AWOL - Issue 026

02 awol magazine

AWOL Magazine ISSUE 26 | FALL 2019

EDITORIAL EDITORS–IN–CHIEF Benjamin S. Weiss Editorial Zach Vallese Media MAGAZINE DIRECTOR Savanna Strott CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ben Black WEB DIRECTOR Chloe K. Li PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTORS Kate McKenna Strategy Caroline Morgan Content STAFF EDITORS Katherine Long Grace Vitaglione COPY EDITORS Ava Kowalski Kaela Roeder WEB EDITORS Lana Green Rin Ryan

MULTIMEDIA MULTIMEDIA DIRECTOR Shane Matheu Ryden PODCAST DIRECTORS Maddi Cole The Hum Sasha Fernandez Bisexuali-tea Braeden Waddell Ripped from the Wall PODCAST PRODUCERS Shannon Durazo Shane Matheu Ryden Grace Vitaglione

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS Thanks for picking up a copy of AWOL’s Fall 2019 print edition. As we do every semester, in our 26th issue we take a closer look at some important stories that you won’t see covered in any other student media.

In this edition, AWOL Magazine investigates issues such as: anti-racist grading initiatives; D.C.’s “crisis pregnancy centers;” and one student’s battle with AU Dining over his fight against food insecurity. Each year, our magazine evolves, bringing new stories that challenge the status quo and give voices to those who need to be heard.

As we near the end of the decade, we at AWOL find ourselves reflecting on our publication’s strengths, weaknesses, growth, and accomplishments. Our organization only celebrated its tenth birthday in the fall of 2018, and in that short time, AWOL has come a long way from its roots as a “dirty little ‘zine” to a reputable student media publication aimed at holding those in power accountable.

Our publication has expanded greatly since our first issue in 2008. Our staff has steadily increased in size over the last decade. Our writers’ work has been critically acclaimed and cited by local news outlets. Our innovative podcasting division revolutionized the way AU Student Media reports the news -- and it has the awards to prove it.

Irrespective of our growth, AWOL has never wavered in its conviction to dive deep into stories that needed to be told. Over the last ten years we have never shied away from a challenge, never avoided asking the hard questions, and never backed down from our commitment to high-standards investigative journalism. We stood alongside the AU student body during some of its hardest times, determined to keep them informed and to tell them the hard truth. AWOL is proud of that legacy and resolves to double its efforts in the new decade. We strive to create content that is inclusive, intersectional and rooted in a diverse set of experiences.

In 2020 and beyond, AWOL will continue to write subversively, critically, and irrepressibly about the most important issues at AU and in the District. Now, more than ever, it is vital to speak truth to power and to elicit positive social change in our community. We have been working toward that goal since 2008, and in the waning days of 2019, our fundamentals continue.

We want to extend our sincerest thanks to the writers, editors, designers, photographers, videographers, podcasters, and PR staff who worked so hard every day of this semester to pull together AWOL’s 26th issue.

If they are the future of this publication, then the future looks very bright indeed.

And a special thanks goes out to you, the reader, for supporting AWOL’s unique brand of investigative journalism. We hope this issue makes you angry for all the right reasons.

IN SOLIDARITY,

Benjamin S. Weiss & Zach Vallese LISTEN TO OUR PODCASTS:

FOLLOW US

/AWOLAU

@AWOLAU

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Termination of a Program Allowing Students to Donate Meal Swipes Lana Green

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Teddy Everett

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PLEDGING #METOO AU Frat Culture During #MeToo Elizabeth Posada

TUDEN

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FIGHTING RACISM IN GRADING Will Anti-Racist Pedagogy fix Freshmen Writing Classes at AU? Maaz Qureshi

RIPPED FROM THE WALL

12

CULTURE

14

SUSPICIOUS SPENDING AT AU STUDENT GOVERNMENT Confidential Fees, Transparency Officers, and a Whole Lot of Quarter-Zips Shannon Durazo and Braeden Waddell

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FREEMASONS AND THE FUTURE APOCALYPSE A Look into the Denver International Airport Conspiracy Theories Maddie Eunis

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DEATHS IN THE DISTRICT, PART I The Mystery of Opioid Overdose in D.C. Grace Vitaglione and Braeden Waddell

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MENTAL BORDERS Mental Health Challenges in the Latinx Immigrant Community Savanna Strott

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Berlin Brings The Happy Days to AU Savanna Strott / Photos by Shane Matheu Ryden

AU SWIPES

AU Student Punished fo r Fighting Food Insecurity Written by Lana Gree n Art by Kavi Farr

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT

Nickolaus Mack received an email on Oct. 22, 2018, asking for the immediate termination of AU Swipes, a program where students with remaining meal swipes donate them to those who can’t afford additional meal swipes or a meal swipe program.

On Aug. 11, 2017, Mack was asked to cease and desist by the university.

Faced with student conduct charges, Mack shut down the transactional portion of the program.

“Conduct said that our best bet would be to talk to AU Dining, who would not reply to emails on the issue. It was never clear what we were to be charged with violating”

AU Swipes went one academic year without any complaints from the university. During this time period, AU Swipes reached out to AU One Card and Dining Services to schedule a meeting but did not receive a response. Mack also reached out to the associate director of One Card & Dining Programs Auxiliary Services, Keesha Ceran, to talk to her about the program, but the scheduled meeting never occurred.

“So we were pretty much like, ‘okay we read the dining policy, there’s nothing against it, so we’re just going to move ahead,’ assuming that their silence is consent on the issue,” Mack said. “It was not until the second year that issues arose.”

AU Swipes recruited volunteers, typically freshman students, to join their program. Focused on food insecurity, rather than profit, Mack said that it was made clear through a new member orientation that the program would not make students rich. However, students receiving swipes were encouraged to make a recommended, though not required, donation of $5.00. The organization recommended students giving swipes to accept any donations through Venmo and not cash.

Ceran explained in an email to Mack in October of 2018 that the program violated Section 17, Part D of the American University Housing & Residence Life License Agreement for 2018-2019. The section states that meal swipe credits are non-transferable to individuals or accounts. Section 17, Part E also says that fall meal swipes do not roll over to the next semester, and those not used are forfeited.

AWOL reached out to Ceran, but was referred to the Administrative Coordinator of University Communications and Marketing, Maria A. Edmonds, who responded that she was not the right person to ask because she had “never been to AU Swipes.”

At the group’s first meeting with Dining Services, Mack said, “We had the question with AU admin that why was our program in particular in violation of the dining policy? I told them that we were and everyone on the university campus were keenly aware that students were exchanging meal swipes between each other on a day-to-day basis.”

In 2014, Julia Reinstein, a junior at AU, created Swipes for Swipes, a program where people with extra meal swipes contacted those in need through Tinder. If a student

CamPUS liFe 05 had extra meal swipes, they would put that in their bio. The program received coverage from the Washington Post, Time Magazine, and Bustle.

“I was in the library procrastinating and everyone was either looking for meal swipes or had too many that they were trying to use up,” Reinstein said. She then went on Tumblr and posted a blog with directions on how to use Tinder to get involved in donating remaining meal swipes.

When asked if she had any issues with AU after starting the program, Reinstein said that the university never contacted her with any issues.

“I think if it had become a big thing maybe they would have done something,” Reinstein said. “ I don’t know that it’s not allowed though. You’re allowed to swipe people in. We know that they’ve been weird about stuff like this in the past. I hope this is not the truth anymore.”

According to Reinstein, AU previously collected swipes to redistribute to students in need. Reinstein said that she remembered a program in the past where AU allowed students to donate their swipes at the end of the semester, but they capped the amount at such a low number that it did not make a difference in food insecurity on campus.

AU Dining partnered with Capital Area Food Bank in 2016 to give extra meal swipes to those in need in the D.C. area. Starting in the Fall of 2018, AU Dining, in a partnership with Capital Area Food Bank, started donating up to $10,000 in unused meal swipes to The Market, AU’s food pantry located in the lower level of Letts Hall. The school does not have an existing program that allows students to donate to other students.

Food insecurity continues to remain a problem among college students. According to an October

2016 hunger study published by the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness, 48% of college students surveyed reported food insecurity. Data collected in 12 states found that 57% of Black students reported food insecurity compared to 40% of non-Hispanic white students.

The average cost of one meal swipe at AU is $10-15. AU requires freshmen to purchase the 175 Block Plan costing $2,442 per semester and requires sophomores to purchase the 100 Block Plan or above cosing $1,588 per semester. A freshman with 100 meal swipes left at the end of the semester has wasted $1,000 to $1,500 on unused swipes.

Although AU no longer allows students to donate their extra meal swipes, the university has started to put programs in place to address food insecurity, such as opening The Market in the 2018-19 academic year.

Mack said that he wanted to continue to work with the university toward a solution to food insecurity, but that it was hard to schedule an appointment with AU Dining.

When Mack asked AU Dining about the specific charges they were accused of violating, he received no answer and contacted the AU Conduct Office.

“Conduct said that our best bet would be to talk to AU Dining, who would not reply to emails on the issue,” Mack said.“It was never clear what we were to be charged with violating.”

When asked if Mack thought the reason for the conduct charges was that his program threatened AU’s profits, Mack replied, “It was mentioned by a third party in a meeting between Chuck Smith, Keesha Ceran, and Professor [William] Bellows, that this issue was rising through the AU Admin.” According to Mack, someone mentioned that Doug Kudravetz, the AU Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, was not in favor of this program particularly because it operated in such a way that it could threaten AU profit margins.

Executive Director of Auxiliary Services & AU Airlie Auxiliary Services Charles Smith, Kogod Professor William Bellows and Vice President and Treasurer Office of Finance & Treasurer Doug Kudravetz all did not respond to requests for comment.

phomore studying Lana Green is a so mmunication, law, journalism and co vernment (CLEG) economics and go

06 awol magazine

UNDERPAID AND UNDER UNDERREPRESENTED The AU Adjunct Experience Written by Teddy Everett Art by Caroline Lougee

DEREK TOK AZ WOULD LIKE TO

put some savings into the 401(k) plan his adjunct benefits include.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t make enough money to put anything into it.

Adjunct professors at American University make up about 41% of the faculty. Among those that teach at the school, some feel that they are not fully members of the university community. Between communication issues and unrealistic expectations for adjuncts, the result is a skew of opinions about their place at AU. Tokaz is an adjunct in the literature department. He said that adjuncts are “less of a resource that the university has and more like a cost be managed.”

Tokaz has been working for AU since 2015 and said he’s frustrated with some of the university’s practices.

Adjuncts put in many hours of work, but the university only allocates a small part of tuition revenue to an adjunct salary.

“Just looking at the sticker price, I make less than 5% of the tuition,” he said.

The total price of attending AU was $64,234 in the 2018-19 academic year, according to collegefactual.com.

An adjunct professor at AU can earn anywhere from $3,230 to $16,173 per year, according to Glassdoor.

Tokaz also said he feels that there isn’t an explanation for some of the university’s policies. One particular policy holds that adjunct faculty, who are hired per course, can only teach a maximum of three classes per year. Term faculty, who signed a three-year, full-time contract, can teach six classes. Tokaz doesn’t know where the rule even comes from.

“It’s not in our contract,” he said.

There are two types of adjuncts, according to Tokaz. The school has a PhD-adjunct pipeline that enables PhD graduates to teach at AU. As a result, many adjuncts have recently graduated, leaving them in a financially vulnerable position. The other type of adjunct is made up of retired veterans with specific disciplines.

“If you’re a retired senator, you’re going to be getting paid more than the person who’s a fresh PhD,” Tokaz said. “They see teaching as sort of like a community service, where they want to give back.”

From attending a meeting over the summer, Tokaz found AU’s adjunct salaries were calculated down to a weekly basis of seven hours per week of work.

Breaking down his average week, Tokaz said he spends three and a half hours between classroom time and mandatory office hours, leaving him with a total of three and a half hours to grade papers, plan lessons and read any supplementary materials.

In 2012, adjunct faculty voted to join the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union.

Despite a consistently renewed contract with the union, which mainly operates through a bargaining team of adjunct faculty, Tokaz expressed discontent with the union.

“Nobody knows what the union’s doing,” said Tokaz. According to him, the union set up a labor management committee a few years ago, designed to handle non-contract matters.Tokaz said his only communication with the union was a single email. There is also no information about the union on the AU website.

But the union seems to have made significant progress for adjuncts since 2012. The union succeeded in increasing wages and opening professional development opportunities within AU, according to Anne McLeer, Director of Higher Education at SEIU 500.

In the past, student evaluations carried significant weight in the rehiring of adjuncts. This often put professors in the hot seat if a

CamPUS liFe 07 student received an unsatisfactory grade, but the union’s efforts took the pressure off.

The union has given adjuncts a voice, McLeer said, because SEIU 500 mostly fulfills an administrative role by facilitating focus groups and giving surveys to understand adjuncts’ needs.

Communication with faculty can be difficult and can be a slow progress, McLeer said “It’s difficult to have a meaningful conversation with everybody,” McLeer said.

With about 650 adjuncts, McLeer says making contact with all of them has been difficult. Tokaz and McLeer agree that more people need to participate in the union for it to effectively do its job. Whether it’s on the union to be more communicative or the adjuncts to participate more is unclear.

McLeer also said that change often cannot happen overnight, particularly because some of the controversial issues facing adjuncts have existed for 40-50 years. While the union has done a lot for many schools around the District, including AU, it is difficult to combat some of the longer-term trends.

Before the union, similar issues facing adjuncts were widespread across D.C., McLeer said. In 2012, George Washington University, which unionized with SEIU 500 not long before AU, also reportedly suffered from many of the same problems, such as low wages and little to no budget for professional development.

Nationwide, part-time faculty made up 40% of professors in 2015, according to the American Association of University Professors.

Since 1975, tenure and tenure-track faculty have decreased from 45% to 30%, showing a heavy reliance on tenured-professor alternatives like adjuncts.

If the union and adjuncts can work together properly, one of AU’s largest groups of faculty could form a powerful voice at the school.

“As the years go by, we’re building in strength,” McLeer said. “But we’re only as strong as the people who make up the union.”

However, adjuncts do not form a monolith. Trace Lasley, a Justice, Law and Criminology adjunct, has a different view on some of the same issues. He works another job in addition to being an adjunct, which partially alleviates the financial burden.

“I definitely feel like I’m part of the AU community,” Lasley said. “I know most of the administration here by name, and they’ll reach out to me from time to time for different speaking events.”

Lasley said he was aware that some adjuncts, including veterans, did not feel as connected.

Lasley said he is also part of the Homeland Security Policy program, which is a relatively small, tight-knit group of faculty.

Despite the confusion and different perspectives all three had on adjuncts’ place at AU, they all generally agreed that more representation would be better for everyone.

“There was a high reliance on adjunct faculty,” McLeer said. “They were teaching somewhere between 30-40% of the courses.”

A lot of these issues represent longterm trends, which can make them very difficult to stop. .

Teddy Everett is a sophomore studying journalism.

08 awol magazine

AU Frat Culture During #MeToo

Posada Written by Elizabeth Art by Ben Black

GREEK LIFE HAS BEEN A STAPLE

of American culture for decades.

Starting in 1776 with Phi Beta Kappa, fraternities began as groups of students who would meet at a set location and have intellectual debates about politics, philosophy, and literature. By the 1920s party culture became an integral part of fraternity life.

Along with party culture, fraternities have become associated with sexual assault. Students nationwide have created various nicknames and phrases for different fraternities such as “Sexual Assault Expected” for Sigma Alpha Epsilon and “Pike Spikes” for Pi Kappa Alpha.

The association goes beyond just culture. Fraternity brothers are three times more likely to perform sexual assault than college men who are not associated with Greek Life, according to a 2007 study published in the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice.

after a series of rape allegations toward Phi Kappa Psi. Before the official reports, sexual assault victims of Phi Kappa Psi anonymously wrote their accounts and sought help from others on a public blog.

Later, documents about the fraternity were leaked online. In the documents, many members talked about their sexual encounters in a bedroom in the house, which they called the “Rape Attic.” Following the scandal, Swarthmore banned Phi Kappa Psi. Delta Upsilon, the other on-campus fraternity, decided to disband after the scandal. The organization said in a statement that disbanding was “in the best interest of the Swarthmore community.”

Fraternities are among these institutions. In universities across the nation, student-led groups have called out fraternities for sexual misconduct. Tensions arose at the University of Pennsylvania after an invitation from an underground fraternity containing a suggestive piece of poetry circulated around campus. Following the email, several students expressed their outrage by posting posters around campus containing the poem from the original email with “this is what rape culture looks like” written over it.

At American University, sexual assault cases linked to fraternites have been taken more seriously by the administration since the exposure of Epsilon Iota, a fraternity removed from campus by the university, in 2017.

The events at Swarthmore were Founded in 1943 as a part of the part of a larger culture of sexual Alpha Tau Omega chapter, EI opermisconduct against women opposed ated at AU for 58 years. In 2001, EI by the #MeToo movement that was disestablished for breaking the began in 2017. Women revealed university code of conduct. their own stories of sexual assault One major instance of sexual conthrough social media and brought duct allegations occurred at Swarth- international attention to the issue. For the next 16 years, EI continued to run underground, recruiting more College in Pennsylvania. In Many institutions came under fire first-years discreetly.

May 2019, the university disbanded for their inaction toward issues of “[The exposure of EI] definitely the only two fraternities on campus sexual misconduct.

09 shocked us to the core and showed us that we, as a community, need to keep our eyes out for anything, even if it’s not in our own community,” said Benjamin Khoshbin, President of AU’s Interfraternity Council.

After EI’s exposure in 2017, AU warned first-years about their violation of the conduct code. Anyone participating in their activities could be expelled, according to the statement found on AU’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life web page.

Since the #MeToo movement and the exposure of EI at AU, there has

Following the events of #MeToo, the number of sexual assault reportings at AU increased significantly, according to Regina Curran, AU’s Title IX program officer.

In regards to the cultural shift from the #MeToo movement at AU, fraternities and sororities have taken more of a stand against harassment with more resources, events and speakers to bring awareness to the issue, Curran said.

“Instead of thinking about [sexual assault] as an abstract, problematic thing, I think our students, and I think our whole campus culture

“Instead of thinking about it as an abstract, problematic thing, I think our students, and I think our whole campus culture have really been able to see it as an actual individual problem that people are experiencing”

been a larger conversation about sexual assault on campus. All incoming undergraduate students must attend “EmpowerAU,” a university sexual-violence-prevention program.

Within fraternities, there has been an increase in education and awareness work around sexual misconduct.

have really been able to see it as an actual individual problem that people are experiencing,” she said.

The larger issue of sexual assault is becoming a more prevalent topic in the media, Curran said.

Fraternities became more comfortable with talking about sensitive topics like sexual assault, hazing, and drug use after EI was exposed, Khoshbin said.

As of 2016, five fraternities and sororities are facing sanctions for Rachel Carignan, a first-year at AU, violating the student conduct code, said the university has challenged according to information published her expectations of frat parties.

by Fraternity and Sorority Life.

These organizations include Delta Tau Delta, Beta Theta Pi, Chi Omega, “At AU, the frat brothers are more aware of the consequences of sexual Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Chi. All assault;” Carignan said. “They really of them have been cases of hazing, respect Title IX and the rule of underage drinking and threatening consent, which isn’t really seen in the health of others. the media.”

AU offers awareness programs that AU currently has 6 pending federal stress the importance of consent.

Title IX cases, according to the U.S. This is done through organizations Department of Education, Office for such as the Greek Wellness CoaliCivil Rights.

Five of these cases tion, GreekLifeEdu and OASIS.

are for incidents of sexual violence, and one is for claims of retaliation.

The office does not say whether investigations relate to fraternity and sorority life or other university affiliated organizations.

At one fraternity’s house, consent posters with sayings like “silence does not mean ‘yes’” cover the walls of their house, according to Carignan. This fraternity, like others, also has sober brothers checking the bathrooms and making sure everyone is all right.

The fraternity did not return requests for comment.

In 2015, Faith Ferber was a rising senior at American University when she was raped at a sorority party by a fraternity member, according to the Washington Post.

Problems arose when the administration made Ferber sign a confidentiality agreement before a hearing could take place.

Fraternities “emphasize openness” with complaints, Khoshbin said.

Khoshbin said that he has also made himself a resource for others with complaints within his own fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, and in the community as a whole.

In a 2016 statement regarding Ferber’s investigation, former Vice President of Campus Life Gail Hanson said, “Students, faculty, and staff have contributed substantively to the progress AU has made in addressing sexual misconduct. Our campus community will continue to work together to enhance the university’s efforts and measures of success in this important work.”

Fraternity and Sorority Life did not respond for comment, leaving AU’s success yet to be measured.

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10 awol magazine

FIGHTING RACISM IN GRADING Will Anti-Racist Pedagogy fix Freshmen Writing Classes at AU? Written by Maaz Qureshi Art by Sierra Cougot and Maddie Ceasar

SHOULD STUDENTS BE ALLOWED TO

use different forms of English in their writing? Is Black vernacular English equivalent to the English used in academic discourse? Should professors grade students lower for using non-standard English in their papers?

A recent workshop at American University grappled with these questions. Last February, Neisha-Anne Green and Lacey Wooton of the AU Writing Program invited Professor Asou Inoue from the University of Washington Tacoma to present his workshop “Grading Ain’t Just Grading.”

writing might not be fair to different students,” Wooten said. Such differences could include socioeconomic background. “The reality is that the discourse in college writing, in general, is a particular type, and it assumes and favors a white, upper-class background.”

outlet focused on higher education. The articles criticize the labor-based grading aspect of Inoue’s work, implying that it detracts from recognizing the quality of a student’s work.

Following Inoue’s anti-racist grading pedagogy, professors who attended the workshop are beginning to implement more holistic approaches, such as workshopping drafts in class, into their syllabi. They’re also starting to take students’ different writing abilities into consideration, especially differences in those writing abilities due to socioeconomic factors.

The College Fix did not reach out to AU’s professors for comment after publishing an article claiming that AU was training professors not to judge the quality of writing when grading, according to Choutka.

The article largely criticizes anti-racist grading for not grading correctness in student work, Choutka said.

The optional workshop, which every school at AU contributed funding for, and its follow-up in August was “I still need to hold my students ac- “We’re still grading students on corcompletely filled, according to Woo- countable for the learning outcomes rectness,” Choutka said. “One thing ton. Overall, the workshops were of Writing 100 and what they need Inoue says that resonates with us is well received by the attendees. that we need to be inclusive of the to be learning to become successful Englishes students have when they writers in college,” said Professor In this workshop, Inoue introduced come into our classroom, and we Amanda Choutka of the writing anti-racist grading pedagogy, which department. “However, I think there need to think about how that stufocuses on how professors in freshdent wants to be held accountable.” is a real danger in grading students man writing courses can be more on what I haven’t taught them inclusive of diverse writing styles.

Professors need to be inclusive of all before.”

Inoue advocated for moving away varieties of English because there from standard-based grading and One attendee at the follow-up work- are no “bad Englishes,” Inoue said implementing more accommodatshop created a disturbance and was in his article “Antiracist Writing ing grading practices, including inasked to leave the premises. Wooton Assessment Ecologies.” Every form class workshops that help students of English, from Black Vernacular believes this disruption was linked identify problems in their writing. to Spanglish, is governed by rules to a series of articles published by The College Fix, a conservative news and is not inferior to the English “The way we teach and evaluate

CamPUS liFe 11 said. UW is comprised of more low-income, underprivileged groups than AU, which has a majority of students coming from privileged backgrounds where the English that is used in academic settings is taught.

“Mechanical grammatical standards are not high on the [conventional] rubric. A student’s grades are not largely based on those standards,” Tamashasky said. “Changing to labor-based isn’t doing much anti-racist pedagogy, but what I think I’m doing is pulling the stress away that [students] feel when they sit down to do a paper.”

used in academic discourse, according to Inoue.

This was one focus of the workshop, according to Choutka. The workshop explained how the white dialect of English is enforced in higher institutions, particularly through grading in freshman writing courses.

To fix this, Inoue suggested labor-based grading contracts, which give more weight to the effort students put into the class rather than the final product.

In his book, “Labor-Based Grading Contracts,” Inoue includes a sample contract from one of his classes. In the sample, a student will earn a B in the course for attending at least 84% of classes, allowing five missed classes in the semester, in addition to submitting at most five assignments late. The contract contains extra credit assignments that a student may complete to earn an A in the course.

Because the contract is based more on completing assignments than grading the content, submitted

assignments will get a 100%. This system allows students to earn the grade they want and be able to know their standing at any point in the semester, according to Inoue.

Adam Tamashasky, a college writing professor, is the only professor who has implemented the labor-based grading contract so far after attending the workshop. He says the labor-based grading has created a less stressful environment in his classroom and allows students to take greater risks with their work compared to if they were under the pressure of standard-based grading. “[Inoue] asks a question in his book, ‘Should every student have the same access to the highest grade in class?’” Tamashsky said, “If the answer is yes and you realize people have come in with unequal educational backgrounds, then a standards-based classroom prevents that.”

The difference in the diversity of AU and UW Tacoma, where Inoue teaches, is an important factor to consider when conducting labor-based grading, Tamashasky

Tamashasky devoted the first class of the semester to explaining labor-based contracts, said Benjamin McNutt, a student in Tamashasky’s class. Tamashasky told the class that freshman writing courses are designed to bring everyone up to speed on basic college writing proficiency and that labor-based grading can help that. “[Tamashaky] said that when teachers or professors try to teach “academic writing” what they’re really teaching is “white writing” as academia has long been predominantly white in makeup and in style,” McNutt said.

Tamashasky explained that labor-based grading removes the punishment of low grades for students who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and gives them the opportunity to improve their grade through in-class workshops and focused peer review.

“I think the labor-based contract is perfect for a first semester writing course,” McNutt said. “I feel less stress in writing my papers than any of my peers in non-labor-based [grading] writing courses.”

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12 awol magazine

SUSPICIOUS SPENDING AT AU STUDENT GOVERNMENT Confidential Fees, Transparency Officers, and a Whole Lot of Quarter-Zips Written by Shannon Durazo and Braeden Waddell Art by Ben Black and Caroline Lougee

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY STUDENT

American University Student Government has an annual budget of over half a million dollars. Every student pays an activity fee of $88.50 to fund clubs, student media and AUSG. Half of these funds go to AUSG’s staff and activities, which include adjacent organizations like the Kennedy Political Union and the Women’s Initiative. This $570,000 is designed to finance speaker fees and community events.

The organizations also use student

money for a number of purchases, such as internal merchandise and food for their staff. According to information made available by AUSG, this semester’s expenses included $270 on lapel pins, about $700 on Chipotle and nearly $1,200 on embroidered quarter-zip sweaters for KPU staff members.

“I don’t think there’s an ethical distinction, and if we were just handing out literal bags of money to student government members, that would clearly be an ethical problem,” Zitzmann said.

Jordan Bell, who oversaw the $1,200 expense as KPU’s financial coordinator, said he believed the spending was justified.

Some members within AUSG disagree about the way student money is spent. AUSG Comptroller “I think it’s beneficial to the organization and to AU’s student Bobby Zitzmann, who oversees the government by promoting KPU, the organization’s expenditures and school, AUSG as a brand,” said Bell. makes regular budget reports, said “I think having a … uniform apparel he believed some of KPU’s spending for staff members to have is a good this semester was questionable. thing.”

“If I were the KPU director or the KPU finance coordinator, KPU would not be spending money on that internal merchandise that’s just for KPU members,” Zitzmann said. “I think that is unethical because it’s using student money for just benefiting someone who has the privilege of being a KPU staff member.”

Zitzmann, said that an AUSG member purchasing a $40 sweatshirt for the organization is comparable to a student government member taking out $40 in cash from an ATM and giving it to themselves.

Bell said he did not think the spending was unethical because it was approved by several people.

“It was something that had to be approved by multiple steps with the understanding that we would be held accountable,” said Bell. “[By] the Vice President, by student activities, by the student body.”

According to reporting from The Eagle earlier this semester, AUSG’s most recent election turnout hit its lowest point in years. In AWOL’s investigative podcast, Ripped From

13 The Wall, most students interviewed did not know what AUSG was spending its money on despite their new focus on budget transparency.

AUSG President Angela Chen said she believed this disinterest has to do with students’ perceived ability to affect change within student government.

“I think a lot of students don’t believe that their vote like matters, whoever they elect is actually going to hold true to their campaign promises,” said Chen. “That has to do more with student voter turnout than necessarily students being apathetic, or whatever people want to say it is.”

if they’re excited about something that’s going on, if they need more information about something, if they want better contact with any of the board members, for whatever reason, I am a resource on campus,” said Saldanha.

She said that students’ concerns on how AUSG operates are justified along with the issues students have brought up in the past in terms of transparency and “making sure that people are doing it for the right reasons.”

“The tricky part about student government ... is that a lot of the things that happen cannot necessarily be properly communicated with the student body,” said Saldanha.

Chen also said she believes there is value to spending money to create a brand for organizations like KPU as part of their effort to demonstrate professionalism to both visiting speakers and students alike. Within the organization, members are balancing their personal beliefs with ensuring they are doing what is best for students, she said.

Saldanha said she hopes her position will provide students with the opportunity to raise their voice when they have questions about AUSG spending and operations. She also hopes students will reach out to her when they see something they disagree with or don’t understand.

“Most of the money that student government has goes to our programming boards, that’s the majority,” said Chen. “I think that you would have a tough time arguing that the work our programming boards do doesn’t benefit the students.”

“I’m really a resource in order to make sure that the people that you elected are serving you in the best way that they can,” said Saldanha.

“That means, of course, following through on what they ran on. If they’re not doing that, my job is to make sure that they’re being held accountable.”

This semester, AUSG introduced a new position to its ranks: the director of executive board accountability. Schanelle Saldanha, a sophomore in AU’s School of Communication, took on this role.

Saldanha meets with senior members of student government at least once every two weeks to check in about student concerns and ensure they are responsive. She said an important part of her job is being an outlet for students.

“I am a person on campus that they can come to if they’re frustrated,

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Listen to the podcast about the story by Ripped From The Wall Available wherever you listen to podcasts

14 awol magazine

FREEMASONS AND T FUTURE APOCALYPS A Look into the Denver Intern ational Airport Conspiracy Theories Written by Maddie Eunis Art by Kavi Farr

CUltURe 15

THE SE

THERE’S A SECRET SOCIETY THAT

has housed many of the country’s founders, like George Washington, James Monroe, Benjamin Franklin.

With suspicions of covered-up murders and random disappearances, the Freemasons continue to influence society.

Freemasonry is a fraternity that is connected by philanthropy and philosophical values.

“Freemasonry is definitely not a religion. One of the requirements to join is a belief in a supreme being, a higher power,” said Perry Blatstein, secretary of the Freemason Eagle Lodge in Tenleytown. “I can’t speak for the people in the 1700s, but it was definitely something similar.”

A specific faith isn’t required, meaning any worshipper can join, including satanists or pagans.

according to Isaac Weishaupt, conspiracy theorist and novelist.

With roots stemming from the Middle Ages, Freemasons have been around for a long time. Conspiracy theories about the Freemasons that offset its picture of a simple, helpful organization are common.

Due to its shadowy origins, Freemasonry is under the microscope of conspiracy theorists, including Weishaupt, who look to connect Freemasons to unexplained phenomena. Denver International Airport is home to one of these conspiracy theories, and it drags Freemasonry into the spotlight.

Denver International Airport is a playground for conspiracy theorists who think it could be the sanctuary of the post-apocalyptic world for politicians and wealthy families.

There is a popular conspiracy theoEXHIBIT A: THE SCENE ry that claims that when the world ends, the Freemasons will start a Denver International Airport is a new society called the New World large, clean-cut building that looks Order. The New World Order and normal from the exterior. Built in apocalyptic conspiracies are rooted 1995, the airport was a huge stepin the idea of Lucifer and paganism,

ping stone for the people of Colorado. The airport filled a citywide want for a monument to global travel.

Conspiracy theorists look beyond this.

Conspiracy theorists look at the fact that construction of the airport ran 16 months behind schedule. To these theorists, this means there could have been time allotted for additional areas to be built as a doomsday shelter for the elite.

While this time could have been due to errors in design, investments, and construction, there is a possibility of a hidden agenda.

When Denver International Airport first opened, it exhibited various types of artwork that caught the eyes of people all over the nation.

The artwork seemed eerie upon a closer look. One of these artworks was a horse statue, known as the Blue Mustang, that stands outside as the main attraction. The artwork seemed to represent apocalyptic ideas, which led to the proliferation of conspiracy theories.

16 awol magazine EXHIBIT B: “BLUECIFER”

The Blue Mustang is a giant blue horse with demonic glowing red eyes and veins strung out on its face. The artist, Luis Jiménez, died during construction when a piece of the statue fell on him, which adds the mysterious element of the artwork.

Colloquially known as “Bluecifer,” conspiracy theorists believe the statue may be alluding to the four horsemen that call to the apocalypse in the Bible.

In the last book of the Bible, the disciple John writes about a pale horseman. The horseman’s name is Death and is described as ghostly with Hades following close behind.

Although the color of this horse is “pale,” most drawings and depictions of this horse are blue.

There is a deeper meaning behind the horse statue in front of the airport, according to Alex Reneria, the public representative of media of Denver Airport. To the residents of Denver, it’s a landmark of one of the largest airports in the country, and their ability to travel globally.

“It was actually very personal,” Renteria said. Jiménez’s children had to add the finishing touches to the sculpture after Jiménez died during construction. Because Jiménez’s history of working with neon, the children made the eyes neon as a tribute to him, according to Renteria While Weishaupt and other theorists see the stylistic choices such as the color, veins and darkness overall as a sign of Satanism, Renteria said she assumed that the design was personal style.

Jiménez’s previous work involved a lot of controversial pieces. Jiménez created a similar sculpture hat stands outside of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, of a cowboy riding a blue horse strikingly

similar to the Blue Mustang. With the same demonic eyes and details on both sculptures, there seems to be a style that Jiménez used consistently.

Many others, including Blatstein, think this is pure conspiracy.

The Blue Mustang could be an allusion to the apocalypse c or a symbol of satanism. Alternatively, it could also be part of Jiménez’s strategy to leave a legacy. Twenty-four years later, theorists and fans alike are still debating purpose around its design.

“If the Freemasons laid the cornerstone of the airport, that’s a very legitimate reason to have a stone,” Blatstein said. “The stone could be signifying a New World in a global sense, such as new systems of travel and trade.”

EXHIBIT C: THE STO NE

Inside the airport, there’s a stone that fuels Freemason conspiracy theories. The engraved Freemasonry symbol on the stone honors the airport.When taking a closer look, the stone reads “New World Airport.”

The phrase “was mentioned because it was a new global airport,” Renteria said. “I think it was in reference that since it was a newer airport, when it was built, we were trying to be a global entry.”

To the world of conspiracy theorists this is a clue that leads to a bigger conclusion: The New World Order.

The New World Order is defined as the end of the world, a satanist goal that advocates for the antichrist to rise and destroy the world in order to rebuild.

“Freemasons are always a part of the conspiracy,” Weishaupt said. “If you asked me to pick a side, I would say the Freemasons are a part of this Illuminati idea of changing the world to this New World Order or new age.”

Conspiracy theorists think the next great war will cause the apocalypse with nuclear weapons, and the airport has an underground sanctuary for when this happens. These tunnels will protect political leaders and the wealthy in the event of an apocalyptic world. Essentially, if the world goes to shit, this is where the Vanderbilts and Beyonces will be—

sipping champagne while the rest of the earth turns to dust.

There is over a million square feet of space in the tunnels of the airport, according to KUSA Denver.

This large number is considered evidence for the conspiracy theorists.

Renteria confirmed the existence of tunnels but said they are for baggage carts.

CUltURe 17 THE CONCLUSION: ARE THSE THEORIES LEGIT?

Denver Airport encourages the conspiracy theories by listing them on their website. The website’s page containing the conspiracies are more of a sarcastic portrayal of the airport’s theories.

“Are we expanding the bunkers?

Revamping the lizards’ lairs? Ehh, not exactly. But if that’s what you want to believe, we’re not going to hinder your imagination. So dream on, travelers, dream on,” the site reads.

“The Freemasons, they’re all about the great work and the great work of the force, ruling mankind in the next stage which is the New World Order,” Weistraupt said.

If the New World Order is inevitable, then the earth might explode and consume mankind. But, if these are just a load of theories and overthought coincidences, the earth is safe — for now.

“The airport, a couple years back, decided, ‘Hey, let’s embrace it!’,” Reneria said. “So that’s what we do. We make fun of ourselves and embrace the theories.”

While Renteria talks about Denver Airport “embracing” these theories, the airport negates the theories in its webpage.

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Conspiracy theorists still believe there’s more going on.

DEN AIRPORT

PHOTO ESSAY: “A Minority Within a Majority”

Miriam “Mimi” Post 18

A Minority Within a Majority came about when I decided to go out to Chinatown to take pictures to relieve some stress. I noticed that Chinatown in DC is more like a ChinaBlock compared to the one I am used to back home. I noticed, however, it’s the small unnoticeable moments within a larger moment that are the most intimate that inspired this piece.

Mimi Post is a freshmen studying business and entertainment with minors in computer science and international business.

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opposite page

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DEATHS IN THE DISTRICT  1

The beginning of an investigation into the effects of environment on opioid overdoses in the District Written by Grace Vitaglione and Braeden Waddell Art by Laura Benjaminsen

A MAN NAMED KJ DIED OF A

heroin overdose in the public restroom of a metro station in Budapest on Jan. 9, 1999.

In 2015, nearly half a million people died from opioid overdose worldwide. But KJ’s death was different than others.

Researchers from the Budapest Addiction Research Institute in Hungary examined his case in 2005 and came away questioning the real cause of his death.

the ring of a bell, environmental stimuli such as room color, lighting and familiarity could “condition” a person’s physiological response to a substance.

In other words, they found that when a drug is taken in a familiar environment over multiple occasions, the body begins to “expect” the drug in that environment and develop responses to counteract the drug’s effects. This is called behavioral tolerance.

According to the Hungarian researchers, KJ’s case offered evidence that when a drug is taken in a new or strange environment, a person’s body could have a more serious reaction to the same amount of a substance than if it was taken in a familiar setting.

According to accounts from KJ’s wife and friends, he decided to stop using heroin the night before he died. The next morning, he broke his promise and went to his dealer. Researchers noted that the morning he died, “he injected the same quantity (0.5 gram) that he had taken the previous day in the accustomed place, at home with his wife.”

This could mean the difference between life and death.

The fact that he used the same amount of heroin as the previous day was critical to the researchers’ conclusion that the environment in which a drug is repeatedly used could play a significant role in the body’s ability to tolerate a substance. Similar to physiologist Ivan Pavlov’s dogs drooling at

The most relevant research on this topic was conducted nearly three decades ago by Shepard Siegel, a Canadian sociologist. Since 1984, he has repeatedly linked changes in environment to opioid overdoses in rats and has also studied environmental stimuli as a factor in alcohol tolerance in humans.

health 23 In his past studies, Siegel also cited work that concluded the basis for alcohol tolerance originates from environmental cues in the places people often drink. He said the relationship between location and use directly relates to opioids as well.

“It’s incontrovertible that alcohol tolerance is dependent on usual alcohol-associated cues,” Siegel said.

According to Siegel, the three animal studies he already conducted on this topic unequivocally “prove” the relationship between opioid

that a lot of the factors relating to overdose remain under-examined.

Besides the small amount of research that has been done on this topic, there are questions about the reliability of the existing research and if any real conclusions can be drawn from it.

David Kearns, a professor of psychology at American University, said his issue with Siegel’s research is that it was primarily conducted on rats. This method is not always reliable when relating experiment results to people.

“If heroin [users] were instructed about the importance of environmental cues, … if they knew that taking it in a novel environment was a risk factor for overdose, they would be less likely to suffer an overdose.

overdoses and environment. He said he also believes that people should pay more attention to this subject considering its consequences, and that there’s a reason this angle is largely overlooked by opioid researchers.

“The people involved in opiate research tend not to be psychologists,” Siegel said. “They come from a different place, different backgrounds and different orientation … the idea that environmental cues are important is very foreign to them.”

In his opinion, there is a lot more interest in the effects of “adulterating” heroin with stronger substances, like synthetic opioids, rather than the environment where a drug is taken. Many people suggest overdoses may be more complex than simply recording the amount of opioids taken and

“It’s theoretically possible,” Kearns said. Despite his misgivings on the research, Kearns said that he respected Siegel’s work and that the research has never been discredited.

In his view, Siegel’s theory can be summarized as follows: “The body tries to maintain homeostasis, the drug disrupts homeostasis, the body’s response is to counteract, and the response is elicited by environmental cues.”

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Both Siegel and Kearns agreed that alcohol tolerance studies could be used to draw a logical and scientifically sound connection between the environment in which someone uses a drug and their body’s response. Siegel said his main difficulty with proving this directly is the ethical limitation in place that stops researchers from experimenting on people, especially involving addiction science and overdose.

and became an experienced user in the four years leading up to his death. Over the course of six months, he increased his dosage from half a gram weekly to a full gram every day. Four years later, he would overdose on just half a gram. According to the Budapest Addiction Research Institute, the quality of the drug he took that morning in 1999 was no different than usual.

So, why did KJ die?

That doesn’t mean, however, that this kind of research is impossible.

A team of researchers in Barcelona conducted a human-based study in 1994 which suggested that environment has a direct relationship to drug tolerance. In the study, researchers interviewed people who received emergency medical services for overdoses.

They found that if a person had overdosed on the same amount of a drug as they usually took–like KJ did–they were significantly more likely to have taken it in a novel location.

“The association between heroin overdose and unusual drug administration setting confirms the influence of non-pharmacological factors in heroin overdoses,” the researchers wrote. “Further studies should be considered to address the role played by self-administration of heroin in an unusual setting in conditioned tolerance.”

Siegel and the researchers in Budapest agreed that KJ’s experience could be part of a bigger story. He first used heroin in 1995

Chikarlo Leak argues that many deaths from opioid overdose are caused by a lack of education programs and harm reduction initiatives. Leak works in the Washington office of the chief medical examiner to compile mortality reports on opioid-related overdose deaths. He also works as a consultant for Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Live Long DC Initiative, which addresses opioid use in the city.

programs and providing immediate access to intervention and care” are all key to reducing opioid deaths.

Leak said that the November 2019 report on overdose-related deaths, which has not been released as of publication, shows Wards 5, 7 and 8 as having the highest rate of overdose deaths.

Leak says this is related to the racial demographics of those wards, all of which are predominantly Black.

According to the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the typical opioid user in the city is a 50 to 59 year-old black man, as opposed to the national average, a white man between the ages of 18-29.

Leak also said that the newest report shows overdoses aren’t declining despite the $24 million plan to combat deaths in the District. The initiatives in place revolve around expanding education and awareness while also providing access to life-saving Leak says that “reducing regulatory opioid reversal drugs like Narcan. barriers, creating a robust and “We want to make sure residents comprehensive surveillance system, and users are aware that there are … supporting behavioral health services in the city,” Leak said.

health 25

None of these city initiatives mention environmental cues as a factor in overdose.

There is still research to be done.

But if there is even a possibility that these conclusions are valid, substance users should be made aware of the fatal risks that may come with using in a different environment.

Editor’s Note: This is the first part of an AWOL investigation into overdose deaths in the District of Columbia.

The second part of the series will focus on the location of overdose calls throughout Washington.

“If heroin [users] were instructed about the importance of environmental cues, … if they knew that taking it in a novel environment was a risk factor for overdose, they would be less likely to suffer an overdose,” Siegel said.

“That message does not go out.”

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AT THEIR MOST VULNERABLE The Rise of Crisis Pregnancy Centers Written by McKenzie Beard Art by Hannah Cisternelli

IT’S A QUIET TUESDAY AFTERNOON

in Capitol Hill and a woman stands in front of a brick building painted white with a forest green trim. Her stomach hangs low over her waist band and a toddler cries at her feet.

There’s a phone number scrawled onto a Post-it note that’s stuck on the front door. She punches the number into a flip phone and waits.

The doors are always locked at Capitol Hill Crisis Pregnancy Center — but there are no protesters wielding signs or shouting obscenities at the women who walk into this clinic.

CHCPC is just one of many faithbased organizations in D.C. that advertises free and confidential services to women experiencing an unintended pregnancy. However, despite its name, CHCPC isn’t a medical provider at all.

“Crisis pregnancy centers are fake clinics that tend to pose themselves as real abortion providers,” said Caitlin Blunnie, the organizing lead at Reproaction, a national reproductive justice organization that uses direct action to increase abortion access.

Reproaction has been at the forefront of strikes, public demonstrations and protests for reproductive justice across the country. Today, Reproaction is one of the most engaged organizations in the fight for holding fake pregnancy clinics responsible.

“They advertise free pregnancy testing, counseling for abortion, free ultrasounds, and a number of other services that on the outside make them look like they’re a real abortion provider. In reality, the second that they get folks inside the door the deception begins,” Blunnie said.

In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that unlicensed centers are not required to post their medical status at their facilities on the grounds of the First Amendment. There were no postings outside, inside, or on the website of the CHCPC.

Inside CHPC, there is a rack of tiny shoes lined perfectly in a row next to a wall of informative pamphlets.

“The First Nine Months” one leaflet reads. On its cover a woman holds her stomach and smiles. Another, printed in bold black and red ink, warns of the health and safety issues of abortions.

“A lot of crisis pregnancy centers, including CHCPC, look as though they are a community business. In reality, they are often linked to larger faith clinic networks,” Blunnie said.

The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, ProChoice America, lists some of these methods of deceit, saying CPCs use these tactics to deter women from seeking an abortion. This includes methods like providing medically inaccurate mental health and abortion information, shaming, manipulation and forcing women to view anti-abortion films, slideshowsand photos.

Janet Durig, executive director of CHCPC, said that all of the information that clients receive is factual, and that the clinic obtains its handouts from organizations like Heartbeat International.

Heartbeat International is one of the three major faith-based, pro-life networks operating in the U.S.. The agency provides free anti-choice materials and trainings for its affiliates.

“It’s very strategic to look as though the clinics are just groups of nice-looking older women who are

health 27

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trying to help other women,” Blunnie said. “In reality, though, this is something the pro-life movement has been using as a tool to trick vulnerable people.”

to keep the baby. But that wasn’t the future Loving had envisioned for herself. She knew that what she wanted was an abortion, but what she needed was help.

Lisa Loving, now in her 50s, looked back on her experience with a crisis pregnancy center and said she wishes she knew then what she knows now.

“When I went in, they never asked to speak with my parents or demanded to notify them, which is why I called them — if I was wrong, I didn’t want to upset my parents over nothing,” Loving said.

“In reality, the second that they get folks inside the door the deception begins”

CHCPC isn’t the only clinic in the District using deceit to draw in vulnerable women like Loving.

While CHCPC claims that the clinic is run solely off generous donations, other CPCs receive federal funding through tax subsidies and government programs like Title X, a federal family planning statute. The Northwest Center, a CPC located in Lanier Heights, receives thousands of dollars each year from local and federal grants to keep its doors open.

Susan Gallucci, the Northwest Center’s maternity home executive director, said that the center is prolife but not faith-based. However, the center predominantly distributes information from Care Net, an evangelical Christian organization.

With dwindling numbers of aborFor some women, the decision to tion providers across the U.S., the have an abortion isn’t a difficult one. District is no different, and the most vulnerable populations are at “I knew the facility would try to talk the greatest risk. me out of having an abortion, but Loving’s older sister had gotten luckily I was completely decided be- Blunnie said that the district has a ratio of 1-to-1 between real and pregnant young as well, and decided fore I went there,” Loving said.

“I had unprotected sex with my boyfriend when I was 16 years old and had a feeling I was pregnant,” Loving said.

28 awol magazine

fake abortion clinics. Just outside of the District’s boundaries though, in places like Northern Virginia, CPCs outnumber real clinics 4-to-1.

The former vice president of health policy at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Dr. Barbara Levy, called D.C. “the most dangerous place to give birth in the United States if you are African American.”

Dr. Roger A. Mitchell, the District’s Chief Medical Examiner, testified at a public hearing that in D.C., 75% of mothers that died of complications related to child birth between 2014 and 2016 were Black women.

The maternity wards at Providence Hospital and United Medical Center, in Northeast and Southeast D.C. respectively, once predominantly served pregnant Black and low-income women. Both hospitals abruptly and quietly closed their doors in 2017 after D.C. council members slashed the only public hospital in the District’s budget by millions earlier this year. The decision leaves women of color in D.C. with few places to turn.

From this moment of despair rose CPCs. According to Gallucci, the Northwest Pregnancy Center predominantly serves low-income women of color.

Roughly half of their clients are Black or African American and the other half are Latinx. Durig said that these numbers are similar at CHCPC. These demographics aren’t a coincidence.

Care Net launched its Underserved Outreach Initiative in 2003 with the goal of “reaching underserved and over-aborted people in urban communities,” according to the organization’s website. The agency is specifically targeting “abortion-vulnerable, inner-city African American and Latino women.”

When United Medical Center closed its doors for good, CHCPC saw it as an opportunity. The center is planning on opening a satellite clinic in Southeast D.C. as soon as a space becomes available.

Approximately 97% of residents in Anacostia, D.C., a community located east of the Anacostia River, are Black or African American, according to census data. Currently poverty rates are three times higher here than anywhere else in the district.

The presence of fake clinics in this area continue to rise.

“The real danger of a Crisis Pregnancy Center is that teenagers caught in a difficult situation can be mislead into a situation beyond their control — such as giving birth — without understanding the longterm ramifications,” Loving said.

“They are life-altering.”

_________________________________ If you or someone you know is in need of medically accurate, confidential, and affordable assistance regaring reproductive health, contact the resources below: CAPITAL WOMEN’S SERVICES

(202) 945-4940 PLANNED PARENTHOOD

(CAROL W HITEHILL MOSES CENTER)

(202) 347-8512 DC DIAPER BANK

(202) 656-8503 DC ABORTION FUND

(202) 452-7464

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MENTAL BORDERS Mental Health Challenges In The Latinx Immigrant Community

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Written by Savanna Strott Art by Ben Black

health 31 TATIANA MURILLO CAME TO

the U.S. from Nicaragua at 11 years old with hopes of better opportunities and a chance to “be somebody” if she worked hard enough.

She didn’t know that “somebody” would become paralyzed by anxiety, weighted by depression and changed by trauma.

Murillo, now 29 and a graduate student at American University, learned she was undocumented in middle school. With that came a warning to keep quiet about her status and how she came to the country. She could be deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, her family told her.

“I began to feel scared about sharing [my status] publicly,” Murillo said.

“Hearing about ICE raids really created a lot of anxiety in me. I really didn’t want to go out.”

In her fear, she inaccurately associated local police with ICE. Getting in trouble meant police. Police meant ICE. ICE meant deportation.

She tried to lay low. Murillo became shyer and more introverted.

In high school she began to realize how her status restricted her as she watched friends pursue opportunities she couldn’t. She became depressed and began losing motivation and self-esteem. She estimated that she only attended about three months of the ninth grade.

In the years afterward, Murillo said she continued to struggle with anxiety, depression and the traumas related to her status in the U.S. She is now protected under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which gives work authorization and temporary protection from deportation for unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

But Murillo is still living in uncertainty. In September of 2017, President Trump announced that

he would rescind DACA, which led to lawsuits. The continuing court battle and impending Supreme Court decision in September 2020 will determine the fate of Murillo and the hundreds of thousands of people covered under DACA. “I’m so afraid of what could happen tomorrow, and it’s not just me, but everyone around me who is undocumented,” Murillo said.

Through therapy sessions and psychological evaluations for immigration cases, all of which are offered in English and Spanish, Romo sees many cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders and depression in her clients. They often have issues adjusting to the new culture and language, dealing with separation and losing friends and family through the immigration process, according to Romo.

Constant stress from the fear of being deported is considered a post-migration trauma and can have grave effects on a person’s mental health.

“Suddenly they feel like they’re very isolated,” Romo said. “They lose a sense of community, that emotional and social support.”

A 2019 study from the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health found that pre- and post-migration trauma for Latinx immigrants led to a wider variety of mental health issues than the trauma for those classified as refugees, a label which many say is politically-driven.

The current political environment brings another layer of fear and anxiety that Romo said she hadn’t seen before Trump started campaigning for president in 2015.

Discrimination, microaggressions and targeting people with certain profiles are a “side effect” of the political environment, according to Romo.

Pre-migration trauma, such as exposure to violence and poverty, had “destructive, long-term mental health consequences,” according to the study. Post-migration trauma, such as anti-immigrant rhetoric and stress relating to adapting to a new culture, increased the risk for psychological distress, particularly depressive disorders.

Many things that are unique to the experience of Latinx immigrants contribute to their mental health concerns. Despite the prevalence of these issues, the conversation about mental health in the community is limited, and cultural and systemic barriers make it difficult to get treatment. However, efforts to address these issues and increase discussion may help improve the situation.

Gabriela Romo, a psychologist in Chevy Chase, Maryland, sees the direct and indirect connection between mental health and immigration every day with her clients, about 85% to 90% of which are Latinx.

Of the foreign-born Latinx population, 57% say they have “serious concerns about their place in America” with Trump as president, according to a 2018 report from Pew Research Center. The report found that of the total Latinx population, about four in ten Latinx people have experienced discrimination, been criticized for speaking Spanish in public, been told to go back to their home country or been called offensive names in the past year.

Such aggressions affect all Latinx people, not just those of a lower socio-economic status, Romo said.

One day, she was speaking with her sister on the phone in Spanish, and a neighbor told her to go back to her country.

“It’s like the #MeToo movement among the Latinos,” Romo said.

“Racism was already there, but it was politically incorrect. Now it’s normalized.”

Romo said these kinds of social targeting takes years to heal from.

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Before Trump, the situation for those with legal statuses in limbo wasn’t any better, Murillo said. But there weren’t constant reminders through the news and anti-immigrant rhetoric about the consequences of their status.

Many in the community are trying to lay low and do not go out as much as before, said Murillo, who is also the director of finance at Identity, an organization serving Latinx youth and their families in Montgomery County.

When Trump started campaigning, Romo noticed an increase in the number of clients for both therapy and evaluations for immigration court. After he was elected, she saw a spike.

Diego Uriburu, executive director at Identity, has noticed the increase in anxiety from the political climate as well.

“Folks who have not considered getting access to services before are more willing,” Uriburu said. “[The] current climate has led to a lot more people looking to access services.”

But not all are able to get the services they need. In 2018, 33% of Latinx adults with mental illness received treatment compared to the national average of 43% for adults, according to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

The cost of mental health services is the most commonly reported reason people don’t receive treatment, according to a 2015 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report. Approximately 53% of the Latinx population needing mental health services named cost as the reason for not receiving those services.

“If they’re making minimum wage, obviously their priorities aren’t mental health, or at least that’s what I’ve seen,” Murillo said.

One session of therapy usually costs between $70 to $150, according to Romo. Most patients need between eight and 12 sessions.

Health insurance is “another can of worms,” Romo said, because many mental health practitioners do not take Medicaid, and many immigrants lack health insurance.

In 2014, almost half of the foreign-born Latinx population without citizenship didn’t have health insurance, according to Pew. Other barriers help explain the unmet need for treatment.

“Culturally, in Central America and other [Latin American] countries… access to mental health services are seen for only extreme cases,” Uriburu said.

A big factor in this is that issues are typically handled within the family or extended family in Latinx culture, according to Romo.

“Seeking help outside of your family unit or opening up outside of your family unit can be very shameful,” Romo said. “There’s a sense of shame or weakness or that you are alone.”

This perception is stronger when combined with “machismo,” a cultural term to describe an attitude of traditional masculinity. It makes it more difficult for men, particularly older men, to seek out treatment, according to Uriburu.

There’s also a stigma that those who seek mental health services are “crazy,” Romo said.

Murillo has experienced this as well. Culturally, there’s a sense that people with mental health issues should “just get over it” and “move on,” she said.

About 4 years ago, Murillo went to therapy for a year for a “mix of things,” Murillo said, part of which was trauma related to her immigration status. But her family still doesn’t know. As an adult, Murillo felt she didn’t need to consult with family, and she didn’t want her mom to worry that something was wrong with her.

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While out with her mom one day, Murillo ran into her therapist and introduced her to her mom accordingly. Other than that, they’ve never had a conversation about Murillo’s mental health or her time in therapy.

“In general, this society is not ready to talk about mental health. I think there is a lot of ignorance,” Romo said. “We think this a stigma of the Latinos but also generally speaking, too.”

Such barriers are weakening with the younger generations, Uriburu said.

“Young people tend to acculturate faster, and they understand [mental health treatment] is good for them,” Uriburu said. “They have a lot less barriers to mental health.”

Urban areas like D.C. also have more resources than their rural counterparts, Romo said.

Romo believes the mental health situation for Latinx immigrants can still be improved by having more affordable options for those with Medicaid or no health insurance at all.

Increasing the accessibility of services, especially by offering services in Spanish, is important, according to Romo. Trying to talk about personal issues and feelings is difficult, Romo said, and trying to do so in a non-native language adds another layer of difficulty.

Only 5.5% of therapists provide services in Spanish, according to a 2015 survey from the American Psychological Association released in 2019.

Speaking Spanish does not solve all concerns. Non-Latinx healthcare professionals may not understand complex cultural issues, according to an analysis from the National Alliance on Mental Illness on the mental health of the Latinx community.

Cultural differences may lead to misunderstanding and misdiagnosis. While patients may describe symptoms of depression, doctors unfamiliar with Latinx culture may not recognize them as such, according to the analysis.

For example, patients may describe themselves as having “nervios,” which in English means having “nerves” or nervousness. Doctors unfamiliar with the effect of culture on mental health may interpret this as a more simple state of nervousness rather than a more complex symptom of depression.

Professional and medical intervention is not the only way to address mental health, Uriburu said. The majority of people who come to Identity can sufficiently address their mental health concerns through other interventions like group conversations, time for introspection and even games for young people.

Many want a larger conversation about mental health. Conversation about mental health and coverage in the news can lead to changes in policies of all issues because mental health affects every aspect of life, Romo said.

When patients come for their evaluations, Romo often has to explain that she’s not showing the judge they are “crazy” but rather that they’ve experienced “emotional hardship” that should be considered in their immigration cases.

“They have resiliency. They don’t know they have it. That’s part of my job, to make them realize it,” Romo said. “You’ve gone through a lot to get here. Let’s leave those ghosts behind...This is your reality now.”

Savanna S trott is a ju nior study journalism ing with mino rs in creati writing an v e d Spanish.

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SUSTAINABILITY:

THE NEW FASHION TREND How Fashion Industry Members In D.C. Are Working To Create Sustainable Clothing Written by Ziyi Yuan Art by Ziyi Yuan

JOELLE FIRZLI, A TRILINGUAL

fashion researcher and writer, is the CEO and curator of the sustainable fashion retailing brand Tribute in D.C. Firzli is a founding member of the D.C. Sustainable Fashion Collective, which was built and organized by seven members in 2018. She and the organization works to educate entrepreneurs, lawmakers, designers and customers on understanding sustainability in fashion. They would like to help people to establish eco-friendly fashion businesses in D.C. and other cities.

Firzli studied political science and international affairs at Lebanese American University and diplomatic studies at the University of Westminster from 2001 to 2007.

She gained her master’s degree of fashion studies at Parsons School of Design in 2016.

“People should care about what they wear and invest in materials that are good for the environment,” said Firzli.

Fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world, primarily because of textile and manufacturing waste, according to the fashion magazine Ecocult. Many laborers in the fashion industry also work in unsafe conditions and earn just enough to support their families.

Most of these factories are fast fash-

ion brands including H&M and GAP, according to Green America.

Firzli was an associate fashion editor for publications in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and the Saudi Arabia from 2007 to 2011. Firzli and her workmates at the magazine went to Vietnam and visited a clothing factory and a second-hand market in 2009 to create a fashion industry report.

Firzli said she thought the clothing factory she visited was messy, even though it was cleaned before they arrived. Firzli also believes some rooms were locked because the manager knew Firzli and her group were visiting.

“Some rooms were closed, and the manager of the factory didn’t allow us to visit them. I knew they were hiding something,” said Firzli.

The factory administration attempted to hide a terrible work environment and child laborers with long working hours and low salaries, Firzli said.

“The laborers in the clothing factory didn’t wear protective gloves and operate[d] dangerous machines to nail buttons on the belts, which hurt their fingers easily,” Firzli said.

The collapse of the Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which housed

five garment factories, killed 1,132 people and injured 2,500 others in 2013, according to the International Labour Organization. This case revealed how horrible the conditions faced by laborers in the fashion industry can be.

When Firzli visited a second-hand market in Vietnam, the manager required them to take off their shoes and socks, and each person could only carry one bag. If they didn’t follow the requirements, they couldn’t visit the market.

“There were numerous fast fashion brands like Zara and H&M, which were cheap in the United States. But the Vietnamese cherished them at that time,” Firzli said. “I was confused as to why they did this, and I still don’t know how the tons of the goods are transported to Vietnam.”

Because of the great demand for cotton in the fashion market, fast-fashion companies need thousands of tons of cotton to make clothes. Cotton farmers in countries such as India, China and some on the African continent, have to use large amounts of pesticides on their crops. Due to the pesticides remaining in the farmlands and rivers, the local farmers and citizens and children, have gotten cancer years according to World News reports.

In addition to toxic some cotton potentially containing carcinogens,

the DiStRiCt 35 dyes, especially indigo, are poisonous to the laborers in the fashion industry. Indigo commonly binds externally to the cloth’s threads, coaxed by a chemical agent called a mordant, according to Popular Science. Denim, which is made of indigo dye, is a large part of the fashion industry. Fashion couldn’t exist without denim, which is made of toxic indigo dye. Some denim factories didn’t provide protective work masks and clothes to their laborers.

The actions of the fashion industry inspired Firzli to stay in Vietnam for four years to research how to build a sustainable fashion market for the future of fashion development. She studied cannabis and recyclable liners as potential original textile materials.

After these four years, Firzli kept studying fashion at Parsons School of Design from 2014 to 2016. Now she has her sustainable fashion brand, Tribute.

Tribute works with over 20 designers and brands to create recyclable and biodegradable clothing.

“These materials are cannabis and they are really comfortable. The touch feels like real cotton and silks,” said Firzli. “Some backpacks’ inside liners are made by plastic bottles collected from the ocean.”

Gabrielle Clary is also one of the founding members of D.C. Sustainable Fashion Collective with Firzli.

They held a fashion and textile event in Corcoran School of the Art and Design at George Washington University in October.

Clary is studying sustainability management at the Kogod School of Business at AU. She is an eco-friendly researcher and entrepreneur in D.C. and helps Firzli to organize Tribute.

Clary had an internship in the retail associate department at Forever 21 for about nine months as a sophomore. She said she didn’t enjoy the

internship because the store was managing excess amounts of merchandise, and its atmosphere was not conducive for the customers to enjoy their shopping experience.

In response to the negative internship experience, Clary became passionate about studying sustainability business. Her goal is to work with fashion brands who don’t have a strong sustainable business.

“The fashion market has to be sustainable in the future because the resources couldn’t supply to human beings all the time,” said Clary.

When starting Tribute, Firzli researched the designers and brands who wanted to work with her. If she thought the designers and brands were in proper condition, she would visit their factories one by one. She visited factories in China, in Vietnam, and on the African continent.

When asked what brands Firzli believes are sustainable, she recommended Eileen Fisher and Reformation. Both companies say they value sustainability and fair working conditions on their websites.

Firzli has to ensure the factories are using sustainable textiles and offered good environment with good salaries to their labors.

“If they don’t, I won’t work with them,” said Firzli.

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COMMUNITY PROFILE: BERLIN THOMAS

Berlin Brings The Happy Days to AU Interview by Savanna Strott Photo by Shane Matheu Ryden IT’S A HAPPY FRIDAY AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

Before our interview, Berlin Thomas smiles proudly behind the cash register as Shane Ryden, AWOL’s multimedia director, snaps her photo. A student walks up to the register.

“Happy Friday!” Thomas says and takes the student’s order with a smile from meal swipe to receipt.

Thomas is a food service worker at American University, who currently serves students at Create, a smoothie bar in the School of Public Affairs.

Ryden decides to get some photos of Thomas outside of SPA,

and we walk outside. A sporadic chorus of “Happy Friday!”s from students punctuates Thomas’ short walk from Create to the front of SPA and back again. She returns the greeting with smiles and laughter.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and even Monday — it’s always a “happy day” for Thomas, who is known for her signature greeting. Her go-to phrase has made her well-known around campus. When I tell students AWOL is interviewing Thomas, the “‘Happy Tuesday!’ lady,” their faces light up in recognition and with a joy that almost matches Thomas’.

Thomas’ positivity is a staple of on-campus dining and has been for almost 15 years. Off campus, the 78-year-old goes hand dancing, an improvisational swing dance popularized in D.C. in the 1950’s, and takes care of her family.

AWOL wanted to know what was behind all those happy days.

g journalism ior studyin n ju a is tt o Spanish.

Savanna Str creative writing and in with minors re studying a sophomo is en d y R eu pology.

Shane Math or in anthro in m a h it w journalism

COmmUnitY PROFile 37 Who are you outside of AU? What do you like to do?

It don’t take but 15 minutes to get to work from where I live.

Oh, I like to hand dance at the Chateau Remix. I do oldies. I’m an oldies type of a lady, so I go out, and I hand dance. Like tonight, I will go out and hand dance. A man takes my hand, and we dance, and he twirls me around. And that’s my hobby. I line dance, too.

And I’ve been working here for 14 ½ years, and I’ve been in a lot of [on-campus dining] stations. And when I started working here 14 ½ years ago, the manager gave me this job, and ever since she gave me this job 14 ½ years ago, I was saying, “Happy whatever-day-it-is.” So the students, we have become friends. I feel like their mom, you know. I’m their mom away from home, and I just enjoy my job.

What about your family?

Well, I have 14 grandchildren, and I have eight great-grandchildren.

And my oldest granddaughter lives with me. Then I have an older son.

He had a stroke last year on my birthday, so I’m taking care of him.

I’d say most people around campus know you as the “Happy Monday” lady.

Yes! They called me outside!

Where are you from?

I’m from Washington, D.C., D.C. girl.

I’m a native Washingtonian.

How has the city changed?

It has changed tremendous. I live right around the corner from Ben’s Chili Bowl, and there’s nothing but highrises there. Well, it used to be clubs, and things like that, stores, mom n’ pop stores, but you don’t see that now where I live. My neighborhood is very interesting.

How has that change kind of affected your life?

I know, we couldn’t get past your photos without people saying, “Happy Friday!”

So where does all that energy and positivity come from?

It’s just that God gives me the energy. I’m in my middle 70’s, and I enjoy life, and I enjoy this job. I haven’t been on a job as long as I’ve been on this job, you know. It’s just interesting, I’ve met students, students have gone. Two twins, they went to Berlin, and they brought me back a piece of the Berlin wall, and I have the Berlin wall at home, in my closet, in my linen closet.

It hasn’t. It hasn’t affected my life at all because the So, I mean, the students are really subway is up the street, a nice. I’ve learned some Spanish block away from where I words. I’ve learned some French live. I can catch the subway, words. I’ve had French students, and, or I can catch the bus, and you know, they taught me words, the 96 bus will take me and it’s just amazing. It’s really to Tenleytown. I catch the amazing, and that’s why I’m happy shuttle, and I’m here, at work. every time.

So you’ve been here 14 ½ years.

14 ½ years. It’ll be 15 years March the 24th.

And you’re mid-seventies. Do you have any plans for when you want to retire?

No, I’m not retiring yet. No, no, no.

God gives me the strength, lets me wake up, lets me catch the bus, lets me come to work. I stand at the cash register for eight hours, except for my lunch break. I don’t see why people wanna retire. You know, retire and do what? Travel the world? Can’t afford it, you know. So I just work.

So you’ve been here 14, almost 15 years. How has AU changed over those years?

Oh, AU, the students have really, really changed. You know, some of them are not too happy. Some of them you can’t say, “Happy whatever-day-it-is,” you know. But I try to make them feel at home, ‘cause you know when they come, the freshmen come, and I let their parents know that I’ll keep them straight, make sure they do their homework. I work over the summer, so when the parents come in, let the parents know, don’t worry ‘bout ‘em ‘cause they alright.

Is there any last thing that you would like to tell AU students, or you’d like AU students to know about you?

I would like to tell AU students, it’s okay when you come here, and it’s okay when you have to go to class.

It’s okay because one day—I always tell the students this—one day you’ll be making them six figures, you know, because you’re taking your classes, and you’re learning.

a junior studying Savanna Strott is inors in creative journalism with m ish. writing and Span

Shane Ryden is a sophomore studying journalism with a minor in anthropology.

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___________________________________________ Copyright Š 2019 AWOL Magazine All Rights Reserved.

Printed in the United States of America First Printing, 2019 American University 4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016 www.awolau.org Printed on recycled paper.

Cover and layout design by Ben Black.

Type set in Mr. Eaves XL, Geneo Std, and San Fransisco Mono

AWOL aims to continue pushing both ourselves and American University to be more critical of issues that deserve to be understood with nuance; to work subversively when dismantling barriers that suppress certain voices; to love irrepressibly when it comes to serving our community. We ignite campus discussions on social, cultural and political issues. We want to make our campus more inquiring, egalitarian and socially engaged.

Our stories have an angle, which is different from having an agenda. Our reporting is impartial and fair, but our analysis is critical and argumentative.

We were independently founded by American University students in 2008. While we are still student-run, today we are housed under AU’s Student Media Board. AWOL is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press and Generation Progress Voices Network. This publication has won awards at the National College Media Convention, and its writers have won awards from the Society for Professional Journalists and the College Media Association. ___________________________________________ General Email: awolau@gmail.com Web Editor: awolauweb@gmail.com Podcasting Directors: awolpodcast@gmail.com Bisexualitea Team: bisexualiteapodcast@gmail.com PR Director: awolpr@gmail.com

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