AS Review- Oct 3, 2016

Inside this issue: The Outdoor Center now has a hand cycle available to borrow free of charge, PAGE 4

Reel Rock film festival comes to campus, PAGE 7 Western plans first ever Cuba study abroad trip, PAGE 8

Vol. 32 #3 10.03.16

Vol. 30 # #.#.#

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Students enjoy a round of neon golf at VU Late Night.

Cover photo by Ricky Rath // AS Review

IN THIS ISSUE NEWS 4 Outdoor Center

Viking Union 411 516 High St. Bellingham, WA 98225 Phone: 360.650.6126 Fax: 360.650.6507 Email: as.review@wwu.edu as.wwu.edu/asreview @TheASReview facebook.com/theasreview © 2016. Published most Mondays during the school year by the Associated Students of Western Washington University.

The AS Review is an alternative weekly that provides coverage of student interests such as the AS government, activities and student life. The Review seeks to enhance the student experience by shedding light on underrepresented issues, inclusive coverage, informing readers and promoting dialogue.

cycles toward inclusivity

The new hand cycle is available for students who have disabilities or temporary injuries.

Reel World Film 8 Series Kickoff The first film of the fall series depicts a town on the bring of destruction.

STUDENT LIFE 4 Elections,

Committees, and Representation, oh my!

The REP serves many functions on campus, including registering students to vote.

9 Cuba study

abroad program

Applications are open for a study abroad trip to work with Cuban leaders.

FEATURES 6

Interesting characters congregate downtown for peace rally

AS Review writer Julia Berkman attends the vigil and describes her experience.

Wednesday Night 10 Concert Series The Female Fiends and the Dawn Bombs rock out at the Underground Coffeehouse.

We welcome reader submissions, including news articles, literary pieces, photography, artwork or anything else physically printable. Email submissions to as.review@wwu.edu.

We welcome letters to the editor. Please limit your letter to 300 words, include your name, phone number and year in school, if you’re a student.

Send them to as.review@wwu.edu. Published letters may have minor edits made to their length or grammar.

Morgan Annable Alexandria Baker Ricky Rath Erasmus Baxter Julia Berkman Josh Hughes Chris Beswetherick Adviser Jeff Bates

Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor Lead Photographer Writers

Students performing at the VU Late Night event. Photo by Ricky Rath // AS Review

10.3.2016 • 3

EVENTS Drawing Jam

Squacktoberfest

Express your artistic side in the VU Gallery! You only need to bring your creativity as supplies are provided.

Let the Dead Parrots Society entertain you with their long-form improv comedy show. This series of shows will run every weekend in October.

Oct 3- 21 // 11-5 p.m. // VU Gallery // Free

Within Our Gates

Oct 4 // 6 p.m. // BH 105 // Free

Watch this fascinating film from 1920 that was the African American community’s response to Birth of a Nation.

A panel discussion will follow.

Vice Presidential Debate Viewing Oct 4 // 6 p.m. // AW 205 // Free Come watch the Vice Presidential Debate with running commentary by students. The discussion is sure to be interesting!

Wednesday Night Concert Series Oct 5 // 7 p.m. // Underground Coffeehouse // Free

Rock out to a great show by Female Fiends and the Dawn Bombs. For more info on these groups turn to page 10.

Dead Parrots Society Open Mic Night

Oct 6 // 7 p.m. // Underground Coffeehouse // Free

The Dead Parrots will be hosting comedy for students to enjoy. Need a laugh? Then come on down!

Oct 7-8 // 7 p.m. // Old Main Theater // Free

Queer Writers Live Reading

Oct 7 // 7 p.m. // VU 552 // Free

Listen to members of the LGBT+ community share their writing.

5th Annual BRMC slideshow Oct 7 // 7 p.m. // 214 W Holly St // Free

Head down to Backcountry Essentials to watch their annual slideshow honoring the Bellingham Mountain Rescue Council. There will be a raffle!

WWU Pride Festival

Oct 8 // 10-4 p.m. // PAC Plaza // Free Join your fellow students in celebrating the LGBT+ community.

Hip Hop October All month

This month is hip hop October!

Celebrate by listening to hip hop or finding a new artist to appreciate.

Top Ten: October 3-9 1

A Moon Shaped Pool Radiohead

2

IV BadBadNotGood

3

99.9% Kaytranada

4

Easy Eating Naked Giants

5

The Magic Deerhoof

6

Good Luck and Do Your Best Gold Panda

7

The Bride Bat for Lashes

8

My Woman Angel Olsen

9

Certainty Sloucher

10

Golden Sings That Have Been Sung Ryley Walker KUGS is the Associated Students’ student-run radio station. Listen online at kugs.org. If you’re interested in getting on the waves, pick up a volunteer application in the station’s office on the seventh floor of the VU.

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The Outdoor Center cycles toward inclusivity

BY ERASMUS BAXTER

The Associated Students Outdoor Center offers equipment to make it possible for many students to explore land, water and snow. Now, the Outdoor Center staff are trying to make sure all have a chance at adventure.

Stephen Magnuson is the Outdoor Center Programs Coordinator and participated in buying an adaptable bicycle that is pedaled by hand.

“We had some… discretionary funds that we chose to put towards an area we haven’t served as much on campus,” Magnuson said. “We have every tool for getting outside for people who are able-bodied, so [now we’re] looking at serving a greater number of people on campus. The adaptive bike we brought in last year is an attempt to provide more offerings for anyone with any sort of lower body mobility limitations.”

In addition, the Outdoor Center is currently working on plans to make their Challenge Course more accessible, as well as the Lakewood boathouse.

They plan to have more accessible parking underway within a year, and are discussing other modifications with disAbility Resources for Students, including possibly a lift, according to Magnuson.

In the meantime, the adaptive bike, or hand cycle, is available to rent at the Outdoor Center free of charge.

Magnuson says the Outdoor Center worked with disAbility Resources for Students and the AS Disabil-

ity Outreach Center to choose a good model.

“One of the nice things is that it sits a lot higher up off the ground than a lot of the other hand cycles so it’s easier to do transfers for anyone who would potentially be in a wheelchair,” Magnuson said. “As

An Outdoor Center employee demonstrates how to use the hand cycle. Photo by Ricky Rath // AS Review

well as [being] just a little bit more user friendly for anyone overall who may or may not have ever experienced a hand cycle before.”

Unfortunately, there have been no rentals yet, a fact that Magnuson attributes to stigma, a lack of awareness, and Bellingham’s steep hills.

“There’s often sometimes the perceptions of riding a hand cycle where people don’t want to be the center of attention,” Magnuson said.

The Outdoor Center is currently collaborating with disAbility Resources for Students to raise awareness about the bike.

“There [are] not a ton of people on campus with a need for an adaptive cycle. However, those individuals are out there,” he said.

Magnuson also emphasizes that bike is available to all students, including those who are able bodied.

“While the intention is to provide for students who do have a need base for it there are lots of different needs the hand cycle could meet outside of being paraplegic,” Magnuson said. “All the way to somebody who just has a broken foot, but still wants to get out and be able to cruise around on a cycle of some sort.”

“Taking it up on the track, or doing it just around campus is a great place to take it out.”

The Outdoor Center payed over $3,000 for the bike out of its budget, according to Magnuson.

Elections, Committees, and Representation, oh my!

BY JOSH HUGHES

W

ith Voter Registration Day coming up on October 7, it’s important for students to not only know how to register to vote, but also what role Western has in representing the student body on a political and civic level. The Representation and Engagement Programs (REP) on campus push to get students involved on campus legislatively and politically through committees and other means. They organize a giant voter registration drive each year as well, which makes it important to get information about the organization this time of year.

Last year Western registered more students to

vote than all other public universities in Washington combined, and this year the REP has a goal to register 3,000 new voters before the deadline on October 10. The statewide goal for students is 9,000, and thanks to student volunteers and workers on campus, Western has already registered 2,000 students. If you ever see someone on campus with a clipboard and a ream of “I Voted” stickers, odds are they’re working through the REP to get students to vote. If you’re unaware of how to register to vote, the REP office is located at VU 435, and in the next week expect to see pop up spots on campus where students can easily

register to vote.

Beyond their voting programs and drives, the REP is also home to roughly 60 committees that any student can serve on and get involved with.

Some of the notable committees are the Legislative Affairs Committee, the AS Structure Review Committee, and the Food Systems Working Group.

The Legislative Affairs Committee helps create the student local, state, and federal legislative agendas each year, and includes a yearly Viking Lobby Day in which about 100 students travel to Olympia to lobby for our state legislative agenda.

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ABOVE: A dedicated team of REP staff and student volunteers has been frequently tabling at various events, helping students register to vote or update their registration information. Photo by Ricky Rath // AS Review

To make sure you get your ballot on time, update your address at registerinwa.org/western.

Want to get involved, learn more about elections, or get information about local government? The REP can help!

The AS Structure Review Committee looks at the Associated Students itself and is currently working on a three year project to assess and restructure the AS. The Food Systems Working Group is a new committee that looks at how to incorporate more locally and ethically grown food on campus.

These are but a few of the committees that the REP oversees, and any student can apply to join one by filling out a form at orgsync.com/56414/ forms/200141.

While a portion of the REP is dedicated to political programs, the committees range from ac-

ademic policies to sustainability to transportation as well as nearly everything in between. Students are welcome to email the committee coordinator Octavia Schultz at AS.Committees@wwu.edu if they have any questions or inquiries about the committees offered.

Beyond the committees, the REP also hosts Western Student Lobby Day, Ethnic Student Lobby Day, Environmental Lobby Day and the AS Elections that occur in the winter and spring.

Regardless of their voter registration status, all students can campaign or vote in the student elections; students can essentially get involved at

almost any level of the Representation and Engagement Programs.

The overall goal of the organization is to not only influence the community of Western, but also the broader Bellingham area and even across Washington state, says REP director Henry Pollet.

Whether it’s getting students registered to vote (which the REP also helps out with as students move into the dorms each year) or organizing and structuring any number of on campus committees, the REP is an accessible platform for students regardless of their interests. To get more involved, visit their office or their website.

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Interesting characters congregate at downtown peace rally

BY JULIA BERKMAN Photos by Morgan Annable // AS Review

In America, many people tend to think of free speech as a given, not a reason to speak their minds.

The folks downtown at the weekly Peace Vigil actively practice their right to free speech every single Friday.

The Peace Vigil in downtown Bellingham has been held for fifty years. If you’ve ever spent time on the corner of Magnolia and Cornwall on a Friday afternoon, you’ve probably seen it too. This event has been going on since December of 1966! Despite that, very few people outside of the participants have ever known about it.

Joseph McDonald has been coming to the Vigil for over a year now. He protests the widely held belief that Jesus and God are judgmental or malevolent.

“I don’t believe Jesus is going to burn everybody in hell forever,” Joseph says, holding a sign that says “Jesus wouldn’t spread hate.”

I asked him whether the Peace Vigil was a chance for people to spread peace, to which he replied, “I think people can express their point of view here.”

Another fixture of the downtown Peace Vigil is Lynn Rosenbloom. She’s been participating in vigils and protests of this kind for almost 25 years. She told me she’s protesting for peace and justice.

“Just a little,” she told me, exasperated.

Lynn is inspired by the people who come down and spread peace every single Friday for the last 50 years.

Lynn brandishes a sign that says “Moms for Peace” as she waves at the oncoming cars, most of whom will give her and the other demonstrators a honk or a wave. I asked Lynn why she feels the need to come down to her corner every Friday.

“The message [of peace] does reach some people and there are many people who feel the same we do, they’re just not as active in it,” she said. “They’ll give a honk or a wave, and even though they aren’t out here, they’re thinking about peace now.”

At about this point in the vigil, a man on the other side of the street started to unfurl a large Trump flag.

You may know him as Eric Bostrom, the evangelical preacher who practices free speech on campus. Bostrom is “Pro-Israel, Pro-Gospel, Pro-Trump.” I asked him if he felt that the vigil downtown was promoting peace.

“Sometimes people who promote peace end up promoting war,” he said, in reference to the decisions that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton made regarding Benghazi.

He comes to this street corner every week to promote his gospel or his beliefs.

“There are many aspects of peace,” he tells me, his Trump sign fluttering in the wind. “If you look at all the individual signs here, there a quite a number that have nothing to do with peace,” he tells me, indicating signs with slogans about deforestation and LGBT rights.

We spoke about war, and the fact that Trump is decidedly against international intervention. Because of this, Bostrom says he is “the only one out here who is technically promoting peace.”

There are many colorful and interesting characters downtown exercising their right to free speech. If you have the chance, I recommend you go downtown and speak to these people about their views. You may learn more than you think.

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Reel Rock depicts real stories in annual film festival

See daring feats and beautiful cinematography in five new climbing films this fall

BY CHRIS BESWETHERICK

Ascend. You aren’t strapped in, you are slightly uncomfortable to begin with, and you are looking at your opponent: the climbing wall. For years, Western has been a school for climbers.

The Outdoor Center makes its return to the school year with a showing of Reel Rock 11, the newest Reel Rock film compilation.

The screening takes place in Arntzen Hall 100 at 7 p.m. October 6. Tickets cost $5 for students with an ID, and $7 for the general public. Tickets can be purchased from Western’s Box Office, or at the door. Doors open at 6 p.m.

This newest episode of Reel Rock features five new climbing films from their team of selected athletes. The screening includes “Young Guns,” “Boys in the Bugs,” “Brette,” “Rad Dad” and “Dodo’s Delight.” The Reel Rock team found powerful subjects to include in this year’s festival.

Four members of the Reel Rock team, Nico Favresse, Olivier Favresse, Ben Ditto and Sean Villanueva, set out on a three month recording spree in which they recorded the content for Reel Rock 11. Now, their films are being shown all around the world by universities and theaters.

The climbing scene is perfect for networking, and the filmmakers take advantage of their connections to the community and find their film subjects through word-of-mouth. They say their friends tell them about climbers they believe should be filmed.

After hearing about a climber, the Reel Rock crew meets with the person or people and begin shooting footage. Each climber is featured in a short film with excellent direction.

The team of filmmakers at Reel Rock composes their stories to engage and connect with the audience. Most impressive is their investigation and presentation of their subjects in the films. The team thoughtfully strings together the story into a natural progression to create interesting work, but their footage itself would be breathtaking even without the thoughtful direction.

For example, in one of the Reel Rock 11 films, “Brette,” the filmmakers focus on Brette Harrington’s journey as a climber. In “Brette,” the audience gets to know the climber as if she is a close friend. She screws her support into boulders with just her hands and looks so unfailingly cool doing while doing it.

The filmmakers intended to make their show appealing for everyone, not just climbers, and

anyone can surely find themselves enthralled by these films.

The concept of the show is to excite the audience about climbing through live and recorded elements. Since 2006, the two founders continue to innovate the nature of their performances.

Reel Rock functions in a couple of ways: it tours and it has screenings. The Western performance will simply be a screening of the Reel Rock 11 films. However, the content of the movies will engage an audience of any kind due to the feats of the athletes as well as the cinematography. The organization expertly knows how to compose these films. The group has completed 22 projects since their founding in 2006 and has traveled the world for their showings.

Typically, at a live Reel Rock event, the members involved organize the performance with athletes and the crew involved, which shows the audience the authenticity of the team effort.

Often times, Reel Rock performances create a party atmosphere as a result of the energy of the team. They bring these notable climbers on stage

to connect with the audience in a different way, allowing the audience to experience another level of the film.

During shows, the organization creates an atmosphere of sharing and excitement. They have given away prizes to audience members, thrown a party during the performance and spurred donations from their audience to the nonprofits that they support.

The Reel Rock organization intends to release more content in the future, but is currently on tour with their movie screening. At the end of September, Reel Rock performed and screened a show in Seattle where they actually sold out.

Clearly, people like the stories they produce.

BELOW: A climber carefully chooses the next handhold on the climbing wall at the Wade King Rec Center. To get involved with the climbing scene, visit the rec center or the Outdoor Center.

Photo by Ricky Rath // AS Review

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Applications are open for Western’s first ever study abroad program in Cuba

BY JULIA BERKMAN

For so long, Cuba has existed as a mythical land, opposing the United States in all ways. Those ideologies are myths; Cuba is a real place with real people, and now you can experience that too! Western, along with American Cultural Studies professor Lawrence Estrada, is planning our first exchange trip to Cuba!

The whole idea for this trip started when Estrada himself visited Havana through a tour group called Cuba Education Tours. The experience made him think seriously about starting up an exchange program to Havana.

The exchange program is in its final stage of planning, and so far has an impressive itinerary. The students will spend the first few weeks of winter quarter at Western, learning about the culture and politics of Cuba. They will also be enrolled in an intensive functional Spanish class, as well as learn about the agriculture and sustainability in Cuba. These classes fulfill a number of requirements; the credits can go towards Fairhaven credits, an International Relations minor, as well as helping to complete a Spanish degree.

For the final three weeks of the Winter quarter, the participants will fly to Havana and spend time meeting with different notable representatives of the Cuban population. They will participate in seminars with Cuban Labor Activists, feminists, and actual government leaders. For some of their time, the students will work on a farm with agricultural experts. This trip is the first of its kind to look at sustainability through a Cuban lens. They’ll be working with farms and local businesses to study the effect Cuban agriculture can have on the environment.

Another highlight of the trip is a meeting with the Cuban Literacy Program. This program is the reason Cuba has a 99.8 percent literacy rate, the tenth-highest nationally. Started by Fidel Castro in 1959, the Campaña Nacional de Alfabetización

en Cuba brought the literacy rate up 25 percent in one year. The teachers of that program are still making strides in education today.

The planning for this trip was a long and arduous process for Estrada and the other supervisors. The Cuban Education Program was a huge component in the organization of their tours. The CEP was originally based out of Vancouver, and organized trips to bring Canadians south of the border to Cuba. Now, their program is totally based out of Havana, and focuses on giving tours to English speakers in order to spread Cuban culture. The events planned by the CEP are related directly to what the participants will learn in their on-campus classes before they arrive in Havana.

After planning all of the events and tours central to the exchange, Estrada and the other organizers met with representatives from Eastern Washington University and the University of Washington to see how their program, particularly the focus on sustainability, could influence theirs.

The exchange is the first to Cuba from Washington that will focus on agriculture and sustainability. This puts Western in the unique position of advising other Washington universities on how to plan their particular exchanges with a focus in those areas as well. Hopefully Eastern and UW students will also be able to experience Cuba for themselves.

It wasn’t easy, however, to figure out how to ship multiple students to Cuba.

With Cuba’s borders only recently opened to the United States, airlines are competing over who can fly to Havana the cheapest.

Because of this, Estrada isn’t quite sure what airline will ferry Western’s program leaders and students to Havana yet.

Anyone interested in taking a comprehensive tour of Cuba, a country that was previously a mystery to Americans, is highly encouraged to apply. The application is still open, and you can apply online!

Institute for Global Engagement kicks off film series with “Still Life”

BY MORGAN ANNABLE

Every year, Western’s Institute for Global Engagement hosts a film series with the goal of raising awareness about world issues. This quarter, they are starting the once-a-month film showing with a movie called “Still Life” on October 5 at 6 p.m. in Miller Hall 138.

“Still Life” depicts the story of Fengjie, a town gradually surrendering to destruction caused by the creation of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. In the film, Han Sanming, a coal miner, returns to the village in search of his estranged wife. He speaks with many of the townspeople about the whereabouts of his wife, to no avail, before finding a job on a demolition crew.

The second story, told simultaneously, follows Shen Hong, a nurse. She visits the town in search of her husband and enlists help from her husband’s friend.

The final third of the film cuts back to Sanming’s quest.

“Still Life” premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2006, where it was awarded the festival’s most coveted prize, the Golden Lion award. The film is in Mandarin with English subtitles.

The faculty of the Institute for Global Engagement aim less to entertain their audiences than to spark a dialogue. Their monthly films are always free and open to anyone who wishes to engage in meaningful discussion of the issues raised in the film.

Design by Laurie Nesheim // Institute for Global Engagement

10.3.2016 • 9

Outdoor Center provides bicycle repair stations for students

BELOW: A map of Western’s FIXIT stations. // Graphic courtesy of the Sustainable Transportation Office.

W

BY ERASMUS BAXTER

estern’s bike FIXIT stations appear to have been a successful investment of student money.

Jillian Trinkaus, with Western’s Sustainable Transportation Office, checks the stations around campus approximately once a month and refills the tire patching kits as necessary.

“Sometimes the whole kit is gone,” Trinkaus said.

While she cautions that this is not a good metric of use as people may be taking whole kits, she often sees valve caps left at the stations from people refilling their tires.

“It really varies,” Trinkaus said. “It seems like the Haggard Hall station gets [used more often].”

Each of the four stations is comprised of a metal column with a pump, a kit of tire patches, and an assortment of bike tools attached to the station. The stations are designed so that a bike can be suspended from the station while it is being worked on.

The tools, including screwdrivers, several sizes of box and Allen wrenches and two tire levers, allow bikers to make a series of basic adjustments and repairs to their bike, 24 hours a day, free of charge. In addition, the pump and tire patches allow for easy fixing of flat tires. By scanning a QR code at the station, students can access a mobile-friendly website that features step-by-step videos for repairing common issues.

For more complicated issues and to purchase bike parts, students and faculty can visit the Outdoor Center’s bike shop for free assistance and a greater assortment of tools available for only $2.

With the exception of the station located outside the Outdoor Center, all the stations were paid for with a grant from the Student Sustainable Action Fee that is charged to students every quarter. The FIXIT stations at Haggard Hall, Arntzen Hall, and Wade King Rec Center were installed during the summer of 2015.

Despite the need to refill the patch kits, the program has not yet had to buy more supplies.

“Before the grant ran out we made sure we had a good stock of supplies,” Trinkaus said The website of Dero, the station’s manufacturer, places the price of each station as around $1,100 each.

The station outside the Outdoor Center was purchased by the OC around 2012, according to Stephen Magnuson, the Outdoor Center Programs Coordinator. It is currently missing a pump handle.

“It’s a design flaw,” Magnuson said.

The OC has fixed the handle two or three times but it keeps snapping off. While there are currently no plans to fix the station’s pump, the OC bike shop has pumps available for use inside.

The rest of the stations are maintained by the Sustainable Transportation Office.

Over the Summer they paid to have a pump hose replaced at the Arntzen hall station.

To report any issues with the stations, students can call the Sustainable Transportation Office at 360-650-7960. Students can also contact the campus bike educator at bikeeducator@wwu.edu to schedule a one-on-one bike maintenance session at one of the stations.

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ABOVE LEFT: The Dawn Bombs perform for “corporate dinners, dirty house shows, and everything between,” according to their Facebook page.

Photo courtesy of The Dawn Bombs. ABOVE RIGHT: Female Fiends describe their sound as “cuddle rock.” Photo courtesy of Female Fiends

Wednesday Night Concert Series: Female Fiends w/ The Dawn Bombs

BY JOSH HUGHES

On October 5, Female Fiends and The Dawn Bombs will kick off the Underground Coffeehouse concert series for fall quarter. Female Fiends, from Kent, Washington (featuring Western’s own Christian Olson) will headline the show with their jangly, self proclaimed “cuddle rock,” marking their first show at the Underground since 2013. Bellingham’s Dawn Bombs, with a slightly darker, groovier sound, will also perform, coinciding with the release of their three track EP. While it can be too easy to pigeonhole up-and-coming artists as derivative of their influences, both bands take cues from the Pacific Northwest indie rock scene and make a sound of their own. The Dawn Bombs contain hints of King Krule, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and The Walkmen in their tight ar-

rangements, and singer and guitarist Benjamin Waight’s low vocals even recall 50’s inspired pop and rock.

Female Fiends, on the other side of the spectrum, blend the psychrock sounds of Animal Collective with sharp, upbeat guitar patterns and a sense of earnestness often reserved for the best pop punk music.

Of course, both artists add up to more than the sum of their parts, and they each hold a unique spot in the growing Bellingham music scene.

A few years removed from their Too Shy To Live EP, Female Fiends have spent their time touring and working on new music that very well could manifest itself into a full length debut in the future. The quartet relies on the classic lineup of two guitars, bass and drums, which has proven to be a combination of instruments that still have a lot to say,

musically speaking.

Based on their past releases, Female Fiends prefer up-tempo rock tracks to slower folk songs, but on certain tracks like “4 A.M.” they go full-on Shins with a knack for acoustic ballads.

Elsewhere, songs like “Dream Aquarium” and “No Excuses” best exemplify their overall sound with guitar licks that wouldn’t sound out of place on one of Bloc Party’s first albums. “Cuddle rock” strangely works as an apt descriptor of their sound in the way that they seem to soak in melancholy and bliss often at the same time.

Despite only having a few songs out, The Dawn Bombs have been fine-tuning and perfecting their sound over the last year by playing house shows around town. In addition to their alt roots, they draw

influences from jazz, calypso, and even soul to fully flesh out a distinct sound.

One of their two currently released tracks, the minute and a half “Caffeine Calypso” sounds exactly like you’d expect — a quick song with jazzy guitar and excellent harmonies that breezes through its runtime. A trio of guitar, bass and drums, they sound full and vibrant, making the most out of their instruments and leaving sonic space for one another.

As an overview of Pacific Northwest indie rock in 2016, you couldn’t ask for a better opening show than Female Fiends and The Dawn Bombs. Be sure to check out both artists Bandcamp and Soundcloud pages for upcoming releases, and catch them at the Underground Coffeehouse on Wednesday, October 5 at 7 p.m.

Color on the walls at the VU Gallery

10.3.2016 • 11

BY CHRIS BESWETHERICK

BELOW: Art supplies, including colored pencils, markers, crayons, and oil pastels, will be available in VU 507 from October 6 to October 21. The VU Gallery staff encourages all students to come make their mark and enjoy the artwork of other students. Photos by Trevor Grimm // AS Review

Freedom of expression will now take over the walls of VU 507 — The Viking Union Gallery.

Today, the annual Drawing Jam begins and the VU Gallery invites everyone to collaborate. On October 6, the third day of the installation, the gallery will host an opening reception from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. where everyone can celebrate the artwork as a group.

Usually, a gallery will hang more than one single piece of art, but to involve the campus, the VU Gallery does mount a single, enormous piece once a year. The art itself invites the audience to participate. Rather than focusing on a single artist, the VU Gallery wants to include the multitudes of art styles at Western in one place. The show calls its visitors to be self-expressive in the space and to contribute to an ever-growing, communal work of art. “[There are] blank walls waiting for students to

come into the gallery and have fun with their creativity,” VU Gallery Director Taylor Glennon said.

Glennon and her team are introducing the school to the VU Gallery with this project. Their goal for this collaborative event is to inform the campus that the gallery is a space where anyone can come to grow and learn. They hope many will come visit the gallery for this and future exhibitions.

Glennon and the gallery’s attendants have set up several pieces of large white paper which line the walls of the room. These pieces of paper are blank, but as the month progresses, more and more artists will add details until October 21. Then, the project ends and is taken down.

Those who come are encouraged to bring their own supplies if they wish, but the curators will also supply materials.

“There will be colored pencils, markers, oil pas-

tels and crayons provided for people to use to create art on the gallery walls,” Glennon said.

Unfortunately, because of restrictions for cleaning and maintaining the gallery, the use of paint will not be permitted. Too much time passes before paint dries so it would drip onto other artwork and the floor.

The VU Gallery is always growing and looking for more patrons. This event has been a strategy to attract more audience members.

“Drawing Jam has been an annual kickoff show at the VU Gallery for several years now,” Glennon said. “It has had great success with bringing students into the gallery.”

Over the year, the gallery will curate several shows. The gallery staff hopes that the audience grows in support of their efforts to make sure that art thrives at Western.

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Students explore a wonderland at VU Late Night BELOW: The theme for the Viking Union Late Night event was Alice in Wonderland, and students took advantage of the chance to hang out in the VU after hours.

Photos by Ricky Rath and Melanie Guan // AS Review.