Meet The Coffee Lady of Vendor’s Row, p. 5 Q&A with former member of The Lumineers, Maxwell Hughes, p. 6 Power to the selfie, p. 12
Vol. 29 #24 4.15.2014
2 • as.wwu.edu/asreview
DISSOLVE in the VU Gallery features work from Margot Casstevens. The show will close on April 25. Photo by Isaac Martin // AS Review
MAKING YOUR LIFE BETTER, ONE PAGE AT A TIME 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 © 2014. 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 under-represented issues, inclusive coverage, informing readers and promoting dialogue.
IN THIS ISSUE NEWS 4 Earth Week Earth Week to kick off with Earth Day Festival on April 19
6 Maxwell Hughes Former member of The Lumineers to perform in the Underground Coffeehouse this week
STUDENT LIFE 5 The Coffee Lady Meet the woman behind Vendor’s Row’s favorite cup of joe
9 All About KVIK The story behind the AS’s own filmmaking program
COLUMNS 10 Viking
Ambassadors Writer Dominic D’Angelo recounts his experience at the National Model United Nations Conference in New York
12 Power to the Selfie What’s so bad about the selfie? Kelly Mason hashes out why folks should appreciate the cultural phenomenon
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.
THE AS
REVIEW Cade Schmidt Kylie Wade Isaac Martin Trevor Grimm Kelly Mason Andrew Wise C Hayley Halstead Dominic D’Angelo Designer Keghouhi Bedoyan Adviser Jeff Bates
Editor in Chief Assistant Editor Lead Photographer Photographer Copy Editor Writers
Students soak up some Vitamin D on a sunny spring day at the Humanities Building Lawn on April 9. Photo by Trevor Grimm // AS Review
April 15, 2014 • 3
EVENTS DISSOLVE
Western Athletics: Softball
April 13 // 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. // VU Gallery // Free
April 18 & April 19 // 1 p.m. & 3 p.m. // Viking Field
DISSOLVE, a showcase by visiting artist Margot Casstevens, continues in the VU Gallery this week. The show will close with a special performance at 6 p.m. on April 25. Her work is featured on this week’s cover.
Spring Into OrgSync April 16 // All day // Online // Free The AS Activities Center invites club officers to participate in five different challenges to win cash prizes. Challenges include nominating a club of the year, uploading a video or adding meeting times.
Stand Up Comedy Klub
You’ve got four chances to check out Western’s softball game this weekend. They play two games against Northwest Nazarene on both Friday and Saturday.
Human vs. Zombies Registration April 16 - 22 // AH 100 & AW 210 Get ready, it’s that time of year again - the zombies are coming. If you’re interested in taking part in the campus-wide game, the first step is to attend a registration meeting. The meetings take place on April 16, 19, 21 and 22 in AH 100 and in AW 210 on April 17 at 7 p.m. The game begins next week on April 23.
April 17 // 7 p.m. // UGCH // Free Catch a free show from the Stand Up Comedy Klub every third Thursday of the month. April’s show is this week at the Underground Coffeehouse.
Wednesday Night Concert Series: Maxwell Hughes w/ Thimble vs. Needle April 17 // 7 p.m. // UGCH // Free
The Middle Women Project April 18 // 7 - 10 p.m. // VU MPR // Free This event is an info fair featuring resources for health and wellness throughout Western as well as a storytelling showcase. People of all identities are welcome to share their stories. Those interested can send inquiries to middlewomenproject@gmail.com.
Naked Truth on Stereotypes Open Call April 18 // 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. // VU 464 // Free The Naked Truth on Stereotypes is returning to its birthplace for another performance brought by the AS Ethnic Student Center and Social Issues Resource Center. Students and community members are invited to audition for this prejudice-crushing spoken-word event by attending workshops between 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. or 3 - 6 p.m. Folks can learn more by visiting the ESC in VU 420, the SIRC in VU 512, or RSVP to as.sirc@wwu.edu.
48-Hour Film Festival Premiere April 19 // 7 - 10 p.m. // VU MPR // Free Come see the work of student filmmakers in the 48-Hour Film Festival Premiere. The films from all the participating teams will be shown and judged.
Former member of The Lumineers Maxwell Hughes will perform in the UGCH along with Bellingham indie-folk duo Thimble vs. Needle. Check out our
Earth Day Festival
Q&A with Hughes on pg. 6.
Come enjoy the Environmental & Sustainability Program’s Annual Earth Day Festival. The event will include information booths for environmental clubs, offices and organizations throughout campus and the Bellingham region, as well as live music. In case of rain, the event will be moved to the Viking Union Multipurpose Room. To learn more about Earth Week, see pg. 4.
April 19 // 12 - 5 p.m. // PAC Plaza // Free
4 • as.wwu.edu/asreview
Clubs, Environmental & Sustainability Programs prepare for Earth Week sales of bottled water off of campus,” said President of Students for Sustainable Water Michelle Danney. While Earth Day is traditionally celebrated on one day of the year, The club was first able to create an initiative on the spring ballot in Western students are eager to expand the celebration across a week with 2012 that passed with a 74 percent vote. The following year, they looked an array of events and activities. for campus-wide support to get faculty and staff on board by meeting “This year we wanted to focus on diversity in the environmental with the faculty senate and talking with deans throughout the univermovement and celebrating that and trying to increase the diversity sity to ask them to consider adopting a pledge and to take action to in the people coming to the Environmental Center events,” said AS make their area more bottled water free. Huxley, Fairhaven and the AS Environmental Center Coordinator Monica Tonty. adopted a policy to go bottled water free. Starting off Earth Week is the Earth Day Festival on Saturday, April “We’ve been working really hard on a committee to make this im19 from 12 - 5 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center Plaza from 12 - 5 p.m. plementation actually happen and successfully got put in place on April Regional artists Juniper Stills, Well Wishers and Buyani Nguni will per- 1,” Dannehy said. “This event that we’re having is to celebrate that vicform and free food will be catered by the Students for Sustainable Food tory and to thank all of the people who supported us along the way.” from 12 - 3 p.m. The club has been planning the menu since last quarter April 22 will feature a workshop led by another local environmental with the theme “global food made locally.” organization called Canopy Collective in Viking Union 464 from 4 You can also take a walk in the Sehome Hill Arboretum and enjoy 6:30 p.m. They will be speaking on “Building an Eco Feminist World.” nature while bird watching. There will also be opportunities to square The workshop will introduce the concept of eco-feminism as well as dance and do yoga. strategies for building up for local social justice work. A limited num“I’m most excited for the festival. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. ber of spots are available for this event, so if you’re interested in attendLast year there was a lot of dancing,” Tonty said. ing, RSVP by e-mailing as.earth@wwu.edu. Along with the celebration, there will be information about enviAnother event to take part in is one of the green campus tours preronmental issues and volunteer opportunities. sented by the Office of Sustainability on Tuesday and Thursdays. They At 2 p.m. Tara Villalba from the organization Community to will be showing examples of sustainability across campus from 12 - 1 Community will speak about how food consumption has environmen- p.m. starting in the VU sixth floor lobby. Most of the highlights of the tal impacts, the way the American food system is structured and how tour will come from projects supported by the green energy fee. corporate control of food is endangering communities and health. C2C On April 23 from 6 - 8 p.m, students can attend the Roots-Campfire, is a women-led grassroots organization that encourages making posi- a bonfire meant to bring students and professors together. tive changes to make communities more sustainable. While the festival “It’s hard for students to talk casually with their professors. So it’s an opportunity for them to hang out and mingle,” said Tonty. “We invited all of the faculty to share what “It’s hard for students to talk casually with their professors. So it’s an inspires them to be part of environopportunity for them to hang out and mingle. We invited all of the mentalism and how they got started. faculty to share what inspires them to be a part of environmentalism.” Last year it was a lot of fun. It was probably one of the most inspiration-- MONICA TONTY al events that I’ve gone to.” The final event will be co-sponsored by the Ethnic Student Center on is free, donations will be accepted to benefit C2C. April 24 from 5 - 7 p.m. titled, “Changing agri[CULTURE].” This will be On April 21, the Students for Sustainable Water will be celebrating a discussion-based event led by local food activists. It will address food the official ban of bottled water bottles on campus in the Viking Union deserts - places generally in low-income communities lacking access to Multipurpose Room from 5 - 6 p.m. healthy, organic foods. The event will conclude in the Outback Farm to “For the last three years, our club has been working on getting the make cob-oven pizzas and engage in planting activities. By C Hayley Halstead
April 15, 2014 • 5
THE COFFEE LADY:
She’s here for our caffeine fix By Andrew Wise // Photo by Isaac Martin A college campus without copious amounts of strong, hot espresso would be like a rainforest without rain. The entire idea would collapse in a sleepy heap. As a result, there are plenty of options for students and staff to get their caffeine fix across campus. But there is one purveyor of coffee that was on this campus before Aramark ran the dining halls, before the Starbucks empire built its outpost in Artzen Hall, even before hipsters were called hipsters. This Western institution is known simply as “The Coffee Lady.” The espresso machine wails from within The Coffee Lady’s stand on Vendor’s Row. The stands have been a revolving door for different local food vendors over the decades, but The Coffee Lady has remained. Christy Vega runs the machine with quick, practiced motions and a smile. Six years ago, she purchased The Coffee Lady stand from a friend. That friend, based on her own research, claimed to be the fifteenth Coffee Lady. That makes Vega number 16. “I love coffee, I always have. It’s a big part of my life, even without the coffee stand. But I love being able to be here,” Vega said. Originally from Silverdale, Wash., Vega started classes at Western 12 years ago, graduating with a degree in psychology. Like many Western grads, Vega was keen to stay in Bellingham a little while longer because as she said, “It’s the dream, right?” The Coffee Stand provided an opportunity for Vega to stick around a little longer. “When I graduated, my son was 10 months old,” she said. “I ended up buying this from a friend, and it was nice to be able to do this in the meantime and kind of figure out where I want to go eventually.” “Eventually” might include law school, but for now Vega is happy to continue to be a part of this campus. “I love how inclusive Western is. I came here a dozen years ago and I felt welcome. It seems like there’s a wide variety of people, ideas and everything It’s just a great place to be,” she said.
Some of Vega’s more interesting moments during her tenure as The Coffee Lady included making a Tech N9ne bouncer a coffee drink which she said was “seven shots of espresso, a third of bottle of sugar -free German chocolate cake syrup, and a little bit of cream and that was it. Yeah, that was his drink.” She also made a cup of coffee for poet, writer and filmmaker Sherman Alexie when he visited the campus in 2011. He had a muffin as well, she said. Vega said she’s not too good at remembering names, but while driving around downtown she regularly recognizes customers by their usual drink. She said she’ll drive through downtown, “it’s like, ‘oh, it’s the triple tall mocha!’” The Coffee Lady’s coffee is commonly touted by students and professors as the best on campus, but Vega was quick to shy away from any such designation. “I’d say it’s my favorite coffee on campus… I try to do my best,” she said. Vega had never worked as a barista until she purchased the stand, but after six years she feels she’s doing alright. She only plans to continue as The Coffee Lady for another couple of years, before starting the search for the next person to hold the name. And for those who are wondering, yes, there has been at least one man who has served as The Coffee Lady. Vega isn’t too worried about finding a replacement. Referencing Rob Reiner’s 1987 classic “The Princess Bride,” she said that really, The Coffee Lady is “kind of like the Dread Pirate Roberts, you know?” Both, let’s hope, are immortal.
6 • as.wwu.edu/asreview
Grammy’s, beards & Lumineers: Meet Maxwell Hughes By C Hayley Halstead Songwriter and musician Maxwell Hughes, most well-known for his time with The Lumineers, is coming to Western as a part of the Underground Coffeehouse’s Wednesday Night Concert Series. His membership with The Lumineers isn’t the only accomplishment he’s had. In fact, his resume includes being a Grammy-nominated songwriter, placing third at the International Fingerstyle Competition and receiving “Best Instrumentalist” at the Fort Collins Musicians Association three times. The list goes on and includes being a support for Imagine Dragons, The Head and the Heart, Langhorn Slim and Paperbird. Hughes will take the Underground at 7 p.m. this Wednesday. The AS Review had the opportunity to get to know what this decorated singer-songwriter is all about.
game music. Maybe indirectly I get my inspiration from RATATAT. You’re a former member of The Lumineers. What was your time like with them? When did you start playing? Why did you leave? I was with them from 2010 to 2011, and during that time we toured. We did a West Coast tour and for the East Coast we had a residency in New York for about six weeks. We were all just getting ready to take the next step as far as management and that kind of thing. It
What do you think about their success? I’m stoked for them. I’m super proud of them. I don’t think it could have happened to a nicer group of dudes and lady. What’s your process for songwriting? What about with The Lumineers? Usually it starts with music first, and then sort of develops melody lines through coming up with an instrumental composition, so kind of like breaking it down from that state into more simpler forms of chords and a melody line you can sing. I helped write two
Have you ever been to the Pacific Northwest before? Yeah, I used to live in Portland. That was a really short stent when I was wild and crazy, just moving around to different places. As far as touring goes, I try to make it up that way as much as I can. How about Bellingham? Just on a pass through, never played. It’s really beautiful. Tell me a little bit about your music. Where does your inspiration come from? I play acoustic and instrumental guitar, and where my inspiration comes from is just other guitarists that played the same style of non-traditional guitar playing. I kind of take influences from a lot of different things. Like sometimes I feel like I can hear some hip-hop element, sometimes electronica, there’s video
Photo by Erin Thames. NEXT PAGE: Photo by Chelsea Call. was a lot of fun. There are times where I miss playing in a band, and there’s times when I definitely don’t. We’re all really good friends, and nothing like that has changed. I was going to school at the time, so I wanted to focus on that and branch out and do my own music. I didn’t have a lot of creative control in the band. I’ve just been doing my own thing ever since.
of the songs on the album, “Charlie Boy” and “Morning Sun.” That’s something I’d like to do with them again, I don’t know if it would happen. I’d definitely like to collaborate with as many people as I can. I’ve got a producer friend who owns a recording studio, and we’ve been working on a couple of different tracks that will be released pretty under the radar un-
April 15, 2014 • 7
der his name. A lot of it is in the concept form, I haven’t had a lot of time to sit and work with anyone. When did you start touring? What’s next on this tour? The tour will be three and a half weeks, [with] a lot more touring throughout the year. [I’ll do] some East Coast dates, while I’m competing in various fingerpicking competitions across the country and Canada. What does that entail? They’re really weird. Like doing anything in a competition, it’s always just kind of weird to me. It’s definitely not the reason I got into playing music. They’re pretty dry as far as there’s not a lot of humor, there’s not a lot of talking. As far as meeting peers that are in your field, it’s a really great way to network. They judge you on your musicianship, your technicality, if they like your stuff. I got grounded for an entire summer and my dad played guitar. So I concerned, I don’t really know. A lot of humor just picked it up. I was 16, so 12 years ago. and kickass guitar playing. A lot of it is just off the cuff. I definitely have starting points and What’s next for your career? anchors throughout the set. Depending on the I don’t really know, to be honest. Looking response from the room and the overall flow of into different agents and management and that the night, some things will definitely change. kind of thing. Definitely I’d like to be touring as much as I possibly can. I’ve also got a compila- Is this your first solo tour? tions of guitar samples that I’m putting out for No, but it’s my first time in Bellingham, various producers and hip-hop and electronic though. I guess just since The Lumineers. artists to take live guitar samples from. And After The Lumineers, I was going to school a friend of mine just contacted me the other at the time, I realized I didn’t want to go to day about writing video game music for him, school anymore. So I maxed out my student so we’ll see. I don’t really know. I’d really like loans and traveled the world for six months. to. I really do think a lot of video game music I spent three months in South East Asia: has influenced my music over the years, just by Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. having played so many video games as a kid. I Immediately after that, I spent three months think it would be a lot of fun. I’m a big nerd, in Central America. I didn’t book a tour, but actually. everywhere that I went, I had a guitar and just ended up playing for various people around What can people expect from your the world. It was a lot of fun. show at UGCH? Less of a beard. I’ve got a pretty huge beard What else do you want Western stugoing on that I’m going to shave off. Maybe I’ll dents to know about you? shave it after Bellingham. As far as the show is I put out a new album out last August. It’s
not terribly new, but not terribly old either. I’ve got a new music video out that was just released on April 5. April 5 was the 20-year mark of Kurt Cobain’s suicide. We did a big video release part in Fort Collins and ended up raising almost $1,800 for the Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Tell me about your new album. What went into the creation process? It was a pain in the… whatever. It was a lot of fun, but I feel like I had a huge learning curve when it came to this last album just because the two previous albums were done in short amounts of time. This one we took the time and effort to make it exactly how I wanted to be and how I wanted it to sound. The first one I did totaled 20 hours maybe. The second one was on a tighter budget and recorded the whole thing and put it out in five hours. But this one took two months. Hughes’ music can be found on Bandcamp, iTunes or at his website at www.maxwellhughesmusic.com.
8 • as.wwu.edu/asreview
Drivers, bikers, runners hit the road How to safely share the pavement By Andrew Wise // Background photo by Trevor Grimm
Plus, you will look ridiculous and end up traveling really slow. Stay off of the sidewalks. Please. If you’re going to ride at night, you need more than reflectors, you need lights. Big, powerful ones that flash and blink a lot. You need a red one [or two or three] on the back and a white one [or two or three] on the front. If you ride at night without lights, you’re almost asking to get hit, no matter what religion or lucky charm you’ve put your faith in. Whether you’re running or biking, an important safety tip is to make eye contact with drivers. There are a million moments during running or riding when you find yourself playing an awkward game with a car at an intersection, waiting to see if they’re going to let you go through. The best rule I’ve come up with for these sorts of situations is to do everything you can to look through that windshield until you
Spring is a tragic time to be cooped up in a car for any part of the day. If you’re reading this because you’re thinking about starting to bike to school, or if you’ve developed ambitions to someday run the Chuckanut 50k, that’s fantastic. While the running and cycling worlds may seem exclusive and obnoxious on the surface, they are both extremely supportive communities that will be thrilled to have you. The trick is to make sure you don’t get yourself killed. First, let’s address cycling. This isn’t just for beginners, a lot of people who have been commuting on bike for years have done a lot of things wrong the whole time. Here’s what I’m not going to tell you to do: I’m not going to tell you to go to your local bike shop and buy a bunch of neon spandex, elbow pads and those dinky little mirrors that you can attach to your bike helmet. Shops would be happy to sell you all kinds of junk in the name “Do everything you can to look through that windshield of safety, but the single most important piece until you catch eyes with the driver. Always remember that of safety equipment you can find at a bike shop should be completely free, sitting in a neat stack cars are like giant, steel squirrels: distracted, jumpy, easily somewhere near the cash register: A Bellingham frightened and thinking about nuts. Or at least something bike route map. It doesn’t matter how many layers of neon other than the task at hand.” green you wear, how effectively you signal, how fast you ride or even how good you look, if you ride on dangerous streets, you will upset drivers and the distracted ones catch eyes with the driver. Always remember that cars are like giant, will hit you. After spending my entire high school life crisscrossing a steel squirrels: distracted, jumpy, easily frightened and thinking about major metropolitan area on everything from my mother’s old touring nuts. Or at least something other than the task at hand. bike to a brake-less track bike, I found that the best way to avoid acWhen it comes to running, I have less advice to offer, because runcidents is to find routes that include bike lanes as much as possible, ning should be a pretty safe sport. If you are running at night, wear a and when those aren’t available, look for quiet neighborhood streets headlamp. Do everything you can to stay off the streets and run on any that connect the bike routes. An extra few blocks of riding is more than of the incredible trails Bellingham has to offer. Be cautious when apworth avoiding a battle with cars trying to swerve around you at 35 proaching the ends of alleys, because drivers tend to stop perfectly in mph. Plus you get to spend that much more time outside on your bike, the middle of the sidewalk when exiting those alleys. which should be a positive thing. Keep an eye out for rabid raccoons. Whatever you do, make sure The only thing worse than fighting through traffic on streets like that it makes you feel good. Don’t just ride a bike to save gas, ride a Lakeway Drive is riding the sidewalk alongside it. Unless you are a five- bike to get that wind in your hair [through the holes in your helmet]. year-old on a big wheel, you should never be rolling on a sidewalk. It’s Don’t just run to lose weight, run because you’re a human being whose an extremely dangerous thing to do, firstly because you are a threat to species has been running for the last 10,000 years and it feels fantastic. pedestrians and secondly because cars don’t expect you to be there. You’ll thank yourself.
April 15, 2014 • 9
READY, SET, ACTION KVIK brings student-filmmakers together By C Hayley Halstead Despite the fact Western doesn’t have a filmmaking program, what started in 2002 as Western’s Television Broadcasting Club was later transformed the following year into the Associated Students program known as KVIK. KVIK focuses on filmmaking and film productions. KVIK is entirely student-volunteer run with over 100 volunteers, with the exception of the AS KVIK Coordinator Roxy Ewing. “For any of our shows, anyone can join. It doesn’t matter your skill level because there’s always stuff to do and people to learn from,” Ewing said. “You can shadow someone on a shoot to get a better sense of what the different roles on set are.” YouWould! is KVIK’s live sketch comedy show which premiers twice a year - in the winter and spring. During the planning stage, a theme is devised for the show, and student writers must create sketch scripts that depict the themes. The performances are carried out live and are filmed for later viewing. At YouWould! performances, students can expect a live band and appearances from the Dead Parrot Society. The next show is scheduled for this May and meetings are in Viking Union 464 at 5 p.m. on Mondays. KVIK’s news entertainment show, VTV [Viking Television], covers news on campus and in the Bellingham community. Episodes air on Vimeo every three weeks, and anyone who is interested in this production is welcome to attend the weekly meetings Tuesdays in Bond Hall 110 at 6 p.m. Episodes can be accessed at www.vimeo.com/wwuvtv. Fourth Wall Films is a creative collaborative focusing in short films, often narratives. “People interested in filmmaking get together and discuss different aspects of filmmaking, or if you have an idea for a project you want to do, you can pitch your idea and get other students to help you make it,” Ewing said. Occasionally this group will have workshops, such as working with lighting, meetings are in Miller Hall 135 at 6 p.m. on Wednesdays. Another KVIK show is Void Walker, a science fiction horror show about a person who has died and is in this void trying to get to their final resting place. “We are working on our series finale episode right now,” Ewing said. “It’s pretty exciting because it’s the fourth year that it’s been produced through KVIK.”
It’s set to premiere in May on the KVIK Vimeo channel at www. vimeo.com/channels/voidwalker. Meetings are Thursdays at 6 p.m. in Miller Hall 135. Coming up on April 17 - 19 is KVIK and AS Productions Films’ third annual 48-Hour Film Festival. The rules are simple. Teams of three to six students are given a random film genre. All teams are given the same character, prop and line of dialogue that must be incorporated into their film. They are then given 48 hours to make a short film that is ten minutes or less. After film submission, all films will be viewed and judged by a panel of Western faculty and community members. “The festival is really about the experience of making the film,” Ewing said. A growth in teams was seen from the first year of only seven teams to twice the number of participants with 14 teams. Ewing shared that the cutoff for teams will be at 15. “I’ve had a lot of fun getting ready for the 48-Hour Film festival, getting sponsors, figuring out rooms for where we’re going to have all the films shown,” Ewing said. KVIK’s second film festival is new this year: the New Student Film Festival. Groups of new students were placed into teams and assigned mentors who were experienced with KVIK. Groups were given a week to make a short film with a checklist of film-making techniques and were required to learn about the different opportunities and resources at Western. “The idea behind it was to get students that were interested in filmmaking but maybe didn’t know about KVIK other resources so that if they wanted to continue filmmaking while they were here at Western, then they would know what was available to them at the beginning of their time here,” Ewing said. “Even though there’s no program for filmmaking, there’s quite a few resources through KVIK and other classes.” There’s plenty of opportunities for students interested in learning about filmmaking. KVIK offers a marketing and photography internship. Email as.kvik@wwu.edu to learn more about it, or visit the office in Viking Union 423.
10 • as.wwu.edu/asreview
SPRING BREAKERS INTERNATIONAL A week at the National Model United Nations Conference in NYC isn’t a continent where I can’t call someone I’ve met through MUN and find a couch to sleep on.” In the United Nations General Assembly hall in New York City, 16 On top of that, The Big Apple is only one of the many destinaWestern students rise to a roar of applause as the Secretary General tions the club visits. Others include north to University of British of National Model United Nations, New York announces Western’s Columbia for UBCMUN, down to Seattle for NWMUN and Portland International Affairs Association as “Distinguished Delegation” at the for NMUN NW. nation’s premiere conference. Five days of committee, seven days of New York, the team stands exhausted, but proud in the face of na- NMUN: A day in the life of a Model United Nations Delegate tional recognition. After four years, I knew going into this that NMUN stood as the greatest test of one’s ability. For weeks prior to flying to New York, I and What is MUN? my competition partner Ani Mesropian prepared for the conference Model United Nations is a unique kind of activity, the kind of by writing speeches, pouring over official documents, and identifying thing that you would typically associate with an unkempt person with weaknesses and potential openings for our official strategy. We repretoo much time on their hands. As a four-year veteran of MUN, I’ve sented the nation of Kuwait. We were tasked to lead their interests into become used to that sort of label, passively amused by the people who the General Assembly Second Committee on the topics of agriculture feel the need to remind me, “Oh, you do Model UN? You do know that and development, international loans and disaster relief policy. Though that’s not real.” untested as a pair, our combined strengths - mine of harsh leadership, In all honesty, the funny thing is how far they are from the truth. hers of benevolent approachability - made us into what we thought was While MUN is a rigorous academic exercise that puts one’s ability to re- an unstoppable pair. search, lead, adapt and communicate to the ultimate test for two to five days straight, it’s also a consortium for everything between professional March 28 & 29: Sleepless in New York networking to some of the most insane social situations. Zero hour: the club flies to LaGuardia Airport in New York. After Picture this. If you are selected to join the team on its annual trip missing and entire night of sleep, we’re given free rein to walk about to the National Model UN Conference, you’re allowed [on the cost New York City before we pass out from exhaustion at 6 p.m. of less than half a month of minimum wage pay] an all-expense paid ticket to Manhattan for spring break. March 30: Nerd Heaven You are then lodged in a not-too-shabby hotel downtown, only a Day off, the entire city is our oyster. New York bagels, Rueben sandhandful of blocks either way from Central Park or Times Square. You’ll wiches, museums and everything in between is eaten or visited. At 7 p.m. stand amongst 3,000 other like-minded young professionals hailing we report to the Sheridan Hotel for opening ceremonies. Unbeknownst from six continents. Some of them with resumes including stints in war- to us, a surprise guest speaker is there to greet us: Samantha Power, zones or degrees from the most prestigious of diplomatic academies. United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Detailing her career These people, are going to be the world’s next diplomats, presidents, in and outside the United Nations she chides, laughs with and inspires warlords and CEO’s. us, saying, “I am in nerd heaven.” The ceremony ends with the pound of You and these peers spend five days socializing, convincing, im- a gavel and an announcement that “NMUN 2014 has officially opened.” pressing, leading, befriending and of course – partying, for the prospect of bettering yourself and wining an award for the good of your March 31: Connecting Kuwait club and school. After our meeting with the Permanent Mission of Kuwait conA common phrase uttered by Model UN participants is, “There cludes, we move onto the first round of sessions where we split into our By Dominic D’Angelo
April 15, 2014 • 11
respective committees. Ani and I are uneasy but alert. Amongst us in the room stand 400 other delegates. I go to one side of the room to make friends, Ani moves to the other. The night passes quickly as delegates scramble to meet as many of their peers as they can in their room. After this, the debate begins as each country’s team vies to convince others to set the agenda to their liking. We’re unable to speak, but our strategy is simple: continue to make friends, let the other pairs fight each other for the frivolity of which topic to discuss first. Eventually the topic is declared, but the session is over so we join back with our teammates at the Hilton Midtown.
tion. After educating a group of delegates on the strength of our ideas, we quickly gain ground in the committee chamber, allying ourselves with a diverse pact of nations ranging from Pakistan to Denmark. After dangling our idea to the rest of the committee, we soon become the hottest pair to walk the floor. Everybody wants the Kuwait paper to be integrated into theirs. Like an attractive woman walking through a men’s boarding school, we are approached by representatives from every major bloc. After gaining concessions from each, we ally ourselves with Iran, thus strengthening the Iranian paper to an unmatchable scale. At the end of the day we enApril 1: Trouble in Paradise ter voting bloc. Seven papers are We enter our committees again voted upon, each is passed. The to find the real debate has begun. Western’s International Affairs Association take in their win on one with the least “no’s” is the Topics are set, speakers roll out and the final day. Writer Dominic D’Angelo is in the back row, third Iranian-Kuwait paper, which beblocs based upon geographic loca- from the right. Photo courtesy Dominic D’Angelo. comes a resolution with a 93 pertions are being formed. Ani and I cent in affirmation vote. get off to a rough start on the African bloc, and traitors in Saudi Arabia steamroll our plans for a pristine Arab bloc. Ani attempts to mend the April 3: Oh, Sweet Victory situation, while I try a new strategy to bring less-developed nations and After a hearty celebration the night before, the we arrive at the developed nations together for a more powerful bloc. I’m further frus- United Nations Headquarters to receive our award. The award is caltrated, when two opposing delegates from Brigham Young University culated based upon the performance of the entire team overall, includrefuse to speak with each other since their national and bloc priori- ing the performance given by both Ani and I in the General Assembly ties are “different.” Eventually Kuwait is given the floor, whereby the Committee. There, under the auspices that held presidents, warlords, exhausted members of Western’s team make a plea for international co- diplomats and war criminals, we received an affirmation of our skill operation in the face of geographic divides. Our words are unheeded, and prowess, “Distinguished Delegation.” and the night ends in disappointment. It’s the most recent of a long line of national awards that helped define this Western club as an internationally ranked top-80-percenApril 2: Started From the Bottom tile team. The final day. Our committee is finally finishing up on its last details. With all hope gone for me personally, I assumed the worst. Ani April 4: Roll Out however, had a different plan in mind. Armed with a single idea stemWe return home in style, preparing for the next competitions in the ming from our research paper, she approaches other groups to gar- years to come. ner support. While other papers dealt with tangible solutions to the If you’d like to learn more about the Western International problem of agricultural sustainability, Ani’s idea was unique in that it Affairs Association, our meetings are at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays in was a change in definition for the entire United Nations as an organiza- Miller Hall 154.
12 • as.wwu.edu/asreview
THE MODERN SELFIE: Don’t hate, appreciate
By Kelly Mason // Illustration by Keghouhi Bedoyan The average 18-25 year old takes five to seven “selfies” a day. No we don’t, I made that up but we do take a lot of selfies. I’m definitely guilty of it and I’m sure you are too. You can spend a day on campus and you’ll most likely catch someone holding their phone in front of their face and taking a picture of themselves. Everyone does it, but a lot of people roll their eyes at the action of taking a selfie. What is wrong with taking a selfie? Is it so wrong that I like the way I look enough to want to share it with others? In a society that teaches people to hate their image, I think not. I am 100 percent pro-selfie and I think you should be too. If you don’t agree with me, I would like you to imagine the person you would most likely associate with the word “selfie.” I presume most of you pictured Kim Kardashian or, most likely, a teenage girl. If you associate a negative connotation with selfies, you probably associate a negative connotation with teenage girls [or Kim Kardashian]. Think about how messed up that is. I’m not saying this is true for everyone, but I feel like the most common reason people hate selfies is because they associate it with something teenage girls do and they are such an easy target to focus your negative connotations towards. Most teen girls already struggle with self-confi-
dence, so why not add to it? Again, this isn’t always true but I do think it’s an underlying reason for people to frown on selfies. Instead of hating on selfies, I implore you to change your view on the cultural runoff. Selfies are not an act of self-obsession, it’s not narcissistic to take one, posting a selfie does not mean you are seeking approval. Selfies are an act of self-love, it’s empowering to take one and posting a selfie online is a perfectly okay thing to do. You shouldn’t feel guilty when you take a selfie. You should feel proud that you feel so confident in how you look that you want to share it. You should be happy that you love yourself enough to actually enjoy looking at yourself. Next time you see someone taking a selfie, re-evaluate your disgust. I’m sure if you really look into it, you might find that you are actually jealous of the pride they have for the way they look. If you got rid of that jealousy and allowed yourself to feel proud of yourself, you might be the one taking the selfie. Selfies are wonderful things. Remember that famous Oscar selfie? Why wouldn’t you let yourself take something as amazing as that? When it comes to selfies: don’t hate, appreciate. Mason, out.