Vol. 32 #20 03.06.17
Vol. 30 # #.#.#
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Spring may finally be on its way to Bellingham. 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 © 2017. 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 Bellingham City
Council ordinance
The City Council ruled on an ordinance relating to immigration and the status of Bellingham as a sanctuary city.
7 Perception of Self The Ethnic Student Center is hosting this gallery celebrating all the nuances of individual identity.
8 Losing Virginity
Students in Fairhaven invite everyone to come to this art gallery/performance space to address what virginity means.
9 Day Without a Woman
On International Women’s Day, all women are encouraged to march in solidarity for a better world.
10 “First Person:
Diverse Student Stories:
This monologue series tackles the intersectional issues faced by many students on campus.
12 Don’t Trash your Treasures
Find out how you can reduce your daily waste with these unusual tips!
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 Josh Hughes Erasmus Baxter Julia Berkman Chris Beswetherick Photographers Janna Bodnar Jaden Moon Adviser Jeff Bates
Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor Lead Photographer Writers
Hmong Student Association hosted Beautea and the Beast themed tea party as a fundraiser. For more photos of the event, turn to page 6. Photos by Ricky Rath // AS Review
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EVENTS
CALENDAR OF EVENTS Perception of Self
Mar 1 - 8 // 4th Floor of the VU (Lobby E) // Free
Check out a wide range of artwork by your fellow students that reflects how they see themselves amidst a sea of stereotypes and stigmas.
Brown bag lunch with Eli Clare Mar 7 // 12 p.m. // MH 105 // Free
Poet, writer and activist Eli Clare will read excerpts from his work “Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure,” followed by an informal discussion. Clare is known for his work advocating for issues of gender identity, sexuality, feminism and disability.
Teach in: “Gaping, Gawking, Staring”
Mar 7 // 4 p.m. // SMATE 120 // Free Clare continues his work at Western with a multi-media presentation and discussion. Some of the topics covered may include race, disability and the idea of “curing” body-minds that are perceived as broken.
Eli Clare book reading and signing
Mar 7 // 7 p.m. // Village Books, (1200 11th St) // Free To cap off the day, Clare will read an excerpt from his book “Brilliant Imperfection” and do a book signing at Village Books in Fairhaven.
Losing Virginity
Mar 7 // 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. // Fairhaven Auditorium // Free
This performance and art exhibit aims to tackle the themes of virginity and what it means to lose it. There will be live presentations as well as visual submissions.
Sustainable Craft Night
Mar 9 // 6 - 8 p.m. // VU 565 B/C // Free Feed your creative side by making body products, embroidery and fabric prints. The AS Environmental Center will provide sustainable craft materials as well as natural food from the co-op.
Beyond Borders Reception
Mar 9 // 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. // VU Gallery // Free
Celebrate the work done by artists from Western Washington and Canada. The top artists from the exhibit will be announced, and refreshments will be provided.
DPS presents: “Fiasco!” Mar 10 - 11 // 8 p.m. // AH Room 4 // $3
The Dead Parrots Society presents this sitcom style show for your entertainment. The show begins with characters getting to know one another, until the audience decides what will go wrong!
Top Ten: Mar 6 - 12 1
Manatee Commune Manatee Commune
2
Coloring Book Chance the Rapper
3
Awaken, My Love! Childish Gambino
4
Drunk Thundercat
5
Coast Modern EP Coast Modern
6
My Woman Angel Olsen
7
An Odd Entrances Thee Oh Sees
8
Oczy Mlody The Flaming Lips
9
Yes Lawd! NxWorries
10
Integrity Blues Jimmy Eat World 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.
Bellingham city council adopts
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BY ERASMUS BAXTER
The tension was palpable outside Bellingham City Hall as a crowd gathered in the unseasonably warm February night. The majority seemed supportive of establishing Bellingham as a sanctuary city; they held signs, banners and flags, but what the group stood for had become a bit of a question mark. There had been a split in the group tasked with creating the sanctuary city ordinance. The council was proposing “An Ordinance Relating to City Policy with Respect to Immigration Enforcement, Equal Protection, and Equal Provision of City Services Regardless of Immigration Status,” which purposefully did not even use the term sanctuary city. However, the community groups in involved in the process, including Western’s Blue Group (a group of undocumented students and their allies), had proposed their own ordinance, the “Keep Bellingham Families Working Act.” When the Bellingham City Council finally approved “An Ordinance Relating to City Policy with Respect to Immigration Enforcement, Equal Protection, and Equal Provision of City Services Regardless of Immigration Status,” in a unanimous vote at around 10:30 p.m., after hours of emotional testimony, it was to the disappointment of those on all sides of the issue. “I know we’re disappointing you right now if we vote for this” Councilmember Terry Bornemann said. “[I know] we’re not giving you everything you would like with this.” In their comments before the vote, the council members seemed more intent on defending the ordinance from criticisms then praising its virtues. “I wish we could be all things to all people. I really wish there was something we could come up with to satisfy everybody. That’s just impossible for our line of work,” Councilmember Roxanne Murphy said. “My heart goes out to all the people who provided the testimony about the heartache you have gone through, and I have gone through as a tribal member in my life. But we have to start from somewhere in our community. We have to start with something practical.” She seemed torn between her desire to help those vulnerable, and her sense of duty to represent all of Bellingham, including its vocal racist and xenophobic section.
“Criminals and Terrorists”
Those opposed to any form of sanctuary ordinance had been the first to talk at the meeting. They had managed to make their way to the front in the scramble up the stairs of City Hall to sign up to speak. They called undocu-
mented people criminals and terrorists. “Will you take responsibility when terrorist attacks strike our town?” asked a woman named Ashley. Others were worried about President Trump’s threat to cut federal funding to sanctuary cities. The city council had received hundreds of calls from people worried about losing their subsidized housing, according to Councilmember April Barker. Some felt that this was an unfair for people to come to the country legally. One Latino man whose family came to the country illegally spoke against the ordinance. He said that he had accepted racism as part of living in America and earned his citizenship. Local street preacher Eric Bostrom delivered a speech claiming that Trump supporters were a persecuted minority. He even said that he was spat on at the Womxn’s March. (I have it on good authority that he was actually the one doing the spitting.)
ABOVE: Eric Bostrom holds up a sign that reads “Not legal, not good.” Image from city council video // cob.org A man named Rick, sporting a Trump hat, called the city council a “fascist junta,” prompting shared looks of disbelief among councilmembers.
The Response
Blue Group and their allies were clearly prepared. In a volley of clear, measured testimony they individually addressed specific sections of the ordinance by section number, breaking down the issues with it. They asked the council to table the resolution and do more work on it. “We don’t want an ordinance that tomorrow, if it passes, the next day [ICE] is collaborating with [the Bellingham Police Department],” Maru Mora Villalpando, the head of Latino Advocacy, a community group involved in the process, said. “We want an ordinance that is accountable to the people.”
The largest issues at stake were questions of enforcement and accountability. The “Keep Bellingham Families Working Act” included provisions that would fine city employees for violating its provisions and allow the city to be sued for such violations. It also instituted a civilian oversight board to ensure implementation of the initiative. “It us up to you to be as brave as we are to stand before these racists,” Mora Villalpando told the City Council. They also asked for strict prohibitions on sharing info between the police department and federal immigration enforcement agencies. As speakers referenced specific sections of the ordinance, the city council could be seen flipping through their copies to follow along. The most gripping testimony came from lived experiences. Olga Solano is a farmworker who has lived in Bellingham for almost 15 years. “I’ve read the ordinance you’ve put together, and I don’t like it,” Solano told the council. She started to explain how a recent executive order removes all immigration enforcement priorities and expands deportation of people without a hearing from border regions to the whole country without requiring conviction for a crime. But then she paused. “I could read this, but I just want to talk about my personal experience with you,” Solano said. “About seven years ago, I got pulled over by the police. Basically, because I’m brown. I was just teaching my sisters how to drive, and the police, instead of giving me a ticket, he just called the border patrol and took my sisters away from me. And they were underage.” At this point, Solano was wracked with tears. “It’s painful for me to talk about this,” she said. “All I want you to understand is that we’re not criminals. I’ve been working here my entire life. I’ve been paying taxes. I contribute to your economy, and I demand respect. I’m a farmworker, and my parents are farmworkers. My dad got deported for the same reason. I just want you to understand: We are human beings. And we demand, and we deserve, respect.”
The City Council Discusses
When the two-hour comment period had ended, after a five-minute recess and the discussion of some brief other business, a much smaller crowd remained in the council hall. Each council member discussed their thoughts on the ordinance. Most of their comments were placating. They
ordinance; fight not over yet
03.06. 2017 • 5
saw this as the best they could get from their political perspective. While the speakers that night were overwhelmingly supportive, it was clear that the council had received many phone calls and emails that were not. They felt caught in the middle and defensive. “Work with us,” Murphy said to the Blue Group members in the audience. “We’re willing to work with you on every one of these issues.” Most pushed back civilian oversight of the police department as a separate issue. “We have one of the best police departments in the world,” Councilmember Gene Knutson said. “Have faith. Have faith in us. Our police department does not go out and round people up. They never have and they won’t.” Councilmember April Barker recognized that this wasn’t the whole story. “Through our, especially white, mostly middle class, privileged lifestyle [it’s easy] to think that our police are just doing everything perfect and hunky dory,” Barker said. “It’s really hard to tell a group of people that everything’s going to be okay and you just need to trust the police, when their whole lives have been dealing with these injustices.” Her motion to have the mayor’s office study forming a civilian oversight commission for the police was approved unanimously. “We need to be very sensitive to people [who] are trying to explain to us that they’re seeing something different in Bellingham then what we’re all seeing,” Barker said. Others questioned the legal basis for prescribing discipline and creating an additional section of liability for the city. They worried that prohibiting any coordination with Customs and Border Protection would inhibit efforts to fight for human rights. Overall, they asked for peace and decorum. Knutson lauded the fact that by avoiding the title of sanctuary city Bellingham was avoiding the vitriol directed at other sanctuary cities. All hoped future issues would not be so tumultuous. However, April Barker’s final words indicated otherwise. “There’s much broader issues here in Bellingham that we need to address, and one is our growth and the way that we’ve grown, and segregated ourselves and separated ourselves,” Barker said. “The meetings I’ve gone to and the emails I’ve received that are yelling for a sanctuary city, are the very same people who sit on neighborhood meetings, who told me they didn’t want anybody living next door to them unless they could afford a single-family home. When we start talking about housing, and we have a lot of work to do, I really hope you all will come
forward and start talking about how we’re going to blend these situations and get ourselves living back amongst each other so we don’t have these divides.”
“Go Slow to Go Fast”
The next night, at a forum with Western’s Local Issues Team, Barker spoke about her philosophy, and discussed housing further. Barker said she had been reluctant to run for office and took around 50 hours of consulting before she did. She said she had been hesitant to even get in politics, but her kid’s constant questions of “why?” had driven her to examine her own privilege. She saw housing, especially single-family housing, as part of this privilege. She recalled carrying meals to undocumented families who couldn’t leave their homes due to flooding in their neighborhood. She was just coming to the end of her first year of her first term on the council and she shared a story that she felt illustrated her experience. She was running late to her second job as a substitute teacher after a city council engagement and tried to climb a fence to get there faster. Falling from the top of the fence sliced her hand open. As she stood there applying pressure to her hand, she saw a path right next to the fence. This seemed to be a metaphor for her first year on the city council to her. One could sometimes be more effective by waiting and building relationships to find the path than pushing and trying to climb over the fence. She said she was planning on reaching out to Blue Group in a few days to try and continue building their relationship. “Go slow to go fast,” she said.
ABOVE: Councilmember April Barker wants to build a relationship with the Blue Group. Image from city council video // cob.org
A Busy Few Days
That Friday, the “Keep Bellingham Families Working” coalition held a town hall at the Northwood Hall. Blue Group members collected emails and handed out copies of the two ordinances at the door. The room was about three-quarters filled. Children played in the back. Mora Villalpando facilitated the meeting. She was just returning to Bellingham after several frantic days of work and travel. She ran down what had happened in the week since the last town hall. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had detained Daniel Ramirez, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient living near Seattle, spurring protests and fears that ICE had was coming after all DACA recipients. Mora reminded everyone that, whether Ramirez was a DACA recipient or not, his father had been detained as well and will probably be deported. There had been a march by immigrant workers in Burlington, possibly the largest ever. Several workers had lost their jobs for participating in the march, and a protest had been planned for the next morning. A bill to establish Washington as a sanctuary state had died in committee, but they were reaching out to Governor Inslee to seek his help. In addition, sanctuary initiatives were being worked on at the county level. Finally, just as Mora Villalpando had finally been about to sleep the night before, she got a call from a colleague in Texas asking her if the National Guard was about to be deployed in their state. She walked the audience through the Department of Homeland Security memo that the person was referencing. It also called for expanding the program that allowed local police and sheriffs to act as immigration agents, making sanctuary cities and counties more important than ever. The audience then broke out into groups and analyzed the differences between the Working Families ordinance and the one that the city council passed. The groups then presented on the differences, and proposed ways to move forward. “You are all now experts,” Mora Villalpando told the audience. She asked them to call their councilmembers and tell them what they had just learned. She then asked who would be willing to facilitate a similar discussion in coming weeks. Most of the room raised their hands. “We will follow up with you,” she said. The coalition was organizing and scaling up. They had no choice; at any moment, a new executive order could come out changing everything. In such uncertainty, there was no time to go slow.
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Be our guest!
Hmong Student Association hosts “Beautea and the Beast” tea party fundraiser in the Old Main Solarium on March 2. Photos by Ricky Rath // AS Review
Art exhibit captures identity, sense of self
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BY JOSH HUGHES
“The mirror displays the reflection of the human body, clothed, unclothed, with scars, with or without hair. The physical appearance of the individual glancing at their image,” reads Alan Alatorre-Barajas’ introduction to the “Perception of Self ” Gallery in the VU. Alatorre-Barajas is the Cultural Education Coordinator for the Ethnic Student Center. Non-confrontationally placed on an ordinary wall in the depths of the AS offices, Alatorre-Barajas’ description for the ESC’s exhibit gives the viewer an eloquently worded entryway to the assortment of student paintings, photographs, and poetry that line the walls of the room. The fourth floor of the VU, accessed by passing the post office on the fifth floor (navigating this building can be a complicated endeavor), is home to an amalgam of Associated Students offices and clubs, including our own AS Review headquarters. Tucked back in the labyrinth is the ESC office, where volunteers, employees and students associated with the group hold meetings, organize events and do whatever they can to keep the program running strong. Along the various hallways and walls leading to the office, there’s a number of different works of art, mostly with captions, that are part of the “Perception of Self ” exhibit, which runs until March 8. The gallery, which was open for any and all students to submit to, addresses the parallel ideas of self acceptance and the advent of adulthood. “The transition to college life, away from the verbal and physical harassments of the past. Detached from the familial and gender expectations. One freely begins the journey to self-identification - an encounter with one’s self,” continues Alatorre-Barajas’ artistic statement introducing the gallery. Throughout the twenty-something pieces that line the exhibit, the themes fluctuate from acceptance of flaws and fears to empowerment of underrepresented cultural backgrounds, and the mediums range from charcoal drawings to page-long poetry. Some artists choose to remain anonymous while others confront their own identity
in a more publicized way, allowing anyone to catch an idealized, momentary glimpse of the artist in vein with how they perceive themselves. Nicole Denning’s “i lost the sound of my voice” depicts two overlaid photos with traces of additional oil paint to express the conflicting emotions of losing her hearing as a sophomore at Western. The work itself immediately strikes a chord of puzzlement -- of a need to prevail even through a sense of scary uncertainty. Conversely, Alatorre-Barajas’ paired poem and photograph showcases the beauty of individualism by flipping a condescending monologue into a joyful embrace of uniqueness. Elsewhere, there are bold attacks on colonialism, poems on first love and charcoal drawings of intertwined identical twins. There’s no single thread of common ground that ties “Perception of Self ” together, but in looking at the diversity and self-acceptance throughout the gallery I’m reminded of a peculiar soap ad I once read that merely said “in differences lie affinities”. Having made my way to the gallery late into the evening after the opening reception on March 1, I was greeted by nothing but the sad remains of a bowl of some kind of dessert, the dregs of a punch bowl, and a polite janitor sweeping up for the night (if it’s helpful to know, the gallery maintains the same exact hours as the entire VU throughout the next week). But instead of feeling out of place in the desolate, borderline eerie AS lobby area, I felt an even stronger connection to the snapshots and freezeframe glimpses into such a diverse group of students’ lives. Whether you enjoy the bustling chaos of an average day at the Associated Students or the lull of peaceful nighttime, “Perception Of Self ” is running through March 8, and it’s accessible to anyone and everyone who knows how to navigate ever elusive and mysterious fourth floor of the VU. To get to the fourth floor via elevator, enter the VU on the sixth floor and take the elevator next to the Info Desk down to “4E.”
Photos by Ricky Rath // AS Review
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Fairhaven students invite examination of concept of virginity and loss thereof
BELOW: Image by Kylie Owen // AS Publicity Center
BY JULIA BERKMAN
Virginity is as mystical and legendary in American culture as cowboys or Bigfoot. What is it? Do you have it? Have you lost it? An event championed by the Queer Resource Center had, in the past, delved into the scary, shocking or banal event of Losing It. Unfortunately, in recent years the QRC hasn’t been putting on their Losing Virginity event. Two fairhaven students, Rylee Young and Anlya Folsom, have instead taken on the mantle of championing their own spin-off event for their senior project. Losing Virginity is taking place in the Fairhaven Auditorium on March 7 at 7 p.m. For the well-informed these days, virginity is agreed upon to be a social construct. Yet, we as a culture are still interested in the process of your own “sexual debut” (a term championed by Western’s Human Sexuality professor James Graham). Without getting into the mechanics of things, it’s generally hard for people to figure out what their “first time” was. This becomes an even trickier question for people in the LGBTQ community. Virginity is a cis-heteronormative concept, which means it only considers intercourse between a cisgender man and a cisgender woman to be the true definition of sex. In actuality, sex comes in many forms, shapes and activities. “I, personally, view virginity as a social construct that often does more harm than good in the lives of growing individuals, but I’m also interested to see some other views and opinions on the matter,” event organizer Rylee Young said. Despite the prescriptive nature of virginity, it is still a very important idea in the minds of a lot of individuals. Even if you don’t agree with virginity as a social construct, your own sexual debut can still be an important milestone. “We really want an opportunity for a variety of people to come together and talk about how the concept of virginity has im-
pacted them, exploring the different ways it affects different people,“ event organizer Anlya Folsom said. Virginity is often seen as something to get rid of, but for Young, who is asexual, the idea of having sex just so you can re-label yourself is the product of a damaging and hypersexual society. “Being asexual, I always had a pretty strained relationship with the idea of virginity and the absolute societal need with losing your virginity,” Young said. “When people learn that you’re a virgin they usually think one of two things: You’re either religious and saving yourself for marriage, or you’re naïve and a prude.” And yet, on the other side of the coin, a woman who begins her sexual debut far earlier is seen as someone with loose morals. The correct time frame to begin A press release from Sierra Club Mt. Baker Group: having sex is as arbitrary as the concept of virginity itself. So basically, no matter if you lose it or keep it, virginity and sex are If you’ve ever thought that water, energy policy at Oak Ridge National hovering over the heads of every and having enough of it, was a “dry” Laboratory in Tennessee, and retired college student. It makes sense then, subject, then you owe it to yourself to to Bellingham 14 years ago where he that an event like this is necessary come out to Carl Cozier Elementary continues his environmental analysis in our society. School on Wednesday, March 15, from and activism. You may recognize his Rylee had this to add: “In an 6:30 to 8:30 pm, and hear local water re- name from last year’s Whatcom County environment like Western, social searcher Eric Hirst talk about “Water in vs. Hirst, Futurewise, et al. decision by constructs hold a lot of weight on Whatcom County, and Why We Should the Washington State Supreme Court. people's lives and perspectives.” It be Concerned.” If you think that it’s That case found that Whatcom County’s makes total sense that art surroundwater, water everywhere in the Pacific failure to comply with legal obligations ing virginity is cathartic to make or Northwest, the fact is that even here in to protect water resources required that witness. Whatcom County sometimes there isn’t it now coordinate its land-use planning The event will feature visual art enough water for all the people, crops, with water availability. pieces as well as live performances fish, and legal demands that need water. This presentation is sponsored revolving around each individual's And that problem will only get worse if by the Mt. Baker Group/Washington perception of virginity. There’s also we don’t understand how to manage our Chapter of the Sierra Club, and is free an opportunity for audience memfinite water supplies. to all interested in understanding how bers to get up and share their own Environmental researcher Eric Hirst water affects every aspect of our lives. stories or art about virginity. The is just the person to explain it all. He Beverages and snacks will be served. event is in the Fairhaven Auditorihas a Ph.D. in engineering from StanQuestions and answers will follow Mr. um March 7 at 7 p.m. ford University, spent 30 years analyzing Hirst’s presentation.
“Water in Whatcom County”
03.06. 2017 • 9
“Day Without a Woman” highlights contributions of womxn through history and today BY JOSH HUGHES
In 1908, a group of 15,000 fed up, oppressed and exhausted women marched through the streets of downtown New York City, demanding shorter hours, basic voting rights and equal wage pay. The next year, the Socialist Party of America helped create the first official National Women’s Day, which was originally observed on February 28, sparking the continued efforts to fight oppression and inequality for womxn all over the world. Over the decades to come, an additional group of over 25 countries also began celebrating a similar holiday, leading us to where we are today, celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8. This year, following previous years’ efforts to create a centralized theme for the day, IWD takes on the concept #BeBoldForChange, which is, according to the official website, intended to “call on the masses to help forge a better working world - a more gender inclusive world,”. In other circles that celebrate the day, the theme for 2017 is expressed as “Women In The Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030”, which speaks to a UN-Women initiated agenda setting extensive goals for equality and sustainable development by the year 2030. While the 2030 agenda covers 17 different goals that
range from sustainable economic growth to combating poverty worldwide, goals number four and five address the current issues related to International Women’s Day. Goal number four seeks to create all inclusive and accessible education for all, promoting the idea of lifelong learning, and goal number five strives to create gender equality and empowerment to all womxn across the globe. While this comes from the UN’s website, these sorts of goals make for believable targets across continents and throughout the world as these next three decades pass. While there is no definitive, official way to celebrate International Women’s Day, different organizations around both the country and the globe set up their own events and protests on March 8 to coincide with the theme of equality and celebration of women’s achievements. The Women’s March, for example, an organization that loosely coordinated the grassroots protest this past January that occurred around the nation, is setting up “A Day Without a Woman” to occur on March 8 of this year. “On International Women's Day, March 8, women and our allies will act together for equity, justice and the human rights of women and all gender-op-
pressed people, through a one-day demonstration of economic solidarity,” reads the Women’s March website. The idea of the event is to put an emphasis on the enormous impact that all sorts of womxn have provided to our country’s socio-economic system, in the face of adversity and oppression. The organization suggests that women should take the day off from both paid and unpaid labor, and that women should either not shop at all for the day, or only shop at small, women and minority owned businesses. Allies can show solidarity by wearing red clothing on March 8. “Let's raise our voices together again, to say that women’s rights are human rights, regardless of a woman’s race, ethnicity, religion, immigration status, sexual identity, gender expression, economic status, age or disability,” continues the event page. With the end of the quarter rapidly approaching, it’s easy to get caught up in studying (or procrastinating), but consider taking a bit of time out of your day to appreciate the impact that womxn around the world have had in every imaginable field, and take extra time out of your day to appreciate and celebrate that impact on March 8.
Two benefit concerts combine art and activism “Nasty Women” and “Stop the Pipelines, Start the Music” events to raise money for Planned Parenthood, Canadian First Nations group, respectively
BY ERASMUS BAXTER All art is political, but in the next week it will be especially so. Two benefit shows will combine great music with supporting important causes. The first, “Nasty Women,” on Thursday, March 9, will feature an all-star, all-female lineup playing a show at the Wild Buffalo to raise money for Planned Parenthood. The second, “Stop the Pipelines, Start the Music!” on Monday, March 9 features music from Lummi youth and other local musicians to raise money for the Unist'ot'en camp. The Unist'ot'en, a Canadian First Nations clan, have built a camp to resist attempts to build fossil fuel pipelines through their traditional lands. The show will take place at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship. “Nasty Women” will be headlined by Seattle-based band Thunderpussy. It will also feature Vicci Martinez, a singer/songwriter from Tacoma who was featured on “The Voice” in 2011, Seattle-based band Sundries and DJ Little. Marriott has donated hotel rooms for the performers stay in Bellingham. There will be $10 suggested donation at the door, with people encouraged to give
as much as they can. There also be a silent auction with donated items. One hundred percent of proceeds raised will be donated to the local Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood in Bellingham. “Stop the Pipelines, Start the Music!” will start with a dinner at 6 p.m. that people are encouraged to RSVP for. The main program will start at 7 p.m. and go for three hours. The Unist'ot'en chiefs and their spokesperson will speak and share stories. Featured local musicians are The Jefferson Sisters, Tim McHugh, Zaia Grace, and The Sheen. Entrance is by donation, and there will be requests for donations throughout the night. All proceeds will go towards a building a Healing Lodge at the camp. “With a focus on Indigenous youth, [the lodge] combines exposure to the natural environment and traditional skills, language and culture with personal counseling,” according to the Facebook event. More information about the Unist'ot'en’s struggle can be found online at www.unistoten.camp.
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Noémi Ban returns to campus for night of stories, humanity and hope BY CHRIS BESWETHERICK
The Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity invites Noémi Ban this Wednesday, March 8 to Arntzen Hall 100 from 6-8 p.m. to tell her personal story of living through the Holocaust and her time after war in communist Hungary. Ban speaks about love and life in a manner that relates cathartic information to her audience’s reasoning and emotion. There is powerful information people can learn from Holocaust survivors: to understand what cultures have experienced due to bigoted governments. When Germany declared they were going to march into Ban’s hometown, the very next day Nazis arrived and established it as a ghetto. Eventually they were led to cattle cars and then taken to an unknown location which they later learned to be Auschwitz. Everyone in the United States learns about the Holocaust because there is a worldwide goal to prevent another mass murder. Through Ban’s stories, audiences begin to
comprehend the emotions she underwent, and apply those to their current knowledge and daily life. In Ban’s lecture, she will introduce the idea of water. “Water is freedom,” Ban said. “Every time I drink water, I feel free.” Her lesson is vital, especially in privileged societies. She leads people to realize the state of the world against theirs. The value of the attending this lecture is that Ban experienced the Holocaust first hand and will share the conclusions and realizations she made. As a result of living through the Holocaust, her appreciation of life grew. She emphasizes that, if she did not appreciate life, she would dwindle. She also makes an interesting comment about her opinion toward Nazis, which contradicts how many do look at them. “If I were to hate the Nazis, I would be like them,” she said. Her comment shows hatred is only negative.
Array of student voices in the spotlight at “First Person: Diverse Student Stories” BY JULIA BERKMAN
The Old Main Theater was pitch black. The live band was waiting and when the lights came up, the cast of First Person was on the stage, lined up on stools. First Person: Diverse Student Stories was broken into eight monologues from different cultural backgrounds. Each of them were tied together because they attended Western. As the name might suggest, most of them were the first in their family to graduate from college. It is important to note that though the ones telling the story are actors, the stories themselves reflect narratives at play in Western’s community. Writer and Assistant Professor of Journalism Maria McLeod spun the monologues from interviews with Western students. The first person to speak was Noor, a Muslim women, about the impact 9/11 had on her life. Her family car was burned while they were in a mosque. When she was young, she had thought it was something she caused, that her family deserved the hate crime. As Noor grew older, her family repeatedly drilled the importance of her reputation. She couldn’t go to sleepovers, parties, or be seen with a boy. Noor realized that her parents were immigrants in a foreign land, desperately clinging onto their culture. Now, as a college student, Noor doesn’t wear the hijab or pray five times a day. Just as there is a spectrum of Christians, she explains, there is one for each religion. She wants to pass on this message: We are your neighbors. We are your equals. After Noor left the stage, Von Ochoa took to the stage as Arnold, a Filipino descendant of the Coast Salish peoples. His people have a spiritual connection to the sea that always resonated with him. Being a quarter Filipino made Arnold something of a spectacle growing up on his reservation. He explained that eventually, he realized that people bullied for attention, and he could easily turn attacks on him into a joke
in which everyone could participate. Arnold’s recurring theme touched upon was the expectation that Native peoples don’t attend higher education. To combat those stereotypes, Arnold plans to take a more active role in his community. Rayn performed next. It’s important to note that for the duration of this show, an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter was up on the stage. For this segment, the ASL interpreter was translating Rayn’s monologue orally for those who do not understand ASL. Rayn spoke of her experience growing up deaf and how English is her second language. “In ASL, I can say anything,” she signed. Using ASL, Rayn learned how to express herself in a way that spoken words would never do justice. However, she still struggled to get an education. Rayn was usually the only deaf person in class. Her professors at her community college did not make enough of an effort to understand her needs. Rayn continues to advocate for a more inclusive and accessible campus. Next was James, a black student at Western from Detroit. James had a lot to say about being the only black student in a group of white people. Through his youth he went to a white elementary school,but lived in a black neighborhood. James learned to switch between his “white person persona” and his black one. James left Detroit because he had seen so many people get stuck in his town, settling down a block from their parents. James wanted something different for himself, so he came to Western. Much like Arnold, James touched on the expectation that he, like many in his community, wouldn't go to college. Because Bellingham is 88% white, James said that he noticed that many of the people in Bellingham care more about the environment than their own racism. He has no black
role models in Bellingham. After James, Kai came up to talk about their experiences being gender nonbinary. Kai feels affected by gender dysphoria and gender roles. When Kai tried to come out to their parents, their parents didn’t understand what Kai was experiencing. In their day-to-day life, Kai struggles with how to express their gender. They do not know if they want to transition. If Kai, who is assigned female at birth, wears a dress, they will be seen as a girl. They are comfortable being androgynous, but they note that there is a masculine-centric ideal of androgyny. Next up was Roxie, a first generation Vietnamese student, spoke about the importance of money in her family. Every day Roxie’s father would buy a lottery ticket with hopes that he would one day win, but to no avail. Roxie went to Western riding a wave of student loans. After she graduated, a trip to Vegas helped her feel rich and famous for a few days. That all came crashing down when a woman in a club gave Roxie a stack of $50s to throw into the air. Roxie was raised frugal, and the idea of wasting money like that shook her. The last performer was a Mexican expatriate who moved to Bellingham with his two brothers. He didn’t experience much racism until he immigrated to Washington. In a small town in Mexico, he and his family were “the white people of Mexico” because of their partial Spanish heritage and light skin. However, once he got to the US, he realized that his privilege in Mexico didn’t transfer. Now he’s a Political Science major, and though he identifies as an anarchosocialist, he hopes to return to his hometown and run for mayor. This play was an informative and cathartic experience. The actors memorized impressive 10-plus minute monologues and delivered them with compassion, conviction and cohesion.
03.06. 2017 • 11
Don’t trash your treasures! Tips and tricks for living a waste-free life
BY JULIA BERKMAN
D
o you keep tabs on your trash? We all produce more than you might think. Gwen Larned has kept all the trash she produces over a few months in one place -- a 32oz glass jar. And she isn’t alone. All over the world, people are radically changing their lifestyles to produce only 5% of the waste of the average consumer. I sat down with Gwen to learn a bit about her lifestyle, and how the average college student can also live a minimally wasteful life. The first and most obvious question I had was this: What do you eat? Gwen told me that the co-op has a bulk bin for everything you could ever need. You bring your own containers and can get staples like pasta, flour and olive oil. The co-op has worked very hard to become a zero waste-encouraging facility. Almost everything Gwen eats, she cooks herself. This has encouraged her to try new recipes. She even makes her own toothpaste. If you’re not much of a chef, it’s important to note that nearly all the food sold on campus is packaged in recyclable or compostable containers. Even campus receipts are made with BPA-free paper, which means they can be composted. Off campus, pickings are far more slim. If you’re looking to be less wasteful in your life, Gwen suggests looking for bag-in-a-box things. The double packaging in cereals, granola bars, et cetera are doubling your waste production. Instead, you can usually buy these items in a bulk bin or make your own.
Another great way to stay eco-friendly is to use reusable packaging whenever available. Mason jars, plastic containers and washable food packaging can ferry your lunch and coffee to and from school. On Western’s campus, you get 10 cents off if you bring your own reusable cup when buying coffee. At this point, plastic water bottles aren’t even sold on campus anymore, so that's a bit of a non issue. Still, remain eco-conscious when eating out too. If you’re offered a receipt that isn’t recyclable or compostable, don’t accept it. If you eat takeout, be ready to reuse the plastic containers they come in. One of the most important tips Gwen shared with me was to become a master DIY-er. There are tips and tutorials on how to upcycle or make your own version of almost everything. Gwen, for instance, makes her own granola bars and toothpaste. Cooking all her meals at home have made her a better chef with a wider palette. Whenever she discusses her zero-waste lifestyle. Gwen acknowledges her own privilege as a person with enough income for her endeavors. Not everyone can live the attentive and arduous lifestyle she does. Even if you can’t afford to make large adjustments in your life, this article provides some tips and tricks for making a small dent in your pollution. “The greatest thing about giving something up is that you're forced to get creative,” Gwen said.
Got the dead week/ finals week blues?
De-stress with these helpful study tips BY ALEXANDRIA BAKER
With finals week rapidly approaching, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Maybe you, like me, have put off most of your long-term projects, and are now scrambling to get everything done. Maybe you haven’t studied at all for an exam that you are sure you’re going to fail. Maybe you just haven’t been to class all quarter, and now you’re trying to make up for lost time. Whatever the case may be, panicking about what you should have done differently is not going to make your outcome any better. It’s time to take a deep breath, get organized, and find ways to de-stress while you start checking items off your to-do list. First things first, get organized. There are a myriad of ways to organize your classwork. Some people like everything to be digital and integrated across phones, computers and tablets. For myself, I prefer a physical calendar that I can scrawl notes on and check off when I’m done. A simple technique for this is to write down every single assignment and final you have left to complete for the quarter. The list may appear daunting, but we’ve reached the point in the quarter where the number of items on the list will only shrink -- most professors will not add anything extra during dead week. Once you’ve got your assignments written down, organize them based on their due dates, with the most imminent projects and tests clearly visible. This will help you prioritize your work, and prevent anything from sneaking up on you. Now that you know what you have to do, do it! This is obviously the hardest part, but the longer you put off completing your work, the more stressed out you will be when you realize you’re running out of time. I would recommend blocking out specific times of day to work on things. Pick a two-hour block
of time, say 4 to 6 p.m. In that period, don’t allow yourself to be distracted. Pick one assignment or test, and work as diligently as possible for that period. If you need to, every half-hour or so you can take a five minute break to stretch, drink some water or have a snack, but try to keep it just within those five minutes. You might be amazed the amount of work you can get done by creating a routine block of time to do homework. If you start this process early in the day, you can even take an hour for dinner, and then come back and continue working. The key here is not to become overwhelmed thinking about everything else you need to do. By focusing on working on one assignment until it’s close to completion, you’ll be able to check things off your to-do list much more methodically. If the thought of taking on your workload a couple hours at a time is daunting, you can try another technique, called 20/10s. Basically, with a 20/10 you work without a break for 20 minutes, and then take 10 minutes to destress. It will take longer this way, but getting any work done is better than no work. When you’re sure you can’t read another page or your eyes will fall out, it’s time to call it a night. Getting a good night’s sleep is almost as important to your success as actually completing the work. Sure, you need to study for that exam, but if you fall asleep during the test you won’t be any better off. Our brains also process and store information as longterm memory when we sleep, so cramming all night is no guarantee you’ll actually remember the information on paper. Finally, remember that as stressed as you are now, it’s just one finals week of the many you will experience in college. If it doesn’t go as well as you want it to, take a deep breath and keep trying your best next quarter.
12 • as.wwu.edu/asreview
ABOVE: Does your life look more like this than you’d like it to? Turn to page 11 for some tips on how to reduce your pollution output. Photo by Janna Bodnar // AS Review
LEFT: When purchasing produce, consider placing the fruits and vegetables right into your cart or basket rather than into a plastic bag. You should wash your purchases before use anyway, and this strategy eliminates the surplus of flimsy plastic bags that inevitably end up in the garbage. Photo by Morgan Annable // AS Review
BELOW: The Khmer Student Association hosted “Our Hidden Story II” as a way for first generation Cambodian students to share their unique stories and experiences with one another. Photos by Ricky Rath // AS Review