Vol. CXXX, No. 5

THE STUDENT

LIFE

The Student Newspaper of the Claremont Colleges Since 1889

CLAREMONT, CA NEWS

FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2018

VOL. CXXX NO. 5

P-P Men’s Swim Claims First SCIAC Title In History New Director

To Guide Oldenborg Rebuilding Erin Slichter

Pomona Associate Professor of German and Russian Anne Dwyer will become the faculty director of the Oldenborg Center for Modern Languages and International Relations June 1, and see the center through its expected replacement with a new building, Dean Audrey Bilger announced in an email to Pomona students Feb. 14.

Current Oldenborg director Rita Bashaw, who has served in the position since June 2006, said she is stepping down to be with her husband and elderly mother in Seattle.

The change in directorship coincides with ongoing discussions within the Oldenborg planning group and larger Pomona community about plans to replace Oldenborg with a new language immersion residence hall and center for global learning.

The planning group, which is chaired by Bilger and Pomona Treasurer Karen Sisson, is made up of various administrators, professors, and students, and was formed last fall when President G. Gabrielle Starr

Pitzer College President Melvin Oliver returned to campus February after undergoing treatment for a rare protein condition. Read his Q&A with TSL on page 2.

NEWS

Rev. James M. Lawson and Myrlie Evers-Williams PO ’68, two civil rights leaders, addressed students at Pomona College’s Bridges Auditorium Saturday. See more on page 2.

LIFE AND STYLE

Courtesy of Pomona-Pitzer Athletics

The Pomona-Pitzer men’s swim and dive celebrates its SCIAC title Feb. 24 after beating rival CMS 1086.5 to 998. Read about the meet on page 10.

Kohoutek Funding Slashed Due To Concerns From PZ Events Board Henry Easton-Kohler

Despite their low profile on the Claremont campuses, Greek Life is alive and well for the select few in Sigma Tau at Pomona College. To find out what the co-president has to say, read more on page 4.

OPINIONS

Maddy Neff SC ’21 expounds upon the significance of the #NeverAgain movement and why it’s different from any other in history.

Find out more about her thoughts on page 9.

SPORTS

The Claremont-MuddScripps women’s basketball team fell to the Chapman Panthers in double overtime of the SCIAC championship game Saturday night. See more on page 12.

Follow TSL on the web.

Kohoutek, Pitzer College’s annual music festival, now in its 44th year, will run for only one day this year rather than the usual full weekend of performances. This change is due to significant funding cuts from the Pitzer Events Board, which Elijah Pantoja PZ’18, the board’s chair, attributed to both ideological and practical concerns.

The events board gave the festival $12,500 this year — less than half what it has historically received.

Pantoja said Kohoutek’s budget was cut for a number of reasons, including displeasure with vendors last year who sold “blue lives matter” paraphernalia and dream catchers perceived to be culturally appropriative, lack of diversity in the lineup, and an outsized budget for the number of attendees.

“After auditing the club minutes, the events board found that the festival’s massive budget was unsubstantiated,” Pantoja wrote in an email to TSL. “When working with over $30,000, it is easy to become reckless with money and not realize the value of a budget.

This was determined to be the case with Kohoutek.”

Alaina Orr PZ ’20, a Kohoutek organizer, Identity Board member, and president of the Mixed Identity Exchange, is an advocate for the changes, which she claimed also helped fund other identity-based groups.

“The Pitzer Senate is realizing that affinity groups need more spaces and recognition on campus. The way I see it, this was a redistribution of funds,” she said. “It’s been really important for my group [MIX] to have these funds, and it’s allowed Identity Board to thrive and put on some really cool events. I think a tighter budget with Kohoutek has really made us focus on quality over quantity with artists, and I’m really excited for this year’s festival.”

Other Kohoutek organizers were less supportive of the cuts.

“It’s not ideal and people’s Kohoutek experience will certainly be diluted, but I understand the reasoning behind it,” organizer Samuel Horowitz PZ ’20 said. “It’s a really expensive festival to run.”

“I would love to see Kohoutek restored to its two-day glory,” said Austin Zimmerman PZ ’18, president of the Kohoutek organizing club. “People get cynical about how money gets spent, but this is the most professional music event that happens at the 5Cs. Kohoutek has happened for the past 40-plus years, and it has never been perfect and should continue to change with the times, but defunding us isn’t the right solution.”

Zimmerman also said that Kohoutek organizers have worked to remedy the issues it has faced in the past. “[It] hasn’t been the most inclusive place historically, but we are aware of these issues and have been working hard to fix them,” he said. “This year, we cut ties with the problematic vendors from last year’s festival and we have been working with people form Identity Board to try and come up with a more diverse lineup.”

Zimmerman expressed frustration with the process.

“There was no indication ... that we should prepare for such a dramatic change or for what areas they thought we were being ‘reckless’ with our budget,” he wrote in an email to TSL. Orr is hopeful about the future of the festival. She said she has been recruiting people of color to help organize, and is excited about the energy the younger crowd has brought to the event.

“This is definitely starting a new chapter of Kohoutek,” she said. “There are first-years in the club that are super excited about the festival — they have all these ideas and visions for future years and they want to increase student involvement.”

The Kohoutek budget cut comes amidst a series of efforts to make Pitzer ’s historically most well-funded clubs more inclusive. Last year, Reggae Fest — which had been taking place for 15 years — was canceled.

Additionally, Pitzer Outdoor Adventure Club has undergone restructuring in the past two years in an attempt to make the club more open to marginalized groups.

Kohoutek will take place at the McConnell Dining Hall April 21.

http://tsl.news

See DIRECTOR page 2

Pomona’s DACA Advocacy Contrasts With 2011 Firing Of Undocumented Workers Laney Pope Pomona College has repeatedly made headlines since President Donald Trump took office for its advocacy for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and undocumented students (DACA). Former President David Oxtoby, current President G. Gabrielle Starr, and former Dean of Students Miriam Feldblum have all been outspoken on the issue, positioning Pomona as a national leader.

This state of affairs is a far cry from the events of fall 2011, when Pomona made national headlines of the opposite type for its stance on immigration.

After an anonymous tip accused the college of illegal hiring practices, Oxtoby claimed he was legally obligated to require staff to provide proof of citizenship or residency status.

When 17 workers were unable to provide such proof, they were fired.

The episode, which occurred at the same time as efforts by dining hall workers to unionize, still haunts the college today.

Pomona history professor Victor Silverman, who was involved in the faculty resistance to the documentation check, said that even though the incident happened several years ago, it has created “a reservoir

of distrust” among the faculty towards the administration.

One of the fired workers recently spoke with TSL, and said he still feels betrayed.

Christian Torres worked as a cook in Frary Dining Hall for seven years, alongside his aunt and uncle, but Dec. 2, 2011, he found himself without a job.

“It really, really hurt me,” he said. “We gave everything to the kitchen to make sure the students had food everyday, and when we spoke up for something better, the documentation check came up.”

Torres went public about his firing and the betrayal he felt, and was quoted in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and TSL. Because of this publicity, Torres said, it was “really difficult to find a job because when I would go and apply, [the employer] would request my papers.”

Despite his feelings about the administration, Torres remembers Pomona students fondly.

“We worked hard for the students,” he said, “and they helped me with my English and thanks to them I was able to get my GED. They were like family.”

Before the documentation check, there had been many efforts by the dining hall workers to unionize, and some of the fired workers suspected the demand for valid documentation was

a covert attempt to thwart the unionization efforts.

On campus, many students and faculty protested the documentation checks, arguing that the firings went against Pomona’s core values.

Workers, students, and faculty were “frustrated that the administration was resisting the unionization process,” Silverman said.

“The community was becoming educated that there were real problems in the way the college was running the dining [halls] and how the workers were being treated.”

Benny Avina, a chef for Oldenborg dining hall, has worked at Pomona since 1985. Avina is an American citizen, so his job was not affected by the check.

“It hurt all of us a lot that this happened at Pomona because there were people that had been working here for 20 years, and they had to go because they did not have their papers,” he said in an interview with TSL translated from Spanish.

The documentation check also affected the way Avina viewed the college.

“I spent the birthdays of my children working because I didn’t want to miss work. I lost a lot of time with my kids,” he said. This lost time was especially upsetting

See DACA page 2

SHS Doctor Shortage Leads To Longer Appointment Wait Times Jaimie Ding Student Health Services currently has just two physicians on staff and no director, leading to longer appointment wait times for some students.

In March 2017, former director Dr. Jenny Ho left SHS to pursue other professional opportunities. Another staff physician, Dr. Nayan Shah, replaced her in fall 2017, but he has also since left, according to Denise Hayes, The Claremont Colleges’ vice president for student affairs.

When Jessica Hjelle SC ’21 went to SHS earlier this semester to check on issues with her lungs, she ended up staying for more than two hours while

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waiting for a doctor.

“When I tried making an appointment online, it said they were completely booked for the week, so I just did a walk-in,” Hjelle wrote in an email to TSL. “I waited about 15 minutes to see the nurse and then about 50 minutes to see the actual doctor.”

Yurie Heard PO ’20, who had the flu in late January, said she struggled to get a SHS appointment because it was fully booked.

“I wanted to be seen [by SHS] while my symptoms were peaking so I could get the [medication] that I needed,” she said.

However, by the time she got the appointment a week later, she had already missed a full week of classes and the worst of her

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symptoms had passed.

The wait time for non-urgent visits such as physicals is now six to seven days, up from the norm of two to three days. However, Hayes expects the situation to improve after a director is hired, and SHS has implemented some interim programs.

“We have been meeting the needs of our students by using our on-staff physicians and our three nurse practitioners,” Hayes wrote. “We have also brought in well-qualified physicians to work on a temporary basis.”

This temporary measure has allowed SHS to continue to offer same-day appointments for urgent problems. If no appoint-

See SHS page 3 NEWS................................1 LIFE & STYLE.....................4 OPINIONS........................7 SPORTS...........................10

NEWS PAGE 2

DIRECTOR: Dwyer Wants Oldenborg To Be ‘Bigger Player On Campus’ Continued from Page 1 indicated replacing Oldenborg was one of her priorities. The group held an open discussion with the community Feb. 13.

Rebuilding Oldenborg has been a long-existing goal for Pomona. It is listed in the 2015 Master Plan, which notes that Oldenborg “damaged the planning structure” of the original 1913 design for the campus, and previous TSL coverage cites master planner Scott Smith calling the building a “goof.”

The planning group estimates that the entire planning and reconstruction process will take a minimum of just under three and a half years, which would put the end date sometime in 2021.

Opened in 1966, Oldenborg currently houses 129 students. It will continue to house students for at least another year. During reconstruction, its language halls will be relocated elsewhere. The planning group is looking into how to deal with the potential resultant housing shortage.

Language tables, conversation classes, and OLC talks will also continue operation at different locations during reconstruction.

Bilger outlined some major design goals for the new building in an email to TSL, including

MARCH 2, 2018

THE STUDENT LIFE

separating the public space from the residential space to enhance student safety, and improving the organizational layout of the language halls.

The planning group plans to modify the size and layout of the cafeteria, which is currently considered quite cramped, and is also considering adding a space specifically dedicated to global engagement.

This space would “[draw] together certain offices and services (like Study Abroad, for example) that could benefit from their proximity and inclusion in a space devoted to a vision of Global Pomona,” Bilger wrote.

Bilger mentioned the new design will also be formulated with respect to issues of sustainability.

“If we do this right, we’ll be able to continue with all the activities that have made Oldenborg such a special place on campus, but to do them even better,” she wrote.

Bilger wrote that current director Bashaw told Bilger about her decision leave last fall. The dean’s office then began to look for a globally-oriented, experienced faculty member to fill the position.

When Dwyer expressed interest in it, Bilger wrote, “It was not difficult to me to recognize that we had found an ideal new director.”

Dwyer was offered the position shortly after winter break and

agreed to a five-year term.

Dwyer said she doesn’t have plans for big changes to Oldenborg next year.

“Next year’s going to be about keeping the ship afloat and learning the ropes, because it’s my first administrative job,” she said.

Later on, though, Dwyer said she has more ambitious goals.

“Oldenborg has the potential to be a bigger player on campus.

I think we can bring in kinds of programming, perhaps year-long programs, themes, really collaborate with other departments even more closely than Oldenborg does at the moment,” she said.

In time, Dwyer plans to expand the Oldenborg Luncheon Colloquium — a lecture series focusing on international and cultural topics — to include more discussion formats, make the sophomore-dominated dorm more appealing to upperclassmen, and advocate for adding another director position to Oldenborg.

Bashaw said she is excited about Dwyer filling her role next year.

“I think good things are going to happen to Oldenborg in the coming years. With our current administration and incoming director, I feel good,” she said.

Courtesy of Pomona College

Pomona College’s Oldenborg Center will be torn down, and the reconstructed building is expected to re-open in 2021.

Civil Rights Pioneers Call For Nonviolent Activism In PO Lecture Glen Williams

Civil rights icons Rev. James M. Lawson and Myrlie EversWilliams PO ’68 spoke at Pomona College’s Bridges Auditorium with politics professor Lorn Foster as part of the college’s first annual Payton Lectureship last Saturday.

Evers-Williams and Lawson have both been civil rights activists throughout their lives: Evers-Williams helped end racial segregation in schools and public facilities in Mississippi, while Lawson was instrumental in bringing the philosophy of nonviolent civil disobedience to the civil rights movement.

Lawson said he was inspired

by Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography and Jesus. He wanted to make Americans realize that Gandhi’s message wasn’t foreign but existed in their own tradition and to “unwrap and unravel the dogmatism of early Christianity” to get at Jesus’ core message.

“Martin King urged me to come south because I told him, as far as I was concerned, the Gospel of Jesus was nonviolent,” he told the audience.

Lawson continues to believe nonviolence can be a powerful force for action.

“If we obey the science of social change through nonviolence, we would be surprised by the change,” he said.

Lawson said he is optimistic about the goodness of human character.

“It seems to me that all sorts of people walk through the human plight inspired by its noble aspects. I recognize life as a gift and desire to use it to the fullest,” he said. “I maintain that love and compassion are part of the gift of life.”

Evers-Williams described in detail the horrors of living near the Mississippi delta with a black family during the 1960s, including the murder of her husband, Medgar Evans.

“Medgar was shot down at the door of our home and our children ran out of our home screaming, ‘Daddy, get up!’” she said. “When the police officers finally arrived, I did something I’ve never done before. I cursed them. My emotions had gone beyond the point of being emotions.”

Before Evans died, he and Evers-Williams planned to move to California. After his murder, she

chose to come to Claremont, “solely because of Pomona College,” she said. “It was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life.”

Still, things weren’t easy for her.

As the second family of color to ever move to Claremont, she took every opportunity to assert her place in the community, sitting consistently at the front of her Pomona classes.

“It was like, ‘Here, I am! What are you going to do about it?’” she said.

Her son also faced harassment in high school, so she advised him to “stand up for your rights. Be willing to pay the price for it.”

Evers-Williams was recently part of the welcoming group, along with President Donald Trump, for the opening ceremony of two museums in Mississippi. Trump addressed her by her first name, which she said infuriated her. Due to America’s history of demeaning the status of black people, referring to black people by their first names has been a traditional sign of disrespect, she said.

“That was the whole force behind the civil rights movement: Justice, dignity, honor. My husband paid the price so that we could have dignity,” she said.

Lawson concurred.

“We’ve been mistreated constantly by a fundamental denial of our humanity,” he said. “As a pastor, in a black church, we have therefore addressed people as Mr. and Ms., as doctor. We recognize that the dignity has to be re-established because racism has been such a virulent poison.”

During the question and answer portion of the event, Roy Taylor PO ’18 asked how he could make himself a more active source of change in his community.

“Be aware of what is happening and the need for change,” Lawson said. “Positive change does not come about without the involvement of everyone.”

Alexandra D’Costa PO ’20 asked how she could cultivate rage into action.

“Be angry but do no harm. Direct that anger into positive action,” Lawson said.

Lawson added that activists should focus on the difficult problems.

“The campaigns of the fifties and sixties that ignited great change represent those of us who did not go after the easy problems,” he said.

At the request of former Presi-

dent David Oxtoby, the lectureship was named after John A. Payton PO ’73, a lawyer who devoted his career to civil rights.

He is most well known for monitoring South Africa’s first all-race election in 1994 and defeating a challenge to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. While at Pomona, Payton’s activism led to the establishment of the black studies center and the recruitment of more black students.

Oxtoby said he was close friends with Payton and spoke highly of his character.

“Knowing him personally, his warmth and his intelligence came through to me the first day I met him,” he said.

After the event, many audience members said they enjoyed themselves.

“I was really impressed by how much fire for change they still have and how much passion for the college they represent,” Pomona exchange student Thomas Carey said.

Ian Poveda PO ’21 said he appreciated how informative the event was.

“I think it was really great to hear the history in general that people forget. Even at their old age now, they’re still such pioneers,” he said.

Eleanor Foerster PO ’53, an alumna who attended the event, said she was inspired to act in new ways.

“I’m having to figure out another way to be active, make our voices be heard, and make sure it includes everyone,” she said.

Foerster said she had been unaware that it is important to ask for permission to address AfricanAmerican people by their first name.

“We need to have different conversations about the proper etiquette. We are not aware what different cultures expect,” she said.

Tiger Kaplan PO ’20 was less convinced about the strategic applicability of Lawson’s and EversWilliams’ actions for today.

“The racism and the oppression that they were fighting is different from what we’re fighting today,” he said. “It was inspiring, however it would be difficult to use their actions as a clear template.”

Foster, however, said he felt that nonviolent civil disobedience is still a powerful tactic.

“Those that are opposed to justice are violent and physical, and I think it shines a bright light on evil,” he said.

Q&A: Melvin Oliver Reflects On Medical Leave DACA: Workers Say Union Yasmine Razzak

Pitzer College President Melvin Oliver left campus in September to undergo treatment for a rare protein condition, AL amyloidosis. He returned to Pitzer Feb. 5, and recently spoke with TSL about his journey.

TSL: What was your experience in treatment, and what has coming back to campus life been like for you?

Melvin Oliver: It’s actually been great. I came back on the fifth of February, and everyone was excited to have me and I was excited to see them. One of the things that you miss when you’re away from campus is the excitement of the students –– we have such talented, energetic, and engaged students, we have a faculty that’s amazing, and our staff is so committed to the college.

So you know, those personal connections you miss. Throughout my whole treatment I was involved in governance of the college, but I didn’t get to see people, I didn’t personally get to hear their concerns or excitement about things, so just being able to do that again has been wonderful.

Of course, everyone has been concerned about my health, and I came back, and I feel stronger every day. I feel very optimistic about things. It’s been a great homecoming.

TSL: You mentioned that you were involved in governance of the college while you were in treatment.

Did the Pitzer community live up to your expectations in terms of how it would function in your absence?

Before leaving, you said you hoped this experience would build community, shared understanding, and unity. Did that live up to your expectations as well?

MO: It more than lived up to my expectations. Of course I relied very heavily on my cabinet, and I have to say my cabinet came through in a[n] [extraordinary] way. Led by my dean of faculty, Nigel Boyle, they picked up every piece of slack that I wasn’t here to handle, and probably performed it as well I could. I was very happy that Nigel also took the mantle of working in the Claremont College Consortium aspect of the job, which is one of the hidden parts of a president’s job.

You don’t think about how much time it takes to work with your col-

leagues across the consortium, and he did that in an exceptional way.

Matter of fact, when I went back to the first meeting of the consortium my colleagues said “We had a great time working with Nigel.” And my other colleagues, likewise, just stepped up to all the challenges they had to face.

I received a lot of support from faculty, staff, and students. One of the things, when you’re kind of down and out, when you get an email from someone saying “how are you doing,” “we miss you,” it really did lift my spirits, and that’s part of that community that I was hoping would develop, and it did.

TSL: Has your outlook on Pitzer changed at all after being diagnosed with an illness and undergoing treatment? Has your vision for the school changed?

MO: I don’t know if my vision has changed, but I think my commitment to it has deepened. Anytime you have an illness, I think it causes you to reflect, and illnesses also bring up the finiteness of life.

You get a little more committed to what you’re doing. My vision for Pitzer, moving it forward, has just been fortified.

TSL: Similarly, has your outlook on life changed at all?

MO: You do ask yourself what’s important when you’re ill, and it really emphasized how important family is. Family is so important, and my wife was with me throughout my whole treatment process. I often say that she kind of gave up her life for me, but of course her life and my life are intertwined. But what she did was just a marvel to behold, and made me recognize that the important things in life are your family and your relationships, and those are the things that sustain you during those difficult times.

TSL: What are your goals for this semester?

MO: We have a lot of things that we are trying to do. Major among them are senior level cabinet positions that I need to fill. We just made an announcement about a new vice president of advancement yesterday, Neil Macready, formerly vice president of advancement at the University of Redlands, and we’re excited about him. I have interviews for my chief of staff today — we have two candidates — and we have several other positions to as-

Improved Conditions

Continued from Page 1

Liam Brooks • The Student Life

Pitzer College President Melvin Oliver recently returned to campus after spending five months in treatment for a protein condition.

sign. [My number one goal] for the year was to fill those open positions that we had, and make sure that I had a fortified cabinet going into the next year.

My number two goal is ongoing, but I’m working with my two colleagues, the president of Scripps [College], Lara Tiedens, and the president of [Claremont McKenna College], Hiram Chodosh, to move Keck Science innovation forward.

That is a very important aspect for all three of our schools, and a challenge. We’re meeting regularly to make progress on that project.

Finally, I think there are a number of things internal to Pitzer related to strategic planning and visioning about our future. We’ve

been slow about getting that going, and I want to ramp that up going into next year so that we can move into that right away.

TSL: Do you have any advice for students, faculty, or others in the 5C community who might have family diagnosed with an illness, or who might be going through a struggle similar to the one you endured?

MO: I would say that when you’re facing a challenge like that, remember your friends and your family. They want you to get well, they’ll help you get well, and they are actually the key to sustaining yourself during that period.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

“because I wasn’t working in the place that I thought I was working in.”

Avina said he cares deeply for Pomona students.

“All of the years that I’ve worked here, I’ve always been happy to work for the students,” he said. Every year, there are students who graduate and come back to see him, he added.

After DACA was established in 2012, the documentation regulations became less strict, and Pomona rehired two of the workers that it had fired, including Torres.

Torres eventually left Pomona and is now an activist for the pro-union organization UNITE-HERE, where he represents workers in corporate cafeterias at Loyola Marymount University and Los Angeles International Airport to help them earn better contracts and wages.

Torres was a leader in the Pomona workers’ efforts to unionize to obtain “better benefits that were secured in a contract and respect out of management, because for a long time, there was not a lot of respect” he said.

“The college tried to take away some of those benefits, and back then we had no protection at all.”

The administration repeatedly denied that there was a link between the efforts to unionize and the request for workers’ documentation, but Torres and other former employees found the documentation check’s timing suspicious. Torres said that he had “worked there for seven years and never had an issue with documentation. It’s just so coincidental.”

Pomona spokesperson Mark Kendall, when reached for comment on the incident, directed TSL to a timeline on Pomona’s website, which states that investigation of the documentation check “found that the administration had done nothing wrong ” and that “legal constraints had left the College with no other

options.”

But Silverman claims the documentation check was unnecessary from a legal standpoint.

The administration could have resisted and “could have said ‘We’re not going to do [the check] until we are forced to by [Immigration and Customs Enforcement],’ but they were not willing to stand up for the rights of people that they had employed for decades,” he said.

The practice of initiating documentation checks in the middle of “a very contested union organization drive is a common thing,” Silverman added.

It was not until 2013, two years after the firings, that the workers were able to unionize.

The Pomona administration at first refused to remain neutral in the union elections, Silverman said, which “created an atmosphere of intimidation and pressure to convince workers not to join the union.”

Eventually, however, the administration agreed to remain somewhat neutral, because “it wasn’t worth the political trouble it was causing them anymore,” Silverman said.

Avina is also involved with UNITE-HERE, and helped Pomona’s remaining workers successfully unionize after the events of 2011.

“The process of unionizing was very difficult because Pomona is a place that does not like unions,” Avina said. “Maybe they thought that we were going to remain without power in the workplace [after firing the 17 workers].”

However, Avina said that things have changed significantly at Pomona since the 2011 controversy, and UNITE-HERE organizers have frequent meetings with administrators to collaborate to resolve concerns.

“Before it was uglier, but the administration has calmed down and now we can better serve the students,” he said. “Every day after [the successful creation of] the union, the environment at the college and the cafeteria feels better.”

NEWS MARCH 2, 2018

THE STUDENT LIFE

Scripps Hosts Novelist Yaa Gyasi Emma Wu Shortt Scripps College hosted Ghanaian-American novelist Yaa Gyasi at Garrison Theater for a Scripps Presents talk in conversation with professor Myriam J. A. Chancy, the college’s Humanities Department chair Feb. 20.

Gyasi opened the evening by reading the first chapter of her 2016 debut novel “Homegoing,” one of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ selections for the National Book Foundation’s 2016 “5 under 35” award.

Gyasi, who published the book at the age of 26, also won the 2017 PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award for first book of fiction, the American Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Award for best first book.

“Homegoing” begins with the story of two half-sisters born in 18th-century who are separated when one is kidnapped and brought across the Atlantic Ocean to be sold into slavery in the U.S. Gyasi proceeds to tell the individual stories of eight generations of the sisters’ descendents and the familial cycles that are introduced and eventually resolved.

After Gyasi’s reading, Chancy said it was “wonderful to hear a writer read their own words.”

Gyasi said that reading aloud was an important part of her writing process. She said it helped her “identify the tonality of each character ’s voice” — a crucial endeavor, as “Homegoing” shifts through 14 primary characters descended from one another.

The event was well-received by many audience members, including students who are currently reading “Homegoing” in their Core II class, Subversive Selves.

“Just in class today we were talking about the title of the book, ‘Homegoing,’ so it’s really cool she answered a question at the end that answered something we talked about just a few hours ago in class,” Abby Power SC ’21 said.

Other students gained similar insights into Gyasi’s mindset.

“I had the question in class of how this book ties to Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome,” Amy Azubuike SC ’20 said. “[Gyasi] said that she didn’t really think about that while she was writing — which was honestly really surprising — because she didn’t want it to influence her writing, which I understand, but, wow, she literally wrote a book about Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome

without knowing about it while she was writing it.”

Other students found personal connections to “Homegoing.” An important theme of the novel is intergenerational differences, particularly with regard to familial migration, which Chiugo Akujuobi SC ’21 said resonates with her own experiences.

“I was born in Nigeria. I have Nigerian parents so every conversation is about tension,” Akujuobi said. “We grew up in different worlds similarly to how [a father and son pair in ‘Homegoing’] grew up in different worlds.”

Gyasi said the book’s title originated as a term created by enslaved people to describe deaths in their community; the deceased were believed to “return to the place from which they were stolen.” She said naming her book “Homegoing” was an act of restorative justice.

While the novel describes eight generations that each, in their own way, experienced the trauma of slavery, Gyasi said she wanted each chapter to also be a story of either romantic or familial love, to illustrate how the members of this family tree can continue to strive for survival through cycles of abuse, violence, and despair.

Gyasi said that in writing “Homegoing,” she wanted to tell the stories of slaves who were never given a voice in the recorded history of slavery. To do this, she said it was important to her to create nuanced and complicated narratives in which no character was portrayed as the antagonist or the hero.

She wanted readers to grapple with this duality in her book’s characters the way she had when writing their storylines, she said.

Gyasi’s highest priority in writing “Homegoing” was honoring the authenticity and ambiguity of her characters’ voices, rather than crafting satisfying or happy narratives.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m happy with the idea; it matters if it’s true,” she said.

Gyasi said the working title of her book was “African America,” which she changed mainly because she felt it only addressed one side of the story the novel tells and because Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “Americanah” — another novel that deals with similar themes — had just been published.

PAGE 3

SHS: Diagnostic Test Wait Times Unaffected By Short-Staffed Health Services

Continued from Page 1

ments are available, students are assessed by the nursing staff. Student with non-urgent matters are offered an appointment within a few days or referred to a local urgent care center.

Wait times for diagnostic tests do not appear be affected by the lack of a director, however. These types of visits generally only require a medical staffer such as a nurse or medical technician, not a physician.

Not all students have experienced issues. Not all students have experienced issues. Lena Pawlek HM ’21 went to SHS twice for tuberculosis testing and only had to wait five to 10 minutes, she wrote in an email to TSL. Mikayla Chang SC ’20 said she said she was able to schedule a same-day appointment when she needed her blood drawn.

SHS is in the process of hiring a fourth nurse practitioner and a director, who will be a licensed physician.

Dominic Frempong • The Student Life

Four Of 5Cs Pledge Punishments For High School Gun Protests Will Not Impact Admissions Sophia Sun In the wake of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting Feb. 14, high school students around the country are planning protests against gun violence. Some school districts, such as Needville, Texas, have threatened to suspend students for demonstrating during school hours.

However, Pomona College, Pitzer College, Scripps College, and Harvey Mudd College have pledged that disciplinary action taken by high schools against students who protest will not affect prospective students’ admission decisions, joining with more than 240 other U.S. colleges that have made such pledges. The Claremont McKenna College Office of Admissions does not have a blanket policy on this issue for all applicants, and will evaluate students on a case-by-case basis.

HMC announced its policy in a statement posted on its website Feb. 23.

“In recent days, questions have been raised about how colleges and universities will react if students who have applied or been admitted to the college

are disciplined by their schools for protesting in response to last week’s tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School,” wrote Thyra Briggs, Mudd’s vice president for admissions and financial aid, in an email to TSL. “We assure you that any disciplinary action taken by a school in response to students’ walking out of class or protesting in response to gun violence will not be held against you in our admission process.”

Briggs wrote that civic activism was central to the vision of HMC’s founders, who felt that “technology divorced from humanity is worse than no technology at all.”

She added that “we challenge our community members to reflect on their responsibility as engaged members of our community and of society.”

Pomona followed suit in a statement the following day.

“Pomona College wants to assure you that participating in peaceful protests in response to gun violence, even if this leads to suspension or other school disciplinary action, will have absolutely no impact on your admission to Pomona,” the state-

ment read.

“We felt it was important to support those applicants with a public affirmation of their peaceful participation in these acts of civic discourse and say clearly that ‘If you participate, it will have no impact on your application to Pomona,’” wrote Adam Sapp, director of Pomona College admissions, in an email to TSL. Pitzer followed three days later with a similar statement, which cited its founding values.

“Born in 1963 of idealism and pragmatic activism, Pitzer College believes every student has a right and responsibility to speak, be heard, and engage in active citizenship, including peaceful protest,” the statement read. “We assure you that Pitzer will not penalize you for such activities and they will not affect your admission.”

Pitzer ’s statement, unlike HMC’s and Pomona’s, made a guarantee to participants in all peaceful protests, not just those in response to gun violence.

Scripps also made a guarantee applicable to all protests in its statement, provided that such protests are peaceful and non-

disruptive.

“The admission committee supports a student’s right to express their opinion,” the statement noted.

The admissions offices at Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, and Scripps could not be reached for additional comment before press time.

CMC did not publish a statement on its website similar to those of the other 5Cs, but spokesman Peter Hong wrote in an email to TSL that “CMC would consider any such matter individually. Any applicant or accepted student with concerns can contact the admission office directly. Freedom of expression is a core CMC value.”

Hong also referred TSL to CMC’s Freedom of Expression pages, which detail the college’s policies, and specifically noted that CMC protects peaceful assembly and expression, and prohibits interference with the exercise of such freedoms by others on campus.

The college followed through with that promise last year, suspending five students who blockaded the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum to protest conservative speaker Heather Mac Donald.

Scripps To Debut First Writing And Rhetoric Major At 5Cs Lauren Ison

CMS Men’s Track Ban Lifted Early Members of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men’s track team are set to compete at the SCIAC Multi-Dual meet at Chapman University Saturday, according to students on the team, despite initially being barred from competing this week.

The athletes were banned from three meets following an investigation of alleged violations of CMS hazing policy. The Multi Dual meet was set to be the third and final competition for which the athletes were suspended.

It is unclear what caused the lifting of the ban; CMS athletic director Terrance Tumey declined to comment on the matter.

CMC Classifies Economics As STEM Major To Aid International Students

Claremont McKenna College is reclassifying its economics major as a STEM field, according to an email sent to CMC students who have F-1 immigration status. This follows a similar move by Pomona College last semester.

The change allows international student economics majors to apply for a two-year extension of Optional Practical Training, a program that generally allows international students to work in the U.S. without sponsorship for one year following graduation.

“I think you are going to see a wave of departments across the country [make the change],” Pomona College economics department chair Michael Kuehlwein said when Pomona reclassified the major.

Pitzer To Use Student Initiative Fund For Assorted Projects

As part of Pitzer College Student Senate’s Student Initiative Fund project, a “stateof-the-art” hammock structure will be constructed between East and West Residence Halls, a new hammock will be installed on the Mounds, a boxing area will be added to the gym, and bike accessories will be added to the gear closet within a few weeks, SIF committee member Isaiah Kramer PZ ’20 wrote in an email to students.

The SIF also has tentative approval for a pool table, lights for Pitzer’s volleyball court, and a half pipe.

Pitzer Student Senate Approves R&B Festival

At the Feb. 25 meeting, Pitzer Student Senate approved a $12,000 funding request from events board chair Elijah Pantoja PZ ’18 to establish an R&B festival, according to senate minutes. Events board is also seeking additional funding from other sources.

ASCMC To Fund Charity Event

ASCMC’s class presidents are working to combine a charity event with McKenna Palooza, an upcoming campus music festival, they announced at the Feb. 11 executive board meeting, according to ASCMC minutes. Each class will provide $1,000 to fund the event.

ASPC Launches Search For New Dean Of Students

ASPC will be announcing two student representatives selected for the Dean of Students search committee to replace former Dean of Students Miriam Feldblum Friday. The full committee will consist of nine members from the Pomona community, according to Feb. 20 minutes.

ASPC may also reschedule its regular meetings to Fridays.

-- Compiled by Marc Rod

5C students can now major or minor in writing and rhetoric, thanks to a new Scripps College program that “focuses on persuasion in nonfiction prose genres, the study of which is crucial to communication across national, cultural, and ideological borders,” according to Scripps’ website.

While English departments at Scripps, Pomona College, and Pitzer College already have creative writing concentrations, they do not extend to nonfiction writing and rhetoric.

Courses that count for the new writing and rhetoric major come from four of the 5Cs, and include “Writing about Justice in Politics” at Pomona, “Writing Center Theory & Praxis” at Pitzer, and “Creative Nonfiction” and “Writing for NonProfit Institutions” at Scripps.

The writing and rhetoric major, with eight required courses and a thesis, is designed to work either as a standalone major or as a dual major and to complement other fields of study, according to Kimberly Drake, an associate professor of writing and chair of the writing program.

“Someone could do an academic thesis [in a discipline other than writing and rhetoric] and then use that same subject and write a popular article or subset of articles on it and just really reframe it and rethink it,” Drake said.

Drake, who arrived at Scripps in 2005, developed the idea for writing and rhetoric over her years of working as a professor and talking to faculty and students about their interests.

Drake has been actively designing the writing and rhetoric

major the past two years. She wor with writing center staff from across the 5Cs and with Glenn Simshaw, an assistant professor of writing and director of the Scripps Writing Center.

Manya Singh SC ’19 wrote in an email to TSL that she assisted Drake in researching writing programs at other colleges and universities.

There was “a long process of discussion and thinking about courses that would make a particular kind of major” and then getting permission to use those courses, Drake said.

Meanwhile, Scripps students were already majoring in writing through the self-designed major option, which allowed them to individually petition for a writing major.

Drake worked with many of those students, whose experiences demonstrated that Scripps students could major in writing and “graduate and get jobs,” Drake said.

Bridgette Ramirez SC ’17 was one such student. She self-designed a major in creative writing with a nonfiction emphasis at Scripps and now works full-time as a marketing and editorial assistant for a nonprofit theatre and part-time as a grant writer for an education nonprofit.

To complete her writing major, Ramirez needed the signature of every professor whose course would be counted toward her major.

“I didn’t get all my materials and signatures sorted out for my self-designed major petition until fall semester senior year,” Ramirez wrote in an email to TSL. “Thankfully, once professors gave permission to count their classes for a writing major, no one had to get their permission again. So I laid the groundwork

for which classes other students could take for a writing major without worrying about permission slips.”

Ramirez wrote that her selfdesigned major, a predecessor of the writing and rhetoric program, was designed to “give practice in other forms of writing, help students to develop their artistry, and teach them how to give and receive writing critiques through consistent peer editing.”

Drake described the writing and rhetoric major as an interdisciplinary program with aspects of fine arts and aspects of humanities majors.

She said the idea for the major encountered resistance from faculty who considered writing to be outside the realm of the liberal arts. But Drake considers writing and rhetoric to be a good addition to a liberal arts curriculum.

“Getting back to the idea of discourse, persuasion, the art of writing, those things seem to me to be liberal arts,” Drake said.

“The program was created “to satisfy the student demand that routinely happened, that I actually think seems really important in this day and age especially, to think about nonfiction writing and the work it does and the art of it,” Drake said.

Currently, three Scripps students have declared majors in writing and rhetoric, according to Drake.

Talia Bromberg SC ’20 plans to join their ranks. “[Writing and rhetoric] allows me to explore political writing, fiction writing, grant writing, and so on,” Bromberg wrote.

“Ultimately, I just want to be able to have a keen understanding of effective forms of expression so that I can best communicate and persuade regardless of what field I end up in.”

LIFE & STYLE PAGE 4

MARCH 2, 2018

THE STUDENT LIFE

Not Your Typical Fraternity: Getting to Know Sigma Tau At Pomona College Karen Song As the beginning of the semester comes to an end, thousands of young hopefuls at universities across the United States wrap up the much anticipated “rush” process — weeks of socializing, bidding, and interviewing in an attempt to become a part of a sorority or fraternity.

Rushing season is marked by elaborate parties, lots of running, and sometimes hazing.

Here at Pomona College, Greek life looks a little different, to say the least. TSL sat down with Wendy Johana Noreña PO ’18, co-president of Sigma Tau, to learn more about fraternity life at the 5Cs. Contrary to popular belief, Pomona’s fraternities do not operate in secrecy. The two official co-ed fraternities that exist on campus are Sigma Tau and Kappa Delta.

Nu Alpha Phi, a third fraternity, was disbanded two years ago.

Greek life has a long history at Pomona. According to Noreña, Sigma Tau was founded 80-100 years ago, though it did not become co-ed until three years ago, which was her freshman year. The group has changed significantly since then, especially after becoming co-ed.

“There used to be a lot of fraternities on campus, and from what I’ve heard, they were a pretty awful presence on campus,” Noreña said. “Sigma Tau has been able to exist for as long as it has because we’ve been open to changing as the school changes and as the students change.”

Though there are many fraternities at other universities that serve specific purposes, such as business, law, service, Sigma Tau is focused on being a social group.

There is a rush process, but it is much less intense than that of organizations at other colleges.

Noreña likened the process to a middle school field day, but for a week-long.

“We spend a lot of time plan-

Courtesy of Sigma Tau

Members of Sigma Tau, one of the two fraternities of Pomona College, gather in costume for a group picture.

ning and doing rush,” Noreña said.

“Through the rush process, people get to know each other better and become friends with people who [they] never thought [they] would meet. We drink a lot of beer during this time and after when we meet as a fraternity, but the atmosphere is very chill — there are no keg stands, and definitely no hazing.”

Noreña also emphasized that their group is adamant on creating a welcoming environment where

no one is required to do something that makes them uncomfortable.

No one is required to drink, and they discuss the importance of consent in all forms during their meetings.

The rush for Sigma Tau is also different from that of most U.S. colleges. It is a closed process, and those who wish to rush are nominated by existing members.

The actual course of events is only known by existing members

Ye Olde Student Life

in order to maintain the element of surprise. Afterwards, those who have been invited can decide whether they want to join the group or not, and there is a friendly initiation with the entire organization.

Pomona students who hope to become potential nominees can familiarize themselves with members by attending “boots,” which are regular evening events hosted

by Sigma Tau at Dom’s Lounge.

Capitalism has been a constant throughout TSL’s history, but marketing has come quite a long way over the years, and consumer tastes have changed more than a little. This semester, we’ll be looking back at TSL ads through the ages.

The next boot will take place on March 22.

Otherwise, many of the invited nominees are introduced to the group through mutual friends.

Noreña said she was interested in the group after she befriended her Orientation Adventure leader, who was president at the time.

However, Pomona’s fraternities are only open to Pomona students.

Throughout the year, Sigma Tau meets occasionally to hang out,

play board games, or dance, with a couple of beers. They do not host “ragers” or 5C parties, but rather spend time within their intimate group and get to know each other.

“We’re just a bunch of dorks that hang out sometimes,” Noreña said. “I wish people knew that it didn’t really look like the frats elsewhere. It’s a great way to meet people and to have a group of friends you typically wouldn’t have.”

Finding ‘The Most’ On Claremont’s Newest Podcast

— Compiled by Samuel Breslow

Jojo Sanders • The Student Life

Ros Faulkner PO ’19, the host of KSPC’s new podcast “The Most,” interviews Chris Donnay PO ’18.

Daisy Ni

Police radio doesn’t exactly strike me as techno-wizardry, but apparently it was an impressive innovation when this ad ran in 1937.

Let’s all take a moment and be thankful for the advances in textile science since this ad was published in the 1920s.

Which of your friends is the flirtiest? The funniest? The sassiest?

If you’re interested in hearing what students call others, or in nominating your friends for superlatives outside the senior yearbook, tune in to the Claremont Colleges’ newest podcast, “The Most.”

“Basically, each episode will deal with a certain superlative or adjective that we tend to arbitrarily call each other,” Ros Faulkner PO ’19, the podcast’s host, said.

She named a few other adjectives that she anticipates covering, such as “the most kickass,” “the most existentialist,” and “the most intense.”

“They’re all going to be positive things,” she said. As for the nomination process, Faulkner said that she will “announce what the upcoming adjective is, and people will nominate whoever they think [fits] that attribute.” Later, nominees who consent to having their names posted will appear in another survey to select that week’s guest.

“I don’t actually think I’m going to find ‘the most flirty’ or ‘whatever person,’” Faulkner said. “The fun of it is more in having a conversation about the fact that so many people think of them as that.”

For example, Faulkner, in the process of selecting the interviewee for the first episode, noted that many of the nominees were surprised and happy upon learning about their nomination.

“Sometimes it’s kind of performative, and sometimes they do not even identify with that adjective,” she said.

Each conversation will revolve around questions regarding impressions that others have, or the significance of having a specific reputation.

Faulkner explained that the idea originated from her latenight insomnia.

“I have noticed a tendency among students to talk about their friends like ‘oh my god, he is the most extra person,’” she said.

According to Falkner, the podcast serves as a way to give others the spotlight and let them see how others view them.

“It’s just a fun way to meet new people,” Faulkner said. “I see all the justifications people write about why they nominate certain people.”

Sometimes, even Faulkner is surprised by the nominations.

She explained that part of the entertainment rests in the aspect of unexpectedness.

Beyond the nomination process, students at the 5Cs also have a say in what superlatives they would like to see discussed.

Regarding the choice of “flirtiest,” Faulkner said that “this was one I saw a few times, and I thought it would be a lighthearted note to get started off on.”

She added that it could be especially amusing “because it’s not something people are always aware of.”

Faulkner thinks that part of the charm will lie in its possibly awkward conversation. “It’s going to be a super fun, tongue-in-cheek conversation,” Faulkner said. “It’s supposed to be really goofy.”

LIFE & STYLE MARCH 2, 2018

PAGE 5

THE STUDENT LIFE

Will Win, Should Win, And Snubbed: Our Oscar Predictions Victoria Anders & Sam Betanzos

Hollywood has had a year of reckoning, complicity, and unified strength. Articles about sexual harassment and widespread systematic cover-ups overshadowed stories about box office grosses, the next Disney remake, or even those about a continued lack of diversity in stories, casts, production teams, and, increasingly, audiences.

The Oscars are a time to regather and consider the last and next year in film. The films most recognized by the Academy are ones that bring something new to the table, but not everything.

“Get Out” best fits this bill as a horror film laced with the racial politics of suburbia and Hollywood.

Indie films get their fair share (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “Lady Bird”), World War II historicals always have to make an appearance (‘’Darkest Hour” and ‘’Dunkirk”), and sci-fi romance weirdness got a special place this year as the most-nominated film (“The Shape of Water”).

Beyond the top Oscar contenders, the “Star Wars” series continued (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”) and “It” became one of the most referenced films of the year.

With the year’s top film awards come our predictions for the winners. We base these predictions on our own experiences viewing many of the films, the results of previous awards shows, and other expert predictions. *** Best Picture The nominees: “Call Me by Your Name,” “Darkest Hour,” “Dunkirk,” ‘’Get Out,” “Lady Bird,” “Phantom Thread,” ‘“The Post,” “The Shape of Water,” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Will win: Victoria’s pick: “The Shape of Water” Sam’s pick: “Lady Bird” Should win: Victoria’s pick: “Call Me by Your Name” Sam’s pick: “Call Me by Your Name” Snubbed: “The Florida Project”

Of the ten films nominated, five stand out, making the competition tough and diverse: “Dunkirk,” “Get Out,” “Lady Bird,” “The Shape of Water,” and “Call Me By Your Name.” Each film has a different strength: cinematography and scale (“Dunkirk”), novelty and social relevance (“Get Out”), acting and honest-sliver-of-real-life prowess (“Lady Bird”), mysticism and visual effects (“The Shape of Water”), and a fresh and intimately convincing love story (“Call Me By Your Name”). *** Best Director The nominees: Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk”), Jordan Peele (“Get Out”), Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”), Paul Thomas Anderson (“Phantom Thread”), Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”) Will win: Victoria’s pick: Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”) Sam’s pick: Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”) Should win: Victoria’s pick: Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk”) really should, but Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”) has a special place in my heart as a female writer-director of one of the year’s most honest films.

Sam’s pick: Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk”) Snubbed: Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me by Your Name”)

*** Best Actress The nominees: Sally Hawkins (“The Shape of Water”), Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”), Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya”), Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”), Meryl Streep (”The Post”) Will win: Victoria’s pick: Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) Sam’s pick: Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) Should win: Victoria’s pick: Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”), although I wouldn’t be surprised or sad if

Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya”) wins as well.

Sam’s pick: Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”) Snubbed: Meryl Streep’s unnecessary nomination is a snub to all other Supporting Actress contenders not included in the category this year. This is especially relevant for seven-year-old Brooklynn Prince of “The Florida Project.”

*** Best Actor The nominees: Timothee Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name”), Daniel Day-Lewis (“Phantom Thread”), Daniel Kaluuya (“Get Out”), Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”), Denzel Washington (“Roman J. Israel, Esq.”) Will win: Victoria’s pick: Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”) Sam’s pick: Timothee Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name”) Should win: Victoria’s pick: Honestly, Oldman’s got it if not just for his complete (albeit slightly inconsistent) physical transformation. But this is a tough category — Timothee Chalamet put his whole self into his performance, but if Daniel DayLewis (“Phantom Thread”) wins, it might make him reconsider his retirement.

Sam’s pick: Timothee Chalamet gave the performance of the year, and though I normally wouldn’t expect the Oscar committee to stray from their old guns (Oldman, Day-Lewis), I think they’ll capitalize on the atmosphere of change in Hollywood and make a radical pick this year. *** Best Supporting Actress The nominees: Mary J. Blige (“Mudbound”), Allison Janney (“I, Tonya”), Lesley Manville (“Phantom Thread”), Laurie Metcalf (“Lady Bird”), Octavia Spencer (“The Shape of Water”) Will win: Victoria’s pick: Allison Janney (“I, Tonya”) Sam’s pick: Laurie Metcalf (“Lady Bird”) Should win: Victoria’s pick: Laurie Metcalf

FILM COLUMN

Why I’m #TeamKillmonger Ben Hafetz

“Black Panther” recently made history by grossing over 700 million in its second weekend at the box office. This success is obviously a huge win for Disney’s profit margins. More importantly, the film’s massive success is a sign that there is a demand for black representation in major Hollywood blockbusters.

The film, written and directed

by Ryan Coogler, follows T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and his struggle for power with Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) over kingship of Wakanda.

Wakanda, a fictional African nation purposely hidden to keep its technological marvels free from Western imperialism, is the strongest element of the film. The country feels both real and fleshed out in the film.

This is accomplished in small moments where the camera lingers on unnamed Wakandan citizens going about their day-to-day lives in the country. The viewer sees all of Wakanda’s people, commerce, clothing, and traditions come to life.

The film’s greatest victory lies in these moments, as it portrays a vision of Africa in which African people are allowed to flourish by being exempt from slavery.

However, in the universe of “Black Panther,” the rest of Africa is not spared from Western imperialism and oppression. The difference between the privilege of Wakandan citizens and the oppression of non-Wakandan black citizens across the world is the central morale debate that drives the conflict between T’Challa and Killmonger.

Alongside this conflict is the second strongest element of the film — its supposed “villain” Killmonger. Unlike T’challa, a Wakandan-born prince and the film’s protagonist, Killmonger was born in Oakland and has thus not been protected from the oppression of Western imperialism.

T’Challa believes that Wakanda and its resources should remain hidden from the world.

On the other hand, Killmonger believes that Wakanda should reveal themselves to the outside world and use their resources, including the military, to liberate black people who have been oppressed by Western powers.

Jordan’s marvelous performance supports Killmonger ’s ideology. In fact, Jordan is so

Sarah Wong • The Student Life

(”Lady Bird”) Sam’s pick: Laurie Metcalf (“Lady Bird”) *** Best Supporting Actor The nominees: Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”), Woody Harrelson (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”), Richard Jenkins (“The Shape of Water”), Christopher Plummer (“All the Money in the World”), Sam Rockwell (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) Will win: Victoria’s pick: Sam Rockwell (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) based on the awards show trend, Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”) based on actual performance.

Sam’s pick: Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”) Should win: Victoria’s pick: Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”) Sam’s pick: Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”) Best Animated Film The nominees: “Coco,” “Loving Vincent,” “The Breadwinner,” “The Boss Baby,” “Ferdinand” Will win:

Victoria’s pick: “Coco” Sam’s pick: “Coco” — I don’t think there’s any dispute that “Coco” will take this one, though I’d love to see the big studios get upset by an underdog.

Should win: Victoria’s pick: “Coco,” a culturally accurate tear-jerker from beginning to end.

Sam’s pick: “The Breadwinner” *** Best Documentary Feature The nominees: “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” “Faces Places,” “Icarus,” “Last Men in Aleppo,” “Strong Island” Will win: Victoria’s Pick: “Faces Places” Sam’s Pick: “Last Men in Aleppo” Should win: Victoria’s Pick: “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail” Sam’s Pick: “Icarus” Best Adapted Screenplay The nominees: “Call Me By Your Name,” “The Disaster Artist,” “Logan,” “Molly’s Game,” “Mudbound” Will win: Victoria’s pick: “Call Me By

Your Name” Sam’s pick: “Call Me By Your Name” Should win: Victoria’s pick: If not “Call Me

By Your Name,” then “Mudbound” Sam’s pick: “Call Me By Your Name” *** Best Original Screenplay The nominees: “The Big Sick,” “Get Out,” “Lady Bird,” “The Shape of Water, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Will win: Victoria’s pick: “Get Out” Sam’s pick: “Lady Bird” Should win: Victoria’s pick: “Lady Bird” Sam’s pick: “Get Out” *** Best Cinematography The nominees: “Blade Runner 2049,” “Darkest Hour,” “Dunkirk,” “Mudbound,” “The Shape of Water” Will win: Victoria’s pick: “The Shape of Water” Sam’s pick: “Dunkirk” Should win: Victoria’s pick: “Dunkirk” Sam’s pick: “Blade Runner 2049”

SEX COLUMN

Queen Queef Speaks Out About Sexual Shame Mona Lott

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

“Black Panther” is dominating the box office with an astounding $108,000,000 at 4,020 locations in North America.

charismatic that the audience is almost forced to root for him.

He raises completely justifiable criticism to Wakanda of being complicit in oppression of black people throughout history.

In the world of “Black Panther,” Wakanda stands silently while Western slave ships abducts millions of Africans. Killmonger questions why Wakanda remains silent and thus allows the audience to question the utopia of Wakanda itself. This creates a situation where I could not help but completely side with Killmonger.

In fact, the brilliance of Killmonger is what exposes the film’s minor flaws — the most glaring one being T’Challa and his interactions with the Central Intelligence Agency. In the film, CIA agent Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) is presented as a heroic American working with T’Challa to stop Killmonger.

The problem with this portrayal of the CIA as a heroic force stems from the title of the film and T’Challa’s role as the Black Panther. It is obviously hard to separate the character Black Panther from the real world of Black Panther Party. I could spend an entire article discussing the importance and virtue of the Black Panthers, but for the purpose of brevity, I would encourage readers to look at the Black Panther’s

10-point plan.

In short, The Black Panther Party stood for the liberation of black people from the oppression of the United States. As a result, the U.S. government viewed the Black Panthers as an enemy, and many have even speculated that the FBI murdered Black Panther leader, Fred Hampton.

The U.S. government’s alleged role in the murder of Fred Hampton is what makes valorization of the CIA in the film “Black Panther ” so troubling.

How could a film that shares a name with the Black Panthers present the U.S. government that allegedly killed the leader of its party as heroic?

Despite this troubling reverence for the CIA, “Black Panther” remains an important film for black representation due to its depiction of an uncolonized vision for Africa and complicated portrayal of various ideologies regarding black liberation.

While “Black Panther ” has minor problems with major consequences, these problems do not take away from the achievements of the film. We should celebrate “Black Panther” while still acknowledging its shortcomings.

3.5 / 5

To me, queefs are kind of like quiches. They can be totally different depending on who makes them, and I used to be confused on how they come about.

Unfortunately, the similarities end there. While Grandma Lorraine’s quiches may fill you with nostalgia and an appreciation for home, queefs generally bring about a burning desire for the earth to swallow you whole — especially if you’re with a hottie you literally met 20 minutes ago at a North Quad rager.

With their trademark flatulent tones, queefs have long plagued vagina-owners as a source of embarrassment and shame. I personally have struggled to recover from many untimely queefs in the middle of steamy hookups, unsure whether to ignore it or bury my face in a pillow and cry.

I get it. Any kind of odd sound coming from an orifice can come off as unsexy.

But when I read articles like “How to Stop Queefing” or “What Men Really Think about Queefs,” I’m crushed by how much pressure our society still places on us women to be “perfect” — neat, tidy, and contained — during sex. God forbid that actual air gets expelled from our vaginas, right?

Because that’s all that queefs are. They’re not “vagina farts,” as some misinformed articles (and middle school boys) like to call them. According to Mary Jane Minkin, M.D., clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale Medical School, queefs occur when a vagina expands and excess air gets in.

Once there is penetration, the air does not have as much space inside to occupy, so it is abruptly forced out, resulting in an audible noise. Unlike flatulence, it is not indicative of waste in the body.

Queefing can occur in many situations — when changing positions frequently, during the resolution of intercourse, during a pelvic exam, or even during exercise, especially in certain yoga positions and situps.

In other words, it’s a super common thing, and there is nothing to be ashamed about.

Shame is a terrible thing to feel when engaging in something as intimate or exciting as sex, but it’s also a by-product of society’s need to control our bodies and sexualities. With the prevalence of kink-shaming,

Nina Portischman • The Student Life

sexual stigmas, and problematic Cosmopolitan tips, it feels like there’s an endless list of things we should feel guilty about.

This is especially troubling for those who are already marginalized, and those whose bodies are policed in a myriad of ways outside of sex.

It’s time we embrace the spontaneity of sexual interactions.

Whether it’s falling off the bed, getting a random leg cramp, orgasming too early or too late (or not at all) during sex, all things can easily be brushed off with some humor and laughter.

Honest communication with your partner also helps demystify these things by creating an open channel for support and

suggestions.

So while queefing may be uncomfortable, it’s something I think we should just own. For example, I once queefed non-stop for a whole minute after having sex with a casual hookup.

I shot up off the bed and sprinted to the bathroom hoping it would subside, but that only amplified the noise into hellish echoes that still reverberate in my head today.

In that moment I was mortified, but now I look back at those memories and think, screw it. I believe we should just stop trying to fulfill ridiculous, Hollywoodlike expectations of sex. Oh, and I hereby officially coronate myself as Queen Queef.

LIFE & STYLE PAGE 6

THE STUDENT LIFE

MARCH 2, 2018

Scripps Student Flutes For The Moon, Joins Air National Guard Band Mabel Lui Just after graduating high school, Chantal Balta SC ’21 received a call from her private flute teacher. The Air National Guard’s band, a federal military reserve section of the United States Air Force, was holding auditions for flute players. There were three spots open, and Balta was invited.

It was certainly an audition of a lifetime, but having fewer than 24 hours notice didn’t seem to faze Balta. The call came the day before the actual audition, so Balta practiced flute for five hours the night before waking up at 6 a.m. to drive with her family to the Channel Islands Air National Guard base.

There, she auditioned in front of the commander of the band.

“When I first auditioned, there were two other people with me.

One of them has a graduate degree in flute performance; another one, she’s in medical school right now, and she’s [been] doing flute as well,” Balta said. “And here’s me, coming fresh out of high school, going onto college.”

Balta’s audition was a success, and she was officially invited to join the Air National Guard’s band as a flute player.

“A lot of people are really surprised when I first tell them that I’m in the Air Force,” Balta said.

“They’re like, ‘What?! Are you gonna die out there? Are you going in combat?’ I’m like, ‘No, no, it’s okay. I’m just playing the flute.’”

Her flute career began in sixth grade.

“At first, it was an excuse to get out of class, but I actually slowly started falling in love with it,” Balta said about her passion.

She soon began playing flute in

bands throughout junior high and eventually became the first-chair of the flute section for her high school band.

Having accepted her position as a flute player for the Air National Guard, Balta is currently in a transition program called Student Flight, specifically designed for those who have to push back their basic military training (commonly known as boot camp).

Once a month, she participates in physical activities and briefings to prepare both physically and mentally for boot camp at the Air National Guard base. Though she is enlisted as a flute player, she still has to undergo the required physical training to be part of the Air National Guard.

Despite the rigorous training schedule, Balta said she has definitely felt a strong sense of community within her group: “We’re all going through the same thing, and it just became a bonding experience for us.”

Balancing being a Scripps student, training, and practicing flute was difficult for Balta during the first semester. Orientation week was particularly overwhelming, as she had to deal with adjusting to college and finding time to complete a 20-page security clearance online form for the military.

Now, however, Balta has gotten past her initial unease.

In May, Balta will end her stint in the Student Flight Program and officially start the two month basic military training.

She will then begin rehearsing with the Air National Guard’s band one weekend per month throughout her studies at Scripps College and beyond. She will also go on tour to select states every year as

5C Roller Derby Team Skates Into First Ever Game, Will Take On ASU Yijie Wang

Mabel Lui • The Student Life

For Chantal Balta SC ’21, playing the flute is a long-standing passion that has given her the opportunity to join the Air National Guard’s official band.

part of the band.

Balta hopes to be playing flute for the Air National Guard in 20 years and considers it an honor to have been recruited. Having previously considered joining the Armed Forces, playing for a military band was the best of both worlds.

“It’s just a dream come true, to be able to [kind of] do both and [have] it be able to work this perfectly into my schedule,” she said.

Until then, Balta can be found playing the flute in the Claremont Concert Orchestra of the Joint Music Program or in the laundry room in the basement of Scripps’

Clark Hall.

Balta said the acoustics in the basement are pretty good, so she often prefers to practice there as opposed to Garrison Theater, which is farther away. However, playing in the laundry room has its faults.

“People come in and out [of the laundry room] all the time, and they often catch me playing, and I get really embarrassed,” she said.

Of her love of and future in flute, Balta said, “I want to continue until I drop. It’s what keeps me sane. It’s what keeps me human. It’s my passion.”

The Claremont Colleges roller derby team, the only collegiate team on the West Coast, will host its first bout against Arizona State University March 3 at Pitzer College’s outdoor basketball court.

“We are just really excited to be hosting our first bout ever against another college,” team captain Carmen River Abbe SC ’18 said in an email to TSL. “This will also be the first time playing in an official game for a lot of our players, so we are just really excited to be able to participate in something like this.”

The team have never seen ASU play before and “have no idea how our skill levels might compare,” Abbe said.

This year, the 5C roller derby team’s roster has fluctuated between 20-25 members. There are currently 15 members who have passed the skills test required to compete, Abbe wrote in an email to TSL. In order to pass the skills test, members have to skate one mile in five minutes and be able to stop in different kinds of ways, Abby McCarthy PZ ’21 said. Those who pass the skills assessment can play contact (hip-checking, pushing, etc.) and participate in local open scrimmages and other games.

This Saturday, the 15 players who will be skating against ASU come from all of the 5Cs except Claremont McKenna College, McCarthy said.

This semester, most of the team members hail from Scripps, though that usually fluctuates, Abbe wrote in an email to TSL. Last year, the team drew a lot of players from Pomona and Pitzer, but they’ve since graduated.

The group has one and a half hour practices twice a week with their coach and a third hour-long captains’ practice that is followed by a team lifting session, team member Devon Frost SC ’20 said in an email to TSL. Students who have no past experience can still join the team. Usually, the greatest number of new members join at the beginning of the year.

“Most of the fall semester is spent teaching [new team players] how to skate,” Abbe wrote in an email to TSL. There are only four collegiate roller derby teams in the nation, so competition options are limited.

“We are hopeful, though, that the movement of collegiate roller derby will spread and that sometime in the future there will be teams closer by to play,” Abbe wrote in an email to TSL. If students are interested in joining the roller derby team, they can contact at 5crollerderby@gmail.com, or keep their eyes open for recruiting at the beginning of fall semester next year.

“We would love to have you.

Our practices are also always open for people to come by, check us out, and try on loaner gear and see how skating feels,” Abbe wrote in an email to TSL.

BOOK COLUMN

Robin Roe’s ‘A List of Cages’ May Be Fiction, But Abuse Is A Reality For Many Tarini Sipahimalani

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CW: Domestic abuse, violence Robin Roe’s novel “A List of Cages” details the lives of two characters: Julian, a presentday high school freshman, and Adam, a high school senior. The two characters are a mentormentee pair from elementary school, until they turn into foster brothers after Julian’s parents die in a car crash.

Julian finds himself drowning in a newfound sense of insignificance now that he lives with his uncle. “[I]t’s strange how many ways there are to miss someone,” Julian says. “You miss the things they did and who they were, but you also miss who you were to them. The way everything you said and did was beautiful or entertaining or important. How much you mattered....”

While Julian is still grieving over the loss of his beloved parents, he also silently suffers the abuse from his uncle. Finding comfort in Adam when the two characters reunite during Julian’s freshman year, Julian soon realizes his self-worth is intricately linked to his abusive situation.

Julian swallows his cries and tightens his convulsing body, as his uncle rips through the layers of his naïve skin.

On Jan. 14, CNN reports that parents David and Louise Turpin, who hail from Los Angeles, have been abusing their 13 children, whose ages range from 2-29.

Julian conceals the fresh red stains lashed across his back.

Also his feelings.

Reporters say the Turpin children are found shackled with padlocks, starved and deprived of basic necessities that we don’t give a second thought about, such as being able to use the restroom.

Julian hides his story in unobscured daylight.

Strikingly parallel to the novel’s fictional story, the Turpin family was set on a nocturnal schedule to avoid curious outsiders from gleaning their situation, according to the article.

They steadily increased the number of victims they tortured as they brought more children into the world. Numerous years had gone by, yet nobody suspected them, or at least not enough to scrupulously disrupt the Turpin family dynamic.

Like the Turpin children in real life, Julian is his own sole confidant, possessing the inside glimpse into his situation.

No outsider is permitted the knowledge of the monstrous secret other than those directly involved.

Written in first person from two different perspectives, the novel offers insight into Adam’s thoughts, including his blindness to the hidden abuse, but Julian’s voice, the insider perspective, which is often unattainable in the real world, enables readers to experience the ugly that occurs behind the scenes.

Although Julian has a story

Sophie Reingold • The Student Life

to tell, his naïve tone that is perpetually coated with a frightened, timid temperament demonstrates his inability to voice his story outwardly, further reflecting his silence and the way others fail to neglect these strange details.

Deep internal reflection flourishes Julian’s narrative more so than Adam’s, even when Adam is the more extroverted one. Julian’s internal settlement shows his discomfort with others, as he’s been unfairly removed from society, hindering him from relaying his story to anyone.

In fact, Julian has nobody to turn to for emotional support but his uncle who is the perpetrator.

Out of habituation, he latches onto this biological bond despite the threat it imposes, while being forced to comply with his erasure.

“When you know you’re going to tell someone everything, you see your day through your eyes and theirs, as if they’re living it alongside you,” Julian says.

“But when you don’t, it isn’t only not seeing double — it’s not seeing at all. Because if they aren’t there, you aren’t either.”

Without his story being told,

Julian isn’t heard, or more so, his condition doesn’t exist. His circumstances cause him to downplay the harshness of reality, and overtime, Julian almost ceases to exist quite literally.

Like Julian, the Turpin children lacked parent figures in their biological parents. They had no external support, nobody to confide in, almost accepting their situation as their norm. Fortunately, it was one of the Turpin kids who made her voice heard.

But, often, that is not the case.

In real life, we see our neighbors, acquaintances, friends, foes, and people biologically arranged like us, yet we are not an omniscient author who can worm our way into the minds of others.

Many times, these stories exist in numerous forms and are left hidden, just like the Turpin children were for many years. Neighbors noted peculiarities with the family, but often shrugged them away probably resuming to attend their own.

It is our job to not only listen but also actively seek out the stories of others, in order to find justice for things we may not know about behind closed doors.

OPINIONS OCTOBER 24, 2014

THE STUDENT LIFE

PAGE 9

OPINIONS PAGE 7

THE STUDENT LIFE MEGHAN JOYCE Editor-in-Chief KELLEN BROWNING Managing Editor ARIEL SO Managing Editor

SAMUEL BRESLOW, News Editor MARC ROD, News Editor MEGHAN BOBROWSKY, Life & Style Editor SAMANTHA RESNICK, Life & Style Editor WHITNEY WACHTEL, Life & Style Associate DONNIE DENOME, Opinions Editor ANIKKA VILLEGAS, Opinions Editor HANK SNOWDON, Sports Editor DAPHNE YANG, Senior Design Editor CASSIE WANG, Senior Design Editor MIN HYUNG LEE, News Designer KELLY HO, Life & Style Designer CHRISTINE LIN, Opinions Designer JILLIAN BATIUK, Sports Designer

OLIVIA TRUESDALE, Copy Chief AKSHAYA AMARNATH, Copy Editor EMILY JIANG, Copy Editor LORELEI BIVINS, Copy Editor JAMIE REID, Copy Editor SARAH WONG, Graphics Editor LUKE MEARES, Photo Manager LAURYN CRAVENS, Photo Editor CHRISTOPHER HU, Distribution Manager PETER YAN, Business Manager FAITH MCDERMOTT, Social Media Manager

TSL welcomes Letters to the Editor, which can be submitted by mail, by email, or in person at the Fishbowl in Walker Hall.

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Spring Break #cancun2k18 #vacay #goodvibes #livelaughlove

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THE STUDENT LIFE

Midterms #claremont2k18 #school #badjuju #dichatecry

Destroy Ballots Save Trees No need for paper write-in votes

Lifetime Presidency “No one man should have all that power” - Kanye West

Black Panther Too bad Panthers don't have thumbs.

This Psycho Wants More From Their Community Carolann Duro Columnist

I often find myself running into an unwanted, yet necessary explanation as to why I am not currently in my senior year of college. If I had followed the narrow path of graduating in four years, this would be my last semester. It is not.

At nearly 22 years old, when I identify myself as a sophomore, there are a few raised eyebrows and curious faces.

Getting into the long-winded explanation is what will certainly drive them away.

“I took some time off for my mental health.” People typically nod along as they picture me experiencing anxiety attacks or depressive symptoms.

“I had a psychotic break when I was 19 years old.” This is not what a random person at a party was expecting when I mentioned mental health.

Almost every time I tell this story, whomever I am conversing with is unaware of what psychosis actually is. Media has constructed anyone yielding a knife or stalking their ex-lover as a “psycho.”

Psychosis is a symptom of mental illness that is often described as a loss of connection with reality. It is accompanied by hallucinations (either visual, auditory, or tactile) and delusions.

A delusion is defined as “a

false belief that is firmly maintained in spite of incontrovertible and obvious proof to the contrary and in spite of the fact that other members of the culture do not share the belief.”

As the discussion of mental health becomes more common and many people now identify themselves alongside their diagnosis, the vast majority of mental illnesses and certain identities remain stigmatized.

I have witnessed the discussion of anxiety disorders and depressive disorders almost every day online and in the media, as people share relatable images or articles about the reality of living with these mental illnesses.

The quintessential mentally ill character or figure is a thin, able-bodied, white woman who experiences symptoms of anxiety or depression. While it is certainly necessary to bring awareness to these disorders, other illnesses and disorders receive far less attention.

Psychotic disorders, mood disorders, eating disorders, personality disorders, addiction disorders, and many other disorders are still heavily stigmatized.

As an Indigenous student who is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and addiction disorder, I never see myself accurately represented in conversations about mental health.

People with addiction disorders are often characterized as being a moral failure and that their illness is indicative of their “bad choices.”

In reality, trauma and predis-

position to other mental illnesses often cause many people with addiction disorder to self-medicate.

I am often open about my psychotic break because it is many people’s first encounter with the reality of psychosis that is divorced from the media and stigma. There is a pervasive myth that people experiencing psychosis are violent, when in reality, they are much more likely to experience violence, especially at the hands of police and staff at behavioral hospitals.

In American society, people often associate psychotic disorders with homeless people wandering the streets of cities. They clutch their bags and walk the other direction to avoid crossing paths with a “crazy psycho.”

Many imagine that hallucinations and delusions are evidence that someone is going to act on their psychotic symptoms. They don’t stop to think that maybe someone in their dorm room, a close family member, or someone they just met is just as likely to have suffered from a psychotic episode.

While progress is being made in terms of making mental health activism and discourse more mainstream, there have not been sufficient efforts to include the many misunderstood mental illnesses and people of marginalized identities that are a very real portion of the population.

Carolann Duro SC ’20 is a sociology major interested in decolonization and digital art. You can find them trying to beat Zelda on the Switch.

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OPINIONS MARCH 2, 2018

PAGE 8

THE STUDENT LIFE

An Ode To Platonic Lady Love In Place Of Female Competition Jo Nordhoff-Beard Columnist Good female friends are hard to come by, but can appear often when one least expects them and are one of life’s ultimate blessings. Female friendships are often overlooked in American society’s tendency to pit women against each other as competition for male affection.

This pitting of women against each other is shameful because female friendship is empowering and one of the best parts of being a woman.

Until I came to college, I had few close friends. I chose Scripps College mostly because of its good academics, weather, and small student population — without anticipating the self-confidence I have now gained and good friends I have made during my nearly three years here.

I assumed, perhaps naïvely, that high school drama would carry over to college, and that the same judgments I experienced because of my weight in every part of life prior to Scripps would be the same here.

I was pleasantly surprised by how wrong I was. Some of the friends I have made here are those that I will have for life. We have good, equal relationships where we need each other and spend time together, while at the same time allowing each other to shine.

I was nervous to live in a triple room my first year. I am an only child and, apart from summer camp, had never spent an extended amount of time with people my own age. I feared that I would not become close with them, that our room would have a hostile energy and be full of unaired grievances among the three of us.

After a few weeks of acknowledging each other’s presence but not hanging out regularly, I started to form genuine relationships with both of them.

I was different from my roommates because they were both ath-

letic and science majors. However, our friendships instead crossed the arbitrary borders that could have divided us. Both of them respected me enough not to make comments about my appearance, and I had never had friends before who, either coming from a place of intentional or unknowing criticism, had not discussed my weight.

I very much identified with Mae Whitman’s character in the movie “The DUFF,” where her three female friends view her as the fat, funny friend who they could use purely as a wingwoman to talk to the most attractive guys in high school. While this movie perpetuates fatphobia and other distorted notions of what is considered beautiful (because Mae Whitman is not remotely fat), I felt many times that I was in this position in my friend group, a foil to their actions and only a vessel of humor.

There are not many positive representations of female friendship in media, particularly with fat people in them. Many movies and television shows may still fail the Bechdel test, which is passed when there are multiple female characters in a movie that talk to each other about a subject that is not related to men, and the Sexy Lamp Test, a phrase about movies, coined by Kelly Sue deConnick: “if you can remove a female character from your plot and replace her with a sexy lamp and your story still works, you’re a hack.” Women are often extraneous additions to male stories — just wives, girlfriends, or romantic interests — not fully formed people with personalities.

Although there are more women in the United States in business, medical school, and movies than there have been in the past, there are not enough to accurately represent the population and make up for the numerous years in which there were incredibly few women represented.

If two women or two people of color are up for the same high profile job, they could perceive themselves as

being hired only to fulfill a quota.

In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s famous TED Talk “Why We Should All Be Feminists, she says, “We are all social beings. We internalize ideas from our socialization. … We teach females that in relationships, compromise is what a woman is more likely to do. We raise girls to see each other as competitors — not for jobs or accomplishments, which

in my opinion can be a good thing — but for the attention of men.”

Women have very different sets of rules and conditions imposed upon them compared to men, and those conditions from a very early age dictate how women perceive themselves and compare themselves to other women.

The dominant narrative of the female experience is one of com-

CW: Gun violence, murder In the past year or so, President Donald J. Trump’s actions and his response to heated political issues have inspired many Americans to collective action and continued protest.

Collective action itself is not a special feature of Trump’s presidency, but the frequency with which these movements occur, their public weight, and surprising turnout are remarkable elements of Trump’s time in office. These movements have advocated for women’s rights, climate change mitigation, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — against Trump’s travel ban — and now, for gun reform.

Feb. 14, Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 people at Marjory Stone-

man Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida. This was the moment that — through shock, terror, and grievance — ignited the flame, calling for immediate gun reform.

Quickly after, students began walkouts all over the nation, and bigname companies cut their ties with the National Rifle Association.

The #NeverAgain movement demands “stricter background checks for gun buyers and a plan for a nationwide protest.” This two-week old movement has already made strides, not only in gaining public attention and spreading gun violence awareness, but also demanding the attention of many government officials.

Students debated Marco Rubio at a town hall meeting, which allowed the world to see what the survivors of the Parkland shooting want for the future and also allowed for Rubio

rather than friends first. To create another lens, we as a collective culture have to change how women view each other’s accomplishments to be a point of pride and not simply a means of comparison which inspires self-criticism.

Jo Nordhoff-Beard SC ’19 is an English major from Seattle. She enjoys Sam Hunt, flavored seltzer water, and reading memoirs written by women.

Katie Erickson • The Student Life

#NeverAgain Is The Social Movement We’ve Always Needed Maddy Neff Columnist

parison and always thinking about oneself in relation to someone else.

Many people have told me not to care about what other people think, especially in relation to my weight, but it is hard when there are not many positive examples in the media that demonstrate healthy female relationships.

As women, we are socialized to view other women as competition,

to discuss his promise to commit to gun reform. Later on, a Florida lawmaker’s aide was fired after claiming that Parkland students are “actors.”

With its beginning almost two weeks ago and its success so great, the #NeverAgain movement has people wondering why this movement is so different from others.

There are plenty of social movements that were mobilized after a shared grievance or call to action, especially during Trump’s time in office, but #NeverAgain is much more successful.

The answer lies with the young people who are leading this movement. In comparison to the Women’s March or Environmental movement, #NeverAgain is led by high school students.

According to researcher Morley Winograd, the Z Generation or “plurals” that have suddenly made

gun reform such an urgent issue, are “an ‘adaptive’ generation” that “take the problems that were brought to light by their predecessors and [tries] to work them out.”

Mary Beth Tinker, whose name is synonymous with student protest and free speech, complimented the Parkland students and the #NeverAgain movement: “These kids are picking up the baton. It’s wonderful and heartening, and I know there are so many young people taking it from here.”

In fact, this is a demographic that has a considerably louder voice in the gun-debate conversation because they have witnessed gun-violence and are possible victims to gun violence on their campuses.

Maddy Neff SC ’21 is a politics major from Palo Alto, CA. She aspires to meet all the dogs in the world.

Molly Antell • The Student Life

Stop Blaming Mental Illness For Gun Violence Chris Agard Columnist Many lawmakers claim that mass shootings are a product of mental illness, implying that there is no hope in stopping this epidemic that has plagued our country. Many believe that no type or amount of legislation can aid our wounded nation. These beliefs are simply egregious and infuriating.

No developed country in the world sees as much gun violence as the United States. Between 1966 and 2012, the United States experienced 90 mass shootings.

The country with the next most mass shootings during that time frame had 18.

Our generation has grown up with lockdown drills — in the case of an active assailant on campus — alongside their fire drills at school. This is an issue that many either do not know how to handle, are prevented from handling, or choose not to for their own ulterior motives.

Oftentimes, it is reported that the perpetrators of these mass shootings experience some sort of mental illness. The validity of these claims are highly questionable, but even if they are true, mass shooters have far more in common than just that. If this were truly a problem of mental illness, the people who commit these crimes would not be just men. They would also not be just white.

I am not arguing that mental health does not deserve attention.

However, when a politician does nothing to support programs that aid those with mental health issues and, in fact, blames mass shootings on mental illness, the politician’s own lack of action is blatant.

The toxic combination of white male aggression and mental illness has proven a deadly equation that our legislators and culture have helped defend. Donald Trump became president because of a platform that pandered to an irrational white male aggression.

Regulations must be made stricter for all Americans intending to purchase guns, not just mentally ill people. Trump and Republicans in Congress have actively made access to guns as easy as possible for Americans, which only puts other Americans in danger.

Furthermore, our country has bred men, including myself — but especially white men — to act and

think dangerously. This aggression can be seen throughout American history, during slavery, the days of lynching, and today in the age of irrational gun violence.

“We must also work together to create a culture in our country that embraces the dignity of life,” said Trump after the Parkland shooting.

This is not possible when it is clear that our country and president only embrace the dignity of the lives of select Americans. He has certainly proven that he has no concern for the sanctity of my life as a black male.

The issue of mass shootings may be about mental health, but only to a slight degree. Productive solutions can only be made through stricter gun laws.

Putting guns in schools and arming teachers is an absurd concept, and it is shameful that the president has even proposed this idea. The militarization of public schools, effectively turning them into prisons, would only be a good idea in the sense that might possibly get the funding that is imperative to their success. However, there are other ways to fund schools, ones that will not put children and young people at risk.

There are many tweets and online posts about the strict regulations made by Australia lawmakers after a mass shooting in the 1990s. This is not necessarily the best example, given that the number of guns purchased in Australia was less than the number of guns that have been bought in the United States and that the importation of guns to the country is more challenging because it is an island. However, it is a good start, as regulation is the only way we can see any progress in the safety of our schools and general populace.

Solving this dilemma will take much more than mimicking Australian policy, and it most certainly will require more than the current inaction of policymakers. It will require partisan action, American ingenuity, and a lack of involvement by the National Rifle Association.

I am angered to see that my peers and I have become desensitized to these horrifying acts of violence that are anything but normal.

America deserves a future unlike its past, one that sees less devastation and one that, as our president said, embraces the dignity of life.

Chris Agard CM ’21 is an International Relations major from Atlanta, GA. In his free time, he enjoys eating burritos from Chipotle.

OPINIONS PAGE 9

MARCH 2, 2018

THE STUDENT LIFE

Disability Day Of Mourning: 1,027 Reasons To Be Angry Donnie TC Denome Columnist CW: Ableism, saneism, hate crimes, murder This article has been adapted from a speech the author gave at the 7C Disability Day of Mourning Vigil March 1.

Last night, I held a vigil in Benson Auditorium at Pitzer College.

It was sparsely populated but the attendees were passionate about the subject matter. We gave speeches, recited poetry, and listened to a recitation of the names of the dead.

I held the vigil for Disability Day of Mourning, an event organized by the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network to remember and honor disabled people lost to filicide, or murder by a family member. Part of the vigil included the reading of a list ASAN has collected of over 1,000 disabled victims of filicide. The list stretches back to 1978, although most of the victims on it were killed in the last decade.

One thousand names. One thousand people with lives, identities, talents, friends, families, and communities. One thousand people whose lives were absolutely worthwhile, yet taken too soon.

One thousand people whose deaths are too often portrayed as “a mercy killing” and “understandable.” One thousand people whose killers are too often portrayed as “driven to murder” by their victim’s disability or an example of how “all parents of [disabled] children” sometimes feel.

One thousand reasons why our views on disability, neurodiversity, and inclusion must change radically and soon.

Disabled people are not bur-

dens. We are individuals with lives and personalities. We can’t do everything that non-disabled people can do, but that does not make our lives worthless. We may never function with the same level of independence that non-disabled people will, but we still can function.

We still have autonomy over our bodies, minds, and decisions.

To remove that from us (through physical force, confinement, or legal terms) is to treat us as less than human.

Right now, our president is talking about how we should reopen mental institutions to prevent mass shootings. Apparently, he thinks denying disabled people of civil rights and liberties is not too high a price to pay, despite experts saying clearly that it won’t work.

Or, consider the fact that in 1927, the Supreme Court ruled in Buck v. Bell that it was legal to sterilize disabled people (especially disabled people who could become pregnant). The majority opinion, delivered by Oliver Holmes, Jr. included the phrase “three generations of imbeciles are enough,” in reference to the petitioner Carrie Buck, her mother, and her daughter, despite the fact there is evidence none of the Bucks were disabled at all. The case has never been overturned.

HR 620, a bill that would remove parts of the Americans with Disabilities Act and make it harder for disabled people to sue businesses that don’t comply with accessibility guidelines, recently passed through the House of Representatives.

It now is apparent that neither the executive branch, the judicial branch, nor the legislative branch of the federal government will stand

up for the rights of disabled people.

Disabled people cannot rely on the government to protect us and, apparently, we can’t rely on our family members either. Our lives hang tenuously in the balance, dependent on the whims of our politicians and, sometimes, caretakers.

When our government approves work requirements and discusses lifetime caps for Medicaid, it targets the most vulnerable members of low-income and disabled populations. These requirements and caps, which put demands on disabled people who most likely cannot fill them and cut the amount of care these people are able to receive, will kill people if they are carried out throughout the country.

This is the reality we live with.

If my insurance policy had a lifetime cap, I would have broken it within my first year — or possibly month — of life. I had $500,000 of brain surgery, monitoring, and postsurgical care before I was two weeks old. Without that care, I would be dead right now.

Even today, my medications cost $600 a month before insurance. After insurance, they cost $30. I need those medications to keep me stable enough to go to school, hold a job, and make a future for myself.

Because of those medications, I can have a socially approved “future.” There are many disabled people who will never be able to go to college, hold down a job, live without constant care, or meet other social benchmarks.

That’s okay.

Disabled people and our lives have intrinsic value no matter what we can or can’t accomplish. We are family members, partners, students,

teachers, workers, parents, children, friends. We add knowledge, love, compassion, skills, and passion to this world.

Even if we were none of these things, we are autonomous human beings deserving of life.

When disabled people are deprived of our rights, we are denied our humanity. We are too often treated like permanent children: growing in body and age but never maturing to the point where we can speak for ourselves.

But we can, and do, speak for ourselves. We are screaming, too often, for our concerns to be taken seriously but others around us do not pay attention.

The motto of the Autistic SelfAdvocacy Network, a group by and for autistic people, is “Nothing About Us Without Us.” On their position statements webpage, ASAN explains their motto: “We believe that self-advocacy is essential to this process and that there must be meaningful involvement of Autistic individuals in making policy at all levels.”

Disabled people deserve to be involved in our own care and policy surrounding us no matter what. It is futile to pretend the concerns of disabled people will go away if others ignore them.

Disabled people have always existed and will always exist.

Right now, our lives and futures hang in the balance.

Nothing about us without us!

Donnie TC Denome PZ ’20 is a public health major with research interests in the intersection of disability and queerness. They have a fat, crotchety cat named Butterscotch.

Ken Kens!!

Sean Ogami • The Student Life

College Presidents, It’s Time To Support Student Journalism Lauren Ison Columnist In spring 2017, I worked as editor-in-chief of TSL. The position was rewarding and challenging; I got to build leadership skills, interact with TSL writers, photographers, designers, and editors, and contribute to the print and online content we produced each week.

Unfortunately, I also had to devote much of my time and energy to justifying the existence of TSL and its approximately $20,000 annual operating budget to student government representatives and other potential donors.

Throughout the semester, my co-editors and I launched a petition, spoke to administrators, and continually met with student government representatives, all in an effort to increase our budget allocation from undergraduate 5C student governments so that we would be able to continue printing TSL. In the end, we were only able to print this year with the help of an anonymous donor.

Student journalists should not have to fight so hard to justify their publications’ survival at the Claremont Colleges, institutions that pride themselves on promoting freedom of expression, open dialogue, and student engagement.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

By establishing a joint fund for student publications, the 5Cs could create more stability for student publications and end the publications’ reliance on student governments.

Certainly, this shift would require the colleges to commit to preserving the editorial independence of student publications. But with mechanisms for accountability and transparency in place, it would be preferable to the current system, which permits student governments to use student publications as pawns in their own political disputes.

In addition to signaling a commitment to free expression, reliable support for student journalism would allow publications to invest in educational programming, improve the quality of their publications, and recruit new staff members.

The colleges should also take responsibility for paying student journalists, which would make it much easier for less affluent students to have equal participation in student publications. Until fall 2015, all TSL staff members were paid. Now, only senior staff members — about 20 percent of all staff — receive compensation for their work. While TSL staff members hail from six of the 7Cs, the labor budget comes entirely from Pomona College.

Institutional support for student journalists would benefit the broader campus community by increasing opportunities for dialogue and raising the quality of on-campus discourse.

With greater financial independence and educational support, student journalists might devote more resources to major investigative stories like the Wabash report, which described Harvey Mudd College students’ and faculties’ views on work-life balance as well as racial and gender diversity.

TSL’s publication of that report last spring led to campus-wide

protests and increased dialogue about issues like mental health and diversity at Mudd.

Moreover, the practice of journalism not only promotes public dialogue, but also aligns with many of the goals of a liberal arts education. Student journalists engage with campus communities, consider others’ perspectives, weigh ethical considerations, and think critically about on-campus issues, all while improving their writing and communication skills.

Kellen Browning PO ’20 is a managing editor for TSL who has taken two journalism courses with Claremont McKenna’s government lecturer Terril Jones, one of the few professors who teaches journalism for journalism’s sake at the 5Cs. Browning said that journalism has improved his communication skills and his ability to “make connections between different pieces of information.”

“Thinking critically is something you can do a lot better if you have some training it,” Browning said.

The liberal arts were originally intended to prepare students for participation in civic life. In today’s political climate, the ability to create, understand, and evaluate media is critical to that participation.

Courses like those taught by Jones have demonstrated the value that journalism education can bring to a liberal arts environment.

Jones, who began teaching at CMC in fall 2015, said that he has witnessed an increase in enthusiasm for journalism from students and faculty over the last two years.

“Students as well as faculty are much more aware of the power of media, the effectiveness of the media, the necessity of it,” Jones said.

Due to the lack of educational resources for aspiring journalists at the 5Cs, TSL has often taken on an educational role, training staff members and hosting workshops on journalistic topics. Students come to TSL when they want to explore journalism as a potential career, learn editorial skills, hold institutions accountable, and express their opinions to peers in a public forum.

As the Colleges continue to expand journalism-related courses, they should consider how faculty and staff can collaborate with student journalists to improve educational programming and publication quality. Educational support from faculty and staff would make it much easier for TSL to implement meaningful journalism programming and professional development that goes beyond practical training.

In combination with stable financial support, this educational support would enable student publications to do reporting that raises awareness, promotes dialogue, and leads to institutional change.

If the Claremont Colleges truly place importance on open inquiry, dialogue, and accountability, they should take responsibility for ensuring that student media organizations like TSL have the funding and educational support they need to thrive.

Most of us here at the Claremont Colleges value the role of journalism in our society. We need to start recognizing the value it provides to our campuses as well.

Lauren Ison PO ’18 is an Economics major and a former editor-in-chief of TSL. If you have feedback on this article, send her an email at lauren.ison@ pomona.edu.

Rules: Rules: You You may may only only write write the numbers 1-6, each row and column must have one and only only one one of of each each number number 1-6, and numbers in fences must follow the operation to reach the target number for that fence.

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Rules: You may only write the numbers 1-6, each row and column must have one and only one of each number 1-6, and numbers in fences must follow the operation to reach the target number for that fence.

Anam Mehta • The Student Life

SPORTS PAGE 10

Sports Calendar

March 2 - March 8

Pomona-Pitzer Friday, March 2 Men’s & Women’s Dive NCAA Diving Regionals Softball At Redlands 10 a.m. & 12 p.m.

Womens Water Polo Cal Baptist At P-P Convergence Tournament 11:40 a.m.

Women’s Water Polo Villanova At P-P Convergence Tournament 1:40 p.m.

Men’s Tennis TBA Pacific Coast Doubles Championships Sunday, March 4

Women’s Water Polo UC San Diego At P-P Convergence Tournament 7 p.m.

Men’s Tennis TBA Pacific Coast Doubles Championships

Men’s Golf Desert Classic At Royal Links GC 8 a.m.

Men’s Tennis TBA Pacific Coast Doubles Championships Monday, March 5 Men’s Golf Desert Classic At Royal Links GC 8 a.m.

Saturday, March 3 Men’s Golf Desert Classic At Royal Links GC 8 a.m.

Wendesday, March 7

Track and Field SCIAC Multi-Dual Meet At Occidental 10 a.m.

Women’s Water Polo CMS EDIT At P-P PICOKR’S 7 p.m.

Women’s Lacrosse At Redlands 7 p.m.

Baseball At Whittier 11 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Friday, March 2 Men’s & Women’s Dive NCAA Diving Regionals

Softball St. Catherine At Tuscon, AZ 2018 Leadoff Classic 1 p.m.

Women’s Water Polo Sonoma St At CMS Convergence Tournament 1:40 p.m.

Women’s Tennis At Southwestern (TX) 2 p.m.

Baseball At La Verne 2:30 p.m.

Women’s Lacrosse At Whittier 11 a.m.

Softball Pacific Lutheran At Tuscon, AZ 2018 Leadoff Classic 11:30 a.m.

Women’s Water Polo UC San Diego At CMS Convergence Tournament 11:40 a.m.

Women’s Tennis East Texas Baptist At Georgetown, TX 2 p.m.

Women’s Water Polo Cal State Monterey Bay At CMS Convergence Tournament 5 p.m.

Softball Otterbein At Tuscon, AZ 2018 Leadoff Classic 4:30 p.m.

Men’s Basketball EDIT OR’S Whitworth At Walla Walla, WA PICK NCAA Tournament 5:30 p.m.

Women’s Water Polo Villanova At CMS Convergence Tournament 5:40 p.m.

Men’s Tennis TBA Pacific Coast Doubles Championships

Men’s Tennis TBA Pacific Coast Doubles Championships

Sunday, March 4 Softball Pacific (OR) At Tuscon, AZ 2018 Leadoff Classic 9 a.m.

Men’s Tennis At Occidental 10 a.m.

Softball Fontbonne At Tuscon, AZ 2018 Leadoff Classic 10:30 a.m.

Saturday, March 3 Men’s & Women’s Dive NCAA Diving Regionals Women’s Tennis Trinity (TX) At Austin, TX 8 a.m.

Men’s Tennis Christopher Newport At CMS 3 p.m.

Men’s Tennis TBA Pacific Coast Doubles Championships

Softball Manhattanville At Tuscon, AZ 2018 Leadoff Classic 9 a.m.

Wednesday, March 7

Track and Field SCIAC Multi-Dual Meet At Occidental 10 a.m.

Women’s Water Polo At P-P 7 p.m.

Women’s Lacrosse Rhodes At CMS 7 p.m.

Scores Pomona-Pitzer

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

Men’s Tennis P-P 5 Brandeis 4 Azusa Pacific 6 P-P 3

Baseball CMS 9 Bates 1 Puget Sound 13,14 CMS 3,6

Track and Field Rossi Relays

Softball CMS 11,6 Chapman 1,7

Men’s Basketball P-P 71 Occidental 60 CMS 86 P-P 62

Men’s Tennis CMS 9 Trinity 0 CMS 6 Wash U 3 Emory 5 CMS 4

Baseball Chapman 8,7,4 P-P 0,9,9 Puget Sound 13 P-P 10 Women’s Lacrosse CMS 15 P-P 5 P-P 18 Chapman 13 Women’s Tennis P-P 8 Bates 1 Women’s Water Polo P-P 10 Fresno Pacific 8 Azusa Pacific 10 P-P 9 P-P 20 Whittier 7

Sagehen Swim And Dive Teams Both Win SCIACs; Title Is P-P Men’s First

Women’s Water Polo UCSB At CMS Convergence Tournament 5 p.m.

Baseball Whittier At P-P 2:30 p.m.

Softball P-P 4 Occidental 0 P-P 0 Occidental 4

CMS AND P-P SWIM AND DIVE

Softball La Verne At P-P 12 p.m. & 2 p.m.

Women’s Tennis Johns Hopkins At Chattanooga, TN ITA Team Indoor Championship 11 a.m.

Baseball La Verne At CMS 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.

MARCH 2, 2018

THE STUDENT LIFE

Men’s Basketball CMS 83 Chapman 72 CMS 86 P-P 62 Women’s Basketball CMS 69 Redlands 65 Chapman 70 CMS 61 Women’s Tennis CMS 9 Chapman 0 CMS 9 Occidental 0 CMS 9 Brandeis 0 Women’s Track and Field Rossi Relays Women’s Lacrosse CMS 15 P-P 5 Women’s Water Polo Fresno Pacific 13 CMS 10 CMS 6 Azusa Pacific 5 CMS 12 CalTech 2

Photo courtesy of Pomona-Pitzer Athletics

Pomona-Pitzer women’s and men’s swim and dive teams both won the SCIAC championship Saturday, Feb. 24, making this the men’s first ever SCIAC title and the women’s second in three years.

Kellen Browning A four-day battle to determine the 2018 SCIAC swim and dive champions concluded Saturday at Brenda Villa Aquatic Center in Commerce, California, and the Pomona-Pitzer men’s and women’s teams swam away with both titles.

The men’s 1086.5 to 998 victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was the first SCIAC championship in Pomona-Pitzer history, and snapped CMS’ impressive 10-year streak of conference titles.

“I was extremely excited, as was everybody on the team,” Mark Hallman PO ’18 wrote in a message to TSL. “Winning for the first time meant a lot to everybody involved, especially my fellow seniors who have been working so hard for this. We were even flooded with messages from alumni who were excited for us.”

Sagehen head coach Jean-Paul Gowdy said his team’s close loss in the 2017 SCIAC championship provided extra motivation this season.

“We only lost by eight [points] last year — it was crushing, it was really difficult last year,” he said.

“To bounce back from that sort of win a little bit more emphatically, was pretty sweet.”

The victory would not have been possible without contributions from Hallman, who was named SCIAC Male Athlete of the Year, and Lukas Menkhoff PO ’21,

the SCIAC Newcomer of the Year.

Menkhoff and Hallman went one-two in the 100-yard freestyle, with Menkhoff setting a new meet and school record of 44.16 in the process. Then, the duo, along with Samuel To PO ’18 and Ryan Drover PZ ’19, won the 400-yard freestyle relay in 2:59.65, also a meet and school record.

“Those are some of the ones that stand out in terms of winning events,” Gowdy said, but “when a swim team wins a championship … it’s the people, like Kyle Allison [PO ’18], he’s a senior, doesn’t stand out in terms of placing high, but scoring in his two events, or Peter Hanson [PZ ’18], who’s another senior, really had a purpose this year. Those guys don’t always get the headline, but it’s often those kind of guys that are the difference in a swim meet.”

Gowdy attributes much of the men’s and women’s success to the teams’ culture this year.

“I think we’re an inclusive bunch. The swim season is a grind,” he said. “It’s not always fun, but it needs to be rewarding and enjoyable. When you have leaders that can lead in the tough times, you typically get to a big end-of-season meet and things go well.”

Led by Maddie Kauahi PZ ’19, the Sagehen women won their second title in three years, pulling away from the Athenas for a comfortable 1166 to 1015 win.

Kauahi was named the SCIAC Female Athlete of the Year and won

six events — the 50-yard freestyle in a SCIAC-record time of 23.30 seconds, the 100-yard freestyle in a meet record 50.82, the 400-yard medley relay, the 200-yard medley relay, the 200-yard freestyle relay, and the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Again, Gowdy credited swimmers who weren’t event winners, but performed well and scored points for the team, including Molly Weinstock PO ’18, Alex Seidel PO ’18, Sarah Jin PO ’19, and Mackenzie Cummings PO ’19.

“In a lot of ways, the women’s win was a bit more of a surprise,” he said. “The men, we knew we were close last year … the women, we lost by 250 or so. And so to come back and make up that difference speaks to a lot of good things happening throughout the year with training.”

Though CMS fell short last week, the Stags and Athenas still had plenty of individual performances to celebrate.

“Our team has a history of winning championships, so we’re never going to claim to be satisfied with anything short of that, but at the same time we give a lot of credit to Pomona-Pitzer, who earned that championship,” CMS head coach Charlie Griffiths said. “We fought as hard as we could and hold our heads high.”

The Stags were led by Kendall Hollimon CM ’20, who won the one- and three-meter dives, and has been “one of the outstanding divers in the country,” Griffiths said. “It’s always fun to watch him perform at

a high level.”

Another highlight was Henry Limm HM ’20, who broke CMS’ oldest record by swimming 3:55.61 in the the 400-yard intermediate medley.

For the Athenas, Mia Syme CM ’21 swam 4:57.37 to break the conference’s oldest record: the 500yard freestyle, which had stood since 1999. The 4x200 yard freestyle relay team broke the meet record, Maia Presti SC ’18 brought home a victory in the one-meter dive, and Claire Bacon-Brenes SC ’20 won the 200-yard breaststroke. “[Bacon-Brenes] was defending champion in that event, so it was nice for her to be able to get on top of the podium for that one,” Griffiths said. “We had some really strong performances and plenty to feel good about.”

The season isn’t over for CMS or P-P; the NCAA diving prelims in San Antonio this weekend will determine which divers will compete at the NCAA championships, and both teams discovered Wednesday which swimmers qualified for NCAAs. The P-P men and women will be represented by eight swimmers each, including Kauahi, Cummings, Jin, Seidel, Drover, Hallman, Menkhoff, and To. While the Stags will have only one swimmer, Limm, at NCAAs, the Athenas will send nine, including Bacon-Brenes and Syme.

The NCAA championships begin March 21 in Indianapolis.

CMS, P-P Runners Have Strong Showings At Rossi Relays

Hank Snowdon

The Claremont-MuddScripps track and field teams hosted the 22nd annual Rossi Relays meet last Saturday at Burns Stadium, and both 5C teams enjoyed several impressive performances.

In the women’s events, CMS placed fifth out of 20 teams, while Sixth Street rival Pomona-Pitzer placed 15th. On the men’s side, the Sagehens finished fifth, while the Stags did not compete due to their temporary competition ban.

For the female Sagehens, one of their best results came from Jessica Finn PO ’18, who finished second in the javelin with a throw of 36.77 meters. Meanwhile, VickyMarie Addo-Ashong PO ’20 finished sixth in the 100-meter hurdle race with a time of 15.50 seconds.

On the men’s side, the main highlight was Ethan Hardacre PO ’20, who beat all other collegiate athletes in long jump (6.91 meters) and triple jump (14.04 meters).

Distance was also a strength for the Sagehens, as

Photo courtesy of Ryan Abele

Ian Emlet PZ ’21 (left) and Gabe Elliott PZ ’18 run the first leg of the 4x800 meter relay at the 2018 Rossi Relays, hosted

by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

the 4x800 meter relay team of Nate Gallatin PO ’19, Nick Vucovich PO ’18, Kellen Browning PO ’20, and Carter Floyd PO ’21 finished with a time of 7:57.12 to win the race. Andy Reischling PO ’19 clocked in at 8:29.58 in the 3000-meter race to finish as the

fastest collegiate athlete.

The CMS women also enjoyed a strong afternoon. Their one first-place finish came in the 4x800 meter relay, as Olivia Gleason SC ’21, Kyleigh Mann CM ’18, Meghan Bobrowsky SC ’21 and Abigale Johnson SC ’21

finished with a time of 9:47.30.

Amelia Otto Cutting HM ’20 also impressed, leaping 1.57 meters to place fourth in the high jump.

Both teams will race Saturday at the SCIAC Multi Dual meet at Occidental College.

SPORTS MARCH 2, 2018

PAGE 11

THE STUDENT LIFE

CMS AND P-P MEN’S BASKETBALL

Stags Dominate Sagehens In SCIAC Title Game, Advance To NCAAs Noah Shapiro

The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags (19-7, 15-1 SCIAC) secured their second consecutive SCIAC tournament title and third in the last four years with a blowout 86-62 victory over the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens (15-12, SCIAC 12-4) Feb. 24.

With the win, CMS punched a ticket to the NCAA tournament, where they will take on Whitworth University (24-3) March 2 in Walla Walla, Washington.

Seniors made the difference for the Stags, as Scott Lynds CM ’18 exploded for 29 points and Michael Scarlett CM ’18 added 22 of his own.

After the game, Lynds was named Tournament MVP after averaging 24 points per game during the postseason and leading the team in scoring in each matchup.

The Sagehens traded baskets with the Stags early on and trailed 16-15 seven minutes into the game.

However, CMS proceeded to rattle off 11 straight points in what would be the first of multiple devastating runs.

“Our coaches prepared a great defensive game plan,” Lynds said.

“We were able to establish a nice defensive presence in the first 10 minutes. Our shooting carried us through the rest of the game.”

Offensively, the Stags were locked in, shooting a scorching 56 percent from the field and 46 per-

cent from three-point range. P-P wasn’t out-bodied, as they won the rebounding battle 28-27 and each team had 20 points in the paint.

However, sharp shooting by CMS coupled with P-P’s struggles to score the ball kept them out of the game.

“We had emphasized getting defensive stops and rebounding coming into the game, but we simply didn’t string together enough stops and buckets on our end to close the gap,” Alex Preston PO ’21 said.

CMS went on a 13-4 run over the last four minutes of the half to stretch their lead to 49-29 as the teams returned to the locker rooms.

The biggest difference in the first half was three-point shooting: The Stags outscored P-P by 21 from beyond the arc, burying nine three pointers in the half, more than they had in all but five full games this season.

As the second half began, CMS pulled off their third and final run of the game: a 12-2 stretch that put them up by 30 less than four minutes into the second half. The Sagehens cut the lead back down to 20 with seven minutes remaining, but CMS cruised to the finish from there.

“Much credit has to go to our coaching staff for preparing us so well with such a short turn around,” Scarlett said. “There is a reason they were named the coaching staff of year and keep the Stags basketball

Photo courtesy of Alisha Alexander via CMS Athletics

The Stags claimed their sixth SCIAC tournament title Saturday over Pomona-Pitzer.

program as title contenders every year.”

There was some added excitement entering the game, as it was not only the SCIAC championship bout, but also the third edition of the Sixth Street rivalry this season. The matchup has been a bit lopsided in recent years, as CMS has taken seven of the last 10 meetings and four in a row, including last year’s SCIAC semi-final.

“A Sixth Street rivalry game for the SCIAC postseason championship was special,” Scarlett said.

COMMENTARY

Kendrick’s Korner: Tanking In Professional Sports Kendrick Morris

This week, the elimination of “tanking” seemed to be on the agenda of every major professional sports league.

Monday, the Major League Baseball Players Association filed a grievance against four teams for failing to fairly spend their revenue share on player contracts.

The accused teams, which include the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins, committed a textbook example of tanking.

Tanking, essentially, is an effort undertaken by teams to lose games and perform worse in the short term to improve the team’s ability to win in the long term. This is often done by trading players who are in their athletic primes for young prospects who theoretically will perform better in the future, as well as playing worse game-to-game to plummet in the standings and receive higher draft picks at the end of the season.

By trading star players like Giancarlo Stanton and Andrew McCutchen, the Marlins and Pirates effectively cleared cap space and positioned themselves to reap the ultimate reward of losing: affordable top talent by means of high draft picks.

As a Houston Astros fan, I was not all that offended. While I do not really have a great recollection of going to Astros games between 2011 and 2014, the delayed gratification of watching them win the

World Series this year nearly made the management-induced seasons of misery worth the journey. Still, the traditionalist in me thinks intentional losing efforts threatened the integrity of the game. This isn’t the WWE; this is America’s Pastime.

Meanwhile, in the NBA, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told NBA legend Julius Erving on a Monday morning podcast that he instructed team management to intentionally lose games for the remainder of the season.

Then, reports found the Mavericks front office, along with several other teams, allegedly utilize statistical data, otherwise known as inverse analytics, to construct losing lineups. As much as I wanted to look down upon these inverse analytics, when I turned on the Mavericks game, I watched them narrowly lose to the win-desperate Oklahoma City Thunder in overtime.

The reality is that for players and coaches playing for the next contract, there is absolutely no incentive to throw games. So, why is there such a negative stigma around tanking in professional sports?

They are, in fact, a business, one which requires math and science to evaluate risk and allocate costs in hopes of generating future profit.

While the underlying financial aspect seems cold, the beauty of professional sports is that fans are the customer base.

If a team is continually terrible,

fans can influence the team’s bottom line, expressing their frustration by refusing to watch games, buy tickets, or wear jerseys. On the flip side, if a team performs well, ticket prices and memorabilia sales skyrocket, resulting in a win-win for all stakeholders.

I understand there are other factors to management decisionmaking, such as accounting for league revenue share. However, if a team’s management consciously decides to tank, they are likely considering the long term best interests of the fans, which is to compete for a championship in the future.

I suggest that professional sports leagues take one of two routes. They could embrace the linguistic transformation of tanking into rebuilding or as the Philadelphia 76ers say, “trust the process.” As the “House of Highlights” social media phenomenon illustrates, fans love watching young players develop into superstars even if the team is bad.

Alternatively, leagues could restructure the draft incentives, such that teams wouldn’t necessarily gain the best draft picks by losing, which would make the best option for struggling teams not to lose even more.

All in all, tanking seems more like a PR headache than an actual issue of healthy competition, as teams are merely trying to find a competitive advantage in the future.

Photo courtesy of Keith Allison via Creative Commons

Philadelphia 76er Ben Simmons hugs teammate Joel Embiid (center) in celebration after a basket. The Sixers famously “tanked” for many years, and are now enjoying the play of young stars like Simmons and Embiid, obtained through high draft picks.

“You couldn’t have written it better as the last game in Roberts Pavilion for the year.”

With the loss, a strong season for the Sagehens came to a close. After opening the season 2-9, the team turned things around at the start of the new calendar year, winning 13 of their final 16 games.

“The development we showed as a unit over the course of the season was tremendous,” Preston said.

“We helped one another grow as individual players in order to benefit the team as a whole, whether it was

through guidance or competition.”

Added Sagehen head coach Charles Katsiaficas: “We’d strung together a pretty good run and have been playing really good basketball the last three to four weeks. But on Saturday, CMS was the better team.

I’m really proud of our guys, the conference season we’ve had, and the team we became this year; but it’s always difficult whenever it comes to an end.”

Both Preston and Katsiaficas made it clear they would be rooting for the Stags in the NCAA tourna-

ment and wanted a fellow SCIAC member to perform well on the national stage.

CMS’ upcoming opponent, Whitworth, is ranked No. 4 in the nation and is coming off a buzzer-beating win over top-ranked Whitman in the Northwest Conference title game.

Riding an impressive 16-game winning streak, CMS will head to the NCAA tournament sticking to the basics, Lynds said.

“We’ll continue to do what we’ve done all season: support each other and have fun,” he said.

COMMENTARY

Ryan Shazier’s Spine Injury A Perfect Example Of Football’s Inherent Danger

Photo courtesy of David Schellhaas via Creative Commons

Pittsburgh Steeler Ryan Shazier hopes to return to football after a devastating spine injury.

Danny Klain During the first quarter of a Monday Night Football game last December, the Cincinnati Bengals were driving against their rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. On a 2nd and 5 inside the Steelers’ half, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton threw a short pass to Josh Malone.

Looking to stop the wideout short of a first down, Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier lunged with his head down to make a play.

What happened next was horrifying: Shazier knocked Malone backwards and fell to the ground.

On the ground, Shazier reached around and immediately pointed to his lower back. Shazier rolled over onto his back waving his arm to grab the attention of his teammate. Players on the field soon noticed Shazier on the ground with his arms pointed upwards, and suddenly it became obvious: Ryan Shazier couldn’t move his legs.

Team doctors rushed onto the field, placed Shazier on a board, and carried him away. Lack of knowledge and replays drove the fear of his injury to greater heights; on the ESPN broadcast while Shazier was being carried off, commentator Sean McDonough said, “Not to be an alarmist, Jon, but I don’t think anybody has seen his legs move at all since the hit.”

McDonough was right — Shazier suffered a gruesome spine injury and was temporarily paralyzed from the legs down.

Two days later, Shazier underwent successful spinal stabilization surgery. Two months after surgery and months of tireless rehabilitation, Shazier was cleared to leave the hospital on outpatient care.

Last week, Shazier was back in

the headlines. On a podcast with teammate Roosevelt Nix, he said, “I’ve gotta get back. … I’m giving my football effort a thousand,” hinting that a return to football was on the horizon. Shazier even openly discussed his goals and plans to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This comment has been met with much controversy, and has also stoked the ever-burning debate over the long-term viability of football as a sport.

Now, let me make a disclaimer: I am in no way a football expert.

I have never played tackle football. I don’t truly understand the physicality of the sport and the true damage the sport can have on athletes’ bodies, short term or long term.

I understand Shazier ’s sentiment; as an athlete who has endured season-ending injuries, I completely empathize with the struggles of the recovery process and the desire to work every single minute to return.

However, no matter what Shazier may be feeling, this decision just doesn’t make sense.

Shazier ’s determination and work ethic are admirable, but the possibility of reinjury from simply practicing is risky enough to never put pads on again. In 2016, the Sports Health medical journal published a scholarly article titled “Return-to-Play Recommendations After Cervical, Thoracic, and Lumbar Spine Injuries.” The article created an outline for the clinical guidelines for athletes who hope to return after a spine injury like Shazier’s, but it’s based entirely on medical theory, not case studies.

In short, this type of recovery has never really been tried before.

Shazier has made it clear his decision to return to football isn’t

for greater wealth or celebrity -it’s for personal goals, which he’s probably had since childhood. I understand those are the hardest to give up.

However, a return to the NFL is simply not worth the risk Shazier would be taking. He narrowly escaped paralysis last time — one more tackle could mean much more than the end of his career.

While Shazier’s situation is interesting on an individual basis, it serves as the latest example of a much bigger issue — the question of the long-term safety of America’s most popular sport.

We silently celebrate the brutality of football. Entertained by the herculean efforts of men risking their future health to reach another yard or make a tackle, the strength and jaw-dropping plays continue to draw viewers to the game.

Though many discuss the health and player safety issues and claim that football will one day disappear, it’s not like the danger really scares us from watching football again. After Shazier’s gruesome injury, most of us watched the following week’s games, and even more watched the Super Bowl.

Preventative measures have been taken at the younger age levels to try to prevent incidents like Shazier’s, but if we want to watch, enjoy, or play football, we can’t deny its inherent violence.

As long as football exists, there will be terrible injuries, and if we want to truly prevent these horrific events from occurring, there is no other solution but to stop watching, praising and playing “America’s Game,” no matter how much we love the sport.

SPORTS PAGE 12

THE STUDENT LIFE

MARCH 2, 2018

CMS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Athenas Fall In Heartbreaking Double Overtime SCIAC Tournament Final Delaney Hartmann

The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women’s basketball team (23-4, 15-1 SCIAC) faced the Chapman Panthers (23-4, 15-1 SCIAC) in a grueling double overtime matchup in the SCIAC tournament final Feb. 24, and fell just short of claiming what would have been their 5th straight SCIAC title. The Panthers walked away with a 7061 victory.

Throughout the season, the Athenas and Panthers were neckand-neck for the No. 1 spot in the conference — both entered the tournament with identical 15-1 records. That same back-and-forth, competitive play showed up in the title game Saturday night.

After 40 minutes of regulation play, the action had just begun, as Kate Parrish CM ’21 forced an overtime period by making a clutch layup with 7 seconds on the clock to tie the game 43-43.

“What I love about this team is we have so much talent, and every player has the potential to step up on a given night and perform,” Parrish said. “That person changes constantly, and our coaches stress that every single person is important to the success of the team.”

Parrish found herself in a key contributing role for the team on Saturday, notching 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Athenas.

During the first overtime, the Panthers established a lead, and the game looked all but over.

However, guard Corrine Bogle CM ’18 nailed a three-point shot in the final minute to tie the game, and send every CMS fan in the room to their feet.

“Corrine’s three-pointer was really a senior shot,” teammate Maya Love CM ’20 said. “It takes a lot of maturity to make a shot like that under pressure,” The Athenas used the energy of two close comebacks to sustain themselves throughout the second overtime, and continued to battle neck-and-neck for the first three minutes. However, the magic began to wear off in the last two minutes as Chapman did not miss a shot in the second overtime and eventually established a lead to

P-P Athlete of the Week Men’s Swim and Dive Lukas Menkhoff PO ‘21 Singapore

Lukas Menkhoff PO ’21 stole the show at the SCIAC swim and dive championships Feb. 24, leading the Sagehen men to their first conference title in program history. Menkhoff finished first in the 100-meter freestyle in 44.16 seconds, setting a new SCIAC meet and Sagehen record.

Later on, the first-year was on the winning team in the 400-meter freestyle relay, setting the new SCIAC and school record in 2:59.65. Menkhoff’s season will continue at the NCAA championships, which begin March 21 in Indianapolis.

CMS Athlete of the Week Men’s Basketball Scott Lynds

CM ‘18 Laguna Niguel, California Chloe Ortiz • The Student Life

Connie Bogle CM ’18 sinks a shot at the Athenas’ home basketball game against Chapman University Feb. 24.

end the game on top.

As the entire Chapman team stormed the court in celebration, the Athenas got very quiet. ‘It was very silent, and it was hard to come off of so much intensity and know where we go from here,” said Love, who led the Athenas with 15 points.

While CMS is a young team, they all wanted to perform well to give their senior athletes the sendoff they deserved. The Athenas were especially young Saturday, with former SCIAC Athlete of the Year and 2018 first-team all-SCIAC player Kailee Severt CM ’18 unable to play in the championship game after sustaining a concussion in the

semi-final round.

Though the Athenas were disappointed they couldn’t leave their seniors with a win to end their careers, “it was a send-off that the seniors were willing to accept, because they really saw our heart in it,” Love said.

With a young team, senior captains Severt and Bogle have been strong role models for firstyear team members like Parrish, she said.

“Corrine and Kailee have showed leadership by not only showing me what it means to be a good teammate, but also what it means to be a good person,” Parrish said.

This was the last SCIAC championship game for the seniors on the team, and even though they were disappointed with the result, they will look back on their time playing in the SCIAC fondly.

“Right before we started the second overtime, I remember standing at half court and telling myself to just remember the moment as best I could,” Bogle said.

“To be center court in a facility like Roberts Pavilion with all of those cheering fans in a double overtime game — it’s exactly what you dream of experiencing when you’re young and just learning how to play basketball.

The final SCIAC tournament for Scott Lynds CM ’18 was one to be remembered.

The point guard erupted for 19 points in the Stags’ semifinal win over Chapman University 83-72, and then put forth a career-defining performance against rival Pomona-Pitzer in the title game Feb. 24. In Claremont-MuddScripps’ resounding 86-62 blowout over the Sagehens, Lynds dropped 29 points to lead all scorers. In the two tournament games ,Lynds shot 19-of-27 from the field, including an incredible 8-of13 behind the three-point line. CMS will look to pull an upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament March 2 at No. 2 Whitworth University.

CMS AND P-P WOMEN’S LACROSSE

Athenas Dominate Sixth Street Matchup, Extend SCIAC Streak Jacinta Chen

The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women’s lacrosse team (2-1, 2-0 SCIAC) picked up right where they left off last season, dominating the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens (2-1, 1-1 SCIAC) in a 15-5 win last Saturday.

The Athenas are the reigning SCIAC champions, and boast a 15-game SCIAC regular-season win streak dating back to 2016 — and they lived up to their billing.

Early in the game, the Sagehens were confronted by the Athenas’ stifling defense, and failed to score a single goal within the first half.

“Even though I’m an attacker, good defensive stops are always a highlight for me,” Lauren Clubb CM ’18 said. “It’s fun to watch our defense work so well together.”

Within the first minute, Clubb took advantage of her team’s solid defense and scored the game’s first goal for the Athenas. Six minutes later, the Athenas scored twice more as Evan Murphy CM ’18 and Allie Hill CM ’20 shot one goal each, with assists from Emily Cohen CM ’20.

The middle of the first period was filled with multiple turnovers and fouls, and it was not until 22 minutes into the game that Corie Hack CM ’19 scored a fourth goal for the Athenas. With roughly five minutes remaining, Sally Abel CM ’21 scored with an assist from Clubb, and Sally Carlson CM ’20 tallied a point as well, propelling the Athenas into halftime with a six-point lead over the Sagehens.

Even though the Sagehens fell into an early hole, Lilly Thomey PO ’19 was proud of the team’s defensive unit and their response to the Athenas’ vigorous offense in the first half.

“One highlight from the game against CMS was our strong defense in the middle of the first half that just would not quit,” Thomey said.

The Athenas came into the second period with an aggressive strategy that helped them score three more quick goals from Hack, Blaire Southmayd CM ’21, and Murphy, putting them up 9-0.

Despite the large deficit, the

Emily Cohen CM ’20 looks for a shot as Sal Marx PO ’18 rushes to defend during the Pomona-Pitzer vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps game Feb. 24.

Sagehens were able to get themselves on the scoreboard by switching around some defenders and boosting their energy on the field.

In particular, the Sagehens looked to make better passes and connect with one another more effectively in the midfield. With an assist from Sophie Hubbell PZ ’20, Thyra Hermann PZ ’21 scored P-P’s first goal five minutes into the second period.

The Athenas responded with two consecutive goals from Cohen

and another from Hill before the Sagehens could battle back with two of their own from Thomey and Hubbell halfway through the third period. The Athenas then tacked on two more goals, stretching the lead back to 11.

Eventually, by the time the final whistle blew, the Athenas led 15-5, having secured an easy win over their rivals.

Hack was proud of the way her team handled their composure and also “work[ed] together as a

single unit,” even with nine firstyear players.

“There are always things to improve, but our chemistry this year is good because we have so many returners,” Clubb added.

Despite the lopsided loss, Lauren English PO ’19 was pleased that P-P’s first-years and returners “[kept] fighting the whole game.”

“We have put in a ton of practice,” she added. “It’s great to start playing games and see all the hard work we have put in pay off,” she

said.

The Sagehens team welcomed eight first-years, whose “new energy” has excited returners like Thomey. With this adjustment, the team has still been figuring out game dynamics on the field.

“We learned a lot about how we play together as a team, and can learn from our successes and mistakes from the CMS game,” English said. Overall, she felt that “taking more offensive risks” and having “more communication would have

Talia Bernstein • The Student Life

changed the game drastically.”

Clubb hopes the Athenas are able to return to the NCAA championships later this season, and “make it farther in the tournament,” after losing to their regional rivals from Colorado College last year.

With their eyes on the national championship, Hack said the Athenas are “trying to work to each other’s strengths and blend together as one cohesive unit and team.”