Vol. 139, Issue 1

Sthecarlet & Black Harris Dances in limbo until ACES alternative is found

By Nick El Hajj elhajjni@grinnell.edu

Over 33 million people have been displaced, and 1,300 people have died in Pakistan as historic floods tore through the countryside, swept buildings and submerged over one-third of the country in “water everywhere as far as you could see,” according to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

“It’s way worse than we’ve ever seen,” said Nameera Muhammad Dawood `23, an international student from Pakistan. “I called my mom just to make sure that they’re alive. I don’t know, I was just scared of the worst, you know?”

“Pakistan has witnessed unusually large monsoons, made large quite likely by climate change. Higher temperatures and more water vapor in the air cause more rain falls in shorter periods of time,” said Leif Brottem, Associate Professor of Global Development Studies. “The Pakistani people are especially sensitive to them due to the country’s geographical location and much of the people’s dependence on natural resources, livestock and land-based activities.”

The S&B met with all six Grinnell students who hold Pakistani citizenship and asked them to share their sentiments on the chaos back home.

“This is something massive, this is something different. It has completely destroyed a major part of the country,” said Hamza Ilahi `23. “I talk to my mom every day, and I just

ask ‘how’s it going?’”

“It’s crazy how bad stuff is right now. My parents have already donated money. I have as well with [the] little cash that I got from working at D-Hall,” said Daanyal Ahmed `26.

“This is the first time I’ve seen flooding of this intensity. This is not something my country deserves in the slightest, given the financial challenges it has faced in the past few years,” Muhammad Khalid `26 wrote in an email to the S&B.

Once widely thought to become the next “Asian tiger,” Pakistan has found itself mired in financial crisis, according to Sharif. Depleting foreign exchange reserves, spiraling inflation and political instability have now placed the country on the verge of economic collapse with inflation hitting a fresh record for the sixth straight month in August.

Recent flooding is now expected to make things worse, according to Brottem. He anticipates a looming food crisis, and more significantly: mass loss of livelihoods.

He explains that food stores can be replaced with imports, but what really causes high food insecurity and even famine is when farmers and agricultural laborers lose their livelihoods. “If you’re getting paid a daily wage in order to work in a farmer’s field, but that farmer’s field gets destroyed, that daily wage to feed your family is all of a sudden gone,” he said.

Ekta Shaikh `24 is no stranger

By Marcus Cassidy cassidym@grinnell.edu

The dissolution of the AllCampus Events Staff (ACES) over equity concerns has put the immediate future of Harris dances in jeopardy. Due to student safety concerns regarding a lack of ACES at the dances, the initial Student Government Association (SGA) Harris Dance, scheduled for Sept. 3 and publicized by the Division of

Student Affairs, was postponed, and future dances may face the same possibility.

Harris Dances are popular all-campus events funded by the SGAs All-Campus Events (ACE) committee. This committee handles events that are open to all students on campus like concerts in Gardner, Harris parties and other events not connected to a specific student group.

Traditionally, “Harrises” have been hosted by different student

groups on campus who propose the theme, plan the dance and decorate Harris Concert Hall. The event would then take place with the ACES overseeing the event to ensure student safety.

However, ethics and equity concerns arose regarding the predominance of students of color working as ACES, and the fact

Amidst COVID spike, College eases pandemic restrictions

By Nina Baker bakernin@grinnell.edu

Students’s return to Grinnell College fueled a county-wide surge in COVID-19 cases during the last week of August, reaching numbers Poweshiek County has not seen since the first Omicron wave in Jan. 2022.

However, despite over 115 cases being reported by Grinnell College students since Aug. 8, the College has ended its mask mandate, reduced rapid testing availability, shrunk isolation requirements, taken down its COVID-19 dashboard and ceased consulting with the University of Iowa team of epidemiologists who had previously guided the College’s COVID-19 response.

One change in procedure, which has drawn particular attention from some students, is the change to the College’s official isolation policy for infected students. As opposed to the 2021-22 academic year, during which students who tested positive for COVID-19 were required to move to campus-owned housing to isolate, infected students this year are instructed to isolate in the same room as their roommates.

Deven Platt `26 has not contracted COVID-19 this year, but his roommate did.

Platt, who lives in a double turned into a triple in Rose Hall, said that on Monday, Aug. 29, he received a text message from one of his roommates that another roommate had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier that day. Later that day, Platt said he decided he would be sleeping in the Rose Hall lounge.

From Monday until Saturday, Sept. 3, the day Platt’s roommate left isolation, Platt said he did not go back to his dorm room at all, except once to stash his necessary belongings into a bag, which Platt said he kept in a friend’s dorm.

“I basically put enough stuff for five days in a duffle bag and lived out of that for five days,” Platt said.

Platt’s third roommate, who also remained uninfected, also chose to

sleep in a lounge in Rose for that same week, according to Platt.

“I didn’t go back in the room until he was not in isolation. I just didn’t feel comfortable doing that.”

Platt, who is 6 feet tall, said sleeping on a small couch proved uncomfortable. Before sleeping, Platt said he would angle a chair next to his feet and sleep diagonally to stay comfortable.

Platt said that after his roommate tested positive, he went to Student Health and Wellness (SHAW) for guidance and asked where he was supposed to live with a positive roommate.

of exposure, according to Cox.

Platt said he was not instructed by staff at SHAW to take a PCR test, but that this was because he had tested negative two days prior due to an unrelated exposure to the virus. Platt said he decided to take another test out of caution and risk of additional exposure. He received a negative test.

Cases spike upon arrival

Since Aug. 8, the earliest day of student arrival on campus, 115 students reported positive COVID-19 results. According to data from Cox, nearly half of these cases were reported on just three days: Aug. 26, with 19 cases; Aug. 27, with 16 cases; and Aug. 29, with 20 cases.

are not immunocompromised or with significant risk factors,” Cox wrote.

Cox added that the decision to reverse the temporary mask mandate was not only decided with consultation from members of administration, but also with members of the Student Government Administration (SGA).

Fourth dose approved

“They said, ‘we can’t really help you with that. Maybe find a buddy?’ and I was just like, ‘I’m living on a floor of forced triples. No one has an extra bed,’” Platt said.

In explaining the College’s new isolation procedures, Heather Cox, Director of Emergency Management and Risk Mitigation at the College, wrote in an email to the S&B that the prior policy of relocating infected students to other rooms during the isolation period caused an often-unnecessary disruption to the students’s lives,

“Our experience last year shows that in the majority of cases when one roommate tests positive, the other roommate also tests positive within 24 hours,” Cox also wrote.

Immunocompromised or otherwise high-risk students can access accommodations so that they do not have to isolate with an infected roommate. In general, roommates of infected students are required to take a Test Iowa Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test after notification

On the following two days of Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, 11 and 10 positive cases were reported, respectively. Since then, case rates have dropped steadily, with no more than five students reporting positive cases each day. Only two positive cases have been reported since the mask mandate was lifted last Friday. As of Sept. 7, four students remain in isolation.

In an email to the S&B, Cox wrote that the relatively high number of cases within the first two weeks of arrival was anticipated due to the easy transmission of the Omicron variant and student exposure when traveling to the College.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 99% of COVID-19 transmission stems from the highly contagious Omicron variant. The BA.5 sub-variant of Omicron, significantly more contagious than prior sub-variants according to Yale Medicine, accounts for 79% of COVID-19 cases in the lowerMidwest region, including Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the release of over 100 million doses of bivalent COVID-19 boosters from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech. These shots have specifically targeted the new sub-variants with the addition of messenger RNA from the BA.5 strain into the vaccine formula.

The College no longer requires students, faculty or staff to be vaccinated or boosted against COVID-19. The switch came after Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed House File 2298 into law, which prohibits private or public Iowa colleges and universities from mandating COVID-19 vaccination. However, the College still “strongly recommends” COVID-19 vaccination and boosters for students, faculty and staff, according to the College’s website.

The decision to end the mask mandate was not based on case counts alone, but on case trends, she wrote.

“That, combined with the generally mild cases reported, a highlyvaccinated campus, the availability of vaccines and boosters and the availability of high-quality masks for anyone that seeks to use them gave us confidence that mandatory masking is no longer required for those who

The bivalent boosters will be available for all residents ages 12 or older who received their most recent dose at least two months prior. These shots are not yet available in Grinnell-area pharmacies, according to Poweshiek County Public Health (PCPH). Representatives at PCPH did not respond to requests for comment on how quickly doses are expected to arrive.

“How are we going to recover from this?” Students alarmed as floods ravage Pakistan

ALBERTO VAZQUEZ

Artist GoldLink performed in Harris Concert Hall on May 6, 2016. Following a hiatus due to the pandemic, Har rises returned last semester, but may now be at risk once again.

I basically put enough stuff for five days in a duffle bag, and lived out of that for five days.

Platt

They said, ‘we can’t really help you with that. Maybe find a buddy?’

Extreme flooding throughout Pakistan

from Front Page

to flooding in her home. She comes from Karachi, a city in the Sindh province of Pakistan — one of the most affected provinces so far this year which received five to six times its 30-year average rainfall, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

“As I’ve grown up, I’ve seen weather patterns change around me and the quantity as well as the extent of rain increase,” said Shaikh. She said how she has had to repeatedly sweep flood water out of her house and has been “house arrested” for weeks waiting for floods to subside in her city. “We all realize and have seen how this is a very, very real problem,” added Shaikh.

“Pakistan is responsible for a very minuscule amount of the emissions,” said Brottem in what he called “a real climate justice issue.”

He said the issue stems from the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, and that has been “historically produced by a small percentage of the population of consumers in mostly wealthy countries.”

“It’s surprising to believe that we have to bear the brunt of climate change when we aren’t even a major contributor,” wrote Khalid.

“Pakistan produces less than one percent in global emissions … as heartbreaking and alarming [as] the situation is, it should ring alarm bells for greater catastrophes that climate change can bring,” wrote Faheem Faheem `24 to the S&B.

Pakistan is now asking for global aid as its Planning Minister estimates the damage from the flood will be “far greater than $10 billion.”

“Helping pay for the repair of this should be seen as reparations, because we are not responsible for a lot of this damage,” said Dawood.

Brottem said that despite the massive damage, the international community is not providing as much aid as Pakistan is asking for.

The global response is “disappointing but not surprising” according to Shaikh. She said that what she is more disappointed about, however, is her college community. “I am disappointed in the Grinnell community in specific, the community that I exist in that claims to be diverse and inclusive,” she said.

After hearing the news, Shaikh and Dawood said they decided to take action and compile a list of ways to help. They said they intended to send

the list through an all-campus email to students, but their request was denied.

“It’s hard to have the energy to be both involved in this and worried about the whole thing but then also to be wrestling with the school to even release a statement about this,” said Dawood. “It’s just insensitive … how do you make somebody empathize with a situation that speaks for itself?”

“I just literally started crying,” added Dawood.

In an email to the S&B, Maure Smith-Benanti, Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs & Dean of Inclusive Initiatives, expressed her condolences for the “awful” situation and wrote: “the Division of Student Affairs never sends emails of this nature out to campus — those are sent by the President’s office to the student list, the staff list and the faculty list.”

Smith-Benanti will be meeting with Pakistani students on Thursday, Sept. 8 to discuss the student’s frustrations over the College’s response.

The Office of International Student Affairs (OISA) has expressed condolences in its weekly newsletter labeled “FYI from the OISA” and reached out individually to all affected students.

“I know the college can do more to help, and they should,” said Ilahi. “Many great alums from this school are Pakistani. Kumail Nanjiani, the alum that you brand so much, is Pakistani. He is affected, his family back in Pakistan is affected.”

Ilahi continued, “Treat everyone as equal, treat all equal issues as important. Don’t just raise voice for an issue which is European or American-centric. The world is pretty big.”

Daanyal Ahmed `26

“I’d be happy to learn more about the issues the students raised and see if there is a middle ground we can negotiate,” said Vrinda Varia, Assistant Chief Diversity Officer for Intercultural Student Life.

Both Islamic Relief and UNICEF are currently operating in Pakistan to provide relief through food aid, access to clean water and health services.

Dawood, Shaikh and Ilahi plan to hold a vigil service on Sept. 11 and said they want to generate further awareness campaigns.

Increased bat encounters welcome students back to campus

By Jane Hoffman hoffmanj@grinnell.edu

In Aug. 2022, Campus Safety received 51 wildlife-related complaints on the Grinnell College campus, according to Director of Campus Safety James Shropshire. These cases have led to at least one student requiring a rabies immunization.

According to Dennis Perkins, Assistant Dean of Residence Life (Reslife) and Student Conduct, most interior bat sightings have been reported in the South Campus residence halls of Haines, Read, James, Cleveland and Main as well as in two project houses: Global House and Game House. Apart from Smith Hall, which is in North Campus, these residences all lie on the 1200 block of East Street.

Besides being sources of surprise and distress for unsuspecting residents, the animals can transmit rabies.

According to the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), three circumstances constitute rabies exposure: bites, exposure of an open wound or mucous membrane to bat saliva or neural tissue and inability to confirm a lack of exposure, such as in cases where the exposed person was asleep or unconscious. In the third case, unless the bat is captured and tests negative for rabies, IDPH recommends hospital treatment for rabies, a series of eight injections over four appointments.

The Grinnell Regional Medical Center could not be reached to disclose the number of individuals reporting for rabies exposure treatment in Grinnell.

Daniel Stewart `26 is completing the post-exposure immunization series at the Grinnell Regional Medical Center, after encountering a bat in James Hall at the end of August. He and his roommate awoke to a bat flying around the room, which falls under the IDPH criteria for potential rabies exposure.

Stewart described his residence hall as being trapped in a “crazy cycle of people sleeping while bats enter the room,” even when fire doors and other possible entrances were shut.

While there are sporadic reports of bats in residence halls each year, this

year’s season stands out in the number of reports and exposures, said Perkins.

The College had previously handled incidents on a case-by-case basis, with Campus Safety responding to live incidents and Facilities Management (FM) patching potential entry points as they were identified. However, due to this year’s increased number of reported incidents, as well as general concentration of these incidents in South Campus, the departments of FM, Reslife and Campus Safety are collaborating to address the issue.

Students living in campus residences where multiple bats have been reported expressed frustration with elements of the College’s response thus far.

Shayna Josephson `23 cited frustration with communication and delayed responses from College offices following at least three bat sightings in Game House between mid-June and late-August.

In June, she found a bat in the kitchen and called Campus Safety, who arrived and removed it with a net.

In early Aug. Josephson heard a series of strange noises emanating from the bathroom and found another bat in the bowl of the toilet. She again called Campus Safety for assistance with removing the bat and asked an officer to assist her in inspecting the house to ensure that there were no more bats or open entry points. While they did not find any more bats in the main section of the house, they were not able to get into the attic because Campus Safety did not have the key.

Following the second bat incident, Josephson examined the house and submitted to Reslife a list of eight locations in the house that had holes or raised ceiling tiles that could potentially allow bats into the house.

FM caulked the holes, but Josephson said that the chain of command for who was responding to her reports was “vague,” and it was at times unclear who she should be in touch with to resolve the issue.

As the semester began, another Game House resident encountered a bat in the kitchen, which flew upstairs before being removed by Campus Safety.

Perkins said that the College’s response to bat incidents has continued to evolve as more information becomes available. A “step by step protocol” for responding to bat reports is now in the works. Campus Safety is also now sharing bat reporting incidents directly with Reslife once they are resolved.

A bat expert visited campus in the last week of Aug. and is preparing a report for FM that will include information on bat behavior and key steps for excluding bats from residential buildings.

“Based on the expert’s advice, we are assessing structures to ensure that we have identified and are able to take steps to keep bats from coming inside,” wrote Amy Van Manen, the Office Manager for FM, in an email to the S&B.

According to Perkins’ Aug. 29 email to the student body, students who encounter a bat in their residence should report the incident to Campus Safety by calling 641-269-4600. If a student has potentially been exposed to rabies, they should call SHAW at 641-269-3230 to learn about next steps. Students found to be at risk will be referred to the Grinnell Regional Medical Center for evaluation and treatment.

Editor’s note: Daniel Stewart is a staff writer for the S&B. Stewart was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.

Future of Harrises uncertain

Harris Dances — Continued from Front Page

that these students were unable to participate and enjoy the events. As a result, Natalia Ramirez `24, All Campus Events Chair, said she is searching for alternatives to the position.

“ACES were predominantly people of color who needed to work and could not attend the events.” Ramirez said. “The Division of Student Affairs have agreed that we don’t want ACES anymore. We don’t want a role that reinforces a racist system, so we need to find a replacement for that system.”

ACES were typically responsible for providing a layer of assurance and safety to students when attending All-Campus Events, as their job ensured that a sober student would be available to provide attendees assistance if needed, particularly regarding possible sexual misconduct. The

ACE committee is exploring several potential options to address the new vacancy and has opted to postpone this semester’s first Harris event until a sustainable alternative has been found.

“The option that we are leaning towards is having people who are hosting the events volunteer to help secure the students and help with sexual misconduct and harassment that we don’t want happening at Harrises,” said Ramirez.

Presently, no student organizations have offered to host the Harris event scheduled for Sept. 16, opening the possibility for another postponement. Concerns have been raised that student groups may be less eager to host knowing that several of their members would not be able to engage in the festivities.

“With all the student groups that I have been talking to, I’m telling them that we need a security system and that we’ll probably need your student members to help us

with that,” Ramirez said. “They’re usually less excited, like ‘oh, wait a minute.’ Then, that student group doesn’t want to host anymore.”

Using alternatives like Campus Security or a professional bouncer both risk jeopardizing student comfort, especially in the case of marginalized students. Although using student volunteers is a potential alternative, training typically consists of one hour of training added to attendance for the full duration of the event. These students would miss the opportunity to enjoy the Harris party to its fullest and would not be compensated for their service.

“It would be the same. Volunteers would have to attend training, not attend the Harris, and not get paid,” Ramirez said. “We still don’t have anyone who is willing to host so that we can start the actual organizing and planning. Until we find a solution, it’s unlikely that we’ll see a Harris party soon.”

“Big things coming,” new SGA cabinet takes office

By Eleanor Corbin corbinel@grinnell.edu

The 2022-23 Student Government Association (SGA) cabinet plans to increase communication between students, themselves and administration, as well as undertake a full rewrite of their Constitution.

Loyal Terry `23, Student Government Association President, said they hope to mend and strengthen the relationship between the student body, SGA and the administration.

“If the students trust us as individuals, [then] trust us as a collective,” said Terry.

Terry is joined in the cabinet by Vice President of Student Affairs Diogo Tandeta Tartarotti `24, Vice President of Academic Affairs Jivyaa Vaidya `23, Treasurer Sarah

Toay `23, and All-Campus Events Chair Natalia Ramirez `24.5. These five are currently the only students running all of SGA.

Due to a combination of new union negotiations and obstacles discovered in previous years, the group is currently reimagining the hiring process for all other positions, including senate elections.

Many of these changes to the hiring processes are coming in the form of a full SGA constitutional rewrite, an opportunity that will also allow the cabinet to reexamine SGA’s role at Grinnell College and their approach moving forward.

“We got here with a nonworking SGA. We got here […] and we are trying our best to make sure that in the next 20 years we’ll have something good, something that is working,” said Tandeta Tartotti.

While these changes may lead to

delayed hiring, Tartotti said he hopes the wait is worth the longevity of the structural change. He said he plans to have some version of the senate in place by the end of the semester.

“We want the student body to have a little bit of patience on how we are starting to do things,” Ramirez said regarding the Constitutional rewriting process, “because we want to do them better and efficiently.”

Toay said she plans to ensure that organizations will still be able to access funding despite the lack of a senate. She met with the treasurers of all student organizations on Saturday, Sept. 3, to instruct them on creating an annual budget, which ensures that the organizations can access their funding.

“I don’t want there to be a block to funds,” said Toay, “and so it’s going to be this weird hybrid year,

transition year.”

Toay said she, in particular, did not feel entirely prepared for her position. While SGA Treasurers are typically trained as Assistant Treasurer for a year before assuming the role, Toay was elected with no prior experience.

Toay said she is working to make sure all future Treasurers are better prepared by organizing budget documents and categorizing records. She said she wants to make the position more efficient by taking the job, “away from the nitty gritty.”

This administration is also the first to enter the year with an expanded union, and the cabinet said they look forward to a strong relationship between SGA and UGSDW. Terry said he sees unionization as an opportunity to ensure equity in the workplace and believes that discussions regarding

the union’s place within the College are important to this transition.

“Self gov is not dead,” said Terry, “but our understanding of self gov will change with the way that things happen with the union and the College more broadly.”

Terry also spoke about the unique ways SGA is poised to help bring student concerns to the administration’s awareness. Terry sits on Senior Leadership, a group of college administrators including President Anne Harris, Dean Beronda Montgomery and Vice President Myrna Hernandez among others. They discuss the broader concerns of Grinnell, allowing a student voice to be heard directly. He is the first SGA president to do so.

Pakistan Floods —

It’s crazy how bad stuff is right now.

CONTRIBUTED BY SHAYNA JOSEPHSON Campus Safety Officer Steve Kriegel holds a net with the bat he captured at Game House.

QINGSHUO DU

Features

New SGA cabinet takes office

Terry has already launched one new initiative this year, offering to meet with off-campus houses that host parties in exchange for food and drink sponsored by SGA. This also helps to foster a relationship with the Grinnell Police Department. He sees this as a means of creating safer partying environments.

“Off-campus parties have been seeing a sad but true increase in police activity,” he said, “there we saw an opportunity to have SGA funds and collaboration go towards something that students needed.”

Vaidya has previously been a member of the economics Student Education Policy Committee (SEPC) and said she looks forward to her work with the Council on Curriculum, a group that meets bi-weekly with all SEPCs to discuss various academic affairs.

“I saw from the SEPCs and their members how committed they were to creating that community for them selves and for their students,” said Vaidya, “I really want to use that this year.”

And from the response they have received so far, Vaidya said the student body is more than ready to give their input. Last year’s academic experience survey, after the election of the cabinet, garnered 1,200 responses, some of which included extensive paragraphs of text.

SGA cabinet hosted an open round table during New Student Orientation to field questions and ideas from first years.

“I want to use things like this huge mass of data we have,” said Vaidya, “A lot of the conversations I’ve been having the past few weeks are meetings with academic resources on campus ... to brainstorm project ideas for academic wellness specifically, and they are all so excited about it.”

Ramirez said she is full of excitement for the year of events to come. Without wanting to give too much away, she said that she wants students to get ready for a festival that is already in the planning and the first Harris event on Sep. 16. She also said that she hopes to support events run by student organizations and wants to hear from any group eager to host a Harris or Gardener.

“There’s big big big things com ing,” she said.

Terry said he believes the students elected, “who they wanted to see”: the most diverse student government elected since he came to Grinnell.

“We have three students who are international students. We have athletes. We have a predominantly woman cabinet and people from all across the spectrum of ideology and experience,” said Terry, “And that’s because the students saw that, that’s not something that we [SGA] can create.”

Renovations to Norris Hall complicate dorm life

Institutional Memory: Upperclassmen Speak

“I wish I had known that you don’t have to fit any aesthetic here, especially at a place like Grinnell where you meet people who are not afraid to be themselves and express their true fascination and interest in any way they want — whether that be through clothes or academics or anything like that. So, I always felt like my definition of the ‘cool peo ple’ changed in a way. I realized that ‘Oh, I don’t have to fit in with those cool people,’ even if they are what would be considered popular and just try to find my own aesthetic if that makes sense. It’s not even having to be labeled as an aesthetic. It’s just trying to have fun with whatever you have.”

- Jivyaa Vaidya `23

“I wish I knew that all of this pressure to make the four years here as ac tion-packed as possible doesn’t have to be there. There’s a whole rest of your life which I did not even realize until I took a gap year. When I came back, I realized, ‘Oh, my gosh, there’s so much more out there than just this one institution, and there are so many other ways of getting involved in building your life outside of your identity as a student.’ I think a lot of people really kind of regress into this academic-only identity, which is cool and fine and great. Also, I wish I would have told my first-year self to not sleep with my roommate because that was my biggest mistake.

- Jay Kratz `23

By Ellianna Cierpiot cierpiot@grinnell.edu

When students from the Class of 2026 moved into Norris Hall (Norris), they were met with leaking showers, power losses and construction noise due to renovations that were started at the beginning of the sum mer.

Some of the rooms were not able to house students yet. Ryleigh Hayworth `25, a Community Advisor (CA) for Norris, said she was not able to move into the dorm at the beginning of her CA training.

“When we moved back for CA training, we had to stay in Windsor house for almost a week because the building wasn’t cleared for people to live in it yet,” Hayworth said.

Residents were informed that there would be construction happening in Norris prior to move-in, according to the head of Residence Life (Reslife) Dennis Perkins.

“I was aware there was going to be con struction, before I moved in, and so I kind of put that into consideration when I was moving in,” said Kristen Bellinger `26, who lives on the fourth floor of Norris Hall.

“There’s not going to be an elevator, so I have to take that into account when I’m thinking about what to bring.”

Like most other residence halls on cam pus, Norris lacks an elevator. The renova tions are expected to be complete by No vember and would see the addition of an elevator, lounges on the second and fourth floors and improved bathrooms and rooms.

According to Perkins, there has been a

ten-year construction plan in place to reno vate some of the older residence halls, and it has been in effect since 2020.

“If you’ve been to a few campuses and you do Reslife work, you learn quickly and notice the residence halls,” Perkins said, “and I noticed that these residence halls weren’t in great shape.”

What was promising, Perkins said, was that the buildings generally did not require extensive repairs – they were just old.

“Norris is one of the first ones just be cause it’s an all-freshman building, it has AC already and so we thought we could convert it to a space where first-years could get a nice space,” Perkins said. “Usually, they’re not the ones who get the good spac es on campus.”

However, the process has not been with out difficulties, several of which have fallen on the CAs to try to solve.

“There was one evening, about 10:00 p.m., and I had a resident knock on my door and say ‘hey, I just got out of the shower but the shower won’t turn off’,” Hayworth said. “So I put my shower shoes on and I went and tried to mess with it but I couldn’t get it to turn off. Hayworth said she had to call Campus Security, then the FM person on-call, to get the water shut off.

“I’m not sure that’s a hundred percent because of the construction, but all that stuff is new so it was, you know, a prop erty-related thing that somebody who’s in another dorm probably wouldn’t have had to deal with,” Hayworth said.

When problems like this arise, CAs are

supposed to contact FM or file a work or der. However, some Norris CAs have had difficulties getting issues resolved because the construction makes the process more complicated.

“My very first work order I submitted, on maybe the second or third day that stu dents had been moved in, someone had told me that some of their outlets weren’t work ing in their rooms and that was scattered throughout the hallway,” Hayworth said.

The work order that Hayworth submit ted was rejected, however. “They said the construction people will deal with this, and I was like, ‘okay, I guess. Do the construc tion people know that they’re supposed to deal with this?’” said Hayworth.

“I don’t know what the process is for getting issues from the CAs to the construc tion people,” Hayworth added.

Perkins said that these issues are a result of certain maintenance areas being under contract with The Weitz Company, the con struction company the College contracted for the renovation. With FM not having the authority or ability to do maintenance in those areas, delays in getting issues fixed have ensued.

“Whenever you have construction on a college campus, it means two things,” Perkins said. “One, it means that there will more than likely be noise. Things will be torn up. There will be disruptions… but the other side of that is that progress is being made. Things are being done to im prove the living quarters, to improve living conditions that students have.”

“I wish I knew that in my third and fourth year, even beyond gradu ating from Grinnell, I will have time to focus on the things that I really like. For example, I’m a psych major, so I will have more opportunities to take psych-related courses even after I graduate if I’m going to continue to graduate school. As a first-year or maybe even second-year, I wish I knew that I have this opportunity to explore so many other disciplines I may not have the chance in the future to explore.”

- Elena Li `23

“International students often choose to take STEM-heavy courses because it acts as like a guarantee for getting a job right after graduation. But because of that, they miss out on some of the best classes that Grinnell has to offer. And this is something that I only real ized in my fourth year. Because some of the best courses that I have taken in this college have been in English and Sociology. I’m currently taking a So viet cooking class where we basically tasted different kinds of tomatoes. I wish I had known that I could prob ably just major in one discipline, and then take a bunch of courses that add value to my life in terms of a liberal arts experience.”

- Divyansh Singh `23

From place to safe space: BCC and SRC get new renovations

plays in the queer community on campus. “I always like to make this distinction: I don’t know that I’m in charge of the SRC, but I am the steward of the SRC, to make sure it thrives,” said Specht.

“I don’t want it to be a place that feels like an emergency,” Specht said. “Queerness has been talked about in a deficit on college campuses for quite some time, but I don’t want us to think of the SRC in that way.”

Brooks said that the BCC “is built out of Black activism, and so we want to con tinue to honor that legacy in various ways.” Those various ways include both critical examinations of the Black identity but also more community-oriented events that invite Grinnell students to celebrate Black culture.

At the heart of both spaces are Brooks

and Specht, who remember how frustrating it was to grow up in a world without safe spaces. And Brooks, who is one of the first certified Black doulas in Iowa, says she feels that the BCC fits with “what I feel my pur pose in serving the world is.”

The SRC will have community hours on Sept. 14, and soon after a new event called Q*ueries, where students will have a safe space to discuss LGBTQIA+ ques tions openly. The BCC will also host a welcome back barbecue open to anyone within Grinnell’s commu nity.

“It just feels good to see the work that’s coming along nowa days. Because we’re gonna keep going,” said Sprecht.

By Molly Wilcoxson wilcoxso2@grinnell.edu

Intercultural Affairs has stepped up to revamp two overlooked spaces on campus: the Conney M. Kimbo Black Cultural Cen ter (BCC) and the Stonewall Resource Cen ter (SRC). In late 2021, the College hired two new supervisors for the centers with the goal of better supporting Black and/or LGBT+ students, continuing the trend of incorporating diversity and inclusion initia tives into student life. The now Director of

Intercultural Affairs Jazzmine Brooks and Assistant Director Robby Sprecht are work ing to improve accessibility to resources, especially within the spaces they supervise.

The BCC, which was initially shut down in 2018 to reevaluate the center’s functions, has since undergone renovations to fully utilize the space. The building now features a library dedicated to Black litera ture, common spaces for students to gather, a kitchen and a meditation room.

“We’re just really trying to make this space as home-y as possible so that students

can connect with it however they need,” Brooks said. “I’ve been told it gives Auntie vibes.”

As for the SRC, Sprecht said that they hope the purpose of the space can adapt to whatever students need it to be. In addition to a library and a common area, the SRC has two closets full of clothing for gender non-conforming students and drag perfor mances. Sprecht and Brooks will continue to renovate the centers this upcoming semester.

One of Specht’s goals for the SRC is to empower students to decide what role it

Writer Taylor Nunley and photographer Owen Barbato asked upperclassmen, “What is the one thing you wish you knew as a first year?”

Edited by chengluc@grinnell.

OWEN BARBATO

The SRC has renovated its lounge space, featuring comfy sofas and bright colors.

OWEN BARBATO

The BCC, despite being shut down in 2018, is being revitalized as a safe space for Black students.

OHANA SARVOTHAM

While the updates of Norris Hall are a welcome addition to the dorm, the disruption construction causes to daily life is not so welcome.

After Uvalde, Grinnell-Newburg School District tightens school security measures

By Jandry Perez Garcia perezgar@grinnell.edu

Following the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the Superintendent of the Grinnell-Newburg School District (GNSD), Janet Stutz, announced in a press release that the district will upgrade security measures to ensure student safety against the threat of mass violence.

Stutz was unable to meet with the S&B to discuss district-wide policies. While many new policies are districtwide, other recent changes are specific to each school within the GNSD.

Kevin Seney, Principal at the Grinnell-Newburg High School (GNHS), said that new measures at the GNHS have been taken since the shooting in Uvalde to prevent and respond to threats of mass violence.

The GNHS has partnered with emergency services, including the Grinnell Police Department (GPD), to render emergency scenarios, called “tabletop exercises.” During the exercises, the emergency scenario coordinator of GPD gives faculty and school administrators hypothetical situations where they explain how they would react in those situations. Then, the GPD coordinator provides feedback to their responses.

Captain Dan Johnson of the GPD said that GNHS administrators and faculty are very receptive to the feedback given to them. Seney said that GNHS has closed off all

entrances, excluding the East entrance, based on GPD recommendations. The reason he cited was that having too many entrances makes it much more difficult to keep track of who comes into the building GNHS also monitors who comes in, as all visitors who come after the doors lock each morning must use an intercom to talk to administrative aids, who make sure the visit is for a legitimate purpose and escort the visitors to their destination. This escort process is also utilized for students who come late for any reason.

regardless of where they may be in the district, Seney said.

In the event of an emergency, GNHS will use the intercom system to let people in the school know the last known location of the threat so that teachers may act appropriately, whether that be evacuating the classroom if the threat is far away or barricading the classroom if the threat is closer.

GNHS also uses the Infinite Campus system, a digital information system for students, as a way to communicate with parents in the event of a threat present. Seney said he would first inform 911 and then Stutz in the event of an emergency, who would then use the system to inform parents and the other schools of what is happening. Seney said the entire process should take approximately 30 seconds.

The team would assess the behaviors of the student, looking for known red flags and listening to intake from other students. Should the team decide that the student poses a credible threat, they would inform the police to do a joint-threat assessment.

Johnson also said that GPD has officers on campus every day at different times to monitor for possible suspicious activity, as a preemptive measure.

The average response time of first responders is three minutes, Johnson said.

most recent case in Uvalde, Seney said.

Seney said he cannot disclose all safety measures currently in place due to public safety concerns. However, Seney said that GNHS does take feedback from the students and their families in whether they generally feel safe or not.

Some faculty and administrators stand watch at the entrance of the high school in the morning, as students arrive before the doors lock, to monitor potential suspicious activity.

GNHS partnered with a non-profit organization called I Love U Guys, whose purpose is to help train schools in crisis response and post-crisis reunification.

The same program seeks to standardize the language used in crisis management across the district. This way, as students progress through the school system and staff travel between schools, they are more likely to understand what everything means

Relish closes after over a decade of service

Seney said if something happens in one of the GNSD schools, it will affect the entire district. For example, if a threat presents itself at the high school, all other GNSD schools would be in lockdown so that nobody may enter or exit the schools until the threat has been cleared.

Not all measures taken are meant to be a response to a threat; there are also some that act preemptively.

If staff at GNHS notice suspicious activity from a student, members of the GNHS staff will form a crisis team made up of the dean of students, a social worker, school counselors, any teachers involved and Seney as well.

“God forbid if we ever have some[thing] like this, we need everybody to stay away,” Johnson said about school threats. “Because if we have people showing up ... all it does is it hurt our investigation. Then, it's just more things that we've got to try and deal with and contain when we just need everybody to kind of clear out. Let us do our thing.”

GNHS is also working towards upgrading some systems like door locking mechanisms, safety alarms and visitor traps. However, these are costly endeavors so the district is looking for funding to accomplish this, Seney said.

Seney mentioned that Stutz has been looking into this all summer, and that in the future he will be joining her in the search for funding.

The high school has been building up its safety measures in recent years due to the national problem with gun violence, not just as a response to the

Grinnell High School President of the Student Council Tamer Bush said that he believes there is a general sense of discontent among the student body regarding some of the new measures. He said students find them inconvenient, but they accept and understand that it is for their safety. He also said he believes students feel safer with the measures in place.

The new policies limit the ability of students to walk freely across campus, Bush said. He explained that in the past, when a student left something in their car, they could just let the teacher know they had to get something from their car, and then come back after retrieving the item.

However, students now need their guardian to call a member of the administration to give permission for the student to leave the premises. If permission is granted, the student needs a staff member to chaperone them to the car and back.

Bush said that he feels like most students take threats more seriously than they have in the past.

He said, “Just because we’re a small town in Iowa doesn’t mean it can’t happen to us."

Two Sisters Tea & Apothecary opens on Fourth Ave.

By Molly Wilcoxson wilcoxso2@grinnell.edu

In the midst of a College town, a new Grinnell business is aiming to solve problems using an unlikely source: herbal tea.

“Tea is not just a drink,” Shanna Sieck, owner of Two Sisters Tea & Apothecary, said. Knowing this, she and her sister-in-law, Steffanie Sieck, created the new shop, which had a grand opening for its storefront at 822 Fourth Ave. this past Saturday, Septw. 10.

By Ella Labarre labarree@grinnell.edu

On Aug. 21, the restaurant Relish closed after over ten years of being an established institution in town. Some residents of Grinnell identify the restaurant based off its grandiose Victorian exterior located on the corner of Park and State Street. The closure comes after owners Kamal Hammouda and his wife Laura Fendt retired.

Before his retirement, Hammouda was a well-known figure in Grinnell, even outside of Relish. In 2020, he ran for Iowa House District 76 against Democrat Sarah Smith and Republican Dave Maxwell. In 2021 he ran against incumbent Dan Agnew to be the mayor of Grinnell. Hammouda offered his main inspiration for getting involved in politics, and he shared that he plans to run again for mayor in the near future.

“I feel strongly that we need to break the barrier of new immigrants entering the political arena,” Hammouda said. “Everybody should participate in all facets of the community.”

So why did such a prominent figure in Grinnell choose this moment to retire? Along with their age, Hammouda and Fendt cited reasons resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. They said that it became difficult to cater to every customer's desired level of precaution while also maintaining enough staff at the restaurant.

“People who wanted to be safer [did not] feel like they could come in and know that everybody else in the restaurant had the same mindset,” Fendt said.

“Also, the labor market became incredibly hard to fill,” Hammouda said.

These combined factors led Hammouda and Fendt to the decision to close Relish.

However, the restaurant is

not completely shutting down all services. Instead, Relish will continue to offer catering. Hammouda said the catering menu is designed around the customer’s needs, and that they offer nearly every meal requested, excluding pork products.

The Relish building will stay preserved, as three or four highly trained core staff members will continue to cook in the Relish kitchen. Room space, located downstairs, will also be available to rent for a fee.

In the past, Relish has hosted events such as cooking classes and spoken word performances. They plan to continue these events in the future. However, Hammouda said he is unsure about when these events will continue, due to other unrelated duties Hammouda has recently taken on.

Hammouda and Fendt also noted that they would be eager to provide a space for Grinnell College students who had ideas in mind to host similar special events.

Though this chapter of their lives has closed, Hammouda and Fendt are still involved in the Grinnell community as the president and secretary, respectively, of their nonprofit, The Iowa Kitchen. In the town of Grinnell, the organization provides meal distribution for those in need and education for young people on how to cook economically.

With the freed-up time from closing Relish, the two share that they are most excited to have time to focus on The Iowa Kitchen while still having well-deserved time to themselves.

“It’s our way of giving back what we know best, which is giving good nutritious food to the needy,” Hammouda said.

Hammouda and Fendt also said that they are consistently looking for volunteers from the College, specifically first- or second-years, for The Iowa Kitchen. For them, these volunteers are what keep the nonprofit alive and thriving.

Inside the store are herbal tea blends intended to aid with all sorts of afflictions, including sickness, loss of concentration, morning drowsiness or even depression. The blends — which are all hand-made by the Siecks — are meant to be alternative methods of healing oneself, drinks that you can have in lieu of stressinducing substances such as caffeine, they said.

“Even some of our more targeted blends can be used as medicinal therapy,” Shanna Sieck said. “It’s just a more natural way of approaching things.”

But Two Sisters’ offers much more than just herbal teas. They have hand-crafted bath salts, body scrubs, beard balms and lip balms, as well as incense, candles, devotional books and crystals. The guiding light of the shop is to offer serenity and healing through down-to-earth practices, particularly in a time where it can be difficult to return to the Earth’s roots, according to the Siecks.

The Siecks said they pack their products with primarily natural ingredients. The Serenitea, a blend created to alleviate stress, includes USDA-certified organic mint and lavender. Another product, named

Morning Mojo, includes peppermint, cinnamon, hibiscus and lemon. If none of the pre-made tea blends sound helpful, a customer can go to their website and request a custommade blend suited for their own needs.

According to the Siecks, Two Sisters Tea & Apothecary was born out of a mutual love for such organic solutions, a passion that Steffanie Sieck and Shanna Sieck discovered they shared last year. “Divine timing is always best,” reads a line on their website. In 2021, the Siecks opened Two Sisters, initially operating out of their own home through online orders.

Before opening their storefront, the Siecks sold their teas on their website, at local craft fairs and at farmers markets. The Siecks initially acquired the storefront last May,

and have informally opened several times for pop-up events. After this Saturday’s grand opening, the Seicks intend to stay open for good, they said.

Ultimately, the Siecks said they strive for people to feel their healthiest. “Our main goal is to help people become the best that they possibly can be,” Steffanie Sieck said. “I want them to be their best.”

“We just want to be able to help and meet new people,” Shanna Seick said.

At the grand opening this past weekend, Two Sisters held a raffle for participants to win goods from their store for free.

Two Sisters Tea & Apothecary is located at 822 Fourth Ave. in downtown Grinnell. They are open Monday through Friday from 9 to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 to 3 p.m.

Edited

OHANA SARVOTHAM

Steffanie Sieck (left) and Shanna Sieck (right) hosted the official grand opening on Saturday, after acquring the Fourth Ave storefront in May.

Just because we’re a small town in Iowa doesn’t mean it can’t happen to us.

Tamer Bush Student Council President at Grinnell-Newburg High School

OWEN BARBATO

Relish's owners will continue to cook and host events from the building of the pior Relish restaurant, located east of Central Park.

OHANA SARVOTHAM

Tea sold at Two Sisters packs with primarily certified organic ingredients. Original Concoctions include Morning Mojo, with peppermint, cinnamon, hibiscus and lemon.

Arts

GCMoA keeps Midwest quilting and community building alive

By Jane Hoffman hoffmanj@grinnell.edu

This summer saw the triumphant return of the Jewel Box Quilters Guild Exhibition at the Grinnell College Museum of Art (GCMoA), a normally biannual show that had been delayed for three years by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’ve had three years to create it and work out our frustrations with the pandemic-related quilt projects,” said Guild President Jeanette Copeman. These post-hiatus creations were on full display at the Summer 2022 showing, which opened at the Museum on June 23, 2022.

The Jewel Box Quilters Guild launched in Grinnell in 1996, and it is a nonprofit organization that provides educational opportunities for its members while promoting interest in the art of quilting. Welcoming members at every stage of their quilting journeys, the Guild holds monthly meetings and events with engaging speakers that highlight different elements of the history and practice of quilting.

In addition to these meetings, the Guild has an ongoing “Blankets for Babies” project that has provided over 600 flannel blankets for children born at the Grinnell Regional Medical

Center since 2019.

This year’s exhibition featured 87 unique fiber arts pieces designed by 32 members of the Guild, ranging from pieces that would be welcome additions to a king-size bed, to wall hangings to plump pillows adorned with patchwork.

Historically, quilts have served both utilitarian and aesthetic purposes. When tucked into a bed, they are a functional art which creates comfort and warmth. However, quilting can also be harnessed for visual arts projects and storytelling, sometimes presenting a commemoration or narrative. The modern quilt sits at the intersection of art and craft — resulting in an impressive range of final pieces, such as those presented at the Museum.

The collaborative nature of quilting was apparent across the gallery, embodied both by quilts consisting of contributed individual creations from different members of the Guild, and, more abstractly, by the way the artists inspired and challenged one another to explore new techniques and approaches.

“Quilting has traditionally been an activity that brings community together, and this exhibition was a good example of that,” wrote GCMoA Director Susan Baley. “This exhibition

was a celebration of the creativity that happened despite COVID.”

In preparation for the exhibition, the Guild members received three challenges, in the form of quilting prompts that they could draw inspiration from. For the President’s Challenge, Jennifer Palmer challenged sewers to craft a quilt inspired by a favorite book. Jean Reavis won the President’s Challenge for "Spider Web,” a patchwork quilt of multi-colored octagons inspired by Charlotte’s Web.

Susan Bailey, GCMoA Director

Former president Karen Clark proposed a “WIP” or work-inprogress challenge, asking the quilters to complete a quilting project that they had been considering or working on over the past pandemic years. Jeanette Copeman was selected as the winner of the WIP Challenge for “Blue Radiance,” quilted by Lynette Heetland.

The final challenge was a “Tear

and Share” project, in which Guild members began with a yard of fabric that they tore in half and passed along to another member, continuing to split and share the fabric until each quilter had seven pieces of fabric for which to craft a three-layer quilting project.

Allison Utech was named the winner for “Island Dreams.”

Additional awards went to Jeanette Copeman (large quilt category), Julie Grayson Fisher (medium quilt category), Debbie Van Arkel (small quilt category) and Susan Kinney (miscellaneous category).

Throughout the summer, museum visitors had the chance to learn from guild members during a series of

Saturday tours and cast ballots for the Viewer's Choice Award, which was given to Nancy Gray for her quilt, “A Time to Rend and a Time to Sew.”

Over the course of the summer, over 2,300 visitors explored the exhibit and experienced a taste of a tight-knit community brought together by a love for quilting and learning in community.

“Quilts signify comfort,” said Baley. “Everyone could use some comfort after dealing with the pandemic for more than two years. The community fostered by quilters is a welcome contrast to the necessary isolation many people have experienced since 2020.”

Unearthing Bob's Underground

By George Kosinski kosinski@grinnell.edu

On Monday Sept. 5, The Friends of Bob’s hosted their first open mic of the semester at Bob’s Underground (Bob’s). This event is planned to be the first of many this year as the organization hopes to renew interest among returning students and make newcomers aware of the venue, building upon the numerous successes of last school year when Bob’s was reopened for regular use.

Bob’s Underground — in the basement of Main Hall and accessible via the Gardner Lounge — has historically been a vibrant part of student life at Grinnell. A student-run café in the space once sold coffee and snacks, and there was a small stage set up for live music and other performances.

Students fought to reopen the venue after the College closed it in 2017; in the spring of 2022, thenSGA Vice President of Academic Affairs Ashton Aveling `22 created the Friends of Bob’s organization with the goal of returning Bob’s Underground to its past eminence.

Last spring, the Friends of Bob’s reopened the space and started hosting regular events, highlighted by open mics every other week.

“It really hasn’t been that long since we’ve started working, but in that very short time we were able

to get Bob’s back to being a place where people can host things, people can have fun, people can study,” said Alyson Won `25, a “bestie,” as the Friends of Bob’s refer to themselves.

“Our goal,” Won added, “is to give students a space where they can be themselves and not have to focus on just schoolwork or work. Given that goal, I think we are succeeding with the open mics and hopefully more events in the future.”

This semester, the organization aims to solidify the gains it made last year by increasing student engagement. A large part of that will be hosting open mics at Bob’s every other Monday, from 9 to 11 p.m., with the help of Freesound, the student music organization housed adjacent to Bob’s,

which lends its audio equipment.

“By this point open mics are pretty smooth for us,” said Won. “We’ve been doing them for a while, and that was one of the first things we brought back here last spring. There are definitely a lot of creatives on this campus looking for a space to be able to display their creativity.”

“We have a number of people who will write their own songs and play their originals at our open mics, which is a really cool experience,” added Friends of Bob’s treasurer Megan Szalay `25. I’m glad we can provide a space where people feel comfortable sharing brand new stuff that they haven’t tested out yet.”

The event on Monday had a high turnout with attendees filling

the booths and couches, spilling onto the floor and standing at the back of the room. Art on the walls made by past and present Grinnellians echoed the creative spirit of the evening as performers sang, recited poetry, played piano or played guitar. Nearly all the time slots for the evening were filled, and the audience was supportive and engaged throughout the event.

“I’ve performed at open mics since I was a first year,” said Gavin Felker `23, who played guitar and sang on Mondays. “I really enjoy playing at Bob’s. It’s a wonderful venue and I just enjoy the atmosphere that it has. Everyone is so supportive as well. There will be times where people may mess up or stumble a little bit, but almost without fail you’ll have someone cheer from the audience just to let them know that it’s all in good fun. It’s one of my favorite places to perform.”

The event also gave students who are newer to campus a chance to appreciate Bob’s for the first time.

Hana Leonard `25 said, “this was my first open mic at Grinnell. I heard about it on Instagram. It was a great way to spend my evening and a great opportunity for people to let loose and get some practice performing. I liked how the audience was overwhelmingly supportive.”

Clare Newman `23, who recited several poems, noted, “you can tell there were a lot of first-years in the

audience. People seemed afraid to laugh.” Her response to the event on the whole was largely positive, however. “People have been trying to bring back Bob’s since I was a firstyear, and now being able to book the space for stuff and have open mics here is really awesome.”

Besides regularly scheduled open mics, the Friends of Bob’s are also planning other uses for the venue. “We have to be creative, because we’re not allowed to use it as a café,” said Szalay. This has meant many different things so far — Bob’s has hosted birthday parties, study breaks, Pub Quiz and a Grinnell Underground Magazine (GUM) release party since reopening.

“In the short term, we’re hoping to get people back in here and make it a space where they feel comfortable,” said Won. Szalay echoed that, saying, “Right now I just want people to know where Bob’s is, for it to become an established space on campus so we don’t always have to advertise our location.”

Looking at the big picture, Szalay said that she hopes future renovations to Main Hall will make Bob’s viable as a café once again, while Won said, “I hope the changes we make are lasting. I want to make sure that once Bob’s is open, it’s open for a long time, not just while we’re here at Grinnell. I hope the impact that Bob’s has is something that’s more than just us.”

Theatre and Dance adds Performance Studies

By Saniya Kelkar kelkarsa@grinnell.edu

“Painting Grinnell,” an exhibit by local artist Karen Cooper, opened on Aug. 25 and closes Sept. 24. The exhibit is housed in Stewart Gallery in the Grinnell Area Arts Council at 926 Broad Street. The show comprises 33 paintings that were all done “en plein air,” or outside, directly observing the subject instead of painting in a studio or from a photograph.

Cooper’s interest in art began in middle school and she spent many years exploring batik, acrylic and oil

paintings. However, her husband’s work necessitated frequent moving, and this serial uprooting caused her to fall out of touch with her artistic practice. From 2013 to 2018, she lived in Lipetsk, Russia, and explained that these years were pivotal in her return to oil painting.

“I made some friends in Russia and they're very purist about oil paint, watercolor or pastel. They told me, ‘Start doing oil again,’” Cooper said.

While in Russia, Cooper observed and was inspired by impressionist oil paintings in several art museums, such as the

Lev Tolstoy Museum. “I love the Russian impressionists and that style of work, and so it's probably pushed me more towards an impressionistic style of painting,” Cooper said.

Upon her return to the states, Cooper began her foray into “plein air” painting, wherein artists gather in a community for a few days and paint on location. Since then, the medium has proved rewarding: Cooper won the Richard Dutton Honorary Award for her paintings in the “Paint Van Buren County” plein air competition this year, in addition to holding various exhibits in Missouri, Wisconsin, Colorado and Iowa.

Each of Cooper’s 33 paintings feature various locations in Grinnell, which she completed on site. On average, each painting took her two to three hours to finish.

Cooper recalled having

interesting conversations with locals while painting on location and feeling more immersed in Grinnell’s history. She hopes that her exhibit motivates viewers to explore and cultivate an increased appreciation for where they live. “There's a lot going on in this town, and if you're just driving your car, you might not see it. But if you choose to look, there's a lot to see,” Cooper said. “I

hope that the paintings show them some of the things they might not have known were there, or to look at it in a new way.”

“Painting Grinnell” will be available to view in the Grinnell Area Arts Council’s Stewart Gallery until Sept. 24. The gallery is open Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays, 10 a.m. to noon.

The community fostered by quilters is a welcome contrast to the necessary isolation many people have experi enced since 2020.

CONTRIBUTED BY DANIEL STRONG

The Jewel Box Quilters Guild Exhibition has been on display in the Grin nell College Museum of Art since June.

SOFIIA ZARUCHENKO

Karen Cooper's "Painting Grinnell" opened in Stewart Gallery on Aug. 25 and closes Sept. 24.

SOFIIA ZARUCHENKO

The attendees of the Sept. 5 open mic filled the couches of Bob's Under ground and spilled onto the floor.

The exhibit "Painting Grinnell" contains 33 paintings featuring various locations in Grinnell and were all painted en plein

There's a lot going on in this town, and if you're just driving your car, you might not see it. But if you choose to look, there's a lot to see.

Karen Cooper

SportS

Ultimate Frisbee looks to build on unprecedented national success

Womens's volleyball opens season strong at home

By Eleanor Corbin corbinel@grinnell.edu

The 2022-23 Grinnell women’s volleyball team came out of the gate swinging, winning three of four games at the tournament held on campus the weekend of Sept. 2. This tournament marks the beginning of their season of competition. With several players graduating last year, the team hopes these wins are indicative of a successful season ahead.

The captain group, comprised of Emily Brewer `24, Jenna Keller `24, Julianna Vajda `24, and Rachel Woock `23, stressed the importance of both team bonding and communication while rebuilding their team.

“We redefined team culture in the spring and really tried to build off of it in the fall,” said Brewer.

team’s determination came through in their playing as they dived to save every ball they could. Even when they lost a volley, they refused to let the ball hit the ground easily.

They won their first game against Marian University in four sets. Despite losing the first point to a stray bump, they quickly brought it back, ending that set with a score of 2518. At one point, Nicole Miynski `26 spiked the ball with such force that it squarely hit the center of the other court before any of the other players could move towards it.

By Marcus Cassidy cassidym@grinnell.edu

The Grinnell College Open Ultimate Frisbee team, better known as the Grinnellephants, attended the Division III College Championship last spring, ultimately securing 10th place. The tournament featured the top 16 teams from across the United States competing for the USA Ultimate College Championship in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“It was really incredible to go. It was a great culmination of our season,” said Jacob Cowan `23, Division III breakout player of the year and open team captain. “A lot of the expectations from the tournament were that we wouldn't really be able to be competitive and that teams would just roll over us.”

As a club athletics team, the Grinnellephants include around 50 players with several team captains running the team instead of a coach. The team had not qualified for the championship in over a decade. Due to increased interest in the sport during the COVID-19 pandemic, they were newly motivated to elevate the team to the national stage.

“Last fall, we had a ton of new interest in the team, and a couple of new players who had played before,” said Cowan. “It just seemed to be more possible that we would make nationals.”

The open team qualified for nationals after several impressive showings in their conference and regional tournaments. Despite entering as the 14th seed, the Grinnellephants achieved 10th place overall out of 16 teams after a loss in the ninth place bracket.

The newest captain, Will Norry `25, has played ultimate frisbee for eight years and became a captain in his second year on the team.

College.

“They finished second at Nationals, whereas we finished 10th, so yeah, a grudge match,” Cowen said. “They're really good, but we're hoping to be more competitive against them this year.”

One of the hallmarks of the Grinnell open team is their unique team culture. From assisting students participating in 10/10, an annual off-campus day of parties, to accepting members without tryouts, the Grinnellephants have expressed an intent to create a welcoming athletic atmosphere for their members.

“I feel really passionately about the team culture that we create, and I wanted to have an active part in that, creating that team culture of inclusion to everybody,” Norry said.

The team also utilized practices to play matches against one another to simulate competition. The gamelike conditions allowed the team to go into this tournament totally prepared.

“We’re competitive and we have a lot of fun,” said Woock.

This tournament is the first time the team has gone against another college in a scored competition. Where the players got to know each other’s styles in practice, playing against unknown opponents brings far more surprises, the captains said.

The team’s sense of competition keeps them strong though. When asked how real games are different than scrimmages, Keller jokingly replied, “more bloodlust.”

And more bloodlust indeed! The

The following two games against Saint Mary’s University and Concordia College ended similarly, with the pioneers snatching a victory in the fifth set. The last set of the Concordia College game was neck and neck until a timeout at the score of 12-12 followed by a quick point from Keller, who turned the tide to end the set in a 20-18 victory.

The team’s only loss of the weekend came in their final game against Greenville University, winning only one out of four sets.

The team’s only goal of the weekend was not victory, but to play hard and make an impactful season debut. From the captains’ point of view, the team certainly accomplished that. As they walked off the court sweaty and out of breath, they couldn’t help but smile and speak proudly about their team’s performance.

“I don’t think we’ve ever done this well at our first tournament,” says Keller. “We were really coming together as a team and playing together.”

“Our goal was not to compete or play as hard as we could,” said Norry. “We wanted to play all of our players to an equal level so that we could all just have fun and cherish the moment that we were at nationals.”

Following their Nationals appearance, the open team has started their offseason with renewed vigor. This semester, the team plans to host their annual Elephantitis tournament on the weekend of Sept. 17 with two divisions: open and women’s. This will be shortly followed by a match against St. Olaf

With an improved morale after their nationals showing, the team hopes to return to the national championship while still supporting the balanced development of a competitive and welcoming team community. Specifically, they’ve expressed a desire to build up the team’s roster and have a solid standard of play.

“We just want to recruit and bring in as many people as we can,” Norry said. “Just recruiting a diverse group of players and then just having fun with everybody for a few months and slowly building skills.”

Grinnell Athletics welcomes four coaches at start of fall season

By Conrad Dahm dahmconr@grinnell.edu

Grinnell College Athletics has hired three new assistant athletic coaches and one volunteer coach for the 2022-23 season. The new assistant coaches include Kristland Damazo, Liza Stone and Keegan Parrott who will help coach volleyball, women’s soccer and cross country/track and field, respectively. Paige Olowu `22 will be a volunteer coach for track and field.

Grinnell Athletics Director Andy Hamilton told the S&B that the roles of assistant and volunteer coaches are important.

“They are very valuable to the team,” said Hamilton. “They serve as a liaison between the players and the head coach.” They also serve as strong supporters for the head coach.

Potential applicants for the position of assistant coach must have several qualities. One of the most important, Hamilton said, is fitting into the general ideas of Grinnell’s athletic program.

Keegan Parrott

Cross country and track and field assistant coach

Assistant coaches must “believe in a student-first approach and be inclusive to all student-athletes,” which according to Hamilton are at the core of the program’s athletic goals. Hamilton expressed hope

that the new assistant coaches will not only the players grow, but the athletics department as a whole.

“We are excited to gain new perspectives from our new assistant coaches,” Hamilton said.

“The team is fantastic and is very inclusive. The athletes are very accepting,” Parrott said about the cross country and track teams. Parrott credited his time coaching elsewhere with giving him necessary experience.

“I first volunteered to help coach when I was in grad school,” said Parrott. While completing graduate school at the University of Northern Iowa, he served as a volunteer coach for the undergraduate team. He found the job at Grinnell online.

“I was actively looking for coaching positions and I found Grinnell,” said Parrott.

Olowu graduated from Grinnell

in 2022 and was on the track team during her time at Grinnell, mainly competing as a sprinter and a jumper. “The team is very supportive of each other,” she said.

“I had a great time running for the track and field team. I’m very thankful for my time with the team,” Olowu said. During the summer after graduating from Grinnell, Olowu said the head coach of the track and field asked her to be a volunteer coach for this year.

years before finishing her degree at Iowa State University. After that, she began coaching soccer on a collegiate level. After she found the job at Grinnell, she said she knew it was for her.

stressed the importance of assistant coaches to an athletic program, as assistant coaches are often the main connections to the players.

Parrott said his first interaction with his players was one he will never forget. He was unloading his U-Haul when he saw a crowd of people running down the street. He asked them if they were on the cross-country team on campus. The runners answered yes, and he introduced himself as the new assistant coach. Everyone then began to cheer for him.

“We are looking forward to seeing those strengths kind of grow and blossom a little bit in the next couple of games,” Stone said.

“I am impressed and look forward to my years at Grinnell,” Parrott said.

UPCOMING HOME GAMES:

Tuesday, Sept. 13

Women's Volleyball vs Central College 7:00 p.m.

Darby Gymnasium

Saturday, Sept. 17

Men's Soccer vs Nebraska Wesleyan University 1:30 p.m.

Springer Field

“I was happy to be asked to be a volunteer coach,” Olowu said. “I’m excited to see how people progress and grow this season.”

“Coming in I think I hit the jackpot with this program,” Stone said. “Grinnell has a program that grows on itself every year.”

Stone played soccer in college at Drake University for two

According to Hamilton, assistant coaches often “rise through the ranks” of the coaching staff at Grinnell. Hamilton also says that many assistant coaches hope to one day become head coaches. Yet he

Women's Soccer vs Nebraska Wesleyan University 3:30 p.m. Springer Field

Saturday, Sept. 17 -

Sunday, Sept. 18

Ultimate Frisbee Elephantitis Tournament Mac Field

Edited by

CONTRIBUTED BY JAMES DUNGAN-SEAVER

The Grinnelephants celebrate their success at the Division III College Championship in Milwaukee, Wisc. The team fin ished 10th out of 16 teams. Jacob Cowan '23, top right, was named Division III Breakout Player of the Year.

I feel really passionately about the team culture that we create, and I wanted to have an active part in that, creating that team culture of inclusion to everybody.

Will Norry `25

EVAN HEIN

Ella O'Neill `25 prepares to spike the ball against Marian University. Grinnell won the match in four sets.

The team is fantastic and is very inclusive. The athletes are very accepting.

I had a great time running for the track and field team. I'm very thankful for my time with the team.

Paige Olowu `22 Track and field volunteer coach

EVAN HEIN

Assistant Coach Keegan Parrott, cross country and track and field.

EVAN HEIN

Volunteer Coach Paige Olowu `22, track and field.

CONTRIBUTED BY LIZA STONE Assistant Coach Liza Stone, women's soccer.

OpiniOns

Book Review: An Epic of Both Family and Nation

racial injustice.

By George Kosinski kosinski@grinnell.edu

I stumbled upon The Promise entirely by chance. It was July, I was home, I was bored, I wanted to read and yet I found myself uninspired by the overflowing shelves at Grey Mat ter, a local used bookstore. But then a title caught my eye. Months prior I had read about the book, Damon Gal gut’s most recent novel that won the 2021 Booker Prize. I quickly scanned a few online reviews and decided to buy the book. My expectations were high after seeing Galgut’s prose compared to that of literary giants like Faulkner, Woolf, Joyce and fellow South African Coetzee. The Promise easily surpassed them.

It feels odd to call a 293-page book an epic, but The Promise is one of both family and nation. In it Galgut captures the essence of recent South African history through an intricate mosaic of characters and experiences. This has been a hallmark of his career over the past few decades: rendering incisive portraits of South Africa us ing mediums of societal conflict and

The Promise chronicles the fate of the Swarts, the dregs of a once pros perous white Afrikaner family who, in 1986 when the story begins, cling to what economic and social clout they still possess. Spanning the fall of Apartheid to President Jacob Zuma’s resignation in 2018, the story is told across four episodes, each centered around the funeral of a different Swart family member. Besides serving as an apt metaphor for the end of Apartheid, the structural significance of funerals helps locate inheritance as one of Galgut’s central concerns.

the title refers, and a symbol for the unfulfilled promise of post-Apartheid South Africa. This question of land haunts the rest of the novel. Only Amor recognizes the promise; the rest of the family scoff at her protracted attempts to give Salome the land.

A nervous refrain of political and social unrest echoes in the background, at times threatening to crash violently into the story, but it is the characters—isolated, jealous, selfish, afraid—who even in the most mundane situations bring drama and gravity to the story. Galgut paints the Swarts with an empathetic brush; they are real people rather than purely racist or evil monsters. And yet he mocks them with sardonic glee and ultimately condemns them for their failure to accept progress and relin quish the land.

That concern manifests when Amor Swart overhears her mother’s dying wish that Salome, a Black domestic servant, should inherit the small home where she stays on the vast Swart farm. This is the promise to which

The narrative is kaleidoscopic, with perspective, memory and interior monologue shuffling rapidly between characters. However, there is one glaring omission from this polyph ony of voice and thought: Salome and other Black South Africans. Their presence is felt, but most often

in subtle or indirect ways. Galgut does this intentionally, to embody post-Apartheid South Africa’s failure to adequately support or even recog nize those whom it ostensibly set out to represent. The promise, he says, was and still is broken.

Prose is clean and accessible but at the same time experimental and

full of life, taking surprising turns throughout. Galgut’s sarcastic humor counterbalances the bleakness of his subject matter, and there are some seriously funny moments as dysfunc tion roils about the Swart family. The Promise offers both genuine enter tainment and a lyrically evocative window into South Africa today.

Food for Thought: The Healing Power of Chuong Garden

entree made my nose stop running.

By Gabby Hernandez hernande6@grinnell.edu

The number of tissues I have gone through in the past few days is unreal; even the lotion ones feel like sandpa per rubbing against my nose. I have been sick with something I will call the “Roommate Cold,” and no Dining Hall soup has been appealing enough for me to eat. So, I of course turned to Chuong Garden. Today I will write to you about their egg drop soup, sesame chicken and steamed rice.

I took a spoonful of the egg drop soup and, finding that it was more drop than egg, let it trickle back into the bowl. The hot yellow soup that I hoped would soothe my throat was, in reality, a muted golden brown. I took my first spoonful and the drifting piec es of egg tasted as expected, though their texture was slightly firmer than I hoped, since I do not enjoy chewing things that I should not have to chew.

Besides the eggs, the broth was so watery that I struggled to pick up any flavor. Back home in San Antonio, Texas, my father and I love to try the egg drop soup each time we visit a different Chinese restaurant. The

best soups we have tasted have hints of garlic powder, salt and pepper in them, and the creamy egg flavor is the star of the dish. With Chuong’s soup, even adding salt and pepper did not help the components of the soup blend together in a favorable way.

One thing the egg drop soup did succeed, however, was in soothing my sore throat. Its heat and consisten

cy worked together to satisfy the itch in my throat in a way that cough drops and honey simply could not; this soup was more soothing than a hot mug of tea. If you can imagine swallowing the feeling of a good hug, you can imagine the way it felt for me to drink this soup.

I have been playing a lot of “Animal Crossing: New Horizons”

lately as I lay in bed surrounded by discarded tissues. One of my favorite things about this game is the flower gardening feature, and one of my least favorite things about it is that there is no easy way to lie down peacefully in the flowers you have planted. I imag ine that the calm sweetness that would surround me as I lay in a field of hyacinths would rival that of Chuong Garden’s sesame chicken.

The sweetness of the sauce made me want to bathe in it; I was jealous of the way the sauce mingled with the steamed rice. I wished I was that rice, if only for a moment. It reminded me of Barry B. Benson’s luxurious honey pool in “Bee Movie.” I longed to dive into that saucy rice mixture and swim further and further away from the duties and deadlines of the coming week. The warmth and flavor of this

Just as satisfying as the flavor of the chicken, rice, and sauce were the textures. The chicken was so soft that it felt as though I was biting through gently cooked lamb. Furthermore, the outside was crisped lightly to a perfec tion that is difficult for even the most talented chefs on Cutthroat Kitchen to achieve. Balancing the textures on a dish is essential, lest the consumer’s attention be brought away from the masterful flavors. It is very common for Chinese restaurants to sprinkle ses ame seeds onto their sesame chicken; however, I am grateful for the absence of sesame seeds on Chuong’s chicken. Sesame seeds in such a dish are purely decorative, and therefore not worth the effort required to chew through them nor the floss required to pick them out of my teeth.

The pleasant flavors of their sesa me chicken and rice were my greatest consolation through my battle against the so-called Roommate Cold. After finishing my meal, I cracked open my fortune cookie and there was no fortune inside. I ate the cookie, taking it as a sign that I must eat at Chuong Garden again.

Sage & Blunt Advice: Drowning in Dirty Dishes

By Sage & Blunt

Dear Sage & Blunt, I recently moved into a dorm with four of my friends. It’s been going pretty well. Everyone likes each other, we respect each other’s space, do chores on rotation, the whole shebang. The only is sue has been food. I’m a hungry guy and not a rich man. We agreed to cook dinner together every night and use our meal plans for breakfast and lunch. We discuss meals for the week, two of us cook, two of us clean afterwards, everyone eats, it all works out!

Except for “Jo.” There’s five of us in the dorm and Jo doesn’t do chores or cook. He generally chips in 1/5th of the money for Walmart runs, but other than that? Nothing! I wanted to bring it up to him, but he’s definitely the busiest member of the apartment and there isn’t a strict need for him to contribute outside of fairness. Should I say something or am I being a dictator?

Signed, Drowning in Dirty Dishes

The

Dear Drowning in Dirty Dishes, Congratulations on what sounds like a mostly harmonious living situation! Living with your friends is not easy, and not everyone finds a group that can communicate well and agree on plans the way you and your roommates have. It seems to me that

the issue here is less about whether it is fair or right for Jo to contribute to the work of cooking and cleaning and more about the fact that the five of you agreed to a procedure that Jo is not sticking to.

Before you decide how to approach Jo about the inconsistency, I would consider the likelihood that

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he is aware of these gaps, and maybe a little stressed out about them too.

At the very least, he is stressed out about something, perhaps about whatever is keeping him so busy — it turns out pretty much everyone is, all the time. Maybe Jo is too afraid to admit he can’t cook to save his life, or he keeps promising himself he’ll

contribute but can’t find the time. So, to begin with, give him the benefit of the doubt. I wouldn’t expect any less from a friend like you.

Then talk to your friend, prefer ably one-on-one. What’s going on in his life? How are classes? Who are the campus cuties he’s been eyeing lately? (Tell him to write me about his crushes.) When all that is out of the way, you can let him know that you want to find a household arrangement that works for him as much as it does for the rest of you. He’s much more likely to respond constructively if you ask him how he can dependably contribute rather than focus on where he’s falling short. If he’s able, it might mean that Jo offers a little extra for groceries each week — I don’t know exactly what kind of system the five of you will work out, but I do know this: if you don’t bring it up, the resentment will only build. Being honest with Jo is the kindest thing you can do, for everyone in volved. Good luck! I wish you many happy nights around the dinner table with your little Grinnell family.

With love always, Sage & Blunt

The Scarlet & Black is published on Mondays by students of Grinnell College and is printed by the Marshalltown Times-Republican.

The newspaper is funded by the Student Publications and Radio Committee (SPARC). 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.

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SOFIIA ZARUCHENKO

George in his natural habitat.

CORNELIA DI GIOIA

I wished I was that rice, if only for a moment. It reminded me of Barry B. Benson’s luxurious honey pool in “Bee Movie.”

The narrative is kaleido scopic with perspective, memory and interior monologue shuffling...

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Volume 139, Issue 1 thesandb.com

Horoscopes: Why Does Everyone Want to Know My Big Three?

By Ms Constellation Prize

Do you feel like everyone at Grinnell is obsessed with astrology? Are you struggling to believe it? Or maybe you don’t even know what’s happening? If so, you’re not alone.

In hopes of equipping you with the tools of understanding astrology and offering you a new understanding of the world, this new column is going to unpack the basics of astrology and horoscopes and will also include a regular horoscope. Let’s start with your “Big Three.”

You probably know your sun sign best: this sign is based on the month you were born. Right now, it’s “Virgo Season.” Anyone born between Aug. 23 and Sept. 22 has a Virgo sun.

This is about where the sun was

located on your birthday. Astrologists divided up the sky into 12–30 degree sections based on 12 constellations in the sky.

The traits of your sun sign apply to your core personality. It determines your internal motivators, your general desires and who you see yourself as. The sun sign is a significant part of your personality, but it is important to look at your whole birth chart to be able to understand your whole self.

Each sign has its own distinct traits. For example, Sagittar ius is characterized as adventurous, travel-oriented and independent. But these traits mean something different in different contexts.

The signs are also divided into the elements: Air (Gemini, Libra,

The Signs as First Year Party Fouls

Virgo (August 23-September 22)

Planning the perfect party invite email signature for next week.

Libra (September 23-October 22)

Gets stuck chatting with a new friend outside before they can hit the dance floor.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Wallflowers for the whole night.

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)

Spills their drink on the Campus Safety golf cart.

Aquarius); Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittari us); Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn); and Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces). The four elements have their own distinct traits too, which I’ll address next week.

Like the sun, each planet (and the moon) rules a different aspect of your personality. The planets also fall into one of the 12 signs based on when you were born, but they all rotate/shift on their own patterns.

Your big three is your sun sign, moon sign, and Rising sign. Your moon rules your emotions: how do you respond when someone confronts you? How do you express love?

Your Rising (also called Ascendent) sign is traditionally attributed with rul ing your exterior personality. How do

you carry yourself? What is someone’s first impression of you?

These are broad generalizations for what each placement rules, but it’s still a good starting place. Someone can make more sense of each placement if they can see all your placements and how they operate and build off one another.

Generally, your Big Three (sun, moon, Rising) signs are the most influential on your whole personality, which is typically why they are asked first (also, it’s easier to rattle off three signs rather than 12). But if you ask me, I’m going to dig deep and ask you for your Venus, Mars, and probably your chart.

If you are new to the astrology scene and want to explore, Co—Star

is an Android and iOS app that uses the porphyry (which is a system that determines how your houses are divid ed; another way to read a chart). It’s a standard software that provides you with your birth chart and gives you some baseline insight into what your placements mean.

Astrology is not a hard science, but it is a comfort and reprieve from daily life. Maybe it can give you some understanding or reason for why something in your life is happening if you are struggling to make sense of it. Even if it is totally placebo, sometimes it’s easier to swallow something if you can attribute it to the stars. Astrology should be all in good fun, and let it be a reprieve for those who need. Take what resonates, leave what doesn’t.

Like what you see?

check us out:

Capricorn (December 22-January 19)

Asks people on the dance floor to add them on LinkedIn the next day.

Aquarius (January 20-February 18)

Remembers every name of every person they meet at the party and says ‘hi’ to them the next day.

Pisces (February 19-March 20)

Doesn’t dress to the theme, is asked to leave at the door.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

Drops their drink and it shatters, waking neighbors.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

Forgets who they came with and dances the night away.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

Cries on the walk home, just because.

Leo (July 23-August 22)

Forgets to lock the door during their bathroom hookup

By Allison Moore `24

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