VOL. 32 #8 11.07.16
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A new installation in the VU Gallery. See page 6 for more information. Cover photo by Janna Bodnar // 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 © 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.
IN THIS ISSUE 4 AS Board Update Find out what the board members have been up to as they work to improve our school.
Digital Media 5 Center New resource on campus provides students, professors and faculty with the ability to produce original television shows.
Slow and Low: 6 Mouth a Grape The VU Gallery has a new exhibit, and it may be the most abstract stuff you have ever seen.
Victorious
7 Vikings
As Chicago Cubs fans celebrate, we delve into Western’s recent triumphs on the field and the court.
10 Jorge Pacheco
Cuban piano virtuoso brings his ivory-ticklers to campus for onetime-only performance.
12 William
Shakespeare Theater student’s senior project includes all 37 of the bard’s dramatic works.
We welcome reader submissions, including news articles, literary pieces, photography, artwork, letters to the editor or anything else physically printable. Please limit letters to 300 words, include your name, phone number and year in school. Send all submissions to as.review@wwu. edu. Published letters may have minor edits made to their length or grammar. The AS Review is distributed via electric bicycle, the purchase of which was made possible by the Sustainable Action Fund Grant Program.
Morgan Annable Alexandria Baker Ricky Rath Erasmus Baxter Julia Berkman Josh Hughes Chris Beswetherick Photographers Jonathan Pendleton Jaden Moon Janna Bodnar Adviser Jeff Bates
Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor Lead Photographer Writers
Kyle Stella (left), Teague Parker and Ben Briggs rehearse for the upcoming comedy show entitled “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).” Turn to page 12 for more information. Photo by Jaden Moon // AS Review
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EVENTS
CALENDAR OF EVENTS Low and Slow: Mouth a Grape
Women’s Volleyball vs. Seattle Pacific
Oct 31-Nov 18 // 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. // VU Gallery // Free
Nov 10 // 7 p.m. // Whatcom Community College // $5 for students, $8 general admission
Visit the VU Gallery and don’t be afraid to take your time with this exhibit.
WWU Jazz Presents Cuban Pianist Jorge Pacheco Nov 8 // 7:30 p.m. // PAC 016 (Choir Room) // $10 Pacheco has played in venues around the nation and with prestigious musical groups.
Noémi Ban Lecture Nov 9 // 6 p.m. // Arntzen 100 // Free The Ray Wolpow Institute hosts award-winning Holocaust educator Noémi Ban for their annual commemoration of Kristallnacht. Her story is sure to open eyes and inspire minds.
Wednesday Night Concert Series: Momo Grace with the Co Founder Nov 9 // 7 p.m. // AS Underground Coffeehouse // Free Two local Bellingham bands will rock the house on Wednesday evening.
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A Moon Shaped Pool Radiohead
2
Tween Wye Oak
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
3
Stranger to Stranger Paul Simon
Nov 10-12 // 7 p.m. // DUG Theater (PAC 199) // $3
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Changes Charles Bradley
This three-person cast performs all of Shakespeare’s plays in 90 minutes for a hilarious evening jam-packed with Elizabethan theater.
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Human Performance Parquet Courts
6
Easy Eating EP Naked Giants
7
Time and Place Lee Moses
8
The Magic Deerhoof
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The Columbia Years 1968-1969 Betty Davis
Faculty Recital: Italienisches Liederbuch Nov 11 // 7:30 p.m. // PAC 155 (Concert Hall) // Free Voice faculty members will be performing Hugo Wolf’s collection of songs “Italienisches Liederbuch.” The content of the songs ranges from mischief to anger to ill-fated interactions with inlaws.
New Music New Dance Dead Parrots Society Nov 10 // 8 p.m. //Underground Coffeehouse // Free Accompany your dose of improv comedy with a cup of coffee or a slice of pie!
Top Ten: Nov 7-13
Watch the Viking women as they compete against the SPU Falcons. The Viking volleyball team is currently on a winning streak of 11 games and counting!
Nov 12-13 // 7:30 p.m. // PAC 016 // Suggested donation $5 Student musicians and choreographers work together to organize a spectacular, never-before-seen performance.
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Certainty Sloucher 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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AS Board Update Voter registration, new clubs and lobby days BY JOSH HUGHES As Western nears the end of fall quarter, the AS Board of Directors continues to work on bettering the campus community. The board addressed multiple issues at their meeting on Wednesday, October 12, drawing special attention to the 3,059 registered voters that the voter registration drive pulled in. Bryce Hammer, Vice President (VP) for Governmental Affairs reported the numbers, claiming that there still could be more voters as everything gets processed. Note from the Editor: As of October 31 the official number is 3,475 voters registered. Additionally, VP for Activities Alex LaVallee stated that the activities council has two new on campus clubs, WWU Free The Toiletry and WWU Archery Club, also known as Nock Before Entering. WWU Free The Toiletry is a new organization that plans to make menstruation products available to students for free at on-campus bathrooms. This platform has been used by certain private schools across the country, but Western would be one of the first public universities to adopt the practice. LaVallee said there could be some issues with funding, but VP for Student Life Wayne Rocque said he would be happy to work with the club to ensure success. Meanwhile, the new archery club has been working closely with campus police to make sure their weapons will be stored safely when the club isn’t meeting. In other board news, LaVallee also talked about how Western’s new YouTube series, “Upkeep,” is going. A weekly video that features LaVallee talking about all AS-related topics for the week, the second episode already has 140 views and 143 likes. Finally, he said that AS Productions have secured their first pop music production for the school year. VP for Academic Affairs Erick Yanzon talked about meeting with the General University Requirements (GUR) Commission to discuss potential changes to the program. Some of the proposals that popped up included changing the standards for writing proficiency and providing a clearer understanding of diversity requirements. Aleyda Cervantes, VP for Diversity, recently met with the Ethnic Student Center’s President’s Council, which is in the process of organizing lobby days for the winter. The ESC will send one person from Legislative Affairs and one from the President’s Council to go down to Olympia to lobby for their policies this coming winter. The group is also still working out a meeting with the Dean to discuss the upcoming Multicultural Center. The board office is located in VU 504, and students are encouraged to stop by for any of the board members office hours with any questions, issues, or ideas.
Open mic at Underground Coffeehouse Artists perform every Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. in the cozy coffeehouse ambiance. Photos by Janna Bodnar // AS Review
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Digital Media Center brings ideas to life BY ERASMUS BAXTER Lights, cameras, action! The new Digital Media Center (DMC) is making all of the above available to campus in one convenient location. Unassumingly tucked away inside the library, it features a full service TV production studio complete with everything needed to produce a TV show. “Video is in everything,” said Deran Browne, head of the DMC. “Business. Science. Environmental science.” He started on the job August 24 and has been in nonstop motion ever since, getting everything set up and working with people who want to use it. Professors have already been taking advantage of the DMC for everything from preparing presentations to doing talk shows, he said. Browne thinks a short video can be just as effective as a long lecture in a classroom setting. “If you stand there and lecture for two hours, and ask if they get it: probably not,” he said. Creating videos to show in class isn’t the only way the DMC can be used by professors. Classes from Huxley to Woodring have found ways to incorporate video production. “You sort of have to have that media literacy,” Browne said. He sees video production as a necessary skill of the future. The fact that Western is incorporating it across disciplines is part of what brought him to Western, he said. “In a lot of schools [video production] is with the film department, or communications department. No one else has access.” Browne does not think that is the most effective structure for a video production program, because film can be a useful medium in a wide array of subjects. “When I taught in China one of my best students was an engineering student,” he said. “[He] wrote, acted and did most of the ABOVE post[-production].”
The DMC isn’t just for classroom use. Students working on projects or with ideas for productions can use the studio. In September, before President Randhawa went on TV in Seattle he practiced in the studio to get used to the cameras. Western Window, a TV show about happenings at Western, films there too. There are also eight production assistants working in the DMC right now. Each is required to produce a show each quarter. Browne is working on getting the studio ready for winter quarter, when they will start holding workshops on using the DMC and hopefully open it up to 24-hour usage. In the meantime, Browne encourages anyone who wants to use the DMC to get in touch with him so they can help make their ideas a reality. He is also looking to hire more production assistants. Due to the limited budget, they can only hire for workstudy positions but there are spots for
people to volunteer and get experience. “Come and make stuff,” Browne said. “It’s here for all you guys.” Entering the studio you come in to a high ceilinged room surrounded on two sides by a black curtain. Behind the curtain sits a green screen, and a white backdrop that can be used for filming or for photoshoots. The lights in the ceiling whir and click as they are activated. High definition cameras with teleprompters sit at the front of the room; behind them is a window looking in on the nerve center of the operation, the control room. The control room has enough room for six technical directors to control everything from the cameras to special effects in real time, while being overseen by the show’s director. The L-shaped room is like a miniature version of the ones you might see in movies about TV shows, with the director calling out commands to “bring up camera one” or “go to commercial.” As well as eight monitors, there are two large screens that show the different
feeds available. From there a technician can switch inputs using either a touchscreen or a lever. Most prefer the lever, Browne said. A case stores the guts of the operation, including 16 hard drives of 500 terabytes each. While that sounds like a lot, with HD video it actually goes by very quickly, according to Browne. In future, they are looking to set up a media server to share between ATUS, the DMC and others. The studio also contains a mike set-up for coordinating the crew behind the scenes from the control booth. Soon they will have the capability to do live broadcasts to Western’s cable channel and are working on setting up live broadcasts to the internet. Perhaps one day the AS Review will feature its own online show, shot in Western’s own DMC. “It’s about making good positive material that people get something out of,” Browne said.
LEFT: Cameras at various angles point toward a large green screen in the DMC. ABOVE RIGHT: Technical directors can watch what’s going on from the control room. Photos by Jaden Moon // AS Review
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Slow and Low: Mouth a Grape BY JOSH HUGHES
F
A new exhibit opens in the VU Gallery
rom now until November 18, you can head down to the Viking Union Gallery in VU 507 to check out Dawn Cerny’s exhibit entitled “Low And Slow: Mouth A Grape.” “Are you in or are you out? Is there judgment in a joke?” Thus reads the introduction to Cerny’s eccentric exhibition of papier-mâché amoebas and silkscreen prints. An intentionally vague title, her work is meant to evoke something about communication or the lack thereof, as well as what humans do when given little time for something. There are no obvious grapes, no mouths, and certainly no grapes being mouthed. Instead, Cerny’s work flies all over the map, including pieces that appear as distorted still lifes and mangled
sculpture. The intentional lack of clarity, however, adds to the gallery instead of detracting from its power as art. Seattle artist Cerny brought work to the VU Gallery that spans the last few years. The few pieces in the small space give a good summation of her style and focus as an artist. Using materials that often find usage as crafts, she creates work that riffs off of cheap, imaginative home decoration. A lingering idea, Cerny invites the viewer to ask many questions, including the following. “How do you make liberation with what you have?” “What meaning can you achieve out of such ‘novice’ materials?” “How can you tell whether you are on the inside
looking out or on the outside looking in?” There are prevailing ideas about how one can make the most out of any given situation, but there is also an air of mystery, of intrigue, and of feeling like you’re missing out on an inside joke. A lengthily titled multimedia piece that resembles a diorama contains subtitles like “The real real thing (two bill envelopes)” and “1997 (snake mountain),” leaving the viewer with an unclear idea of how to interpret her work. Is this literal? Is it meant to be allegorical? What’s with the title? Cerny wants you to think about all of these things, but she may not want you to come to any easy conclusions. Be sure to check out her work before it disappears next week into the inevitable abyss.
ABOVE LEFT: A piece entitled “Blue thing to put postcards and things on a yellowish box” includes “wood, glue, paint, paper, ephemera,” according to the artist’s statement. ABOVE RIGHT: This work, called “Sarah,” stands alone on an otherwise blank wall. It is made of wood, acrylic paint, paper, plaster, and foam. Photos by Janna Bodnar // AS Review
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Sports! Happy November, Vikings! For those of you at home keeping score, this is the second Sports Update of the season! Winter sports are just starting, but most fall sports are coming to the end of their active season, so let’s check in and see how they did!
SOCCER
The women’s soccer team is looking to finish off their perfect season with big wins at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) in a few weeks. The team has kept up the second-longest active winning streak in Division II Soccer history, with seven of their starters from last year still present on the roster. They have also broken four records at the GNAC regular-season championships so far, and are looking to break more at the end-ofseason finals. These Vikings are coached by Travis Connell, a Seattle Pacific alumni. He has been awarded the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year five times. Connell has been dubbed the ‘winningest coach’ in Western women’s soccer history! Hopefully this year he’ll win more well-deserved awards and accolades for his work coaching the team to a 15-win season. The finals for these Vikings are coming up, so be sure to cheer them on win or lose! The men’s soccer team is also racking up some wins and awards. Four members of the team have been named part of the GNAC All-Academic Team for their scholarly behavior. The men's team coach is Greg Brisbon, who graduated from Seattle Pacific in 1998. On the team roster is GNAC All-Star runner-up Eleazar Galvan, a forward who was just named the GNAC Player of the Week. The men’s team is rounding off their year with seven wins and three ties. They will also be competing in the NCAA Division II West Regional championships in a few days. Come cheer them on or watch the live stream.
An update on recent Viking victories BY JULIA BERKMAN BASKETBALL
Men’s Basketball has put in quite the effort training for the beginning of their 2016-17 season. Their first scrimmage of the season ended in a sweeping triumph. The Viking Basketball team is coached by Tony Dominguez, a Western alum, who mentored his first team in 2013 to a 24-game winning streak. Hopefully he can do the same this year with a fresh crop of players!
The women’s basketball team, coached by Carmen Dolfo, has kicked off their preseason with a big win against Trinity Western in an exhibition game. Last year, the Vikings reached the GNAC Semifinals with a 20-9 record. They’re currently gearing up for two West Region Crossover Classic games happening next week, where they’ll be playing against Humboldt State and Fresno Pacific. Dolfo is among the top 20 all-time Division II women’s coaches. Hopefully the
This year, she has coached her fantastic team comprised of 10 returning letterwinners, five of whom are starters. However, don’t think this team doesn’t also have some strong beginning players! Freshman libero Mae Thungc was just recently named the GNAC player of the week. Last year the team won a whopping 27 games, earning them a spot in the NCAA II Final Four. The team earned the fifth most wins in single-season program history, as well as being the GNAC Championship runner-ups. Their next game against Seattle Pacific is coming up on Nov 10. It’s a home game, so paint your face and watch them fly!
CROSS COUNTRY
Redshirt Freshman defender Nick Morgan staves off an attack from Simon Fraser offense at a home game on November 3. Photo by Ricky Rath // AS Review The men’s team this year has lost six of their eleven starters from last year’s season, but they also received some strong incoming students. Ibra Drame, a transfer student with an impressive record, and incoming freshman Christian Rotter, an all star at his high school, are being added to the team roster. These Vikings are starting off their season with a bang on November 11 with a Pioneer Challenge Game in California. You can catch the game streaming online if plane tickets to California are too expensive for you!
team can bring Dolfo more of the glory they’re accustomed to in a few days at the Crossover Classic games.
VOLLEYBALL
Western’s Volleyball team, coached by the insurmountable Diane Flick-Williams, are closing their season out with sixteen wins. Flick-Williams has been named Winningest Volleyball Coach in Western’s history, as well as being a Eight-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
Both men’s and women’s cross country are finishing up their season with a trip to the NCAA Division II championships on Nov 19. In the past year, the women’s team placed sixth at NCAA II National Championships, second at NCAA II West Regional and second at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. These accomplishments were hard won, thanks to Pee-Wee Halsell, who is in his 30th year of coaching. Two key newcomers from the same high school in New Mexico are rounding out the women’s team this year. They started off their season strong with a first place win at the Central Washington Invite. The men’s team has also had great success last year, where they placed sixth at NCAA Division II West Regional and third at GNAC Championships. Junior Andrew Wise is returning to the team after a top-ten All Star individual finish in the GNAC Championships. Their next meet is the NCAA National Championships, so be sure to cheer them on.
Well Vikings, if you’re looking for some entertainment, look no further than our indomitable sports teams. Have a great remainder of the season, everyone!
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Momo Grace with the Co Founder WWU through the ages: 1995 BY JOSH HUGHES On Wednesday, November 9, Momo Songs with propulsive force like Grace and the Co Founder will be per“A90” and “Either Way” should transforming a live set at the Underground late nicely in an acoustic setting, even Coffeehouse starting at 7 p.m. without the driving rhythm section and Switching gears from the recent electric guitar. surge of electronic shows at the cofMomo Grace, also from right here feehouse, both bands fall under the in Bellingham, is a five piece band self vague-sounding umbrella of folk rock, described as silly and soulful, blending and both sets will be primarily acoustic. a variety of genres and moods to create Hailing from Bellingham, the Co a feel-good folk vibe. Their active Founder are coming off of the release Bandcamp page has produced a handful of their excellent self-released record of summery singles recently, and their “Wye,” and they will be going on tour EP “Scalabar” has a consistently homey in support of it this coming December. sound that paints a picture quite similar Drawing influences from borderline to its welcoming album art. Composed alt-country acts like Pinegrove, the Co of multi instrumentalists and led by voFounder rely on immediate hooks and calist Monica Parshotam, Momo Grace melodies with an urgent delivery and recalls the warmth of The Cinematic charismatic vocal performances. Orchestra or Over The Rhine with their Composed of Hayden Eller, Jake sparing arrangements. Barrow, and Luke Hogfoss, The Co As much of their recorded music is Founder started as Eller’s acoustic solo acoustic, their coffeehouse set promises project but expanded to its current to be an intimate performance complete lineup as the band picked up steam and with multiple part harmonies as well as was given the title of Top 50 Unsigned trumpet from Zack Kutkey. While their PNW Artists by NW Music Scene in album “SPEAK” is not yet out, the show 2015. After coming back from a West will include new songs by the band as Coast tour that marked the first time all well as tracks that go back to their 2009 three members performed on the road inception. together, the band plans to perform an Be sure to check out both artists acoustic set at the Underground. through their Facebook or Bandcamp “This will be our first ‘acoustic’ pages, and don’t miss out on an acousshow in almost six months, so it should tic evening of jams on November 12 at be fun!” Eller said. “We’ll be playing the Underground Coffeehouse. the versions that are included in ‘The Western Sessions’ (a four part ‘acoustic sessions’ video series we put out via our YouTube channel this past summer, as part of the promotion for ‘Wye’), so it will be fun to mix things up.” Barrow will be playing ukulele instead of drums, and when asked about what to expect from the performance, Hogfoss had a playful answer. “Does the Underground Coffeehouse still have carpet that looks like it’s from Saved by The Bell?” Hogfoss asked. “If so, you can expect a vibrant, 80s themed carpet pattern.” Photo courtesy of the Co Founder.
A column by Erasmus Baxter It was a different time. State budget cuts were wracking higher education and the C lot was being ravished by the “windshield wiper bandits.” Here is a sampling of events from the days of 1995.
many events could not be attended unless you had proof of getting your two measles shots. Just to be safe, the music department canceled all performances, opting to create recordings instead.
That time a bunch of UW students wanted to come to Western With state budget cuts affecting public colleges, the University of Washington decided to cut back some of its majors, including its Environmental Science and Communications departments. This meant that students who had intended to major in those areas were at a dead end. Departments at Western received a series of phone calls from UW students trying to get into their major. Unfortunately for them they were already pretty selective and influx of people made it even harder to join the majors. Who’s more selective now UW?!
Free Speech Fights Several issues of free speech arose in 1995. First, several posters created by the AS for events were rejected from being put up in the residence halls due to offensive band names. One of the bands, called 7 Year Bitch, had some choice words about the refusal. In addition, someone posing as campus security called the AS office coordinating a sexual health education campaign and told them that they had to remove their poster with the word “erection”, because it was offensive. In Bellingham, the owners of a newsstand were arrested for selling a magazine that purported to satirize the mindset of rapists using graphic terms and imagery. The situation started when someone wrote to the Western Front to complaining about seeing it and the newsstands owners responded by wrapping the paper in chains and placing a copy of the first amendment next to it. The case eventually ended in 1996 with their complete acquittal.
Savage Love Strikes Campus Seattle-based, nationally known sex advice columnist, and gay man Dan Savage spoke to a full house on campus dressed entirely on drag. This led to the headline “7-foot Drag Queen Savages Western.” This also led to a controversy as posters for the event featured his well-known tag line that included a slur directed towards gay people. Optimism Asked at the beginning of 1995 what he thought the new year would hold, a student said: “There’s gonna be a world crackdown on pollution.” Little did he realize how wrong he could be. 2-0-sickness in Bellingham If you’ve ever met a person, or rapper, from Seattle you know they may be a little too proud of their 206 area code. You might not know that until 1995 Bellingham also had the same area code. Take that Macklemore! The Plague Speaking of sickness, for several weeks in February Western was struck by a measles outbreak. 12 students were infected and many events were canceled as result. A clinic was set up in the Carver gymnasium, but
KUGS embraces the new era KUGS did two ground-breaking things in 1995. First, they started live broadcasting Western’s basketball games. Second, the joined the internet. KUGS was only the second radio station in the entire country to start streaming their broadcast online live. Their promotions director pointed out that, for the time being KUGS had the largest broadcast range of any station in the world. Take that iHeart Radio! As well as an online broadcast, the KUGS website featured a livestream of their fish tank for audience’s viewing pleasure. Listeners responded from as far away as France and Australia with the first person from each country or state to respond receiving a free T-shirt. A T-shirt winner in Brooklyn was excited to wear her new T-shirt since nobody else knew who KUGS was. Brooklyn never changes.
11.07.2016 • 9
Living Holocaust survivor Noémi Ban shares her story Join Western’s new Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity for an annual Kristallnacht Commemoration. Haven’t yet heard Noémi’s infamous potato story? This is your chance. Don’t miss out on this event on November 9. BY CHRIS BESWETHERICK
T
he world will always study the Holocaust. Holocaust survivors, the primary sources of information on the subject, will not be here forever. On November 9, Noémi Ban, one of the living Holocaust survivors, will come to Arntzen 100 at 6 p.m. and share her experiences from Auschwitz and life before and after the Holocaust. As this is one of the last generations with living survivors, witnessing Noémi Ban relate her experiences spreads knowledge about the Holocaust. Learning from a source like this event will teach accurate information which can be studied over long periods of time, by anyone who sees Ban speak. The subject should not be obsolescent, and Western has helped assure the legacy of learning by hosting lectures and a new holocaust, genocide and ethnocide institution. The Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity hosts Noémi Ban as part of the on-going lectures the institute has scheduled for their inaugural year. Western declared Ban a Doctor of Humane Letters, an honorary degree, for her contributions to Western. Ban started experiencing the Holocaust when her little sister caught news of Nazis coming to their hometown and wondered if it would affect them. Everyone in her family felt scared. The very next day, March 19, 1944, Nazis arrived and concentrated Jewish families together. Ban had a small home, only a few rooms, and the ghetto German Nazis forced multiple families to move into Ban’s home. Those placed there had to sleep in the hallway or the kitchen or be crammed in a bedroom.
After living in this Jewish ghetto for a few months, Ban met someone creating fake IDs. Ban could have easily left and been free from the Holocaust. However, as the eldest child of her family, she started considering everyone closest to her. Ban and her family had such strong traditions built-into their lifestyles. Every Sunday they would pray and celebrate together. Their Jewish heritage created strong familial bonds and Ban simply could not have abandoned them. Ray Wolpow, a retired professor and co-au-
Of her arrival in Auschwitz, she describes how the Nazis sorted through lines of people, pointing each individual in one of two directions. This is where she sees her family for the last time. thor of Ban’s book “Sharing is Healing,” believes her family’s traditions and relationship was, in some ways, similar to modern ones, meaning, making the decision to escape and therefore leave your family during a catastrophe like the Holocaust seem impossible. She stayed in the ghetto, and then was moved to a death camp. In “Sharing is Healing,” Ban recounts her experience of living in Auschwitz in language meant for sixth graders. Co-written with Dr. Wolpow, the story is both easy and profound to read. Physically reading the book might not take very much time for an average college stu-
dent. Emotionally, though, the book asks the reader to reread and clarify and understand what Ban is trying to share. She describes situations clearly; the image of the scene appears in the reader’s head. Of her arrival in Auschwitz, she describes how the Nazis sorted through lines of people, pointing each individual in one of two directions. This is where she sees her family for the last time. “This is the last time they saw each other,” Wolpow said. “With their eyes they say ‘take care.’ Noémi told me this was the last time her family was all together.” In the cover of her book, she stands under the gates to Auschwitz, or more uniquely known as “The Gates of Hell,” where a cattle car delivered her and her family. In the spot she stands, Wolpow said that Ban thought about being with her family for the last time. After escaping the Holocaust Ban moved to Budapest, where she started learning to be a teacher. Then, she moved to the United States where she began teaching for several years. After winning state-education awards like “The Golden Apple,” and teaching for many years, Ban retired and now lives in Bellingham. The Ray Wolpow Institute is the successor to Ray Wolpow’s own Holocaust and genocide studies, the Northwest Center for Holocaust, Genocide, and Ethnocide Education (NWCHGEE). They support the study of the Holocaust, and are now searching for a candidate to fill a professorship spot in the institute. Now Western, like many accredited schools, teaches about genocide, ethnocide and crimes against humanity, in hopes to ultimately prevent their recurrence.
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Cuban jazz virtuoso Jorge Pacheco graces the PAC stage November 8 BY JULIA BERKMAN Come feast your ears on a modern-day Mozart; Cuban jazz piano god Jorge Pacheco is coming to the PAC for one night only on November 8. You can catch him live for only ten dollars. Pacheco hails from Cuba, a country that values the arts highly. From a young age, he has been known as something of a virtuoso by the jazz community for his unparalleled skills and “flying hands.” His performance captivates audiences with his enthusiastic approach to the music. Some will remember another young virtuoso by the name of Dudamel who entranced the audience with his extravagant conducting skills. Pacheco, between tours, is currently finishing up an intensive program in composition at the Institute of Superior Arts in Cuba. He just
completed his European tour, and is about to bless Bellingham with his melodies. Kevin Woods, the Western Jazz Department head, is to thank for booking Pacheco at the PAC. Having seen him before, Woods has called Pacheco a “dynamic performer” who electrifies the stage. As the big cheese of jazz on campus, Woods works closely with select student ensembles of two to ten people. His jazz combo groups perform regularly both on campus and off. Looking to join a jazz group? Major doesn’t matter. Your skills and love of music are the only requirement needed to join any of Western’s music groups. Pacheco recently played with the prestigious Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra in New York City. Woods has called them “world class players, great educators and people.” The re-
views of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra are overwhelmingly positive, and they deservedly own the rights to the URL “jazz.org,” which is evidence of their musical prowess. The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra is considered a defining part of the jazz world, so of course Jorge Pacheco has played with them. Woods is confident “everyone will know [Pacheco]’s name ten years from now.” This is an opportunity to get on the bandwagon on the ground floor, to paint the parade float before it exits the garage. Pacheco, at the age of 26, is already impressing some of the biggest music critics in the jazz world. Wendy Oxenhorn of the Jazz Foundation of America is calling him “the one to save Latin Jazz.” “Pacheco adds to his natural talent a feeling of total surrender to creative interpretation that puts him on par
with experienced masters,” says Bobby Carcasses, another accomplished Cuban musician. Despite his youth, or perhaps because of it, Pacheco’s wild abandon is a performance factor that puts his performances over the top. The energy of jazz artists is on another level compared to classical orchestras. “The freedom of expression you get in jazz is so liberating for me,” Woods said. Pacheco’s ability to stun the crowd with his electrifying pace is a musthear opportunity available to all Western students and Bellingham residents. Pacheco will be in Bellingham for one night only, on November 8. Come check him out. Even a jazz cynic might be impressed by his musical prowess and stage presence.
New Music New Dance organizes professional-style performance BY CHRIS BESWETHERICK The Western club New Music New Dance invites the university to a show on October 12 and 13 at 7 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center choir room (PA 016). The performance features choreography from students, faculty, staff and community members who all worked together to organize the show. The New Music New Dance club is most active in fall quarter, thanks to this show. This unique schedule makes them stand out from other clubs. “New Music New Dance is an AS club but our big thing is to put on this performance,” Cassie Howlett a club coordinator said. “This is mainly a dance performance, but there will be different styles.” The club’s performance will feature dancing and accompaniment music created by students and faculty. They are not reproducing any choreographer’s work; it’s all original. Howlett wants to unite anyone interested in dance through the hard work needed to put on this show. “The purpose of this event and the club, in my opinion, is to have the dance and music departments work together to create a show that simu-
lates what it is like to work with choreographers, composers, musicians and dancers in a professional setting,” she said. The performance will demonstrate a lot of different areas of Western’s talents. Students are engaged creatively, physically and purposefully in this event, like a real show. The team’s contributions are in return giving them real-life experience in production and arts. “[It will] make an amazing show,” Howlett said. One of the most important elements of this work is the original dancing. The choreographers are also the ones organizing the event. “When I was a freshman I joined the club as a dancer and choreographer and I had a really incredible experience being part of the show,” Howlett said. “Now I have been a club authority, helping put the performance together. It is lot of work but it is extremely rewarding to see all the hard work that everyone puts into it.” The development of the show requires extensive planning, so the club uses as much assistance as
possible, and as many hands it takes. In addition to choreographing, the club holds auditions, rehearsals and meetings in order to make their show a reality. “The process starts by reserving our performance space, date, and time,” Howlett said. “Then the choreographers and composers are picked and paired up and start discussing how they want the music and the dances to go together.” All at the same time, the club assembles their technical crew, schedules rehearsals, writes music and designs publicity for the show. After everything is lined-up, they then hold their dress rehearsals and create their tech cues for lighting and sound. “When it comes to show I usually arrive early and help the tech crew set up the space and make sure the music works as well as making sure the dancers and choreographers get there on time,” Howlett said. Following the show, Howlett and the club ask for audience feedback and begin reviewing the show for ways to improve next year.
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Local punk band, Babe Waves, makes waves in music scene BY ERASMUS BAXTER Halfway through their set, after passing around a They released their first album “Bleed on Everycan of Rainer on the living room stage of a Thursday thing” in September 2015. With songs like “Never My night house show, Babe Waves acknowledged someFault” about sexual harassment, and the self-explanthing important. atory “White People Cut Your Dreads” they delivered “Every band that played tonight has at least one straight-forward feminist lyrics backed by fast-paced queer or trans person in it,” bassist Dylan Kloch aninstrumentation in true Riot Grrrl fashion. They nounced. directly acknowledged this influence by finishing The audience cheered and someone shouted: “I the album with a cover of “Rebel Girl” by Riot Grrrl love being queer!” Guitarist Amanda Hodgins encouraged women, queer people and anyone else underrepresented in the music “They think I’m armed with a flying broom scene to start a band. Jokes on them I got my combat boots “Pick up a guitar,” Hodgins said. “You owe it to the world” I’m a regular girl, just like you This is advice that Hodgins has lived But if you mess with me, it’s the last thing you’ll personally. In a 2015 profile on the band in “What’s Up! Magazine,” she recalled – Babe Waves, “Cold Hard Witch” being discouraged from playing music, from the “Just Regular Girls EP” and growing tired of being seen as an accessory when she was involved in music. “When I finally bought an electric guitar, I knew I could fucking do this,” she told the progenitor Bikini Kill. magazine. You can also hear the similarities to earlier punk The band was originally called Fallopia, and they predecessors like the Dead Kennedys in the vocals released their first demo track in April 2015. In that are alternatively melodic and blasting accompaMay 2016, they changed their name to Babe Waves. nied with jamming guitar riffs. In true punk fashion, In their current lineup, Bryan Hunter plays drums, no song even reaches the 3-minute mark and the Kloch plays bass and Hodgins plays guitar. Kloch and whole 9-track album clocks in at around 15 minutes. Hodgins both do vocals. Their latest release, “Just Regular Girls EP,” came
Photos courtesy of Babe Waves. Photos by Tommy Calderon // http://www.tcalderonphoto.com
out in February 2016 and features a wider stylistic range and an increased vocal presence by Kloch, who brings a rougher vocal styling to the EP. In “Kiss-6-6” Kloch and Hodgins combine their styles to great effect as Hodgins sets her catchy hook against Kloch’s roaring vocals. Despite these changes to their style, the political emphasis remains strong, with Hodgin’s singing on “Backstreet Butchers,” a song about back-alley abortions: “When you politicize my body/Legislate my womb …The blood runs in our sewers/Seeps in through our pipes.” Babe Waves doesn’t just sing their politics. In September, they played a benefit show for Planned Parenthood in Bellingdo” ham. At a recent show, they encouraged queer folks interested in starting bands to reach out to them. “We have a real support network,” said Hodgins. Helping create a change in scene isn’t all Babe Waves has time for. At their show the week before Halloween they debuted a new song for the audience, and in a Facebook post they promised to share new material soon. Babe Waves are going to keep on rolling and the tide will follow. Babe Wave’s music can be found on their BandCamp at babewaves.bandcamp.com . To find their live shows, follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/ babewaves.
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All 37 Shakespeare plays in 90 minutes BY JOSH HUGHES Have you ever wanted to watch all of Shakespeare’s comedies in one sitting? Have you ever visualized “Titus Andronicus” as a cooking show? Do you wish “Romeo & Juliet” was under ten minutes long and performed with only three actors? If so, this could very well be the perfect night of Shakespearian appreciation for you. From November 10 through 12, Western’s Department of Theatre and Dance is putting on a rendition of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).” Directed by Eric Brake and starring Ben Briggs, Teague Parker, and Kyle Stella, the play parodies the quintessential playwright by performing all 37 of his plays in 90 minutes. Presented in the DUG Underground Theater in the PAC, the two-act play is a whirlwind of hilarious references and fourth wall breaking that quite genuinely makes the audience part of the performance. Briggs, Parker, and Stella each impersonate a good thirty different characters throughout the runtime, with skits including silly string puke, an extremely Scottish Macbeth, and a rapped/sung Othello. All three actors deliver wildly energetic performances, reenacting plays within plays within plays (ever thought you’d see a puppet show in Hamlet?), and it’s something like watching a hummingbird hyperventilate to see them break in and out of different characters so frequently and fluidly. Without giving anything meaty away, The Complete Works references everything from WWII to the television show “Scandal” to interpretive dance all in a matter of minutes. Additionally, the more Shakespeare you understand, the more jokes will inevitably land better, but it’s a hilariously entertaining play even if you have no knowledge beyond “Romeo & Juliet” or “to be or not to be.” So much happens so quickly that it nearly feels impossible to understand everything that’s happening, but that’s all quite integrally part of the experience. Since the DUG Theater only goes three rows back, the show comes off as intimate to the entire audience, so don’t be surprised if you find one of the actors planted next to you before the show starts. The scripted and improvised sections blend so seamlessly into each other, it gets hard to distinguish one from the other. Regardless, expect nothing less than a wholly unique and hysterical take on the bard. Starting at 7 p.m. each night, the show costs $3 at the door (cash only), but admission is free if you give a donation to their GoFundMe at gofundme.com/2pkrhn8. Since the theater only seats 100 people, be sure to get there early to get a good spot. Or show up later and sit in the back if you really don’t like silly string. Either way, if you like Shakespeare or have the burning desire to laugh out loud, be sure to check out the production.
Ben Briggs (left), Kyle Stella and Teague Parker rehearse for a production of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” which opens on November 10. Tickets are $3, or free for folks who donate to the production team’s GoFundMe page. www.gofundme.com/2pkrhn8 Photos by Jaden Moon // AS Review