AS Review 10.9.17

Best of Campus Edition

Multicultural Center update + architectural renderings pg. 9 Interview with new VP pg. 5

VOL. 33 #3 10.9.2017

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An free bike at the corners of Billy Frank Jr. and Maple St. seen Friday, Sept. 29. Photo by Erasmus Baxter// AS Review

IN THIS ISSUE NEWS

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.

FEATURES

4 Jail Panel

6 Best of Campus

8 Hot Button Issues

10

11

12 Word Search

Learn more about what the proposed “Mega-jail” will mean for Whatcom County’s economy.

Viking Union 411 516 High St. Bellingham, WA 98225 Phone: 360.650.6126 Fax: 360.650.6507 Email: as.review@wwu.edu as.wwu.edu/asreview @TheASReview facebook.com/theasreview © 2016. Published most Mondays during the school year by the Associated Students of Western Washington University.

STUDENT LIFE

MOTHA Read about the Museum of Transgender Hirstory & Art.

Have you always wondered where the best places to nap, cry and crap are? Wonder no more.

Decoded Threads Dance Catch up on the events going on in the Western Gallery.

Get the scoop on some of the topics that will be discussed at the Oct. 12 debate.

Fall word search on the back! Also, find see the answers for last week’s trivia.

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.

Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor Lead Photographer Writers

Erasmus Baxter Kira Stussy Hailey Hoffman Josh Hughes Gwen Frost Julia Berkman Hailey Murphy

Adviser Jeff Bates

Just because fall is in full swing, it doesn’t mean you can’t still find fresh and local food. The Bellingham Saturday Market is open year round! Photo by Hailey Hoffman // AS Review

10.9. 2017 • 3

EVENTS Harvest Happens at Bellewood Acres Started Oct. 4 // 8 a.m.-5 p.m. // Bellewood Acres // Free (unless you buy something) Fall is here! At Bellewood Acres, you can get your fall fix by picking apples, wandering though a pumpkin patch and drinking a warm cup of cider. Harvest Happens started Oct. 4 and will continue

Moonlit Night Hike Oct. 12// 8-11 p.m.// Meet in VU 150 // $20 Join the Outdoor Center on this hike illluminated by the Full Moon. You will get to experience some of the trails Bellingham has to offer while meeting new people. The signup deadline is 4 p.m. the day of!

Top Ten Songs: Sept. 17-23 1

Witness Benjamin Booker

2

A Moment Apart Odesza

3

A Tribute to The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds YYY

4

Carpe Diem Walter TV

AS Films: “Friday the 13th”

5

A Deeper Understanding The War on Drugs

rowdy.

Oct. 13 // 7-9:30 p.m. // Arntzen 100 // Free

Uncontrollable Salvation Pardoner

Bike Anatomy, Tools and Fitting FREE CLINIC

Be ready to be spooked by the showing of “Friday the 13th”, put on by AS Films. If you like being frightened by the dark or jumpscares, this is the event for you.

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Saturn Over Sunset Midnight Sister

8

Soft Sounds from Another Planet Japanese Breakfast

9

Crack Up Fleet Foxes

through the fall.

Western Women’s Golf Invitational Oct. 9-10 // All day // Bellingham Golf and Country Club // Free Watch the Western women’s golf team compete right here in Bellingham. Come and support, just make sure not to be too

Oct. 10 // 4-6 p.m. // VU 150 // Free Learn your bike inside and out at this free clinic put on by the Outdoor Center.

Hot Button Issues Debate Oct. 12 // 5:30-7 p.m.// Underground Coffeehouse // Free Join the AS REP, Western Votes and the WWU Speech and Debate Team to learn about local issues in a dynamic way.

Women’s Volleyball Oct. 12 and 14 // 7 p.m. // WECU Court at Carver Gym // $5 with ID Support the Western women’s volleyball team while they play on their home court Thursday and Saturday, both days at 7 p.m.

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Oct. 15 // 9 a.m. // Depot Market Square // Free (but accepting donations) This event’s purpose is to bring awareness to breast cancer and all the people whose lives are afffected. The goal is to provide free information, support and help reduce breast cancer risk or discover it early while it’s still treatable.

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Racing Time DWNTWN 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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Forum raises issues with proposed jail tax What will it mean if Proposition 2017-6 is passed?

BY GWEN FROST Let’s “Follow the Money Trail” was a Town Hall panel discussion. Housed in the Leopold hotel it began at 7 pm, after a 6:30 reception and screening of the video “Stop the Con: Invest in People’s Success not in Failure”.

On Wednesday, October 4th, the Town Hall panel met with five local experts; an attorney, an accountant, a professor and two businessmen. The experts spoke about the economics of the proposed 0.2 percent Jail Sales tax initiative that is up for vote, called “Proposition 2017-6”.

Essentially, this proposition asks for taxpayers to fund a third jail in Whatcom county with a 0.2 percent increase tax.The panel and experts explained that rather than advocating for jail industry expansion, we should instead focus tax dollars and government effort on justice reform and economic improvement for our community. The host, Joy Gilfilen, President of the Restorative Community Coalition, lives in Bellingham and has spent two years studying at Western Washington.

The difference between a prison and a jail is that a prison holds people for 365 days or longer is run by state and federal governments and is intended for people convicted of a felony. Jails are intended for lesser crimes.

The average length of stay inside a jail in Whatcom county is about 22 days.

Often times people call the police to de-escalate the situation, but what the police will do is “simply try to get an arrest,” unnecessarily housing people who may not be a danger to the community.

The panel and experts wanted to highlight alternatives to building a third jail in the County, as we already have two.

The blame for the bloating of the two currently funded jails were was placed on a faulty justice system. Fix the system, send less people to jail, and there would be no need for a new jail.

Our criminal justice system already consumers $15.7 million yearly in extra sales taxes earmarked specially for criminal justice, public safety, and behavioral and mental health services.

The additional jail tax is depicted as regressive, as it would take over $7.5 million of buying power out of the community. And as most non-proportional universal taxes do, this tax would affect homeless and low-income people more than the middle and upper-class.

Small businesses would also suffer particularly, as there would be less money circulating through our local economy. The $7.5 million would grow an even bigger government, and a higher percentage would leave the community and be turned over to big banks and the private jail system.

The tax would possibly also hold a precedent for further taxes to be incurred for expanding the prison industrial complex. Due to a new jail, “if the future is

like the last twenty years, the money will be sucked up like a cancer of increasing expenses,” said the panel’s economist.

When asked if there would be any short-term consequences due to not having enough space for inmates right now, Gilfilen cleared something up for me.

“It’s a misnomer, because they’re filling the jail up with people who are nonviolent, and who don’t need to be in the jail. Who can’t afford to pay bail. Who are waiting for admittance to mental health or drug court,” Gilfilen said.

Though some may argue that it’s easier to lock people up instead of giving them adequate rehabilitation, one couldn’t argue that it is more expensive. The Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison program in Brooklyn, New York found that the average cost of putting a participant in drug treatment wound up costing half of what it would have cost if the the participant had done jail time for 25 months (the average jail time of participants in the program).

“The prosecutor has the authority to let anybody in or out, to waive bail.”

Cutting incarceration rates isn’t uncharted territory; it’s been done, and it’s happening right now. New Jersey cut their jail returns by half, because instead of sending parole-breakers back to jail, they are sent to workshops that address the issues that got them in trouble. This created a 38.2 percent reduction of inmates incarcerated due to drug charges from 2013 to 2017. Thousands of those arrested for drug crimes were redirected from jails to drug-treatment programs throughout 21 counties, under a 5-year initiative planned by Gov. Chris Christie.

However, though New Jersey deserves a nod, overcrowding of jails may not even be a variable in this situation. In Whatcom County, “the minimum security jail, they’ve indicated it’s 50-60 percent vacant.”

Describing multiple partially or mostly empty jails in the Washington alone, “we’ve overbuilt the jail system in the Pacific Northwest” said Gilfilen.“Even though sometimes that doesn’t appear to be the story- it depends on who you’re listening to.”

Whatcom county already has multiple factors that could be contributing to the “overcrowding” of their jails: Whatcom has mandatory booking for first offense DUI’s, unlike our neighboring King, Skagit and Snohomish counties who hold no such policy. Further, Whatcom has “Earned Early Release”, which essentially gives earlier release to inmates for good behavior. However, most countries give one-third off of the offender’s sentence; and Whatcom only gives one-sixth.

Thirdly, Whatcom has higher bail than most surrounding counties- bail for robbery can be tantamount to bail for murder conspiracy in Skagit. We take too many in, hold them too long and charge them too much. We need more mental health and drug treatment programs, not more jail cells to fill.

For more information about the proposed jail project attend the Hot Button Issues Debate hosted by the AS’ Representation and Engagement programs in the Underground Coffee House Thursday, October 12 from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. See page 8 for more details.

10.9. 2017 • 5

Meet Melynda Huskey, new Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services WSU --> WWU

BY HAILEY MURPHY Last July, Melynda Huskey started as Western’s new Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services (ESS). Enrollment and Student Services encompasses many aspects of student life including student athletics, admissions, the Viking Union and the dining halls.

Huskey started her career as an English professor.

However, after finding that her passion was working with students, she moved into the field of student affairs.

She worked at Washington State University for the past 19 years, serving in a variety of positions including Director of the Student Center (the first LGBTQ+ person to hold the position at WSU), Dean of Students, sexuality educator, deputy Title IX coordinator and interim vice president for Student Affairs.

As deputy Title IX coordinator, she was in charge of a grant aimed at prevention of sexual assault, and while she no longer holds that position, students can expect further dedication to sexual assault prevention: “What I’ve brought forward with me from that previous role is a deep commitment to [sexual assault] prevention, in particular,” said Huskey.

“Working with prevention services to make sure that we have a wide variety of prevention education opportunities, that we enfuse that sense of affirmative training about consent, about healthy decision making, sexual choices, affirming healthy sexuality for students— whatever that means to them in terms of their own values…

That’s something I care very deeply about; promoting really good, healthy, self-motivated, self-actualizing, positive sexuality for students.”

Huskey’s passions reach past sexual assault prevention. As a member of a mostly-new senior leadership team, Huskey works alongside President Randhawa to

help achieve goals for Western.

One of Randhawa’s goals is for Western’s demographics to match the demographics of Washington state across the board. This includes gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status etc. He also wishes to close the achievement gap at Western. This means having all students— regardless of their support network outside of this institution— graduate at a rate of 80 percent.

While acknowledging the ambition and the work required to get there, Huskey is dedicated to complet-

Photo by Hailey Hoffman // AS Review ing these goals.

“The message that I take from [these goals] is that [Pres. Randhawa] is ambitious about making this a premiere institution nationally,” Huskey says. “ I have that ambition too. That in student affairs and enrollment we are attracting and retaining students who will benefit greatly from this really remarkable place, but who will also go on to benefit the state and the

nation and the world. That we will be a transformative institution, but also that we will be transformed.”

As a former director of a disability resource center, Huskey has been educated in the disability rights movement. She carries with her the slogan: nothing about us without us, and it is with this idea that she approaches her work, she said.

Something Huskey says really matters to her is access, in every sense of the word. This means access to all buildings for all people, access to the right funds to pay for tuition, access to academic assistance and access to higher education itself. Additionally, she’s been working alongside AS VP for Student Life Annie Gordon on issues of food security, and how access to nutritious food can affect student’s work.

Another goal of Huskey’s is around student development, and how Western can meet the needs of their students. She believes that an institution must always adapt to its student body.

This means actively making changes on campus instead of depending on old policies to meet student needs.

“What are we doing, what can we change, what can we advance, that will give students the opportunity to define their values and to live up to their own goals through the services we provide?” Huskey asks. “We’re not in the business of picking people’s values or setting people’s goals, but we are in the business of advancing a student’s capacity to achieve what they want.”

Melynda Huskey is succeeding Eileen Coughlin, who has retired after 23 years of working at Western.

Coughlin will provide transition assistance as needed while Huskey continues to get to know our campus— at which point, Huskey will begin putting forth active change.

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10.9. 2017 • 7

The AS Review Best of campus 2017 Napping

PICTURES AND WORDS BY JOSH HUGHES

The best of the best for napping, crying and crapping

Crying

We’ve all been there.

We’ve all, at some point in our time here at Western, needed a place of solitude.

Sometimes it’s to cry your heart heart out after receiving a bad test grade or working in the library for twelve hours straight.

Other times you need somewhere quiet

WORDS BY GWEN FROST PICTURES BY HAILEY HOFFMAN

and isolated to take a power nap between classes so you don’t pass out right there on the spot. And, of course, there is the ever-frustrating conundrum that every person who goes to college faces: finding a secluded place to take a poop.

So, being students who know these

Crapping

struggles, we here at the AS Review sought out the best places on campus to nap, cry and crap and we are logging all this priceless information down and sending it out to the masses.

You’re welcome.

PICTURES AND WORDS BY JULIA BERKMAN

480 Wilson, aka “Harry Potter Room”For starters, this is the quintessential nap spot on campusa totally silent room complete with eight couches just long enough to fit the average body. If you don’t mind people studying alongside you as you slumber between classes, odds are there’s not a better place on campus for an uninterrupted nap. fifth floor Wilson also has some killer benches in more isolated areas if you look hard enough.

The plank wooden walkways looking over N. GardenDownhill from the lookout to the right of the bookstore, right near the steps that go down into the Underground Cafe- This spot is too good to be true. I found it after storming up the stairs out from the Underground in tears. I didn’t find these wooden planks, they found me. Serving almost zero purpose otherwise, I’m not convinced that Western didn’t put these here for crying.

Lawn Space between SMATE and Carver GymSleeping on grass- underrated and actually quite comfortable if you’re in the right position. While there’s an abundance of green grass throughout campus to lay on, the recently landscaped lawn between SMATE and the glimmery Carver renovation gets a good mix of shade and sun throughout the day (or at least it will until the rain starts), and still remains something of an undiscovered gem on campus. Perfect for power naps.

The Sehome ArboretumAll plants want water, but what they need is tears. There is nothing weird about going up into the arb, finding some loose dirt and digging a shallow grave to hold you as you let it all go. If you’re lucky, there might be some Geology 101 lab-groups doing field trips. And honestly taking 10 deep breaths never worsens a stressful day.

Wade king gender-neutral bathrooms If you can get over the constant outside noise and central location, these gender-neutral bathrooms boast one private room with no view.

Find them at the water-filling station to the right of the front desk.

You won’t regret it.

Grade: 4/5 poop emojis

The gender neutral bathrooms on the first floor in the art building These bathrooms both serve to destroy the conception of the gender binary and also have locks! “I had been in the art building for 20 out of the past 24 hours so I had a nice cry and nap in there” said Maddy Ruppel, Junior and design major. Let your muffled sobs soothe you into a slumber on the bathroom floor- it’s been a long day.

Haggard hall floor 2 The upstairs of Haggard Hall houses a few classrooms and admin offices. It also has two of the nicest and emptiest bathrooms in the vicinity of north campus. Despite having stalls, this bathroom is so hard to get to that only those with strong sense of direction will find it. Those people usually don’t care if you sound like a mating gorilla.

[Editor’s note: Julia didn’t actually get a photo of this one, so just pretend this is it.]

Grade: 3/5 poop emojis

Biology Building Study Room Level 4Alright, while there’s admittedly no place to LAY down in here, the nooks of the Bio building provide some of the most tranquil atmospheres on campus, especially the higher up you go. Looking out at the beautiful Dawson construction site, the south facing floor 4 study room seems to be the best of the batch considering its usually deserted state.

Carver Gym Skybridge/Second FloorThough there remains an awkward sterility to the new Carver building, nestled up on the second floor lies a hallway/ skybridge with benches that look out to a rooftop garden. As of Fall Quarter 2017, Carver seems eerily vacant as a whole even upon completion, creating a perfect environment to rest your head for a bit and forget about that Econ test.

Lookout/Benches West of PAC Nestled underneath the PAC and just south of the VU, this lookout spot has a good mix of wooden benches and grassy areas spacious enough to stretch your whole body out across.

Any given day (even the nicest ones) there’s usually only a couple people that seek out a spot in the area, making it an excellent napping spot with a rad view to wake up to.

The Environmental Studies Building restrooms- there are weird little lounges In the third floor bathrooms that have couches. Couches are great for crying on if you are a horizontal-cryer. This way, tears fall sideways down your face, or sometimes from one eye into the other.

The stairwells near Zoe’s bagels before the skybridge as you walk into the library on your rightIncidentally also a great make-out spot, these library stairwells are surprisingly spacious and have lots of nooks that are good for hiding your head and letting out some sobs. The close vicinity of this location to the rest of the library makes it easy to have a rocky day and still get straight A’s. Thanks Western!

Academic west floor 4 Academic West boasts less classrooms than most on campus.

Because of that, the bathrooms are new, spotless, and thoroughly and consistently unoccupied. Unfortunately, AW women’s bathrooms have a tendency to be left ajar, which may dissuade the shyest of poopers.

Grade: 3/5 poop emojis

Miller hall floor 0 If you want the shit literally scared out of you, check out the bathroom in the basement of Miller hall. Cramped, spooky, and a little dark, these stalls are mostly empty save for the few brave enough to enter.

Grade: 3/5 poop emojis

Private art building bathrooms In these unisex bathrooms, you can lock the door and let your fears ebb away. Just don’t take too long- there’s usually a line.

Grade: 4/5 poop emojis

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Hot button issues There are a lot of things happening right now in our county, and staying informed is key

BY JOSH HUGHES

Photo by Hailey Hoffman // AS Review

A “hot-button” issue signifies something non-political that has become politicized and relevant to a given group of people. Stemming from anything from economic to theologically driven topics, hot-button issues affect us all— whether we like it or not— and they always permeate the political environment.

Western’s Representation & Engagement Programs (REP), Western Votes and the Speech and Debate team want to help spread information about hot-button issues relevant to Western students. Consequently, they will be holding a Hot Button Issues Debate in the Underground Coffeehouse this coming Thursday, October 12 from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.

If the word “debate” scares you, no need to worry. The ultimate goal of the event is to spread awareness about local, relevant issues, so the Speech & Debate team will engage in discussion over all the nitty-gritty aspects of a handful of topics while you, the student, eagerly watch and eat free food.

With so much oversaturation in the news cycle, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed about how much is going on, both on a local and global scale, so the debate plans to focus on three topics, and three topics only: the development of the Bellingham Waterfront, Bellingham’s Sanctuary City status and the proposed mega-jail in Whatcom county. Without spoiling too much of what the debate will center on, here’s a brief rundown of the three issues and what makes them relevant for Western students in 2017.

Whatcom’s Mega-Jail Despite a failed proposition for a sales tax increase in Whatcom County that would’ve gone to go towards a new jail, the County Council is going ahead with a second try by putting the proposal on fall ballots.

County and City Council collectively believes that Whatcom County’s current jail does not fill the needs for the county because of disrepair and size, and the new jail being proposed would cost taxpayers a collective $100 million. In addition to funding issues, there is also controversy over whether a new jail would help more with crime in the county than other solutions such as restructuring of the justice system, or if increased incarceration is the solution at all.

If any of the above issues seem particularly relevant to you, be sure to stop by the Underground on Thursday night to learn more about some of Bellingham’s hot-button issues and get involved with the community.

The Waterfront The Port and City of Bellingham are in the process of redeveloping 237 acres of land on Bellingham’s waterfront as a long-term project, but much of the actualization of planning has yet to take place.

Issues like funding, investment, job opportunities and the future of Bellingham’s industry are at the forefront of hundreds of topics and issues that relate to the future of the waterfront. Even Western has bought land from the proposed neighborhood/district.

Additionally, this will be a large topic of interest for the upcoming Port Commissioner election, which will take place during the general election in November.

Sanctuary City Bellingham, while not a defined “sanctuary city”, considers itself an immigrant friendly city that has expressed its beliefs in keeping immigrants safe. In February, the City Council decided that Bellingham would not be strictly called a sanctuary city, but that police would not enforce Federal immigration laws.

“Our job is to protect the residents of Bellingham and it’s not to do the work of immigration,” said Terry Bornemann, City Council member when asked about the city’s partial-sanctuary state in an old interview with the Herald.

This creates an uncomfortable tension in Bellingham’s position on immigration between the City Council’s vote against terming the city a sanctuary and officials claiming Bellingham as an immigrant welcoming place. Western’s own Blue Group representing undocumented students has been heavily involved in this issue, sending members to City Council meetings to express the strong undocumented community that will not tolerate being silenced or treated disproportionately in Bellingham. This topic will continue to be of interest as immigration laws change on a federal level and local elections take place.

10.9. 2017 • 9

Multicultural center construction update

R

BY HAILEY MURPHY

egardless of your race, your sexual orientation, your ability or your identity, Western is supposed to be a place where you feel welcome. It is through the work of students, such as the Ethnic Student Center (ESC) and the Outreach Programs, that Western is held to this standard of diversity. However, with the growth of these programs comes a need for more space. Starting February, the Viking Union (VU) will be under construction. The main goal of the VU renovations is the new Multicultural Center, which will give more space to students fighting for diversity and inclusivity on campus.

The ESC has been heading up the project since back in 2014, when they began collaborating with the VU and Enrollment and Student Services on a new Center. It was after a year of deliberation that ESC took a stand; they penned a letter to Western staff and administration that requested deeper commitment to the project. This included expansion of the ESC, as well as a new Multicultural center.

The request was ultimately approved. In 2016, the ESC Executive Committee was formed to help with the design process. Western students voted for a $30 fee on tuition to cover part of the project’s $20 million budget. Opsis Architecture was hired, and the official plans for the Multicultural and Ethnic Student Center were decided upon.

These plans include creating a unified identity between the bookstore, the VU, the Multipurpose Room (MPR) and KUGS. A new level will be added above the AS Bookstore. This floor is to become the Ethnic Student Center, which will expand over Vendor’s Row and connect to the seventh floor of the VU. These changes will give the ESC five times more space, as well as increased visibility, a kitchen and an extended social area.

The expansion will also include new offices for three Resource Outreach Programs (ROP): The Womxn’s Identity Resource Center, The Queer Resource Center, and The Disability Outreach Center.

These offices will be adjacent to the new Ethnic Student Center, linked via their shared resource library.

They will also be next to KUGS, creating connectivity between underrepresented students and other AS programs.

The last piece of the expansion project is the new Multicultural Center on the VU’s seventh floor. With the new center will come the Multicultural Services Program, dedicated to providing educational resources regarding differing cultures. The center will also house university faculty. Besides supporting underrepresented students, this faculty will supplement the

services of the ESC and the ROP to create a hub of diversity and support.

In addition to the expansion, there will be a few

FROM TOP: A rendering of the Multicultural Center entrance. Looking towards Old Main from the current Viking Union Lobby which will be expanded. A look at the seating surrounding the kitchen area. All images available at wwu.edu/wwuarchitect/construction/pw698. shtml

changing on existing structures. The entrance to KUGS will undergo slight modifications to accommodate the expanded seventh floor. The AS Bookstore main entrance will move to the VU’s main lobby. The MPR will also have it’s main entrance in the VU lobby, with a larger reception area.

So how will this affect you?

Construction will officially begin in December, to start preparing the VU for the project. In February, the construction fences will go up, and there will be no more access to the bookstore.

At that time, the bookstore will move into the MPR until construction is over. This means that the MPR will no longer be available for student events.

This change will affect clubs such as The Swing Kids, who use the room for rehearsals. They are currently searching for a different space to rehearse, such as The Carver Gym or the Performing Arts Center. However, the MPR is one of the most accessible rooms on campus, with gender-neutral bathrooms, ramps, and wide doors. The Swing Kids want to ensure that their practices are available to everyone, and that will be their struggle in the coming months, Bryndis Crider said.

With the construction, access to the current location of Vendor’s Row will be limited, and thus they will relocate under the canopy of the MPR along High Street by January.

In the VU, facilities such as the eateries, the post office and KUGS will remain open and operating.

An exception is the VU gallery, which will have to relocate for the entirety of the project. Their temporary location is yet to be determined. There will also be relocation of some programs on level 5, although there is no word of where they’ll go or when relocation will need to occur.

In the second phase of construction, beginning June 2018, access to the VU from High Street will be closed. The only access point will be from the south, via the PAC plaza. It will remain this way until the end of the project, scheduled for June 2019.

Western hopes this new Multicultural and Ethnic Student Center will prove its commitment to inclusivity by providing more safe spaces for students, according to the webpage on the project. They also hope to increase the community’s knowledge and appreciation of different ethnic identities by creating a visible and unified home.

To get more information on the project, you can visit the webpage on the project: http://www.wwu. edu/wwuarchitect/construction/pw698.shtml There, you can find a FAQ page and rough concept drawings of the project.

10 • as.wwu.edu/asreview

What do we want? A more compassionate and trained police force!

When do we want it? Ten years ago!

BY JULIA BERKMAN Content Warning: This article contains mention of gun violence and police brutality.

Hey you! Yeah, you! Noticed the people on campus with a million petitions? Every wondered what it’s for? Well, wonder no more, comrade, because these fellows are part of an campaign known as De-Escalate Washington.

De-Escalate Washington is advocating for multiple angles, but their overall focus is with the police. Their campaign is stalwart in the belief that police should only use deadly force when all other options have been exhausted. They also believe that police forces should be educated on certain aspects that may make it harder for people to comply with instructions, like mental

illness, disAbility and drug abuse.

De-Escalate Washington’s concerns are especially relevant following the highly publicized death of Charleena Lyles. Lyles was shot and killed by Seattle

they had no working Tasers and resorted to firing their weapons. Lyles, who was a little over five feet tall and less than 100 pounds, was shot four times in front of her four children.

Later, news broke that Lyles was mentally ill. Her reasons for drawing her own weapon remain unclear. However, takeaway from this tragic incident is the lack of forethought and understanding by the police officers who shot and killed her. This is what led to their overenthusiastic use of deadly force in the presence of a woman who had called them for help.

De-Escalate Washington is challenging numerous aspects of average police actions, from racial bias to corruption from the topdown. These values, such as violence de-escalation training, involving Tribal governments in cases where

If you’re interested: The deadline to sign the petion is December 28 See deescalatewa.org for more info police officers in her own home after she called 911 about a possible robbery.

As she suddenly brandished a knife at the officers,

Ethnic Student Center Annual Conference Coming Up!

BY JOSH HUGHES Next weekend, October 13 to 15, the Ethnic Student Center will be holding its annual conference on Whidbey Island at Camp Casey. While registration for the event has already closed, the conference has a rich history at Western dating back to 1991 when it first started, and the conference now represents one of the ESC’s biggest events of the year.

Back when the conference started, it provided a platform for students of color to help guide the direction of the ESC as it further developed at Western. While its goal originated as a means for students of color from diverse backgrounds to explore identity and culture, the conference has changed over the years to accommodate current students at Western.

The conference now hosts 150 students, a number that reaches max capacity every year. The event intends to create a tightly knit sense of community and inclusiveness through a variety of workshops, lectures and activities that students engage in over the weekend. Western alumni come to speak, students perform music and poetry and the group gets to know each other through small group activities.

This year’s event focuses on the acronym SUCCESS, which stands for Students Uniting Communities of Color Empowering Strength and Solidarity —words that, while eternally relevant, seem exceptionally fitting for the current political environment pervading the country.

Check back in two weeks for a recap of this year’s ESC Conference along with photographs of the weekend or follow us on Facebook!

10.9. 2017 •11

Decoded threads: The Western gallery in motion

BY HAILEY MURPHY

On October 4th, the Western Gallery filled to the brim with an audience, who squeezed in between art pieces from the exhibit Coded Threads: Textiles land Technology. They were gathered to t watch a performance by the dance department called Decoded Threads. The performance accompanied the exhibit as a response in movement.

Pam Kuntz, a faculty member of the dance department and the artistic director of Kuntz and Company, created the performance. She was asked to make the movement response last spring by art department faculty Seiko Purdue. Kuntz met with Purdue, read about the exhibit, and viewed photographs of the pieces.

She was never able to see the gallery in person until after she choreographed Decoded Threads.

However, this didn’t stop Kuntz from creating two stunning dance performances. The first of the performances was initially inspired by the idea of, what comes to mind when we think of textiles? Kuntz thought of clothing, which in turn made her think about pieces of clothing that are particularly important to her. She cited her grandmother’s apron, her mother’s wedding dress, and her grandfather’s belt. If her house was burning down, Kuntz said, she would go back inside and get that apron.

It had never dawned on Kuntz what power clothing could hold. “It’s their clothing that’s their person,” she said, addressing the crowd at the Western gallery. “It’s so close to their breath, and their sweat, and their work.”

With this idea in mind, she contacted eight students from the dance department; Naquoia Bautista, Cara Congelli, Ellie Evans, Valerie Goliff, Cindy

Johnson, Derek Loerzel, Alli Reissman, Cathleen VanBuren, and alum Makenna Johansen. She asked each dancer to choose a piece of clothing belonging to a close family member or friend. Then, months later, the dancers came and sat in an interview with Kuntz. They were asked to describe the clothing, as well as discuss the person it belongs to.

These interviews would eventually become the soundtrack to the piece.

Their voices, overlapping and echoing off the gallery walls, opened the dance.

The performers began moving one by one. Articles of clothing lay scattered on the floor; a green flannel, a sequined hat, an old school rain jacket, a few shirts. Each dancer had their own solo moment, using the article as a prop. The music would start as the dancer’s voice, telling the story of their loved one. Then it would blend into composed music in a variety of genres, from Bach to ABBA to the classic Madagascar anthem, I Like to Move It. The piece flawlessly blended relationship dynamics and real-life tragedy with moments of comedy, such as when the cast broke out into Breathe

by Anna Nalick or when they all had a lightsaber battle.

“I think one of the more beautiful things about this piece is that Pam chose very well the moments that she wanted to be happy and the moments that she wanted to be emotional and the moments that she wanted to let whatever feeling the dancer had in the interview come through. I think that really added to the piece itself,” said Cindy Johnson, one of the performers in the piece.

This piece was particularly special to these dancers. Not only were they able to tell stories of their loved ones, but they were also able to collaborate with Pam Kuntz on choreography. Each dancer separately created their solo with their article of clothing, and then the group came together as a whole to fill in gaps and create a cohesive piece.

Naquoia Bautista was one of the dancers involved in the piece. Her item of choice was a pinwheel hat that

belongs to her 7-year-old brother. She initially wanted to use a fedora as the item, as her brother is a dapper dresser, but she couldn’t take any of his fedoras away from him that long. So she chose the pinwheel hat to represent his more childlike side, which Kuntz helped her translate into movement.

“Taking that into account-- the prim side, and the boyish child side-- she said, ‘I want the first part to be light and airy and represent his gentleman-ly self.’ Then she brought out the hat…

I think it summed him up really well,” Naquoia said.

The second performance of the night was less a piece of choreography and more of a moving art piece. It featured two dancers, Western alum Cecelia Hanford and Nolan Hoppe-Leonard. Cecelia Hanford wore a red and yellow dress crocheted by Seiko Purdue, while Nolan Hoppe-Leonard wore a blue pair of shorts knitted by Stephanie Mason, an instructor from Western’s extended education program. However, by the end of the night, both dancers wore absolutely nothing. Piece by piece, the threads of their costumes were unraveled to reveal their skin beneath.

“The other thing I thought of when I was thinking of textiles was… The devastation of having to unravel something when it’s gone wrong,” Kuntz said. “And I was thinking about what we cover with our clothing, and how different people decide to cover more or less. So those ideas of knitting and covering or uncovering merged for the second piece.”

The dance had never been rehearsed; as the piece involved slowly destroying their costume, they were only able to execute it the night of the performance.

Fellow dancers and audience members pulled on the string to unravel the costumes. The dancers interacted with the threads by stepping over them, wrapping them around their limbs, and crossing them with one another. In the background, there were a medley of voices, mixed together with music from community member Richard Scholtz.

The voices discussed fashion choices, body types, tattoos, and body parts themselves. One would often hear the voice of a young child saying “toes” or “boogers.”

The art of knitting was never forgotten through the piece. The dancers were surrounded by a semi-circle of knitters, busy at work as the piece literally unfolded in front of them. Photographs of yarn and knitting needles taken by Helen Scholtz were projected onto the background. Then, as the piece concluded, the knitters left the stage, balls of yarn still in hand.

Pam Kuntz and Western students created a truly immersive experience that night.

Surrounded by the pieces of Coded Threads, the audience was left with a new appreciation for the roles that textiles play in our life, and the simple importance behind a piece of clothing.

While Decoded Threads was a onetime experience, the rest of the exhibit will remain open for viewing through December 8th.

LEFT: Photo by Jaden Moon // AS Review BOTH RIGHT: Photos by Hailey Hoffman // AS Review

12 • as.wwu.edu/asreview

Fall in love with fall

Take a study break and get into the fall spirit by doing this “Bellingham in Fall” themed word search. Happy searching!

apples bellewood acres boulevard park chilly cider cozy halloween harvest hat leaves orange pie pumpkin rain sweater windy

Prof-ile

BY GWEN FROST Professor. James Graham Position: Professor in the Department of Psychology Education background: Ph. D. from Texas A&M University, College Station, TX Counseling Psychology (APA Accredited), 2003 M.A. Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA Clinical Psychology, 1999 B.A. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN Psychology, 1996 Hometown: Gahanna, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio Teaching this quarter: Psych 116 - Human Sexuality, and Psych 554 - Standardized Tests and Measurements Claims to fame: Solo authorship paper published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (PSPB) Prof. Graham has a 100% “Would Take Again” rating on Rate My Professor.

What did you want to be when you grew up (as a kid)?

Oh heck. Cobra Commander, the big arch villain in G.I. Joe. Which celebrity would you want to play you in a movie?

It’d be pretty boring. I wouldn’t have a movie about me because I hate to be in the spotlight with that kind of stuff,

Answers to last weeks trivia!

1) c. approximately 15,500 students are enrolled this year.

2) d. 29 is the average class size here at Western

but Bruce Campbell.

What are you reading right now/most recently? What’s it about?

I’m reading “Lockwood & Co.” by Jonathan Stroud. It’s youth horror and fiction. My daughter read it within the first 24 hours she got it, and now I’m reading it. I only get it when she’s done with it.

Aside from necessities, what are three things you could not go a day without?

I’m middle aged so I have to exercise a lot. I definitely need cheese to survive. A good sharp english or irish cheddar, room temperature, not out of the fridge. Cold cheese ruins all the flavor. Also, time with the family. I get antsy when that doesn’t happen. And I have to laugh sometime every day. In this day and age, I need to find things that I appreciate and bring me joy in my life.

Prison abolition or prison reform?

Abolition is too far. I worked around court-mandated clients in my masters program, with people convicted of drug and alcohol offences, of domestic violence, or have had their kids taken away. I saw a lot of good that came from outside the prison system as an alternative to incarceration.

And I’ve also seen a lot of good within the prison system.

I worked with the Work Furlough program, where people are able to leave to seek out jobs as they are getting ready to transition back to society. I also worked at Bastrop Federal Penitentiary during my doctoral program. Those were the best therapeutic experiences I had... the way they were able

3) b. Western was founded in 1893 4) d. Western was founded in February 5) Western was founded Februrary 24

Photo courtesy James Graham to help each other and support each other, and take a hard look at what it was they had done, and what they aspired to be like. I saw the prison system do some good, but it’s expensive to do it right; it requires a lot of investment. We are definitely in need of prison reform, because access to good services while you’re incarcerated can make a huge difference for folks after they’re released.

If you could join any past or current music group which would you want to join? Why? I’d take Mark Sandman’s vacated spot in Morphine. Provided, that is, I wouldn’t have to die on stage like he did.