Vol. 30 # #.#.#
Vol. 32 #29 05.15.17
2 • as.wwu.edu/asreview
See page 6 for info about local exploring with the Outdoor Center. Cover photo by Ricky Rath // 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.
IN THIS ISSUE Hip Hop dance 4 showcase
In case you missed it... enjoy this energetic photo spread.
Protesting While
5 White
Learn important tips to be aware of to keep your protest respectful!
6 OC offers
adventures
The Outdoor Center has several excursions left this year for any student seeking an adventure!
7 Distinguished
Speaker Series
This lecture focuses on Victorian Queerness and Feminism.
7 Athletics Hall of Fame
Several alumni of Western will be inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame during Back 2 B’ham.
8 Back 2 B’ham
This weekend will be a blast, with dozens of activities around campus.
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, 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 Julia Berkman Photographers Jaden Moon Janna Bodnar Adviser Jeff Bates
Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor Lead Photographer Writers
ABOVE: Sini-HHA members strike a pose during their performance. See page 4 for more photos. Photo by Jonathan Pendleton.
05.15.2017 • 3
EVENTS
CALENDAR OF EVENTS WWU Scholars Week
May 15 - 19 // Various times and places // Free
This recognition of undergraduate research and creativity includes participants from every department on campus. The week will feature multiple presentations and a poster contest on Wednesday and Thursday in the library. The full schedule can be found here: http://www.wwu.edu/ scholars/index.shtml
ESC Karaoke Night
May 15 // 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. // Underground Coffeehouse // Free Go sing your heart out with the Ethnic Student Center! Unleash your inner pop star!
Western Washington University: Better Speech and Hearing Month
May 16 // 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. // Boundary Bay Brewery // $5
This event seeks to raise money for the Communication Science and Disorders clinic and service-learning trip. There will be salsa lessons, live music and a raffle!
Liederabend: Western Singers in Concert
May 17 // 7:30 p.m. - 10 p.m. // PAC Concert Hall // Free
Students from the Voice Department have been nominated by their peers to perform in this showcase of art songs and arias.
Poetry after Auschwitz: Who was Else Dormitzer?
Top Ten: May 15 - 21 1
Tuxedo II Tuxedo
2
Hot Thoughts Spoon
Dr. Sandra Alfers will present her research on the poetry of the Holocaust, and will read a selection of poetry from Holocaust survivor Else Dormitzer.
3
Drunk Thundercat
4
Apocalipstick Cherry Glazerr
Design Days Open House
5
Heartworms The Shins
6
The Far Field Future Islands
7
Sincerely Dude York
8
The World’s Best American Band White Reaper
9
Death Song The Black Angels
May 17 // 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. // Wilson Library Special Collections // Free
May 19 // 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. // 2nd story Art Annex // Free
The Western Design Department is opening up the Art Annex to celebrate the work done by students. There will be live music as well as buttons, stickers and more for sale as a fundraiser for the department!
Back 2 B’ham
May 19 - 21 // Various times // Western’s campus // Various prices
Every year Western puts on this string of exciting events (including a zipline on Old Main lawn) to encourage alumni, families and students to enjoy all that Western has to offer. Read more about this on page 8.
10
Unconditionally Tennis 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.
4 • as.wwu.edu/asreview
Sini-HHA wows audience with high-energy dance showcase Photos by Jonathan Pendleton
“Protesting While White”
05.15.2017 • 5
How to turn your existence into resistance BY JULIA BERKMAN
As a town where 80 percent of the residents are white, Bellingham still has a lot to learn about interacting with racism. In an effort to change that, WWU Students for Anti-Racist Action (SARA) and the Bellingham activism community have come together to organize Protesting While White, an event designed to educate white people on how to be respectful during a People of Color (PoC)-led protest. “In response to the frequency of cultural appropriation and lack of mindfulness of white folks at PoC-led actions in this community, many folks of color have expressed frustration and called for greater accountability from white activists and organizers,” Emma Bigongiari said. Bigongiari is a member of SARA and one of the main organizers of Protesting While White. Last month at the March for Science, many activists of color at the event expressed their displeasure at the lack of inclusivity and self-awareness at the event. The “Women of Color Speak Out” Seattle-based group sent a list of demands they wanted the March for Science to acknowledge as part of their platform. Their demands included sentiments such as “The sci-
entific community must acknowledge that by staying silent for decades they have served the White Colonial Empire before the needs of humanity and nature,” along with other statements challenging the March to become more inclusive. The March for Science rejected their demands and moved forward with the march without support from PoC communities. Because of all this, as well as the overwhelming cisgender whiteness of the Women’s March, SARA and People of Color from Bellingham’s organizing team for the People's Climate March decided to create a workshop touching on whiteness during a protest. “We will discuss things that white folks who want to be in solidarity with PoC should know, such as how to interact with the police (hint: don't), learning to listen more and talk less, and coming to actions with the attitude of seriousness and solidarity, rather than just attending a march as a fun way to make yourself look better on social media,” said Bigongiari. The event centers on how white people act during a protest that they may not have as much to do with. Let’s remember that racism is a struggle compound-
er, one that makes common issues (such as climate change, sexism or fair labor) more nuanced and layered. Anything that detrimentally affects a white person can also affect a person of color. For example, if you’re a black woman, you’re stuck in traffic at the intersection of sexism and racism, known as misogynoir. Unfortunately, acknowledging privilege is a hard road for white people sometimes. This workshop is therefore a reminder to white folk that whatever affects them will affect people of color double. That’s why it’s up to white people at a protest to raise the voices of those more profoundly affected. “We hope that this event will help white people to think critically about their role in People-of-Color led movements, and to spread what they learn to their friends and community members,” Bigongiari remarked. The event will be held May 18 at 5:30 in Academic West 204. You can check it out online on Facebook.
ABOVE LEFT: Western students are no strangers to protests. Students banded together in protest of Western’s financial ties to U.S. Bank--one of the backers of the Dakota Access Pipeline. ABOVE RIGHT: Again protesting the DAPL, this time participants took to I-5 and blocked traffic. Photos by Erasmus Baxter.
6 • as.wwu.edu/asreview
Adventure is out there!
BY JULIA BERKMAN Western is notorious for having outdoorsy students. Even if you’re less Tarzan and more of a Jane, if you’re looking to get your feet wet or your shoulders burnt, the Outdoor Center has an excursion for you. For about $30 for half a day, the Outdoor Center will whisk you away on adventures to places like Mt. Baker, the San Juan Islands and other local fixtures like the Chuckanut mountain range. They have many excursions still up for spring 2017, as well as the option to customize your own excursion through the OC using their equipment and guides. If you’re nautically inclined, you might want to check out the Sunset Sea Kayaking in Bellingham Bay on May 17 or May 31. For a paltry penance of only $35, you get three hours on the high seas as the sun sets. All you have to bring is a snack and a good attitude. Maybe clambering up cliffs is more up your alley? Say no more. On June 3, the OC is hosting a beginners rock climbing course at Mt. Erie. The course is a day trip and
Get outside with Outdoor Center excursions
only costs $45. You bring the shoes, they bring the rocks. Perhaps you’re more artistically inclined. Luckily, the OC has a trip for everyone, including an art hike. Spend your day out on Artist Point, sketching the expansive views provided to you. The Outdoor Center trip leaders will bring you to the highest vistas on order to get that perfect drawing. All you need is your own art supplies and $55. All excursions require a pre-trip meeting to go over the logistics for the trip. Overnight trips require a bit of extra training to make sure you don’t freeze to death once the sun goes down. The Outdoor Center ranks their trips in difficulty, from a 0 (anyone can do it) to a 4 (good luck), but adventurers of all levels are encouraged to sign up for trips of any difficulty. If you’re interested, act quickly, because spots for Outdoor Center excursions go quickly! You can check out all of the spring excursions online at as.wwu.edu/outdoor/ excursions/.
Let the OC take you on an adventure! Visit Viking Union 150 to find out how to get involved. Photos by Ricky Rath // AS Review.
05.15.2017 • 7
Final Distinguished Speakers lecture addresses Victorian Queerness and Feminism BY JOSH HUGHES Last week in the Special Collections floor of the library, Associate Professor of English Kristin Mahoney presented her paper “Out and Out from the Family to the Community: the Housmans and the Politics of Queer Sibling Devotion” as the final talk in the Distinguished Speakers series that Western and Heritage Resources put on every year. These talks focus on esteemed individuals who have in one way or another utilized resources from the community and library to aid in their ongoing research. Mahoney’s paper, which only entailed a small portion of her current book “Queer Kinship after Wilde: Transnational Aestheticism and the Family”, addressed the Housman siblings’ attitude of sexual radicalism, feminism, and anti-colonialism in a succinct one hour lecture. Mahoney’s work has previously focused on aestheticism and decadence, specifically within the Victorian era and the bridge towards modernism in the early 20th century. Her current work, then, talks about queer kinship in the Decadent movement, specifically Laurence and Clemence Housman, siblings of the more well-known poet A.E. Housman. The two, who lived together for practically the entirety of their lives, advocated for looser conceptualizations of sexuality and feminism within politics, and Mahoney suggests that the unlikely and strange relationship that the two maintained allowed for their progressivism and activism throughout their respective careers. In her hour-long talk, Mahoney talked about the collaborative relationship that the Housmans shared and how this came to light in their literary and artistic craft. The two never married, and lived co-dependently for their whole lives, allowing for an unconventional kinship to break open their thought in new ways. Laurence defined his understanding of love as a form of giving, and he maintained a progressive, radical outlook on the range of intimate relationships that can occur throughout one’s lifetime. This way, his relationship with his sister allowed for an unconventional bond to shape, which he considered an accessible pathway to broadened thoughts and emotions. Mahoney went on to talk about how the Housmans’ ideologies that broke into the domain of the 20th century were guided not entirely by the advent of modernism, but also of the Victorian ways in which they grew up. The importance of familial ties informed their political and societal progressivism in an unusual way: since Laurence shared a bond with his sister that generally is reserved for a spouse, it allowed for his understanding of feminism to grow out of a curious place. This relationship also informed Laurence’s forms of storytelling in his fairy tales by articulating queer politics in a way unheard of for the time. While her discussion on the Housmans’ works is but a piece of her overarching goal to dissect the aestheticism of kinship at the turn of the 20th century, Mahoney provided an articulate lecture on some of these ideas and questions that began to arise as a result of modernism and the end of the Victorian era. Be sure to look for her work at Western as she continues research of the overall project. While the Distinguished Speakers series is done for the year, look out for Facebook events and fliers by Heritage Resources this coming year for information on upcoming speakers.
Western to add members to Athletics Hall of Fame during Back 2 Bellingham BY JOSH HUGHES Each year, Western inducts new members into its Athletics Hall of Fame, recognizing previous student athletes that exemplified and served a historic role in their respective sport. Taking place on Saturday, May 20, at 1 p.m., this marks the 42nd Hall of Fame induction for the school. This year’s ceremony includes four alum athletes, Grant Dykstra, Tim Feenstra, Karla Landis and Nicola Parker, all of whom will be honored in the PAC during this weekend’s Back 2 B’ham event. Grant Dykstra, a men’s basketball player at Western from 2002 to 2006, overcame a life-threatening accident at the age of two to hold the highest number of points scored over his career in the school’s history until 2017. After nearly losing his right arm as a child, Dykstra spent ten years dealing with intensive surgeries and physical therapy to strengthen and nurse the arm back to health. During this period, he learned to shoot with his left hand, and how to manage dribbling and passing with arms that had different lengths. Over his four year career at Western, Dykstra started in every game he played in, and was also named to all four Division II All-America teams as a senior. Brad Jackson was the head basketball coach at Western during Dykstra’s time as a student. “For him to play at the level he did for four years is a phenomenal achievement for anyone,” Jackson said. “But given the severity of his injury, it becomes astounding.” Tim Feenstra, a men’s golf player at Western, also from 2002 to 2006, set a number of records during his time as a student athlete for the school. A fourtime West Region All-Star, and Western athlete of the year in 2005, Feenstra tied 16th nationally in 2004 on a team that reached nationals for Division II. Feenstra has also continued his golf career past Western, playing in the PGA Professional Championship in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016, and he became a PGA member in 2011. “When I began my golf career at WWU, I had the goal of becoming a consistent contributor to the program.” Feenstra said when speaking on his success within the team and his individ-
ual career. “What I found was not only the ability to contribute to the success of the program, but a team of players and coaches who were instrumental in teaching me so much about the game and instilling my love and passion for the game.” Karla Landis, a women’s rower at Western, served as the rowing captain during her junior and senior years, from 2001 to 2003. A Collegiate Rowing Coaches of America Division II All-American during her senior year, Landis helped her team rank first nationally in the US Rowing poll and place second at the inaugural NCAA II National Championships in 2002. After graduating in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, Landis served as the assistant rowing coach for six years after her graduation. During her time as a coach, she helped the Vikings win four consecutive national titles and was considered a helpful, enjoyable coach by the teams with whom she worked. The last Hall of Fame recipient for this year is Nicola Parker, a women’s volleyball player at Western from 2001 to 2004 who became Western’s first libero when that position was added nationally in 2002. A First Team Daktronics All-American and honorable mention American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American in 2003, Parker also helped Western win three consecutive GNAC titles and was awarded the Western Female Athlete of the year award in 2004. Additionally, Parker won Western’s Most Inspirational Award not once, but four times throughout her career at school in volleyball. After graduating, she went on to be the graduate assistant coach for the Vikings from 2004 to 2006. All four will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at this weekend’s event, which has no admission charge and includes free parking for those coming to campus just for the event.
For more information about Back 2 Bellingham events, see page 8.
8 • as.wwu.edu/asreview
Back 2 B’ham bonanza brings bash to campus BY JOSH HUGHES
For the last six years, Western has put on an increasingly extravagant weekend for alumni and family during the third weekend of May. You may know of this event as the one day in the year when a giant zipline runs through the Old Main Lawn, complete with screaming adults and an array of families looking up astounded at the spectacle. Or, you may have noticed some of the dozens of ads and billboards around town these last few weeks with bold typeface spelling out “BACK 2 B’HAM”. While the weekend of events, occurring from May 18 to 21, is tailored for alumni looking to reunite with old classmates and see Bellingham through a new lens, there are dozens of events open to the public that anyone, including students, can attend. Back 2 B’ham signifies one of the largest events of the school year on campus, providing a nice parallel to Lawnstock--the end of the year festival for students that takes place in early June. But while Lawnstock markets itself as an event for students, Back 2 B’Ham can seem daunting because of its rigorous advertising outside of campus, as though it’s not intended for anyone who currently attends Western. While alumni coming to the event are encouraged to register for $15 to get access to numerous special events that are specifically meant for them, there are also a plethora of events happening that students can get involved in either for free or a small cost. After an opening ceremony of sorts on Thursday night, Friday kicks off the weekend’s main events with a faculty reading, a BFA artists’ talk and a wide range of evening events. The faculty reading, in VU 565 at 4 p.m., features poetry and prose reading from some of Western’s Creative Writing faculty including Suzanne Paola, Bruce Beasley, Brenda Miller, Lee Guylas and Kami Westhoff. The BFA artists’ talk, in the Western Gallery and also at 4 p.m., coincides with the senior art exhibition inside the gallery that opened just last week. All events on Friday are inclusive for alumni, students and families alike, with a variety of performances and even a silent auction.
At the Majestic Ballroom on N Forest St., there will be a 1940s Mystery Dinner night at 5 p.m. hosted by Western’s own Viking Radio Theatre. Tickets cost $15 for students and faculty, and $25 for the general public. At the same time in the VU MPR, Student Outreach Services (SOS) are hosting the 19th Annual Women of Color Empowerment Dinner and Silent Auction, an event that, in the words of the SOS, “serves to unify and create dialogue among students, staff, faculty, and community members to empower women from diverse backgrounds to step up as leaders in their colleges, communities and the world.” Likewise, tickets cost the same as the Mystery Dinner. Beyond those two, there are several other events including: a documentary screening of “I Am Not Your Negro” at Pickford Film Center put on by Western Reads, a monthly night market on Commercial Street, a Dead Parrots Society improv show, a performance of Teague Parker’s senior project, a Guitars of Western show and two planetarium showings. The specifics can be found on Back 2 B’Ham’s website at wwu.edu/back2bellingham (if you’re looking for an exact countdown until the event as well, you’ll find that prominently cemented at the top of the site). Saturday, however, is when things start to get out of control with a whopping 65 posted events on the website. At the risk of sounding too overwhelming, some of these events include a Red Square Carnival, Western Relay for Life, a kayaking tour, a bird walk in the arb, a music festival in Fairhaven College, a tour of the outdoor sculpture collection, an Ethnic Student Center night market and, yes, the zipline. All these events and more can also be found on the Back 2 B’ham website, which includes a short, informative blurb about each and every event. There’s even more planned for Sunday, but at this point there’s a sense of futility in explaining more specifics. Whether you’re a Western alum, a current student or just an inhabitant of Bellingham, there should be something for you at this weekend’s Back 2 B’ham bonanza.
ABOVE: Campus will be bustling with families and alumni this weekend. RIGHT: For many, Western’s sculptures will be a nostalgic sight when they return for the festivities. Photos by Ricky Rath // AS Review.