguez Wheelock, along with 38 fellow finalists from Watson partner colleges, learned of their acceptance in mid-March, following an intensive application process. To be considered for the fellowship, fourth year students were asked to submit detailed proposals outlining their project topics, personal goals and overall travel plans. In preparation for the sheer intensity and responsibility of their independent travel experiences, applicants were also encouraged to consider the nuances and distinct benefits that come with pursuing their studies abroad. “The application process started in the early summer … [but] I only realized that I was going to do it a month and a half before the deadline. I make no exaggeration — every single waking moment I spent thinking about it for a month and a half. … I spent the whole time thinking about why do I want this, what kinds of things are important to me and what can I do with a year,” Kuzura said.

Canada initially also felt a strong sense of identity, he has come to thinking of himself as an American. “When I first came to Grinnell, for the first handful of years, I very much thought about my Canadian identity. … I would even tell my class, ‘look, the whole English world says Zed, not Zee, for the last letter of the alphabet,’” Chamberland said. “What I

didn’t expect to happen is after being here now for almost 20 years, I’ve largely lost that feeling … And I found myself surprised last summer when I was in France talking to some people there. In the past what I’ve often said 'I’m a Canadian, but I just live in the United States' … and then last summer talking to people I would just say I’m American.”

Professors talk about identity evolution

Continued from Front Page

a trip abroad. “I’ve just come back from a trip to the UK and coming in, I’m now allowed to go in the line with my husband and my child, but they say ‘Welcome back to them’ but not to me,” Sala said. While Chamberland, who is from

FREAKY FAST! FREAKY GOOD! ®

TAKAHIRO OMURA

Dobe, who will be studying Gandhi's engagement with the Muslim community, spoke at Saint's Rest during a March 1 teach-in. Continued from Front Page resurgence of Gandhi scholarship, particularly since political scientists and other scholars realized that throughout the 20th century, nonviolence has been twice as effective in creating political change as violent movements. Philosophical interest in the compatibility of capitalism and democracy and Gandhi's idea of localized economies has also fueled the resurgence. Dobe plans to incorporate his research into his future coursework at Grinnell.

"There's a personal question of what are you going to work on next and there's the question of service" Tim Dobe, religious studies Dobe explained that the College has supported his research and

that the College has increased its support for professors at this stage through different measures, such as increasing sabbatical time. He, however, has not reached the point where he can leave for sabbatical. The Office of Corporate, Foundation and Government Relations helped Dobe discover the Burkhardt Fellowship, which is one of many grants designed to revitalize the research of tenured professors and more uncommonly, for professors at liberal arts colleges. “There’s a personal question of what are you going to work on next and there’s the question of service.” At Grinnell, Dobe acts as the Department Chair of religious studies, helps coordinate activates for the South Asian Student Organization and does many other things to help the institution run, all of which take time away from research. This fellowship will give him more of an opportunity to focus.

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Sports Bresnahan '19 hurls her javelin into space

Edited by carhartl17@grinnell.edu

By Nora Coghlan coghkann17@grinnell.edu

When Cara Bresnahan ’19 stepped onto the field at the Embry-Riddle Spikes Classic in Florida last Friday, she didn’t expect to break the Grinnell record in javelin. And she definitely didn’t expect to shatter her former personal record by 19 feet. “I knew it was a good throw … I couldn’t tell how far I threw it though. They tell your distance in meters and, so I was like, ‘I have no idea what meters to feet are’ so it was a delayed reaction from when I threw it … but after that I was very excited,” she said. Bresnahan’s 120 foot throw landed her in first place among score-eligible athletes, and shattered Grinnell’s former record of 115.5 feet held by Jordan Young ’14. “I was expecting to [break my personal record] because I have

worked a lot. I was a lot stronger than I was last year, just more training and more lifting and things like that, but I was not expecting to break the record. I didn’t think I was going to [break my personal record] by that much either.”

"They tell your distance in meters and, so I was like, ‘I have no idea what meters to feet are’ so it was a delayed reaction from when I threw it" Cara Bresnahan '19

Though Bresnahan is a lifelong athlete and a long-time track and field competitor, this year marks only her second season competing in javelin, making her win all the more exciting. “I’ve played soccer since I was … five or six,” she said. “In high school, I started doing cross country

because I wanted to get into shape for soccer and I really started liking running and I made a lot of great friends. Instead of doing soccer [that year], I did track … I started field events in high school … and I started [javelin] last year. This is my second season.” Along with competing in javelin, Bresnahan also competes in the long jump, triple jump and hurdles. And after last weekend, the bar has been set especially high for the rest of the season. “[I’m looking forward to competing in] javelin the rest of the season. I set the bar a little high though. I’m looking forward to my other events as well, because I’m getting better in everything and I think … everyone else is [too]. I’m excited to see everyone improve as well,” she said. Not only did Bresnahan compete well in Daytona Beach, but she felt

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SARAH RUIZ

Bresnahan '19 shows off her javelin skills after breaking her previous PR by

her teammates fighting hard alongside her. Several of her teammates also broke their personal records, something Bresnahan attributes to the fun the group has been having this season.

“I think we’re doing really good lately,” she said. “A lot of people were running really close to their personal records or they were [breaking them … I think a lot of people are just having fun with it."

Baseball fans talk hometown heroes and Opening Day Patrick Dowd

Rachel Aaronson MAYU SAKAE

Dylan Welch SARAH RUIZ

MAYU SAKAE

Dowd keeps up to date with minute details, such as trade rumors, in an effort to be extremely informed about baseball.

The editor can confirm that Aaronson '17 cried a lot when the Cubs won the World Series in 2016.

Welch '19 is a Cleveland baseball fan. The team has been predicted to win the World Series this year by ESPN.

“I’m a Red Sox fan. I was one of the many fourth graders swept up by the magical 2004 Boston season ... I love baseball because it’s something that is totally ok to love as a kid and it’s something that’s totally ok to love as an adult, so it’s been fun to always love it ... it’s added some continuity to my life. ... The end of last season, it was like this rush from the Cubs winning, so much energy around me from Cubs fans and then that was immediately swatted down by Trump winning the presidency like a week later. So, I don’t know, it doesn’t feel like a clean slate this Opening Day but it’s baseball, it’s back. At least it’s something nice.”

“I have been a Cubs fan my entire life, which up until recently, was not a great thing, not the most successful fandom. I grew up two blocks away from Wrigley Field ... This year when they won was a really happy time. Probably the happiest I’ve ever been. I was so surprised that I cried when they won. I didn’t think I was that emotionally invested in baseball ... The night that they won the World Series was the night that my brother turned twenty-one and so I was really, really alarmed for his safety, because if there was ever a twenty-first birthday that was going to result in alcohol poisoning, it would have been the one where he was celebrating the Cubs winning the World Series.”

“One time, in eighth grade ... it was sold-out, it was my second opening day ... and me and three other friends, John, Sam and Danny [went]. Shin-Soo Choo played for Cleveland, he was fucking awesome, he was a right fielder. Everyone fucking loved Choo. And so we painted C-H-O-O. ... I had an H [painted on my chest] because I wanted to be in the middle. So we had C-H-O-O [painted] for Choo—he was a fan-favorite for sure, he was a stud, I think he was an all-star. And it ruined my Bob Dylan shirt, which I was wearing to Opening Day, the supposedly washable paint. It never was the same—the shirt was red after that. ... I think we lost.” Compiled by Mira Braneck

Spring Shuttle to Primary Health Care in Marshalltown WHAT

Primary Health Care Clinic will provide access to Grinnell/Poweshiek County patients for Reproductive Health Care Services in their Marshalltown Location. Available reproductive health care services include: • Annual reproductive exams (female and male) • Contraceptive Management (all methods available, including LARCs such as IUD and Nexplanon) • Reproductive Life Planning • STD Testing and Treatment • Pregnancy Testing • Other problems related to sexual health — yeast infection, UTI, etc.

WHY

Easier access to affordable, confidential, high quality reproductive health care services given the recent closure of the Central Iowa Family Planning Clinic in Grinnell.

WHEN

Shuttle Dates: First and third Saturdays April – July, 2017: April 1, April 15, May 6, May 20, June 3, June 17, July 1 and July 15. Shuttle Time: • Grinnell Departure: The Primary Health Care Van (Gray 2016 Chevy Equinox) will pick up in Grinnell at 9 a.m., with departure no later than 9:10 a.m. • Grinnell Return: The Primary Health Care Van will depart Marshalltown at 12 p.m., arriving in Grinnell by 1 p.m.

WHERE

• Pick-up and drop-off will be at Drake Community Library (Park Street Side) in Grinnell. • Primary Health Care Clinic Van is a Gray 2016 Chevy Equinox. • Driver will have a Primary Health Care Photo ID nametag.

TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT

To make an appointment, call the Marshalltown Primary Health Care Medical Clinic at 641-753-4021 and tell the receptionist that you are a Grinnell Family Planning Patient. • If you are using the shuttle: Dedicated appointments for Grinnell shuttle patients will be available from 10am-12pm. Please tell the receptionist that you will be arriving in the shuttle and would like an appointment during this time frame. • If you have your own transportation: Patients with their own transportation can schedule during the week during normal clinic hours (8 a.m. – 8 p.m.) or on the 1st or 3rd Saturday from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information about services, transportation, or appointments, please contact Primary Health Care at 641-753-4021.

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Community The S&B reviews:

Edited by vitaioli@grinnell.edu

Senate File 447 restricting nuisance complaints on CAFOs By Carter Howe cartherthom@grinnell.edu Governor Terry Branstad recently signed into law Senate File 447, which limits the amount of compensation that can be received in lawsuits against livestock feeding operations filed by nearby residents. The law limits the potential compensation plaintiffs can receive for damages caused by the livestock operation to the value of the loss in their property value, compensation for adverse health effects, and compensation for annoyance and loss of comfort, which cannot be more than 1.5 times the value of the other two segments of potential compensation. Additionally, if the lawsuit is won, the law makes it difficult for the plaintiff to sue the livestock producer again even if the plaintiff experiences more adverse effects in the future, although lawsuits would still be allowed if the livestock producer is violating existing laws and regulations. Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Republican Senator Dan Zumbach, says the bill is meant to spur rural economic development and reward prudent livestock producers by protecting them from frivolous lawsuits. Environmentalists and most Democrats argue that the bill worsens the quality of life of rural Iowans and prevents companies from curbing air and water pollution from livestock production. In recently published editorial by the The Des Moines Register staff argued that existing laws are insufficient, which is why affected residents have turned to the courts to attempt to mitigate damage from livestock producers. Professor Susan Kolbe, biology, agreed, saying this law leaves rural Iowans who live near concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) few ways to respond to livestock producers who are worsening their health and quality of life. “There aren’t that many protections,” Kolbe said. “What has happened lately is a CAFO can now

come in to be near your home, and there’s really no limit to the distance as long as they’re under a certain size, and so when they’re under that size, then they can add on, and they don’t have to meet any of the requirements.” This is especially true because of a loophole in the law that allows CAFOs to expand beyond their original size. "They slip under the bill with this loophole…they still have to obey the codes of the DNR, but they’re not going to be inspected or anything if they’re under a certain size, so really there’s not a lot you can do to stop it,” Kolbe said. According to a report by the Iowa Policy Project, asthma rates are much higher among children who live or go to school near CAFOs and properties in their vicinity can lose up to 26 percent of their value. Republicans, however, maintain that it will help Iowa’s important livestock industry prosper. Republican representative of Boone, IA, Chip Baltimore said that the law is justified because of the importance of livestock production to the state. “We raise pigs in Iowa,” Baltimore said to The Des Moines Register. “That’s what we do.” The Agricultural Committee standing behind the bill echoes this desire to ensure the agricultural industry’s continued large profits. “This is an economic development bill,” Zumbach said. Instead, Kolbe thinks this legislation is a reaction to recent lawsuits against CAFOs that residents have won, including one in Chester Township in Poweshiek County where a family was awarded upwards of $400,000 in compensation. “The pork producers…those large corporations…they’re trying to make it so that they can operate in the state without any recourse, and this makes it much easier because one of the only recourses there is if a CAFO comes in that exists anymore is to take them to court for nuisance,” Kolbe said.

Peace Tree taproom to open on Main By Michael Sundby sundbymi@grinnell.edu Peace Tree Brewing Company, established in 2009, will be opening a taproom at 923 Main St. in downtown Grinnell. While the exact date is yet to be determined, opening day is expected sometime next fall. Last autumn, the Grinnell Chamber of Commerce conducted several focus group meetings to determine what community members thought would improve the city’s downtown area. “What are some things we can do to make our downtown stronger, what do [we] see the future of the downtown looking like, and what types [of business] are we missing” were all questions on the table, according to Rachael Kinnick of the Grinnell chamber of commerce. After reviewing the results of these meetings, several business types stood out with regards to what the community was looking for, and “a brewery was one of them.”

"... We want to provide [a] third space, where [people] can go and have conversations, sit down with their friends and enjoy each other’s company." Hannah Vander Veer, marketing assistant for Peace Tree Brewing Co., said that the owner of the property at 923 Main St. originally intended “to open a retail space for local artisans, specifically focused on women.” However, after hearing the community’s desire for a brewery, the owner researched the Iowa craft-beer scene, which lead her to Megan McKay, owner of Peace Tree Brewing Co. “It wasn’t Peace Tree’s plan, really, to open a new taproom,” Vander Veer said. “We just opened one in Des Moines, but Megan [said]

that everything just felt right… and we’re excited to be coming to Grinnell.” Knoxville, Iowa, Peace Tree’s home base, is a town slightly smaller than Grinnell, located about an hour to the southwest. “The brewery’s founders wanted to bring some traffic and some tourism to downtown Knoxville, so that’s what we hope [for] when we bring a taproom to Grinnell,” Vander Veer said. Since its founding eight years ago, Peace Tree has made a name for itself in the local craft beer market, distributing its brews across Iowa and parts of Nebraska. Peace Tree’s products can be found at local grocery stores in Grinnell, as well as a Belgian style beer, “Peace Tree Cornucopia,” at Prairie Canary. Though certain Peace Tree products are already available in Grinnell, the taproom will offer another experience for beer connoisseurs. There will be brews that customers cannot get anywhere else. Peace Tree also likes to experiment with the beers they put on tap, testing them out on those who visit the taproom before bottling and distributing them more widely. “A lot of people... like the draft better than bottles,” Vander Veer said. “At the taproom, we put a lot of stuff on tap that we don’t bottle, so you’ll be able to get a lot of unique Peace Tree brews, as well as the classics.” Further, while most of the beers will be brewed at Peace Tree’s Knoxville or Des Moines locations, a small, experimental “pilot brew” system will be on sight at the Grinnell taproom. In total, there will be roughly twenty beers on tap for customers to try. “You have your home, you have your work, and we want to provide [a] third space, where [people] can go and have conversations, sit down with their friends and enjoy each other’s company,” Vander Veer said.

Slingin' Ink

JACKSON SCHULTE, SARAH RUIZ

From left to right: Marchesi gets tattooed by Reed; the final product just above Marchesi's knee By Jack Marchesi marchesi@grinnell.edu What better way is there to commemorate your college years than getting locally inked? For residents of Grinnell, Slingin’ Ink Tattoos is the lone parlor in town, providing creative tattoo expertise that can literally last a lifetime. After moving to Grinnell in 2007, Slingin’ Ink Tattoos began to provide their artworks in their parlor donned with particular antique and taxidermied decor.

"Transcending his occupation as a tattoo artist is Reed's underlying passion for all things art." On their website, Slingin’ Ink cites studio atmosphere as an indispensable aspect to their identity, which is without a doubt reassuring for customers. That first general feeling that one gets when undergoing a life-changing experience, such as getting a tattoo, is paramount to their subsequent mood. Slingin’ Ink certainly delivers a vintage, relaxed yet orderly skilled aura. Upon entrance, Jackson Schulte ‘20 and I were amicably met by Danny Reed, a shop artist since 2008. This was both of our first experiences in a tattoo studio, so being met with exceptional customer service immediately eased our skepticisms

about the tattoo process. For the sake of this article, both Jackson and I valiantly defied our parents exhausted advice and volunteered to receive an everlasting alteration to our body. In short, it was most definitely worth it. Our time spent collaborating with Reed and finalizing our stencils felt natural. Transcending his occupation as a tattoo artist is Reed’s underlying passion for all things art. Though his prevailing medium is painting, Reed expressed interests in photography and music as well, which struck up ardent discussions with both Jackson and myself. While conversing on our common ground, Reed proceeded to tell us his story. He was born and raised in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where he currently resides. After discovering that art was his passion, he sought opportunities to make a living off it, leading him to obtain his tattooing license in the state of Iowa.

"Our experience at Slingin’ Ink was a productive opportunity to experience Grinnellians with no affiliation to the college." Throughout this consistently friendly experience, I couldn’t help but to continuously return to the rumored notion that Slingin’ Ink is home to white-nationalists. Though the origin of this rumor is uncertain, I

can authentically praise the studio for its politically and religiously neutral atmosphere. In fact, there is a sign noticeable upon entry that, among other things, condemns explicit politics and religious affiliation.

"The studio makes a conspicuous effort to make a space that is inclusive for all who share a passion for tattoos." Overall, our experience at Slingin’ Ink was a productive opportunity to experience Grinnellians with no affiliation to the College. Unfortunately, it often seems that there is a dogmatic view on campus that associates residents of Grinnell with extreme conservatism by default due to the town’s rural location. While there certainly are concrete examples of these politics, Slingin’ Ink Tattoos is not one of them. The studio makes a conspicuous effort to make a space that is inclusive for all who share a passion for tattoos. The store itself is moving locations at the end of the month, and will no longer be called Slingin’ Ink. The new locale will bring on the name Broad Street Tattoos, and will luckily be remaining in Grinnell. After a wonderful experience, both Jackson and I thoroughly encourage you to finally get that tattoo you’ve been pondering for quite some time now.

Poweshiek CARES fights for environmental justice in Iowa By Michael Cummings cummings@grinnell.edu While Grinnell is known for its social justice activism, most students tend to think of activism as existing only on campus. But the town of Grinnell, and Poweshiek County more broadly, have their fair share of non-student activists too. One such example of activism outside the College is Poweshiek CARES, or Community Action to Restore Environmental Stewardship, an organization dedicated to pushing back against CAFOs, or confined animal feeding operations. CAFOs are farms which house hundreds or thousands of hogs, cattle or chickens in very small quarters. There are over 8,000 CAFOs in Iowa, and they are widely criticized for many reasons, including for the environmental and health problems they create, animal rights abuses, and the smell. In fact, local CAFOs are responsible for the pungent smell that sometimes plagues the College campus. Poweshiek CARES was founded in 2012 after a group of people living in Chester Township, just to the north of Grinnell, learned that a new CAFO would be built near their homes. “There were some locals in Chester Township, which is 2 miles north of Grinnell, but still Poweshiek County, who had been living already with 5,000 hogs, sort of putting up with it, especially thinking that it was their local neighbor,” said Val Vetter, a member of Poweshiek CARES. “but then, a North Carolina company called Prestage, wanted to expand, add another 5,000 hogs, and that’s when they found out these hogs really were part of a corporate ag [company] from out of state.” Keeping Poweshiek County’s agriculture local is a major goal of Poweshiek CARES, but the organization’s major goal is to prevent the severe quality of life issues caused

SARAH RUIZ

Members of Poweshiek CARES meet at the home of Val Vetter (pictured right). for the neighbors of these factory farms. “One of the main reasons that Poweshiek CARES organized and it continues to be important is to support people who find that their quality of life is totally affected and ruined really by these CAFOs. … I mean that’s why those neighbors were alarmed that 5,000 more hogs were going to come to Chester Township,” said Vetter. “The immediate impact that motivates people to be upset has to do with these quality of life [issues], you know, the smell, the flies, the property values drop. Many people who retired, you know, bought a place in the country, thought they were gonna live there, and they can’t really move because they can’t sell their property because it’s right next to a CAFO,” Vetter added. One way that Poweshiek CARES fights back is by petitioning the Poweshiek County Board of Supervisors to not approve plans for new CAFOs. All new animal confinements in the United States must be approved by the board of supervisors of the county they will be built in. This has proven to be difficult.

Vetter said, that while one of the county’s three Supervisors, Diana Dawley, is sympathetic to their cause, the other two have consistently voted to approve new CAFOs. In addition to petitioning the county Board, Vetter says community education is another way the organization takes action. “I think education is probably a big part, you know, just for people to know what a CAFO is, and then the impacts on our life,” Vetter said. “And compared to some counties, Poweshiek County is not as inundated, so sometimes people are not as aware, but all the time there are new CAFOs coming up.” Although most county boards of supervisors are in favor of additional CAFO construction, Vetter sees some light on the horizon. “Right now, it’s just amazing, there are probably at least 10 county supervisors … they have signed resolutions themselves, saying, ‘we need a moratorium on CAFOs,’” Vetter said. Although it will likely be a while before such a moratorium actually goes into effect, Poweshiek CARES has no plans of slowing down until their goals are achieved.

Features

Edited by kielyphi@grinnell.edu

5

What did Grinnell students do during spring break? Over the two weeks of spring break, Grinnellians researched, recreated and relaxed everywhere from Arkansas to France to Budapest. The S&B’s Andrea Baumgartel asked students in and around the Grill to share their stories from winter break.

Camping with babies

Twenty year plan

Vikings on a yacht

“I went on a camping trip out west with some friends. None of them knew how to camp so I started calling them babies, and then they started calling me daddy.” — Dennis Chan ‘19

“I had an externship in Santa Fe and I realized I need to start strategizing about how to be happy in 20 years. I also changed my brake pads.” — Terran Mott '20.

“I went to Budapest and partied on a yacht. I also went to a Viking ship museum and like a million castles, and I’m descended from royalty so it was cool to see my roots.” — Bianca Leichnitz ‘18

Traveling Europe

MAP in San Francisco

Conference sweep

“I traveled to London, Germany, Sweden and France. My brother goes to school in London and afterwards I got to visit a lot of Grinnellian friends who are studying abroad in Europe.” — Helena Alacha ’18

"In San Francisco, I worked on research for my MAP on feminism and visual culture, visited a lot of the Berkeley archives. Other than that my break involved a lot of sleeping, watching movies, walkin’ around.” — Michelle Risacher ‘17

“The baseball team took our annual spring break trip to Arkansas, played 4 games there, had a nonstop 18hour drive to Tucson, played a bunch of games down there, came back, and then when we got back to campus we swept Conference..” — Nate Zaroban ‘18

ALL PHOTOS BY MAYU SAKAE

Computer Science Students create Project Gadfly

HELENA GRUENSTEIDL

Project Gadfly connects users with their elected representatives. By Andrea Baumgartel baumgart1@grinnell.edu Some people choose to call their elected representatives to press for change, but many others don’t— they might not know what to say, or know the best way to contact their representative. Luckily a group of Grinnellians organized over spring break to address this problem, and created a

website, iPhone and Android app collectively called Project Gadfly. “An alum, Josh Moore ’99, who was a physics major, had this idea in late January to make this app, to provide a platform that makes it easier to contact representatives directly. He talked to some other alumni in the Minneapolis area to see if it would be feasible to gather up some current Grinnell students over spring break to all work together to create

it,” explained Madeleine Hardt ’17, one of the app’s creators. Paps Ampim-Darko ’19, Linh Pham ‘18, Esther Hwang ’19, Ziwen Chen ’20, Xinyi Yan ’20, Kamal Nadesan ’19 and An Hoang ’18 were the other contributors to the project. The group of students went to Minnesota to work on the project. “It was 12 days of go, go, go” Ampim-Darko said. During the short window, the group constructed not just the app, but also a website and server. “The hardest part at the beginning is figuring out exactly what information you need—not too much, and not too little,” Ampim-Darko said, alluding to what is commonly known in the software development realm as the Minimum Viable Product—a product with just enough features to serve its functions. Project Gadfly is designed to remove barriers to entry for political action. “To remove those barriers— not knowing who to call, or what to say—in the form of providing a simple button that lets someone

call their representative, and on the same screen, see a sample script that someone else has uploaded via the website,” Hardt said. Anyone can upload a call script, and the website provides the ability to create a QR code for said script that can be sent or posted anywhere, thus allowing others to pull up the script directly. The group is still fine-tuning the app—as the App and Google Play stores have specific requirements and standards which still need to be met—but according to Hardt, it should be available to everyone within the next couple of weeks. The group worked on overall strategy together but split up based on specialty. “We pretty much tackled everything together and made all of the decisions together, but also worked in pairs” Ampim-Darko said. “Paired programming is something that the Grinnell CS Department focuses heavily on in the curriculum and does really well in. It’s thought to be very good practice to have one person ‘driving’ and one person ‘navigating’ and if our team

were bigger, we might have had more splitting up, but in our case it was…two for one app, two for the other, two to make the website and two to do the server, database, and everything not on the front end of the app—stuff that supports the app that the user isn’t aware of,” Hardt added. During the break, each student was able to live with a different alum in Minneapolis. “Since the [presidential] election, which I found to be pretty upsetting, I’ve been asking myself how I can use my skills in computer science to do something in this situation . . . so when I heard about this, I was totally on board. And for these alums to engage with us and work with us on something they could have easily done themselves, it was really an amazing act of our alumni network who mentored us,” Hardt said. The name Project Gadfly is a reference to Socrates’s comparison of an activist, a social transformer, to a gadfly which “stings” and “whips” a slow, unresponsive horse into a charge.

Grinnell "Fight Club" practices martial arts

By Graham Dodd doddhenr@grinnell.edu

Grinnell College now has a Fight Club. Far from the grungy basements of its namesake, the club meets in the Bear’s Dance Studio, and members are encouraged to talk about it. Martial artists Philip Kiely ‘20 and Bogdan Abaev ‘20 decided to found the club when they met one day in the gym soon after arriving on campus. “Both of us have done martial arts for a long time,” Abaev said. “Personally, it was a little bit upsetting when I didn't meet anyone doing a club or classes. I met Philip in the Bear and we had the idea for the club at that very moment.” “The next week we went to the gym,” Kiely continued, “we got out a punching bag and it was really fun, but there wasn’t much equipment. We asked SGA and they gave us around seven hundred dollars of funding for bags, wrist straps, and helmets.” Abaev has eight years of experience in Judo and five years of boxing experience. Kiely has a third-degree black belt in TaeKwonDo, which he has practiced for more than thirteen years. “Sometimes I lead some stretch-

es,” Kiely said as he described a typical meeting. "And then Bogdan will lead us through a workout on the bags. We practice various boxing things, then I will show everyone the kick of the week. At the end we do partner drills.”

"Nothing gives me the same feeling that TaeKwonDo does ... you learn how to use your body in a different way" –Philip Kiely '20 Other students with their own martial arts experience share their knowledge at the meetings. “It varies because we have people with different experiences,” Abaev said. “And everyone is very welcome to share. Last time one of our members who does jiu-jitsu shared some of his experience and we had some wrestling matches at the end.” Describing the impact the sport has on both novices and veterans, Kieley and Abaev made clear that there are unique benefits to practicing martial arts. “We all live in a stressful environment, right?” Abaev said. “Once you learn how to deal with the pressure

through punching the punching bag, through workouts and physical activity, you just begin to consider it as a way of relieving the pressure inside your mind.” “I've tried all sorts of new physical activities since I got to Grinnell, like rock climbing, weight lifting, running, but nothing gives me the same feeling that TaeKwonDo does,” Kiely said. “For people who don't have practical experience, you learn how to use your body in a different way, you learn some practical defense skills, and you also just get a really good workout.”

"Once you learn how to deal with the pressure through punching the punching bag, through workouts and physical activity, you just begin to consider it as a way of relieving the pressure inside your mind." –Bogdan Abaev '20 Kiely and Abaev stressed that beginners are encouraged to attend meetings if they are interested. “The club is free,” Kiely said, “so it really is a welcoming way to get into

HELENA GRUENSTEIDL

Grinnell Fight Club unites practitioners of a variety of martial arts. martial arts without having to worry about not having experience.” “For people who have never done it before, we want to introduce them to the sport, see if they are interested, and we are happy to give them the opportunity to develop their skills if they do,” Abaev said. Abaev hopes that the club will establish a lasting tradition. “Once you workout with the same people for a long time, you feel a connection, a kind of binding to the group

and community of fighters,” he said. The club meets in the Dance Studio in the Bear on Mondays from 4:30 to 6 p.m., although Kieley and Abaev suggested that they were considering alternate times and locations, as well as meeting twice a week. "You should definitely come try it, it will be a lot of fun. And if it isn't you'll definitely still learn something!" Kiely said. Editor's Note: Philip Kiely is Features Editor for the S&B

6

Arts

Edited by coghlann17@grinnell.edu

ANACHA Collective debuts stunning Smith show

MAYU SAKAEN

The ANACHA Collective's Smith Show opened yesterday afternoon. Keli Vitaioli vitaioli@grinnell.edu This week marks the opening of one of the most transformative Smith Gallery shows of the semester. Courtsey of the ANACHA collective, the corner gallery opposite the dining hall now boasts a reading nook stocked with feminist anthologies, video explorations of relationships in the digital age, essays on Grinnell’s many shortcomings, memes, musings and more. ANACHA’s encompassing mission statement, which proclaims the collective’s goal to “deconstruct existing modes of representation within phallocentric and ethnocentric logic,” greets visitors at the entrance and provides good insight into the transformative, personal journey the

show hopes to take them on. The show exhibits works from eight of the collective’s fluctuating ten to 12 members. The show encompasses work across a wide range of mediums; from memes by Teresa Fleming ’17 screaming “fuck everyone who has ever hurt me,” a video exhibit on intimacy by Halley Freger ’17 and an extensive multi-poster exhibit by the collective’s leader, Hanky Song ’17 on the seemingly never-ceasing statistics of sexual assaults on college campuses. The physical layout of the show simulates a safe space; the textures and fabrics make the gallery feel comfortable and inviting, and the content of the work exposes raw emotionality. “The way we kind of approached this was what would a physical space

of ANACHA look like, where would we convene to show our art and give each other feedback and get public feedback, and also have discussion meetings and read texts that are important to our work,” Song said. Drawing on the collective’s mission, Smith has an extremely personal feel. Viewing the art is not a passive experience, as visitors confront the personal and political demanding to be felt. Themes of othering, drug abuse and institutional neglect, often swept aside in mainstream media, are given a platform to be considered and dissected by ANACHA’s visitors. “We followed the women’s liberation movements and the idea that, personal is political, so kind of connecting our own unconscious forces at work when we’re making our art

and contextualizing that within political structures and societal and historical processes,” Song said. “So I think, all of the pieces are, I wouldn’t say they are autobiographical, but it has a lot of the artist’s own experiences embedded within their work.” ANACHA meets to discuss feminist, cultural and art theory, while also creating art and interpretations of the readings. The goal is to challenge traditional, Eurocentric means of thinking and creating art. The exhibit even sports a mini reading nook, allowing visitors to engage with the same readings that the collective members were inspired by. “One of the readings that we read is [on] Race Traitor, a magazine, [by Noel Ignatiev] called “The Point is Not to Interpret Whiteness, but to Abolish it,” it was talking about how whiteness is a construction, and how it is like a club almost to exclude the other and control the material base,” Song said. “So with that reading, we kind of discussed how our relationships as different bodies of color and as women, as different marginalized people, how we are read and how we are read in relation to whiteness, and it kind of brought in our personal experiences when we were talking about that.” While Song envisioned creating a space of open criticism, she had not imagined the strong community ANACHA would create. For Song and the members, the collective creates a space of discourse where one doesn’t exist academically on campus in the form of a major. “It’s turned out really well, and this is one of the things that I’m really proud about in my past four years, and it has the sense of a feminist art community and because I’m an inde-

pendent major and I want to pursue film making and film studies and cultural studies, because there’s a limited amount of classes that are offered here,” Song said. “It was really nice to have a space where we could meet with people who have that interest in studying cultural theory.” The collective and the gallery highlight the works and roles of women in art where they are traditionally pushed to the side. This emphasis on female, ethnic and diverse art and theory in ANACHA’s collective does not make the collective exclusive to those with the same marginal identities — recently two men have joined the group. “I’m very wary of the difficulties of ideas surrounding identity and one thing to note is that all of our members are marginalized people. If there are people that are identified as men, they are people of color, and I think the space definitely drew in those marginalized subjectivities,” Song said. “But even with a white, cis man, I think its important to challenge what identity means or what we are identified as … The group is definitely not exclusive to people who identify themselves as marginalized, because there are these different levels of power and very different ways we are identified.” ANACHA’s exhibit opened on April 6 and will run through April 14. As a representative space for the group, Song does hope to hold at least one ANACHA meeting in the gallery while it is open, to give each other feedback on the work in the gallery and have a discussion meeting. The collective is always open to new members, particularly underclassmen as the group hopes to continue and more than half of the members will graduate this spring.

BAX and Vietnam War photos new to Faulconer Gallery

HELENA GRUENSTEIDL

By Philip Kiely kielyphi@grinnell.edu A stunning pair of contrasting exhibits open this Friday in Faulconer Gallery: both the gallery of student work in the Bachelor of Arts Exhibition (BAX) and a powerful collection of Vietnam War Photographs by Robert Hodierne ’68. “You really get a clear sense that you are in two different exhibitions. I like that, we have a big

space so the fact that we can use it for several different kinds is terrific,” said the Director of Faulconer Gallery, Lesley Wright. BAX features colorful sculptures, video, prints and mixed media works. From a collection of household objects, to large sculptures mounted on the wall, BAX displays the breadth of student art at Grinnell. Each year, the exhibition gives upper-level art students the chance to display their work.

“Any third or fourth year student who has taken upper-division studio art classes is eligible to submit up to two works to BAX. They can submit a third if it is done jointly with somebody else. We review them all just before spring break and they deliver them here and my staff helps design the installation and helps the students get them up on the walls. It will be up for a month,” Wright said. Each year the college brings in a juror to award prizes to the students. This year, Professor Tameka Jenean “Meka Jean” Norris, a University of Iowa professor, will serve as the juror. The Student Government Association and the Office of Student Affairs will also award prizes. “The juror this year is an artist, sometimes it’s a professor or a critic. She is coming from Iowa City, where she’s a visiting professor … there are endowed funds for BAX that allows there to be really decent prize money to be given to students for the best in show and then some merit awards that the juror can opt to give. We also have prizes that are given by the student government association and the office of student affairs,” Wright said After surveying the best of current student work, visitors will

encounter Hodierne’s poignant solo exhibition. Hodierne left Grinnell after his third year and photographed the war in Vietnam for over a year. After graduating in 1968, he enlisted and returned to Vietnam as a correspondent for The Pacific Stars & Stripes to continue documenting the war. He has had a distinguished career in photojournalism, including work in several combat zones. The fifty-year-old photographs are mostly focused on individual soldiers. Most are single shots, but there are some series, including the burning of a village. “He thinks of them not as anti-war photographs but as an unblinking look at what we expect of young people when we send them

into combat,” Wright explained. The exhibit contains another interesting historical artifact: old copies of The Scarlet & Black that include dispatches from Hodierne. “One of our trustees, Hal Fuson, had his career in the news business. He was the managing editor of The S&B back in his day, and when Robert was in Vietnam in that ’66 and ’67 period, he would send back dispatches from Vietnam to The S&B, so he was their reporter in Vietnam, and Hal had a full set of S&Bs, and he sent them to us to keep in the gallery for people to look at,” said Wright. Both exhibitions open this afternoon. Hodierne will be giving a gallery talk on April 27 about his work.

HELENA GRUENSTEIDL

Professor Tilly Woodward talks art as personal and political By Teresa Fleming flemingt17@grinnell.edu Tilly Woodward shared the intersections of her artistic and personal lives to a group of colleagues and students last Wednesdays, tracing a narrative of art as a means of connection and learning. In addition to serving as Curator of Academic and Community Outreach for the Faulconer Gallery, Woodward has explored notions of community and expression through her work. She first found herself drawn to art as a mode of processing trauma and dealing with the isolation she experienced growing up on a farm. But agricultural life also proved a catalyst to her work, as Woodward engaged in her early work with the materiality of the welders and power saws she grew up with. But as Woodward attended school and developed her artistic practice, she expanded her scope to address global issues of polit-

ical shifts and human rights that characterized the 1980s. “I had spent all this time making work that’s personal to me and I started engaging with news media,” Woodward said. “Creating new work made me step out of this insular space of making art

"I had spent all this time making work that's personal to me and I started engaging with news media." Tilly Woodward about my own experience.” Woodward exhibited many of her large scale chalk pastel drawings on billboard space along the I-70 highway, where they drew a varied range of responses from passing motorists. One local woman confronted Woodward about the apparent ambiguity of a drawing that depicted a scene of a hanging in Minsk, explaining that

she would prefer a piece that offered explicit moralizing instructions to the viewer. Woodward spent years depicting Iowa residences in large chalk pastel and oil portraits, showcasing demographics that fall outside the typically imagined Iowan identity. All the while, Woodward continued to bring her artistic practice outside the studio, working with community art organizations to “give people permission and a way to express themselves.” But of late, Woodward’s work has turned away from portraits, refocusing on oil paintings of still lifes featuring the natural materials and forms that characterized her early efforts and which appear luminescent against dark backdrops. Woodward continues to spend her evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. working on her paintings. “The world is huge and confusing, and so to have two hours to focus on one thing and try to see it and reproduce it, is important.”

QIANXUE ZHAO.

Opinions

Edited by mettleca@grinnell.edu

7

Alumni support divestment from fossil fuels

Dear Grinnell Community, Editors, President Kington and the Board of Trustees: Climate change is a biological, economic and political reality with critical implications on a global scale. Simply stated, the science is unequivocal. Greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for global warming, which results in an increase in frequency and severity of weather events and major changes in climate systems (i.e., climate change). Extreme heat, intense precipitation and droughts have increased in recent decades in the United States and around the world as the climate warms, resulting in deaths, property damage and threatening food production (Greenough, 2001; Rosenzweig, 2001). Importantly, animals and plants that make up the fundamental components of the very ecosystem that humans rely on for goods and services are also under threat from climate change (Parmesan and Yohe,

2003; Thuiller, 2005). In addition, people, communities and nations experiencing poverty suffer the bulk of damages from climate change (Mendelsohn, Dinar and Williams, 2006). As such, taking steps to mitigate the effects of climate change is a justice issue and one that should be seriously considered by institutions and people who consider themselves allies of marginalized groups. Climate-related hazards affect poor people’s lives through direct impacts on livelihoods, reductions in crop yields and destruction of homes and indirectly through increased food prices and food insecurity (IPCC, 2014). The heightened vulnerability of poor communities is exacerbated by intersectional inequalities that make people and groups who experience oppression due to gender, race, class, ethnicity, age and (dis)ability disproportionately vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change (IPCC, 2014). As a

privileged institution, the College has a social mandate to combat climate change both for our own interest and in solidarity with marginalized communities to manifest social, economic and environmental justice. Decreasing greenhouse emissions is not only required for a sustainable future, but is also a moral imperative. The College can best influence the trajectory of climate change by divesting from unsustainable fossil fuels. Opportunities for responsible investing, such as “green” funds that allow donors to support fossil-fuel free investment, exist and have been proposed by President Kington. Further, renewable energy is becoming an increasingly valuable investment (Zindler and Locklin, 2016). However, these measures will not sufficiently reduce greenhouse gas emissions and therefore, are unacceptable as the sole component of Grinnell’s involvement. While student and alumni led actions,

such as withholding donations barring divestment, have been used at our peer institutions, these methods have thus far failed to be effective. We affirm, additionally, that it is not the responsibility of students or alumni to propose a comprehensive plan for divestment. Without access to the particulars of the college’s finances, this is an unrealistic proposal. Rather, it is the college’s responsibility, through discussions with the Grinnell community, to find an innovative and effective path to divestment. Already nineteen U.S. colleges and universities, including Syracuse University, which has an endowment of 1.157 billion USD, and many more municipalities have divested or are working towards divestment. Notably, as of March 13, 2017, Columbia University has committed to divestment from companies deriving more than 35% of their revenue from thermal coal production. We urge the admin-

istration and board of trustees to join these institutions and municipalities, follow in the College tradition of justice and innovation and become a leader in this area. As proud alumni, we whole heartedly and enthusiastically endorse full divestment from fossil fuel interests in solidarity with the on-campus #DivestGrinnell movement. We call on President Kington to facilitate a campus-wide discussion on divestment, with the intention of opening the conversation up to all interested parties and crafting a policy that follows the ideals outlined above. We support and encourage a shift towards more sustainable investment in a manner that does not threaten the economic viability of the college, but supports the economic, social and environmental justice causes that lie at the core of what it means to be a Grinnellian.

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received a “Stone Cold Stunner” from the wrestler Steve Austin himself. And yet, we are here. The initial shock of Nov 9 continues to reverberate throughout politics and has manifested itself in diverse reactions. The Democrats’ dark night left many clamoring for a comforting but complex explanation -- one that removes any risk of their party being at fault. The indignant have taken to social media to express their rage, railing against Donald Trump and anyone who dares to criticize the Democratic Party’s tactics in 2016. This cadre defends Hillary Clinton both from real attacks by Republicans as well as from left-leaning journalists who provide meaningful, constructive criticism of the Democratic Party. The arguments of these pro-Clinton Twitter militants boil down to a few key points: first, the Clinton campaign is sacrosanct and blameless for its loss in 2016. Rather, the Russians interference solely gave Trump an advantage in the race. Second, any criticism of Hillary Clinton or her campaign makes the critic either “divisive” or a Kremlin shill. The Twitter militant immaturely makes these connections. Some are so talented that they have “proven” that the Kremlin has spooky kompromat on everyone from Bernie Sanders to journalist Matt Taibbi. (By the way, I categorically deny any connections with the Kremlin). Finally, all information related to the Russia story must be true, because it’s “so obvious” considering what has already been insinuated and reported by the Twitter echo chamber. Not only is this line of argument fundamentally contrived, but it replaces inconvenient facts with as-yet unproven assumptions about the 2016

race. While the links between Trump and Russia seem extensive, we should sort out facts from assumptions. Occam’s Razor is of paramount importance in sifting truth from fiction when looking at the 2016 race. Though investigations are ongoing, and though there’s a lot of smoke, no fire has yet been found. Proof of Russian collusion with Trump to interfere in the election has yet to be found. But many Democrats act as though it is a done deal, demanding Trump resign over the Russia scandal, rather than the multiple other under-reported scandals in his administration thus far. Not only is it intellectually dishonest to base factual arguments solely on unproven assumption, but it is a dangerous game for the Democratic Party. In failing to recognize the Clinton campaign’s shortcomings in favor of a mythology about as-yet unproven collusion with Russia, Democrats are ignoring the political realities that caused their defeat. At the end of the day, what we must use to explain the Democrats’ stunning loss are often uncomfortable facts. The Clinton campaign’s disorganization in Michigan and other “Blue Wall” states cannot be denied. Nor can the Democratic Party’s failure to reach to out white working class voters. Nor should FBI Director James Comey be used as a scapegoat. Instead of owning up to these real failings and political circumstances, it seems that many Democrats would rather blame Russia than update their strategy for the better. Ultimately, political discourse needs a shave from Occam’s Razor for its own good. If the Democrats hope to bounce back, they need to learn from facts instead of placating themselves with unproven assumptions.

The Convenient Kremlin

Max Fenton

Life During Wartime

The English Franciscan friar William of Ockham was a titanic philosophical figure in the fourteenth century and involved himself in the raging political and theological debates of his time. Despite his significant contributions to Catholic theology and medieval thought, he is most commonly remembered for the problem-solving method of Occam’s Razor. Its basic principle is that the simplest, least assumptive explanation for a particular occurrence is most likely to be true. Inversely, the more assumptions one must make, the less likely something is to be true. Though most attribute the Razor as a scientific heuristic, it remains a good general rule in everyday logic when seeking to explain a particular event or phenomenon. Nevertheless, people often choose to ignore inconvenient simple truths for convoluted, yet comforting, assumptions. Our increasingly shambolic political life exemplifies this in modern society. Though a short two-and-a-half months into the Trump presidency, it appears as if American politics has become its most disorganized in recent memory. The simultaneous explosion of domestic scandal and international crisis, coupled with the relative ineptitude of this administration, has left many pondering how we ever got here in the first place. Democrats lose sleep wondering how the former Secretary of State could lose to a man that once

The Scarlet & Black Staff Editors-in-Chief News Editors Features Editor Sports Editor Arts Editor Community Editor Opinions Editor Copy Editors Photo Editor Business Manager Web Editor Staff Writer Honorary Editors

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

Sincerely,

*For full citations, please visit our website.

Letter to the Editor: High school workers deserve their pay

We hear a lot about Grinnell’s commitment to social responsibility. It’s plastered all over the College’s website and the glossy brochures it sends out every fall. But what does that commitment look like in practice? Last October, UGSDW (Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers) signed a contract with the College, raising student staff wages in the dining hall from $8.50 to $9.25 per hour. The College also decided to raise wages for workers at the Spencer Grill and Catering. But it left some workers out.

"If you truly care about social responsibility, stop cheating your workers and start following the rules."

There are about a dozen students from Grinnell High School who work in the dining hall. They do the same kind of work as their college-aged counterparts, and often have more experience and work more hours per week. But they have been left out to dry by the College administration, which refuses to pay them the contract-mandated higher wage.   When UGSDW found out about the issue, we immediately filed a grievance with the College, following a pro-

cess we agreed on to resolve disputes. However, the College maintained that these students were not covered and would not receive the pay we supported.  We then presented the case to the College for binding arbitration, where a panel of SGA officers and faculty members would hold a hearing and make a final decision. The College refused. Their refusal was a blatant repudiation of the contract and a shameful attempt to dodge the issue. If they are so certain that they are right, what is there to fear from a panel of impartial arbitrators?   At this point, the union had little choice but to bring the issue before the National Labor Relations Board, a federal government agency. The National Labor Relations Board has appointed an agent to investigate the claim and decide whether to bring formal charges against the College. Regardless of the outcome of the federal investigation, the College retains a legal and moral obligation to pay high school students a fair wage. These students work the same shifts and have the same duties as we do, but the College should not pay them less for their work. What more, the College refuses even to discuss the issue. Grinnell—it’s simple. If you truly care about social responsibility, stop cheating your workers and start following the rules. -Quinn Ercolani '20 ercolani@grinnell.edu

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.

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Back Page Volume 135, Issue 20

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Lose yourself in intricacies.

Arbitrary Analysis Social Calendar

June

May

Snedge

Friday

2:00 p.m. Pioneer Weekedn @ Harris Center Concert Hall 7:00 p.m.Japanese Spring Festival @ JRC 101 7:15 p.m.La La Land @ Harris Cinema Center

This week, Mira Berkson '20 and Andrea Baumgartel '19 polled students asking: Petroleum Jelly or Nutter Butter

JRC

Saturday​

leum Petro lly Je 22%

8:30 a.m. Women's Tennis Competition @ BRAC Fieldhouse Inner Courts 7:30 p.m. Infinite Coincident Improv Show @ The Wall Theatre Lab 7:30 p.m. DIY Plant Terrarium 8:00 p.m. Korean Cultural Experience @ ARH 302 10:00 p.m. Disco @ Haris Cinema Center

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SOFIA KUTCEVA

April

Pub Quiz Winners

1.) Dangerous When Whet

2.) Separation of Church and Taint

Staff Shoutout

NOYCE

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@thesandb /thescarletandblack thesandb.com @newspapr

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to Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson for inaugurating the first Mando Lecture!Thank you for helping to preserve his legacy.

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]

This week in news...

Scarlet & Give Back Day

Dance Moms Season One

This school should not ask people who already pay money to this school to give more money. Some of us cannot afford laundry detergent right now. Stop burdening us and our families for more money.

Today I was watching season 1 episode 4 of Dance Moms. It's the one where they all have solos and Maddie has TWO! Melissa, Maddie's mom, can't understand why that's totally unfair, and Christi, Chloe's mom, goes too far. Come on, moms and Abby, get it together. All your kids are amazing dancers! And Chloe, I'll rave about Chloe any day! But even though this is season one, the same shit happens again, and again, and again. I just want to see my GIRLS dance!

-I'm poor

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3.) Iowa Corn Stars

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"The best thing since the front page!"

-Lily Böhlke '19

La Maison Kendall Jenner and Pepsi's neoliberal . commodification of resistance is not Don't erase Italian House! Or Croatian theirs alone, but another reiteration House! Or Iranian House! of trendy activism taking away from actions, resistance on the ground. Now hearing that the US military has launched missiles against the Syrian -Un garçon français government airbases (and this has been done under the Obama Administration), we need more than activism that looks like writing a powerful hashtag on applications to enter academic industrial complex institution (@Stanford) that don't support their survivors. -$imone Down$ '17: much love to Abdiel Lopez '18