AS Review - October 19, 2015 by ASWWU

Vol. 31 #6 10.19.15

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The Art of Seating is on display now in the Western Gallery. Photo by: Trevor Grimm // AS Review

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 © 2015. Published 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.

IN THIS ISSUE 4 Do It Anyway: A

conversation with Western Reads author Courtney Martin The author of this year’s Western Reads book discusses the activists she writes about in her new book.

6 Teaching English through TESOL

Western’s TESOL program gives students the opportunity to teach English abroad.

4 Band of the Week Traveler of Home will perform on October 21 at 7 p.m. at the Underground Coffeehouse. Find out more about the band and their music on page 4.

7 Sports Lineup Check out this list of Western sporting events coming up this fall. Go Vikings!

5 Western Makes the Cut

Check out this list of lists that Western has recently appeared on, including “50 Best Colleges by the Sea” and “U.S. News & World Best of the Northwest.”

8 The Art of Seating The Western Gallery is currently hosting an exhibit featuring famous chairs. Find out more on the back page.

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.

Marina Price Alexandra Bartick Trevor Grimm Ian Sanquist Kate Welch Morgan Annable Sarah Sharp Designer Zach Becker Adviser Jeff Bates

Editor in Chief Assistant Editor Lead Photographer Writers

A prize wheel on display at last weeks “The Fair” event put on by Western’s Office of Sustainability. Photo by Trevor Grimm // AS Review

10.19. 2015 • 3

EVENTS Poetry & Lyric Open Mic

Kayak Roll Sessions

Oct 19 // 7 p.m. // Underground Coffeehouse // Free

Oct 21 // 8 p.m. // VU 150 A // Free

An open mic night dedicated to Poetry and Lyric verse happens every other Monday at the Underground Coffeehouse. Sign ups are at 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday Night Concert Series Oct 21 // 7 p.m. // Underground Coffeehouse // Free Traveler Of Home will be performing at this week’s Wednesday night Concert series. Find out more about this event on page 4.

Head over to the Arne Hanna Aquatic Center with Western’s Outdoor Center to learn the ropes of kayak rolling.

Top Ten: October 12-18 1

Currents Tame Impala

Depression Cherry Beach House

Abyss Chelsea Wolfe

No No No Beirut

Stuff Like That There Yo La Tengo

Sustainability Awards Oct 22 // 4 p.m. // Wilson Library 4th Floor Reading Room // Free The AS Environmental and Sustainability Programs Office will give awards to the chosen nominees in a reception on Thursday, with the chance to win $1000 for their sustainable initiatives.

Kids Night Out gets kids excited about science BY KATE WELCH On October 16, Western students might have noticed an abundance of children swarming the Science, Math, Technology and Engineering building in the evening. The kids were on campus to get excited about science and learning during the school year. Three times a year, 40 local kids, grades K-5, spend their Friday evening learning about science topics. The event, called “Kids Night Out”, provides an opportunity to keep kids excited about science during the school year, Debbie Gibbons, the Manager of Youth Programs at Western’s Extended Education said. “We market to the kids that come to our summer programs as well as the general community, but to give kids another opportunity to do some fun science exploration and be able to do something really fun like use the swimming pool at Wade King Student Rec Center,” Gibbons said. The staff found that parents dropped kids off, then went out for a night out of their own, “Parents would drop their kids off and then go out to dinner, so it was kind of a nice date night [for the parents],”

Gibbons said. Sometimes the parents of kids who knew each other would all go out to dinner together. The event also provides an opportunity for teaching students to get some experience. The students, hired through the University, put together lesson plans and put them into action, said Gibbons. This year, Western’s teaching students will get two more opportunities to flex their teaching muscles, because a version of the event that aims to specifically get young girls excited about science is in the works. This event will happen twice in addition to the three original ones, and will be catered to girls in grades 3-8. “We offer one per quarter, and this year we’re adding on to the night out model by adding two sessions for girls only. So we’re doing a ‘Girls in Engineering, Math and Science Night Out’,” says Gibbons, who explained the event developed from a successful one last year called “Gem’s Fair”, where local girls would interact with Western’s science related student clubs. Students wanting to get involved in future “Kids Night Out” events or other youth programs at Western can contact Debbie Gibbons in the Extended Education department, or email youth@wwu.edu.

Digitonium Turkuaz White Reaper Does it Again White Reaper

Another One Mac Demarco

The Beyond/ Where the Giants Roam Thundercat

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 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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Do It Anyway: a conversation with Western Reads author Courtney E. Martin BY MORGAN ANNABLE On a college campus, one tends to hear a lot of people lamenting the state of the world. The inevitable question comes up. What can we do to help? In this year’s Western Reads book, “Do It Anyway,: The New Generation of Activists”, author Courtney E. Martin unfolds the intensely personal stories of eight contemporary activists around the country. On October 22, Courtney Martin will visit campus, accompanied by two activists profiled in the book, filmmaker Emily Abt and prison-reentry social worker Raul Diaz. At 7 p.m. in Western’s PAC Concert Hall they will give a presentation which will include a panel and a question and answer session. The book resists being a how-to manual; instead, Martin tells specific, detailed stories that show how our generation has adapted to a changing socio-political landscape. Abt’s version of activism emphasizes honesty. “If [my subjects] are going to open up their lives to me, I sure as hell better keep it real with them,” Abt said. Diaz’s brand of activism is also intensely personal. “Raul was known to show up at apartments of kids who came to the afterschool program with black eyes and bruises and give abusive fathers a taste of their own medicine,” Martin said. “His clients are his brothers.” Some of the subjects break stereotypes, like Nia Martin-Robinson who, despite her career as an environmental justice advocate, feels more at home on a bustling city street than on a hiking trail. The activism of others, like radical peace activist Rachel Corrie, looks much more familiar. Corrie traveled to Palestine and stood in front of bulldozers that threatened the homes and lives of people who lived there. The book is full of tales that will undoubtedly inspire students who wish

to make activism a large part of their lives. No book can speak meaningfully to every possible reader, but the anecdotes sprinkled throughout each story do let the reader connect on a personal level to the activists. “We must hold these large-scale revolutions in our hearts while tackling small, radical everyday acts with our hands,” Martin said in the epilogue of “Do It Anyway”. “[Martin] is the youngest Western Reads author we’ve ever brought, she’s really close to our students’ age,” Western Reads Director and English Professor Dawn Dietrich said. “One of her messages is that today’s activism doesn’t look like your parents’ generation or your grandparents’ generation.” Dietrich said that Martin really connects with the young activists she profiles and she includes failures as well as successes. “They’re not rock stars, they’re ordinary people like all of us,” she said. Martin strives to demonstrate that activists of the millennial generation have stopped trying to change the world and instead opt to set realistic goals and incorporate their passions into their careers. “They’re living their activism,” Dietrich said. On October 21 there are two events related to “Do It Anyway”; Diaz will give a presentation entitled “An Altar Boy with a Gun” at noon in Fairhaven and Western Reads will partner with the Limelight to show Abt’s new film “Daddy Don’t Go” at 6:30 and 9 p.m. Dietrich always welcomes students who want to join the committee; to do so contact Western.Reads@wwu. edu. Anyone who wishes to nominate a book can do so via the Western Reads website: wp.wwu.edu/westernreads/ and Dietrich encourages students to “like” Western Reads on Facebook.

The cover of this year’s Western Reads book “Do It Anyway, The New Generation of Activists” by Courtney E. Martin. The book was made available for free for incoming students participating in Summerstart this year. It is available for purchase at the Western Associated Students Bookstore. Published by Beacon Press

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The Underground Coffeehouse Wednesday Night Concert Series

Band of the Week

Traveler Of Home

A MUSIC REVIEW BY IAN SANQUIST This Wednesday, Chris Yakawich and Mark Houston, who make up the alternative folk rock band Traveler Of Home, will play in the Underground Coffeehouse at 7 p.m. Yakawich and Houston started playing together about a year ago, after meeting through mutual friends at Gonzaga University, where each is a sophomore. “The first time we met, we just started making a song,” Yakawich said. “We made a song, and we recorded it, so we just kept playing together and started playing shows and jamming.” The duo is in the process of recording an album. One of their songs, an emotional and heartfelt ballad called “Searching Soul”, is available on Youtube. “We write it all,” Houston said. “It’s all original stuff, we just try to get real, it’s really lyric-based, and we focus on emotions a lot.” Yakawich is studying biology at Gonzaga, a pre-med student. Houston is in the computer science program, and says that in the future he’ll be able to incorporate his training into audio programming, although he says that for Traveler of Home, he plans to keep the sound, “more personal, and kind of acoustic and raw.” Both Yakawich and Houston are working on multiple music projects. In addition to Traveler Of Home, Houston is in a band called Hydration, which he describes as an alternative electronic hip-hop project. Yakawich, who sings for Traveler of Home, also does solo work. Yakawich has been playing guitar for about ten years. “My dad got me into it when I was really young,” Yakawich said. “He would just play all the time around the campfire, just Eagles, and Jimmy Buffett, good stuff.” Houston started playing guitar at age seven. After seeing the film “Freaky Friday”, Houston was inspired to play guitar. “I saw the movie Freaky Friday,” Houston said. “I saw that when I was seven and I thought, oh man, that’s so cool, and so my mom got me started with guitar lessons and I loved it.” Houston said that he and Yakawich share a desire to spread a positive message through their music. “It seems like a lot of music these days is really focused on, not necessarily negative things, but not necessarily the direction that we think should really Traveler of Home performing at the MUX in Tri- Cities, benefit people,” Houston said. “So we want to be Washington. Photo courtesy of Traveler Of Home able to express goodness.

Western makes the cut BY SARAH SHARP Western has often been featured on national lists for various accolades surrounding campus life, cost of admission and student achievement. This year, the university appeared on the following lists: 1. Active Minds Healthy Campus Award Active Minds Inc. named Western as one of the top 5 healthiest campuses in America. The award commended Western for its “Best Self ” campaign, which promotes well being for students and faculty, \Residence Education Model for building community in the residence halls and unlimited access to the Health Center’s resources. 2. Peace Corps Volunteers For the last three years, Western has ranked No. 1 in its number of graduates who become volunteers among medium-sized schools across the nation. Currently, there are 47 alumni volunteering for the Peace Corps worldwide. Other Washington universities took the top spot in the categories for large-size schools (University of Washington) and small-size schools (Gonzaga University) in 2015. 3. Kiplinger’s 100 Best Values in Public Colleges and Universities Western ranks 91 among 100 of the best valued public colleges and universities, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine. Colleges are assessed by the admission rate, financial aid, average debt at graduation, percentage of students who return for their sophomore year, student-faculty ratio and four-year graduation rate. 4. U.S. News & World Best of the Northwest U.S. News and World named Western as the most efficient medium-sized public university in the Pacific Northwest. The definition of “efficiency” was based on two factors: educational quality and spending. Their analysis compared how well universities ranked on the preexisting 2015 Best College Rankings with how much they spend to achieve that tier of quality. 5. Collegerankings.com “50 Best Colleges by Sea” Western ranked seventh among the best colleges located within a close proximity to the ocean. Collegerankings.com took a look at the availability of marine education centers, marine-related degree programs and water-related recreational activities to make their selections. 6. Military Friendly School Western appeared in the top 20 percent of Military Friendly Schools® in 2015, based on survey data compiled from 10,000 colleges and universities that receive VA funding. A number of services are available to veterans on Western’s campus, including the Veterans Outreach Center and Veterans Services Office.

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Collaborative art exhibits allows students to display their work on the walls of the Viking Union’s gallery BY IAN SANQUIST The walls of the Viking Union Gallery have been covered in butcher paper and converted into a collaborative drawing canvas that is currently open to anyone who wishes to make their mark. Drawing Jam, an always-popular annual event, gives visitors to the gallery the opportunity to take back the gallery space. Art supplies are provided, and visitors are encouraged to express themselves on the gallery walls in whatever way they wish. Returning AS VU Gallery Director J.L. Gazabat has been working over the past year to make the gallery into a space that encourages a more comprehensive and inclusive local art community. “Any gallery, including the VU Gallery, can be perceived as an intimidating space reserved for the erudite or elite of the art world,” Gazabat said. “This is an idea I hope to dispel. Drawing Jam deconstructs notions of the gallery as a hierarchical space.” Drawing Jam is open through Friday, October 30 during gallery hours, Monday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Everyone and anyone is welcome to participate, thus taking on the role of artist, exhibitionist, Gallery Director, Materials ready to use on the Drawing Jam wall in the Viking Union Gallery. Photo by Trevor Grimm // AS Review and patron all at the same time,” Gazabat said. There’s already a wide variety of amazing art drawn on with some inspiring calls to action, such as (F)ART FORthey feel comfortable,” Gazabat said. “This collaborative the walls of the gallery, including tasteful nudes, still lifes EVER. But there’s still plenty of open space on the canvas, community art project is intended to encourage anyone of fruit, an intricately detailed face painted as a sugar skull, so make your mark while you can! and everyone to come draw, sketch, write, and doodle all and numerous puzzling and intriguing creatures, along “Everyone is invited to participate on whatever level over the VU Gallery walls.”

STUDENTS TEACH ENGLISH ABROAD THROUGH TESOL BY SARAH SHARP Among Western’s population of about 15,000 undergraduate students, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages enrolls just one percent in its program every year. Yet, it is internationally recognized for turning out well-rounded English educators, TESOL director Trisha Skillman said. “We’ve built a very rigorous, well-recognized program, and people really trust that the students coming out of our program are equipped to teach,” Skillman said. The 20-credit program prepares students to either teach English internationally or in the United States to non-English speaking immigrants. But Skillman estimated that for about 95 percent of the students TESOL enrolls, their eyes are set abroad. The TESOL program differs from an ELL endorsement through Elementary Education in its focus on adults. TESOL graduates can go on to teach in international language schools, community college ESL classes and community language settings for recent immigrants.

The program’s teaching methodology involves developing relationships with non-English speakers at Western before students travel abroad. “From day one in your classes, you’re working with English language learners here on campus, with someone whose native language is not English,” Skillman said. The program offers several different options for obtaining a TESOL certificate. Students can take TESOL courses through Western or online, or combination of both. Most of the TESOL classes are focused on English grammar, linguistics and methods of teaching. But students are also required to study another culture, demonstrated through experience or a minimum of 3 credits of approved coursework, and complete one year of college-level foreign language study. Because minors are not often recognized in other countries, the program offers both a minor and a TESOL certificate to increase students’ job prospects. During the summer, students with at least 14 credits in TESOL can travel to Queretaro, Mexico for a four or eightweek teaching practicum. Students live with homestay fami-

lies, immersing in the culture and Spanish language first hand. “Their favorite part of all is their homestay families because they live, have meals and practice Spanish with them,” Skillman said. “That’s wonderful because you really get the chance to experience that culture.” While the program is designed for future English educators, students who take other career paths still utilize their TESOL experience when working with people from different cultures, Skillman said. “You need [cross-cultural experience] in life, and you need it in your work life, too,” she said. “A lot of my students work in the U.S. in other jobs when they graduate, but they always write back to me to say how prepared they were to work cross-culturally.” Applications for the TESOL minor are due on the first day of the month in each quarter. The next deadline for winter quarter will be on December 1 for current Western students. However, you can trial a TESOL class at any point by emailing TESOL@wwu.edu for more information.

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What to expect from Western’s sports this fall BY MORGAN ANNABLE

ith the remodel of Carver Gymnasium going on this year, many sporting events have moved to alternate venues, but the Vikings are just as ready for action as ever. Here is a glimpse of some upcoming athletic competitions.

Sawyer Preston made a shot on goal, but it was stopped by the MSUB goalkeeper. Women’s Soccer Two days The women’s soccer team will play a home game later in Bisagainst Simon Fraser University at 7 p.m. on October marck, ND, 22. Western competed against Simon Fraser a few the Vikings weeks ago and scored all five of their goals in the first got their fifteen minutes of the game for a 5-0 win, becoming first GNAC the first team to beat Simon Fraser this season. victory of the Junior Elise Aylward scored her first three goals season against of the season in the third, twelfth, and fourteenth the Univerminutes of the game. She was selected as the Greater sity of Mary Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Offensive Marauders. Player of the Week. Western won Senior Catherine Miles also scored goals in the the game fifth and fourteenth minutes of the contest. 3-1. This was WestWhile Carver Gym is under construction, Western’s basketball home games will be held at Cross Country ern’s sixth Whatcom Community College’s gymnasium. The team’s first home game of the season, against Western is hosting this year’s GNAC championvictory in a ships on October 24 at 10 a.m. at East Lake Padden row against the Seattle Mountaineers will be on Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. Photo by Trevor Grimm // AS Review Park. University of Recently, the Vikings hosted 13 men’s teams and Mary. 12 women’s teams on October 10, also at East Lake competition against 20 teams at Western New Mexico Padden Park. Women’s Volleyball University Mustang Invitational. Senior Taylor Guenther led the women’s team, The women’s volleyball team will host MSUB at At the New Mexico contest, Junior Brooke Branranked eighteenth in NCAA Division II, to a fourth Whatcom Community College at 7 p.m. on October igan shot a 69, three under par, to tie for fifth in place finish with a 22nd place finish. She was fol31st. medalist play. lowed by Junior Brittany Grant in 25th, Sophomore Last time they met the Yellowjackets on the volleySenior Kristen Hansen and Freshman Stephanie Alex Laiblin in 30th, Freshman Tracy Melville in ball court, the Vikings prevailed with scores of 25-23, Sewell placed ninth and tenth, respectively. 36th, and Junior Sara Taferre in 45th place out of 144 27-25, and 25-17. “It may be our best round since I’ve been here,” runners. Senior Rachel Roeder led the team with 13 kills, said Western head coach Bo Stephan. The Western men, ranked tenth nationally, placed Redshirt Freshman Kayleigh Harper had eight kills sixth as a team with Sophomore Andrew Wise lead- and a match-high 18 digs, and Redshirt Freshman Men’s Golf ing the team in fourteenth place. He was followed by Abby Phelps and Senior Jennica McPherson each had While the women’s team is competing in Sonoma, Sophomore Sean Eustis in 31st, Junior Matt Lutz in seven kills against MSUB. the men will compete Cal State University Monterey 34th, Redshirt Freshman Nick Mounier in 41st, and Women’s volleyball also has home games comBay Invitational in Seaside, CA. Junior Max Romey in 44th place out of 175 runners. ing up against Northwest Nazarene University on At their last competition two weeks ago, Junior October 22 at Squalicum High School and Central Brett Johnson played while battling illness and led Men’s Soccer Washington University on October 24 at Whatcom the Vikings to a fifth place finish at Chico State InThe Montana State University Billings (MSUB) Community College, both at 7 p.m. terwest Wildcat Classic in Chico, CA. men’s soccer team will come to Western on October Freshmen Michael Butler and Cody Roth also 24. They will compete at Harrington Field at 7 p.m. Women’s Golf helped the Viking men place fifth in a 12 team field. Earlier this season Western competed against Western’s women’s golf team will head down south Butler shot a 1-under par 71 in the final round, tied MSUB on October 24 in Billings, MT. The Vikings to Sonoma, CA to compete at Sonoma State Universi- for fifteenth place, and Roth tied with Junior Chris fell 1-0 to the MSUB Yellowjackets. ty Invitational on October 19-20. Hatch for twenty-seventh place. In the eighty-eighth minute of the game, Senior On September 22 the Vikings placed third in a

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BY IAN SANQUIST

The Art of Seating: a Western Gallery exhibition

n the Western Gallery, open Monday-Friday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Saturday Noon – 4 p.m., The Art of Seating is on display until November 21. With more than 40 chairs, and spanning over 200 years of design and craftsmanship, the Art of Seating is a truly extraordinary exhibition of American chair design. The exhibit features chairs from well-known designers like Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles and Ray Eames, Frank Gehry, and many others. Each chair is introduced by a concise but lively and detailed informational card that provides a cultural and historical context for the chair’s design and manufacture as well as statements from the designers. This is indeed a near-encyclopedic survey of the possibilities of the American chair. Only one question remains, then: can visitors to the gallery sit in the chairs? The answer to that is a definite no. Though there are not any signs in the gallery explicitly asking patrons to refrain from sitting in the chairs, the chairs’ positioning, on elevated platforms, or pedestals, above the level of the floor, makes clear that such behavior is not permitted. A visitor to the gallery, Travis Heller, said that he understood why visitors were not allowed to sit in the chairs, given the potential for damage. “There’s something to be said about the comfort of a chair relative to its design,” Heller said. He gestured to the translucent molded acrylic resin Lily Chair designed by Erwine and Estelle Laverne. “I’d like to sit in this one to see what it feels like. But you’ve got to restrain yourself.” The Art of Seating takes objects as functional as chairs and places them on elevated planes in the gallery space; their function is denied, and viewers are asked to consider the chairs from a purely aesthetic perspective. “This looks like a tongue,” graduate student Arlan Cashier said of Herbert von Thaden’s Adjustable Lounge Chair. In the gallery, one may consider each chair as a piece of art, as a piece of history, or even as a piece of furniture.

However, one may not experience the chair as a piece of furniture. Some of the chairs look more comfortable than others. The Oxbow Arm Chair, for instance, with its armrests situated much higher than would seem natural to rest one’s arms, looks somewhat like a medieval instrument of torture. In the corners of the Western Gallery are plain-cushioned aluminum-framed chairs, presumably to give visitors who are exhausted or overwhelmed by the sight of so many forbidden chairs a place to sit down. Yet one approaches even these chairs with trepidation, uncertain as to whether they too are part of the exhibit. A gallery attendant, sitting in an identical chair near the entrance, signals the all clear to sit in one of these. The Art of Seating raises familiar questions in the ongoing debate between art and function. Where do these boundaries cross? If a functional object is to be considered as art, is it necessary to deny its function? Can you call something a chair if its maker never intended for someone to sit in it? Can you call something art if its maker intended it as a piece of furniture? Can you call something a chair if you are not allowed to sit in it? “It’s disturbing,” gallery attendant Rachel Hess said of the many chairs in which no one may sit. German philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote that a judgment of beauty must be disinterested. That is, a judgment must be based upon an object’s intrinsic beauty, not based on whether the object is agreeable or disagreeable to the person who judges it. In this regard, by barring visitors from sitting in the chairs on display, the Art of Seating instead frees them to wander through the gallery proclaiming, “What a beautiful chair! And how uncom-

Examples of the chairs on display in the Western Gallery. The exhibition will be in the Gallery until November 21. Photos by Trevor Grimm // AS Review

fortable it looks!” Elsewhere in the gallery, Eero Saarinen’s 1946 Grasshopper Arm Chair traces the devolution of posture in post-war America. “People now want to sit low, and they want to slouch,” Saarinen said of his chair’s design. George Hunzinger’s 19th Century yellow and black retro-futurist chair looks like a throne for a small-framed alien overlord, part Jules Verne and part Antoni Gaudi, with lines that are somehow both clean and ornate. It looks like something that could blast off at any moment, powered on steam. Eventually gallery visitors come to a rocking chair designed by the Shakers, a religious sect that originated in the 18th Century, having branched off from a community of Quakers. The Shakers believed in labor and conscientious design as an act of prayer, and their furniture reflects principles of simplicity, utility and honesty. They regarded ornamentation such as inlays, carvings or veneers, as prideful and deceitful. The rocking chair designed by the Shakers sits empty in the gallery, a melancholy specter of purpose denied. The story of the chair’s origin and the utilitarian values that inspired its construction provoke an almost irresistible impulse to gratify its purpose by taking a seat.