Vol. CXXX, No. 4

Opinions

Life and Style

Daphne Yang PO ‘20 calls for immediate gun control regulation in the aftermath of the Las Vegas massacre

Lauren Churchwell PZ ‘18 gets “Lucky” with an accidental movie choice.

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THE

STUDENT

LIFE

The Student Newspaper of the Claremont Colleges Since 1889

CLAREMONT, CA

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2017

Ferrer Fires Deciding P-P Goal in Claremont Colleges Showdown

Adela Pfaff • The Student Life

Aidan Ferrer PO ’19 dribbles toward the CMS pursued by Jacob Skoll CM ’18 in the Sixth Street Rivalry soccer game game at Pritzlaff Field on Sept. 30.

VOL. CXXX NO. 4

County to Consider Removing Claremont Metrolink Stop Kellen Browning & Nastia Kourotchkina In the future, students commuting to and from Los Angeles will not have to hop from the Metrolink train to the Metro light rail at Los Angeles Union Station to get around the city. The Metro’s Gold Line expansion, which will integrate Claremont into the Los Angeles Metro system by 2026, will offer cheaper tickets than Metrolink and more frequent trains.

But Claremont residents and 5C students may not have a seamless transit transition. At a Sept.

28 meeting of the Metro Board of Directors, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis introduced a motion calling for a study to “evaluate the benefits and/or impacts related to removing the Metrolink Claremont station.”

The study, which was approved, will examine current and projected Metrolink ridership growth, the impact of eliminating the Metrolink stop on Claremont riders, cost savings related to Gold Line construction, impact to the City of Claremont, and more.

The study will be presented to the board within 60 days.

If the Metrolink continues to stop in Claremont, the current station will be demolished to make room for the Gold Line station, and the new station would be

built across College Avenue. If the stop is eliminated, no new station will be built when the current one is torn down.

While the study is yet to be conducted, the language of the proposal seems to acknowledge the possibility that Claremont could be without either train system for a period of time. The study, which will cost $750,000 in Measure M funds, will analyze the “length of time during which no rail transit options would be available in Claremont.”

Claremont McKenna College government professor Zachary Courser, who is also Claremont’s traffic and transportation commissioner, said the motion’s language might predetermine the results before the study is even complete.

According to Courser, the motion says that eliminating the Claremont Metrolink “offers a shorter commute time on the Metrolink San Bernardino Line while the Gold Line provides more frequent light rail service and would reduce construction costs for the Gold Line extension.”

“The conclusion should be disturbing for those who feel there are many convincing reasons to maintain this stop and are concerned there will be a fair and impartial process in determining its fate,” Courser wrote in an email to TSL. Solis said she is not calling for

See TRAINS page 2

Pomona Says Meme Group PO Sustainability Office Launches Free DivaCup Program is ‘Protected Speech’, Will Not Investigate Samantha Norrito

Marc Rod After declaring the secret meme group U PC BREAUX a ‘bias-related incident’ last week, Pomona College’s bias Incident Response Team has decided that the posts in the group do not violate Pomona policies and do not merit a disciplinary investigation.

“Reviewing the information received, the IRT found the memes were bias-related and protected speech,” Dean of Student Miriam Feldblum wrote in a campus-wide email Tuesday. “In addition, the College did not find a basis to initiate an investigation into the Facebook group or individual students for possible violations of the Student Code or our Discrimination and Harassment Policy.”

U PC BREAUX – read “You Political Correct, Bro?” – is a secret 5C Facebook group dedicated to sharing memes, many of them highly offensive. It was first reported on by The Claremont Indepedent in a Sept. 20 article.

U PC BREAUX’s former administrator, who spoke to TSL on condition of anonymity, praised Pomona’s decision not to investigate.

This is “a great victory for freedom of speech in a world where it seems to be increasingly attacked and suppressed,” the student wrote in a message to TSL. “The whole idea of free speech is to protect people who say things others may take offense to.”

Ross Steinberg PO ‘18 – who wrote about the group for the Independent and was subsequently fired as the Indepedent’s managing editor – thinks Pomona’s decision not to investigate is a mistake.

“I am very disappointed in the administration’s decision not to formally investigate the

hate speech that permeated U PC BREAUX,” he wrote in a message to TSL. “Pomona has lost the opportunity to be a leader in condemning hate speech on college campuses.”

During a community meeting hosted by the Pomona Student Union Wednesday, associate dean and IRT chair M. Ricardo Townes said some Pomona students are deeply concerned by the college’s decision not to pursue investigations.

“Right now, I can tell you there are so many students who do not feel safe at Pomona College,” he said. “I have had too many people reach out to me over the last 24 hours … who have been quite upset, who have been in tears, feeling like this is not a safe space.”

Townes said the IRT could look into U PC BREAUX again in the future if additional information germane to its recommendations surfaced.

Representatives of the other 5Cs said they do not currently plan to pursue their own investigations of U PC BREAUX. Later in her email, Feldblum disavowed the memes and criticized their contents.

“The memes are an affront to our community values and our expectations of each other as we live, learn and work together,” she wrote. “They are ... deeply offensive, and include misogynistic, racist, Islamophobic, anti-immigrant, and anti-Semitic images and texts.”

Following the IRT’s recommendations, Pomona will be taking steps to educate students about bias and the student code, and will be sharing the IRT’s recommendations with the other 5C administrations.

Steinberg hopes that Pomona’s educational programs can

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See MEMES page 3

Last weekend, Pomona College launched its program to provide DivaCups to students at no cost through the Sustainability Office. This initiative, in partnership with Diva International Inc., is the first of its kind at the 5Cs. DivaCups are reusable, bellshaped cups that collect, but do not absorb, menstrual flow during a person’s period.

The initiative to provide this product began last year when one of the Pomona’s former first-year representatives, Zemia Edmonson PO ‘20, suggested the school provide tampons and pads for free. Pomona’s EcoReps, who serve as student ambassadors for programming in the Sustainability Office, wanted to provide a product that was more sustainable, said Sustainability Office member Abby Lewis PO ‘18.

“I think it’s so important that there is some form of accessible product and I think it is even

See DIVA page 3

Lushia Anson • The Student Life

Students sign up to win a free DivaCup at the event held by the Sustainability Office last weekend.

5Cs Plan for an Overdue Earthquake Daisy Ni In the aftermath of the 7.1-magnitude earthquake in central Mexico, which left more than 300 dead, the risk of a major earthquake seems more severe than ever.

Earthquakes are always a worry for California residents, and concern has risen noticeably among 5C students about the state’s overdue seismic event.

Director of Campus Safety Stan Skipworth acknowledged that “earthquake preparedness and awareness will always be a concern among California residents,” but said the 5Cs have more than adequate measures in place to respond to any type of crisis.

“It is up to each college to de-

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termine how to best prepare their campus community,” he wrote in an email to TSL, but the Claremont University Consortium does “coordinate disaster operations between the colleges.”

This includes the newly-hired emergency services manager Douglas Quisenberry, whom Skipworth said has been “meeting with representatives from the colleges to help them identify appropriate training tools and resources.”

Bob Robinson, assistant vice president of facilities and campus services at Pomona College, elaborated on the precautionary measures in place at the 5Cs.

See QUAKE page 3

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HvZ Game Postponed After Vegas Shooting Adrián Suárez del Busto Claremont Humans vs. Zombies organizers announced Monday that their fall semester game will be postponed for a minimum of three weeks due to the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas.

“The goal of HvZ is to be a fun and positive event, however, we acknowledge that the use of blasters in the game could be very distressing to some members of the Claremont community this week,” the game moderators wrote in an email to the registered players.

The moderators emphasized that it doesn’t want to trivialize the Las Vegas shooting, where

@TSLnews

a gunman opened fire from a hotel room balcony on a crowd attending a country music festival, killing 58 and injuring 489 others before taking his own life.

“Our top priority are members of the community, both players and non-players, who could find the sight of nerf blasters around campus distressing at this time,” the group wrote.

HvZ, as defined by its website, is a “five-day real-time simulation of a zombie apocalypse” where “zombies try to tag all humans, and humans try to survive by stunning zombies with projectiles.” Those projectiles can include socks or Nerf

See HvZ page 3

NEWS................................1 LIFE & STYLE.....................4 OPINIONS........................7 SPORTS.............................9

NEWS PAGE 2

CMC Prof Receives $800,000 NSF Grant for Lyme Disease Research Bryce Wachtell Blake Hunter, an assistant professor of mathematical sciences at Claremont McKenna College, will receive a three-year, $800,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to fund Lyme disease data research, along with co-principal investigator Deanna Needell from the University of California, Los Angeles. The grant was announced early last month.

“This is my first big grant as a principle investigator, so it was my baby, and I was very proud that it got funded,” Hunter said. “As competitive and as rare as it is to get an NSF grant, I am extremely excited.”

Lyme disease, a tick-borne bacterial illness that causes prolonged fever, headache, fatigue, and rashes, affects approximately 300,000 people annually.

“There are two main goals for the project,” Hunter said. “The first goal is trying to help accelerate Lyme disease research. Lyme disease is the fastest growing disease in the country, if not the world, and more and

Scripps Associated Students Scripps Associated Students met last Sunday to discuss and vote on several items. The meeting opened with brief updates from 16 members.

These included information about events such as the first senior class event, reflection on the Moonbounce party, an alumnae karaoke event, Halloween trick-or-treating, sex week, and Eurobash.

Members mentioned meetings they had attended, including ones with JED Case Management, the Funding Advisory Committee, the ASHMC president, leadership council, and the Board of Trustees.

They had also initiated meetings to discuss topics regarding a vending machine, composting, and shower timers on campus.

Other updates included information about senate applications and a reflection on drafting an email of solidarity with event heads.

The SAS treasurers announced that several clubs failed to show up for a budget hearing and are therefore not official clubs.

SAS approved a $200 budget re-

more people are being diagnosed with it everyday. The more we know about the disease, the easier it is for researchers to find solutions – better cures, better treatment plans, and so on. But there are also a lot a lot of underlying mathematics that we’re going to develop for this project as well, and these mathematics we’ll apply to other areas that extend well outside of Lyme disease,” he said.

The grant will allow the researchers to analyze more than one million data points collected from almost 10,000 patients through the MyLymeData project, launched in 2015 through LymeDisease.org. The data includes information on the nature, severity, and duration of the disease.

Hunter first became aware of the wealth of information from MyLymeData through Needell, who previously worked at CMC and is now a professor of mathematics at UCLA. “I do high dimensional data analysis and data mining, so I work with really large data sets. LymeDisease.org presented this as a problem, and I just jumped on the possibility of using their data,” Hunter said.

Progressing the medical understanding of Lyme disease isn’t the grant’s only purpose.

“The money is to support summer research for myself and my co-principal investigator, but it’s also for funding undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs.

We’re really trying to focus on bringing in underrepresented groups; that was one of the big parts of the grant,” Hunter said. “We are trying to grab undergrads, postdocs, and graduate students that might not traditionally get exposure to this research, to give them opportunities to work on problems that they’ve never worked on before.”

Hunter was surprised and elated when he found out he had received the grant.

“I would guess [the number of applicants] is on the order of 85, and it got reduced down to the three of us who actually got funding,” he said. “Even coming from CMC and UCLA, we were able to compete against schools that are more traditional research powerhouses.

UCLA is also a powerhouse as far

the elimination of Claremont’s Metrolink stop.

“The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority will soon release a request for proposals to design and build the Gold Line project and is therefore at a critical juncture with respect to the Claremont Metrolink Station,” she said in a statement. “Before any final decisions are made regarding the Claremont Metrolink Station, I introduced a motion calling for more information in order to allow time for community input to be solicited, to avoid delays, and to prevent cost overruns to the Gold Line project.”

“There was never any intention to push for the elimination of the Claremont Metrolink Station,” she added, “only to prioritize this portion of the study in order to provide the public with more information as quickly as possible.”

The possible elimination of Claremont’s Metrolink stop has caused considerable consternation among 5C students.

Milena Carothers SC’ 19, who used both Metrolink and the Metro to commute to her art conservation internship in downtown Los Angeles last semester, said she had better experiences on Metrolink.

“I have never been harassed on the train, and it happened a lot on the Metro,” Carothers wrote in a message to TSL. Marco Iovino PO ’19 pointed out that the inaccessibility of Los

as research goes, but there are people from other schools that all applied for the same grant and didn’t receive it, and we did. So the fact that CMC was able to hold its own amongst all of these big power research schools was very impressive, and I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from other people who applied for the grant.”

Hunter plans to continue teaching, despite the added research workload.

“CMC is really focused on a balance between teaching and research. Especially in the mathematics department, we’ve always taken research extremely seriously.

This grant will just give me an opportunity to spend a little bit more time – mostly during my summers – on this specific project,” he said.

Though Needell has already started some of her work, Hunter is at the beginning of an extended process of recruiting undergraduate and graduate students for his research. He expects the project will officially kick off in September 2018.

Senate Briefs quest for the Office of Public Events’ transportation to its Art Garfunkel event in Los Angeles by a 10-3 margin. SAS tabled the Hindu Society’s request for $600 to host a Diwali celebration.

Emily Lavine of the College Community Action Network, a 5C club with 75 members who support local organizations by providing them with resources, presented a budget proposal. She requested $2,800 from all 5Cs and $700 from Scripps. SAS voted 13-0 to allocate $500 to CCAN. SAS discussed a “wellness” vending machine, which would hold items such as condoms and Plan B and would be located in a laundry room, residence hall, or the student union. SAS wishes to gain support from RAs and the student body before moving forward.

–Leah Kelly PZ ‘21 Associated Students of Pomona College The meeting opened with an announcement from the Pomona Events Committee about three events this weekend, as well as a know-your-rights resource fair and

training for a student-trustee retreat.

It was also announced that faculty committee chair Eleanor Brown invited ASPC to speak weekly at meetings about diversity issues and hiring processes.

ASPC members then made presentations about low attendance at sports events, community relations, and clubs and organizations.

Next, Izzy Wiesenthal PO ’21 was named a new member of the food committee.

ASPC discussed potential changes to the ASPC election code, primarily relating to communications from candidates to students. ASPC was unable to vote the proposed changes because a quorum was not present.

Finally, ASPC discussed ways to recognize Indigenous Peoples Day at Pomona and the lack of indigenous representation on campus.

–Marc Rod PO ‘20 and Adrián Suárez del Busto PO ‘18 Pitzer College Student Senate The Pitzer College Student Senate began with a special presentation

by Senator Isaiah Kramer PZ ‘20 on the Strategic Plan Consultant

TRAINS: Students Fear Losing LA Access Continued from Page 1

OCTOBER 6, 2017

THE STUDENT LIFE

Angeles without Metrolink might hinder the reputation of the 5Cs, which boast about being only “an hour away from the city,” he said.

Like Carothers, Lovino relied on the Metrolink to reach his internship in downtown Los Angeles last semester.

“Without the Metrolink it would [have been] impossible for me to do so,” he said.

Additionally, many students rely on the Metrolink to get to Los Angeles International Airport.

Along with the connecting bus service that students can take from Union Station, Metrolink offers a more affordable alternative to taking an Uber to the airport.

Some students expressed doubt about whether the Gold Line expansion would even make the commute to Los Angeles more convenient. There are five stops between the Claremont Metrolink station and Union Station, but 22 between the future Claremont Gold Line stop and Union Station.

“Taking the Gold Line down to LA might actually end up being less time-effective” Iovino said.

What raised the most concern among students was the potential to be completely cut off from any trains during the time of construction.

“It would be awful for the Metrolink station to close before the Gold Line stop opens,” Arielle Jordana PZ ‘18 wrote in a message to TSL. “People without cars rely on it. Lower income people may not be able to afford to a car [or] use Uber.”

She encouraged students to “write

letters and attend public meetings to protest this.”

Courser also plans to be active in protecting Claremont’s Metrolink stop.

“I think there’s time to defend keeping the stop and educate the community that we stand to lose a great deal if, at the last minute, LA Metro deprives us of access to Metrolink,” he wrote. “I am working to organize a community group to advocate keeping our stop, and welcome student participation and input.”

The City of Claremont said in a press release that Solis’ motion took it by surprise and that the city was not notified until after the meeting took place. Now, though, city officials are involved in the study.

“The Claremont City Council, staff, and community have been working for decades with the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority and Metrolink to ensure transportation services are available in Claremont that meet the needs of our residents and connect Claremont to the greater Los Angeles area for the benefit of our residents and those using public transit to visit Claremont,” the press release said.

Added city manager Tony Ramos, “Advanced planning efforts are important to designing a transportation system that makes sense for the entire region. Claremont supports such efforts provided that the impacted community and agencies are part of the process and planning is not just dictated from downtown LA.”

search committee. It continued with the presentation on a new HR and payroll system by Director of Human Resources Marni Bobich, in which she revealed a uniformed system for the 5Cs. The meeting continued with executive board reports. Communications Secretary Anna Frietas PZ ‘20 discussed open positions on Senate, and Secretary Kamyab Mashian PZ ’19 commented on structural reforms meetings. Treasurer Jacquelyn Aguilera PZ ‘19 reported on the expenses of the Student Senate Executive Board, reporting that 2,075 dollars had been spent out of their $5,000 budget. At this point, President Hajar Hammado PZ ‘18 left the meeting and the rest of the meeting was led

by Frietas.

Bill 54-B-02 a bill to appropriate $5,000 for the purpose of extending the implementation of Switchboard at Pitzer College, was approved unanimously. Bill 54-B-03, a bill to appropriate $5,000 for the Mindful of the Future speaker series was tabled for the Oct. 8 meeting.

–Elinor Aspegren PZ’20

Annual 7C Report Details Some Traces of Asbestos Helena Ong The Claremont University Consortium released its 20172018 asbestos location report on Sept. 28, which identified several campus buildings as having contained some form of asbestos, including where it has been identified in the past and recently removed.

Asbestos, a set of minerals that can cause cancer if inhaled, is not banned by the Environmental Protection Agency, and can be found in areas such as piping, insulation, ducts, tiles, plasters, and exterior roofing. The report states that undisturbed asbestos is not a health hazard and that only when the Asbestos Containing Materials (ACM) are disturbed, causing asbestos becomes airborne, does it pose a risk.

Among CUC’s shared facilities, five buildings have ACM: the Bernard Field Station’s old infirmary building, Honnold Mudd Library, Huntley Bookstore, the Office of Black Student Affairs, and the Pendleton business building. The Claremont Graduate School reported that across 11 buildings, ACM are present in piping insulation, concealed in walls, or have been removed.

Several buildings at Claremont McKenna College were reported to have had ACM in piping insulation, steel support, acoustical insulation, and fireproofing material. Ten of CMC’s residence halls have had asbestos removed, encapsulated, or been

proofed from being disturbed. The report does not mention Crown Hall or Claremont Hall, but does note that Beckett Hall and Philips Hall use ACM in piping insulation.

Harvey Mudd College’s report, dated March 2016, identifies ACM in fireproofing material, piping insulation, structural steel, ties, and/or in transite wall panels.

Three residence halls – East Hall, North Hall, and West Hall – contain transite wall panels below windows. East Hall and South Hall also use ACM in piping insulation.

The other five residence halls of HMC do not have any reported ACM found.

Pitzer College’s report notes ACM in piping insulation and tiling of several buildings, although much has been removed. Among residence halls, only Mead Hall is mentioned in the report, with ACM contained in piping insulation and tiling, although it has been already removed in several rooms.

Pomona College’s report identifies several buildings containing ACM in piping insulation, equipment insulation, and acoustic ceilings. Some residence halls also contain ACM in the attic, walls, or in otherwise concealed locations, such as Clark I, Clark V, and Harwood Hall. Vinyl asbestos tiling is also found in Sumner Hall and Wig Hall.

Similarly, Scripps College’s report, dated December 2015, lists several buildings with ACM in piping insulation or concealed in walls, including most residence halls.

Correction In the September 29 issue: The caption for Page 1’s meme story stated that the group was under investigation. In fact, the decision at the time was whether or not to initiate the investigation, not the investigation itself.

TSL regrets this error.

QUAKE: 5Cs Hope to Coordinate Continued from Page 1 “We have an emergency response team that aligns its program to that of the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” he said. “The group meets every two weeks and is constantly monitoring emergency situations around the world, and specifically in Southern California.”

Additionally, all colleges have individualized trained personnel in place. Robinson said Pomona employs a Disaster Assistance Response Team and Special Task and Rescue Squad. DART members are placed strategically in each residence hall, while STARS consists of faculty and student leaders who specialize in search and rescue.

Pitzer College spokeswoman Anna Chang wrote in an email to TSL that the “Emergency Preparedness Committee, which includes key members of Campus Safety, meets regularly to discuss and plan various practical safety measures, educational programs and training.”

Scripps College has a similar Emergency Readiness Committee, as well as a Core Emergency Response Team, and Claremont McKenna College has a number of prevention programs, including the safety committee.

At Harvey Mudd College, the Campus Emergency Response Team consists of the Damage Assessment Team, Search and Rescue Team, Medical Team, Communication and Radio Disaster Team, and Incident Management Team.

In the case of evacuations, all 5Cs have support staff who are accountable for each student, in

the form of residential advisers or specific building coordinators and department monitors. These teams are on duty not only for earthquakes but also for any type of emergency or natural disaster.

Student representatives are available to help as well. John Ernst PO ’18, an RA in Wig Hall, recalled that the administration “gave us a big binder before training” that was “full of information.”

However, he added that student knowledge seems to be at a bare minimum, and people may be uneducated about emergency procedures even though there are resources and contingency plans in place.

Anna Hall PZ ‘18, an RA at Pitzer, had similar concerns about her training.

“I received no earthquake-specific training,” Hall wrote in an email to TSL. “We were simply told that the evacuation procedure for any natural disaster is the same as that for a fire.”

At CMC, Ken Eppinger, director of facilities and campus services, said Roberts Pavilion is the No.1 emergency evacuation center. He said mats and cots are available in the arena floor, and there are backup plans in case water service is lost.

For instance, he said, there are provisions in place to convert pool water for drinking, and backup generators for power. Eppinger estimates that CMC would have close to five days of food and water in an emergency.

Facilities and supplies are monitored regularly. Chang said Pitzer has been refreshing and increasing stocks, and wrote that “in 2013 the College invested $125,000 in expanding our emergency supplies.”

Pomona has developed longterm plans for the worst-case scenario: when evacuation sites are unaccessible.

“In the event of a catastrophic earthquake, if all of our residence halls were destroyed, we would create temporary shelters on campus with the extensive supplies that we have until such point that we could move students to off-campus shelters or until buildings became habitable again,” wrote Frank Bedoya, Pomona’s director of housing and operations, in an email to TSL. He said the campus has 2,300 shelter kits with basic necessities such as blankets, pocket knives, and flashlights, as the assumption is that colleges will be alone for at least three days before government aid arrives.

Despite the differences in emergency programs from each school, Eppinger said the 5Cs are making more of an effort to coordinate and share information and resources.

He said CMC hosts cross-training sessions that other staff are welcome to attend, adding that there’s a new initiative to share building plans between colleges.

Even with the adminstrations’ comprehensive programs, CUC is “a strong proponent of individual preparedness and planning,” Skipworth said. Both Skipworth and Robinson encouraged students to visit resources available online, such as government brochures, individual school procedures, and the LiveSafe app.

Additionally, all colleges will be participating in the Great California Shakeout earthquake drill on Oct. 19, held in coordination with local and state agencies.

Courtesy of the Metrolink website

The Claremont Metrolink station has been operational since 1927.

Dominic Frempong • The Student Life

NEWS OCTOBER 6, 2017

THE STUDENT LIFE

PAGE 3

MEMES: Pomona Dean Condemns Contents, College Plans Educational Programs Continued from Page 1 prompt thoughtful discussions on campus.

“I am heartened by Dean Feldblum’s call for thoughtful engagement and hope that the ‘proactive education’ on bias mentioned by

Dean Feldblum is carried out in an effective manner,” Steinberg wrote in a message to TSL. “Our community still should open up a dialogue on what the values of our community are, why our peers engaged in such hateful speech, and how we students can decrease the

likelihood that these groups will be formed in the future.”

As part of the ongoing discussion about U PC BREAUX, the President’s Advisory Committee on Diversity will be holding an open space for students Friday at 4 p.m. for community members to

share their feelings.

This article was updated on Oct. 3 with comments from Ross Steinberg.

This article was updated on Oct. 6 with comments from associate dean M. Ricardo Townes from the community meeting about the IRT.

Students Talk Benefits of Emotional Support Animals Elinor Aspegren If you attend the 5Cs, you’ve likely seen a dog or two on campus with a student. Maybe you have a friend with a cat, or a rabbit, or a snake.

Most of these animals aren’t just there to provide companionship – they have specific functions as emotional support animals. An emotional support animal, according to Harvey Mudd College’s assistance animal policy, is a “dog or other animal that is not trained to perform specific acts directly related to an individual’s disability.

Instead, the animal’s owner derives a sense of well-being, safety, or calm from the animal’s companionship and presence.”

Most ESA owners get their animals from the Claremont animal shelter Priceless Pets. The shelter’s communications director, Ashlee Price, said students need to be dedicated and responsible to own one.

“We love that students are getting involved and adopting, but we also want to promote responsible pet ownership,” she wrote in an email to TSL. “We encourage the students to volunteer their time before adoption, to get to know the animals and make sure that owning a pet is right for them. It is not an impulse decision to be made!”

Ace Elliott PZ ’19 has experienced living with an emotional support dog both on and off campus. She got her dog Peppa in 2015 and now lives in a house off-campus.

“In the dorm, she’s stuck in a tiny room all day, but the pro of that is that when you live on campus, there’s so many people willing to

take care of her,” she said. “Now that I’m off-campus, I have a backyard and she has a lot of space to roam and be free.”

For Elliott, having a dog at the 5Cs provides not only emotional support, but also a way to reorient herself.

“I can be having a really hard day or be working on a really difficult paper, and I can hug her and love her,” she said. “I could spend an entire day doing schoolwork but having a dog forces me to go outside and forces me to be mindful of myself.”

Elliott said that the process of getting Peppa was fairly straightforward. She talked to her therapist about getting a service dog after transferring schools. Pitzer College’s guidelines were pretty easy to follow, she said.

According to Pitzer’s director of academic support services, Gabrielle Tempestoso, students need to be referred by a medical doctor and approved by them to get an ESA. “A letter is then provided to our office and then we have a conversation about next steps,” she wrote in an email to TSL. “ESAs are not allowed on campus until they have been completely approved through Pitzer Academic Support Services.”

Veronica Crow SC ’20 said that the process at Scripps to get her dog Elvis was very similar.

“Last year, I had been sick a lot and I missed my dog at home; I thought I could handle an ESA,” she said. “The process at Scripps is that I just met with academic accommodations. They had me submit an application for your ESA online and they get approved.”

Scripps Academic Support Ser-

vices echoed this statement in an email to TSL, adding that they are committed to ensuring that both students with and without academic accommodations feel at home on campus.

“Prior to an ESA being approved to come to campus, the residential life team completes health and safety checks with roommates and students nearby on the floor,” Scripps Academic Support Services wrote in an email to TSL. “The College works through any concerns that may arise related to allergies or phobias at this time.”

Crow has had Elvis since May, and said that having an ESA has made her more confident in herself.

The “responsibility makes me more productive and more selfassured,” she said. “He just makes me happy – he sleeps in my bed at night, he’ll just sit in my lap in class, so it’s just really nice just to not feel alone.”

Becky Chung CM ’20 lives with her cat Hobbes in the “cat dorm” Beckett.

“My therapist and I talked about potentially getting a dog, but we just thought a cat,” she said. “At the shelter, they knew I was looking for an ESA, and so they gave me Hobbes because he’s really dependent on people and he’s super cuddly and friendly.”

For Chung, Hobbes “alleviates a lot of the mental health issues” that she was struggling with at the beginning of the semester.

“He’s a reminder to always take care of – it’s like I’m a mom now,” she said. “It’s also a reminder to take care of myself too.”

Chung said her cat makes her more social as well.

“We threw a birthday party for him last year, because his birthday is May 4th,” she said. “We had Star Wars decorations and invited the other cats in my dorm.”

Leana Yearwood HM ’19 got her cat Bosco after volunteering at Priceless Pets since her first year. She said that Bosco ensures that she gets out of the bed in the morning – before, it wasn’t a guarantee.

“He’s soft and cuddly, and if I’m in the midst of a big, long homework binge, I don’t feel as isolated,” she said.

Yearwood suggested that students adopt their kittens before the school year starts, to cement formative developmental time in their lives, adding that students should start their paperwork before getting their animal.

“You want to get to a point with the paperwork that you can go out and fall in love with an animal on a whim,” she said.

Some students bring their family pet onto campus. Alan Peral PO ’18 spoke about the benefits of having his family dog Timmy on campus as his ESA. “Especially on the weekends, I had no reason to get up,” Peral said. “Nothing really motivated for me. And now I love him a lot so I can’t do that to him.”

There are drawbacks as well, Peral acknowledged.

“I can’t really go out as much for extended period of time,” he said. “I had to go to a conference in Atlanta a couple weeks ago, and I had to find someone to babysit him, which was a bit of an extra cost. So that’s something you have to be conscious of.”

HvZ: Game Delayed After Vegas Continued from Page 1 foam darts.

Organizers have met with Harvey Mudd College administrators and will hold a forum with students to determine the steps to follow for the celebration of the game, according to the email to administrators.

They wrote to players offering to exchange rented blasters for

the deposit and offering refunds for bandanas if players were not interested in participating in the postponed game.

HMC has offered to help cover the costs of any materials needed to celebrate the game at a later date, the moderators wrote to the students.

“Lots and lots of love, lots and lots of brains to come,” they wrote.

DIVA: EcoReps Encourage Conversations About Menstruation Continued from Page 1 more amazing to have DivaCups for the health benefits they provide and the sustainability part of it,” Lewis said.

Sophie Zivku, a representative for Diva International Inc., said the product is healthy for users because it’s made of 100 percent medical grade silicone.

“It doesn’t contain any chemicals, plastics, or dyes,” she wrote in an email to TSL. The Center for Marine Conservation reported that 170,000 tampon applicators were found floating along United States Coastal Areas in one year. Because the DivaCup can be reused each month, it reduces the amount of trace left behind.

Even those who do not use a DivaCup will benefit, she said, since the product protects the health of the environment.

Alex Seidel PO ‘18 described the DivaCup as a “more sustainable, more practical, more costeffective solution.”

As one of the Pomona College EcoReps, Seidel received a DivaCup as part of the pilot and has used it. The Reps presented the initiative to the first-year class and about 60 DivaCups were checked out of the office.

After the Sustainability Festival last week, the total number of DivaCups handed out has increased to 250, Assistant Director of Sustainability Alexis Reyes wrote in an email to TSL. Although sustainability was a key factor in choosing the product, affordability was an important factor in the partnership with Diva International, Inc., Seidel said.

By providing the product for free, Pomona is making it accessible to the entire student body, Lewis said.

“That up-front cost makes

it kind of inaccessible, especially if you don’t know it’s gonna be something that you want to use because there is kind of that ‘ick’ factor to it,” Lewis said. “So it’s powerful the program that we have that is giving them out for free.”

Diva International Inc., places an emphasis on social sustainability and menstrual equity, Zivku wrote. The company has partnerships with organizations that provide their product to people in halfway houses and shelters.

“From the initiative that we’ve done at Pomona, what’s really exciting is that menstrual equity and access to menstrual care is provided for free to students, which is really important to us as an organization,” Zivku wrote.

“But [it] is also really valuable to student life to not have concerns about paying for something like menstrual care.”

Lewis and Seidel have found that this initiative has started a much larger conversation about menstruation and bodily awareness on Pomona’s campus.

“I think most of us try and kind of hide it, that’s the culture, you don’t talk about menstruation, you don’t interact with it to the extent that you can avoid interacting with it,” Lewis said. “Menstruation was something I never talked about until I got involved in the program and I was advertising on class pages and all of the sudden I had people reaching out to me and asking me questions.”

Reyes wrote that the EcoReps and the Sustainability Office will continue to encourage these kinds of conversations. She wants the other 5Cs to consider a similar program and said members of the Sustainability Office at Pitzer College have already reached out.

“Hopefully, by being the first we can inspire other colleges to do same thing in the future,”

CRIME REPORT The Claremont Police Department deployed pedestrian enforcement details to catch motorists who do not yield to pedestrians at crosswalks on Sept. 29. One deployment was on Pomona College’s campus at College Avenue and 4th Street.

According to CPD Traffic Supervisor Lt. Jason Walters, eight of the 195 vehicles that passed through the intersection during the operation failed to stop and were cited.

So far this year, Claremont has had seven pedestrian-related collisions. The city had 17 such collisions in 2016.

Liam Brooks • The Student Life

Bosco snacks on Leana Yearwood’s HM’18 problem sets in their suite in Harvey Mudd College’s Linde dorm.

Walters anticipated “having another deployment in the upcoming months.”

Liam Brooks • The Student Life

Ace Elliott PZ ’18 holds her dog, Peppa, outside Mead Hall at Pitzer College on, Oct. 1, 2017.

Late afternoon on Sept. 23, a bike was stolen at Harvey Mudd College’s South Residence Hall. The case remains open.

A bike was stolen from Pomona’s Clark I dorm on Sept. 26 arround 5:40 p.m. The case remains open.

At 11:21 a.m. on Sept. 27, an intoxicated person was reported at HMC’s Olin Science Building. They were arrested for public intoxication and trespassing.

On Sept. 27, a bike was stolen from a Pitzer College residence hall. The case remains open.

Liam Brooks • The Student Life

Veronica Crow SC ‘20 walks her dog, Elvis, at Scripps College on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017.

Around 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 27, Huntley Bookstore was burglarized. The burglar remains uncaught.

Between 7 p.m. on Sept. 28 and 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 29, a bike was stolen from Pitzer’s West Residence Hall. The on-call dean was notified.

Around 3 p.m. a theft occurred at HMC’s Linde Activities Center. The culprit was transported the the hospital.

A trespasser was arrested at Pomona’s Big Bridges Auditorium around 4 p.m. on Oct. 2.

This information is from the Clery Act Public Crime Logs, which are currently available Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Campus Safety.

Liam Brooks • The Student Life

Becky Chung CM ’20 holds her cat, Hobbes, in their room at Claremont McKenna College on Monday, Oct. 2, 2017.

Liam Brooks • The Student Life

Timmy, a dog owned by Alan Peral PO ‘18, rests on a blanket in Walker Lounge.

– Compiled by Adam Starr PO ‘18

LIFE & STYLE PAGE 4

OCTOBER 6, 2017

THE STUDENT LIFE

Tongva Living History Garden Lays Down Roots For Community Building

Photo courtesy of Scott Scoggins

Students and communities members tend to the Tongva Living History Garden at the Chaffey Community Cultural Center in Upland.

Lia Francis-Bongue A scrub oak tree welcomes visitors to the Tongva Living History Garden, in respect for the tree’s life-giving importance for Tongva people. The garden, a brainchild of Barbara Drake, a Tongva Elder, and Scott Scoggins, director of Pitzer’s Native Summer Pipeline to College program and Pitzer’s tribal liaison, is located in Chaffey Communities Cultural Center.

Built with the help of 5C volunteers and students in the Pitzer’s Native Summer Pipeline to College program over the course of eight years, the garden consists of four separate plots, each corresponding to a different era of Tongva history. The plants grown in each plot are representative of periods of time – the Tongva era

plot is focused on pre-mission Tongva history and features all native plants, while the San Gabriel Mission plot features plants brought to the area by Spanish missionaries. The other plots focus on the Rancho Era and the citrus boom.

The garden was created in partnership with both Pitzer’s Native Youth to College Program and the Draper Center, and is funded entirely by donations.

I joined student volunteers from the Claremont Colleges last Friday to help clear weeds from the plots. Participants learned about medicinal herbs and had the opportunity to make tea from white sage, nettles, Yerba Buena (mint), pineapple weed (chamomile), and rose hips.

Student involvement in the

garden is continually growing, said Olivia Luxton PZ ‘11, who now works with Scoggins and Drake through the Draper Center.

“We’ve had to turn people away and we really want to avoid doing that,” she said.

“It’s really been an amazing project to see how it’s blossomed, and so many people now are coming to see it, and trying to replicate it as well,” said Scoggins.

It is the only garden of its type in the area, but has inspired other Native groups. “[Drake] is now bringing other tribes, other nations to kind of see if they could do something similar,” said Scoggins.

The garden project is educational, and strives to teach Tongva history and raise awareness. “A lot of folks don’t know that there’s indigenous people,” said Scog-

gins. “A lot of folks don’t know the difference between California Indians’ history and other American Indians’ history, so this is very important because this is like a classroom.”

Drake would like to expand the educational purposes of the garden to reach not only college students, but also students in junior high and elementary school.

She hopes to partner with Pioneer Junior High School and find an elementary school in Upland to form a cross-age teaching program in which junior high school students mentor younger students in an outdoor classroom.

S e ve r a l o f t h e C l a r e m o n t schools have themed outdoor gardens, according to Drake. “It’s history through the plants, it’s teaching them where they live,”

she said. “They came from somewhere else, and [it’s important] to know who was here and that these plants were here and a lot of them still are.”

In addition, Drake says she hopes to start harvesting and pickling produce grown in the garden in the near future, in order to generate more income for the garden.

To Luxton, the garden is vital for connecting Native Sovereignty to environmental issues, as well as social justice and mental health issues. “I saw them as separate issues, like there’s environmental issues there’s native American sovereignty, there’s mental health, but I didn’t realize how inextricably linked they all are,” said Luxton.

Luxton believes that working with the Tongva Living History

Garden has changed her perspective on kinship, a culturally defined web of social relationships.

“When they’re being honored, [kinship relations] help keep a balance to a person’s daily living, a person’s mental health, to a society’s interactions where social justice would come in,” said Luxton.

She added that establishing kinship relations would also benefit Native Sovereignty. “I found that by just stepping out of the way or by forming community with a lot of the elders it directly affected and alleviated a lot,” she said.

The Tongva Living History Garden will be hosting workshops throughout the semester.

Email tongvalivinghistorygarden@gmail.com to RSVP.

Q&A: Facebook Falls in Love with Claremont Crushes Whitney Wachtel Who needs Cupid when you have Claremont Crushes?

To counteract awkward social encounters and flat-out rejection without the randomness of Tinder, Bumble, or Grindr, Claremont Crushes provides an anonymous platform where 5C students can praise and profess their infatuations.

But while the page offers an intimate look at 5C students’ personal lives, the story behind the page itself has remained evasive to the public.

TSL got some of the inside scoop during a Facebook conversation with the page’s administrator.

TSL: Could you explain a little about how the Claremont Crushes page was born?

Claremont Crushes: The idea behind Claremont Crushes was to create a space where you could express your thoughts and feelings freely, as long as you’re not intentionally hurting someone else’s feelings.

TSL: What are your hopes, goals, and/or intentions for the Facebook page?

CC: If someone’s day is made just a little bit better, a little bit bright by reading Claremont Crushes, then this page has fulfilled its purpose.

TSL: How long has the page been in existence for?

CC: September, 2016.

TSL: Would you mind sharing how many people are currently running the page? If there is more than one of you, how did you all find each other? How has managing the page been?

CC: Just me.

TSL: What is the story behind the penguins in the profile picture?

CC: Google “I like you a lottle.”

I thought it was cute, and captured the spirit of the page quite nicely.

TSL: Have you ever had to

withhold/censor certain confessions? If so, how do you determine the standard of omission?

CC: Very few, mostly backhanded compliments. Sometimes I’m not sure, so I try to give the poster the benefit of the doubt by posting their crush and monitoring the “reacts”. If they’re too negative, the post is removed after a couple of hours.

TSL: How many confessions do you receive in an average week?

When do you tend to get the most confessions, and do you think there might be a particular reason for that?

CC: About 10, more or less, every day. Weekends tend to receive the most confessions. Midterms and especially finals are surprisingly some of the most active

weeks on record. I guess it’s one way to procrastinate or unwind during these trying times.

TSL: Are there any patterns in the kind of confessions that come from each college? Do you know if one of the Claremont Colleges in particular submits the greatest number of confessions?

CC: I really don’t know, since the confessions are anonymous.

TSL: Are you aware of any relationships that have materialized as a result of a confession?

CC: None that I’m aware of.

TSL: Has anything unexpected come about from this page?

CC: Too many to list, but it’s always heartwarming when someone gets a crush, and they reply back.

TSL: Do your friends at the 5Cs

know you’re the one who’s started this page or are you completely anonymous?

CC: I’m completely anon for now!

Wanna give a shout-out to a friend or long-time crush? Head to the Claremont Crushes Facebook page for yourself. You never know; there may even be a post about you right now. st about you right now.

Elisabeth Lawton • The Student Life

LIFE & STYLE OCTOBER 6, 2017

PAGE 5

THE STUDENT LIFE

Is There Life After Grad? 5C Alumni Say Give It Time Marielle Meyer “I’m afraid I won’t have a job.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to support myself while doing what I love.”

“I’m afraid I’ll feel lonely and lose contact with my friends.”

If you’re feeling any of these concerns, consider yourself a typical college senior. Balancing school work, extracurricular activities, thesis writing, and job hunting leaves many searching for solace.

Fortunately, those who have graduated from the 5Cs have some calming words for those of us just waiting to enter the “real” world.

I jumped on the opportunity to ask a couple of graduates for answers.

After reaching out to 5C alumni through mutual friends on Facebook, I spoke with Giovanni Soto PZ ’14 and Brandon O’Neal CM ’16 over two separate phone calls.

Although Soto and O’Neal pursued different career paths, they shared a common ambition during and after college: They understood what I was going through as a senior, and were consequently eager to help.

Soto is eloquent, quick-witted, and confident – almost like a veteran Hollywood executive. At Pitzer, he majored in political science and sociology. While at school, he played rugby, served on Student Senate, worked as a Spanish tutor, and volunteered at a LA County juvenile detention program called Camp Afflerbaugh-Paige. After one year at Creative Artists Agency, the leading agency for entertainment and sports, he is now beginning a new job at Paramount Pictures working with renowned producer Tommy Harper.

O’Neal, on the other hand, majored in International Relations at Claremont McKenna College. While on campus, he also played rugby and participated in the hip hop dance crew, Pangea. He is currently working at a translation company and pursuing an acting career in Taipei. His passion, mixed with an easy-going attitude, is as palpable as it is unique.

Understanding that there may be compromises, Soto and O’Neal reassure students that once they make the transition from student to professional, things will begin to fall into place. Maybe situations are a lot simpler than we make them out to be

on campus. Stress and uncertainty might make us lose sight of the bigger picture.

TSL: Can you describe what you do?

Brandon O’Neal CM ’16: I am working at a translation company and pursuing an acting career in Tapei.

Giovanni Soto PZ ’14: I am in the middle of starting a new job at Paramount with Producer Tommy Harper in Los Angeles.

TSL: Can you describe the transition from student to professional?

BO: When I was a senior, I thought I would try my passion out and see what ended up happening – I ended up getting a role in a TV show. When I came back in the winter, I ended up deciding I would pursue this [acting career] further.

This is how I would describe my ‘transition.’

GS: Figure out what you like, pick it up as soon as possible. I think it happens naturally and it’s not something that happens overnight.

TSL: If you could give one piece of advice to seniors at the Claremont Colleges, what would it be?

BO: I would say pursue a lot more activities while you’re in college. You have a lot of resources at hand. Once you’re an adult that won’t be easy because you’re going to have to make money.

GS: There are going to be a lot of moments of frustration, anxiety, and you might doubt yourself, and be frustrated about your situation/ what field/what you do. Know that it is very common and very natural, and that the majority of people have been there, and that it’s not a ‘you’ thing.”

TSL: Can you please address these concerns of senior college students?

TSL: “I’m afraid I’m not going to have a job.”

BO: (Laughs.) You’ll definitely find a job. It may not be a good job, but you will easily have a job.

GS: I think, kind of similar to what I was saying, it’s very normal to feel that way. I think a lot of people are going to feel anxious and nervous. But to give advice, the way to go is to start looking now, whether it be a letter of recommendation or a job, you know, for the summer which can turn into a job.

TSL: “I hope I will be able to do something I really like and am able to support myself.”

BO: I feel like if you choose something you really like, chances are you might make less than if you choose the higher paying job. I think that’s just another trade-off you’ll have to accept. And I think as millennials, you’ll usually go for the one that pays a little less but gives you sanctity of mind, or whatever.

GS: From an ideological standpoint, everyone wants to do something they love and get paid for it. I think that there are definitely points of compromise that are required. Do you care more about the lifestyle or the job? (Laughs.) That’s a tough one.

TSL: “I’m afraid my major will be irrelevant.”

BO: It almost always will be irrelevant, so it doesn’t matter. I feel like if you went to the Claremont

Colleges, you went there for breadth and not because you [wanted] a degree that is particular to what you do after college.

GS: Yeah (laughs). I totally feel that. I wanted to go to law school and majored in political science and sociology. Now everyone makes fun of me because I work in Entertainment.

Worry more about interpersonal skills, work, and other soft skills as opposed to focusing on your major.

TSL: “I’m afraid I’m not going to have money.”

BO: (Laughs.) (Pauses.) I was privileged enough because my parents supported me when I didn’t have a job. I don’t think they have to worry because you have a lot of built- in support. There are always people willing to help. Don’t be

afraid.

GS: Well, if you’re in LA that’s definitely going to happen (laughs).

I guess my response to that would be, you know, that it is dependent on the field that you’re getting into.

Some fields are much better paid than others. I think this is all the same anxiety as the other. You have to worry about things you didn’t have to worry about much until then. However, you do your job and eventually you will get money.

TSL: “I’m worried I’m going to feel a little bit lonely.”

BO: Well, you just have to make new friends and focus on your passion. I feel that you have to have some sort of hobby where you meet people I did Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to meet people. Or, you go to network-

ing events and meet people that way.

If you stay at home everyday after work, you are definitely going to feel lonely because it’s not that sense of community you had in college.

GS: Yeah (laughs) … that’s valid.

Particularly our school environment, with everything being on campus and having a sense of belonging, I do think you get more connected to your peers than other schools. Once you graduate, your entire life and routine [are]is going to change. The things you are going to be spending your life doing are going to change.

I think sometimes there is a certain feeling of loneliness that comes.

However, that should go away once you get used to the new lifestyle.

You’ll make new friends and make new connections.

Dominic Frempong • The Student Life

MOVIE COLUMN

MUSIC COLUMN

A Quiet Allegory for an Actor’s Life in “Lucky” An Ode to Tom Petty Lauren Churchwell

Sometimes life takes you on strange path, and you find something wonderful in the most unexpected place.

I had several plans this weekend to see different movies. First, I was going to re-watch David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” in order to a) finally get caught up to the main series and b) force myself to sit through the almost painful first half-hour to get to what people had told me was the really good part.

That plan fell through, so I decided to catch a screening of Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman’s “Loving Vincent,” which I figured would be pretty apt, since I’m an art history major. But I missed the showing by just a few minutes when I went to grab some dinner first, so in the end I found myself watching late actor Harry

Dean Stanton’s last film, “Lucky”, which – pun intended – was pretty lucky for me.

“Lucky” is John Carroll Lynch’s directorial debut. The movie tells the story of Lucky, a 90-year old atheist who has become the beloved curmudgeon of his small western town. We follow his day to day activities as he navigates the world of the elderly. For a 90-year old, Lucky is sound in body and mind, even if he has had a fateful fall which sets off the philosophical crux of the plot as he ruminates on his and everyone else’s inevitable fates.

Stanton gives a great last performance, infusing Lucky’s cynical character with his own wildly fatalistic beliefs as well as his musicianship. The cast is rounded out by great performances by David Lynch, who plays Howard, Lucky’s friend who frets over his lost tortoise; and Bertila Damas, who, as Bibi, acts as the compassionate core

of the film.

The dramedy tends to hit the mark with some great dialogue between Lucky and the townsfolk at his local diner and watering hole on the subjects of the absence of the soul, what we do in the face of death, and what death means to those remaining after we die.

Sometimes, though, things feel a little too tongue in cheek or – even more egregiously – the film’s framing doesn’t fit the dialogue or the action. For example, some of the lighting feels flat, like a sitcom, and at times, the cinematography feels so stale that it makes a mockery of the dark text.

John Carroll Lynch does balance this occasional flatness out with some truly surreal moments where you have to stop and wonder in what world the story is even taking place. Possibly done in a send-up to David Lynch, who in addtion to being in the movie was an important

artistic collaborator with Stanton.

While these departures from the cinematic norm are interesting, I have to wonder whether they were helpful in the pursuit of the film’s message.

The film is, of course, more based on the dialogue and the acting, which are great. However, the film is frustratingly undercut by its technical aspects. However, at the end of the day, “Lucky” is really about the performance of Stanton and the parallels between the end of his life and the film, and in that respect, the movie is a great send-off for this consummate performer who has worked with some of the greater actors and performers in Hollywood. If you’re more of a fan of character studies rather than mile-a-minute action, I think you’ll find this film extremely satisfying and genuinely affecting.

3.5/5

Sean Ogami • The Student Life

Katie Baughman “Music is probably the only real magic I have encountered in my life.

There’s not some trick involved with it. It’s pure and it’s real. It moves, it heals, it communicates and does all these incredible things.”

– Tom Petty (1950-2017) Good music brings people together. And from an early age, no artist brought my dad and me closer together than Tom Petty.

Together, we spent hours watching concert footage of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on our old VCR, captivated by his charismatic stage presence, jaws agape as his fingers magically strummed.

I’ve been hooked on Petty’s raspy vocals and distinct electric guitar since I was four years old.

A native of Gainesville, Florida, Petty drew inspiration from Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. Petty dropped out of school at 17 to form the band Mudcrutch, determined to make it in the music biz after watching the Beatles’ iconic performance of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” on The Ed Sullivan Show (1964).

Though Mudcrutch broke up after an unsuccessful single, Petty teamed up with bandmates Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench to continue making music and form the backbone of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Together, the band released 13 records in 35 years, including masterpiece “Damn the Torpedoes” (1979), “Southern Accents” (1985), and “Into the Great Wide Open” (1991). Petty also pursued his own individual projects (“Wildflowers”, 1994), for a grand total of 20 albums over a 40-year span. With several hits, including “American Girl,” “Learning to Fly,” and “Refugee,” Petty’s albums told timeless stories and still strongly resonate with audiences all over the world.

My dad introduced me to the rock ‘n’ roll legend on the car ride home from pre-school – he popped in Petty’s critically acclaimed 1979 masterpiece “Damn the Torpedoes”, flipped to Track 2, and turned the volume up to 10.

Petty told a story not only with his lyrics, but also in his powerful delivery. After Campbell’s sig-

nature electric guitar cut through Stan Lynch’s measure-long drum solo, Petty uses his monotone to set a dismal scene of a hopeless town.

Despite the circumstances, he finds a girl who makes the world better.

He cannot contain his passion or appreciation, shouting, “This feels so good and so free and so right, I know we ain’t never goin’ change our minds about it. Hey, here comes my girl.”

I can’t help but grin every time I hear the song.

But if Petty’s tracks don’t ring a bell, surely you’ll recognize the undeniable classic, “Free Fallin’” Nearly 30 years after its release, people of all ages still perk up at Petty’s sweet and supple D G G A strumming that sets the scene for the smooth, simple intro: “She’s a good girl, loves her mama, loves Jesus, and America too,” Petty begins, setting the love story scene. The good girl is clearly struggling with a recent heartbreak, self-accredited to Petty: “I’m a bad boy, ‘cause I don’t even miss her. I’m a bad boy for breaking her heart.”

Suddenly, Petty can’t control his sweet tone turns to shouting.

“Yeah, I’m free. I’m free fallin,’” he finally breaks through the glass in liberation.

After finishing up a tour in late September, Petty suffered cardiac arrest on Monday, Oct. 2. He died at UCLA Medical Center that night, just a few weeks before his 67th birthday.

Later that night, my dad and I discussed Petty’s passing. “He was a good man, respected by his peers,” he said. That couldn’t be more evident in the music world’s overwhelming response these last few days: Crucial artists from Bob Dylan to Taylor Swift have honored his passing and paid homage to his memory.

Though the world lost an icon Monday, we will always have his music, as well as our own personal memories and stories attached to each track. Petty’s music will always bring joy to listeners, inspiration to fellow artists, and fond memories to my dad and me.

Thank you, Tom Petty, for using your raw vocals, poetic verses, and gripping rock sound to strike the perfect balance between sophistication and simplicity. Your effortless badassery will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.

LIFE & STYLE PAGE 6

OCTOBER 6, 2017

THE STUDENT LIFE

NISSO Revamp Blue Apron Ingredient-And-Meal-Kit Service: Emphasizes First$10 Convenience Year Mentorship

FOOD COLUMN

Molly Edison

If you’ve listened to a podcast lately, chances are you’ve heard of Blue Apron, and had its praises sung to you by your favorite audio personality. But because of various controversies associated with the company, there is more to consider in a Blue Apron delivery than the meal itself. I set out to cook a good meal and unpack some of my concerns.

A Blue Apron meal provides a recipe and an exact amount of premeasured ingredients for unique meals, meant to expedite the cooking process for busy people.

Under “Our Mission” on Blue Apron’s website, I was expecting to see explanations about how Blue Apron can help the everyday at-home cook be more creative and get exposed to new ingredients and dishes. To my surprise, it listed all the ways in which Blue Apron helps to eliminate food waste by controlling portions, provides access to local food through relationships with farms. Their refrain: “we’re building a better food system.”

A friend of mine and fellow TSL columnist, Lauren Church-

well PZ ‘18, received a coupon for a discounted first delivery of her Blue Apron box. Blue Apron offers the choice of two or three meal selections per delivery, each meal selection serving your choice of two or four people. The standard size box is two different meals with two servings per meal; the whole package costs $40 before shipping.

There are options for vegetarian and pescatarian selections.

The box we received included salmon nicoise salad and gnocchi and summer squash. We chose to cook the salmon nicoise salad.

Despite Blue Apron’s bragging about environmental responsibility, my first impression of the box was how much trash was included.

The box itself is large and comes with multiple plastic ice packs as well as a large layer of foil bubble wrap for insulation and protection.

Each ingredient comes wrapped separately in plastic wrap, or in a plastic bottle or container. That is a lot of waste for a meal that is supposed be a part of building a “better food system.”

Our recipe was straightforward, but involved a fair amount of cutting, prep and multitasking. In total, the meal required at least

three pans and two prep bowls.

The recipe wasn’t laid out in the most efficient way either. That being said, it wasn’t very efficient for two people to collaborate on the preparation.

In the end, the meal turned out very well. All of the ingredients tasted great together and made for a really delicious and fresh meal that combined flavors I wouldn’t have thought to put together. It was overall underseasoned if the recipe is followed directly, but if you know your own tastes, that’s an easy fix.

The Blue Apron salmon nicoise definitely would not have been an easy or good option had neither of us been experienced with cooking.

The chopping, slicing, prepping, and boiling would have made preparing the meal take closer to an hour for someone who wasn’t as comfortable in the kitchen. In total, it was 40 minutes from the time we first read the recipe to the time the meal was on the plate.

However, I hesitate to say the experience was worth it. It seems the company is truly one that aims to be responsible. Their service makes cooking fun, easy, and accessible, and is a great activity to

participate in with a friend.

The cost is that it is very expensive. At $10 per portion, I’d rather go out to eat. Spending time looking for a new recipe on Pinterest and shopping for the ingredients at a grocery store could have been cheaper than the $40 box. Leftover food can go bad, so in a way, Blue Apron can reduce food waste by not having any, but I’d personally rather throw away a small bit of fennel that may have gone bad in the fridge than every single tiny plastic bit that comes inside the box.

If you’re curious about Blue Apron and can get a discount or receive a free box, it is absolutely worth a try. However, for the amount of paper and plastic waste, the distance it was shipped, the cost, and the tricky subscription and cancellation policies the Blue Apron’s apparent ease, convenience, and environmentally ethical front are questionable. Beyond the trial box, Blue Apron feels like an excuse for people to spend a fair amount of extra money to not put in the few extra steps to chose a recipe and make it to the grocery store.

Sarah Wong • The Student Life

Carmin Sherlock On Tuesday, Aug. 15, over 100 undergraduates arrived in Claremont to begin their lives as international students at +-Claremont University Consortium’s New International Student and Scholar Orientation, or NISSO. Laure Haetzel PO ‘19, originally from Germany, is one of the mentors crucial to this program. These mentors serve as contact points for new students – facilitating the orientation and keeping in touch with the students throughout the year.

“When you’re coming to a new school – in addition to coming to a new country – it’s easy for you to feel very alienated,” Haetzel said. “We aim to establish a community amongst the international students before they begin the normal orientation.”

Many NISSO mentors remember what it was like their first year. “I had such a positive experience with NISSO when I was a mentee and I wanted to reciprocate this by helping other international students,” said Andrew Koo PZ ’20, who is from Hong Kong. “I can empathize with coming to the United States; it’s a scary thing, basically just being thrown into the deep end.”

NISSO is a three-day long program during which students meet each other, move into the dorms, take care of logistical items, and learn about culture in the United States. This year’s new students found the orientation worthwhile.

“One night we all had dinner together and then played soccer outside,” explained Giovanni Ferro PO ’21, who is from Italy.

“It was so chill, and a great way to meet people and have fun.”

The program’s agenda also includes shopping trips, tours, presentations, and skits on “hot topics” such as protest culture, drinking culture, consent, and academic culture, all of which can vary widely throughout the world.

In addition, the program has changed in many ways this year, including a mentorship program called NISSO Plus, explained NISSO mentor Ash Louis SC ’20, from Thailand.

“Last year the NISSO leaders were just there to help you get settled, without anything after that. But by giving new students assigned mentors [this year ], they have someone to reach out to throughout the year to help them address things like culture shock,” she said. “Many people create this international community that can sometimes fade to the background after the orientation. NISSO Plus aims to avoid this.”

In addition to enacting NISSO Plus, the mentors arrived in Claremont two weeks early and underwent a full weekend of training, instead of last year’s half-day session. “The bonding between us NISSO leaders this year was phenomenal,” Haetzel said.

Another big change this year was move-in day. Previously, students would stay in nearby hotels with their families, but this year they moved in the first night of orientation.

“I’d never visited campus, so moving in early was incredibly helpful,” said Mimi Thompson CM ’21, who came from Bangkok this year.

“By moving in early, students can settle into Claremont and get a feel for the United States,” said NISSO mentor Romanshi Mittal Gupta SC ’19, who has lived in India and the United Kingdom.

“Everyone is at a different level here. We have foreign citizens coming, people who have never been to the United States or never visited campus and are coming for the first time – but also people who are very familiar with the country. It’s about bringing people to the same level of understanding.”

To provide a manageable and intimate orientation, NISSO was divided into two sessions by school, with about 150 undergradate and graduate students in each session. The students all had a chance to meet later.

International Place, commonly known as I-Place, continues to host events throughout the year, such as the “First Year Face Off” and “Coffee and Company” every Friday.

The staff at I-Place also works throughout the summer to ensure that NISSO is as rewarding as possible for international students and their families. The center not only serves as a resource for parents to contact at any time, but also provides workshops on topics such as employment and U.S. politics and government.

“I don’t think there’s enough awareness about how hard it can be at times for international students,” Koo said. “Culture shock is inevitable, but I think people sometimes ignore the ways it can affect academics and mental health. We’re helping them understand that there’s going to be a certain level of discomfort and shock that comes with moving to a different country, and [are] helping them ease into this.”

Judging by the enthusiasm coming from mentees, these changes seem to be working.

“I’m still so close to the friends that I made during NISSO,” said Wave Vasiksiri PO ’21, who is from Thailand. “We’re all new to this country, so we all had things to talk about. The bond that we formed – it made a difference.”

The Sounds of Anxiety, One Year Later

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Googling “the sound of anxiety” is a terribly unhelpful way to figure out what exactly the phrase means. Before long, you find yourself wandering through an array of links with titles like “The Sound of Anxiety (Scary Music!)” and the more heavy-handed “Anxiety Anticipating Scene Instrumental Background Horror Music.” These results showcase cheesy, fauxorchestral tracks that attempt to produce a feeling of anxiety in the listener, à la your average horror movie soundtrack.

But what type of music does grapple with the personal anxieties that listeners bring to the table? This past weekend saw the one-year anniversary of two albums that deal explicitly with this kind of anxiety: Bon Iver’s “22, A Million” and Jenny Hval’s “Blood Bitch.”

In these cases, these artists’ embodiment of anxiety actually acts as a palliative. These are tense, aggravated, and, at times, brutally depressing sonic landscapes that face trauma headon. Both musically and lyrically, Bon Iver and Jenny Hval dismantle anxiety with anxiety.

A year after their releases, these albums still speak to our collective sense of psychological trauma while offering their own forms of solace.

The first thing you hear on “22, A Million” is the phrase “It might be over soon,” looped

over a squeaky, distorted drone. A far cry from the warm, fuzzy tones of the first two Bon Iver releases, Justin Vernon’s words come from a guy who’s been thoroughly freaked out.

In a statement accompanying the release of this album, Bon

“

In these cases, these artists’ embodiment of anxiety actually acts as a palliative.

These are tense, aggravated, and, at times, brutally depressing sonic landscapes that face trauma head-on. Both musically and lyrically, Bon Iver and Jenny Hval dismantle anxiety with anxiety. A year after their releases, these albums still speak to our collective sense of psychological trauma while offering their own forms of solace.

“

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Will Gottsegen

Iver collaborator Trever Hagen pointed to Vernon’s overwhelming sense of anxiety about fame, personal relationships, and the possibility of writing new music when the creative well seems to have run dry. This was the psychological backdrop for “22, A Million,” a canvas of emotional fragmentation that led the band in an entirely new direction. After five years, Vernon was able to make creative strides by leaning into his own sense of brokenness.

Vernon and his engineer Chris Messina went so far as to design their own instrument, “The Messina”, that allowed them to capture a kind of vocal quality for which conventional instruments aren’t as well suited. The instrument combines several types of tonal distortion by way of a synthesizer and was responsible for the vocal harmonies on “715 – CRΣΣKS” and “____45_____.”

Both tracks are marked by their cracked, lonely vocal performances that translate Vernon’s (and the listener’s) anxieties into sound. And at the same time, these tones manifest themselves as something totally beautiful.

It’s hard not to be moved when Vernon begs, “Turn around, now, you’re my A Team.”

“Blood Bitch” is concerned with an entirely different sort of anxiety, but still manages to find healing in the sonic nightmare.

Rather than stemming from a swell of fame or a loss of faith, the trauma of Jenny Hval’s music is tangible and embodied.

Musically, “Blood Bitch” is far less dense than “22, A Million.”

But where Vernon’s songs are fractured, Hval’s are tense in their apparent coherence. “Conceptual Romance” is essentially a dream-pop ballad which, if it were performed by any other artist, would feel like rainbows and lollipops on a warm summer’s day. But in Hval’s hands, the song is dark and twisted – a shocking psychological evocation, rather than a dreamy love song.

“In the Red,” the album’s third track, represents Hval’s most direct confrontation with anxiety. It begins in dark, turgid percussion before giving way to the sounds of hyperventilation. Hval pants hard into the microphone for about two minutes before gasping, “It hurts … everywhere ….”

More of a sonic vignette than a conventional song, “In the Red” captures the sort of bodily anxiety with which Hval struggles on this album, but also functions as a cathartic release.

A year after the release of “22, A Million” and “Blood Bitch,” it strikes me that these two albums, together, constitute the “sound of anxiety” in distinct yet connected ways. Vernon’s chosen ground is the psyche, where Hval’s is the body. Both artists find ways to harness distress in their music and use the sound of anxiety to forge a form of optimism in the face of trauma. A year later, the continued need for that optimism should come as no surprise.

OPINIONS THE STUDENT LIFE

THE STUDENT LIFE LIAM BROOKS Editor-in-Chief KATIE BAUGHMAN Managing Editor CHRISTOPHER ESKILSON Managing Editor GRACE OZONOFF-RICHEY Production Editor

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Stop Talking About Bump Stocks

Less than a week after it happened, the best journalists of our time have found the real story of the tragedy in Vegas – the “goofy little doodad” that Stephen Paddock used to more efficiently murder concertgoers on Sunday night. Bump stocks.

This is the point in the story where a bump stock would be defined and explained, but we’re not going to bother.

In the minutes, hours, and days after a mass shooting, coverage follows an all-toofamiliar pattern. First the tweets and four-sentence stories, then a blitz of out-of-context photos, then a mass of timelines and maps.

This is all respectable reporting, and reporters did admirable, harrowing work early this week to tell the story of the Las Vegas shooting. But they all fell into a trap that has haunted YouTube comments and Red-

dit threads for years — they got stuck on guns-as-gadgets.

Whisper the word “clip” within 100 meters of an armchair gun enthusiast, and you’ll get a shouting response about magazines that would satisfy a fan of the New Yorker or The Atlantic. Such is the nasty mix of technical handwringing and pedantic hyper-correctness that has helped poison the debate around guns.

Bump stocks are just complicated enough to warrant an animation by Vox and prominent explainer placements on the pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post, and elsewhere — column inches that would be better served to discuss the staggeringly simple need for gun regulation in the United States.

That’s the most neferious part of the gun lobby’s newfound infatuation with bump stocks – that it distracts us from the real debate. By making the conver-

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Science Funding #STEMkid

sation focus on a modifcation most people had never heard of before this week, the element of human suffering and the brutality of our country’s pattern of gun violence loses potency.

Combine that with a tepid NRA call for bump stock regulations and some noncommital Republican lawmakers, and a scapegoat has been made. The bump stock is a means to legislating around the glaring issue of gun violence in America.

Bump stocks don’t kill people. Thinkpieces and explainers on them wouldn’t have stopped Columbine, or Aurora, or Sandy Hook. These victims are still on our country’s hands, and blaming bump stocks cannot absolve of these tragedies.

Bump stocks don’t kill people. Guns kill people. They do so accidentally or cruelly, and disproportionately. Who cares what big-boy toys are attached to them when they do so?

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Don’t Swipe My Swipes: Advocating for Fair Meal Plans

Corinne Mitchner Columnist There are many things to be excited about on Saturday nights.

Unfortunately, for some students, the realization that their leftover meal swipes will disappear at midnight is not one of them.

At Pitzer, Scripps, and Harvey Mudd, students living in traditional campus housing are required to pay for a meal plan. These plans range from eight swipes per week to 16.

Unfortunately, meal swipes do not roll over from one week to the next. This is problematic for students, especially those who have

busy schedules that change from week to week. Simply put, the 5C meal plan system exploits students. The administration should address the inflexibility and waste associated with the expiration of meal swipes.

Because classes and activities often conflict with meal times, students often must resort to snacking in their rooms or making meals in their residence hall kitchens.

While this is alleviated by flexible dining hours at the Hub and Jay’s Place, missed swipes add up over the week, and vanish once the weekends roll around.

“The fact the meal swipes don’t roll over or can’t be donated is honestly criminal,” Jeff Konah PZ ‘21 said. “Meals are paid with our tuition, and they’re restricting access to the goods [and] services we paid for because we didn’t get the meal on time. It’s robbery.”

On other weeks, a student may want to eat more than their allotted swipes allow them to. Using Flex, Board Plus, or Claremont Cash to supplement extra meals is an option. However, students tend to run out of Flex early in the semester. Even worse, Claremont Cash comes out of a student’s pocket.

Having a rolling meal swipe system will allow students more

flexibility and convenience, especially for those who have unpredictable schedules.

In addition to the creation of a rolling system, students should be able to donate extra meals to peers on campus. There are existing programs that donate meals to people in the greater community, which are certainly doing more good than harm, but don’t address the prevalence of food insecurity on campus.

If meals are being paid for, and there are students on campus who would use the extra swipes to eat at available meal times, it seems logical to find a way to make that transfer happen.

All students can access records of their meal plan swipes through their online Claremont Cash account. If such an online service already exists, administration should look into adding a feature to donate extra swipes to peers who need them.

Extra meals left over at the end of the week certainly aren’t the end all be all. But giving students a little more agency over how they can keep themselves fueled for class doesn’t seem like too much to ask for.

Corinne Mitchner is a first-year at Scripps College.

PAGE 7

Mass Shootings Are Still Just About Guns, Actually Daphne Yang Guest Columnist In my seventh grade expository writing class, we spent two months composing narratives about “an event that changed your life.” At the end of the class, the teacher gave us printed anthologies of our work.

Flipping through the book excitedly, I read each story from front to back. One, however, stuck out to me.

The story’s writer shows up to a friend’s house for a playdate. They are in the backyard, immersed in a game.

Suddenly, they hear a loud bang from the house. The friend tells the writer to run, and they start sprinting. There’s another bang, and then his friend is not next to him anymore. The writer looks behind him and sees his friend’s father, holding a gun, pointed directly at him. He’s stuck in fear, unable to move, but then the father puts the gun down and the writer bolts, running as fast as he can back to his own house.

The story ended there, but its impact on a young seventh grader did not.

When Sandy Hook happened, I remembered that essay. When Virginia Tech, Aurora, Orlando, and San Bernardino happened, I remembered that essay. When my high school principal informed us that my high school counselor was shot by her husband, I remembered that essay.

This morning, when I woke up to text messages from all over the world asking me about Las Vegas, my first thought was of that essay, of my fellow classmate, who witnessed a shooting right in front of his very eyes.

Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, and Aurora were framed by the media as incidents caused by men with unfortunate mental illnesses. We only need mental health reform, not gun control legislation, the politicians said.

Orlando? San Bernardino? Cases of ISIS terrorism. We need to ban Muslims and restrict immigration, not control gun sales, the politicians said.

Last Monday, Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old white man with no significant criminal or mental health records, and no confirmed affiliation to a terrorist organization, has committed the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. The current media has a way of crafting stories that valorize shooters, especially those who are white. How will

the media shape it this time, so politicians can, once again, distract from the core issue?

CNN reports that police at the Las Vegas shooting scene “[didn’t] know how it could have been prevented.” However, guns are the reason we have mass shootings.

In the end, the shooter’s motive, mental state, and background don’t matter. Evil people will inevitably exist, but ultimately, guns are the tools that enable these evil people to commit these massacres. This shooting – and many, many others in the United States – could have been prevented with more comprehensive gun control legislation.

“

...Guns are the reason we have mass shootings.

In the end, the shooter’s motive, mental state, and background don’t matter. Evil people will inevitably exist, but ultimately, guns are the tools that enable these people to commit these massacres.

This shooting, and many, many others in the United States, could have been prevented with gun control legislation.

“

OCTOBER 6, 2017

Gun legislation has succeeded in Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Finland. Among these countries, Australia used to have a gun culture most similar to that of the United States. Twenty years ago, after a tragic gun massacre, Australia passed strict gun control laws that prohibited the sale and use of certain types of firearms.

Since then, Australia has had zero mass shootings.

Notably, many Australian politicians who enacted this law lost their positions in reelection due to unsatisfied constituents.

However, it took only one mass shooting for them to realize that the Australian people needed to be protected. How many more senseless massacres have to happen until American politicians are able to put the welfare of the American people over theirs prospects for reelection?

Despite the evidence supporting gun control reform, gun lobbies such as the NRA continuously mislead the American public. Supporters of the Second Amendment typically fall back on what the NRA tells them: “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

However, Caleb Keeter, a lead guitarist performing in the ill-fated Las Vegas country concert, was a lifelong supporter of the Second Amendment until he realized that “the good guys,” like himself, couldn’t pull out the guns in fear that police would think that they were shooters themselves.

If my seventh-grade classmate had a gun with him, would he have had enough time to shoot the father first? Would the father see the gun and stop shooting?

Would the friend even want him to shoot his father? In the chaos and unpredictability of shootings, having a gun makes you a “bad guy” as well.

When our founding fathers wrote the Second Amendment, they didn’t know we would make machine guns. They didn’t know we would have arms with the capability to shoot more than 500 people in fifteen minutes.

A few days after Las Vegas, the NRA stated that they would consider tougher control of the sale of bump stocks, but that’s not enough. Ultimately, politicians and pro-gun constituents refuse to recognize firearms themselves as the root of the problem.

Is politics worth the lives of so many innocent people? Our representatives need to let go of ideological differences and actually enact legislation. What happened in Las Vegas was incredibly senseless and devastating; the anger, sadness, and frustration we feel regarding this tragedy should not be forgotten in the coming weeks.

We must mourn the loss of innocent lives and recognize the necessity of stricter gun regulation to prevent future massacres.

Daphne Yang is a Pomona College sophomore planning to major in International Relations. She loves learning languages and hates cilantro.

Weekly Comic: I am Personally Offended By This Relatable Content Weekly Comic

Audrey Jang • The Student Life

OPINIONS OCTOBER 6, 2017

THE STUDENT LIFE

PAGE 8

The Benefit of the Doubt: What the Las Vegas Shooting Tells Us About White Supremacy

Isabel Simon Columnist I cannot think of many things more terrifying than someone indiscriminately spraying a crowd with bullets from a thirty-second floor hotel room, killing at least 58 and injuring over 500. I cannot begin to fathom the fear and confusion of those that survived this most recent massacre.

Before I continue, I want to pay homage to the lives lost in this massacre. I do not intend to use the deaths and injuries of so many people as a platform for political discussion. However, I see a pressing need to address the discrepancies in how we talk about these types of events.

U.S. law enforcement and government leaders have yet to use the term “terrorism” to describe

the events of Oct. 1 in Las Vegas, Nevada. In a press conference, Donald Trump called the slaughter “an act of pure evil,” but he did not call it an act of terror. He did not name the perpetrator a terrorist.

Technically, “terrorism” is defined by the motivation behind the act. The U.S. penal code defines “terrorism” as violence committed to intimidate or coerce political action or a civilian population.

As of Monday, Oct. 5, the motives for the slaughter were unclear. They may never be clear.

We may never know why Stephen Paddock did what he did.

The fact that there is even speculation as to whether or not this was terrorism, however, is what I want to focus on. Had this act been committed by a non-white individual, I have little doubt that headlines and press conferences would be publicizing the words “terror,” “terrorism,” and “terrorist.”

Trump, along with other U.S. leaders, has been quick to label other tragedies as “terrorist” events. Twitter user Miqdaad Versi compiled a preliminary list of Trump’s Twitter responses to various events, organized by the identity of perpetrators and victims.

It is telling: Trump never misses an opportunity to perpetuate Islamophobia. Trump labels pub-

lic violence committed by Muslim (or presumed-Muslim) perpetrators – especially when the victims are in a Western country – as “acts of terror.” The word “terror” is absent in his reactions to violence committed by white perpetrators.

White supremacy creates an environment wherein white people, particularly white men, can commit more violence than any other demographic. However, people of Middle Eastern descent and Muslims are disproportionately profiled. White supremacy immunizes perpetrators like Paddock from the label “terrorist.”

Paddock will be labeled as an anomaly. His actions are a surprise, an aberration from his usually good character. Already, articles describe Paddock’s peaceful, relatively quiet life “before the massacre.” This kind of coverage not only humanizes Paddock, but also absolves him. This kind of reporting encourages the reader to focus more on Paddock as a person, rather than any type of accountability for his horrendous crime.

On the contrary, when a nonwhite person commits a crime, media coverage and political commentary rarely offer multi-dimensional descriptions. The news hardly focuses on the perpetrator’s life before the crime, and if it does, it focuses on the “signs” pointing to the perpetrator’s inherently

criminal nature.

When a person of color commits a crime resulting in injury or death, regardless of the perpetrator’s intention, it is automatically deemed an act of terrorism.

White supremacy functions in this way – it allows white people to retain some aspect of their humanity, no matter how atrociously they may act. It protects a white murderer from ever being representative of other white people, while it essentializes a person of color’s actions as somehow characteristic of an entire race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or language.

Since 9/11, white-supremacist, non-Muslim extremists have killed about twice as many people as Muslim extremists. The numbers simply negate the dominant, Islamophobic narrative of “terrorism” that people like Trump rely on.

As long as this country remains steeped in white supremacy, the Steven Paddocks will continue receiving the benefit of the doubt.

If, in the coming weeks, an investigation reveals a motive behind Paddock’s actions, let us keep in mind that such an investigation is a privilege. There are many individuals, guilty of terrorism or not, that are not afforded this concession.

Isabel Simon is a Pomona College senior from Mill Valle, CA. She loves dogs.

Audrey Jang • The Student Life

An Open Letter to Ross Steinberg Annie Moten Guest Columnist This column is a response to to Ross Steinberg’s Sept. 26 article “Why the Claremont Independent Fired Me.” I appreciate your exposé of the neo-Nazi meme group “U PC BREAUX.” However, I must admit that I cannot say the same for your TSL-published article, “Why the Claremont Independent Fired Me.” In that article, you aptly summarize the Claremont Independent’s hypocritical response to your article: “…[T]here is a deep sense of victimhood at the Claremont Independent. It is evident in their visceral reaction to an article they view as threatening to members of their tribe as well as in their lack of accountability.”

The Claremont Independent clearly has no qualms in publishing an article that endangers its subject - as long as the target isn’t their own staff. After all, how else could one explain their visceral reaction towards your article given that they wrote a similar exposé about the secret group 5C Women of Color during

April 2016?

Sure, perhaps they realized the error of their ways, as evidenced by the editorial board’s change in policy on releasing names in articles. Nevertheless, they did not publicize this change. They still lack accountability.

You end your article by saying, “And I hope that when members of the Claremont community encounter someone with whom they disagree with, they will open dialogue with them, consider their unique circumstances, and be willing to forgive them if ever they do wrong.”

You refuse to explicitly name the Independent’s staff as those “with whom [we the Claremont community] disagree[s] with,” but it is heavily implied. This demonstrates your continuous loyalty to the Independent’s staff and defense of their character.

Despite your awareness of the staff’s clear lack of moral compass, you still speak sympathetically of the verbal beratement and prejudice this “poor minority” faces on campus.

Well, Ross, please forgive me when I say that I not only refuse

to share your sympathies, but it is also impossible for me to do so.

You see, the Independent’s staff is not merely a minority that is simply defensive against its ostracization from the Claremont community.

The Claremont Independent may be a statistical minority in their conservatism, but they are not institutionally oppressed by this facet of their identity.

To pity the Claremont Independent staff and their ilk for being a minority is the same as pitying neo-Nazis for being a minority. Of course the community will berate them. They have put students’ lives at danger through doxxing them.

Claremont students have gotten death threats from Independent readers. Some students have transferred out of the 5Cs as a result of being doxxed by the Independent. Some have done worse. I don’t need to go into the gory details of the Independent’s moral crimes to justify the pure hatred the Claremont community has for them.

The Independent is not like the marginalized communities it oppresses. Maybe this is hard

for you to understand because you haven’t felt threatened by their presence and actions. Yes, they fired you, but they have not endangered your life.

They haven’t thrown support behind politicians who work to deprive you of your human rights. They have not filmed your face and publicly identified you as undocumented, or taken pictures of a flyer you put up around campus with your contact information for readers to consume.

They haven’t doxxed your community – because, frankly, as a white male, you exist within some of their communities. And despite your former coworkers being outed as some of the neo-Nazis in the group you exposed, you still consider them to be friends.

So again, thank you for your work in exposing the group, but I still cannot trust you when I don’t know where your loyalties lie.

Annie Moten is a Pomona ’17 alum and current Clinical-Counseling Psychology Master’s student at Illinois State University.

To Prevent Sexual Assault, Look Beyond Drinking Culture

Sydney Osterweil-Artson Columnist This article broadly discusses sexual assault, rape, mental health, and other potentially triggering topics.

Our country offers alcohol and drug culture widespread attention. Popular media – coming-of-age television shows and movies, Instagram photos, “I’m Shmacked” Youtube videos – valorizes alcohol culture as a performance of socioeconomic privilege.

Alcohol culture represents the quintessential “elite” college experience, in which socio-economically privileged students may participate without apprehension or repercussion.

In turn, research studies and news articles ridicule drinking culture’s toxic and discriminatory nature, suggesting avenues to curb substance use. College administrators produce regulatory policies following reports on increased transport rates and unhealthy social climates.

While the intensity of party culture at the Claremont Colleges pales in comparison to that of larger universities, the Colleges seem to uphold a common myopic parable: drugs and alcohol are the root causes of larger social phenomena. While alcohol culture normalizes social issues, such as predatory hook-up culture, economic exclusivity, and mental health issues, these phenomena exist regardless.

As a Pitzer College student, I can attest to its social and alcohol culture better than that of the other Claremont Colleges. Pitzer requires first-years to participate in alcohol education training, and within weeks, subsequently forwards them a survey to understand the reality of students’ consumption.

In contrast, the institution failed to educate the community regarding students’ mental health, exemplifying how Pitzer promotes student health and safety solely through a framework of binge drinking.

Although this survey is a useful instrument for understanding the first-years’ experiences

in social settings, its data does not comprehensively represent Pitzer’s substance culture.

Entering Pitzer, I discovered students latently encouraging others to drink for social capital.

Visible alcohol consumption, such as throwing parties, was often a sign of students’ elite socioeconomic status.

My early experiences with Pitzer’s substance culture were not surprising nor difficult to navigate. The presence of alcohol and drugs, however, certainly made social grievances more transparent. For instance, students looking to consume alcohol created exclusive spaces based on class and ability. In addition, male students participating in a sports-alcohol culture more dramatically performed toxic masculinity.

I struggled not with alcohol consumption, but with the already-existing, destructive social dynamics that substances excused. Exclusivity, bigotry, and sexual assault exist within the student body with or without the presence of alcohol.

If administrators were to successfully eradicate drugs and alcohol from Pitzer’s campus, I suspect that bigotry, sexual assault, and mental health issues would remain.

Alcohol does not cause someone to sexually assault another person. By regulating alcohol culture to mitigate sexual as-

sault, college campuses imply causality and perpetuate myths of rape culture.

The current state of mental health on campus further exemplifies the consequences of overemphasizing the relationship between alcohol consumption and other social issues.

If students adopt alcohol and drugs to self-medicate, perhaps this indicates the institution’s failure to adequately address student mental health.

Attributing alcohol con sumption to other campus concerns such as sexual assault and mental health may seem more convenient; yet, in actuality, it does not adequately support and educate students.

I propose that money, research, and time may better serve the Claremont Colleges when funneled into continuous sexual assault education, mental health services, and efforts to make campus spaces truly accessible and inclusive.

The alcohol education, training, and critical analyses are certainly necessary; however, the allocation of funding does not have to address one concern over another. To centralize alcohol culture at the neglect of other matters is to disregard how these injustices intersect to form inhospitable campus cultures.

Sydney Osterweil Artson is a junior at Pitzer College.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait Malcolm McCann Columnist One quiet evening, after bingeworking all afternoon and forgoing the dining hall, I found myself drawn to the gathering place of the hungry, the gastronomic pride of Harvey Mudd College, my favorite spot to squander my flex dollars: the place known as Jay’s Place to the pizza cognoscenti, and the “Mudd Hole” to the uninformed.

Jay’s Place had a sizable line leading to the door - not an unusual event, but more of an inevitability due to its high quality cuisine. I noticed the line growing larger, yet there was no one behind me. Hungry individuals were forsaking the queue by discreetly inserting themselves next to those in line with whom they were familiar, a phenomenon known as “line cutting.”

My response was not one of anger or frustration, but confusion. Why were people overlooking the beauty of waiting in a line?

In spite of the unique personality of each dining hall, they all share a commonality: a wait-time before receiving the main course.

Standing in line behind a person who arrived earlier than you is a reality of all in-person services with a high demand - and for good reason.

Waiting in line is not a meaningless experience; it is one that breeds a culture of fair societal order. If line-cutting were universal and permitted, those with greater social popularity will be given preference over those who have waited the longest. Without lines altogether, the dining hall would descend into a world of anarchy and chaos.

I’ve stood in perhaps thousands of lines, everyone has, yet each line is different.

International airports offer a unique context for lines. In itself, traveling is virtually a process of waiting. Travellers wait in lines to get their boarding pass and to submit their luggage. Then, they wait in the security line to arrive at their gate.

While they wait to board, they will go to the nearest Starbucks to wait for a coffee. Then, their flight is delayed so they wait some more. They will then wait in the boarding line to get on the plane.

Sitting on the plane, they wait

until they arrive at their destination. Once they have arrived, they will then wait to get off the plane and wait to be accepted by Passport Control and then customs.

I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time wandering around airport gates over the years, and I often pay attention to how other people spend their time waiting. There are business people all dressed up, using their company Windows computer. There are young people binge-watching television while scrolling through social media on their smart phones. There are adults who are using their iPads or reading true crime novels. Then there are those old enough to just sit there doing nothing.

These are, of course, generalizations, but widely true, and telling to human nature. This is not by virtue of age but, instead, by result of being socialized during the swift development of the personal device.

Younger people, for a greater portion of their lives, have been exposed to electronic stimulants to the extent that their fundamental needs have changed. Younger individuals need the most things to keep themselves stimulated. Older people can just be present in every moment.

Standing still for a reasonable period of time without stimulation is a reward in itself. Given the omnipresence of personal devices, time alone with one’s thoughts are hard to come by. Lines are time with no active obligation, allowing time to reflect and meditate, to explore the limitless expanse of the mind.

A line is an opportunity for cultivating patience. One who can stoically endure a painful wait will more likely have a tolerant and accepting personality. Lines are an inevitability of society, so why should they breed frustration?

To cut a line at the 5Cs is to take dvantage of your peers’ kindness and patience. It is to play to your baser, anarchistic instincts and discard a culture of order. It is to forgo learning the virtues of patience - and is to display a lack of appreciation of a society where everyone is treated equally and fairly.

Take the risk of self-reflection.

Dare to embrace the wait.

Malcolm McCann PZ ‘21 has not played a formal sport since 8th grade and enjoys reading Modernist literature in his free time.

Elodie Arbogast• The Student Life

SPORTS OCTOBER 6, 2017

PAGE 9

THE STUDENT LIFE

Sports Calendar

P-P V. CMS MEN’S SOCCER

October 6 - October 12

Pomona-Pitzer Friday, October 6th Men’s Water Polo Gary Troyer Tournament Fresno Pacific At P-P 1:00 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball Occidental At P-P 7:00 p.m.

Men’s Water Polo Gary Troyer Tournament Air Force At P-P 7:15 p.m.

Football Cal Lutheran At P-P 7:00 p.m.

Intense Sixth Street Battle Brings Sagehen Soccer 1-0 Victory

Men’s Water Polo Gary Troyer Tournament Navy At P-P 7:15 p.m.

Tuesday, October 10th Women’s Volleyball At Occidental 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 7th

Wednesday, October 11th

Men’s Soccer CMS At P-P 11:00 a.m.

Men’s Soccer Occidental At P-P 4:00 p.m.

Men’s Water Polo Gary Troyer Tournament McKendree At P-P 2:15 p.m.

Men’s Water Polo La Verne At P-P 4:00 p.m.

Women’s Soccer At CMS EDIT 7:00 p.m. PICOR’S

Women’s Volleyball At CMS 4:00 p.m.

K

Women’s Soccer Chapman At P-P 4:00 p.m.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Friday, October 6th

Sunday, October 8th

Men’s Water Polo Gary Troyer Tournament Connecticut College At CMS 1:00 p.m.

Women’s Golf Embry Riddle Invitational 8:00 a.m.

Men’s Water Polo Gary Troyer Tournament Johns Hopkins At CMS 7:15 p.m.

Monday, October 9th Women’s Golf Embry Riddle Invitational 8:00 a.m.

Saturday, October 7th Men’s Soccer EDITO PICKR’S At P-P 11:00 a.m.

Men’s Water Polo Gary Troyer Tournament Air Force At CMS 11:45 a.m.

Tuesday, October 10th Women’s Volleyball At RedlandsI 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, October 11th Men’s Soccer At Chapman 4:00 p.m.

Football Occidental At CMS 1:00 p.m.

Men’s Water Polo At Redlands 7:00 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball P-P At CMS 4:00 p.m.

Women’s Soccer P-P At CMS 7:00 p.m.

Women’s Soccer La Verne At CMS 7:00 p.m.

Men’s Water Polo Gary Troyer Tournament Concordia At CMS 7:15 p.m.

Pomona-Pitzer

Men’s Water Polo P-P 23 Occidental 7 Women’s Soccer Cal Lutheran 1 P-P 0 P-P 6 CalTech 0 P-P 1 Occidental 0 Men’s and Women’s Cross Country SCIAC Dual Meet Football Chapman 42 P-P 40 Men’s Soccer P-P 1 CMS 0 Whittier 1 P-P 0 Men’s Golf Dual Match vs.

Occidental

Bryan Williams Pritzlaff field was the place to be Saturday evening as Pomona-Pitzer (4-4-2, 3-2-2 SCIAC) took home a 1-0 victory against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (2-7-1, 2-5-1 SCIAC) in a thrilling men’s soccer match.

“Last time we won here I think was 2013, so any time you can win at Pritzlaff is a very good day,” P-P coach Bill Swartz commented.

With the blow of the whistle and the roar of the crowd, the first half was underway. CMS began the game very aggressively, taking several shots to ensure that P-P goalkeeper Ben Mitchell PZ ‘18 stayed on his toes.

For the first ten minutes, the Stags seemed fully capable of creating chances to score, and when they lost possession, preventing the Sagehens from capitalizing off a counterattack.

But it all changed at 15:17 when Aiden Ferrer PO ’19 struck

the ball from the right of the box into the skull of a CMS defender, deflecting it into the back left corner of the net. CMS keeper Daniel Cui CM ’18 was thrown off by the deflection, and wound up diving in the wrong direction.

Though there were a few more scoring opportunities in the middle of the half, the rest of the time consisted of CMS winning possession, advancing to the attacking third, and being thwarted by P-P defense and vice versa.

However, with just under a minute to spare, Cui was shown a red card for stepping out of the box and illegally using his hands to swat away the ball during a P-P breakaway.

Substitution goalkeeper Connor Gaskin CM ’20 and the rest of the CMS squad had their work cut out for them for the remaining 45 minutes, but they continued to fight, visibly increasing their effort.

“I think the way they played in the second half is how they have to play all the time,” CMS coach

Matt Edwards said. “To play with that kind of intensity, that kind of energy, that kind of enthusiasm, and that kind of passion is what represents Stags soccer.”

P-P predictably maintained much of the possession at the onset of the second half as CMS adjusted to the circumstances. P-P came close to increasing the gap, but CMS rose to the occasion and kept the clean sheet.

“I just did my job and worked with my back line,” Gaskin acknowledged.

A notable CMS chance at goal occurred midway through the half as a lobbed ball was sent from the left side of the field over the keeper, only just grazing past the right side of the frame.

P-P had their own near-miss opportunity when the ball was smashed into the bottom right post at just the right angle for it to bounce into Gaskin’s gloves.

The final considerable chance for CMS to tie it up came near the end of the game when a cross resulted in multiple attempts at

goal, each being met with the foot, head, or some other body part of P-P defenders for it to eventually be cleared out of danger.

To send off the very physical match, a second red card for CMS was shown at 88:33 to Patrick Burke CMC ’20 after he accumulated his second yellow card of the game for getting just a bit too rough with a P-P player.

“Physicality of especially this game is a huge factor and its easy for it to get out of hand,” Blaise Werner PZ ’21 noted. “But I think us just trying to sit back and play our game and not let all the fans or the refs or how many players either team had get to us made the difference.”

As the timekeeper counted down the few seconds left in the game, the Sagehens rushed to their bench to celebrate the big win.

The Stags fell to their knees, distraught over the loss, but more importantly, thirsty for revenge.

They will have their chance next Saturday, Oct. 7, as they once again take on their P-P rivals, this time on the south side of Sixth Street.

P-P WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Scores Women’s Volleyball La Verne 3 P-P 1 P-P 3 Chapman 1

Meghan Joyce • The Student Life

The Pomona-Pitzer men’s soccer team celebrates their victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Sept. 30.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Women’s Volleyball CMS 3 Occidental 2 CMS 3 Whittier 0 CMS 3 Cal Lutheran 1 CMS 2 Redlands 0 Men’s and Women’s Cross Country SCIAC Dual Meet Men’s Water Polo Cal Baptist 8 CMS 7 CMS 13 Occidental 6 CMS 17 Occidental 7 CMS 18 La Verne 8 Women’s Soccer CMS 1 Whittier 0 CMS 2 Redlands 1 Men’s Golf CMS 279 La Verne 282 Western New Mexico Invitational Men’s and Women’s Tennis ITA West Regionals Men’s Soccer P-P 1 CMS 0 CMS 1 Cal Lutheran 1

Sagehens Serve Up a Win Over Panthers Kellen Browning

The Pomona-Pitzer women’s volleyball team (6-12, 3-3 SCIAC) scored a statement win Saturday at Chapman University, topping the league opponent Panthers (11-5, 5-2 SCIAC) in four sets.

The Sagehens prevailed in a competitive, back-and-forth first set 26-24 before collapsing in an error-ridden second set, which Chapman took 25-9. After that, though, it was smooth sailing for P-P, who dispatched the Panthers – at the time, the No.1 team in the conference – with 25-15 and 25-16 wins in the final two sets.

“Volleyball can be a funny game, so when we battled so hard to win that first set, you can either gain momentum from it or have a letdown,” explained head coach Valerie Townsend in an email to TSL. “Chapman turned that [first set] loss into momentum for their team and came out strong – something I fully expected from them.”

In the third and fourth sets, the Sagehens “focused on minimizing our errors and keeping the ball off the ground,” wrote Townsend.

“We got into a rhythm and stayed there to finish the match.”

Opposite hitter Isabel Kelly PO ’20 led the team with 12 kills and three blocks, while middle hitter Vicky-Marie Addo-Ashong PO ’20 chipped in seven kills and two blocks. Setter Jessica Finn PO ’18 aided her teammates with 29

assists, while stalwart defensive specialist Natalie Martin PZ ’18 contributed 18 digs.

P-P had some young stars shine as well – middle hitter Kayla Krilove PZ ’21 scored nine kills and six blocks, and outside hitter Makylee Fruge PZ ’21 had seven kills. According to Townsend, this is not even the extent of the Sagehens’ first-year talent.

“All of our [first-years] are making great strides in practice, pushing their teammates, and I expect to see them breaking onto the court soon,” she wrote.

Though her team is just 6-12, Townsend said tough September matchups at the Pacific Coast Classic, Cal Lu Fornia Invitational, and Trinity University Tournament have set the Sagehens up well for SCIAC success.

“We had a really trying preseason,” Townsend wrote. “Three of the four teams we played in each of our three preseason tournaments were nationally ranked opponents, or at least [received] votes. I knew this level of play would help prepare us for a very tough conference schedule.”

And with the victory over Chapman, it seems Townsend’s scheduling strategy may be paying dividends.

“I have continually told the team that we can do some really good things in conference and this was one of them,” she wrote. “We have continued to improve – on a daily/ weekly basis – so I remain optimistic about our potential to take care of business and do some really great things in [the] SCIAC.” P-P next faces the Occidental Tigers (7-8, 2-4 SCIAC) at home Friday at 7 p.m.

Dominic Frempong • The Student Life

SPORTS PAGE 10

OCTOBER 6, 2017

THE STUDENT LIFE

P-P WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

P-P Runners Hamilton and Guo Finish Second, Fourth Against SCIAC Foes Kellen Browning With few competitors in sight, Pomona-Pitzer cross country runners Lauren Hamilton PO ’20 and Helen Guo PO ’20 sprinted across the finish line of the SCIAC MultiDual meet on Sept. 29.

The duo, who led the P-P women’s team to a fourth-place finish at La Mirada Park on the sweltering Friday, finished second and fourth overall respectively to beat out 115 other runners in the conference.

Both Sagehens smashed their personal course records from last year by more than a minute, and challenged rival ClaremontMudd-Scripps’ fastest runner for the victory.

The day before the meet, “[my coach] was talking to me and Lauren and she said, ‘There’s a very good chance you’re gonna find yourself up with Bryn [McKillop CM ’18], and if you do, don’t be afraid to be aggressive about it,’” Guo recalled.

That’s exactly what the Sagehen harriers did, pushing McKillop for the majority of the race.

“It blew my mind,” Guo said.

“I never thought I’d find myself doing that.”

“My goal was just to stick with her as long as I could,” said Hamilton, Though McKillop ultimately prevailed, Guo and Hamilton will have their chance for revenge at the SCIAC and regional championship meets later this season.

Guo and Hamilton also hope to qualify for the national cross-country championships this November in Elsah, Illinois, and Guo admits to another, slightly more unorthodox goal as well. “[Our team has] a joke: If you didn’t pee your pants, you probably didn’t run hard enough,” she said. “And I have never peed my pants, so we’ll see if that happens at regionals or nationals, but that would be pretty epic.”

Guo, who typically runs 50 to 70 miles a week, said she wasn’t

PO ‘21 Baltimore, Maryland

Maxwell Bethel PO ‘21 showed his merit on Wednesday, Oct. 4, when he jumped into the PomonaPitzer men’s water polo team (5-8, 3-1 SCIAC) win against Occidental (0-14, 0-5 SCIAC). Netting four goals throughout the match, he helped the Hens up their points to 21 and hold Occidental to 7. Bethel comes from Gilman High School in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was Academic All-American 20152016 and Outstanding All-American 2016-2017. As of October 2, 2017, Bethel had played a total of 12 games for PP and scored six times, taking 12 shots total.

CMS Athlete of the Week Men’s Water Polo

Photo courtesy of PP Athletics.

Members of the Pomona-Pitzer Cross Country team lead the pack during the SCIAC Multi-Dual meet last Thursday.

always this dedicated to her sport.

“Coming out of high school, I was a serious runner. I really liked what I did and I wanted to be better. But I definitely didn’t anticipate being as involved with running as I am now,” Guo said. “I never thought I’d commit to so much mileage, so many hours, and so much of myself is the team.”

When she saw how dedicated her college teammates were to their passion, however, Guo resolved to train harder herself.

Despite finishing 35th at regionals and getting a pair of top 10 finishes in the 1,500- and 5,000-meter races at the SCIAC track championships as a first-year, Guo wasn’t satisfied. This past summer, she made another jump in her fitness.

“When I was working this sum-

mer, I would wake up early in the morning at five to run, and when I got back from work, I would run again,” she recalled. “It became such a big part of my life and I feel like I just enjoyed it so much and built up so much base that now it’s not that difficult for me.”

Hamilton had almost the opposite experience. In high school, she said, she overtrained, often running more than 60 miles a week before her body was ready. When she got to college, she backed off and took better care of herself.

The results speak for themselves: Hamilton was the SCIAC champion in the 10,000 meter race in track this past spring. She placed second in the SCIAC in the 5-kilometer in track and 12th at cross-country regionals.

Even though Hamilton and Guo are similarly speedy, Guo said there’s never any jealousy or competition between them.

“I think that a lot of times when you have two fast runners, it can become a sort of competition thing between the two, like who’s better,” she said. “But I feel like with us, we both came into college kind of on the same level and we sort of built each other up from the beginning.”

Plus, Hamilton said, it’s nice to have someone by your side during grueling runs. “It’d be so hard to get through some of the harder workouts and long runs without Helen, so I’m really glad she’s there with me,” she said. “I feel like it just makes it more enjoyable to have a training partner.”

Meghan Joyce • The Student Life

is now in his third year as the starting goalie for the Sagehens, and has accumulated seven career shutouts to go along with his now 210 career saves. His goalkeeping this season has led the Sagehens to a 4-4-2 start (33-2 SCIAC). P-P will next be in

action Oct. 7 vs. CMS, when Mitchell will try to obtain his second shutout of the season over the Stags. In this photo, Mitchell strikes the ball during a Sixth Street Rivalry game at Pritzlaff Field on Sept. 30.

Noah Deer In four games this past week, three of them CMS victories, Noah Deer CM ‘18 scored 13 goals to lead the Stags in scoring. He scored three times in a close 7-8 loss to Cal Baptist, seven combined times in two wins over Occidental, and added three more goals in a monstrous 18-8 home win over La Verne.

The senior has now scored 22 times in 12 games played to lead the Stags in goals for the season, and to help push them to a 6-7 record (4-1 SCIAC).

CM ‘18 Honolulu, Hawaii

CMS MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Athenas Win, Stags Take Third in SCIAC Dual Meet Blaise Malley

In the Sagehens’ previous game on Sept. 27, Ben Mitchell PO ‘18 recorded his 200th save as the P-P goaltender, a major milestone for the keeper. The senior from San Diego, CA

Men’s Water Polo Maxwell Bethel

Mitchell Sets Milestone with 200th Save

Hank Snowdon

P-P Athlete of the Week

The Claremont-MuddScripps men’s and women’s cross-country teams held nothing back in a dual meet at La Mirada Regional Park on Saturday, Sept. 30. The Athenas ran their way to meet-wide victory, while the Stags put together a solid performance, finishing at 5-2 and placing third overall.

“They performed well, considering the flu that has hit the team over the last 10 days,” said head coach John Goldhammer, who coaches both the men’s and women’s CMS cross-country teams.

The Athenas were solid from start to finish. “The women performed well enough to win, and that was all we were looking for,” Goldhammer said, noting that two of the team’s top five runners were unable to participate in Saturday’s race.

Goldhammer describes this season’s Athena team as a “very nice surprise.” In their latest meet, the Athenas swept away the competition to finish with a 7-0 record. Four of the top

10 runners were from CMS, as were just under half of the top 15 performers.

Bryn McKillop SC ’18 came in first place in the event (21:27.66).

Goldhammer pointed to three other runners that impressed him: Roselyn Cantu CM ’18, who finished third, and Morgan Blevins HM ’19 and Gabby Kimmerly SC ’20, both of whom shaved off more than one minute from their personal bests.

“The Athenas have already done individually what they needed to do,” said Goldhammer.

When asked to analyze how the season may look from now on, he said, “team-wise we have to put our best race together at the NCAA meet and if we can do that we will be in the running for a top five placing.”

Of the Stags, he added: “[they] have done a great job, considering the number of athletes who graduated last year.” That number includes two All-American runners, Kyle Lund HM ‘17 and Joshua Sealand HM ‘17, who took 8th and 13th, respectively, at the Nationals competition in Louisville, Kentucky last season.

At the meet, the Stags were led by Thomas D’Anieri CM ’20, who finished third overall with a time of 25:34.83. Max Denning HM ’20 and Brooks MacDonald HM ’20 “stepped up [for four to six sick guys] and ran as close to their all time bests as anyone in the meet,” Goldhammer said, finishing fourth and fifth among CMS performers. Their gutsy performances pushed CMS into third place, with Pomona-Pitzer and Occidental College finishing ahead of them in first and second.

When it comes to the Stags, Goldhammer admits that they will have their work cut out for them, but says that “one thing about CMS Cross Country [is that] they are ready when it counts.”

CMS cross-country next competes in two separate races on Saturday, Oct. 14. A handful Stags and Athenas will make the voyage to pre-Nationals in St. Louis, Missouri, where they will race at 10 a.m., while others will remain closer to home, competing in the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational with their cross street rivals at 8 a.m..

CMS MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TENNIS

CMS Continues Dominance at ITA West Regional Championship Danny Klain

Last weekend, the men’s and women’s Claremont-MuddScripps (CMS) tennis teams looked to continue their success from the previous spring at the ITA West Regional Championship. The tournament, held at Biszantz Family Tennis Center, is the major offseason Division III tournament, as winners receive All-American awards and get to compete in a national tournament against the winners from the other four regions across the country.

Expectations were high for CMS. The team held the top two seeds in the men’s and women’s singles tournaments and were considered among the favorites

for the doubles tournaments as well.

By the time the tournament ended Sunday, both the men’s and women’s teams met their lofty goals and came out with tournament titles.

Across the singles and doubles tournaments, the men’s tennis team displayed its strong depth. In singles, the Stags had a strong showing, with eight players reaching the round of 16. Jack Katzman CM ’21 and Avi Vemuri CM ’18 made it to the semifinals, but both came up short of the title match, each losing in two sets.

In the doubles tournament, the Stags continued to show their strength as three pairs made the semifinals. Eventually, the doubles became an all-CMS final:

Jake Berber CM ’20 and Nikolai Parodi CM ’20 came together and recovered from first round upsets in the singles tournament to reach the doubles final against recent transfer Oscar Burney CM ’20 and doubles All-American Julian Gordy CM ’19.

With a sense of familiarity, the match was a well-fought three set battle that showcased great CMS competition. After Berber and Parodi dominated the first set 6-2, Burney and Gordy responded to take back the second set 7-5, leading to an intense winner-take-all third set. Berber and Parodi quickly went down 5-3 and had their backs against the wall, but they did not panic.

“We have a keyword whenever we see one of each other

getting upset, and so we said it and it really turned our attitude around in the match,” Berber said.

The pair kept calm and won the third set 7-5 to take home the doubles championships and AllAmerican awards. Afterwards, the two were excited about their achievement but felt a little bittersweet in their celebration.

“There’s a happy/sad feeling when you see the disappointment in your teammates eyes and you just know how hard they’ve worked,” Berber said.

The Athenas also performed well in the weekend tournament: In doubles, four women’s pairs made it to the quarterfinals.

Nicole Tan CM ’20 and Lindsay Brown CM ’18 made it to the fi-

nals, but came up just a bit short of the title.

The Athenas were also present throughout the singles tournament, taking three of the four semifinal spots.

This led to another all-CMS final between Cat Allen SC ’20 and Tan, which Allen managed to win with a four set margin 6-2, 6-2.

Allen said she felt conflicted while facing her teammate: “It’s a lot tougher playing my teammates because I have a competitive personality on the court so it’s hard because I love my teammates so much.”

But after an exhausting weekend, Allen felt thrilled to be an All-American: “Last year it was a lot tougher to get to nationals so this year already having it

before the spring season feels really good.”

Overall, both teams seemed fairly pleased with their performances over the weekend.

“I think we did really well,” men’s team captain Gordy said after the tournament. “I think there’s a few things we could work but overall a lot of good things.”

The Stags’ and Athenas’ performances allowed them to prove yet again their continued dominance atop the west coast for Division III. As for Berber, Parodi, and Allen, their fall season is not over, as they will compete in the ITA National Championship in Rome, Georgia next week to face the winners from the other regional tournaments.