AS Review - November 16, 2015 by ASWWU

Vol. 31 #10 11.16.15

Vol. 30 # #.#.#

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The “BIKES: A Different Frame of Mind” exhibit will be in the VU Gallery until Nov. 20 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 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 NEWS Western comics per-

4 form at Last Comic Standing

A comic competition judged by Seattle-based stand-up comics. The winner of the competition gets to open for Grammy nominated standup comic Tig Notaro.

7 KVIK hosts first

annual Short Film Festival A 13 day film competition for Western students.

STUDENT LIFE 8 Students for

Sustainable Food host screening of “Cowspiracy” Students for Sustainable Food are holding a discussion and screening of “Cowspiracy”, a documentary about the effect of animal agriculture on our environment.

FEATURES 5 Underground

Coffeehouse band of the week This week COM will be performing at the UGCH with special guest Bob Fossil.

6 “BIKES: A

Different Frame of Mind” Check out this month’s VU Gallery exhibit. It’s all about bikes.

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 Alexandra Bartick Designer Zach Becker Adviser Jeff Bates

Editor in Chief Assistant Editor Lead Photographer Writers

Alex McKay performed at the Underground Coffeehouse stand-up open mic night on Thursday, November 12. Trevor Grimm // AS Review

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EVENTS Poetry and Lyrics Night

Open Mic Night

11/17 // 6:30 - 9 p.m. // Underground Coffeehouse // Open mic night. Sign-ups start at 6:30 p.m. Free 11/16 // 7 - 9 p.m. // Underground Coffeehouse // Free

Have an amazing hidden talent? Want to knock the socks off of all Leadership Development your friends? Brave enough to Series: SMART Goals perform in a 5 minute slot? Then 11/17 // 4 - 5 p.m. // VU 552 // Free come to Open Mic Night! Every This workshop will introduce you to Tuesday at the Underground SMART goals: a well-accepted theory of Coffeehouse, third floor VU. Sign goal writing and achievement. Leave this ups at 6:30 p.m., show starts at 7 workshop with tangible goals that you can p.m.! accomplish. Join us for another informative session on how to become a better leader!

Trans week of remembrance: craft & community

Depression Cherry Beach House

Currents Tame Impala

Another One Mac Demarco

Beach Music Alex G

Big Grams EP Big Grams

Weirdo Shrine La Luz

11/19 // 8:30 - 10:30 p.m. // Fraser 102 // Free

The Beyond/ Where the Giants Roam Thundercat

November is a time for thanksgiving and friendship and cold weather and movie nights every Thursday! What’s better on a rainy night than good company, free popcorn, and watching a film about a working girl’s search for the pimp who broke her heart? We’re wrapping up our November Movie Nights with a showing of Tangerine in Fraser 102 at 8 p.m.!

Product 3 Beat Connection

No No No Beirut

Wednesday Night Concert: CON

11/18 // 7 - 9 p.m. // Underground Coffeehouse // Free

11/17 // 5 - 7 p.m. // VU 462 & 464 // Free concert featuring CON w/ Bob Fossil. Free In VU464 will be a Trans-Encouraged space including button making and a craft to honor and remember trans histories (our own or those of others). There will be patches of fabric available for decoration as well as papers for drawing or writing. In VU 462 will be a Cis-Encouraged space including button-making and redefining ally-ship. As cis people, how are we showing up for trans folks? What does ally-ship look like or even mean? This is a time to work through questions like this (and also make some cool buttons!) There will be no identity policing but we ask that you please respect the intentions of the spaces provided.

Top Ten: November 2-9

Tangerine Showing

Every Eye Open Chvrches 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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Western comics perform at Last Comic Standing BY: SARAH SHARP Friday, Nov. 20 will be a night of laughter, as ten stand-up comics from Western take the stage. Alumnus John Lee will host the eighth annual Last Comic Standing from 7-10 p.m. in the Viking Union Multi-Purpose room. Cost of admission is $2 for students and $3 for the general public. Experienced, Seattle-based stand-up comics will be judging the event. Audience members also have the opportunity to weigh in by voting for their favorite comic. The winning comic will perform a 15-minute opening set for Grammy nominated stand-up comic Tig Notaro when she comes to Western on Jan. 22. Tickets for her show are $15 for students and $25 for the general public. “She is really blowing up right now,” AS Special Events Coordinator Alex LaVallee said. “She hit a popular stride in the comedy scene.” LaVallee has been at the forefront of coordinating judges, selecting finalists and revamping the focus of this year’s Last Comic Standing. He enjoys Notaro’s “authentic dry sense of humor” and anticipates she will be a hit on campus. “Her humor’s got that Western vibe,” LaVallee said. LaValle was one of the judges for the initial auditions, which narrowed down the 18 applicants for the Last Comic Standing to ten polished finalists. It’s a slimmer number of finalists than the show has ever seen before. Each comic will have seven minutes at most to elicit laughter from the audience and the judges. This year, all of the judges have experience in stand-up comedy, a contrast from previous years, in which many of the judges were more versed in improv than stand-up, LaVallee said. “It’s an opportunity for everyone participating in this event to get critical feedback on their work,” he said.

ABOVE: A contestant performing for a full crowd at the Last Comic Standing event in 2013 held in the PAC. This year’s Last Comic Standing event will take place in the VU Multi-Purpose Room at 7 p.m. on November 20. Cost of admission is $2 with student ID and $3 for the general public. BELOW: Design for the promotional poster for Last Comic Standing. Photo by Issac Martin // AS Review Design by Zach Becker // AS Publicity Center

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The Underground Coffeehouse Wednesday Night Concert Series

Band of the Week

CON

With special guest, Bob Fossil A MUSIC REVIEW BY IAN SANQUIST

The photo for CON’s single Allison. Photo courtsey of CON ON, an alternative rock band from Seattle whose name is derived from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, will play in the Underground Coffeehouse Wednesday November 18 at 7 p.m. Bob Fossil, a Bellingham funk and blues rock band, will open the show. CON formed a little over two years ago as a result of a Facebook status that lead singer DJ Zevenbergen posted, declaring his desire to sing in a rock band. Guitarist Seth Michels and drummer/producer Peter Angelopolous, who were making music together at that time, remembered Zevenbergen from high school and reached out to him. “A few jams/beers later and we started work on a debut EP (recording from home),” Michels said in an email. “We would eventually cement our sound through the stylings of Tyler [Andersen] (bass) and Alex [Melnik] (keyboard/music genius).” Michels said the band makes its music as a highly collaborative project between distinct musical personalities. Though CON currently has no plan to release an album, the band shares everything they record. “Each of us is exploring our own creative side at the moment, but we still collaborate quite often,” Michels said. “Most of the time we really have no idea what we want. Someone brings something to the table, the rest of us have the job of matching the atmosphere generated. We've always agreed that the best performance of any new idea is actually the first time it's tried out as a band.” CON has a number of tracks available on their Soundcloud page, soundcloud.com/wearcon. The songs here represent a varied and inspired catalogue of music. Zevenbergen sings with a widescreen emotional heft, with the spectacle and polish of The Killers’ Brandon Flowers or Muse’s Matthew Bellamy, and the occasional assaultive sludge of Chris Cornell. “Allison” is punchy guitar rock with shimmering synthesizers

that ends up sounding a bit like a disco song played by a bar band. Like a lounge singer treating his audience to a song about a former lover that is simultaneously a come-on to the next one, Zevenbergen tells us a tale about Allison, who “Brings a smile without fail.” Halfway through the song, a proggy guitar solo out of Pink Floyd rushes in over a romantic piano interlude. “I Love Money” plays with a clean but intense guitar melody that rhythmically zips high and low, before a classically heavy grunge sound takes over, with arena rock solos. “Need That Body” is a bass-driven track with glittering keyboards and spacey reverberating atmospheric production that brings to mind The xx’s nocturnal haze of sex and romance. “Everything's gotta feel right,” Michels said. “Each part has to move to the next in a perfectly natural yet unique way. It's gotta surprise and familiarize.” Bob Fossil is a local band that plays a freewheeling, bluesy, unrestrained kind of rock music. With seven members, Bob Fossil builds a sound that is layered enough to reward close attention, and immediate enough to make bodies move. In “Breathe,” brassy horns set an upbeat tempo, like a ska tune through a grunge filter. “Reincarnation” is a spaced out blues ballad. Lead vocalist Kenny Clarkson sings impressively with the raggedness of a throat dug up after being left for geologic eras to fossilize into an instrument of gravelly and shrewd emotional range. “We're serious about what we do, but in our aesthetic—the way we dress and act on stage—we're wacky and nonchalant,” drummer Alan Schellenberger said in an email. “It makes it feel really organic and I think the audience can pick up on that—how it's thought out but not rigid.” Fans of Widespread Panic, Black Sabbath (the bluesier stuff) and Red Hot Chili Peppers (the funkier stuff) will find a lot to love about Bob Fossil. CON and Bob Fossil will play in the Underground Coffeehouse this Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Album covers for CON’s “I Love Money” single and Bob Fossil’s self-titled EP. CON is available for listening on Soundcloud and Bob Fossil on Bandcamp. Artwork courtesy of CON and Bob Fossil

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“BIKES: A Different Frame of Mind” BY: IAN SANQUIST A collection of unique, historically significant, innovative and far-out bicycles is currently on display in the Viking Union Gallery. “BIKES: A Different Frame of Mind” features bikes from local sources, including the HUB and the AS Outdoor Center. The exhibit is on display until Friday, November 20. AS VU Gallery Director JL Gazabat said that the exhibit, which is part of his continued effort to bring new audiences into the gallery by featuring content not traditionally associated with art galleries, will highlight some of the bicycle resources available around Bellingham and Western’s campus. “They’re all local bikes,” Gazabat said. “I don’t know if you’ve seen people riding around on those tall double-decker bikes, but we’re going to have one of those in the gallery.” The double-decker bike, a purple and green tower called the Little Dragon Merchant of Death, is on loan from Kyle Morris, who founded the HUB, Bellingham’s community bike shop. In addition to providing some of the bikes that are displayed in the exhibit, the HUB has built a custom bike that visitors to the gallery will be entered into a raffle to win. All visitors who enter the gal-

lery will receive a raffle ticket, and the winner will be drawn during the closing reception, Thursday November 19, from 6 to 8 p.m. To win the bike, you must be present at the reception when the tickets are drawn, which Gazabat estimates will be around 7 p.m. Though visitors to the gallery will not be able to ride the bikes that are on display, Gazabat emphasized that there are many affordable bike-related resources around Bellingham, and that the show will highlight these resources. “The Outdoor Center’s trike is going to be there,” Gazabat said. “There’s going to be a custom steam punk bike, there’s going to be an electric bicycle that was designed in collaboration with the [Vehicle Research Institute]…a bunch of wacky bikes.” “BIKES: A Different Frame of Mind” features nine bicycles. Five bikes in the show are on loan from Dean Christensen, a

Bellingham local and Western graduate with a collection of approximately fifty bicycles. One of the bikes Christensen has loaned the gallery is the steam punk bike, an elaborately constructed bike with solar panels, a flask, a magnifying glass and binoculars attached to the handlebars. Another bike on loan from Christensen is the 1899 Bellingham Bike, built locally, with cork handlebar grips and wood rims. Gazabat said he hopes the show will raise awareness about bicycle resources available in Bellingham as well as provide students with the history of some distinctive and fun bicycles.

“BIKE: A Different Frame of Mind” features ten bikes including a steam punk bike and a double-decker bike. Photos by Trevor Grimm // AS Review

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Test out your knowledge at Sex Ed Trivia Night BY: KATE WELCH

hen Karimeh Daneshmandi took over the reigns as the Coordinator for the Underground Coffeehouse, she hoped to bring some educational trivia nights to compliment the fun-filled ones that centered around popular media themes such as Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and Doctor Who. On Thursday, November 19 at 7 p.m., students can join in for some educational fun at the Underground Coffeehouse for a night filled with fun and education about sexual topics. The event will focus on topics such as the history of sexual education, what consent is, different barrier methods for

STI and pregnancy prevention, sexuality ia questions that nobody thinks of.” and a variety of other topics. In addition to hosting events, the Originally, the event was just going Sexual Awareness Center also provides to be run by the Underground Coffeea safe space to discuss topics surroundhouse, said Halle Goldner, the Sexual ing sex, sexuality, consent and safer sex. Awareness Center Coordinator. HowevThey also provide free supplies that are er, when Daneshmandi approached the gender-inclusive and even available for SAC, they ended up becoming partners. those with latex allergies. “We ended up getting really excited For more information, stop by the about it and decided we would co-spon- SAC in VU 518 or email at AS.SAC@ sor the event,” said Goldner, who said wwu.edu or AS.SAC.ASST@wwu.edu. that she’s in charge of creating the trivia questions and said that it’s been difficult The poster design for Sex Ed Trivia to make sure she thinks of trivia topics Night on Nov 19 at 7 p.m. in the outside of her expertise as the SAC CoUnderground Coffeehouse. The buy ordinator, but also that it’s been fun. in is $1. Design by Kylie Owen // “I’m really interested in those fun, out-there facts that people don’t know AS Publicity Center about, those really wacky, out there triv-

KIVK hosts first annual Short Film Festival BY: MORGAN ANNABLE The purpose of the festival is for students to apply their film knowledge, experience the film production process, showcase their talents and connect with fellow student filmmakers. The films will air on November 18 at 7 p.m. in Fraser 4. The judges include local filmmakers and Western professors. KVIK Coordinator Brian Glinski and KVIK Assistant Coordinator Conor O’Keefe expect between three and five teams to produce films for the first annual Short Film Festival. In the past, this festival was called the New Student Film Festival. “We think this will be less stressful for students than the 48-hour film festival,” Glinski said. O’Keefe added that the name of this festival is more inclusive because it caters to more than just beginner filmmakers. There are no thematic restrictions, but teams consist of no more than six people, not including the actors featured in the short films, and the films may not exceed ten minutes. Some teams are working on documentaries and others are working on narrative films. “The premises are all under wraps right now,” Glinski said. “Teams like to be secretive until the big reveal.” The process started on the evening of November 5

after an informational meeting, during which participants divided into teams. “We’re trying to make the filmmaking process more accessible so that people who are nervous about it can branch out,” Glinski said. “What goes on behind the scenes isn’t necessarily just holding the camera.” In addition to special events such as the Short Film Festival, KVIK produces three ongoing shows and they always welcome interested students with any level of filmmaking experience to join them. “SHOW! The Show” is a sketch comedy show with meetings on Mondays at 4 p.m. in Viking Union 462. “The Mix” showcases/highlights Bellingham’s local music scene and they meet on Tuesdays at 5 p.m. in Bond Hall 110. “VTV”, Western’s news show, meets on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. in Viking Union 462. “Getting involved with any of the shows is the best opportunity to get practical experience in the business since Western doesn’t have a film major,” O’Keefe said. KVIK also produces informational films for the Associated Students and highlight reels of on-campus events.

The Short Film Festival includes a 13 day challenge to create, produce, shoot and edit a film that is less than 10 minutes long. Design by Kylie Owen // AS Publicity Center

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Students for Sustainable Food host screening of “Cowspiracy”

BY: IAN SANQUIST

Students for Sustainable Food will host a screening of “Cowspiracy,” a documentary film focusing on animal agriculture and its environmental impacts, on Wednesday, November 18 at 7 p.m. in Arntzen Hall 100. The screening is free to attend. SSF will be catering the event with food provided by the Co-Op. SSF is hosting the event in partnership with the

“

. In the environmental conversation, food is sometimes left out, ‘Cowspiracy’ brings up the environmental impacts of our industrialized animal agriculture system that we have in the US and all around the world, and the negative impacts of that, and what we can do to kind of move away from that. -SSF Vice President Rosa Rice-Pelepko Animal Rights Club and Students for Sustainable Water. Louie Psihoyos, director of “The Cove,” a documentary about dolphin hunting in Japan, has called “Cowspiracy”, “maybe the most important film made to inspire saving the planet.” Darren Arronofsky, director of “Black Swan” and “Requiem for a Dream” has said that “Cowspiracy” is “a documentary that will rock and inspire the environmental movement.” Rather than the issue of animal welfare, “Cowspiracy” focuses on the environmental consequences of animal agriculture. The makers of “Cowspiracy” have compiled a list of statistics cited in the film on the film’s website. According to the film’s website, growing feed crops for livestock accounts for 56% of the water used in the United States. An average of 2500 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of beef. “Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions,” the film’s website reports. SSF Vice President Rosa Rice-Pelepko said that “Cowspiracy” is an important film because it brings food to the front of the environmental conversation. “In the environmental conversation, food is sometimes left out,” Rice-Pelepko said. “‘Cowspiracy’ brings up the environmental impacts of our industrialized animal agriculture system that we have in the U.S. and all around the world, and the negative impacts of that, and what we can do to kind of move away from that.” Rice-Pelepko, who eats an entirely plant-based diet, said that SSF is currently working to bring more sustainable food into Western’s dining Cows emitting greenhouse “gasses.” “Cowspiracy” will be screened in Artzen Hall halls as part of the Real Food Challenge, a national campaign to support healthy food systems on college campuses. 100 on Wedensday November 18 at 7 p.m. Admission is Free. Design by Hannah University Dining Services Resident District Manager Stephen WadShaffer // AS Publicity Center sworth reported that in the 2014-15 school year, 18.34% of the food West-

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ern’s dining and catering services purchased qualified under the Real Food criteria of local, ecologically sound, fair and humane production. To qualify under Real Food criteria, food must be purchased within 150 miles of the university. Wadsworth said that dining services, along with student groups including SSF, established another set of criteria for Non-Real Regional Food and Non-Real Local Food. Non-Real Local Food is any purchase from a private or cooperatively held supplier in Whatcom County that does not qualify for any reason under the Real Food Challenge. Non-Real Regional Food is any purchase from a food supplier in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, or British Columbia. 14.2% of dining services purchases for the 14-15 school year were from Non-Real Local and Regional suppliers. As an example of a Non-Real Regional Food, Wadsworth cited the more than 100,000 bagels that dining services purchased last year from the Bagelry. Because the Bagelry used Pendleton Mills flour, sourced from Pendleton, OR, the bagels did not qualify under the Real Foods Challenge. SSF continues to work with University Dining Services to increase the level of locally sourced food on campus. “[SSF is] committed to spreading awareness about food choices and how that affects the environment as well as other parts of social justice,” Rice-Pelepko said. “We do sustainable catering at on-campus events, we do club events, smaller sized potlucks, work parties at local farms, and seasonal events.” Rice-Pelepko described a recent SSF event during which members used club funds to buy local seasonal food from vendors at the farmer’s market. “We went to someone’s house, we just made a huge lunch, and celebrated the fact that we were able to do that and enjoy a meal in a sustainable way,” Rice-Pelepko said. Rice-Pelepko said that a discussion will precede and follow the screening of “Cowspiracy.” “It’s kind of a lot to take in,” she said. “So we definitely want to hold a space for students to reflect, talk about the ideas and what they took out of the film.” The “Cowspiracy” screening will be held this Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Arntzen 100.

Weekly Club Spotlight: Her-Larity BY: SARAH SHARP Over three years at Western, senior Summer Storholt noticed something -- or rather someone -- missing from the various improv and stand-up comedy clubs on campus: female comedians. She hopes to change that by creating Western’s newest comedy club for female-identified comedians and improv artists. The Associated Students Activities Council approved “her-larity” to become an officially recognized AS club two weeks ago. “They banged the gavel. It was an unanimous yes, and I teared up a little bit and said, ‘I’m ready, let’s do this,’” Storholt said. Her-larity is all about empowering female comedians to perform to the best of their abilities. Storholt doesn’t think women should have to assume the supporting role of wife, mother Summer Stohorlt distributes free jokes. Photo by Trevor Grimm // or daughter in comedy sketches, she said. AS Review “We are tired of being thrust into stereotypThere’s no selection process to join, or division of A and B ical roles and harmful female tropes,” her-larity’s mission statement reads. “Women are funny as hell and teams. After you’ve attended a couple meetings, you’re considered an official member in Storholt’s book, she said. we need a space to showcase and develop this.” Her-larity will perform in several, free shows throughout Storholt hopes the club will foster conversation about the the quarter starting in the winter. Storholt said she would state of the comedy scene at large, which she thinks could like to collaborate with the Dead Parrots Society if the opalso be radically improved through the addition of more portunity for a joint show ever came up. female comedians, she said. The club meets every other Wednesday from 4 - 6 p.m. in “Comedy is such a man’s game,” Storholt said. “I started Bond Hall room 109. Students of all identities are encourthis club because right now in the world, and also on Westaged to join, though the club is specifically focused on ern’s campus, I don’t think there’s a space for female-identiempowering female comedians. fied students to express themselves in a comedic way.” Still in its infancy, HER-larity currently has 30 members.

Percentage of women stand-up comedians at Carolines on Broadway Located in Times Square, Carolines on Boadway is one of the most-well known comedy clubs in the county. Legendary performers including Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen, Jay Leno and Rosie ODonnell have all made their debuts at this club. Journalist Kaitlyn Mitchell wrote an article for bitchmedia.org about the inequalitiy of women stand-up comedians at this specific comedy club. Here are the numbers she found.

Between 2011 - 2014: 21.3% of master of ceremonies or MCs were women 14.3% of mid-level comics were women and 8.3% of headliners were women.

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Club Leadership Development Series Hopes to Help Clubs Reach Their Potential

BY: KATE WELCH

Not every club member is a club leader—but those who are steep the learning curve figuring out the details of club leadership, said AS Club Coordinator, Walter Lutsch. The Leadership Development Series is a variety of panels about the logistics of running an on-campus club. Clubs are an important part of being a student, said Lutsch, so the Club Hub has expanded its past club development efforts to include the Leadership Development Series. “The Leadership Development Series is an expanded version of something we did last year for the first time, called Club Boost,” said Lutsch. “Club Boost is a one-day, mini leadership conference where we get all the club leaders together and they get a chance to go to panels about things that having trouble with, are interested in or have expressed interest in learning more about.” Topics for the events cover aspects of club leadership such as funding and fundraising, goal setting and event planning and other events such as a panel about the benefits of cooperation with other clubs and situational leadership. Lutsch said he hopes that having a series of events in addition to the single-day Club Boost event will provide more flexibility for club leaders and allow the organizers to get feedback from the club leaders attending the panels to improve Club Boost later in the year. Clubs leaders will have the opportunity to connect with each other and work on things such as member retention and funding. The paperwork and logistics of running a club can be complicated, and Lutsch said it is important for student leaders to know what resources they have available so their club can reach its potential. “We want to give the [club leaders] the most knowledge about the resources that they have and how to get funds,” said Lutsch. “The financial aspect of clubs and which forms to fill out can be confusing and somewhat complicated. We try and streamline it as much as possible, but sometimes it does take something like this amount of time to talk about it so clubs can understand.” The next panel is on Tuesday, November 17 at 4 p.m. in VU 552. The Panel will focus on creating attainable goals and creating plans for achieving those goals. Also on November 17, students can earn club points by attending “Finding Passion through Purpose.” The event will feature Congresswomen Melissa Wintrow. Wintrow met her husband while riding her bike across the United States, and in 2000 she became Boise State University’s first Women’s Center director. In November 2014 she was elected to represent Bosie’s District 19 at the Statehouse. At this event students can network and eat food from 5-5:30 p.m. and then from 5:30-7 p.m. Congresswomen Wintrow will give the keynote speech. The event will be held in AW 204 and is co-sponsored by the AS, AS Clubs, Residence Hall Association, National Residence Hall Honorary, WWU Outdoor Programs, Student Outreach Services, and LEADS. On Wednesday, November 18 at 4 p.m. in VU 552, there will be a panel on collaboration between clubs for events and fundraisers. Although this is the last panel of the quarter, club leaders can look forward to more training events in the future, such as Club Boost. The AS Club Cup will be awarded at the end of the school year to To find out more about the Leadership Development Series, Club Boost or the winner of the Club Leadership Development Series. Photo by joining a student club, go to http://as.wwu.edu/clubs/.

Alexandra Bartick// AS Review

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HONORING THE LIVES OF TRANSGENDER PEOPLE BY: MORGAN ANNABLE Trans Day of Remembrance is November 20 this year, and it marks the end of Transgender Awareness Week, November 14 through November 20. The holiday honors the lives of transgender people who have died, especially victims of hate crimes or suicide. To kick off the week, students will come together on November 17 in the Viking Union for community activities and social time from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. This event is actually two, one for trans folks and one for non-trans allies, happening simultaneously in different rooms of the VU. The Queer Resource Center will not be policing or questioning anyone’s gender identity, so come to the event that is right for you. Trans folks will meet in VU 464 for an evening of unstructured crafting and social time. The QRC will provide button makers, drawing supplies, fabric scraps, and various and sundry art supplies. “We’re going to have crafts and art-making, poetry writing, all kinds of expression,” QRC Education Coordinator Mack Orendurff said. “We’re going to hang out and listen to music and have a space to socialize and talk and make some sort of art, whatever the medium is.” Meanwhile, allies will come together in VU 462 to discuss how non-trans-identified people can support

trans folks. “The goal is to redefine ally-ship. What it looks like and what we can do in real and meaningful ways,” QRC Assistant Coordinator Luciane DeAlmeida said. This event will open the eyes of non-trans allies to the many microagressions such as misgendering that occur in the world and on campus every day, how they accumulate and really impact trans folks, and how to respond to those scenarios. “I think that there are a lot of cis folks that want to support trans people and we wanted to make a space where they were able to do that without breaking the trans community space,” Orendurff said. “It was really important to us to have those two spaces so people were able to get what they needed out of the space.” Having two spaces will allow for freer discussion within the ally space so that non-trans people can learn and make mistakes without harming anyone, as well as providing a space for trans people to socialize with one another. According to DeAlmeida, there are very few spaces on campus for queer people in general, and even fewer for trans-identified individuals. The next event switches gears for a movie night on November 19. AS Productions will show Tangerine, a film about trans people starring trans actors. The film begins at 8 p.m. in Fraser Hall 102, but trans students are invited to pre-show discussion in Humanities

Facility 103. “We’ll be going over anything in the movie that might be triggering to people and talking about how to handle it if something harmful is said by one of the other audience members in the showing and how to support each other,” Orendurff said. After the discussion, the group will head over to Fraser together to watch the movie. Trans Day of Remembrance itself culminates the week on Friday November 20. For Western students, the holiday will take the shape of candle-making at 5 p.m. in VU 462 A/B. This will be one communal space for trans folks and allies alike. “In the wicks of the candles, as we make them, we’re going to wrap paper around and everyone can write a thought that we have, or a wish, something that we want to remember, or something that we want to burn, and make that into candles and then all together we’re going to go outside and light them,” DeAlmeida said. As the candles flicker, students may share something that they have made or learned during the week, or share a story about someone they want to remember. This will be an opportunity for trans folks to share their writing or artwork from the craft night and for allies to share how they will support trans folks in the future.

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DISABILITY AND SEX

The Disabiity Outreach Center and the Sexual Awareness Center co-hosted a workshop on Thursday, November 12. The workshop discussed the myths surrounding sex and disability, talked about toys and provided an open discussion. LEFT: Lube and condoms where given out of the event. Students can stop by the Sexual Awareness Center anytime in VU 518 to pick up free safe sex items. RIGHT: Annika Fleming AS Disability Outreach coordinator (left) and Halle Goldner AS Sexual Awareness Center coordinator (right) helped lead the workshop’s discussion. Photos by Trevor Grimm // AS Review

COMEDY OPEN MIC NIGHT

On Thursday nights the Underground Coffeehouse hosts different AS club sponsored events. Thursday, November 12 was comedy open mic night. John Lee (left) and Ryan Cuddihy (right) perform at the open mic night. Photos by Trevor Grimm // AS Review