Inside this issue:
Wednesday’s Underground Coffeehouse performer: SassyBlack PAGE 4 Western’s guide to safe home rentals PAGE 5 The Associated Students library collection PAGE 6
Vol. 31 #24 04.04.16
Vol. 30 # #.#.#
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Students enjoy the warm spring weather on Old Main Lawn. Cover photo by Alex Bartick // 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. 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 Morgan Annable Chris Beswetherick Becky Campbell Will McCoy Ian Sanquist Adviser Jeff Bates
Editor in Chief Assistant Editor Lead Photographer Writers
Dog Mountain (top) and Bob Fossil (bottom) perform inside the Western Gallery’s “How Space Turns” exhibit on Wednesday, March 30. Photos by Trevor Grimm // AS Review
31.3. 2015 • 3
EVENTS Jazz Jams Monday April 4 // 7 - 9 p.m. // Underground Coffeehouse // Free Open Jazz Jam at the VU coffeehouse. Bring your own gear and join in.
Salsa and Bachata Dance club weekly meeting Monday April 4 // 8 - 10 p.m. // VU Multi Purpose Room // Free Every Monday at 8 p.m. the club hosts an hour long lesson in either L.A. Salsa or Bachata followed by an hour long social.
Jazz Ambassadors US Army Field Band Monday, April 4 // 7 - 9 p.m. // PAC Mainstage // Free The US Army Jazz Ambassadors, one of the nations top military jazz ensembles will give a free and open to the public at the PAC mainstage.
Open Mic Night Tuesday, April 5 // 7 - 9 p.m. // Underground Coffeehouse // Free Sign ups for 5 minute slots start at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.
Viking Radio Theatre weekly club meeting Tuesday, April 5 // 4 - 6 p.m. // Miller Hall 017 // Free Students who are interested in radio theatre, voice acting, audio, or script writing are encouraged to attend VRT’s weekly club meetings.
Wednesday Night Concert Series: SassyBlack Wednesday, April 6 // 7 - 9 p.m. // Underground Coffeehouse // Free
Top Ten: March 14-20 1
Painting With Animal Collective
2
Art Angels Grimes
3
Interior Light Young Rival
4
Free Karaoke Night the Underground on the third floor of the Viking Union.
The Last Thing On My Mind Joy Formidable
5
Dark Sweet Night Light Hermitude
April Films: Room
6
Product 3 Beat Connection
7
What Went Down Foals
8
Heatwave Wild Ones
9
Thank Your Lucky Stars Beach House
Catherine Harris-White performs as SassyBlack, a psychedelic electronic soul performer out of Seattle.
Karaoke Night Thursday, April 4 // 7 - 9 p.m. // Underground Coffeehouse // Free
Thursday, April 7 // 6:30 8:15 p.m. // Fraser Hall 102 // Free The first movie in the April films series, happening each week in the month of April. April 14 - Carol April 21 - Anomalisa
Dance Club Mixer
Saturday, April 9 // 3 - 5:30 p.m. // VU Multi Purpose Room // Free A dance club mixer hosted by the WWU Salsa and Bachata Dance Club.
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Fading Frontier Deerhunter 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 Election candidates to be finalized by April 5th
BY MARINA PRICE
Spring quarter is in full swing, and that means that AS Elections are just around the corner. Students interested in running for one of the six 20162017 Vice President positions or for the AS President position must declare their candidacy no later than 4 p.m. on April 5. AS Elections Coordinator Stacey Ejim says that she is excited about the higher application turn out this year. So far her office has received approximately 30 candidacy applications- much higher than in recent years. “It seriously warms my heart that people have a high interest in the elections,” Ejim said. Candidates will be able to physically advertise their
candidacy after a closed-to-the-public candidate meeting on April 7th. The meeting will serve to introduce candidates to campus media outlets. Some candidates have already expressed their interest online. Ejim hopes that the higher interest in electoral positions this year will garner a higher voter turn out, which has traditionally been very low. Last year only around 900 students voted in AS Elections. “Trying to get students to commit to voting is very tough when other organizations on campus are fighting for their attention. I hope that students are now realizing how serious this whole process is and are starting to realize how important it is for them to participate,” Ejim said.
Students interested in participating as voters can attend the AS Town Hall Meeting on April 12th at 6pm in VU 552, where candidates will give statements and facilitate questions from the public. They can also attend the Vice President and Presidential forums, which will be held on April 14 and 20 respectively, in the Viking Union MultiPurpose Room at 6p.m. The AS Review will be releasing an election guide with interviews from candidates on April 18. Copies will be available wherever the AS Review is distributed on campus.
The Underground Coffeehouse Wednesday Night Concert Series
BAND OF THE WEEK
SassyBlack A MUSIC REVIEW BY IAN SANQUIST
F
ans of funky sci-fi futuresoul music won’t want to miss this week’s performer in the Underground Coffeehouse. SassyBlack, a side project of Seattle hiphop duo THEESatisfaction’s Catherine Harris-White, will be perform this Wednesday at 7 p.m. Harris-White’s self-produced music is full of spaced out, shimmering, bass-heavy beats that slink alongside assertive lyrics that paint intergalactic scenes injected with a dose of harsh, inescapable history. On “Thriller,” from the “Personal Sunlight EP” Harris-White fights off forces of invasion: “You deny the intergalactic word, I know I got you scared, so you try to kill off me and my family…Why won’t you let me be? Why won’t you let me soar?” She describes her sound as “electronic psychedelic soul” and “hologram funk,” playing her voice as a hypnotic instrument of wisdom that seems rescued from some ancient book, used now to map galaxies beyond comprehension. “What’s the sun without the rain?” Harris-White chants over a rippling beat, sounding way tranced out. “What if seasons had no range?” Harris-White is making a small, excellent contribution to the genre of Afrofuturist music, a concept first pioneered by jazz composer Sun Ra, and carried forward by artists like Parliament-Funkadelic, George Clinton, Janelle Monae, and Deltron 3030. Bringing together elements of science fiction, fantasy, history, and Afrocentrism, Afrofuturism seeks to develop a unique cosmos directed toward interrogating present day dilemmas and conditions of people of color, and also to reexamining historical events. In the Northwest, the Afrofuturist aesthetic has been
Photo courtesy of SassyBlack explored through the novels of Octavia Butler and the music of Shabazz Palaces, with whom Harris-White’s band THEESatisfaction has recorded. Harris-White will release her debut album, “No More Lame Dates” this May. The album is available for pre-order on Bandcamp, and a track, “New Boo,” is currently available to stream. “New Boo” represents a step forward in polish and arrangement, feeling denser and more indelible than anything Harris-White has released so far as SassyBlack. Lyrically, “New Boo” puts aside some of her more far-out sci-fi conceptualism in favor of something as familiar and unpretentious as a searching ode to a potential new lover. “From the way that you walk, to the way that you move, I’m digging you,” Harris-White sings, before subverting the familiar tropes of the romance song with a line that brings the track straight into sex-positive 2016: “Sensing the hesitation in your voice/I’m here for pleasure, but remember it’s your choice/Waiting on your consent,” she sings, stretching out the last syllable of “consent” like a long, low, and most seductive invitation. This is the future of soul music. See SassyBlack this Wednesday in the Underground Coffeehouse at 7 p.m.
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Western’s guide to safe housing rentals BY BECKY CAMPBELL When living off-campus students have many choices, as well as new responsibilities. Western is trying to make this new experience as trouble-free as possible for students. Through the Off-Campus Living (OCL) website students from freshmen to seniors have a place to safely find off-campus living in many of Bellingham's neighborhoods. Bellingham has over 64 miles of interurban trails as well as 3000 acres and a thriving arts and music. In fact, many Western students stay in the city that they affectionately call “Bellinghome” after graduation. This website continues to help students after a 2012 survey by Western student Heather Rees and the Campus Community Coalition found that student off-campus were oblivious to their renters and legal rights. The Off Campus Living guide offers a detailed and complete renters guide as well as commuter living information and facts about Bellingham. There is even a PSA created by the AS Prevention & Wellness Services office that goes over information when starting to rent a home, office or apartment that includes information about screening, cleaning and application holding fees. It also reminds students that just because it is in a lease, it doesn't make what some landlords claim as legal. The poster includes a phone number to the AS Legal Info Center at 360.650.6111 if students have any questions concerning the legality of their permanent or temporary residence situation. Also included in the renters guide is an introduction to finding the best place to live for each individual. According to Off-Campus Housing, word of mouth, Viking Village, newspaper ads in the Western Front or
Herald, Craigslist and other various housing companies detailed on their website are ones that they suggest. Even with the overwhelming amount of information out there, the OCL offers even more commuter resources including sustainable transportation, parking and campus recreation services and dining services which includes links to each of these offices. One of the best parts of the website includes an FAQ section which answers the most common queries that Western gets about off-campus housing including whether subletting is legal and if the Student Code of Conduct still applies off-campus. For more information on this website and learning about the different options for off-campus housing visit www.wwu.edu/offcampusliving.
Graphs from the Off-Campus Student Life Survey. Heather Rees, 2012
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BY ALEX BARTICK
Did you know? The AS has library collections
When most students think of an AS office, the events they host are usually the first thing to come to mind. This is because the events are well publicized, well attended, fun and educational. But behind all of the event planning, many of the offices also offer a library with material related to each office. The Queer Resource Center, Social Issues Resource Center, Women’s Center, Legal Information Center, Veteran’s Outreach Center, Sexual Awareness Center, the
Outback Farm, and the Disability Outreach Center all have libraries in their offices that are free for students to use and cataloged in the main library’s database. In February, the Legal Information Center added new material to their library, including “How Immigration Became Illegal” by Aviva Chomsky, “Black Feminist Thought” by Patricia Hill Collins and a graphic retelling of “Race to Incarcerate” by Michelle Alexander, Sabrina Jones and Marc Mauer.
These libraries are often under utilized, but they are great resources for students interested in learning more information on a particular subject. To check out a book from one of the AS offices, just stop by the office with your Western ID card. For a full list of the books each library has to offer, visit the offices or look up titles using the OneSearch Database.
Queer Resource Center “One Teenager in Ten: Writings by Gay and Lesbian Youth” by Ann Heron “Out of the Closet, Into Our Hearts” by Laura Siegel and Nancy Lamkin Olson” “Bi Lives: Bisexual Women Tell their Stories” by Kata Orndorff
Work, and the War on Poverty” by Nancy A. Naples
“We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans From World War II to the War Iraq” by Yvonne Latty and Ron Tarver “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Debating the Gay Ban in the Military” by Aaron Belkin
Women’s Center “Avenging Agnodice: The Struggles and Success of Female Scientists, Antiquity to Present” by Nancy L. Swanson “No More Nice Girls: Countercultural Essays” by Ellen Willis “Grassroots Warriors: Activist Mothering, Community
Legal Information Center “Unequal Under Law: Race in the War on Drugs” by Doris Marie Provine “Letters from Law School: the Life of a Second Year Law Student” by Lawrence Dieker “Thinking About Law School: a Minority Guide” by Law School Admission Council Veterans Outreach Center “Against all Enemies: Gulf War Syndrome: the War Between America’s Ailing Veterans and their Government” by Seymour M. Hersh
Disability Outreach Center “Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment” by James I. Charlton “Claiming Disability: Knowledge and Identity” by Simi Linton “College Success for Students with Learning Disabilities: Strategies and Tips to Make the Most of Your College Experience” by Cynthia G. Simpson
Celebrate Spring with these local events
BY MARINA PRICE
Farmers Market The grand opening of Bellingham’s famous farmers market was this weekend. Weekly markets will now be held every Saturday morning until Christmas from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The market, located at the Depot Market Square in downtown Bellingham, features a wide array of vendors selling meals, produce, artwork, crafts and anything in-between. Features include a weekly “chef in the market” event where local eateries showcase how their food is made to an eager audience. You may also find busking musicians, and even a balloon-sword-making entertainer. Sometimes Western’s Acapella groups make an Fisher Fountain in the Spring. May events at Back to Bellingham will appearance as well.
be held in Red Square. Photo by Trevor Grimm // AS Review
Art Walk Although Bellingham’s art walk runs throughout the winter and fall months as well, experiencing it in the sun is like a whole new event. Follow the per-determined map on the Bellingham Partnership website through the array of art-centered businesses and organizations downtown. View art installations and exhibits from local and national artists in galleries, boutiques, studios, restaurants and more. Art walk is held on the first Friday of every month, and May’s Art Walk is traditionally dedicated to showcasing local children’s artwork. Bellingham is recognized in the art world as having the second highest amount of art-related businesses per-capita of any city in the US, and Art Walk does not disappoint in showcasing it.
Back to Bellingham Western’s annual Back to Bellingham event hits campus May 12-15, and it’s a great way to experience campus in the sun. Back to Bellingham brings with it a zipline, obstacle courses, trampolines, concerts, improv theatre, great food and more. Originally an alumni event, Back to Bellingham had grown in size and caters to a massive population of students, family, and Bellingham residents. The event is entirely free and there are many opportunities to win prizes. The event will have opportunities to win multiple prizes from different participating organizations.
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AS Films presents: Room Want to slackline on campus? Here’s some info
BY MARINA PRICE
Lenny Abrahamson’s independent film adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s book “Room” is an emotional exploration of the bond between a young mother and her child. AS Films will be hosting a screening of Room on Thursday, April 7 at 6:30 p.m. in Fraser 102. The film opens with 24-year-old Joy, played by Brie Larson, as she walks her five-year-old son Jack, played by Jacob Trem. blay through their daily routine inside the one-room shed in which they live. It is revealed that Joy had been kidnapped by a man they refer to as ‘Old Nick’ at the age of 17, and had her child, Jack, by him two years later. Old Nick keeps Joy and Jack locked in the small garden shed, which they refer to simply as “Room” for years. At five-years old, Jack has difficulty comprehending the existence of the outside world, his only exposure to which comes through a staticy television Old Nick uses to keep them entertained. The performances by both Larson and Tremblay are phenomenal, which led Larson to receive an Academy Award and Oscar in the best actress category for her roll. You might remember Larson from such films as “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” and “21 Jump Street.” Many critics expressed dismay that Tremblay was not also nominated, as the nine-year-old actor’s performance in such BY CHRIS BESWETHERICK a complicated roll greatly exceeded expectations. The dry, no-longer-muddy ground See AS Films’ showing of Room this week in Fraser 102 at has finally arrived and Spring is 6:30 on Thursday. underway. Now, outdoor activities are ready to be enjoyed in t-shirts, shorts and maybe even barefoot. Of these activities, the popular outdoor sport slacklining is enjoyed by many Western students and finding a spot is easy BY MORGAN ANNABLE to come across. Slacklining’s quick Film is Truth 24 Times a Second is a business name so setup makes them easily accessible long that it stands out among its neighboring businesses in and convenient for use, especially in downtown Bellingham. Film is Truth became a non-profit Western’s nature-filled campus. corporation in 2014 and they aim to keep film history alive In order to use a slackline, find two and available to the public. anchors, usually trees, and stretch out Film is Truth 24 Times a Second is hosting the second the slackline between them to make annual Every Frame Tells a Story event, in which poets will the line tense enough to walk across, gather to perform poetry about film. but elastic for tricks and challenge. The poetry-about-movies fundraiser will take place at HonFinding the anchors for the line, and ey Moon, located at 1053 N State Street. The event is on April simply having a line are the only tools 8 at 8:30 p.m. and is free, although donations are greatly necessary for the sport, making slackappreciated. lining available whenever there is time Featured poets include writers from the local area as well as to play around. Mike McGee, a slam poet who tours nationally. He is known Since Western is so abundant with as “Mighty” Mike McGee in the poetry community. He won trees, especially in the arboretum, the the 2003 National Poetry Slam Individual Grand Championcampus simplifies the setup. An area ship and the 2006 Individual World Poetry Slam Championperfect for slacklining is the plaza on ship. south campus next to Academic West Local poets featured at the fundraiser include Bellingham and the Communications building. optician and writer Elizabeth Vignali, Western English There are cherry trees lining all of the professor Bruce Beasley, and 2015 Rain City Slam Poetry brick pathway toward Fairhaven and Champion Troy Osaki. the Wade Recreation Center. To make
Experience film through a different medium
this spot even better, all of the trees are placed a reasonable distance from each other making them excellent anchors, as the trees also have a wide diameter. Other than the cherry tree path, the Arboretum has countless spots where slacklining is also simple. There are some unsafe areas on campus for slacklining which should be avoided. For example, in the Fairhaven Complex, there are weak birch trees in a spot seemingly ideal for slacklining. However, their trunk is just too small to handle the force generated from the slackline. In Red Square, too, there are trees where a slackline can be put, but it disrupts the traffic in the area, and falling onto brick can be harmful. “Slacklining becomes easy with practice, however, starting is difficult and you’ll want a soft ground the practice over,” Krista Turley, a long-time slackliner said. “Overtime you will improve and learn more daring and impressive moves. If you get that good, slacklining over brick is easy.” There are many different forms of slacklining as the sport has a long history. There is urbanlining which takes place in the city or a park and is
the most common form of slacklining. Waterlining is also popular and that occurs over a body of water. The more daring and impressive slacklinings are highlining, slackline yoga and freestyle slacklining. Highlining is where someone will walk across buildings and canyons. Whereas slackline yoga and freestyle slacklining are more trickand-move based. “I know other slackliners who can do the splits on their line and others who can sit down on it like a bench and quickly stand up,” Turley said. “I cannot do either of those, but with enough practice maybe.” Slacklining is allowed on campus, however in the past, slacklines have dealt damage and worn out many trees. Western’s previous head gardener, Randy Godfrey once installed wooden sleeves on some trees to test the damage caused by slacklines. When setting up a slackline, be sure to include some added padding to the anchor points, or find a tree already affected by slacklines to reduce the number of damaged trees. To obtain a slackline check out the REI in the Sehome Village, Amazon or Craigslist for various line brands.
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TEDx returns to Western this April
take an idea and view it from different angles to find new perspectives, and that is what we are trying to go for with the speakers we have chosen.” Smith, along with nine other students are organizing this event, and are collaborating with the university as well as the AS, KVIK and Aramark. As the coordinator, Smith acts as a liaison between each group. The TEDxWWU event is full of talks and activities that everyone can relate to. There are several intermissions throughout the day that give attendees the chance to walk around to the different activity rooms, or stay seated to watch TED Talk videos. Dr. Art Sherwood gives a talk on cooperative entrepreneurship at TEDx There are several activity rooms WWU at last year’s TEDx. Photo by Trevor Grimm // AS Review provided by the TEDx Team. There will be a puppy room, where one can go hang out with different animals and even have a chance to adopt. BY WILL MCCOY Other rooms are the whiteboard room, where one can TED Talks are coming back to Western on April 16, write thoughts about the talks or write new ideas for talks and this is an opportunity that you do not want to miss. and the meditation room, where people can go relax and This event is a day full of innovative ideas and activities. enjoy some yoga. This is the second annual TEDx event, but there have Speakers were chosen by Smith and his team. They sent been major improvements since last year, Max Smith, an email out last December asking people to apply if they Western senior and event coordinator, said. There will be had an idea worth talking about. After they received all 13 diverse speakers this year either from the community the applications, they contemplated each idea and chose or the university, each with a unique and inspiring idea. 13 speakers to present. “This year our theme is pivot,” Smith said. “One can Sara Alkedairy, a Western senior, is one of the 13
presenting. Her talk is titled “Limits to Empathy: Getting Comfortable with Discomfort”. “I think that empathy is impossible because it neglects to see emotions through an intersectional lens, that is, a holistic lens that acknowledges the interaction of various identities individuals might hold,” she said. When a person attempts to be empathetic, too many assumptions are made. Instead, Alkhedairy wants people to be uncomfortable when talking to others. She recognizes that critically thinking when interacting with others is how we connect with people on a deeper, more genuine level. She states that this is not an easy thing to accomplish. She is still working on implementing these ideas into her own life. Talking at this event is something that she is uncomfortable with. Public speaking is stepping outside her comfort zone, which is something she has wanted to do for a while. Although she is not totally comfortable with public speaking, Alkhedairy is more nervous about people’s reactions to her talk. “The TED Talk I am presenting pushes against our social norms,” she said. “I want to push people to think differently, but there might be some backlash.” Smith is excited to share the unique ideas each speaker has with the public. He is also excited to be a part of this experience. “It is a great feeling to be a part of the group that organizes this event,” he said. “UW doesn’t put on as a successful as us and that kind of puts Western on the map.” Tickets are already on sale. They are priced at $25, but students get a reduced fee of $15. Tickets include two meals and access to all the speakers and activity rooms.