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Scarlet & Black Volume 133, Issue 15
thesandb.com
February 10, 2017 • Grinnell, Iowa
Grinnell continues to respond to immigration ban
Campus climate survey sent out
By Candace Mettle mettleca@grinnell.edu To fulfill its commitment to the College, the Council on Diversity and Inclusion recently released the Campus Climate Survey to gauge how safe people with various identities feel at Grinnell. Last given in 2009, the survey is part of a yearly rotating series of surveys aiming to identify and distinguish problems that the College hopes to address. However, creating an effective and fair survey to give out to Grinnellians, including staff and faculty, proved to be harder than anticipated. Student Government Associate (SGA) has been involved with the implementation and design of the survey. When Anita DeWitt ’17 held the chair position of the Diversity and Outreach Coordinator Committee during the 2015-16 school year before becoming SGA President, DeWitt had reviewed the survey with Assistant Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Lakesia Johnson. Toby Baratta ’17 now holds the position of Diversity and Outreach Chair and agrees that the survey has lots of problems. “[The College] has this habit of using outside surveys and when we use these surveys we are getting questions that are phrased in a statistically valid way,” Baratta said. “However, often times the way that those questions are phrased is in a way that is asking a question at a lower bar than Grinnellians expect.” Barratta and DeWitt acknowledge that the survey aims to comparatively evaluate how the College is doing against other colleges nationwide, but the SGA cabinet members also believe that the uniqueness of the College will provide confounding variables to the results. Baratta and DeWitt point out the low numbers of people of color and the location in a state known for its subpar mental health treatment as factors that will heavily affect Grinnellian responses to the survey. “Is the point of the survey to see how we’re doing against our own standards or how are we doing against national standards?” Baratta said. “They are both different questions and important, but this survey is trying to address both of them, and I think that’s why we’re … contesting against a standard that is not Grinnellian.” Aside from the survey lacking a clear comparison between peer institutions or the nation, the survey phrases its questions in ways that some may consider derogatory, too vague or insufficient to speak on certain issues. However, Baratta and DeWitt stress the importance of taking the survey despite its faults. “Not taking the survey has harmful responses because then those >> See Campus climate page 2
By Lily Bohlke & Mira Braneck bohlkeli@grinnell.edu braneckm@grinell.edu
FINTAN MASON
Grinnellians sewed a giant "Divest" banner during the rally on Friday afternoon that shut down Nollen House.
GCSA protests the College's investment in fossil fuels
By Andrea Baumgartel baumgart1@grinnell.edu
From Friday at 5 p.m. until 8 a.m. on Monday, a team of five students from Grinnell College Student Action (GCSA) — Holly Barton ’17, Ross Floyd ’19, Sean Haggerty ’19, Eli Shepherd ’18 and Lucid Thomas ’19 — camped out in Nollen House to demand that the College financially divest from the fossil fuel industry. President Raynard Kington was the intended recipient of the pressure resulting from the GCSA protest, which voiced dissent surrounding the College's investment in the fossil fuel industry that has been festering since the 1990s. “I thought a great deal about this issue,” Kington said. “I have a great respect for those students ... [In] the role of our College and the tactics that are best for addressing the problem — there we have a difference of opinion. And that’s ok.” GCSA has been steadily building support for divestment since its initiation as a group more than a year ago. In Nov. 2015, GCSA held a similar, 60 person march in conjunction with other student organizations, calling for a number of actions, including divestment, to be taken by the College. The group has met with both Kington and the College’s Chief Investment Officer Scott Wilson ’98 several times to discuss divestment, but “we are effectively shut out of all decision-making processes,” Shepherd said. No clear progress was being made on the issue, and as a result, the divest campaign only felt like it could express itself in organized action. The campaign calls on Kington to support the College’s full divestment from fossil fuels and urged the Board
of Trustees to divest over 100 million dollars of the College endowment. On Friday, Feb. 4, Sandy Barnard ’17 and Nyx Hauth ’19 organized a 150-plus person (students and security marshals) march to Nollen House, in which they effectively shut down the building until 5 p.m. The protest was first and foremost peaceful and controlled. Floyd stressed that all of GCSA’s demonstrations have had a clear, highly organized structure, with constant communication between action leaders and the other protesters. Before the march to Nollen House, he said, “Everyone met in the ARH at 3. We held a short program about climate change, about our reasons for fossil fuel divestment and practiced some call-and-response protest chants before heading out,” Floyd said. The 100-plus students and security marshals walked silently in a tight, two-by-two line from the ARH to Nollen House. Once everyone was in the building, Haggerty gave a brief statement via megaphone to the administration inside the building explaining the rationale behind the protest, as well as the commitment made by the five students to stay at Nollen House until Monday morning. He then handed off the megaphone to Hauth, who would lead many of the call-and-responses. “The people, united, will never be divided!” “People’s needs not corporate greed!” “We are unstoppable, another world is possible!” and of course: “Divest or arrest! Divest or arrest!” were just a few of the demands and morale-fueling chants sang throughout the demonstration. Intermittently, poems and stories were shared: Ella Williams ’19 sang and played guitar while her brother Nate ’20 improvised on the trumpet; Deniz Sahen ’20 jammed on the tambourine;
Felipe Gentle ’18 turned over some office bins and played percussion with salad tongs; and somewhat squished in a corner, a group worked furiously to sew a monumental banner (made completely of second-mile fabric) that would eventually span the length of Gates Tower for a few hours on Monday morning until it was removed by administration. “[The divest action] incorporated so many different kinds of protest and activism. ... As someone who makes art and is intending to continue making art as a reaction to politics and oppression in the next four years, it is especially inspiring to see art and activism come together the way it did at the action,” said Steven Duong ’19. “I think protest music can be so healing, and help bring protesters together in unity," Ella Williams said. "I hope to bring music to more demonstrations in the future, and think the presence of music will help students remain angry, remain outspoken and remain unified.” Everyone exited the building at 5 p.m., except for the remaining five students seated in front of Kington’s office who were committed to risking uncertain consequences such as expulsion or arrest. Kington arrived around 6 p.m. and, according to Barton, the first thing he said was “So it’s come to this.” “It was very tense … emotions were high on both sides,” Floyd said. “People shutting down his office isn’t something that happens very much.” But later, things started to turn around. Once Kington realized the full commitment of the GCSA protesters, he returned to Nollen House. “He came back at 10 p.m., and that’s when the negotiating started about what we >> See Students in Nollen House page 2
When Deqa Aden ’18 planned her first trip to the U.S. for a summer program with her best friend, she dreamed of walking across the Golden Gate Bridge and marveling at the lights of Times Square. She and her friend had prepared the same applications, essays, forms. But after they arrived at the nearest American embassy — in Dijabuti over 800 miles away — there was only one visa available. Even once she made her way to the United Arab Emirates, she was forced to stay in the airport for 30 hours, unable to leave the airport due to her Somali passport. In her time at the airport, she thought to herself, “What on earth do Somalis do that a 14-year-old girl is a threat?” Upon finally arriving in the U.S., Aden was detained for an additional seven hours. Because it was her first time visiting America, she had nothing to compare this experience to and did not recognize that others may have easier times getting to the U.S. “This is not what everyone goes through,” Aden said. “This is what Somalis, Muslims go through.” Following this experience, Aden was not surprised when Donald Trump announced his ban on immigrants from seven majority Muslim countries. The week after the ban was announced, students took action, holding vigils and direct actions and organizing meetings and panels, including one featuring Aden and two other students: Farah Omer ‘19 and Abdi Yusef ’20. All three students are from Somaliland, which is considered to be an autonomous state of Somalia and is not recognized by the international community as its own country. This further complicates each of their journeys to and from the states, as they each have to go to Djibouti to obtain American visas as Somalia does not have an American embassy, just as Aden had to in 2011. Omer wanted to stress that her situation of being in the U.S. greatly differs from that of many of the other individuals who are affected by the ban. “I’m not a refugee ... I’m an >> See Executive order page 3
TAKAHIRO OMURA
Grinnellians gathered Monday, Jan. 30 at the candlelight vigil.
Students advocate for the creation of a new film program
By Julia Echikson echikson@grinnell.edu
for the liberal arts education. However in recent years, the subject has become more widely accepted as an academic field of study. “We live in a media-saturated world. … Moving images and screen culture dominates our existence; therefore, we need to be savvy consumers and responsible producers of media in all its various forms — from Tumblr sites to mainstream news media,” wrote Professor Theresa Geller, English, in an email to the S&B In the past, Geller has regular taught film theory history courses within the English and Humanities departments. “Film and media studies, new and old, is the discipline that trains students in the scholarly tools
needed to understand, intervene in and produce the content that fills our screens, as well as understand the economic, historical and material conditions that make those very screens so ubiquitous,” she said. Grinnell is behind many other similar schools in this area. Several peer institutions underscore the importance of film and media studies in the 21st century digital age. “The best liberal arts education in the next generation will involve a high level of visual literacy and an understanding of the role that creativity plays in all intellectual fields and across all disciplines,” said Carleton College President Steven Poskanzer, according to the Carleton
On the film trek, students visited the set of the Big Bang Theory plants.
in The S&B titled “No film program? That’s a problem.” These students, as well as others interested in film and media, are advocating for Grinnell to create a formal film program, not unlike the media and film majors, minors and concentrations at several of Grinnell’s peer institutions. These students have created a Change. org petition, which has amassed 98 signatures, but has not reached its goal of having a 100 signatures. At Grinnell, faculty are responsible for the curriculum, according to Dean of the College Michael Latham. This means that neither the administration nor the Dean’s Office is able to create new programs. The discipline of film studies had long been considered too vocational
Friday Black History Month Poetry Night
Sunday Learning to Lobby
Monday Writers@Grinnell: Junot Diaz
Wednesday Panel: Crossing the Line and Identity
Thursday Book Talk: Joshua Ramey
BCC, 7 p.m.
JRC 101, 2-5 p.m.
JRC 101, 8 p.m.
Falcouner Gallery, 4 p.m.
Burling Lounge, 4:15 p.m.
Despite having various film studies classes, Grinnell College does
not have a film major. Students have recently begun to take action to have one implemented in the curriculum at the College. Two weeks ago, seven students signed a Letter to the Editor
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>> See Lack of
film program page 3
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News Students stay in Nollen House all weekend to support divestment
Continued from Front Page could do moving forward,” Floyd explained. Kington returned again on Saturday at noon to continue the negotiations. Even when approaching day three sustained by crackers, rock-paperscissor tournaments and homework in a 24/7 lit building, the group’s clear fervor for climate justice did not waver. “[Kington] is either standing with the continuation of DAPL, the continuation of Keystone XL and a president that calls climate change a Chinese hoax … or he’s standing with Iowa students and community members,” Shepherd said, explaining the intrinsic human rights issue of the Divest campaign. “A corporate takeover of our government cannot be more clear than a corporation hiring a sheriff to take people off their land. That’s the choice President Kington has to make.” Kington questioned the drawing of hard and fast lines, such as being a climate-change denier or divesting. “I think you hurt your movement when you do that. First of all ... you diminish what it means for a person to say, ‘I don’t believe that there’s any climate change,’ and you hurt your own credibility. And so I actually think we have to be careful about that— everyone has to be careful about that.” “What I think we also have to be really careful about is not recognizing that it’s ok to have differences in opinion about tactics. And we hurt ourselves and our community when everything is a yes or no, with an us or against us type thing. ... That’s not smart. Because there’s a difference between someone who doesn’t believe there’s climate change, and someone who says, 'yeah, I believe all of that, I’m with you on all the evidence, now we have to think about how we get there.' And that’s where we have differences,” Kington said. “And you can’t treat them the same.” On Tuesday, President Kington released a statement regarding the weekend’s protest via a campus memo. It stated that, “largely because of the engagement of GCSA,” certain policy changes (namely, a specified written proposal to the Board) are being made to determine how the Board of Trustees
Following the election and inauguration of President Donald Trump, analysts nationally and internationally been working to understand and predict the potential impact of the United States’ new administration. Senior Transatlantic Fellow with the German Marshall Fund’s Europe Program and Bosch Fellow at the Transatlantic Academy Hans Kundnani spoke on the subject of “Europe in the Era of Trump” in the first of a series of “Coffee Talks” since the election that the Rosenfield Program has been hosting at 11 a.m. in Burling Lounge on Tuesdays. He possesses expertise in European foreign policy and transatlantic relations. Kundnani began by describing a state of tension within the field of transatlantic policy analysis. “Nearly everyone in my world … of transatlantic policy think tanks, is basically trying to process the consequences of Trump. I think the consequences are so huge and complicated that we are all sort of struggling to figure out what it all means.” Kundnani stressed that some of his analysis of the impact of President Trump on Europe could also be applied to much of the rest of the world. “In a way, this could've been entitled the ‘World in the Era of Trump,’” he said, “I think in a way Europe is quite a good way of talking about the global consequences of the election of Trump for a few reasons. The first is that I think people in lots of other parts of the world, particularly Asia, have similar fears about the consequences of Trump as Europeans do.” Much of his talk centered on the conflict between President Trump’s positions and the goals of Europe. "I could go through and spend much more than 15 minutes on policy areas in which Trump seems to stand for the exact opposite of what Europeans stand for. In relation to
Campus climate evaluates students' safety and comfort Continued from Front Page
CONTRIBUTED
Ross Floyd '19, Lucid Thomas '19, Holly Barton '17, Eli Shepherd '19 and Sean Haggerty '19 spent the weekend in Nollen House to protest fossil fuels. could potentially divest endowment funds from any given corporation. Kington gave no other specific details on these policy changes. Additionally, Kington refused to endorse the Divest campaign to the Board, citing for justification the production of renewable energy sources by fossil-fuel companies as well as the need for endowment earnings to fund 55 percent of the annual operating budget (which includes financial aid). “30 percent of our students have grants that basically cover all of their tuition. That comes from our endowment,” Kington said. “So let’s have a conversation about that. Are we willing to increase student debt?” However, Kington did commit to suggesting the creation of a “donorrequested investment fund whereby future donors [can] request that their contributions to the endowment not be invested in fossil fuel-related funds,” to the Board of Trustees, as he wrote in the memo. “All investments are chosen based on their individual merits and not as political statements,” Kington wrote, continuing to explain that, while he “fully agrees with the student activists about the existence, causes, magnitude, and impact” of global warming, his perspective on solving those issues does not at the moment include full divestment. “Reasonable people can agree about the best tactics to use in accomplishing that goal [to reduce global warming].” “Ultimately, this is not my
decision. It’s the decision of the investment committee. I, at this point, am not comfortable recommending that they do that,” Kington said. “I don’t see myself recommending, but others can make that request to the board. I would be surprised if the board divested.” The memo has received backlash from students, including on social media and in a Grinnell Underground Magazine article by Rachel Buckner ‘18. Buckner wrote, “I feel a deep disconnect from Grinnell, as I struggle to commit to attending an institution that is invested in fossil fuel companies; companies that exacerbate the social justice issues that Grinnell educates us on and claims to support.” Members of GCSA argued against investment in fossil fuels in economic as well as political-socio terms. “We can’t overstress the urgency of divestment,” Shepherd said. “The parts per million of carbon in our atmosphere is reaching towards the exponential level, so in terms of reversibility, right now is crucial. For there to be climate justice, the fossil fuel industry cannot continue to operate, and our institution is currently bankrolling this industry ... it’s a terrible investment strategy.” Lastly, Haggerty pointed out that other colleges with similar endowments have successfully divested from the fossil fuel industry. “We wouldn’t be unprecedented. Doing so would be staying consistent with the values we espouse on our website, the values of social justice.”
that, it seems to me that the election of Trump is an unmitigated disaster for Europe.” Kundnani characterized President Trump’s actions as having had the effect of turning the world of foreign policy upside down. He repeatedly emphasized that the impact of Trump’s conditionalization of America’s security guarantee to European countries would destabilize the postwar world order. “This to me is an example of this crazy upside-down world in which we live now, where if the last three years or so, since the annexation of Crimea, in the foreign policy world the assumption was that the U.S. was tough and the Europeans were a bit weak,” he said. “There was this constant fear on both sides of the Atlantic that Europeans would go soft on the economic sanctions on Russia and that they'd seek to weaken the sanctions. Now you have the situation where the exact opposite is happening.” “Similarly, as another illustration of this upside down world,” Kundnani continued, “you have European intelligence agencies who are worried about sharing intelligence with the U.S., because they are worried about them being leaky. As long as I can remember, going back to the early Cold War; the fear was that the European services were leaky. It's very strange for anyone who has been in this world for any length of time.” Kundnani went on to cover a broad range of topics concerning international politics. He compared and contrasted European and
American nationalist and populist movements, as well as the effect the Trump administration has already had on trade in both Asia and Europe. He also raised the possibility of nuclear arms races in the Middle-East and Asia in response to the prospect of an isolationist United States. The talk was well attended by students and professors who posed questions and participated in the discussion. Many students found the talk valuable and informative. “I was most interested in the way he talked about populism,” said Nate Williams ’20. “He distinguished between a lot of different things that seemed like populism but were really just, for example, a neoliberal government with racism. I was also very interested in his comparison of Trump and Marie Le Pen. He gave insight into how the situations in France and Britain are very different, and how it isn’t productive to say ‘oh, everyone is getting their own Donald Trump,’ because it acts differently in different places.” Other students, however, found the conversation pessimistic and discouraging. “He was pretty pessimistic and uncertain,” said Jack Gustafson, ’19. “It was difficult because it was so speculative. We are kind of diving into this era of uncertainty. Because Trump was able to shake things up so much in the international order, we really don’t know where things will go. As discouraging as it seems, I think it is important to focus on what we can do domestically and act as resistance.”
Election Coffee on "Europe in the Era of Trump"
By Graham Dodd doddhenr@grinnell.edu
Edited by bohlkeli@grinnell.edu & braneckm@grinnell.edu
KOSUKE YO
Election Coffee in Burling Lounge on "Europe in the era of Trump."
voices that really need to be heard, that are being insulted by the survey, aren’t being heard,” Baratta said. “You can also skip questions, or take a break from it.” To add much-needed diversity to the survey responses relative to that of past years, Baratta and DeWitt hope that more international students and non-women take the survey. Past surveys have shown that they represent a small portion of the responses analyzed; therefore, the College may have a hard time meeting their needs since they are not adequately expressed. Baratta points out that the timing of the survey, specifically during a Trump presidency, will likely affect the results. “The timing is pretty awkward, but I feel like given the politics in the U.S. there’s not going to be a good time to put out this kind of survey,” Baratta said. “But I think we need to have these questions asked and if this
is going to be a reality for the next four years, we [have to focus on] making sure that students feel safe.” Baratta and DeWitt also fear that Grinnellians, both students and faculty, will not see the survey results. And if they do, the two SGA members fear that Grinnellians will downplay the results.
"We [have to focus on] making sure that students feel safe." Toby Baratta '17, SGA Diversity and Outreach Coordinator “Sometimes the results are super honest and you learn how lonely people feel and it’s terrifying, but also the other scary thing is that other people won’t find out the survey results because we can’t reveal it because it’s too descriptive of [a] person,” DeWitt said. Faculty and staff completed the survey right before the College closed for winter break. There is no deadline for students to complete the survey.
David Orr's convocation on climate change
XIAOXUAN YANG
David Orr speaks on "Climate Change and the Crisis of American Democracy ." By Keli Vitaioli vitaioli@grinnell.edu David Orr, accredited climatechange expert and distinguished professor, author and advisor to the president of Oberlin College, addressed a packed JRC 101 for his convocation on Thursday, Feb. 9 titled, “Climate Change and the Crisis of American Democracy.” Conveying a sense of urgency towards climate change action, Orr identified the roles of stranded assets, media coverage and local action in reaching the current 406 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as well as preventing the total climate disaster the Earth is on the path toward. Orr spoke of the nature of general climate change discussions needing to be more holistic and identify not only the larger structural causes to the crisis, but also the broader impacts society will be facing beyond hotter temperatures. “It isn’t global warming so much as it is planetary destabilization,” Orr said. “So as we think about climate change it isn’t just the temperature going up, like we’re turning the thermostat on the Earth up, its everything else on the planet, all those other assumptions and all those other systems, they change as well in ways that are unpredictable.”
"It isn't global warming so much as it is planetary destabilization." David Orr, Climate change expert When it comes to climate change, even experts like Orr cannot predict how high the sea level will rise or just how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere can handle before natural disasters become the norm, due to positive feedback loops, which is the emission of more carbon dioxide by the carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. This creates an infinite loop. Here the estimates become more variable, but the fact that climate change is occurring does not lose any certainty. For Orr, the issue of climate change is political, but it is not partisan. There is space for those on both sides of the American political divide to stand up and take action against an administration attempting to disregard the better interest of all constituents, not only of America but also of the world. “I don’t mean to be political in the sense of Republican or Democrat. I mean to be political in the sense of
being an advocate for democracy, and you can be an advocate for democracy as a good conservative or a good liberal, but you have to be a good conservative and a good liberal. Democracy is the rules by which we conduct public business, and it begins when somebody in the room stands up and says, ‘I don’t agree.’” Beginning the talk, Orr identified two key questions for the audience, “Why did it take us so long to begin recognizing this? … What do we do now?” The answer to the first question was because of the power of massive corporations to overshadow the cries of planetary advocates when they are making money off of the demise of the atmosphere. He displayed two graphs that seem unrelated but are at the heart of the issue: the Keeling curve, created by David Keeling in 1958, which tracks the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at Mauna Loa island to the present, and a curve displaying the relationship between the cost of silicon pv cells of power, solar power, which has decreased from 76.67 dollars per kilowatt hour in 1977 to 36 cents per kilowatt hour in 2014. But as alternative sources of power continue to decrease in price, carbon dioxide is still rising. However this may not always be the case, as Orr believes soon it will be economically unfeasible to deny the efficacy of clean energy in expanding job markets and slashing emissions. For the second question, what do we do now, Orr shared personal stories of action with the Oberlin project, transforming buildings on campus to L.E.E.D. gold standards, eliminating 90 percent of the city’s carbon emissions and, with community involvement, designing solar powered buildings, such as the Adam Joseph Lewis Center that are net energy exporters, in Midwestern Ohio where Orr finds “sunshine is still a theory.” Orr concluded the talk by imparting a degree of responsibility on the College attendees, part of the two to three percent of graduates in the United States coming from liberal arts colleges. “If there was ever a time for broad and deep thinking, it is now,” Orr said. “The question now that has been underscored by the advent of Donald Trump, what do we in liberal arts colleges have to say to the world? What do you at Grinnell have to say to the world? What is our message? That two to three percent of graduates, this is the time where we either say our piece or stay quiet forever.”
News Students speak on effects of the recent executive order
Edited by bohlkeli@grinnell.edu & braneckm@grinnell.edu
Continued from Front Page opportunist,” she said, describing her position as a student. “Sometimes it feels like I don’t legally exist in the geopolitical world They don’t even recognize my government.” Yusef, a first year, along with the other affected students, is unsure when he will be able to go home. “Because of my religion and my nationality, I cannot go home for breaks.” Despite the uncertainty of when he will see his family again, he said that he is able to remain somewhat upbeat. “Because of the support and hospitality I have been shown, I am able to stay positive.” Aden plans to spend her summer her in the U.S. She has had visa trouble in the past, and even with the fate of the ban up in the air, it’s not worth the risk. “It’s very risky, which makes no sense,” she said about her time traveling back and forth before the ban. “A student is a student, no matter what.” Other students from Muslim majority countries that were not included in the ban feel the effects as well. One student who wished to remain anonymous was not surprised by the ban. “A lot of people in the Muslim community saw this coming,” he said. “When you take out your passport and the customs officers see that you’re from a Muslim place, they treat you differently.” The student also said that one of his friends directly affected by the ban saw it coming. “He already knew that it was a possibility that he would not be able to go back home the next few years,” he said. Another student who wished to remain anonymous is an American citizen, but the rest of her family does not have citizenship. Most of her family still lives in the Muslim majority country that her parents left. “They’re less surprised than we are. ... Maybe it’s because we live in a liberal bubble or maybe it’s because we really just didn’t think it was possible,” she said. “It’s been more mainstream — the amount of discrimination in this country towards anybody who’s not a straight white man, and I think that was more evident to them than to us. Which is weird — to have other countries see you better than we see ourselves.” The support given by the community was somewhat of a doubleedged sword for Aden. “The whole community was like, oh my god, I’m so sorry for you, and then it became emotionally draining, and everywhere
TAKAHIRO OMURA
Three students from Somaliland spoke at a panel on Monday to put a face to Trump's recent executive order. I went was a constant reminder that I’m banned from the country.” She did say, however, that she was made to feel welcome. “It’s good, they showed support and how much they care and the fact that we are welcome here,” Aden said. President Raynard Kington spoke of the administration’s support for the students. “Like many schools, we believe that the fundamental principles are just wrong. We believe that we are in a deeply connected world, and that we can’t and we shouldn’t try to wall ourselves off.” “I’m from a scientific background, and in the sciences in particular, the potential effect on the scientific enterprise of this country, both in education and research, is really pretty dismal,” Kington said. “We continue to stand by our policy of not providing information unless legally required to do so. I think we have committed to supporting students from the seven countries that were banned and we are prepared to help them financially. ... We are certainly figuring out ways of making sure that there are funds for, for example, if the ban is still in place and students need to stay here in the country for the summer... we’ve had local families say that they’d be willing to house students ... it’s relatively easy for us to be supportive.” Many other individuals in the administration are trying to extend this support as well. Maure Smith-Benanti, the Director of Intercultural Affairs, spoke about how to be an ally. “What it seemed to me, the right thing to do, in the wake of the news that has a big impact on our students and faculty and staff and visiting scholars was show up. I think that’s
what it means to be a good ally,” she said. “An ally who’s active but also does not try to take the wheel.” Her office, while not dealing directly with international students, has been trying to create ways to lend support. “You try to help people have the time and space to process what they need to, and do the nitty gritty analysis of visas and things like that,” she said. “All the people that I know have more than one identity. And so the fact that technically under my definition of how my office runs and who it supports may not very specifically be international students; however, what happens in our world has an impact on all of us.” Karen Edwards, director of international student affairs, considers this executive order something new that the College has never had to deal with before. Edwards said that all students who came to Grinnell with a four-year visa are in lawful status and will be through their graduation. For students from the seven banned countries, there are opportunities they will have to give up. “But it means opportunities we take for granted like the ability to study abroad or do an externship overseas is simply not a part of their plan, and can’t be,” Edwards said. “I’ve got an outpouring of emails from alums, from people in the local community, who say, ‘Hey, if any of these guys aren’t able to travel home this summer and need help with housing, keep me in mind as a resource.’ And that’s pretty cool.” Aden almost went abroad to Denmark this year, but did not because of visa issues. Had she been in Denmark when the order was announced, she would have been unable to return. “It
could have been worse,” she said. Professors have been working on projects surrounding Islamophobia at the College. Professor Caleb Elfenbein, history and religious studies, started a digital humanities project this past summer. He uses data visualization to underscore incidents of violence against Muslims in America. It was inspired by a project called “Mapping Police Violence.” “It’s a digital humanities project that seeks to present data about all kinds of events that reflect Islamophobic attitudes in the United States. The data set includes incidents ranging from harassment on the street or in stores all the way to national political discourse and everything in between including legislation, violent attacks, controversies about mosque construction and cemetery construction, an incredible rage of really tragic and sad behavior,” Elfenbein said. Elfenbein decided to do this project while thinking about comparing crosscultural contexts. He thought about state policies that induce fear and intimidation in some Muslim-majority countries, comparing it to the United States. He asked the question: “How does Islamophobia affect American Muslims’ ability to not be in fear, or limited to presenting themselves one way in public life?” Although he began thinking about this project before the executive order was signed, Elfenbein argued Islamophobia is necessary when considering this executive order’s causes and implications. “There is an effort among some media outlets to emphasize the handful of fake reports on violence against
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Muslim Americans and a project like this can draw attention to the reality of hundreds of incidents that do occur,” Elfenbein said. According to Elfenbein, although the majority of these incidents of violence happen in densely populated areas, there are a variety of different incidents that happen all over the U.S. Students and faculty are not the only Grinnellians that have been taking action against the executive order. Grinnell community members have as well. Last Saturday, the League of Women Voters hosted a meet-andgreet with the Iowa state legislators at First Presbyterian Church. Pastor Wendy Abrahamson of Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church said that many people in the community are unhappy about the executive order. “There are some people that reasonably say it’s not a bad idea to vet things and look at the process. 100 percent of what I’ve heard in terms of how it was handled — it was just handled ridiculously,” she said. “Especially for Christians, immigration and being hospitable to strangers … is fundamental. Jesus’s family were refugees. So we don’t think it’s the right thing for the United States.” Grinnellians for Change also organized a community meeting to help mobilize and coordinate productive action on Thursday, Feb. 2 at Saints Rest. At the meeting, people broke into small groups to focus on individual issues that they were interested in at a local, state and national level. According to Miriam Amer, Executive Director on Counsel on American-Islamic Relations Iowa Chapter (CAIR-IA), at protests across the state of Iowa, there have been many more protesters than representatives from the other side. She said that Congressman Dave Loebsack has been supportive, but that the chapter knew they would get little support from others in Congress. At the CIAR, they find attorneys for people struggling with immigration status, they consult Muslim, Arab and Sikh communities and they have huge coalitions with interreligious groups. “It’s a collaborative effort,” Amer said. “We aren’t doing this by ourselves. We have a lot of people helping us.” In specific regards to Trump, Amer talked about his financial interests and cited some of the countries he did not include in the executive order. “He’s not going to cut off that money stream. People know that he has an agenda and don’t want to enforce things that are unjust,” Amer said.
Lack of film program Innovation Fund rejects college farm sparks debate By Zane Silk silkzane@grinnell.edu
Continued from Front Page College website. Students have the option of pursuing film at Grinnell College by creating their own independent major focused on film. But many students argue that the difficulty creates an inevitable obstacle. There are no classes offered on filmmaking, and without departmental support, pivotal film theory classes are not offered every semester and independent majors do not always get priority for class entry. With the only film studies professor away, only one short course on film was offered this semester. “The reality is social media and developing its content is key to every single business and career, including academic careers that are rapidly expanding in digital fields, like digital humanities,” Geller wrote. “Film and media needs to play a central role in any education focused on social justice and the global world.” The demand for such a program is growing. During this year’s winter break, the Center for Careers, Life, and Services hosted a trip to Los Angeles, allowing students to discover the entertainment industry. 45 students applied for a trip with only 16 spots. However, Latham, in a follow-up email to The S&B, emphasized the cost of a film program. The faculty members in charge of making these decisions would need to consider whether and where the necessary resources, including faculty, can be found. During the recent trip to Los Angeles, Dodge Greenley ’11 — who now works as a storyboard artist for Nickelodeon studios — even suggested students either drop out or transfer schools if they were serious about getting into the industry. However, he admits that studying
film does not guarantee success. “I know a ton of people who went to art schools or majored in television and production or something and didn't get anything out of that,” Greenley said. Ultimately, he did not drop out of Grinnell and doesn’t regret attending Grinnell College. He also acknowledged that when he matriculated to Grinnell, he didn’t know what career he wanted. Transferring schools is not a viable option for some students. Many students, like Greenley, come to Grinnell not knowing they want to study film. Hanky Song ’17, who has created an independent major in Media and Cultural Praxis, discovered her passion for film after her arrival at Grinnell and has not transferred due to financial constraints. However, many students have been able to excel in film studies even without a program. Numerous students have taken papers on film theory to conferences, and student filmmakers have even had success in competitions. But still, many students feel unprepared for a career in the film industry. “What I am going to show the industry, if I don’t have the film production skills and I want to be a filmmaker? From what I’ve heard from those people in the club, everyone knows how to write, but no one knows how to make the film,” Song said. Latham suggested an alternative option in a Media Studies program, which some of our peer institutions have already taken on. “[This] would enable students to analyze and create work at the interface of writing, technology, visual culture and art, and film,” Latham wrote. “Film would then be one major content area within such a broader program.”
After the Innovation Fund rejected his proposal for a college farm, Professor Jon Andelson, anthropology, was deeply disappointed. Now he’s concerned that the small garden he runs will be demolished this summer. Andelson, who is the director of the center for prairie studies, helped set up the garden on Park St. in 2000, and he spearheaded the push to create a farm on campus. Now that the farm proposal is no longer in play, Andelson has turned his attention to the garden, which may have to be relocated to make space for three language houses. In 2015, Andelson, along with Rabbi Rob Cabelli, associate chaplain, and Real Foods Coordinator Molly Schintler, began to craft a proposal, taking inspiration from other colleges that operate farms to provide hands-on learning and a sense of community. They decided to apply to the Innovation Fund, which was created in 2012 by President Raynard Kington to support innovative proposals to enhance teaching and campus life. “The Innovation Fund did not fund the proposal [last year], but did give us a grant to do further study. At that time our sense was that they basically liked the idea but thought it was not adequately fleshed out,” Andelson said. “We resubmitted a proposal with more detail." With the grant money, Andelson organized trips last summer to visit
college farms to learn what elements were essential to success. While the Innovation Fund Committee had questioned the need for a full-time farm manager, Andelson came away from the visits feeling that without one the farm would not meet its full potential. “It’s strange to me that so many of our peer institutions have farms, some of them only as big as we were proposing, some of them bigger. And they seem to be making them work, and here we are in Iowa, one of the leading agricultural states … we should too,” Andelson said. In advance of resubmitting their proposal last September, an online petition was created and received 631 messages of support, primarily from students and alumni. Some faculty members gave their backing, imagining uses for the farm in various classes. Additionally, individual students from a wide range of student groups wrote statements supporting the project, and SGA unanimously passed a motion in favor. “We were talking about incorporating a lot of classes into the farm operation, classes in all three divisions. We were talking about an outdoor classroom space,” Andelson said. “We were going to address social justice issues surrounding the issues of food, and link food justice to social justice more generally.” However, the Innovation Fund Committee, which is made up of faculty, trustees and a member of the administration, decided in December
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The garden behind Food House might be relocated next year.
to fund nine other projects instead of the farm. “They acknowledged the amount of support the proposal had ... I guess one would have to say, obviously, other considerations, in their mind, were more important,” Andelson said. After learning of the decision, Andelson turned his attention to how the new admissions building would impact the existing garden. The College is building a new admissions and financial aid building on the southwest corner of Park St. and 8th Ave. in an effort to improve the experience for prospective students. The project, which will begin construction this summer, will require relocation of three language houses. Rick Whitney, director of facilities management, informed Andelson that one of the possible relocation sites for the language houses was the location of the garden. However, Whitney deferred to Kington on the matter of where and when to move the garden, if necessary. According to Whitney, a decision has not been made regarding where the language houses will moved. Andelson is concerned because if the garden must be moved, that process would have to begin within a few weeks for it to be operational this summer. After sending two emails to Kington, Andelson is still awaiting a reply concerning the garden’s new location. “We have to move the greenhouse. We have to prepare the soil beds … we have to decide what to plant… we have to order seed. We have to inventory our tools. We have to do a lot of things, all in time for early spring planting which is in April,” Andelson said. If the dream of a farm is to remain out of reach, Andelson hopes that at least the relocation of the garden could provide an opportunity for expansion. “What I’m hoping for is an expanded garden. If we can’t have the farm, at least give us the garden."
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True Grinnellian:
Community
By Louise Carhart carhartl17@grinnell.edu Sharon Van Dyke, a lifelong Grinnellian, represents the title in its truest form. Van Dyke’s experiences provide a contrast to the Grinnell we now inhabit, while still working to ensure everyone is able to enjoy the city as much as she has throughout her life. As the sole employee of the Low Rent Housing office for the City government, Van Dyke’s day-to-day work is uniquely tied to the people of Grinnell. “I’ve been at this position with the Housing Authority for thirty years,” Van Dyke said. “When I first took this job, what I liked about it was it’s a helping profession, … and I’m not stuck behind the desk all day, every day because I go out and do unit inspections and meet with families and work with them in that regard.” Van Dyke has been a witness not just of the day-to-day struggles of Grinnell families, but she also has watched as the City transformed from a commercial center to becoming reliant on the local Walmart for basic necessities. The pattern she identified, of Walmart moving into a town and subsequently decimating the local businesses, has been repeated across America. “[There have been] huge changes from when I was growing up to now, economically. That’s all triggered by Wal Mart coming in the first time,” Van Dyke said. “The downtown is phenomenally different from when I was growing up. There are no stores and there were, besides the multiplicity of banks and whatever, there were two drugstores that were real drugstores, a Penny’s and a Spurgeon’s and a department store and a men’s store, a whole bunch of things. That part, I think, is the biggest change.” The marked difference between Grinnell then and now is only accentuated by the advancement of construction and renovation taking place in the downtown area. Van Dyke has had to move with the City Offices to
Republicans control both houses of the Iowa State Legislature and the Governorship for the first time in over two decades, and they have wasted no time in introducing legislation to enact conservative policies statewide. In January alone, the legislature saw a flurry of bill introductions including a law that would allow Iowans to legally own machine guns, a bill to abolish Iowa Public Television, one which places a 20-week ban on abortions and another which aims to do away with tenure at Iowa’s public universities.
CONTRIBUTED
Van Dyke reminisces on Grinnell's past and does her part to brighten its future. the basement of the former Transportation Museum. Her previous office was on the ground floor of the soon-to-be boutique hotel that sits across from Central Park. “It’s a disaster at the moment, the pictures they made look amazing,” Van Dyke said. “I can remember going to one of those Spaulding buildings, the last one they’re renovating, when it was a shoe factory, and I can remember going to the depot when it was a real train depot and picking people up from the passenger train and I’m not that much of an antique.” In addition to her job with the Housing Authority, Van Dyke’s family farm has been around since her parents bought land just outside the City in the 1950s. Originally a full working farm, with crops, dairy production and 300400 laying chickens, Van Dyke and her family now run a smaller operation with a full equestrian center. The Grinnell Equestrian Club uses the space for their rides and practices, forging a connection between rotating students and a family that has been a Grinnell staple. “Dad always rotated crops for better soil management, we always
hauled manure like crazy for more natural fertilizer, we did it all,” Van Dyke said. “We had sows and baby pigs and lambs and all sorts of things, and it evolved a little bit over the years. … Now it’s just crops and the horse business.” Serving the City and Poweshiek County, the horse farm offers lessons and boarding for horses. Van Dyke is deeply integrated with the Poweshiek community through lessons and her work, as she not only manages the Housing Authority for Grinnell, but also all of Poweshiek. She reaffirms that Grinnell is where these two passions were meant to come together, as the City has provided her with the best of small town life and proximity to cultural hubs. “I like the variety and feel good about the physical environment, having been to a lot of other places. The other plus of Grinnell is actually its location too,” Van Dyke said. “It’s an hour, give or take, to Iowa City, Ames, Des Moines, Cedar Falls for cultural events that you just can’t support in a town this size. It’s not an impossibility to drive an hour and see some of those things.”
This past week Republicans continued to move quickly. Here’s a rundown of some of their actions. Senator Jake Chapman, Republican of Adel, introduced a bill mandating jail time for anyone caught protesting on a highway. The bill is in response to an event last November in which about a hundred protestors blocked Interstate 80 in response to Donald Trump’s election as President. However, Senator Joe Bolkcom, Democrat of Iowa City, believes that Iowa already has strong laws against blocking highways and this bill is merely an attempt to punish those who disagree with Trump. The Iowa Senate voted 30-20 to defund Planned Parenthood last Friday.
All 29 Republican Senators as well as the chamber’s lone independent Senator voted for the measure. Democrats unanimously voted no. The bill still has to pass through the House and be signed into law by Governor Branstad. Republicans in the House also introduced legislation that, if passed, would freeze Iowa’s minimum wage at $7.25 per hour. Current state law puts Iowa’s minimum wage at that level, but several counties, including Polk, Johnson and Linn have enacted, or have considered enacting, higher county-wide minimum wages. This law would take away counties’ control over the matter and force all workers earning minimum wage to earn $7.25.
Grinnell Area Arts Council launches new art collective By Jon Sundby sundbyjo17@grinnell.edu For over a year, the offices of 927 Broad Street have stood vacant — its large windows revealing only blank walls and bare floors. Now, however, the mural work of local children hangs over these same windows, foreshadowing a change in the space. This past week, the Grinnell Area Arts Council announced that they had purchased the former “Pennysaver” offices and are intending to transform them into a series of studios for local artists. “It’s just a few stops over from Saints Rest and the bike shop, you can see it with the big banners up now, before it was pretty unassuming. It was just another empty storefront in Grinnell, which is partly why we wanted to move over there,” said Erik Jarvis ’12, events and building coordinator for the Arts Council. “Right now downtown has a lot of vacancies, and it’s not good for the town in general, but it’s especially not good for a town that’s trying to build a vibrant arts community.” The decision to purchase the space was first conceived after the artist residency GrinCity Collective decided to leave their space at a local farm and fulfil their mission remotely. The staff and board members of the Grinnell Area Arts Council realized that the collective’s physical absence heightened the need for places where Grinnellians could funnel their cre-
Artist reimagines scenes from her wedding
By Ridhika Agrawal agrawalr@grinnell.edu
Newsflash: Iowa politics update By Michael Cummings cummings@grinnell.edu
Edited by vitaioli@grinnell.edu
ative expression. “One thing we looked at moving into the new year was what sort of gaps were left after GrinCity was gone, and the main one was just a space for artists to make things,” Jarvis said. “So we do have an open ceramics studio in the basement here, but other than that the [Grinnell Area Arts Council] is not really a place where people make art. It’s kinda where they come to look at the gallery or see a performance.” There will be differences, between the maker’s spaces at 927 Broad Street and GrinCity collective. The new studios will not have the residency component that was so integral to GrinCity’s character, and this change lends itself to the space fulfilling a slightly different mission. “We’re focusing on local and regional artists, so in the Grinnell area, and that’s the biggest difference between this project and what GrinCity was. They would import national
and international artists, we’re trying to support the artists that are already here,” Jarvis said. The Grinnell Area Arts Council wants the space to incorporate the community as a whole and welcomes local artists with a variety of different styles, techniques and forms. The new studios will be able to accommodate painters, sculptors, carpenters, welders and hopefully even musicians and videographers. While Jarvis doesn’t know who exactly will be renting out the studios yet, he hopes that the artists who decide to set up their work spaces there will represent a diverse cross-section of the town. The studios are planned to be open sometime in May. And in line with the spirit of this community project, the Arts Council is inviting the public to view the space on March 6 at 7 p.m. and provide comments on its progress and form. Grinnell College students and faculty are encouraged to attend.
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927 Broad Street, while currently empty, will soon host the new collective.
A series of new paintings by Sara Peak Convery decorates the wall behind the espresso machine at Saints Rest. Convery attended Grinnell High School back in the early 80s, but she truly became inspired in the subject matter of art while in New Zealand as an exchange student during her senior year of high school. Despite having moved away from Grinnell since, Convery still makes sure to display her work in her hometown. “I have had work at Saints Rest off-and-on since 2009, I believe, but generally [a] small selection of pieces, not really a group of related works,” Convery wrote in an email to The S&B. “I have also had shows at the old Grinnell Community Art Gallery, which no longer exists, and the Grinnell Art Center, the former Stewart Library, but I think that more people come into Saints Rest than make the trip across the street to enter a gallery.” The selection currently on display at Saints Rest, entitled “My Wedding”, has specific personal relevance to Convery. “About five years after my wedding, I decided to revisit the photographs that were taken and make paintings from some of them,” Convery wrote. “There was lots of drinking going on, which started early because the officiant forgot to show up. At the time I started the paintings, I was feeling rather ambivalent about my marriage, so it was a way to contemplate and revisit without words.” Drawing upon her own experiences for inspiration, Convery’s work carries a sense of connection to the artists’ life and emotions. “I have done a lot of self-por-
traits and work where I have used myself as a model. I have also painted and photographed my family a lot,” Convery wrote. Her passion for art can be traced back to an early age, where she began to take an interest in art as emotive expression. “I always liked making things. When I was young I used my mother’s sewing machine to make clothes and bags and also did some fabric applique,” Convery wrote. “Words are powerful but not always adequate or useful means of expression. I like to find ways to use both.” Coupled with her strong interest and deep personal connection to her work, Convery has developed a unique creative process. “I tend to paint very quickly but often there are long spaces of inactivity. I am not a ‘paint every day even if you don’t want to’ painter,” Convery wrote. “Often I do not return to a painting after the first session and I find that those are often the ones I am most satisfied with.” Convery does not, however, fail to recognize some of the challenges that artist’s face in today’s world. “I think any artist faces the difficulty of being able to pursue what they want to do artistically and making money. There are virtually no federal support systems in place, which is unlike many other countries in the world,” Convery said. Convery hopes to continue working out of her studio in East Garfield Park, Chicago, Ill., and perhaps eventually working with the hours of interview footage she acquired for her “Grass Widow Sod Widow” documentary project. Pieces from “My Wedding” can be purchased at Saints Rest through inquires to Convery at speakvideo@ yahoo.com or 773-405-7365.
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Works from Convery's "My Wedding" on display at Saints Rest.
Bucket Course takes on the fourth ammendment By Nora Coghlan coghlann17@grinnell.edu “How many of you think that the government intrudes too much on our personal privacy now?” asked Senior District Court Judge Stephen Carroll to a full house at Drake Community Library on Wednesday morning. Many hands rose in response. “How many think that the government is doing a good job as to national security now?” This time, very few hands rose. Carroll, a Grinnell native, delivered a lecture to address these questions and more as part of the ongoing “Bucket Courses” put on by the Community Education Council. Carroll’s course, “The Fourth Amendment: Search, Seizure & Surveillance in an Age of Advanced Technology” drew an enthusiastic crowd, eager to learn the ins and outs of the amendment over sticky-buns and coffee. Carroll began his lecture by outlining the fourth amendment and its two clauses: the first states that citizens should not be subjected to unreasonable searches, otherwise known as the “reasonableness clause,” while the second stipulates that in order to search and seize property, the government must have probable cause and obtain a warrant, or the “warrant clause.” After explaining the amendment,
Carroll discussed the contexts in which the fourth amendment is often employed, what he called the “criminal and national security contexts.” “There are differences in the applicability depending on the goals of the search or seizure. In criminal context, it’s to apprehend the criminal and it’s usually … after the crime has occurred, so we want to focus on the individual after the crime has occurred,” he said. “National security, we know who [committed acts of terror] so our focus isn’t on apprehension and conviction, but we want to protect, we want to deter and we want to prevent that from happening again. So it’s to detect, investigate and prevent a terrorist attack. The two goals are much different.” Carroll went on to outline a number of examples where the fourth amendment has appeared in his court room, and discussed the importance of the law in most cases he has presided over. After a quick break, Carroll went on to explain the relevance of the fourth amendment in cases of government surveillance and corporate data mining, focusing on several examples of companies gathering small bits of information through credit card purchases and google searches to predict consumer preferences and personal information.
Features
Edited by kielyphi@grinnell.edu
5
Professor speaks: trusted news sources
In a turbulent political climate, staying on top of news can feel increasingly like a burden. When it comes to biases, fake news or Facebook feeds students can find themselves struggling to stay informed without being overwhelmed. The S&B’s Keli Vitaioli sat down with three professors to hear their opinions on reputable sources and get their take on keeping up with the whirlwind news cycle.
ALL PHOTOS BY HUNG VUONG
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The seven residents of 1007 East street pose outside their house. Professor Peter Jacobson, Biology Most trusted and used: NPR, The Des Moines Register, The Grinnell Herald Register, The New York Times, The Economist, High Country News, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal On vetting sources: ”I’d like to think [vetting our sources] is something that we always should have been doing, something that we always should have cared about. I think people by nature should be skeptical consumers of information … but I think in practice, boy, we consume a lot of information in our day to day life that we sort of don’t look at it at that level, but I think that’s really important with so many of the things we talk about that are relevant to public policy. And having that ability to be a skeptical consumer of information seems really important, more so than ever.” On the divide between students and professors accessing news: "What’s apparent just teaching here at Grinnell is the resources that students use versus the resources that I use — and part of that is just age and access. I don’t have a smartphone, so I’m not using the different media platforms a lot of students are looking at on a daily basis. I'm antiquated and I tend to like to hold a piece of paper in my hand, and things that I really want to read and digest I’ll often print out rather than read online." "I think people by nature should be skeptical consumers of information, … but I think in practice, boy, we consume a lot of information in our day to day life."
Professor Peter Jacobson Recommendations for students: “Try and make the time in your day to do it, and use more than one source. I think the thing that I’ve found, certainly in the past several years that I can remember, is that when we’re talking about topical issues related to public policy, you know, climate, water, some of the things I think about, I’m always asking students, ‘have they seen this, have they seen that, what sources do they consult?’ And what I find is often they’re either not seeing things or are not aware of things, and I think a big part of that is you’re just so dang busy and you’re not taking the time to look at the sources that are out there. At the same time, I find that students are inevitably bringing tons of things to my attention that I’m not seeing, which sort of is a reminder to me of the biases of our sources and what’s getting covered. Consult multiple sources, because I don’t know what that one source is.”
Professor Barb Trish, Political Science Most used and trusted: The New York Times, The Des Moines Register, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, Vox, Slate, Salon, MSNBC, PBS, checks in with Fox News and Breitbart. Recommendations for students: “Anything digital and electronic, it is so easy not to read, to just kind of check in and read the headlines, you can do the same thing in paper, but, and this is part of the reason I like to have the paper in my hand is, I’m going to read things I wouldn’t normally read. … I would encourage the students to go directly to the sites rather than allow someone to filter or sensor what they read.” “I do think the technology is such that it lends itself to the quick reaction, and on one hand that’s really good; to see the immediacy; we can see things that are almost in real time. It gives us a window on things that we haven’t had before, but I think there’s a lot of room, maybe even more than before, for kind of sitting back and trying to figure out what’s going on — that distance you can place between yourself and a particular event.” Professor Barb Trish On seeking out opposing viewpoints to hers (such as Breitbart or Fox News): “A big part of what I’m looking at is what they’re reporting or placing up there so I have a sense of what people who check in regularly with them see, which is a little bit different than reading it to be persuaded by what they’re saying, but I want to know what they’re saying. I think you can’t be effective politically unless you can put yourself in the position of someone else and kind of know the information they have ... I tend to go towards, I suppose, the traditional sources or the same ones President Trump doesn’t like.” "I’m going to read things I wouldn’t normally read. … I would encourage the students to go directly to the sites rather than allow someone to filter or sensor what they read.” Professor Barb Trish On social media news: “I do think the technology is such that it lends itself to the quick reaction, and on one hand that’s really good; to see the immediacy; we can see things that are almost in real time. It gives us a window on things that we haven’t had before, but I think there’s a lot of room, maybe even more than before, for kind of sitting back and trying to figure out what’s going on — that distance you can place between yourself and a particular event.”
Professor Caleb Elfenbein, Religious Studies and History Most trusted and used: NPR, The Guardian, The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, recently cancelled his subscription to The Economist. On the instinct to rely on social media news: “On the one hand, the sheer volume of information is pretty amazing, and you come across stuff that you wouldn’t otherwise. But the sheer volume of information, at least for me, created a really unhealthy relationship with information, which is that I was just constantly consuming without ever having some space to reflect on what I was reading.” "I think that part of the really amazing thing about being in a place like Grinnell, or an intellectual community , is that we have people that can help us think in really critical fashion and ask hard questions, and I don’t know if I need Breitbart or Fox to help me do that."
Professor Caleb Elfenbein
Recommendations for students: “A friend of mine, a faculty member at California Lutheran University, put it so well, she said, ‘Its good to remain informed but not immersed,” because when we’re immersed we just don’t really have any space to really work with the information, and I found myself being immersed in social media news. I was staying up way too late. I was developing really quickly these really bad habits that the constant flow of information enables.” "When we’re immersed we just don’t really have any space to really work with the information.” Professor Caleb Elfenbein On not seeking out opposing viewpoints: “I’m not so much seeking out points of view that I think come out of sources that have developed in and through a critique of the so-called, ‘mainstream liberal media.’ … I think what bothers me about news sources that I think we would associate with stuff ‘we seek out for alternative points of view‘ is that there is a kind of impugning of people’s motivations, right, and the idea that journalists for The New York Times or The Washington Post or The Guardian had malicious intent, and I think that’s a really dangerous claim to make. I think that part of the really amazing thing about being in a place like Grinnell, or an intellectual community, is that we have people that can help us think in really critical fashion and ask hard questions, and I don’t know if I need Breitbart or Fox to help me do that.”
The Fantasy Suite: A pretty unique house By Philip Kiely kielyphi@grinnell.edu A large house, the multicolored exterior adorned with massive polka dots, stands at 1007 East Street, is home to Claudia Handal, Alosha Southern, Lauren Toppeta, Hameed Weaver, Sam Burt, Lily Ge and Ella Gensheimer, all ’17. The seven friends have known each other since first year and decided to live together in Grinnell’s most colorful house. “I remember coming to this house my first year with Alosha [Southern] because we were both on the cross country team, and I know I definitely fell in love with the house, just because of how big it is, and … the outside, there’s tons of colors and there’s the polka dots,” Handal said. “It’s a pretty unique house in Grinnell, and in the world … So that really attracted me to the house, and the fact that it’s able to fit up to seven people.” “This is one of the less-haunted houses in Grinnell. Some of the off-campus houses definitely have a spooky feeling to them … or are definitively haunted,” Lauren Toppeta '17 The seven friends came together person by person and eventually ended up living together. “In terms of how we all got to live together, it’s … Lily [Ge] and I went to the same high school, so we’ve been friends since high school, and then first year Ella and Claudia were roommates, and then Ella and I were in the same tutorial, and then Claudia and I were on the cross country team,” Southern said. “Claudia and Sam Burt went to high school together, and Claudia and I did the same pre-orientation program together … we all just kind of found each other,” Toppeta said. The group dynamic is very relaxed. “I’ve heard [this house] described as ‘a bunch of chill people who live together,’ and I would definitely agree with that,” Handal said. In addition to housing the residents, the house has served as the setting for some bonding moments. “There were two friends of ours that were ‘house-roughing’ in Sam Burt’s room, which is the only downstairs room … they roughed the house … They were in there without Sam Burt’s permission, or supervision, and a window got kicked out, with a foot, and the window was not repaired for six
weeks,” Handal said. The group made the best of the situation. “Something good that did come out of that is that then Sam Burt constructed a fort above his bed, and we all piled inside of it at once … Ella was not there but the rest of us piled inside of Sam Burt’s room and it was really cute and it is one of my fond memories of this house,” Toppeta said. “I’ve heard [this house] described as ‘a bunch of chill people who live together,’ and I would definitely agree with that,”
Claudia Handal '17 Although there are only seven bedrooms, the house has nine residents. The eighth made his presence known in December. “I was downstairs by myself and I was about to go up to my room and then, out of the corner of my eye, I see this little grey blob dart across the kitchen floor,” Southern said. "I screamed really loudly … it was just a mouse. We haven’t found the mouse yet … so I guess he’s technically our eighth resident, until we kill him.” The ninth resident is even more mysterious. “We keep getting notifications from the sheriff’s department saying that someone [lives at the house and]… that if he doesn’t report back to the sheriff, that the sheriff is going to come to our house,” Toppeta said. “But we have no idea who this person is, so maybe the sheriff will just show up one day … the notifications have been coming since 2013.” Despite this, the house is not as spooky as many other off-campus houses. “This is one of the less-haunted houses in Grinnell. Some of the off-campus houses definitely have a spooky feeling to them … or are definitively haunted,” Toppeta said. In all, the seven seniors are glad to be living together. "I definitely prefer living off campus to living on campus for [the] kitchen, and it’s just much more relaxed feeling, but we’re more disconnected from campus life in some ways, which is all right, since we’re all fourth years, but there definitely is a big difference from living on campus," Gensheimer said. “Sometimes it’ll be 10 p.m. on a Tuesday night and it feels like there’s a slumber party upstairs,” Handal said.
Math Department welcomes lecturer Kusha Nezafati By Tanvi Jindal jindalta@grinnell.edu Grinnell College welcomed Lecturer Kusha Nezafati to the Math department this semester. Nezafati received a B.A. in philosophy and a B.S. in mathematics at University of Texas-Austin and went on to get his Masters in Statistics at University of Texas-Dallas. He is currently working on his dissertation for a Ph.D. in statistics from University of Texas-Dallas. He is very happy about his decision to move to Grinnell. “It’s nice. Actually, it’s very different from where I come. I spent most of my life living in Dallas. I was looking forward to moving to a place that is a little different from what I am used to. I appreciate the small town and the quiet. It’s nice to live in a small place where you still have everything you need,” Nezafati said. He has also happily adjusted to teaching at Grinnell. “I enjoy it. It’s very different from my TA work in UT Dallas where I practiced problems on differential Calculus and Linear Algebra. It was
very abstract. So I am glad that I’m teaching an intro to Stats class here because it is so application based,” Nezafati said. Nezafati was switched from philosophy to mathematics in search of concrete answers. “ I am glad that I’m teaching an intro to Stats class here because it is so application based,”
Kusha Nezafati “Philosophy is more about discourse and discussion and you don’t really get to the solution. Everything is debatable. It is not as satisfying as mathematics where you can arrive at a set of solutions, where you can prove whatever it is you’re trying to prove,” Nezafati said. He appreciates diversity of thought in his classroom discussions. “I really like that I have such a diverse set of students who I can discuss the bases or uses of statistics in their fields of study. It’s interesting for me to hear their perspectives because they have so many interesting things to say. I appreciate there being a lot of room
for discussion,” Nezafati said. Perhaps due to his love of class discussion and students from diverse backgrounds, he values participation and dedication greatly from students. “Philosophy is more about discourse and discussion and you don’t really get to the solution. Everything is debatable. It is not as satisfying as mathematics where you can arrive at a set of solutions, where you can prove whatever it is you’re trying to prove,”
Kusha Nezafati “To get an A in my class, students have to show up, they have to participate in the discussion,” Nezafati said. “Besides that, they should have a good study habit outside of class. That means, you can’t just go to lecture and absorb everything I say. You need to take notes and take inspiration from lecture and then go home and practice what you are being taught. Beyond that, I also have a group project so that requires other skills like organization, collaboration and presentation. So, the important things are being organized, showing up and being diligent.”
Kusha Nezafati is a recent addition to the Math Department
MAYU SAKAE
Sports
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Edited by carhartl17@grinnell.edu
The Bear and safe spaces: Do the two intersect? By Alice Herman hermanal17@grinnell.edu During the first weeks of the spring semester, students have mobilized around the issues of gender bias and LGBTQ inclusivity at the fitness center of the Bear. Last semester, a student working at the front desk of the fitness center approached Murielle O’Brien ‘17 while she was exercising about an alleged violation of the dress code. “I had an incident where I was wearing a sports bra and I was running on one of the treadmills upstairs and one of the guys who was working at the front desk — who is also a student — came up to me and asked me to put on a shirt ... he told me that my clothes couldn’t be too loose or too tight,” O’Brien said. When she asked to speak with a manager — and specified that she would prefer to speak with a woman — O’Brien was told repeatedly that there wasn’t anyone she could speak with about the problem. Ultimately, she was able to explain the situation to a woman employed at the Bear. Although O’Brien said that the conversation with the female employee was helpful, she did not return to the fitness center for over a month. O’Brien noted that the issue of dress codes had broader implications than her experience at the Bear Athletic Center. “It’s hard to have a dress code and then to enforce that and not make people feel sexualized. I think that in our culture women are misrepresented in media
and disproportionately made aware of the sexual nature of their bodies,” she said.
“I think even the act of them having signs that say 'trans inclusive' and 'queer inclusive' is huge ... Having that visual reminder is a step in the right direction” Lukas Resch '19 The Bear Athletic Center website does not include information about a dress code, and Jason Martinez, the Director of the Fitness Center, was unavailable for comment. Many students report feeling intimidated at the prospect of going to the Fitness Center. John Gallagher ‘17, co-leader of Queer Athletes and Allies (QAA), is working to address what he identified as a widespread “uncertainty that people feel going into the gym.” The organization, created in 2012, was designed to provide support to queer-identifying members of the athletic community. Along with initiatives to improve inclusivity for queer-identifying athletes, the QAA aims to make the fitness center more welcoming to students who do not play varsity sports. The QAA is responsible for the two signs outside of the fitness center that read “queer safe space” and “trans safe space.” “We put the signs up because we
have constantly had people feeling uncomfortable in different places in the Bear, mostly in the fitness center. We acknowledge fully that this won’t solve most of those problems, but this is something that would hopefully help people feel a little bit more welcomed,” Gallagher said. “Sports historically [are] not the most welcoming place for people in the queer community.” Gallagher said that he was hopeful about the Athletic Department’s most recent hire, Holly Roepke, the new Assistant Athletic Director for Diversity, Inclusion and Student Programming. “I think it’s been hard not having an advisor who has a say in the Athletic Department, so just having her here will be helpful,” Gallagher said. One student, Lukas Resch ‘19, has taken on the issue of discomfort with the Bear independently of the College and other student organizations. “I love the Bear ... and I think that the quality of our athletic facilities is really high. That being said, I find it really difficult to go to the fitness center sometimes and a lot of that is based on there being large team practices going on. I started chatting with other people about how they felt about it and a lot of my female friends felt particularly intimidated,” Resch said. “I took a gym class last semester but I, just even in that class, felt like I was
MAYU SAKAE
These signs, put up by the Queer Athlete Association, attempt to pacify a sometimes hostile environment. surrounded by a lot of hyper-masculine people and a hyper-masculine coach, which was hard.”
“It’s hard to have a dress code and then to enforce that and not make people feel sexualized. I think that in our culture women are misrepresented in media and disproportionately made aware of the sexual nature of their bodies” Murielle O'Brien '17 Such conversations prompted the creation of a private online network in which queer-identifying students can share their experiences
working out and coordinate trips to the fitness center. Resch noted the QAA’s signage outside of the fitness center as well, “I think even the act of them having signs that say “trans inclusive” and “queer inclusive” is huge ... Having that visual reminder is a step in the right direction.” As for efforts by the Athletic Department to make the fitness center a safer space, Assistant Athletic Director Ben Cooprider did not know of any ongoing projects by the department. “Sometimes I think it’s easy, … as a [member of a] group of people who are very comfortable in this building on a daily basis, to believe that it’s implied that this is an open and welcoming environment,” Cooprider said.
Spotlight: Vinny Curta By Jonathan Sundby sundbyjo17@grinnell.edu On Jan. 25, the Pioneers played a tight game with Cornell College. It was one of those tense games where every point matters, and in this atmosphere Vinny Curta ‘19 managed to put up 40 of them. Cornell answered Curta at each opportunity, however, and as the clock worked its way down to only four seconds, they held a two-point lead over Grinnell, 116-114.
"A lot of teams play zone versus us ... so we try to get to the middle of the zone and just try to create something from there. But I’ve actually been shooting a ton of free throws, so that’s the bulk of my points” Vinny Curta '19 “I had fouled out, I was on the bench basically becoming a cheerleader at that point,” Curta said. “And my teammate, Jacob Ekstrand ‘18 hit a huge shot with the time running out on the clock, and that has to top all the points that I scored. It was just a huge
shot.” Due to both Curta’s tenacious playing and Ekstrand’s well-placed three point shot, Grinnell managed to leave Mt. Vernon, Iowa with another win, and Curta with a new personal record. Curta’s 40 points registered as a career high for the second-year, but this offensive hot streak is not an unusual occurrence. Curta has been the top scorer on the Grinnell Men’s Basketball team for most of the season, and is currently ranked 4th in Division III for average points-per-game. “Me and Juilan Marx [‘17], a senior, were kind of going back and forth during the beginning of the year, and then I had some higher scoring games more recently. I don’t know where the difference is now, but I think he’s only a couple points behind me,” Curta said. The close competition within the team for the most points-per-game is indicative of the Pioneer’s unique style, which has adopted the “System” over more traditional strategies. The goal of the System is to wear down opponents through a fast-paced, offensive barrage – an approach that lends itself to high-scoring games and players. Curta’s role in the System is as a point guard, and instead of following in the footsteps of Grinnell’s famous
leading scorer Jack Taylor ‘15, who favored three-point shots, Curta likes to work up close near the basket. “I definitely have a better inside game than outside game,” Curta said. “A lot of teams play zone versus us ... so we try to get to the middle of the zone and just try to create something from there. But I’ve actually been shooting a ton of free throws, so that’s the bulk of my points.”
“Me and Juilan Marx [‘17], a senior, were kind of going back and forth during the beginning of the year, and then I had some higher scoring games more recently ... I think he’s only a couple points behind me” Vinny Curta '19 Although Curta takes a slightly different approach to playing in the System than many of his teammates, he is well-acquainted with the strategy. In high school, his coach and father researched Men’s Basketball Coach Dave Arsenault’s playing style and implemented it with their team. “I ran it all four years of high
LIAM LI
Vinny Curta '19 has lead the Men's Basketball Team in points scored and continues to be invaluable to the Pioneers. school, which is how I got recruited here and how my brother [Nicholas Curta ‘17] got recruited here ... Coach Arsenault actually came to watch some of [our] games, and liked the way we played so they brought us here to continue the System,” Curta said. Having been immersed in the System for six years, it seems like Pioneer basketball has sunk deep into the Curtas’ veins. Even today, the brothers always play on the court together as part of the same squad, albeit with different styles.
“[Nick] usually goes corner to corner, playing underneath the basket. I usually penetrate and we’re really cohesive using the defenders, what the defense gives us. He’s really good at making cuts and making eye contact with me and kind of flowing that way,” Curta explained. You can witness the brother’s game-day chemistry this Saturday in Darby Gym, as the Pioneers take on St. Norbert College, who currently are ranked 10th in the nation for Division III Men’s Basketball.
Come Join Our Team - Come get paid to report on weekly stories - Photographers and writers are needed - Meetings are every Sunday in JRC 220 - Writers meet at 3pm
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Sports
Edited by carhartl17@grinnell.edu
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Who runs Grinnell? The Grinnell running community reveal their favorite routes By Michael Cummings cummings@grinnell.edu
The route from Grinnell College to Rock Creek is seven miles one way and favored by Bentley-Condit for long runs. Rock Creek offers shade and a water fountain by the camping area.
The route from the Bear follows 10th avenue to Penrose St., up to 16th street and down Country Club Road. Views of the golf course and the Grinnell Heritage Farm, including cows, are featured.
This route follows the same path to Penrose St. as the one above, but turns right instead of left and can be added to the route above.
Spring will be here soon, and Grinnellians who haven’t given up on their New Year’s resolution yet may be trying to find a good place to go on runs once the weather warms up. Despite the small size of the town, experienced runners have managed to find a number of good routes in and around the town. For Alosha Southern ’17, a captain of the cross country team, most runs begin in the same place. “Most of the routes I know start at the Bear, because I learned them from the cross country team,” Southern said, before delving into a route she calls “Penrose.” “You start at the Bear, and you go left and then you go all the way down 10th, and then you turn left onto Penrose, which is like, once you can’t go straight anymore, where Ahrens Park is you just turn left. You turn all lefts, basically, it’s this big rectangle,” Southern said. The Penrose route continues northwest of the College before looping down past the golf course and back to the Bear. “It’s actually kind of interesting because you end up in the wealthy, suburban
Grinnell area, which is just ed to inflict that kind of misvery different from the rest ery on myself I would be on of Grinnell,” Southern said. the track team,” Southern Those looking for an said. Another Grinnellian extra challenge should consider an extension to that runner is Professor Vicki route, she suggested. Rather Bentley-Condit, anthropolthan turning left on Penrose, ogy. As she isn’t a cross you turn right and end up on country runner, her route usually starts at her home a dirt road outside the city. “I’ve done this route on East Street. “What I generally prewhen it’s wet, and it’s just such a bummer because fer to do is just walk out there’s just mud and your my door and not actually shoes are getting heavier go someplace to start. I live over on and heavi"So I’ve done all 50 East Street, er,” Southstates plus DC. Grand so when I ern said. walk out T h e total I think I’ve done my door I P e n r o s e 67 marathons or longo south, route is ger” and I go to about three Professor Vicki the end of miles, or Bentley-Condit East Street, seven miles and I take a with the exleft and I go to that end, and tension. Southern also suggest- then I take a right and go a ed a run to Arbor Lake, little bit further, and I turn which is three miles round around and come back,” trip. Southern noted that Bentley-Condit explained. This route is probathat was a good route because the loop around Ar- bly not well-suited for bebor Lake is one-mile-long, ginning runners due to its allowing runners to choose length. “Round trip it’s like their own distance from 13.2 [miles] give or take,” there. However, Southern Bentley-Condit said. That’s not the peak of admitted that she hadn’t run either of these routes Bentley-Condit’s distance, however. recently. “If I’m doing a long “It’s been a while since I’ve run outside, because in run, I’ll drive out to the the cold months I’m not try- high school and run out to ing to run outside. If I want- Rock Creek,” Bentley-Con-
dit said. “It’s a much more challenging route than running on East Street. [East Street] is a relatively flat route,” she said, noting the many steep hills on the path to Rock Creek. “Depending on my starting point that’ll be like a 16 or an 18-mile trip,” she said. Bentley-Condit, a marathoner, has just recently completed a marathon in Hawaii, making that her 50th state. “I just finished the 50-state circuit, I finished in Maui on January 15. So I’ve done all 50 states plus DC. Grand total I think I’ve done 67 marathons or longer,” she said. “I don’t run every day, I don’t have time, that’s not possible. So when I do run I do distance.” Going forward, Bentley-Condit hopes to get a sub-4 hour time in all 50 states. She’s also aiming at running 100 total marathons. While most students probably can’t keep up with Professor Bentley-Condit, one thing is for sure: Whether you’re training for a marathon, running with the cross country team or just trying to get out there and do a mile, there are plenty of options for running routes nearby.
Running to Arbor Lake Park allows you to run around not only the lake, but also the graveyard.
If you're looking to train for a half marathon, this route can prep you for the longer runs. Running down to the end of East Street and then around a corn farm pays off as you explore a new part of town.
Sports Report Swim & Dive
Men's Tennis
Women's Basketball
Track & Field
Men's Basketball
The Women's Swim and Dive team prepared for the Midwest Conference Finals with a mini-invite at home. This past Saturday, Feb. 4 many women came away with podium spots. - Ana Karin Kozjek '17 won four swim events. - Summer White '18 qualified for he NCAA Division II Regional Diving Meet by winning the 3-meter dive event. -Beth Tsuha '17, Malena Maxwell '18 amd Annie Galloway '18 each had a win in the swimming events. - Becca Teske '19, Andrea Running, '20, Anna Blly '20 and Maxwell won the 200 medley relay. - Galloway, Taylor Hurney '18 and Maria Venneri '18 won the 400 freestyle relay - Billy, Hanna O'Neill '20, Kozjek and Ana Pulak '19 won the 200 freestyle relay - Teske won the 200 individual medley - Shannon Ellery '19 won the 1650 freestyle -Elaine Thut '20 won the 1- meter dive. Ian Dixon- Anderson was named MWC Swimming and Diving Performer of the Week.
The Grinnell Men's Tennis Team defeated Central College 9-0 and Truman State University 8-1 this past Sunday, Feb. 5. These matches were the season opener for the team. - Benjamin Cobin '20 went 4-4 and joined Will Hamilton '17 to beat the second and third doubles teams from Central and Truman State, respectively. - Hamilton, Cole Miller '17, Sam Stickels '19 and Zach Lane '19 won three matches each. - Stickels and Raghu Inturi '20 won their doubles match against Central. - Jose Coloma '20 won No. 1 singles against Truman State - Tommy Pitcher '17 and Coloma beat No. 1 doubles against Central. - Henry Johnson '20 won fifth singles against Central. - Inturi won sixth singles against Central Upcoming Schedule: - vs Carleton College Feb. 12, 10 a.m. - vs Saint John's University Feb. 12, 1:30 p.m. - vs Ohio Wesleyan University Feb. 17, 5:30 p.m. - vs Wheaton College (Ill.) Feb. 18, 8 a.m.
Last Wednesday, Feb 8 the Women's team beat Knox College 57-53 at home. This win allowed the Pioneers to advance in the Midwest Conference play as the Tournament draws closer. The Pioneers are now 10-5 in league games and 12-8 in total. Every player but one scored in the game for Grinnell, who kept the lead throughout the close game. Knox came close to the tie at the end, although Kayla Moreissey '18 prevented that and extended the lead to 56.
At the Grinnell Indoor Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 4, the women's and men's teams had a consistently strong showing. -Anna Ahrens '19 was fifth in the 5000 meter. -Carolyn Peckham '17 was sixth in pole vault. - Shannon Young '17 was second in the 800 meter - Mikayla Fujiwara '20 was fourth in the 5000. - Zoe Schmiechen '17 was seventh in the 400 meter. - Jillian Rix '19 was seventh in the 3000 meter. - The 4x200 relay team of Jordan Maddaus '19, Cara Bresnahan '19, Yolana Martin '20 and Lynn Nguyen '20 came in fourth. - The 4x400 relay team of Schmiechen, Maddaus, Bresnahan and Martin was seventh. - The team was eighth overall.
Last Wednesday, Feb. 8 the men's team beat Knox College at home, 136-71. Every Pioneer was able to score in the victory, and they led for the whole game. In addition, the defense was in good form, allowing the a season- low amount of points against. Grinnell is 10-5 in the Midwest Conference (MWC) and 13-7 overall.
This week's Game Leaders were Morissey, Leah Greenberg '17, Sophia Gatton '17 and Alex Neckopulos '17. Upcoming Schedule: - vs St. Nortbert College Feb. 11, 1 p.m. - vs Knox College Feb. 14, 5:30 p.m. - vs Illinois College Feb. 18, 3 p.m. - Midwest Conference Tournament Feb. 24-25
- Andrew Shults '19 was in fifth in the 200 meter. - Ibuki Ogasawara '17 was third in pole vault. - Sean O'Reilly '19 was fourth in the 800 meter. - John Lennon '19 was fourth in the 5000 meter. - Gray Krewson '19 was sevemth in the 5000 meter. - Matthew Phipps '20 was sixth in the mile. - The 4x200 team of Shults, Chip Scott '19, Jonathon Braun '17 and Erik Henderson '19 was third. - The Men's team was eleventh overall.
This week's Game Leaders were Nathan Balcom '18, Sean Cullinane '18, Vinny Curta '19, Julian Marx '17. Upcoming Schedule: - vs St. Nortbert College Feb. 11, 3 p.m. - vs Knox College Feb. 14, 7:30 p.m. - vs Illinois College Feb. 18, 5 p.m. - Midwest Conference Tournament Feb. 24-25 Compiled by Louise Carhart
CONTRIBUTED
The Men's Track team placed eleventh overall at the Grinnell Indoor Invitational, with a stronger showing than the past Hilltop Meet.
CONTRIBUTED
The Men's Tennis team had a strong showing at home against Truman State and Central College.
CONTRIBUTED CONTRIBUTED
The Men's team had good individual performances that helped boost them early in the season.
The Women's 4x200 team placed fourth at the Grinnell Indoor Invitational.
Arts
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Edited by coghlann17@grinnell.edu
Grinnell Artists: Halley Freger "I'd like to go in screaming – loud."
NORA COGHLAN
Megan Tcheng tchengme@grinnell.edu Halley Freger ’17 views the world through the lens of her camera. As a seasoned filmmaker, visual artist and consumer of any-and-all things cinematic, Freger creates art that speaks to her personal experience and the complex web of social, political and cultural relationships around her. Throughout all of her works however, one thing is certain: Freger doesn’t just create art – she gives it life. As any quick once-over of her YouTube page or her personal website (halleyfreger.com) will show you, Freger possesses an artistic perspective that is entirely her own. Her portfolio, which contains works that range from absurdist comedies to experimental performance pieces and interactive film installations, cleverly plays with the nuances of personal interpretation and assumed reality. Likewise, her films, laced with graphic images, richly saturated colors and eye-catching sequences, immediately command the attention of their audiences. As plots thicken and images layer, one on top of the other, the works take on a consuming nature of their own. This, of course, is exactly Freger’s intention. “The whole form of film and
video exists to draw you in,” reflected Freger when asked to characterize her medium of choice. “As an artist, you can completely construct an experience for people and suture [your audience] into these different perspectives... I don’t get that same experience when I look at a painting.” Through the construction of her films, Freger harnesses the distinct power of the moving image. Under her direction, simple moments take on new meanings. Physical exchanges form stories, mundane objects become extraordinary and streams of consciousness converge into plotlines. In this way, just like their viewers, each and every one of Freger’s films exists in its own separate world. Nonetheless, as a filmmaker, Freger still struggles to find the right way to captivate her audience and express her ideas. Often, in an attempt to maintain her personal connection to her art, Freger taps into her internal insecurities and draws inspiration from her everyday experiences. These exercises of self-reflection and artistic sincerity are precisely what propel Freger through her work. “I make art because I want to reveal the things that I see as threatening and important to my survival,” noted Freger. “Art can heal in so many different ways. And, for me, that healing comes through reveal-
ing things that are hidden or codified in ways that are difficult to work through.” Using her art as a platform, Freger has found an outlet for not only for her personal voice, but for the wide-ranging refrains of social activism. As a champion of feminist and queer issues (among countless others), Freger consciously chooses to weave the themes of gender, sexuality, race and class into her films.
“Talons,” one of Freger’s most recent productions, innovatively portrays the violation of an individual’s bodily autonomy and the blatant sexualization of the female form. Focusing in on a simple interaction – the brush of a man’s hand against a woman’s back – Freger forces her audience to examine the nuances of touch. She, in turn, invites viewers to consider important questions like: What makes a touch dangerous? What makes it nurturing? Where does the line between the two fall? Through the incorporation of social activism and personal interpretation, Freger intentionally manipulates the limits of modern reality. Freger, in turn, encourages her audience to lean into feelings of discomfort, alienation and unfamiliarity. Ultimately, by prompting different emotional responses and visceral reactions from her viewers, Freger hopes to create art that will start dialogues between audience members and change the way people think. “For me, art is just an extremely powerful language. It’s a way to represent things that are difficult to understand and to talk about,” she said. At the end of the day, Freger’s self-identification as a filmmaker defines the way she views her role as an artist. When asked to share advice for aspiring artists, Freger empha-
sized the importance of taking responsibility for your art and finding spaces for self-expression. “Having the confidence to say that you’re an artist is important. You need to own that,” offered Freger. “I may not necessarily have the technology or the crew that I need in order to do exactly what I want, but what I do is filmmaking – I know that.” As a studio art major at Grinnell, Freger has spent the entirety of her college career finding different ways to communicate through her art. Over the course of the past four years, however, Freger’s art has undergone its fair share of growing pains and creative evolution. Now, however, as Freger prepares for her graduation this coming May, her attention is focused on the ever-pending question of her future. So exactly what does Freger have in store? Simple: “I’ve always said that the second I become a celebrity, I’ll release all of my nudes, as a sort of a power play,” Freger noted with a tinge of comedic sincerity. Jokes aside, she continued “Honestly though, I’d like to go in screaming – loud.” Rest assured, no matter where the future leads Freger, her art will continue to speak for itself.
NORA COGHLAN
Antonio Saillant stresses sustainability in the film industry
KOSUKE YO
Antonio Saillant spoke in JRC 101 on Tuesday. Steve Yang yangstev17@grinnell.edu Antonio Saillant, a sustainable performance consultant and strategist with a background in aerospace and environmental engineering, delivered a lecture entitled "An Intersection Between Film and Sustainability" on Tuesday evening in JRC 101. Saillant discussed his experiences and qualms about sustainability in Hollywood and on the small screen, and emphasized
Teresa Fleming flemingt17@grinnell.edu
the steps that he believes should be taken to make the industry more environmentally friendly. His visit was sponsored by the Donald and Winifred Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership. Saillant has committed his time as a consultant and filmmaker to increasing awareness of eco-friendly film practices as the head of Angel Light Communications, a company that assists in the process of ‘green filmmaking.’ In this regard, he provides
suggestions for many practices which could be updated with an eye towards reducing environmental burden. For example, Saillant pointed out what he considers “bad behavior” from the studios producing popular films and shows, such as the film executives who greenlight Michael Bay’s copious use of explosions. “I feel it is my responsibility to continue the commitment to reduce the impact of climate change and be on the forefront of sustainable business practices,” Saillant said. “The film industry is traditionally wasteful in how it uses its resources. We can make films that are ecological without compromising the quality of the films we make.” Drawing on the words of John Lennon and actors with strong environmentalist credentials, Saillant sees a meaningful challenge in urgently defeating climate change by spreading awareness through social media about ongoing efforts for climate action plans. “I want to see solar panels on top of every bus and truck, all over the world. Zero emissions. We can employ the homeless to plant trees. That’s
employment to cool the city and clean the air,” Saillant argued. “Better to repair than to re-carbon, right?” Saillant noted that in Los Angeles, the film industry is the second largest polluter next to the oil industry. He adds that what many see as a high hurdle to be overcome is actually a great opportunity for the film industry to position itself as an innovator in environmental conception problems. “The solutions that emerge could be applied to other industries. There is a challenge to innovate in areas that [are] energy-intensive, such as the audiovisual sector,” he said, referencing the formidable adjustment challenge of relying on both diesel-fueled generators and LED lighting. To reinforce his concerns regarding environmental damage as a consequence of film production, Saillant showed clips of the James Bond film “Spectre,” which included the largest stunt explosion ever recorded, and of the eighth “Fast and Furious” film, which features giant vehicles being driven over the ice fields in Iceland. But he also praised films like “Day After Tomorrow,” a 2004 science fiction film depicting a super-storm created
from man-made negligence. Along these lines, Saillant suggested that everyday consumers are most productive when targeting the studios producing these wasteful, big-budget films and providing their support to films that are produced sustainably. “Let’s all do our part to save the environment by supporting the major motion pictures, TV and films that are going green. Target the studio: Hollywood just cares about getting a movie out,” Saillant said. “Let’s solve the problem today ... because tomorrow may be too late.” Audience member Lauren MacKenzie ’20 said that she greatly enjoyed listening to Saillant speak, and appreciated the chance to hear from an industry insider. “I personally don’t know the intricacies of the film industry, but I was aware of certain production companies preaching [about] being green. It was ... very enlightening to hear somebody from the film industry itself saying that’s not true, showing [that] those massive explosions are very unnecessary, and which contribute greatly to the carbon footprint that these companies say they’re fighting against.”
Edouard Duval-Carrie on art and immigration
Last Thursday, Feb. 9, Edouard Duval-Carrie offered a timely meditation on global migration and revolution as seen through the lens of his diverse body of work. The Haitian-born artist and curator’s work is currently on display in Faulconer gallery and speaks to his experiences living and working in Haiti, Paris and Miami. Duval-Carrie’s work takes on a myriad of forms, including paintings, multimedia pieces and installation work. He draws from his experience conducting archival research and tracking the human
histories of material goods. Products like sugar and rum take on new meaning in Duval-Carrie’s work, situated within an economy fraught with human suffering. “The Haitian Revolution was very particular, because it was a reaction against the French plantation system,” Duval-Carrie explained. Duval-Carrie said a motif he returns to again and again in his work is an uprooted tree, its branches laden with history and its roots grasping towards a solid base. It’s an image he feels speaks to his identity as an immigrant and citizen of multiple nations. He shared several iterations of this concept rendered in fabric, metal, and paint.
“My school is more of a kitchen than an art studio, because I like experimenting,” he explained. His work also draws on the traditions of Voodoo religion. He recounted visiting a temple in Haiti only to find on an altar a poster advertising his own exhibition of Voodoo-inspired works. “I guess that’s how I know it resonated with people,” Duval-Carrie joked. Ultimately, Duval-Carrie hopes to entrance the viewers of his work, drawing them into his worlds with lush colors and textures. “It’s a bad word in art – seduction – but I’m not scared of it,” Duval-Carrie said.
KOSUKE YO
Edouard Duval-Carrie's work is currently in Faulconer Gallery as part of Grinnell's selection.
Opinions
Edited by mettleca@grinnell.edu
The College's Title IX Statement on Betsy DeVos To our community: We do not know the direction (and many fear the direction) that Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education, will take regarding Title IX. What we do know is that the College will continue to provide support (both confidential and private resources) to students, faculty, and staff who have experienced some form of sexual misconduct includ-
ing sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, and intimate partner abuse. We hold firmly that all of our community members including LGBTQIA deserve the full support and resources available. Though there may be changes in the rules surrounding adjudication and investigation of cases, these rules will not impede our commitment and ability to provide resources to community members in need of help. Further,
we will continue to support both respondents and complainants should a disciplinary process be the resolution path for a particular case. We will redouble our efforts to prevent sexual assault and sexual violence.
Years ago, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” (Junot Diaz, 2007) changed my life. I know, this is a lot of pressure to stack onto a book right off the bat, but I'm not saying this to build you up for an inevitable let-down. I'm saying this because, if you're a nerdy biracial writer (like me), or someone who has ever felt at odds with your surroundings (like me), you should read this book. And if you aren't? Read it anyway, because Junot Diaz will be on campus on Feb. 13.
"Will Oscar ever get laid? With his pre-acknowledged brief life, family curse, uncool super-nerd status, unfortunate appearance... the answer seems to be no." Oscar Wao is a book with a lot going on. Though the story purports to be about Oscar - a fat, geeky Dominican-American Jersey romantic and outcast, it encompasses so much more. Woven into Oscar's tale are the stories of his potentially-cursed family, the novel's mystery narrator and
reflections on the Dominican Republic during and after the 30-year reign of Dictator Rafael “El Trujillato” Trujillo. In addition, Diaz manages to squeeze in nerd-culture references galore and a whole variety of dialects, slang and cuss words. But despite all of this, “Oscar Wao” is not a dense read. Instead, it clips along at a comfortably quick pace, aided largely by the familiar and lively narrative style. As far as driving questions go, this novel seems fairly straightforward: will Oscar ever get laid? With his pre-acknowledged brief life, family curse, uncool super-nerd status, unfortunate appearance and oversized romantic expectations all stacked against him, the answer seems to be no. But, as ‘Oscar Wao” tells us, not all is what it appears. This is, after all, a novel in which prayers are answered (but at great cost), magical mongooses save willful young women and seemingly ordinary sisters feel the tingle of magic coursing through their veins. In fact, Diaz's characters repeatedly make us question the validity of appearances – the novel centers largely on themes of biculturalism, racial presentation and gender norms – and resists strict Latinx traditions in continually surprising and, at times, heart-wrenching ways. Much can be said, for example, of Diaz's pushback against stereotypical Dominican (and more broadly, Latino) hyper masculinity; it is immediately obvious how Oscar struggles to navigate these gendered expectations. Yet some of the most compelling and dynamic characters are Oscar's mother and sister, both of whose stories interrupt and complicate Oscar's own. The ways in which they each play into and fight back against feminine tropes is as absorbing as Oscar's tale, though their narratives take up less space within the book's pages. Ultimately, I find “Oscar Wao” as absorbing today as I did five years ago; this is a refreshing take on the weight
The New Brumaire Tech Allegiances Jenkin Benson
-Angela Voos Title IX Coordinator x4999
The R(ead)sling List Emma Soberano
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of family history, what it means to be caught between two cultures and the twisting road to self-respect.
"... This is an incredibly silky California wine, with a dark rich color to match its velvety weight in your mouth." I won't go so far as to say that the wine I chose to accompany this novel, Guenoc 2015 Petite Sirah, changed my life, but in it I did find a surprisingly satisfying red (a difficult feat for a recently-converted white wine lover). This is an incredibly silky California wine, with a dark rich color to match its velvety weight in your mouth. It has tannins that will make your gums and the center of your tongue feel dry, but they are incorporated well and balanced by the jammy, almost dessert-like, flavor. Though the label advertises blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, I also felt fig and cocoa notes were rather forward, which made this wine taste as indulgent as Diaz's writing reads. I was hoping that this wine would serve forth a bit more complexity, to match “Oscar Wao's” depth, and I found that it was not quite as peppery as others of its variety, an attribute which could have made for a better pairing with Diaz's eclectic narration. It was, however, pure comfort which balanced well with the novel's enormity. Wine: Guernoc 2015 Petit Sirah, $8 at McNally's. Alcohol-Free Alternative: Hot cocoa with whipped cream. Make it with almond milk for added nuttiness.
Last weekend's nationwide #NoBanNoWall airport protests fully displayed the ruthless and conniving nature of Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial upper echelon, particularly in New York City. Uber, an app based car service most renowned for its status as a more palatable taxi alternative and a company that refuses to acknowledge its drivers as employees, acted as a union scab with intentions to strikebreak NYC taxi services. This contemptible policy does not come off as too surprising, however, since Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick has recently joined Trump's administration as an economic adviser. Uber's scabbing turned out to be a thoroughly detrimental business approach as multiple online campaigns were commenced to encourage users to delete their accounts. Sniffing weakness in their competitor, rival app Lyft announced they would be donating 1 million dollars to the American Civil Liberties Union, banking on performative progressivism. And while many people quickly praised the professed righteousness of Lyft, it should be noted that billionaire and hard-right reactionary Peter Thiel is one of the company's major investors.
"Silicon Valley... markets itself as a bastion of technical and social progress."
The largely unspoken contentions between America's national obsession with corporate tech and left populism was made undeniably evident. It is a curious facet of the global neoliberal order to promote technology as the saving grace of egalitarianism and sustainability despite the fact the historical and material record tends to convey an opposite reality. New technologies have obviously made our lives more convenient, but that does not mean the producers of these devices and software have the well-being of the public in mind. Silicon Valley, with its Bay Area
associations, markets itself as a bastion of technical and social progress. It is a place that apparently all people, regardless of their identities, can come together, synthesize ingenious ideas and create products previously unfathomable. Mark Zuckerburg and Steve Jobs have been mythologized and subsumed into the American sociopolitical consciousness as notables who definitively represent the fulfillment of the American Dream. This image of the South Bay, however, is purely advertisement. The progressive ideations of Facebook, Amazon and pretty much every other major corporate tech company are merely projections that detract from their fundamental goal of capital accumulation.
"It is a curious facet of the global neoliberal order to promote technology as the saving grace of egalitarianism and sustainability despite the fact the historical and material record tends to convey an opposite reality."
Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook, pillars of our computer driven society, all donated more money to the GOP in 2016 than the Democrats. Considering that the tech producers of Silicon Valley have generated one of the largest amounts of capital in one of the shortest amounts of time in human history, is it all that shocking that these businesses would gravitate to the political party that preserves wealth over supporting the American people? Bill Gates creates a charitable illustration of tech's humanistic role in the 21st century, but he and his colleagues also line their vast pockets and invest in reproducing political systems that inevitably propagate the conditions that continue to disadvantage people. Putting it bluntly, private tech is not an ally to the vulnerable in both America and abroad.
Letter to the Editor: Daring to be Different I remember the night I received an email to join the Grinnell Science Project (GSP) like yesterday. It was penned by Joyce Stern. I read it excitedly and then rushed into my parents’ bedroom – I had been accepted to join another pre-orientation program!
"I hope that these programs will have a more intersectional approach... so people like me will... be truly prepared for life as a student here..." By virtue of birth I am an Amer-
ican, born in New York, but that was how far my relationship with America went. I had no ties to America whatsoever, it was just my birthplace. I had lived in Ghana all my life and went to school there as well. It was where I called home. Although, my passport may say otherwise, I will always be a Ghanaian first. The wonderful staff of Grinnell College recognized this and invited me to the International Student Pre-Orientation Program (IPOP). I was excited to come to school early have a sense of what it meant to be a part of the diverse community Grinnell boasts of and to meet with people from all over the world. However, after I got the invite from GSP, I was confused. In the first week, while everyone else was stating their hometown state, I was busy explaining the part of the world which I had flown in from just days ago. In a nutshell, GSP helped me break my inferiority complex and the insecurities I had about having a different educational
The Scarlet & Black Staff Editors-in-Chief
Managing Editor News Editors Features Editor Sports Editor Arts Editor Community Editor Opinions Editor Copy Editors Photo Editor Business Manager Staff Writer Honorary Editor
Teresa Fleming Eva Lilienfeld Steve Yang Lily Bohlke Mira Braneck Philip Kiely Louise Carhart Nora Coghlan Keli Vitaioli Candace Mettle Michael Cummings Jon Sundby Sarah Ruiz Jenny Dong Andrea Baumgartel Zane Silk Coretta Scott King
background. GSP helped me not get lost in Noyce during the first week of classes - something I will always appreciate. I also had a smooth transition to studying sciences, and generally every discipline, because of this program. The rigorous schedule also closely modeled my life now as a Grinnell student.
"By virtue of birth I am an American, born in New York, but that was how far my relationship with America went." However, there were times when I could tell that people could just not relate to how I felt. Having to re-
peat myself many times was strange (although I should take some of the blame because I speak so fast). Also, certain things were so new to me, like addressing a professor by their first name or preparing and actually delivering a presentation (that was only done by my teachers in school). Certainly, GSP prepared me for academics here at the College and gave me the opportunity to make really good friends. However, I cannot overlook the weirdness I felt in my first few days. When I started working at Spencer Grill, it was a disaster. I could not wrap my head around how the nickel was much larger than the dime and I gave people the wrong change all the time. Apparently students who attended IPOP were taught the US monetary system and when I found out I felt really embarrassed. GSP, PCPOP, and IPOP are all ways the College shows its commitment to diversifying its student population and equipping freshmen for
life in Grinnell. However, for students like me, who are on both ends of the spectrum, attending a pre-orientation program which was very specific in its goals and targets did not adequately prepare me for life in the US. In the future, I hope that these programs will have a more intersectional approach in addressing their individual goals, so people like me will fit seamlessly and be truly prepared for life as a student here in Grinnell. In retrospect, if I could speak to that girl jumping in her parents’ bedroom, I would tell her to stop jumping and get ready for how her life is going to change. Being a Ghanaian student living away from Home can be very confusing. But like every Grinnellian I know, I am aspiring to be different and I hope the college can help us create opportunities so that we Grinnellians can explore the entirety of these differences. -Angela Frimpong '20
SPARC Policy The Scarlet & Black is published on Fridays by students of Grinnell College and is printed by Times Republican of Marshalltown. The newspaper is funded in part by the Student Publications and Radio Committee (SPARC) and also relies on advertising revenue to cover operating costs. All publications funded by SPARC are copyright of SPARC and cannot be reproduced elsewhere without specific written consent from SPARC. Contributions The Scarlet & Black welcomes story ideas from students, faculty and other members of the town and college community. If there is any story that should be covered, please email newspapr@grinnell.edu or visit thesandb.com Send letters to the editor via email at newspapr@grinnell.edu or mail them to Box 5886. The author’s name must be included, but letters can be published anonymously in certain occasions. Letters will be printed at the discretion of the editor. The opinions expressed in this section do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff. The S&B reserves the right to edit any and all submissions. Advertising Advertising inquiries should be directed to the business manager, Jenny Dong, who can be reached at sandbads@ grinnell.edu or by mail at 1115 8th Avenue Grinnell College Box 5886, Grinnell, IA 50112.
the
Back Page Volume 133, Issue 15
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It's finally getting warmer.
Arbitrary Analysis Social Calendar
Eclipse
Snedge
Friday
7:15 p.m. Southside With You @ Harris Cinema Center 9:00 p.m. Milo w/ Crunchy Kids @ Main Hall Gardner 9:30 p.m. Southside With You @ Harris Cinema Center
JRC te ocolalatel rCChhocabow e berobw SuSpStertarw% s e i s r 36rie % 0 % 9 90
10:00 a.m. Darren Young Invitational @ Athletic Fieldhouse 12:00 p.m. The Trustees Improv Workshop @ Wall Theatre Lab 1:00 p.m. Women's and Men's Basketball vs St. Norbert @ Darby Gymnasium 8:00 p.m. The Trustees Improv Troupe @ Wall Theatre Lab
ARH
late Choco berStraw s rie 40%
@thesandb /thescarletandblack thesandb.com @newspapr
Keep your grubby hands off
LIAM LI
New Moon
Pub Quiz Winners
1. Daddy Aaron didn't hold me enough as a baby 2. Smelly Poopy Man Time
3. Ted Cruz into my Anus
Sex To 60% ys
Staff Shoutout
Shoutout to Megan Tcheng! Your coverage of student artists have been a thrill to read... We appreciate the flair that you put in your work!
Students speak about what’s on their minds in 100 words or fewer, and you’re invited! If you have a rant or a rave, email it to [mettleca]
Young Revolutionary Heart
. Capitalists keep stealing a portion of my Looking for an anti-capitalist lover to steal wage AND the granola bars that I hide under ~not buy~ valentine's chocolates for me my bed. Like it's fine and I don't really care and write me love notes. i have a clawfoot but I wished they asked for it first. They also bathtub, 5 sticks of nag champa incense, smell like socks. and a roommate who knows how to ferment sauerkraut. -Deniz
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Rants & Raves:
Midnight Sun
This week, Mira Berkson '20 and Mira Braneck '19 polled students asking: Chocolate Strawberries or Sex Toys
Saturday
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Speak Easy Your discourse is neither radical nor revolutionary if it's not accessible. the implication that you can only make your point if you use ~smart language~ is isolating and just not productive. antifacism is good; elitism is not. -Merriam Webster
Rest Things on campus have been pretty tense... this is a reminder to self-care. Take a nap, binge watch something on Netflix-- just relax
-Bliss