Vol. 30 # #.#.#
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2.12. 2018 • 3 The Birth Control Expo taught Western students
Event Calendar
about sex that is safe and fun. Cover design by Annabelle Barrett
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 © 2018. Published most Mondays during the school year by the Associated Students of Western Washington University. The AS Review is an alternative weekly that provides coverage of student interests such as the AS government, activities and student life. The Review seeks to enhance the student experience by shedding light on underrepresented issues, inclusive coverage, informing readers and promoting dialogue. We welcome reader submissions, including news articles, literary pieces, photography, artwork or anything else physically printable. Email submissions to as.review@wwu.edu. We welcome letters to the editor. Please limit your letter to 300 words, include your name, phone number and year in school, if you’re a student. Send them to as.review@wwu.edu. Published letters may have minor edits made to their length or grammar.
Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor Lead Photographer Writers
Erasmus Baxter Kira Stussy Hailey Hoffman Josh Hughes Gwen Frost Julia Berkman Hailey Murphy Photographer Jaden Moon Adviser Jeff Bates
Magician’s Society Event Feb. 12 // 7-9 p.m. // UGCH // Free The Magician’s Scociety is hosting a magical event. Come by the Underground Coffeehouse for a night of sorcery and tricks.
Marathon for Justice Film and Discussion Feb. 12 // 6-8 p.m. // VU 552 // Free AS Environmental and Sustainability Programs will be hosting this showing of the documentary “Marathon for Justice” which highlights some of the environmental injustices in the United States. There will be a facilltated discussion after the film.
Waxing and Binding Adjustments
Men’s and Women’s Basketball Feb. 15 // 5:15; 7:30 p.m. // WECU Carver Gym // $3 with ID Don’t miss our Western Men’s and Women’s basketball teams face off against Alaska Anchorage and Central Washington respectively. It should be a night full of hoop shooting and free throwing.
Beginning Ski and Snowboarding Feb. 17 // All day // OC // $70 Skiers and Snowboarders of all levels and talents are welcome. Come learn the basics and refine your skills. You’ll be racing down the mountain in no time.
Ice Climbing in Lillooet
Feb. 13 // 4 p.m. // VU 565A // Free
Feb. 17-19 // All Day // OC // $250
Don’t worry about the snow. Come and receive help for all your waxing and binding needs so you can get back to shredding!
Drive up to Canada with the Outdoor Center for a long weekend of ice climbing. No prior experience required. This is a great way to learn some new skills. This classic annual trip is one you won’t want to miss.
Wednesday Night Concert Series: Great Snakes w/ Mannequin and The Personality Feb. 14 // 7-9 p.m. // UGCH // Free This week, Great Snakes and Mannequin and the Personality will be playing as a part of the Wednesday Night Concert Series in the Underground Coffeehouse.
Environmental Lobby day Feb. 18-19 // All day // Olympia // Free AS Environmental and Sustainability Programs will be hosting the fifth annual Environmental Lobby Day in Olympia. Transportation to Olympia, hotel rooms for Sunday night and most meals will be provided. You must register for this event.
AS VP for Governmental Affairs Ana Ramirez’s statement on stepping down AS VP for Governmental Affairs Ana Ramirez stepped down from her position on Monday, February 5, 2018. The move, first reported by The Western Front, came after she has been prevented from assuming her position for months due to a lack of work authorization. Below, is her exclusive, unedited statement on why she made that decision: Yesterday I decided to leave my position as ASWWU Vice President for Governmental Affairs. I don’t regret the decision and honestly I should have done so a long time ago. Everyone always told me that if they were me they would have quit a long ago. Since leaving me people have been asking why. Because I, and undocumented students everywhere, deserve better. I am tired of the fake support from everyone I work with. I am tired of fighting day in and day out for something that isn’t even worth it. So many people outside the AS were excited to learn that I was running for this position last spring quarter, but now I am no longer excited about my position, about my work, about going into the office. I dread going to the office- there have been many times I have asked Alex L, Alex M, or Hunter to wait for me outside the board office or the personnel office and walk into the board office with me because I do not feel comfortable walking into my own office. I am leaving because of the people I work with- maybe you reading this right now. And people outside the AS that I work with? Y’all ain’t off the hook either. There’s nothing in particular that made me decide to step down yesterday. On Sunday I got my first tattoo, in honor of my favorite metalcore band, The Amity Affliction. I got the tattoo because the band got me through self harm. I told 16 year old me not to kill herself for two reasons- to see The Amity Affliction in person, and for future me. After getting the tattoo I asked myself- is this the future me that 16 year old me stayed alive for? Is this what 16 year old me would want for 19 year old me (who has since seen Amity twice)? I realized not. Yesterday I was in my international relations class when I looked around the class and wondered what it would be like to be a normal person with a normal life, to not have to deal with this. It was in that moment that I decided to I would leave my position. I am truly disappointed in the way that I have been treated by both other AS student employees, AS administration, and the university’s administration. All across campus undocumented students are assured they will receive the university’s support. Undocu-
mented students are assured they are equal to U.S. citizens in the university’s eyes but I have shown that that is not true. So many people across campus were excited to learn that I had been elected to my position last spring because in doing so I became the first undocumented student in any position on the AS Board of Directors. I was pushed to leave my position and now I worry about the message this sends to future undocumented students not just on Western’s campus but all across the state. You may be asking yourself- how I can I support Ana right now? I’ll tell you. Don’t text or message me about this, because one I am the worst at reply to texts and messages, two I don’t want to hear it, and three there’s a high chance I don’t want anything to do with you. If you see me out in public don’t stare at me, don’t come up to me, don’t try to talk to me about it. This is the reason I cut off all my hair last quarter- in hopes that people wouldn’t recognize me and stop coming up to me. Just let me live my life. If you’re someone in my life- support my decision, call me to talk about it, let’s go shopping or for food. I know I let down many people with this decision, but I will not apologize for doing what is best for me. Since this whole thing started, I had to start taking two different antidepressants in addition to my anxiety medication. My academics suffered. I didn’t have time or energy to keep going to mariachi practice. While everyone thought about me and my situation once in a blue moon I was living in a nightmare. People ask me what is next for me. I do not know. I’ll live my best life. I’ll focus on academics and go back to mariachi. I’ll throw myself into the wonderful world of emoness, of Marvel, DC, and metalcore music and I’ll be happy. For now I leave you all with lyrics from Olde English 800 by The Amity Affliction. “When your aspirations crumble at the feet of your tormentors, and your jaw feels like it’s breaking, and you’re holding onto something that does far more harm than good, well then you’ve reached the pits of hell.// I took this journey through the mirror, took a chance to take my time, just to watch the cold hard steel of burden come and break my heart and spine.” Undocumented, unafraid, & unapologetic, Ana Ramirez
EVENTS
Top Ten Records: Feb. 5-9 1
A Moment Apart Odesza
2
The Ooz King Krule
3
Good For You Amine
4
Offerings Typhoon
5
Fear Fun Father John Misty
6
Wincing the Night Away The Shins
7
All These Worlds Are Yours HOLY
8
I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life Tune-Yards
9
Masseduction St. Vincent
10
///// Dappled Cities 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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Birth Control Expo
RIGHT: Senior Jennifer Song ran the table on lube, informing students on how it can benefit their overall sexual health. “A lot of people look down on sex,” she said. “It’s a taboo topic.”
AS facing budget deficit BY HAILEY MURPHY
As a result of a legislative change decreasing the Student & Activities fee and the rising minimum wage, student life across campus, including within the AS, is experiencing a budget deficit. The S&A fee, which full-time students pay for each quarter, covers costs across student life, including the rec BELOW: The WIRC made props relating to birth concenter, student athletics and housing. It also covers opertrol and sexual health for a photo booth at the event. ations within the AS, from programming and services to student wages. The fee gets adjusted every spring by the S&A fee committee. ABOVE: The Peer Sexual Health Educators set Once the committee creates a budget for the following up tables with different forms of contraceptives year, it’s sent to the Board of Trustees for approval. Last and information on them at the Birth Control year, in the anticipation that the minimum wage would Expo in Miller Hall on Thursday, Feb. 8. The AS increase fifty cents, the S&A committee proposed a 3.9 Womxn’s Identity Resource Center reached out percent fee increase, as outlined in the budget plan the to Prevention & Wellness services to make the Board of Trustees approved. event happen. “[The fee] can’t stay the same, because the minimum wage is increasing every year, and we know that it’s increasing every year,” said Alexander LaVallee, ASVP for business and operations. Photos by Hailey Hoffman//AS Review “Just for the AS, if 80 percent of our budget goes towards personnel, A weekly column from the AS Legislative Liason in Olympia. like paying people’s wages, and that’s going up, a BY ROSA RICE-PELEPKO cost that’s 80 percent 2017 was a year that left a lot of people feeling politically Some top priorities this year include fully funding the State to the House floor this week, while the Senate version passed of our budget is going disempowered. As students, we face unique challenges Need Grant, expanding aid opportunities for undocumented the floor a few weeks into the year. to be growing almost balancing issues like ever-increasing student debt and students, and decoupling Services and Activities Fees from Currently, we have just passed the house of origin exponentially… It’s a huge difficulties with mental health. There can be a sense of tuition which will allow for the sustained success of certain fiscal cutoff, meaning all bills that didn’t make it out of amount of money.” powerlessness that students experience when they struggle student services. We’re also working to pass several voting Appropriations, Ways and Means, of Transportation Despite this budget being apthrough problems like these. rights related bills such as Same Day and Automatic Voter committees have died. We are fast approaching the next proved, however, the 3.9 percent increase didn’t happen. Yet, there are many ways that students are creatively and Registration, and supporting steps towards free college in cutoff this coming Wednesday, which is the last day for bills Instead, the legislators in Olympia voted to couple S&A compassionately pushing back and fighting for their rights Washington State. to be considered on the floor of their house of origin. fees with tuition, meaning that S&A fees couldn’t increase here at Western. One often underutilized method of making Last month, students from Western came down to the Looking ahead in session: Next week we’ll cover key by a percentage greater than the percentage of tuition change is to engage with our local legislative process. capitol on MLK Day and lobbied our legislators on these bills that made it through the house of origin cutoff on increase. I know, I know, just the word legislative makes your eyes issues and more! Other key priorities for the WSA include Wednesday. Make sure to check out this column weekly to “The reason we haven’t been able to raise [the fee] is start to glaze over. But the reality of getting involved with establishing a Student Loan Bill of Rights, providing funding hear about the important issues being debated in your state’s because the increase of S&A fees is currently coupled politics is more exciting than you might think. I serve as the for Open Educational Resources, and increased mental capital. Also keep an eye out for Legislative Affairs Council to tuition, so what that means is that– last session they Legislative Liaison in the Associated Students, meaning I health care, especially for veteran students. Members who are out on campus spreading the word on our passed a 2 percent% increase for this year and a 2.2 lobby in Olympia on your behalf. There has been a lot of positive traction so far this session legislative work! percent … [thus] the S&A fee can only be increased 2 I work in tandem with the Washington Student related to student issues. Having students come together from across the state to percent and 2.2 percent,” said Rosa Rice-Pelepko, AS Association (WSA), a statewide coalition which includes Automatic Voter Registration, which will implement lobby on certain issues is powerful, and there other ways to Legislative Liaison. four-year public institutions of higher education who work electronic voter registration at certain agencies to increase get involved as well. Find out who your state legislators are This small of an increase hadn’t been anticipated by the together to advocate for legislation that will aid all students. the number of registered voters and overall turnout, is at app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder, and stay up to date on the S&A committee, so their budget didn’t reflect the actual These past several weeks I have attended meetings with doing well in both the House and Senate. Same Day Voter issues that matter to you. Contacting your legislators’ offices income brought in by the fee. According to LaVallee, the representatives, listened to committees, and shared testimony registration bills are having success in the House and the through phone or email is a simple way to make sure the income actually brought in was about $172,000 short on issues relating to students like you. Senate. legislature is accountable to Western students. of the budget, and as a result, the AS had to take money What issues does the AS decide to lobby on? The A bill to decouple services and activities from tuition has Remember, your elected officials work for you; though from reserves. ASWWU Legislative Affairs Council, a student-run made it to Rules in both chambers, already making it farther it might feel intimidating, it is your right to let them know “All the sudden we’re told, we need to have $200,000 to committee, sets a statewide lobby agenda during fall quarter. than it did last session. A bill to expand the financial aid what policy you do or don’t want passed. Also, sign up for go [to minimum wage], and this thing you were paying I also work to support the WSA Legislative Agenda, which is opportunities to undocumented students and certain visa action alerts at tinyurl.com/WWUaction if you’d like to be for– either reduce it completely so you can fund the voted on by school representatives from around the state. status immigrants has survived fiscal cutoff and is heading alerted on how to help advance our priorities.
Rosa in the House
minimum wage, or what we’ve elected to do is keep all the programs and things that we have and use some of our reserves and leftover money from the end of last year,” LaVallee said. According to a February 2017 report on Senate Bill 5592, the last time tuition and student fees were coupled was in the 2011-2013 biennium. Legislators voted to decouple the student fees in 2013, then again in 2015. There will be another vote in 2019 to determine if fees and tuition should remain coupled or not. “I think the goal [of coupling] was just to decrease student fees but also it was like, why is this happening? Student bodies should be able to manage their own money and tax their students with the consent of the elected leaders,” said Rice-Pelepko. That being said, there are two bills in the legislature– House Bill 1433 and Senate Bill 5592– that could decouple tuition and student fees by fall 2018. They are both in committee and have received bipartisan support, according to Rice-Pelepko. Yet, even if these bills pass, there’s still one potential obstacle; each bill has a four percent cap on fee increases. “The only problem with [the bills] is that both of them are still requiring four percent to be the maximum, which for us– it’s hard to say whether that’d be enough,” said Jose Rios-Sanchez, AS Business Director. “Western also tends to employ more students than some of the equal sized other schools in Washington. So a lot of them, when they heard that there was legislation that would allow a four percent increase, they were perfectly okay with that… but at Western when the minimum wage goes up, and that’s the largest part of our budget, we can’t control that. So I think in the long run there could be implications.” With these bills on the table, it’s hard to determine the future of the S&A fee. Fees and tuition may be decoupled, in which case the budget could get back on track next year, or the four percent cap could prevent the proper increase needed to account for minimum wage. Or the bills won’t pass, in which case the matter will be addressed again in 2019. “The future is uncertain,” said Rios-Sanchez. “We [at AS] prioritize positions, we prioritize programming, so if we had to make reductions we would try to do so in a way that would still not negatively impact those involved with this.”
2.12. 2018 • 5
They’re in your corner.
An info session with Jon McHough, Associate Director of disAbility Resources for Students. BY JULIA BERKMAN
It’s easy for any student who needs help to find it at the DRS, according to Jon McHough. In order to be give DRS accommodations, you need a note from a doctor. After that, you’re assigned a counselor and you meet with them about the accommodations you may need. However, you don’t need to have a doctor’s official diagnosis in order to work with the DRS. McHough said you just have to show the DRS proof of your need for accommodations, and they’ll try to help you however you can. That means if you can’t pinpoint an exact diagnosis, but you have symptoms, you can still be accommodated for things like chronic pain or fatigue. When people think of someone with a disability, McHough says that what comes to mind is someone with a physical disability. He stressed that the DRS can provide accommodations for any type of disability, be it a mental illness or a learning disability. Everyone’s accommodations are different- they range from leniency with absences and due dates to visual aides in class. Best of all, your professors are legally required to respect the accommodations you and your counselor agreed upon. According to McHough, many students are worried that their DRS registration will show up on a transcript. Never fear, registration with the DRS is completely anonymous. In addition to that, professors legally can’t tell anyone that you have accommodations, so don’t sweat that either. You may not even have to renew your accommodations. If you have a diagnosis that is chronic, the DRS usually doesn’t need proof of it every school year. Though, for more temporary things like broken bones, you’ll probably be asked to check in with your counselor after a few months. To contact the DRS and get started, email drs@wwu.edu or visit Old Main 120. You can also voice call them at (360)650-3083 or call their video phone at (360)255-7175.
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2.12. 2018 • 7
‘Drag Is Literally Anything’ Behind the Scenes with
ANASTASIA TAYLOR DUVALL
The Associated Students Queer Resource Center held their 26th annual drag show on Friday, February 2. An AS Review photographer followed one of the performers through their preparation and performance.
Back stage in the Performing Arts Center, Mendoza touches up his eyeliner while transforming into the drag queen, Anastasia Taylor Duvall.
In the spotlight, Duvall interacts with the crowd touching hands and receiving dollar bills. As a part of the experience, audience members tipped the performers as a way to show appreciation.
BY HAILEY HOFFMAN
Junior Jorge Mendoza prepares for the AS Queer Resource Center’s 26th Annual Drag Show from his dorm room on Wednesday, Jan. 31. Mendoza first started performing in drag shows while a student at Washington State University, prior to being signed by a drag company. He has performed from Washington state to New York to Mexico.
Duvall gives the crowd one last look and flashes her large sunglasses on stage with the other 12 drag performers.
Using an old, oversized shirt, Mendoza sows a one-piece bodysuit. This was his first time sewing his outfit himself. “I’m very inspired by high fashion and very fashion forward things,” Mendoza said. “I don’t have the best ability to express it because I don’t have the most money as a college student.”
Mendoza currently lives in a Fairhaven Complex and uses his small desk as a work space to transform himself into a drag queen for his first show.
With her wig on and make up done, Anastasia Taylor Duvall hangs out back stage with other performers waiting to go on. “My favorite part of doing drag is the audience,” Duvall said. “I’ve always been a dancer and being in front of an audience and acting.” An excited Mendoza plays with his wigs while deciding which to wear with his handmade outfit. Mendoza styled and curled his black wig for the performance. “I’m doing really big hair because Latinas always have really big hair,” Mendoza said. “I like to represent my heritage.” Mendoza mixed his own song for his performance to include “Hellow Shadow” feat. Keiza by SKYGGE, “Vroom Vroom” by Charli XCX, “Lemon” by Rihanna and “Took the Night” by Chelley.
After a long wait, Duvall struts out on-stage to close out the show in front of a full house in the Performing Arts Center. “Nobody can tell me what I can and can’t do,” Duvall said. “Drag is literally anything.” Despite technical difficulties with the audio, Duvall brought the crowd to their feet with her explosive kicks and large splits.
Holding their tips from the crowd, Duvall begins her transformation back into Mendoza with the wig gone and make-up slightly smeared after her explosive performance. Overall, Duvall said they were happy with their performance because they made the best of it, despite the technical difficulties.
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Back to the Sandbox: Art and Radical Pedagogy BY JOSH HUGHES This quarter the Western Gallery features the exhibit a totally useless operation. Don’t expect too much; it’s “Back to the Sandbox: Art & Radical Pedagogy,” an ungoing to disappear, mainly because there’s no point in usual theme with equally unusual artwork. Running from making the castle too far away from the sea,” it reads. now until March 23, the show also includes parallel lecNot too far away is a video piece chronicling various tures, summits and performances that fit with the theme. sandcastles by the artist Calvin Seibart. His accompany“The exhibition is based on collaborations of promiing wall text provides a poignant thesis for most of the nent artists, scientists and educators and includes works exhibit. of art, scientific and educational experiments, and archi“I have always felt a connection to the Kindergarten val material,” reads text from the exhibit’s entrance. movement, its aesthetic of primary color and basic shapes Pedagogy, defined as the method and practice of has informed the core of what I do. I always knew what I teaching, concerns the ways in which academic subjects was about. I still make sandcastles,” Seibart writes. are taught. The exhibit plays off of this theme by examinJuxtaposed with a later video piece that follows an ing, through various media, the ways in which education 8-year-old boy throughout a normal school day, the galinteracts with art. Never before have you seen both a sandpit and a mock kindergarten classroom inside a gallery space, I would imagine. Alongside documentary based video work and performance pieces, the exhibit explores the various ends and applications of education. The space itself has been thoroughly reimagined from last year’s exhibit, “Coded Threads.” Independently curated by Jaroslav Anděl, the show hopes to both inspire future pedagogical work and examine current states of education. “By asking radical questions, art becomes a radical pedagogy which transcends institutional boundaries and inspires mind-changing narratives,” Anděl said. The exhibit is thematically divided into four different segments: the sandbox, kindergarten, primary and secondary education, and ter- A curious youngster is shown how to use kinetic building tools in the tiary education. While the first two Jaden Moon//AS Review take up the majority of the space, the layout sets viewers up with a concrete, chronological lery addresses the complicated relationship between the sequence to walk through. imaginative aspects of primary education and the rigidity When walking into the gallery, the first thing you’ll see of curriculum. is likely a giant sandbox. Maybe there’s an elegant castle The documentary by Ane Hjort Guttu explores the inside it, maybe an organic, hand-pressed figure or maychild’s conflicting emotions towards feeling free and be no distinguishable structures at all. Alongside the wall creative and the tight framework that the school revolves rests a piece of text by architect Renzo Piano explaining, around. It’s not as playful of a piece as one might imagin logical steps, the directions on how to build a perfect ine, and it also extends the idea of pedagogy beyond just sandcastle. the classroom and into society as a whole. “Be clear about the fact that building a sandcastle is Elsewhere in the gallery viewers are encouraged to sit
VP for Governmental Affairs position to remain unfilled, food pantry approved: AS BY ERASMUS BAXTER Board Report 2/7
down at a round white table and let their imagination run wild in creating figures out of building blocks. On The February 7 Associated Student Board meeting the wall hangs a large poster with DNA molecules and human skeletons composed of these exact blocks. On the began 11 minutes later than scheduled, some of the board table, however, there’s a giant dinosaur figure and com- members went to the wrong meeting room. Ana Ramirez’s Position to Be Left Open plex geometrical shapes that owe more to origami than AS President Simrun Chhabra read a statement any anatomical composition. This mock classroom is the work of Michael Joaquin announcing that the board would not be filling the AS VP for Governmental Affairs position vacated by Ana Grey, an artist interested in the intersection of haptic, Ramirez. Though it violates the bylaws they felt it was the tactile language (as portrayed in the building blocks) and the complex, intelligent patterns of botany, zoology, best way to respect the fact that Ramirez was elected by students. Read the statement below: ontogeny and ontology. Food Pantry Funding Approved In his own words, “It’s a language to read complex and The board unanimously approved funding for a food dynamic systems, a way to use body empathy. It’s learning from pantry in the Viking Union, leading to cheers from board understanding how we are built: members. The $5,100 from the reserves will be split over three we are moving geometry.” Elsewhere in the exhibit there years. For now the pantry will be administered by work is a photobooth, a video that fea- study employees with the Resource and Outreach Protures a woman running on a tread- grams and Environmental Sustainability Programs, as mill getting hit with dodgeballs, well as ROP adviser Leti Romo. The name will be the “Western Food Pantry” instead of and a series of large-scale photos of children at various schools in the “Viking Food Pantry” to disassociate from a mascot that not everyone is down with, AS VP for Student Life the UK on recess. The exhibit opens up not only Annie Gordon said. Extra Student Appointed to Election Committee questions about education (or The board unanimously approved adding an extra, radical pedagogy) in regards to art, but also in interdisciplinary eighth student at large to the Elections Advisory Commitpractices and ideas. It’s less a pure tee. Cora Cole, the AS committee coordinator, told the art exhibit than an examination of the educational structures that board that the committee was having trouble having enough students at large show up to do their business. exist around the world. Last weekend Western held an Since the work the committee does is time sensitive “Art and Radical Pedagogy Black with AS elections coming up, AS Elections Coordinator History Month Summit,” and the Francesca Cruz wanted to add another student at large, Western Gallery has also partnered Cole said. The board agreed to appoint Marquis Mason, who Cole with various Bellingham schools to reach beyond Western and into said has already been attending the meetings, as the new student at large. Mason ran for the AS VP for Diversity for Western Gallery. elementary school programs. As students, we constantly make position last year. The board also approved the other committee appointdecisions and develop thought processes directly linked to our upbringing and develop- ments, which are listed in the agenda here. The Student mental education. As students, we are still engaging with Academic Grievance will also be meeting soon to consider some matters, Cole said. this system at Western, and for that, the exhibit rings Lobby Day Agendas Approved more close to home than many previous shows in the The board unanimously approved the agendas for Ethgallery space. Maybe in your next break between classes you’ll nic Student Center lobby day, Disability Outreach Center find yourself building a sandcastle on a college campus, lobby day and environmental lobby day. The only substantial changes were adding asks for more thinking about how various education systems have support for counseling, disability and academic advising brought you to where you are today. services on campus, to the ESC lobby day agenda. The
lobby days will all take place over President’s Day weekend. Ethnic Studies Conference Funding Discussed AS VP for Diversity Erick Yanzon brought a proposal to take money from the reserves to help fund sending either eight or 12 students to a national Ethnic Studies Conference. They will also be seeking money from the Student Enhancement Fund and the activities council, as well as the funds allocated to Yanzon and AS VP for Academic Affairs Hunter Eider’s positions. The amount requested from the reserves change based on how much funding they’re able to acquire, Yanzon said. The point of the SEF was to avoid spending reserves money on travel costs, so they should maybe look at how it’s functioning, Casey Hayden, the student activities coordinator, said. AS VP for Business and Operations Alex LaVallee said it seems backward that Students for Ethnic Studies could only count on $250 a student from the SEF while the Dead Parrots Society, Western’s improv club, was able to get $650 per student in the past. Eric Alexander Assoc. Dean of Student Engagement/ Director of Viking Union said that that the AS business director was putting together a work group to look at travel costs. Yanzon said that this couldn’t wait since they need to apply for the conference soon. He will bring back an updated proposal next week after finding out about the other funding. Scholarships to Be Reallocated for Undocumented Students The AS non-profit that is run by the AS Board to distribute scholarships met after the main board meeting in the same room. They discussed reallocating at least two of the 14 current scholarships to go to undocumented students. Potentially by eliminating or combining the AS Employee, Campus Activity and Community Involvement scholarships. Lavallee also discussed looking at the criteria for the scholarships to make sure they are fairly administered. He pointed out that Rutledge had received the scholarship he oversaw while she was working as his assistant last year. LaVallee also requested that they talk about moving the non-profits money away from US Bank, though the board ran out of time to do so. The board agreed to come back next week at the same time with more information about scholarships before taking action.
2.12. 2018 • 9
Western students, track that bus! BY JOSH HUGHES
Thanks to Western’s Student Transportation Program, it is now possible to live track late night shuttle buses. Through either a website or a Mac and Android friendly app, students can now download the Shuttle Tracker to locate when their bus should be arriving. While the late night, or “drunk” busses have always operated on a tightly knit schedule, the application now allows students to get live updates on the actual time of arrival. Created through Ride Systems, a company with over 300 partners in the country, the app first lets you select which route you are taking. Next, you can see the nearest bus travelling in live time, so you can know exactly when the bus will show up. Think of it like Uber, except for a free service that runs every half an hour. On the application, students have the option to switch between all routes and only those that are currently active. Upon selecting a route, the next two shuttles of the night become visible, and all of the stops show
up with their exact times. As the shuttle gets closer to arrival, the tracker becomes active and live updates its actual ETA. It’s convenient for those of us who don’t want to be stuck in the rain for longer than we need to; or those who are scared that another Western alert has gone under the radar and someone is creeping around N Garden. The Late Night Student Shuttle is available 7 days a week when classes are in session, and it’s free for students with valid I.D. cards. Students may bring one guest on the shuttle with them. There are two routes to the shuttle, one of which circles North Campus and goes to downtown, the other of which caters to South Campus. Both go across I-5 by Fred Meyer’s and NXNW. Shuttles run Monday through Saturday 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., and Sunday 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. The app is available and can be accessed on the Western Transportation website.
Screenshot of the Live Shuttle Tracker, which shows both routes. Screenshot by Julia Berkman// AS
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Invincible Ones BY HAILEY MURPHY
Invincible Ones, playing in the DUG Theatre through February 17, is a show that explores themes of sudden loss, patriarchy and badass roller derby culture. The show starts with a group of women living in a crowded Lower East Side apartment who suddenly lose their friend in a hit-and-run accident. The play then follows the grief and guilt in wake of the tragedy, with a number of roommates getting their frustration out on the roller derby court. “It’s an incredible community of people,” said Playwright Samantha Cooper, speaking on roller derby culture. “People from all walks of life want to do this and they really take care of each other. Simultaneously, its an arena in which female anger and violence isn’t looked on as negatively as it might be
Bellingham Human Rights Film Western alum’s play deals with the complexities of modern femininity and grief Festival starts this weekend
out in the everyday world. So it’s really a backdrop in which I can allow the characters to be angry.” Cooper is a Western alumni who graduated in 2010 with a double major in English Literature and Theatre. After her time at Western, she spent three years in Seattle before eventually moving to New York City, where she got her masters in playwriting from Columbia University. It was in New York City, in the Lower East Side, where Cooper got her inspiration for Invincible Ones. “[I was] standing on a corner and some dude walked by and said something nasty to me,” said Cooper. “It was in that moment that the first lines of the play came to me… I think I was exploring what it was like living in New York for the first time and what it means to be a female-identified person functioning in
In the opening scene, Zoe (played by junior Megan Huynh) roller-skates drunk around their living room while Natasha (played by junior Linnea Helmeid) recounts a story about when she was sexually harassed by a married man at the restaurant she waits at. Jaden Moon// AS Review
the world today.” That nasty comment? “It’s Friday. You should learn how to smile.” “There’s this sort of general violence to being a female identified person in the world right now,” Cooper said. “Going outside your door everyday is basically an act of resistance, facing the sort of street harassments and the violence that comes with being with a woman.” Cooper then wrote Invincible Ones scene by scene with interweaving moments of poetic narrative until, eventually, she completed what became her thesis play. After premiering in New York City, Cooper began collaborating with the Western theatre department to bring the show to the Bellingham stage. Now Western students can witness the vulgarity, artistry and emotional weight
BY JULIA BERKMAN
of Invincible Ones for themselves. The remaining shows are Wednesday, The Bellingham Human Rights Film February 14 to Saturday, February 17 at Festival is kicking off this week with 25 7:30 pm, or at 2:00 pm on February 17, in hand-picked films that provoke the viewer the DUG theatre. to define the concept of human rights. Expect to leave with the feels, “What are rights, what are universal though, because this play deals with the human rights – and what do we do?” asks complexities and intricacies of grief. the Human Rights Film Festival mission “Everyone around you deals with death statement. in some point of their lives, and everyone just has to keep going,” said Megan Bending the Arc, one of the films being Huynh, who plays a major character, shown, is about a group of young people in Zoe. the ‘80s who committed to helping people “We’re never going to know the proper who public health system had failed by startway to grieve so if you’re doing your best, ing what would become a large non-profit that’s okay.” organization known as Partners In Health. In short, and in the words of theatre The film follows creators Jim Yong Kim, major Desiree Roy (who plays Paige, Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl on their misanother piece of the friend group): sion to provide healthcare to everyone who “In dealing with death, we’re stronger needed it, not just those who could afford it. together. In life, we’re stronger together.” What that group of people did in Haiti soon spread to the rest of the world. Their humanitarian efforts have been praised by the U.N. and President Obama. The basis of Partners in Health is a focus on community health rather than the individual. At the height of the AIDS/HIV crisis, Partners in Health did outreach to communities as a whole about preventative measures, as well as treating those already afflicted. Once Partners in Health left a location, they also made sure they left behind people trained to continue their mission. Those community health organizers would use the resources and tools Partners in Health had given them to bolster their own community. The film, directed by Kief Davidson and Pedro Kos, won the Audience Award at the Berkshire International Film Festival in 2017. You can watch it on Feb. 21 at the Fairhaven College Auditorium.
After coming home to find her brother Preston (played by freshman Mitch Stevens) getting high in her bedroom, Zoe (played by Junior Meghan Huynh) attempts to beat him with a pillow until he leaves. Jaden Moon// AS Review.
Another film that will be shown at the Human Rights Film Festival, What Doesn’t Kill Me, is about women who survive domestic abuse only to lose custody of their children. Director Rachel Meyrickis affiliated with the group Women Make Movies. According to What Doesn’t Kill Me, an abusive father, who contests custody from
a protective mother, will win 70 percent of the time. In the film, there are testimonies and interviews from women who have lost custody of their children to their abuser. The film follows Charlotta Harrison, a survivor’s avocate who survived a 60-year abusive marriage, as well as countless other women petitioning to see their children. This film, which is sponsored by the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of Whatcom County, will be shown at the Bellingham Public Library on February 23. Kokota, The Islet of Hope will also be shown at the Fairhaven College Auditorium on February 24 at 2:15 p.m. The film is the story of Mbarouk Mussa Omar, who came across the floundering island Kokota. Kokota was being poisoned by global warming and deforestation. Their surrounding waters were devoid of fish and their forests were almost wiped out. Omar wanted to help, but he wasn’t rich enough to install any necessary infrastructure. Instead, he and the islanders worked together to create a change in their lifestyle. Now, Kokotans plant trees instead of cutting them down and have raised enough money to buy a set of solar panels. Omar believes that the island of Kokota is a prime example that by changing the way a society lives, by changing their habits, you can foster real change in the environment. “We have everything we need. It’s not even about sacrifice, it’s about changing,” the narrator states. This Canadian film, produced by Craig Norris, has won Best Cinematography at the Atlanta Film Festival, Best Sustainability Short at the DC Environmental Film Festival and Best Canadian Short at the Planet In Focus Film Festival. These and 22 other films will be shown around Bellingham in the coming month at the Bellingham Human Rights Film Festival.
2.12. 2018 •
Prof-ile
BY GWEN FROST Name: Milica Jelača Jovanović Position: Associate Professor, Piano, Coordinator of Piano Area Education background: Doctorate of Musical Arts, University of Michigan Master of Music, Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory Bachelor of Music, University of Belgrade Hometown: Belgrade, Serbia Claim to fame: Jovanović’s album, Bright Moods, released in May 2012, received great acclaim from the classical music industry. QUESTIONS: What did you want to be when you grew up (as a kid)? I wanted to be an engineer, because I had an uncle who was engineer and he traveled a lot and I wanted to travel a lot so I thought that’s like, only if you’re an engineer you can travel. And then after, I wanted to be a teacher, because my parents were teachers so they had long summer breaks, so those were my thoughts as a kid. What would you sing at a karaoke night? I studied in Moscow, Russia, and my favorite song is Moscow Nights by Podmoskovnye Vechera. I love that song. I don’t know if I would really have courage to sing, but... What are you reading right now/most recently? What’s it about? That’s a funny answer, because I have a 10-year-old daughter who was preparing a book report on “The Hobbit,” so I was rereading “The Hobbit” because of her. Aside from necessities, what are three things you could not go a day without? Practicing piano, the one, being physically active, I like some sort of exercise, yoga or whatever, and chasing my three daughters I guess. What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of love? For that, my daughter said ‘Oh, you should say this, this is really crazy.’ Love for reading is love. I was maybe pre-teen, I was of course playing piano and practicing, but I loved to read. So I got “The Count of Monte Cristo”, it’s a huge book, I could not let it go. So I would practice piano, my parents of course would hear if I was practicing or not, so I would separate from that. I would put the the book where my sheet music was, and my notes would be around, so I would pretend I was practicing but I would actually be reading. What advice would you have given your college-undergrad-self? Don’t take your classes, your education, your time for granted. You will want to go back, and you cannot go back. What is your favorite restaurant-prepared breakfast dish? I don’t know if it’s really a breakfast, but it’s something you probably cannot eat here, I’m from Belgrave which was formerly Yugoslavia and now Serbia, it’s called Ćevapčići it’s like a minced ground meat, small, they are grilled. When I go to a restaurant I have to have them. I can get them mostly over there. There’s a restaurant down in Seattle that has them.
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Valentines cheat sheet BY JULIA BERKMAN
The AS Review believes that anyone, of any gender identity, can be a “hot gf.”
Western Lens Senior Alana Hall Eatonville, Washington G: What do you think it will take you to be happy? A: “I think for me personally I need to...be at my happiest. It’s when I recognize what I have and not what I need to be doing. So I think that I don’t really need anything, except for that mindset of ‘look at where you are! Look at who you are.’ That’s an awesome moment in my life right now. I think it’s super hard at University with peer pressure. You’re just thinking about ‘who am I going to be, where am I going to go,’ and you’re missing this really awesome chapter of, you know, being poor and eating pasta every day.” Interview by Gwen Frost, photo by Jaden Moon // AS Review.