AWOL- Issue 5

AWOL

M ERICAN W A Y OF LIFE >> SPRING 2010 » ISSUE 005

“There are lots o f young people doing good work out there. It may seem like you’re

MISSION

AWOL is a progressive student-run magazine from American

alone, but there are millions

University in Washington, DC, Founded in the spring of 2008 w ith support from Campus Progress, AWOL is now a recognized publication of American University. AWOL publishes once a semester.

o f people in this country with

We exist to ignite political and cultural discussions on campus, and serve as an outpost for students to explore assorted re­ portage: from editorial columns to long-form expositions, and even experimental cross-genre projects. AWOL is not affiliated w ith any political party or ideology .

progressive beliefs. ” - Howard Zinn

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

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Bobby Allyn EDITOR AT LARGE: Chris Lewis MANAGING EDITOR: Amberley Romo DESIGN & ART DIRECTION: Jessica Taich WEB EDITOR: Jacob Strauss SECTION EDITORS: Alex Burchfield, Kelcie Pegher COPY EDITOR: Audrey Van Gilder COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR: Seth Shamon ,1. LLu STRATORs : Katie Lefeure, Jessica Taich PHOTOG RAPHERS: Kurtis Gobencion, Jessica Taich, Samantha Baron C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R S : Shay Longtain, Suzanne Monsiuais, Richard Phillips, Ashley Joyce, Justin Cox, Geoff Ramsey, Mahri Irvine, Ashley Dejean, Peter Harrison, John Bly, Broiuyn Flores, Sarah Allen, Robbie Cauooris, Delaney Rohan, Jamie Smolen, Nora Pullen, Emily Reid, Kaity Chapman, Mike Lally, Steue Spires LIKE A S TO R Y ? HATE A STO R Y? Want to join AWOL? W rite to us: awolau@gmail.com S U P P O R T /A F F IL IA T IO N S : AWOL is published w ith support from Campus Progress / Center for American Progress (online at CampusProgress.org) and the support of AU Student Activities.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR ALONG CLASS LINES: THE CULTURAL DIVIDE I came across AWOL luhile looking for materials to help tutor an ESL student. I read Bobby Allyn’s “Along Class Lines:The Cultural Divide" It u;as one of the best articles Tue read in quite a uthile. I really do praise Allyn/or a realistic description of how someone from the working class feels at AU. I comefrom a low-income family where meager earnings are utorteed hard for. I'm also a first-generation college student, like Allyn, and I feel that my experience at AU has been exactly the same; it’s been a culture shock for me to attend AU. None of my friends could empathize with working class/oiks. Tue had a hard time adjusting to AU, but like Allyn says, there is little dialogue about the social component of this divide. I just wanted to say thank you to Bobby Allyn/or a realistic portrayal o/AU’s hidden student population. The piece was outstanding.

- Efrain Ramirez, Sociology & Anthropology '13

SHOUTS FROM THE CORNER

FIELO REPORTS

JABS ANO JEST

03 EDITOR'S NOTE; GOODBYE AWOL

11 THE UNLIKELY M U SLIM

19 AW O LN EW SW IRE

by Bobby Allyn A fter founding AWOL his sophomore year, he’s o ff to the west coast

04 M Y ENCOUNTER W ITH HOWARD ZINN

by Chris Letuis A surprise m eeting in Cape Cod

05 W H Y IS THE EAGLE SO HOSTILE TO FEMINISTS?

by Ashley Joyce Knepper hubbub part o f The Eagle’s larger a nti-fem inist agenda?

07 THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE: OBAMA AND THE PROGRESSIVES

by Richard Phillips “Yes we can,” w hat now?

09 TOO M ANY GIRLS? COLLEGE GENDER RATIO

by Kelcie Pegher Where have all the schoolboys gone?

by Justin Cox

by AWOL staff

In College Park, the way to Islam as a Latino

Editors’ choice news cuts from the last three m onths

15 PHOTO ESSAY: BAYVIEW

by Charlotte Kesl Border separation in the U.S.

17 PROFESSOR PROFILE: MARCOS BISTICAS-COCOVES

by Seth Shamon AU’s resident anarchist philosophy p ro f shares thoughts on activism

18 GLOBAL W ARMING? BUT DIO YOU SEE ALL THAT SNOW?

20 EXPLAINED; WHAT IS CASJ AGAIN?

by Geo|f Ramsey Retrospective on AU’s radical student group

21 THE TOUR YOU NEVER HAD

by Suzanne Monsivias The AU they never expected

22 PERSONAL INTEREST: KUMAN SINGH

by Shay Logtain

by Alex Burchfield and Ashley Dejean

How clim ate change means more than sunny days

The man behind the macchiato

EDITOR’S NOTE

GOODBYE AWOL

By Bobby Allyn / / Photos by Samantha Baron

TWo and a h alf years ago, I set out on campus w ith a handful of fliers — none sporting the Student Activities approval stamp — and tacked them around Ward, MGC, and the library. The fliers decried both my eagerness and desperation: “Interested in Progressive Politics? W rit­ ing? Photography? Design? Come brainstorm w ith me!” These early meetings, all of which were pathetically attended, were formative to AWOL. The few who came out, all as excited as I was about this seem­ ingly dead-before-it-started project, supplied more than support; they got their hands dirty, and as a team w ith unwavering spirits and a failure-is-not-an-option ethos, AWOL became a real campus magazine.

What started as a group of friends begging other friends to write articles has mushroomed into a once-a-semester publication with an annual budget, office space and a stellar editorial board. Support and enthusiasm has been campus-wide. Other student organizations, professors, faculty advisers, AWOL readers, and perhaps most impor­ tantly, Campus Progress (who have supported us w ith a gracious grant since our inception) have all bent over backwards to defend and even fight for AWOL. The list of people who have had a hand in AWOL is long and exhausting, but w ithout each individual contribution, AWOL would have failed miserably. I can’t take credit for establishing AWOL because its sustenance and endurance has been buttressed by scores of amazing people.

I asked one of the founding editors, Andy Tarrant, class of ‘08, to reflect on AWOL now after first setting the project in motion two and a h alf years ago. He echoed my feeling that the project coalesced around collaboration.

“W hat’s really important to realize is that it couldn’t have come to­ gether w ithout the work of a whole group of people who believed in it and wanted to see it through. It really honestly was a group effort, and everyone did their part,” Tarrant said. “I hope it continues to grow and get better. If the team putting their time and efforts into it now is any­ thing like what we had to start (And hopefully even better. Remember all the delays in getting copy in?!). I’m sure it will.”

Often, supporters and friends of AWOL chime that they’ve stopped reading The Eagle in place of this magazine. But that’s not what AWOL is trying to do and it never was. The Eagle — despite our editors and writers disagreeing w ith many of the paper’s editorial positions — is an important and vital source of AU news. They cover breaking news, the school’s politics and campus speakers and events. None of this is our territory; we’re not competing w ith The Eagle. AWOL exists as a campus-based political and cultural news magazine. We focus on long-form pieces and argumen^tive and investigative journalism. It’s important that the manufactured rivalry be dispelled. We’re friends of The Eagle, and at the same time w ill monitor and hold the paper to professional journalistic standards. AWOL w ill be a watchdog on The

3 AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE MAGAZINE

Eagle’s coverage just as they should scrutinize us. And both of us w ill keep our eyes on the school and its organizations. We’re both a part of AU’s student-run media ecosystem, and the relationship between us is characterized by reciprocity, not competition.

As an editor of a magazine, or even a leader of a student organiza­ tion, ambitions are defined by the years spent on campus. This places an unusual weight on the shoulders of student leaders who are trying to accomplish big things — you only have four years to do it! So leav­ ing AWOL is hard for me. There’s a long road of improvement ahead and I wish I could help drive the efforts. But considering the remark­ able progress the magazine has made since the first issue (which was assembled by four people and bankrolled partly out of a scholarship refund). I’m proud and almost completely astonished. W hat’s more, the magazine is being left in fine hands. The cast of students involved with AWOL now — especially the editorial board and several out­ standing writers — are the smartest and most talented group of kids AWOL has ever seen. I wouldn’t be able to leave AU without these students. I trust them more than anyone. The next chapter of AWOL w ill undoubtedly surpass the high benchmarks it has already set.

After graduating in May and driving 2800 miles cross-country to cut my teeth in a daily newsroom, my enduring passion for reporting w ill hopefully find a nice home. But the week-to-week experiences of working w ith AWOL have refined my sensibilities as a curator and editor and have sharpened my journalistic instincts. If you’re read­ ing this now and share a passion for journalism, writing, politics, the future of news and keeping a m indful voice at AU, I encourage you to get involved w ith AWOL. The students w ith passing curiosities often end up comprising a part of AWOL’s backbone. W ithout the involve­ ment of students like you, who have enough interest in the magazine to at least riffle the editor’s note, AWOL would cease to exist. Become a part of AWOL by contributing your part. Chances are, whatever skill set you have, we can put it to use.

I can’t more emphatically extend my gratitude to all students, to faculty, and to Campus Progress who made this a reality. And I can’t stress enough how critical new student involvement is in the progres­ sion and success of this magazine.

These have been some of the most rewarding and exciting years of my life.

MY ENCOUNTER WITH HOWARD ZINN

By Chris Lewis

"There are lots o f young people doing good work out there, ” he said. “It may seem like you’re alone, but there are millions o f people in this country with progressive beliefs. ”

The progressive community took a loss this past January w ith the death of historian Howard Zinn — college professor, World War II bombardier, and author of the renowned “A People’s History of the United States.” Zinn was a relentless critic of war, inequality and in ­ justice wherever he saw it. He was a hero of mine, and I met him one afternoon before his passing.

I’m one of those hardheaded young people w ith the stubborn belief that the world has the potential to be a much better place than it is now. Back in high school. I stumbled across “A People’s History” at the library. I tore wide-eyed through 500 pages of Zinn’s alternative history, in which the heroes were not powerful white men, but ev­ eryday folks, who resisted their marginalization in American society — women, American Indians, civil rights activists, war resisters. The book was inspiring and engrossing, and it became a key part in the development of my obstinate idealism.

So imagine my excitement this past summer when, away on a fam ­ ily vacation in the backwaters of Cape Cod, I learned that Zinn was living just a half-mile up the road from our rental cottage.

I decided to write him a letter. The gist of it: “Hey, Mr. Zinn: I’m a college student who’s read your work, and I think you and I have some common interests. I’d be delighted to meet you for coffee or some­ thing. I’m here until Friday.” I dropped the letter at the post office and expected never to think about it again.

A few days later, my cell phone rang: “Hello, Chris? This is Howard Zinn.”

Zinn and I met at a local coffee shop, where he rebuffed my efforts to pay for my own m uffin and iced tea. We sat down at a table, legend­ ary writer and activist across from idealistic college pipsqueak. We talked about politics, my family, my research in school, the passing of his wife in 2008.1remember asking him how he was able to spend his life crusading for progressive beliefs, often to no avail, but he never seemed to get worn down. I explained that I grew fatigued at times, trying to stand up for such unpopular causes in college classrooms and at family dinner tables, only to be drowned out by a chorus of objection and disagreement.

With a smile on his face, he said, “You just have to relish those bat­ tles.” He added that while many progressives may feel they’re alien­ ated, you’re never as alone as you may think.

“There are lots of young people doing good work out there,” he said.

“It may seem like you’re alone, but there are millions of people in this country with progressive beliefs.”

After an hour or so, we walked out to his car. He gave me his email address, and then took off in his clunky green sedan w ith a “War is Not the Answer” bumper sticker.

Zinn b uilt his intellectual reputation (“A People’s History” has sold nearly two millions copies) on the importance of everyday common folks. I was always impressed that he had time in his day for one, too, and that he took an interest in an ordinary college student — a stranger — who was trying to fight the same “battles.” We’ll have to fight even harder now that he’s gone. • Chris Lewis is a Junior currently abroad in Cuba. He is the Editorat-Large ofAWOL.

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SHOUTS FROM THE CORNER

WHY IS THE EAGLE SO HOSTILE TO FEMINISTS?

By Ashley Joyce

Like many college campuses, AU hosts a predominately female stu­ dent body. The gender breakdown is accessible from Google, but is not easily found on the University’s Web site. The most recent AU statistic is a 34:66 ratio, however the Princeton Review reports AU to be 61: 51 female. The figure is in line w ith the national average, according to a February piece in the Times by Alex Williams. As of 2000, 57 percent of students at American colleges are female, according to the article.

Combine a female majority w ith AU’s reputation as a liberal en­ clave and a hotbed for radical activism, and one would reasonably expect to find an environment friendly to feminism. This seems to be true in nearly every aspect of campus culture; the Women’s Initiative is one of the most influential segments of the Student Government, sponsoring frequent and popufar events ranging from annual perfor­ mances of The Vagina Monologues to sex education seminars, while other organizations like the Women and Politics Institute represent the university’s commitment to advancing the cause of gender equal­

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ity. There remains, however, one glaring exception: The Eagle, AU’s most visible media representation of the University.

When an article in The Eagle announced the Student Government’s approval for the creation of a Women’s Resource Center last Novem­ ber, the news was met w ith little fanfare. Though a major success for the Women’s Initiative, which had been lobbying since 2006 for a space in which to provide support and advocacy services for women on campus, the SG endorsement of the project seemed somewhat in ­ evitable; after all, the comparable GLBTA Resource Center has been receiving University funding since 1999. Though The Eagle article was vague about the nature of the services the center would offer, it sug­ gested that the WRC would pool existing resources for women, as well as create full-tim e staff positions in order to better provide counseling services to students, faculty and staff Also appearing in the Nov. 1, 2009 issue of the paper, however, was a staff editorial that single-handedly generated a flurry of controversy about not only the WRC, but the state of feminist activism on campus.

Titled “Questioning new resource centers,” the article suggested that the entire student body should not be responsible for funding services that only benefit “special subgroups.”

Representatives of the Women’s Initiative responded immediately in a published letter to the editor which emphasized that funding the WRC represents a commitment to social equality that should interest all AU students.

But while the Women’s Initiative response conveyed the finality of agreeing to disagree, The Eagle seemed eager to perpetuate the debate.

On Nov. 11, another article appeared, titled “Campus debates need for Women’s Center.” While the parties listed in favor of the WRC includ­ ed sitting SG President Andy McCracken, previous SG administrations and, as one commenter noted, the Board of Trustees, the article quoted only two unaffiliated male undergraduate students as opponents.

Only a week later the controversy was stoked yet again by an in ­ flammatory op^ed, this time by Eagle columnist Alex Knepper. A selfi described “classical liberal,” Knepper became notorious in the fall of 2009 for his conservative columns bemoaning various aspects of cam^ pus culture, especially those related to social justice organizations and leftist political movements. In an article tellingly titled “Feminist — err. Women’s Center wastes money,” Knepper decried the WRC as a front for feminist activism, arguing that the gendenbased pay gap is a myth and that, due to the female majority on campus, as well as the existing resources in place for sexual assault victims, there was no need to create a separate space for women.

Within days of its publication, Knepper’s column had garnered over 100 comments on The Eagle’s Web site, many of them from Knepper himself in response to members of the Women’s Initiative and other students expressing disapproval. Though it would be the last article in The Eagle specifically addressing the WRC, Knepper continued to make reference to the controversy and his disdain for feminism in nearly all of his subsequent columns.

So how did the seemingly unanimous approval of the WRC become a hoGbutton issue?

In many ways, it never did; the controversy over the WRC was ah most entirely manufactured by The Eagle. Though the staff editorial did generate heated debate in the comments section of the online edi^ tion, over two^thirds of the 106 comments the editorial garnered were attributed to Alex Knepper, most in response to other commentators questioning his and The Eagle’s negative responses to the WRC. Often, these comments were not even directly related to the WRC, but rather veered into debates between Knepper and other commentators about the existence of “rape culture,” or whether or not women are entitled to paid maternity leave.

By the time the article by Sarah Parnass covering the “controversy” was published on Nov. 11, a disagreement had certainly arisen, but it seemed to be almost exclusively between Knepper and the Women’s Initiative. His editorial column later that week seemed to be only fur­ ther confirmation that the opposition was small, if not singular. By the end of the fall semester, discussion of the WRC had all but ceased in The Eagle, w ith the exception of occasional snarky references from Knepper.

The treatment of the WRC represents the latest in a disturbing trend toward antifeminist bias in The Eagle. Earlier in the semester, a sex advice column entitled “Sex^perimentation defines Welcome Week” created a similar dust^up between Eagle staff and the Women’s Initiative over its treatment of rape. The story even garnered coven age on Washington City Paper’s Sexist blog. Columnist Amanda Hess expressed incredulity that “The Eagle chose to use a woman’s hazy, drunk, and painful sexual experience in order to illustrate the serious on^campus problem o f . . . drunk women wanting boyfriends!” When their decision to run the “Sex^perimentation” column was called into

“So h o w d id s e e m in g ly u n an im o u s a p p ro v a l o f th e WRC becom e a flo t-b u tto n issue over­ n ig h t? — th e co n tro versy o v e r th e WRC w as a lm o s t e n tire ly m a n u fa c tu re d b y The Eagle” question. Eagle staffers accused the Women’s Initiative of “crying w o lf’ over an imagined sexual scenario that, in their minds, did not illustrate lack of consent.

Their argument against the WRC was similarly weak^worded. The staff editorial stated that while “all of AU’s male students w ill be pay^ ing into the same fund that w ill create and maintain this center, they won’t reap the same benefits as women will.” But presumably, many straight-identifying students pay to fund the GLBTA Resource Cen­ ter, just as able-bodied students’ tuitions help to fund the Disability Support Center. Would The Eagle oppose budget allotments for these services as well?

The likely answer is no, which says more about The Eagle’s es­ poused attitude toward feminists than about its concern for how AU uses its funds. Their argument seems to rest on the idea that at a school where women are in the majority and resources already exist to address issues like sexual assault, there is no need for a center ca­ tering specifically to the needs of female students and staff But according to Sarah Brown, Director of the Women’s Initiative, the need for the WRC is urgent and well-founded, in part because it w ill provide for a professional advocate and counselor on women’s issues. “Because sexual assault is such a problem on campus, in ad­ dition to other problems female students and faculty face such as inadequate and expensive gynecological services, sexual harassment and unfair hiring and tenuring practices, women on campus need a full-tim e advocate,” Brown said. She noted that creating such a posi­ tion without additional University funding would have been impos­ sible as a “student group w ith a student budget.”

Brown also acknowledged that while those opposed to the WRC were few in number, they received maximum coverage in The Eagle.

“Mr. Knepper and his few followers are a handful of vocal students who are fortunate enough to have a media outlet for their opinions,” she said, adding that “there are always individuals who fear that by creating a resource for others they are not being treated ‘fairly.’”

While The Eagle staff certainly seems to be among those students fearing marginalization by a feminist majority, perhaps what is most disheartening about the state of the paper is that its latest foray into political engagement w ill likely uphold the absence of progres­ sive voices in its pages. It is no secret that many student journalists have been turned off by The Eagle’s lack of quality control, and while conservatives like Alex Knepper should certainly have a voice in student publications, it seems unfortunate that on a left-leaning, predominantly female campus, opinions like Knepper’s not only go unchallenged in the op-ed section, but are actually bolstered by the editorial staff • Ashley Joyce is a junior studying literature.

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SHOUTS FROM THE CORNER HU NPO PULAR PROGRESSIVE OPINIONS COLUMN

standing on the National Mall in the midst of President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony, it ’s no wonder the crowd’s excite­ ment was visible. Having come into political consciousness entirely under the Bush administration, college-age progressives felt like things were finally improving after eight long and disastrous years.

The election of Barack Obama represented not only the end of the Bush era, but the beginning of a new era where progressive ideas would start to transform America into a stronger and more equitable country. After years of disaffection, progressives finally felt part of a real movement that was taking hold.

During the campaign, many of us could not help but put aside our deep cynicism about government that had been nurtured under the Bush administration. We took a leap of faith in believing Barack Obama when he said, “This is our time. This is our moment.”

More than one year later, the magic of the campaign has waned palpably. The realities of the first year of the Obama administration have made it clear that this is not the moment of grand progressive change. For many progressives, this disappointment has resulted in a return to deep cynicism and disaffection.

But this is not acceptable. Instead of dropping out of the fight, we need to figure out what went wrong and what we can do about it.

THE PROMISE The rhetoric of the 2008 presidential campaign didn’t just prom­ ise the concepts of hope and change, but also a specific progressive agenda. As the Obama administration came together w ith the 111th Democratic Congressional Leadership, they laid out a grand legisla­ tive strategy.

The so-called ‘big bang’ legislative strategy consisted of three trans­ formative pieces of legislation. The first was to be a major stimulus package providing a big enough boost to keep unemployment well under 10 percent. Following the stimulus package, Obama hoped to pass a major healthcare reform bill with a strong public option and a massive expansion of Medicaid — spearheading the transformation of the healthcare insurance industry. Finally, Obama promised to spur environmental change w ith a major climate change bill containing a substantial reduction in emissicJns by 2020, with the cost being taken on prim arily by the polluters.

In addition to the ‘big bang,’ Obama and the Democratic Party pledged to reign in the excesses of corporate power that had driven

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AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE MABAZINE

the economy into deep recession. He promised to couple bailout ef­ forts with a financial reform bill containing a tax to cover any cur­ rent or future costs of financial bailouts, as well as a strong indepen­ dent agency to m onitor them. More importantly to progressives, the Obama administration said it would finally address the systematic income inequality caused by the rise in corporate power by passing a union reform bill (the Employee Free Choice Act), allowing the use of card check to certify unions rather than certification by secret ballot votes that involved wading through employer intimidation.

Among a wide range of ill-advised policies and programs left over from the Bush administration are Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Guantanamo Bay, and the looming wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. None of these should be bypassed or pushed aside for expedient political gains.

With the Democratic Party having a 78-seat advantage in the House of Representatives and a 19 (soon to be 20) seat advantage in the Sen­ ate, the scene was set for what was dubbed a legislative ‘big bang.’

THE REALITY And yet, a year later, the ‘big bang’ has fizzled out. No cap and trade. No card check. No financial reform. No end to the wars. No end to the bailouts.

The first to pass of two major pieces of the grand legislative agenda was the stimulus package, which proved to be too small to adequately jum p start an economy in shambles or meet its modest goal of keep­ ing unemployment under 10 percent.

The second major piece of legislation to pass was the healthcare reform bill. With the debate dragging on for a full year, the bill seemed to inspire a sense of exhaustion and relief rather than a sense of victory.

Certainly the bill is a major accomplishment; its regulation of health insurance plans and its massive expansion of health insurance to millions of Americans should be applauded. What does not deserve our applause, however, is the dropping of the public option, abortion restrictions, and the politically catastrophic handling of the reforms passage by Obama.

There were also some less significant legislative accomplishments, such as expansion of medical insurance for children, credit card industry reform, and changing the law to allow better enforcement against gender pay discrimination. Making matters worse, these small policy shifts feel overshadowed by the continuation of Bush-era policies.

For every troop Obama draws down from Iraq, progressives see an-

other going to Afghanistan. Each dollar spent on the stimulus package seems less important in light of the billions still flowing to Wall Street bailouts and executive bonuses. Each positive policy change is sig­ nificant, but these do not represent the transformation that we were promised and what our country needs.

WHAT WENT WRONG? Our expectations were too high. According to a Gallup poll, some 62 percent of Americans expected Obama to be an outstanding or above average president, with only 11 percent expecting him to be average or poor.

These expectations were never justified, especially for progressives.

In taking a leap of faith w ith Obama, we glossed over the reality of his policy platform, of Republican opposition, and of the sheer size of the problems facing the nation.

For all of Obama’s rhetoric about transformation and change, the campaign platform on which he ran was always and purposefully centrist. Remember, for example, that one of the few fundamental differences between his platform and Hillary Clinton’s was that his proposed healthcare plan did not provide for universal healthcare, whereas her plan did.

Compounding this, there was an expectation that Obama would be met w ith at least some willingness by moderate Republicans to work together on major issues; instead, Obama is facing completely united and often unreasonable Republican opposition. This, combined with the vacillating level of commitment from many moderate Democrats, makes passing substantive legislation difficult, especially considering that the filibuster in the Senate is rearing its ugly head once again.

The problems with the filibuster are nothing new, but the w illing­ ness of Republicans to use this legislative procedure in a historically unprecedented way certainly is. As Ezra Klein of The Washington Post points out, the amount of legislation having to overcome a fili­ buster in 2007-2010 is equal to the amount during the entirety of the period from 1919 to 1984, and is triple the rate during most of the Bush administration.

Finally, we seem to have forgotten exactly how inconceivably large of a mess our country was left in by the Bush administration. On the domestic side, for example, the economy is still steeped in the worst recession since the Great Depression. For all the talk of turning the economic collapse into opportunity, the fact remains that our econo-

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“More than a year later, the magic of the campaign has palpably waned. The reblities of the first year o f the Obama Administration have made it all too clear that this will not be the moment of grand progressive change. For many progressives, this disappointment has resulted in a return to a deep cynicism and disaffection” my has lost some 8.4 m illion jobs which are not coming back anytime soon, no matter what the Obama administration chooses to do.

Moving beyond the immediate economic recession, the Obama ad­ ministration faces Bush’s two wars, trillions of dollars in additional debts and deficits, and a country that has certainly lost its reputation in the world.

To expect that the Obama administration could, in a couple of years, completely clean up the mess that the Bush administration took eight long years to create is expecting the impossible.

COMPROMISE AND PRAGMATISM We can’t take all the blame for setting high goals. Even facing tough opposition and high expectations, the Obama administration has failed to meet its own much lower and ‘achievable’ goals. Sure, progressive expectations were ambitious, but they were also founded in pragmatism.

The healthcare reform bill, for instance, was not some socialist sin­ gle payer program — if only. In reality, it was a mish-mash of moder­ ate policy changes that hewed the line of Republican reform propos­ als from the 1990s or Nixon’s healthcare proposals.

Frankly, the bill is hard for a lot of progressives to stomach. But we do so out of a no-nonsense belief that it is the best we could get for another generation.

After offering compromise after compromise, the Obama adminis­ tration has still failed to adequately water down major initiatives to suit the Republican Party’s wishes. In the face of a solid and united Republican opposition, Obama has responded w ith dithering and even more compromises. For many progressives and conservatives alike, Obama’s first year is starting to feel a lot like the Clinton ad­ m inistration’s abandonment of progressive policies.

Still, considering the passage of the healthcare reform bill, there is some cause for hope. Obama could have let the issue of healthcare go last August when the opposition started to boil over. It would have probably been the politically smart thing to do.

Instead, he pressed on and finally found his footing as the progres­ sive populist, standing strong w ith fellow Democrats by pursuing the hardnosed tactic of reconciliation.

Recently, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs reported that Obama was “quite comfortable” w ith only being a one term presi­ dent if it meant getting important things done. To most observers this sounds like rhetoric — and maybe it is — but his final push for healthcare shows that there is some potential for great action within Obama’s presidency.

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SHOUTS FROM THE CORNER

MOVING FORWARD Did we expect too much of Obama? Is he not strong or liberal enough?

Or is he a progressive champion fighting against tough opposition?

On all three accounts, we can say “yes.” But where does that leave us? It leaves us in a situation that is tough and in one that is bound to get tougher.

The healthcare reform debate provides a clear lesson for both Obama and progressives alike. When we both fight hard for progres­ sive change and stand firm against shrill opposition, we are able to make substantive — although imperfect — accomplishments. Had we had given up on the b ill because of Republican opposition or castiga­ tion from the left, the Obama administration would have been weak­ ened. We would have given up a vital opportunity to improve national healthcare, and neglected to install programs that w ill affect millions in the coming decades.

We need to remember that this fight is too important to give up on.

This fight is too important for nihilism and debilitating cynicism. Fac­ ing millions of uninsured Americans and gross income inequality, we must understand that this is a fight of necessity.

When progressives point out, for example, that even the current compromised healthcare proposal w ill likely save 45,000 lives a year, we aren’t kidding. We need to remember that these legislative victo­ ries and setbacks have tangible realities.

Returning to Inauguration Day, I remember when Obama called out the cynicism that once again, a year later, has become commonplace: “Now, there are some who ... suggest that our system cannot toler­ ate too many big plans ... they have forgotten ...what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage.”

A year later. President Obama has failed to deliver on the transfor­ mative change he promised. Bu1^|that doesn’t mean we can allow him to stop fighting for it. • Richard Phillips is a senior and a political science major.

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TOO MANY GIRLS?

COLLEGE GENDER RATIO

By Kelcie Pegher // Photos By Kurtis Gobencion

On a normal Friday night, Monica Sindwani is getting ready with her friends for another night at Lotus Lounge, a club near Dupont Circle. The four girls are listening to music and making cocktails be­ fore they take the Red Line Metro out for a night of dancing. Boys are commonly absent from this part of the night. Not because it ’s girl bonding time, but because there are no boys to go out with.

Females outnumbering males occurs everywhere at AU: at clubs, fraternity parties and in classes. With more females in college than ever before, men seem to be scarce. This is especially true on campus where 65 percent of the student body is female, according to a 2007 statistic from the school.

“I [went to fraternity parties] as a freshman but not really any­ more, because you don’t really get anything out of it. It’s really boring now,” Sindwani said. “No one seems interested in a genuine platonic friendship.”

In fact, Sindwani says she doesn’t have any male friends at AU, “ex­ cept my friends’ boyfriends,” she adds. In her hometown of Philadel­ phia, Sindwani had several males she considered best friends. How­ ever, since coming to AU she has lost an equal balance between her female and male friends. Most of Sindwani’s classes are filled with girls, except for those in the business school. Even her business class­ es, though filled w ith men, divide into cliques. She identifies them by fraternity, since most males at AU participate in Greek life.

Her theory for the high number of men in Greek life is that most want to find like-minded male friends. “Fraternities control the social scene at AU; it ’s one of the best ways to meet people,” senior Bob Vitas said. Though he was already on the rowing team, Vitas joined Sigma Chi his freshman year for the brotherly community.

Carmen Rios, a sophomore, is the Director of the Rape Awareness and Eradication Department and Chairwoman of the new campaign for consent on campus, titled (con)sensual. Rios described Vitas’ ex­ perience as a cultural aspect of AU. “The culture at AU forces straight males to use frats as a safe space for themselves. I feel like it ’s prob­ ably really hard to be a straight male at a social justice campus and still get your bro-ing in.”

As a literature and international studies major, Vitas said he has experienced the female-dominated gender ratio in the classroom.

Christina Hoff Sommers, a self-described libertarian equity feminist, discussed the reasoning for Vitas’ problem in her 2000 book, “The War Against Boys; How Misguided Feminism is Harming Our Young Men.” Notably, the book criticizes too many skewed surveys regarding fe­ male intelligence and ambition as partially the reason why Vitas finds himself the only male in classes. She says men are just not enrolling in college in large numbers any longer.

“Boys dominate dropout lists, failure lists, and learning-disability lists. Students in these groups rarely take college-admissions tests.

On the other hand, the exceptional boys who take school seriously show up in disproportionately high numbers for standardized tests," Sommers said in “The War Against Boys.” She blames misrepresented scores on this phenomenon.

Sommers argues that many girls are encouraged to take standard­ ized tests, while fewer boys receive the same attention. Still, she says the boys who do take the SAT do exceptionally well. This is evidenced by surveys that point to the overall higher academic performance of boys. Ten years after the book’s publication, colleges are witnessing the ranks of female college applications swell across the country.

Despite smaller numbers, men are doing fine socially. They are able to find fraternities or clubs where they can find other like-minded males. Kathleen Bogle is a sociologist at La Salle University in Phila­ delphia and commented on the social consequences of fewer men on campus. Bogle said because they are becoming a minority, men are

allowed to control socially what happens at colleges. This includes where girls go on weekends as well as what they do sexually — other­ wise known as hooking up.

“There could be a feeling [among girls] that ‘If I don’t do x, y, and z w ith them, somebody else w ill,’” said Bogle, who recently published Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus. “Girls w ill do more than they’re comfortable with to lock it down.”

Bogle has seen that w ith fewer men on campus, female compe­ tition can take different forms. While sexual competition is always prevalent. Bogle claims girls tend to feel they should dress well at all times to attract men. She said the pressure to be “on,” to constantly look physically attractive, can be emotionally wearing for girls who would otherwise dress with a more relaxed style in a college setting.

Bogle called this the “fishbowl feeling,” a feeling of being constantly watched. The need to be seen as attractive at 3 a.m. while studying in the library is just one form of female competition in the femaledominated college atmosphere.

Rios also discussed the implications of hookup culture at AU. “It has definitely been constructed over the course of a long period of time to give preference to masculinity.” Rios said men often take advantage of hookup culture to prove their masculinity. While men are taught to accrue large numbers of hookups in college, women are taught the exact opposite throughout their lives.

Bogle’s book said that though seeing an ex-hookup can be poten­ tially awkward, it does not provide an enduring social damper. Even on a small campus. Bogle said those she interviewed replied that it did not make a difference. “Everyone worries about that, but, I mean, i t ’s not the end of the world,” she said. Vitas agrees. “If you’re mature and they aren’t, it sucks. Because they’ll make it awkward in ways that you probably couldn’t have imagined,” he said.

Sindwani said not being involved in Greek life might explain her dearth of male friends. As she was applying to college, Sindwani said she was very much aware of the gender imbalance. “You don’t want to choose a school because there aren’t guys,” Sidwani said. “But it feels like something’s missing.” Rios agreed. “I’ve often wondered where they [males] are and I’ve been told that they’re in Greek life. That’s where they’re hiding,” Rios said.. • Kelcie Pegher is a sophomore p rint journalism major. A version of this story u;as w ritte n fo r a reporting class earlier this semester.

She is a Section Editor fo r AWOL.

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11 AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE MABAZINF

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CILLEC.E F A tK .T H E WA1T» lUAM SU LATIhJI H JDJTIM c»y K R oS J T H t m m ? w t R from the World Trade Center’s twin towers, on the Stevens Institute of Technology campus where he studied engineering, he watched plumes of smoke billow from gaping openings where the planes had just hit. All at once, he was overcome by the realization of life ’s fragility. “What if tomorrow’s not promised for me?” he thought. “What state w ill I die in?”

He’d been toying w ith the idea for months. But now, watching monuments to American commerce and prosperity—the American way of life, essentially—collapse in a heap of gnarled concrete and steel, a mushroom cloud filling the air where they once stood, he was moved to action. He knew there was more to life. And on Sept. 11, 2001, Hernan Guadalupe—a 20-yearold Ecuadorian raised in Union City, N.J., an occasional pot dealer and hip-hop enthusiast who step danced for his Latino fraternity—made the most important decision of his life. He decided to convert to Islam.

It was an unlikely time to convert to Islam, a religion that would become the subject of intense scrutiny and, in many cases, scorn in the months and years following the attacks Gua­ dalupe witnessed. Moreover, like many Latinos, Guadalupe had strong cultural and familial ties to Catholicism, making him seem an improbable candidate to add to the growing ranks of American Muslim converts. But he’s no anomaly.

As Latino and Muslim immigrants populate increasingly diverse U.S. cities, coming in closer contact with each other, members of a younger generation of Latinos are finding answers to their spiritual questions beyond the traditions provided by their fam ily’s native cultures.

For Guadalupe, it was in college, after becoming disillusioned w ith Catholicism, that he was introduced to Islam by a Muslim-American friend. And despite appearances, even the point at which he decided to convert wasn’t that strange.

Since 2001, scholars have noted a marked increase in U.S. Latinos embracing Islam; popular media estimates place today’s number of converts between 70,000 and 200,000 nationwide.

Some experts explain this phenomenon by pointing to the link between Latinos being the fastest growing group in America and Islam being the fastest growing religion in the world.

“There is no way you cannot see the relationship,” Hjamil A. Martinez-Vazquez, a religion professor at Texas Christian University, was quoted as saying in a 2008 St. Petersburg Tmes article on the subject. mW.AWOLAU.ORB » SPRINB 2 0 1 0 12

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For other experts, the causes of increased conversion rates are more complex.

“It’s a natural process for Hispanics who are dissatisfied w ith the church, in their own spirituality, their own level of morality and are looking for answers outside of their own traditional kind of religious traditions,” said Ihsan Bagby, a professor of Islamic Studies at the Uni­ versity of Kentucky, in the St. Petersburg Times article. “Beyond that, Islam is a fairly conservative culture that probably dovetails very well w ith Hispanic culture.”

To Guadalupe, Bagby couldn’t be more on point. Growing up as an altar boy, Guadalupe became disenchanted w ith the Gatholic church when he was unable to reconcile certain contradictions he found in its doctrine. For one, he didn’t understand why wine was served at communion though the Bible discourages drinking. He also couldn’t square the notions of a single God and Holy Trinity.

But most importantly, he couldn’t understand why he couldn’t understand.

“If religion is from God, this Supreme Being, and he wants good for his servants, good for his creation, why would he make a religion so complicated for us to understand? Why can’t there be something sim­ ple? Why does there have to be mystery in it?” Guadalupe wondered.

One night, at age 17, Guadalupe was looking out the window above his bed, trying to fall asleep. He was staring at a full moon through clear skies when, suddenly, he was seized by his mounting spiritual confusion and began pleading with God, if there was one, to give him a sign.

“I’m hearing about all these religions, I came from a religion, I got all these friends that are part of different religions and now I’m learn­ ing about this science thing, Darwinism,” he said to God. “I’m con­ fused; how am I supposed to live my life? What is my reason? What is the order that I’m supposed to follow?”

At one point, he recalls, his supplicating became so desperate that he broke down in frantic tears, gasping for air as he begged God for direction. After somehow falling asleep that night, Guadalupe woke the next morning expecting something to fall from the sky, for some dramatic message to h it him on the head, finally answering his questions and bringing him peace. When that didn’t happened, he started drifting.

For the next three years, he says his spirit wandered aimlessly his heart always drawn to the idea of one true God, but never sure if there was one and oblivious to which—if any—religion offered the best path to follow.

In the interim, he started drinking and getting into minor scrapes w ith the law. After leaving for college, he joined a Latino fraternity, competed in step dancing and lived a lifestyle laden w ith girlfriends and parties. Then, during his sophomore year, he met Ahmer Siddiqui, and things began to change.

wAf A m i/A /llM tiy t /M E TO CON\JBIt T6 ISUM” cially liked to point out what he saw as signs of an impending Day of Judgment.

Some such signs, like cell phones and beepers—what Ahmer thought the Qur’an was describing when it said the end w ill be near the day men’s hips tell them w hat’s happening in their homes while they’re away—piqued Guadalupe’s curiosity, and he asked to borrow the book from which Ahmer got his crazy ideas. Instantly, Guadalupe found himself fascinated as he never had been before.

“I knew of every other religion, but nothing ever drew my heart to it,” Guadalupe said of his spiritual investigations prior to Ahmer and Islam. “But immediately when I started to learn about Islam my heart was drawn to it,” he said, his right hand clenching his chest then quickly shooting to the desk in front of him, as if to show how his heart literally leapt toward the religion upon discovering it.

Guadalupe said he was attracted to Islam because it did away with the mysteries and contradictions he found in other religions, particu­ larly in how it made the concept of a single creator easy to understand.

He also appreciated Islam’s straightforwardness in other ways. How there were instructions for what to do in every situation, codes to guide virtually every daily practice — from eating to dres s — and that it wasn’t “just something you did on Sundays,” Guadalupe said.

As a sort of “bonus,” as Guadalupe put it, there were also similari­ ties between the Muslim and Latino cultures. He liked how in Muslim culture, much like the Latino environment in which he was raised, em­ phasis was put on concepts like respect for elders and loyalty to family.

It was at the time of these revelations, just months after meeting Ahmer and initiating his foray into Islamic teachings, that Guadal­ upe found himself watching the twin towers of New York’s skyline crumble to the ground.

Frozen in shock, screams of horror swirling around him, Guadalupe recalls a tap on his shoulder momentarily jarring him from his stupor.

It was Ahmer, saying he couldn’t bear to watch anymore, and that he was going to his room to pray. Almost without thinking, as if it were the only natural thing to do at such a time, Guadalupe said he would join.

In his cramped dorm room, the men faced Kabah in Saudi Arabia, which, according to Islamic doctrine, is the holiest spot on earth. A h ' mer recited in Arabic the Shahadah, or Muslim testimony of faith.

They met in chemistry class and just “clicked,” recounts Guadal­ upe. They were both majoring in engineering, were into hip-hop and shared several mutual friends. At some point, their discussions moved to the topic of religion.

Having rarely heard Arabic before, and never having attempted f speak it, Guadalupe remembers stumbling while echoing his friend’s words before repeating them again in English, so that he could under­ stand what was said.

—

The concept of God, the Day of Judgment, heaven and hell—these were the things Ahmer liked to talk about w ith Guadalupe. He espe-

“There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God,” Guadalupe and Ahmer said, reciting the words converts say when

13 AMERICAN (WK OF LIFE MAGAZINE

committing themselves to Islam, and words fundamental to dailyprayers of all Muslims.

“I’m basically on call 24/7. Whenever the Imam wants to text me or call me, he does,” Guadalupe said in describing his job.

Next, Ahmer directed Guadalupe to his sink and instructed him in the intricate process of partial ablution, or Wudu.

For example, following a call from the Imam during a recent snow storm, Guadalupe h it the interstate aro’und 10 p.m. to find a sister, the title used for Muslim females, from Dar-us-Salaam whose car needed a jumpstart. On another occasion, he spent a day scouring the com­ m unity to find a place a sister and her children could stay and feel safe after someone tried breaking into their home the previous night.

Guadalupe remembers being told to clean various parts of his body according to a strict set of rules and order, such as washing his hands three times to the wrist before cleansing his nostrils by carefully snorting water up them three times.

After cleaning themselves, the friends turned back toward Kabah and Guadalupe listened as Ahmer recited in Arabic verses from the Qur’an. He did his best to mimic the required prayer prostrations Ahmer performed: kneeling w ith forehead to ground, standing with hands on knees and with face down and standing. And afterward, just like that, with Ahmer and Allah as his witnesses, Guadalupe was a Muslim.

LIFE AS A MUSLIM Short and stout, the close-cropped hair on his head in sharp con­ trast w ith the straggly beard stretching to his collar bone, Guadalupe sits at a cluttered desk in his seven-by-seven cubicle at the Dar-us-Salaam office, a Muslim community centered around a school and mosque in College Park, MD. A multicolored Muslim calendar and inspirational phrases from the Qur’an, printed in black ink on white strips of paper, decorate the walls, adding some life to otherwise drab confines.

“Dar-us-Salaam, how can I help you?” he asks when answering the landline phone shoved in the comer on his desk.

“He is very busy this week; would you like to set up an appointment, or would speaking over the phone be OK?” he asks one woman, who is seeking advice on a “personal m atter” As administrative assistant to the Irriam, or spirilual leader, GuadaI I ‘ lupe’s respqnsibilities alDar-us-Salaar| run jpe gainut.

“He’s kindW a jack-ol^ll-tracles,” exjplained M i4 a j Hasai congregant anl|^ar-us-Salaam jemployae.

i fellow

Beyond such adventures, however, Guadalupe also handles many of the more mundane, day-to-day matters for the Imam. He arranges meetings for marriage counseling, talks to couples interested in get­ ting married, and to people inquiring about Islam or requesting the Imam speak in their communities.

Overall, Guadalupe says he likes his job and that it requires so much community involvement. Yet despite this, and despite having converted to Islam and having pressing spiritual questions from his past answered, Guadalupe’s life as a Muslim hasn’t come without challenges. While he doesn’t like to say he “lost” friends because of his conversion, he’ll admit it has changed things.

To illustrate, Guadalupe talks about a recent reunion of his frater­ nity brothers that he wanted to attend. He missed friends from col­ lege and looked forward to catching up, but had to set some ground rules if he was to go; there could be no drinking, no girls, no music or dancing. He says he asked his friends if they would oblige his re­ quest for just one hour, so that he could swing by without breaking Islamic dictates. But when they declined, saying beer and music were essential to a reunion, Guadalupe had to swallow hard and pass on the event.

In a similar situation w ith his extended family during Thanksgiv­ ing, Guadalupe and his wife had to leave the festivities early when people decided to watch music "videos featuring scantily clad women.

Fortunately, Guadalupe sees these events as small prices to pay for /what he’s gained from conversion. Sitting in his cramped cubicle one day, he explained his position.

“Once I understood certain values, certain things were more im ­ portant than others; I never regretted anything,” Guadalupe said, his h a n ^ folded in his lap. He said those activities that were previously Sortant to him were means to temporary happiness. But by “living life according to what Allah has ordered,” he says he’s found sus­ tained happiness, “true happiness.” this declaration, Guadalupe leans back on the rolling chair -psf his desk, his mouth curls into a slight smirk, and he looks up and whispers as if speaking to no one in particular: “Oh yeah, I’m happy.” is triumph ant. His face is 100 percent satisfaction.

Seeing him like this, i t ’s difficult to imagine the confused 20-year“Did Guadalm;g^^described himself as, watching the twin towers fall.

For a fleeting moment, it ’s almost hard to believe in such a radical '*trana^ mation. But then the evidence is right there: the comfort, securlty ana^& Bi«atidty in his expression. At that moment, it ’s clear tfia t -while looking up from his rolling chair in his cubicle, he probably wasn-^.-wm§penng to anyone in particular. • ox is currently a graduate student studying journalism.

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After more than 20 years of living in the Hunters Point-Bayview neighborhood in southern San Francisco, a father of three was deported in the middle of the night. His wife was left to raise their children — who are all legal citizens. Both mother and father keep hopes that one day borders won’t separate their loving family. Last year, 310,000 immigrants were separated from their families and forced to leave the country.

Charlotte KesI, SOC '08. You can uieut her portfolio at www.charlottekesl.com

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tivism had a very low level of analysis — as it was put, they were ‘good people against all bad things.’ And I thought that there might be more to it than that, that we might be able to have a richer analysis, u lti­ mately in the service of my activism — our activism. But I also found it not simply useful as a means, but enjoyable as an ends in itself.

Are there specific experiences you’ve had that have shaped your political beliefs, or revelations that have led to a change in lifestyle?

It’s hard to isolate a single moment, but there have been certain experiences that have been defining for my life and for much of my generation. I’m a gay man who came out in the early '80s — and I think I even may have talked about this in class last semester — and of the guys I went to college with that I came out with, most of them are [HIV] positive, sick, or dead. When you see your community at­ tacked like that — decimated like that — it ’s an imperative to action.

And so at some point I became active in Act Up [the New York-based Aids Awareness Group] and got arrested, and did that whole thing.

What do you see, if anything, in activism at AU?

Well, I’m here one day a week — one afternoon — so I don’t see an awful lot. You know, sometimes I see tables, or you come to me or Bobby [Allyn] comes to me, right, but, you know, I don’t have my pulse on the AU community.

Do you feel like there is now more of a tabling and lobbying ap­ proach to activism than an active approach? Would you say that the word ‘active’ seems to have a different connotation nowadays?

PROFESSOR PROFILE

MARCOS BISTICAS-COCOVES

It’s my experience that movements that are engaged in direct ac­ tion come in waves. So, for instance, in the early ‘90s I was part of Act Up. And there was a big wave of activity in action up from say '90 to ‘95. And starting in ‘99, w ith Seattle, you know, there was this whole wave of activism around that. And that petered out. And nothing has quite taken its place yet. And I suspect something w ill at some point.

So is activism always simply a result of external circumstances? Is our condition now simply such that it does not call people to action directly?

By Seth Shamon / / Photos By Jessica T^ich Critically recognized as one of the most abstruse and exasperat­ ing books ever written, Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit is arguably the most challenging text in modern philosophy — even for A ll’s ace philosophy majors. Despite this, or perhaps because of this, when a course on the book appeared on A ll’s Spring 2009 course catalog, its waitlist quickly jumped to double digits. Professor Marcos BisticasCocoves, who teaches the Phenomenology class, is more than an au­ thority on the obscurities of German Idealism; he’s a radical thinker and a compelling voice for community activism.

AWOL’s Seth Shamon sat down w ith Marcos to talk politics, life, and of course, philosophy.

At what point did you decide that you wanted to study philosophy?

I was an undergraduate at Antioch .[College], and I was a student activist. I found that a lot of the people I was organizing w ith in my ac­

77 AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE MAGAZINE

It can’t be simply a response to external circumstances, although there is something reactive about our politics sometimes. Because i t ’s not like there isn’t stuff happening now, that there’s not more of an activist response to the war, or to the healthcare system, or to the crisis of capitalism. My family lives in Greece, and right now Greece is in economic chaos, but the Greeks w ill stage a general strike at the tip of a hat. So again, part of it I think is a singularly American reaction to some of these crises.

Do you generally find it hard to reconcile idealism and politics? Do you consider yourself an idealist?

I have a troubled relation w ith the word idealist, as I have a trou­ bled relation with the word utopian. I think that critique is ultim ate­ ly impossible w ithout hope for something better. But idealism can sometimes have the ring of a lack of realism. The world which I want to build is not just a mere ideal or an unreachable ideal, but is a con­ crete goal.

snowing in Washington, D.C. u ntil A1 Gore cries ‘uncle.’ ’’ Or take Sen. James Inhofe (R) of Oklahoma, whose family b uilt an igloo next to the Capitol adorned w ith a sign reading “Al Gore’s new home.’’ Gotcha, Al! Well actually, fellas, the joke is on you. To make assumptions about the global climate based on a single storm in Washington is unscien­ tific and simply illogical. According to AU professor Keryn Gedan, who teaches a course called Sustainable Earth, “Even a scientist who is a climate change skeptic wouldn’t say that such a storm is evidence against global warming - scientists must look at the long-term trend.’’

Clearly, Sen. Jim DeMint is no scientist. If he were, he would be aware that such an unprecedented storm is perfectly consistent with what climate experts have been predicting. While it is common for many skeptics to be suspicious of this so-called “science,’’ the expla­ nation behind recent aberrant weather is actually pretty simple.

What do you think of the motto “think globally, act locally”?

Well, I think that it ’s good as far as it goes, but I think i t ’s clearly not a complete philosophy, is it? It’s a nice slogan, and it needs to be sup­ plemented by other ideas. I mean. I’m sure a fascist could say ‘think globally, act locally’, and clearly certain economic systems today are thinking globally and acting locally.

A skimming of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2007 Summary for Policymakers (I can name at least two policymak­ ers who didn’t read this) reveals several important truths. Fact: aver­ age global temperatures have been rising. Fact: average atmospheric water vapor content has been rising. Because warm air can hold more water vapor, higher temperatures have led to increased evaporation.

What does this mean for weather patterns? Well, higher levels of water vapor in the atmosphere are expected to lead to more frequent

What do you like best about teaching?

What I like best about teaching is, well, when I have trained stu­ dents enough so that they can go into the text alone. All I can do is point in the direction and stand back and watch them at work.

Seth Shamon is a jun ior studying physics and philosophy. He is the Communications Coordinator fo r AWOL.

GLOBAL WARMING?

BUT DID YOU SEE ALL THAT SNOW?

By Shay Longtain

It was an unusual winter in Washington, D.C. While the city was buried beneath the area’s largest snowstorm in recorded history, AU students relished a week w ithout classes and witnessed the collapse of the Mary Graydon Center canopy as it succumbed to the weight of over two feet of snow, falling to the ground w ith a resounding crash.

Perhaps not surprisingly, many global warming skeptics seized the opportunity to question the reality of climate change, making earthshattering observations of their own. Surveying the snowpocalyptic wasteland of the nation’s capital, these outspoken skeptics (several of whom work in this very city) insightfully concluded that the world is not, in fact, warming up.

Take, for example. Sen. Jim DeMint (R) of South Carolina. On Feb. 9, the senator used his TAvitter page to proclaim, “It’s going to keep

events of heavy precipitation. In general, climatologists expect to see more erratic and extreme weather. It shouldn’t be too surprising that - given a long stretch of adequately cold temperatures - these unprec­ edented levels of water vapor produced an unprecedented snowstorm.

The unusual nature of this storm is precisely why we should be concerned about climate change. By mid-February, Washington had the second-highest seasonal snowfall of any U.S. city. Yes, Washing­ ton, D.C., just ahead of Rochester, New York. This is not normal.

So while the skeptics continue tweeting their ignorance to the world and building igloos where there shouldn’t even be snow, the rest of us should be concerned about our climate becoming warmer and weirder. Or else, by the time scientists cry “I told you so,’’ it w ill be too late.* Shay Longtain is a freshman studying international relations.

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AWOL HEWSWIRE

WHO NEEDS THE IPAD? on’t be deluded into thinking your tech­ nology bases are thoroughly covered; Apple’s newly launched iPad is advertised to be the next step in a fully connected W i­ Fi world. When the tablet was introduced in early February, commentators were quick to question why loyal Apple consumers would buy what is basically a souped-up iPhone.

The iPad - about one h a lf inch thick and less than two pounds - is undeniably sleek, but its functions are not revolutionary. As reviewed in Time Magazine, “it doesn’t do anything your other devices don’t, and in many cases your other devices do those things better.’’

So what makes Apple so confident that con­ sumers are ready to lay down several hun­ dred dollars for yet another gadget? Families might be impressed that the iPad has been lauded as “the first whole-house computer,’’ but it remains to be seen if college students and young adults can find a place in their wireless lives for Steve Jobs’ latest plaything.

-Audrey Van Gilder

D

STUBBDRN MINDS hroughout the protracted healthcare de­ bate, promoters of reform never ran out of anecdotal evidence supporting their claim that uninsured Americans’ access to health­ care was significantly limited. But the gaping divide in Congress reflects a more troubling

T

19 AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE MAGAZINE

schism in public opinion concerning the access and quality of health care for the un­ insured.

According to the latest journal of Health Affairs, a large majority of Americans be­ lieve the uninsured have no trouble access­ ing healthcare. The journal conducted a poll in 2009 that found that people believed the uninsured are able to receive necessary care (58 percent) and that it is “not too/ not at all difficult” for the uninsured to get care (22 percent). Unfortunately, the news media’s countless examples of the setbacks for the uninsured were not enough to budge an in ­ transigent public opinion. For more on this subject, check out Slate reporter Timothy Noah’s gripping coverage. -Alex Burchfield

THE LHC AND THE FUTURE DF SCIENCE arch 30, 2010 marked the launch of the most ambitious science experiment in human history. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located 175 meters under the FrancoSwiss border, accelerates particles to the point where our laws o f physics break down—up to 99.999999 percent the speed of light. CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, hopes its 16 year-long, $10 billion project w ill affirm—or deny—the Standard Model of par­ ticle physics and provide answers to some of the most fundamental questions in physics: W hat’s the relationship between matter and antimatter? Just what is dark matter? What gives particles their mass? Are there extra dimensions, as predicted by String Theory?

How can quantum mechanics be reconciled w ith Einstein’s Theory of Relativity? If these sound like heady questions, it ’s because they are. Ultimately, by simulating the Big Bang, LHC scientists are bridging the gap between humans and their universe. -Seth Shamon

M

PRDTESTDRS DEMAND NEW GDVERNMENT IN MDNGDLIA lan Bator, Mongolia’s capital, was flooded by more than 5,000 protestors on April 4 demanding that parliament be dissolved.

Leaders of the protest vowed on April 8 to hold a hunger strike u ntil a national vote is held on parliament’s dissolution. Prime Min­ ister Siikhbaataryn Batbold was appointed chief of the Mongolian People’s Revolution­ ary Party, which currently holds a m ajority in parliament, in an attempt to consolidate his power in the face of demands for aid distri­ bution promised by the government in 2008.

The April protests come less than two years after demonstrations in July 2008 left five dead and several hundred injured.

-Jacob Strauss

U

EXPLAINED:

WHAT IS CASJ AGAIN?

By Geoff Ramsey

The Community Action and Social Justice Coalition — like many AU clubs — has an office on campus managed by volunteers. But unlike other groups, it doesn’t promote a single activist issue on campus; instead, it promotes general activism. In many ways, the CASJ office, located in the basement of the Kay Spiritual Life Center, is AU’s “activ­ ist resource center.’’

CASJ has existed in many configurations since the ‘60s, when it was established by the University Chaplain to counsel those drafted for the Vietnam War. Rumor has it that the office was so successful that it was investigated by the FBI for encouraging draft-dodging. In the early 2000s, CASJ broke from its affiliation w ith the Chaplain and merged w ith other groups on campus to create a more inclusive coali­ tion of student activists. Since then, the CASJ office has existed as an organizing space for AU students and the D.C. community.

The central organizing body of CASJ is the CASJ collective, a group of volunteers (each of whom are usually involved in a coalition club) tasked w ith administrative duties. These duties include hosting monthly town hall meetings for the campus community to discuss local issues, bringing radical speakers to campus, sending out weekly emails about upcoming events at AU and in D.C. and being present in the CASJ office for at least five hours per week. In addition to these regular duties, CASJ collective members organize campus-wide cam­ paigns. Over the past two years, CASJ has become increasingly active, launching campaigns to reform the Judicial Affairs and Mediation Services office (now Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution Servic­ es), secure better benefits for our shuttle drivers and Aramark service workers and persuade AU to formally commit its vendors to fair trade coffee. All of these campaigns have taken hours of petitioning, mass emailing and sign-making by the volunteer collective.

One measure of CASJ’s progress is this year’s surge in membership.

Recently it hosted members of the Beehive Design Collective, an art­ ist group dedicated to resisting corporate globalization. Despite the small size of the room in McKinley Hall where the event was held, it was attended by more than two dozen people. After the meeting, for­ mer CASJ collective member and AU senior Mary Schellentrager ex­ pressed excitement at the turnout. "The activist community’s grown,’’ she said. Schellentrager believes the group has become not only more inclusive, but more effective as well. “[Before] only a couple of the collective members were active in the community, but now the col­ lective’s made up of people who are more involved in the [coalition] clubs.’’

Off campus, the group is also dedicated to being a hub of student activism. CASJ helped organize the recent Funk the War demonstra­ tion, a “m ilitant mobile dance party” in which 500 students mobbed the K Street area on March 19. At the protest, students temporarily occupied the front of the U.S. Treasury Building, w ith two individu­ als scaling one of its pillars and unfurling a banner that read “End

the Wars, Fund our Future.” More recently, CASJ met w ith other stu­ dent groups from Howard University, University of Maryland, George Washington University and Georgetown University to discuss the es­ tablishment of a progressive student union in the D.C. area. While still in the planning stages, the proposed “Radical Student Network” would facilitate cross-campus projects so that D.C. area student activ­ ists could coordinate campaigns together.

Despite its increased activity, CASJ is still in the growing process.

Although it has worked to co-sponsor events w ith historically margin­ alized identity-based groups such as the Black Student Alliance and the Latin American Student Organization, the coalition itself sorely lacks adequate representation from such groups. The same is true for CASJ’s relationship w ith the sizeable LGBT community at this school.

Even though AU prides itself on its “diversity and inclusion” (accord­ ing to the M ulticultural Affairs Web site), most students can attest to campus-wide racism, sexism and homophobia. To address these issues, the group hopes to do more campaign work w ith the M ulti­ cultural Advocacy and LGBT Resource centers in the future. So while CASJ has improved, there is still much work to be done before it can be considered a truly comprehensive social justice coalition at AU. Ultimately, CASJ is a powerful resource for those interested in work­ ing for social change. “CASJ is the vehicle through which people get involved in social and economic justice work at AU,” said CASJ collec­ tive member Drew Franklin. “It helped me accomplish what I came to D.C. to do in the first place; develop my skills as an organizer. A lot of other clubs on campus talk about issues in terms of policy changes and party politics. CASJ’s the only group that focuses on the grass­ roots, at the community level,” he said. “In the end, that’s the only level that really matters.”

Geoff Ramsey is a member o f the CASJ collective. The CASJ collec­ tive meets every Friday at 5 p.m. in the CASJ office, and CASJ town hall meetings are generally held the firs t Tuesday o f every month in the Batelle A trium at 9 p.m. mW.AWOLAU.ORB » SPRING 2 0 1 0 20

JABS AND JEST

It’s a gorgeous m id-A pril day in th e D istrict. So gorgeous, in part, because the Office of Admissions at American University has chosen today to be AU Preview Day. Incoming freshmen from all over the Eastern Seaboard flock w ith their parents to this beacon of higher education in our nation’s capital. The booming voice of a student Am­ bassador emanates from the distance and through blossoming trees.

Come join this Ambassador for the tour you never had, and relish in all the details you wish you never had the misfortune of discovering.

Ambassador to a cranky tour group: “So this is a fairly typical dorm room, barring the fact that it was decorated exclusively w ith items from the Container Store, and fea­ tures an appropriate amount of furniture. When you move in, you may find that there is actually 150 percent more furniture than you expected, because you have 200 percent more roommates than you expected. Most importantly, you’ll find that Housing and Dining Pro­ grams has truly mastered the art of efficiency, creating spaces for three out of what some wasteful fool thought appropriate for two.

“Anyway, you should expect your roommates and floormates to be far more diverse than any other student body you’ve likely encoun­ tered. AU is diverse and embraces diversity... i t ’s... international... m ulti-cultural.. .m ulti-ethnic... international... m ulti-cultural...inter­ national! At AU, we’re global, baby. My freshman year, I had a room­

21 AMERICAN VlAy OF LIFE MAGAZINE

mate from Panama and a roommate from Kentucky. It was super­ crazy to have roommates and friends from outside the mid-Atlantic.

They even want to go to college, and they even like Whole Foods.

“However, you should also expect to conform to a few norms. Our dress code is relatively strict for young women. First and foremost, you’ll need to purchase a North Face fleece jacket. You might object that you’d rather spend $100 on a heavier coat, one that might be ap­ propriate for sub-60 degree days, but that’s really missing the point.

Purchase it first; ask questions later. You also won’t want to be caught w ithout a pair of sheer black tights. In a budget-saving turn of events, you’ll wear them as pants and forgo the normally requisite skirt or dress over them. Worn this way, they w ill also accentuate the curves of your lady-parts quite nicely.

“As for men, the code is more lax, although there are a few don’ts you certainly would like to observe. ‘Virginia is for lovers,’ for example, is not a particularly chic phrase to wear on a t-shirt. You may want to stick with the more conventional choice of Greek letters, although make sure to steer clear of such fumbles as ‘Campus beautification: don’t feed the sorority girls’ scrawled across the back of a fraternity shirt. It’s generally a good idea to not do things which make you im ­ mediately identifiable as a total asshole.

“Now, please turn around so that you’re facing outside the dorm room (and away from the young woman who is changing w ith her

blinds open in the dorm hall directly across from us). Take a moment to notice this lovely hallway space! While it may surprise you, this actually doubles as study space when you come to realize that there is no ‘conventional study space’ on campus (Eagles are not much for staying w ithin conventions, anyway). You can sit down directly on the industrial-grade carpeting and place your spine comfortably against the Art Deco cinderblock walls. Now you’re ready to get some As while your roommate gets some Zs! “So we’re out of the dorms, and ready to explore a few of the ameni­ ties on our campus’s gorgeous south side. Here you’ll find the flagship of our fabulous study abroad program. AU generously invests a large portion of its budget each year to ensuring that you know what you’re missing if you choose not to study abroad or cannot afford to study abroad. We offer programs for both the academically motivated, seri­ ous students — such as our language immersion programs in Chile and St. Petersburg, Russia —and some for those who just can’t seem to get shit-faced enough while in the States — such as the Madrid and Mediterranean programs.

“Turn to your right, folks, and you’ll see the bastion of security on our campus: AU Public Safety. These officers spend tens of hours each academic year responding to incidents all over campus, ranging from the mundane to the pressing. For incidents in the latter category, our officers are equipped with the latest technology in transportation, the T3 People turbo-charged transporter. These vehicles can cut the of­ ficers’ cross-campus commute times by up to 45 seconds (depending on wind velocity).

“Well, that pretty much sums it all up for now. I’m glad I could give you just a small preview of things to come if you choose AU; all the rest, of course, you’ll have to discover for yourself. Now, if you don’t mind. I’m gonna go tan topless on our sand-less, water-less, scene­ less ‘beach’. Toodles!” • Suzanne Monsiuais is a jun ior studying economics.

PERSONAL INTEREST

KUMAN SINGH

By Alex Burchfield and Ashley Dejean

Sitting behind the counter of the Mud Box is a small, soft-spoken man named Kuman Singh. Patiently tapping on his iPhone u ntil cus­ tomers approach, he greets them w ith a warm smile. If you ask him what he recommends, he’ll tell you to order his favorite drink, a cara­ mel macchiato. As he slides off his stool, he whips out a clear plastic cup and turns on the espresso machine in one fluid motion. W ith a squeeze bottle of caramel, he draws wavy lines circling the inside of the cup and places it under the espresso machine as the dark liquid slowly trickles in. In less than a minute, the drink is ready to go. With a smile, he deftly punches numbers into the cash register and tells you to have a nice night.

Singh grew up in Delhi, India, w ith his brother and sister. He came from a middle-class background that emphasized a dedicated work

“In India, i f you have some problems everyone’s going to have time for you,” he said. “If they don’t have time they’re going to make it.”

Originally starting his career in the hotel industry, Singh came to the United States to stake out a life of his own. He landed a job as a chef at an Indian restaurant in Texas. But after his best friend in New Jersey referred him to the owner of the Mud Box, Singh decided to ap­ ply for a job in the District. Singh called repeatedly, demonstrating his dedication to the hiring manager, and he was eventually hired.

Singh expressed satisfaction w ith the strides he has made in his own personal development.

“I feel better over here because I feel like I have increased a lot of things in myself, like communication skills, and a lot of things,” said Singh, who has been serving AU students midnight caffeine fixes for the last three years.

Singh emphasized his fervent work ethic. In his mind, there is no question whether or not working until two in the morning every weeknight is too much.

“I have to close at two o’clock, so I have to close at two o’clock.

There’s no cost or anything - 1just have to close it,” Singh said. “It’s not bothering me that I have to close at two o’clock.”

Some mornings, Singh works as assistant manager at Spice Ex­ press, an Indian bistro near Farragut North.

“I’ve been working there for more than six months,” Singh said. “It’s a good place. There’s not any supervisor except me, so I think that’s the best part. I know how to cook, so when people aren’t there, I cook.”

In his free time, Singh enjoys hip-hop freestyle dancing. He has been dancing since he was a teenager, but due to his workload, it has been hard to find time to practice.

“I dance sometimes at home because I’m a busy person,” Singh said.

Singh’s aspirations beyond his career at the Mud Box have yet to be realized. One day he hopes to start his own coffee shop, where he can work as much as he pleases.

“I feel like 1 can manage [a coffee shop]. I feel like it. There’s a little b it of change over here, but I feel good about it. It’s better over here.”* Alex Burchfield is a sophomore studying Philosophy and Interna­ tional relations. Ashley Dejean is a freshman studying Journalism.

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