BUZZSAW MEMBERS ONLY APRIL 2011
Plugging In Conflict minerals in your technology
Dear Mr. President Can we really access politicians?
Hackers Without Borders Plus 10 points!
1 4.11. 1N&V.indd 1
4/4/11 1:13:07 AM
BUZZSAW Buzzsaw presents...
BUZZSAW The Access Issue
EDITORS’ COMMENT
The
2 4.11. 1N&V.indd 2
Access Issue
The girl with the long, black hair wakes up, drags herself out of bed and gets ready for a long day of school. She follows her morning schedule, then heads out to the bus stop. Thankfully for her, a car full of her friends drives by—two kickin’ in the front seat, two sittin’ in the back seat. So, the girl wonders to herself, despite the fact that there is only one free seat, “Which seat can I take?” The 13-year-old Rebecca Black and her “Friday” music video have been mercilessly skewered since shooting to an ironic sort of fame a few weeks ago. But despite all of the YouTube covers and Twitter statuses, this lyric, at the very least, provokes an unintentionally important question: When you only have access to one thing, does it even matter what the other options are? Why can’t Rebecca understand that her fate has already been determined? She’s sitting bitch seat, and pretending that she has other options available to her is simply counterproductive. We’ve seen this falsely unlimited access in our country countless times. We’re Americans, dammit, and the American Dream is available to anyone who works hard enough. You can be rich! You can be successful! The world is your canvas, now go make some cool splatter art! For those in power, maintaining this guise of access is more important than its practical reality. We see it with politicians and government officials, who are supposedly always just a letter away (page 16, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours?” by Sam McCann). We see it in corporations like Sodexo, where employees are scared into silence although they technically have the ability to speak up (page 18, “Serving Up Silence,” by Alyssa Figueroa). Even worse is when you don’t have access to something that privileged people assume is universal: 2.5 billion people continue to live without access to fresh, clean water, and corporations working to privatize the resource are restricting that human right even further (page 24, “Thirsty for a Solution,” by Chris Zivalich). And in the United States, which we arrogantly assume to be one of the most pluggedin, technologically advanced countries in the world, Internet is still out of reach for much of the rural population (page 22, “The Broadband Internet Desert,” by Adam Polaski). Fortunately, some people are working toward expanding our access to vital elements. The article about health care (page 30, “The Grassroots Healthcare Movement,” by Emily Miles) discusses growing local movements, and school districts are implementing more expansive healthy eating initiatives every year (page 28, “Getting Schooled in Eating Right,” by Elizabeth Stoltz). Perhaps the struggle—and the reason these people are encountering successful change—lies in thinking beyond the ways in which our systems currently operate. If we can create new ways of thinking that challenge the status quo and demand change, then maybe we really can gain access to what we want and what we need. Wouldn’t that be fun fun fun fun? I don’t know about you, but here at Buzzsaw, we we we so excited about the possibilities.
News & Views Upfront Ministry of Cool Prose & Cons Sawdust Layout Art Website SeeSaw Production
Adviser Founders
Jacquie Simone Adam Polaski Alyssa Figueroa Carly Sitzer Emily Miles David Lurvey Chris Giblin Lucy Ravich Anika Steppe Emily Miles David Lurvey Andrew Rivard Andrew Casler, Zoe Epstein, Catherine Fisher, Mike McCabe, Gena Mangiaratti, Sam Pinto, Francesca Toscano, Joey Naftol, Marc Phillips, Carly Smith, Danielle West, Garen Whitmore
Jeff Cohen Abby Bertumen Kelly Burdick Bryan Chambala Sam Costello Thom Denick Cole Louison James Sigman
Buzzsaw is published with support from Campus Progress / Center for American Progress (online at CampusProgress.org). Buzzsaw is also funded by the Ithaca College Student Government Association and the Park School of Communications. Our Press is our press. (Binghamton, NY) Buzzsaw uses student-generated art and photography and royalty-free images. Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the editorial staff or of Ithaca College. Feedback and contributions should be sent to buzzsawmag@gmail.com. Front & back cover by Zachary Anderson, Brie Bard and Anika Steppe Center spread by Clara Goldman Upfront divider by Julianne Cort Ministry of Cool divider by David Lurvey Sawdust divider by Malti Jones
- The Editors <3
4/4/11 1:13:09 AM
WRITE US Our magazine exists to inspire thoughtful debate and open up the channels through which information is shared. Your comments and feedback are all a part of this process. Reach the editors by email at:
BUZZSAWMAG@GMAIL.COM
Table of Contents News & Views ...............................4 Current events, local news & quasi-educated opinions.
Upfront .........................................14 Selected dis-education of the month.
Ministry.of.Cool............................33 Arts, entertainment and other things cooler than us.
Prose & Cons ...............................41 Short fiction, personal essay and other assorted lies.
Sawdust .......................................42 Threatening the magazine’s credibility since 1856.
{{
Sawdust
WEB EXCLUSIVES >> Cashing in on Points and Miles: Easy ways to access free perks from rewards programs by John Vogan >> WikiLeaks and the World: How WikiLeaks offers new format for global spread of information by Matt Honold
>> Women Rise Up in Protest of Shoddy Restroom Services Nationwide Men now have to wait in longer lines by Abby Sophir
}}
>> Local “Trekker’s” Ability to Watch Star Trek on Netflix Instant Watch Killing His Ability to Function as Normal Human Being by Catherine Fisher >> Child’s Access to Favorite Programs Blocked by Mom Timmy complains about ‘basic human rights’ being taken away from him by Dylan Clark
BUZZSAW
Upfront
check us out at:
WWW.BUZZSAWMAG.ORG 3
4.11. 1N&V.indd 3
4/4/11 1:13:11 AM
buzzcuts
Kiribati
17.8%
Compiled by Jacquie Simone
13.6% $ 12.4% Cuba
QUOTES
“
Lesotho
United States
There’s been a wave of propaganda over the last couple of months, which is pretty impressive to watch, trying to deflect attention away from those who actually created the economic crisis, like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, their associates in the government who—Federal Reserve and others— let all this go on and helped it. There’s a move to switch attention away from them to the people ‘really’ responsible for the crisis—teachers, police, firefighters, sanitation workers, their huge pensions, their incredible healthcare benefits, Cadillac healthcare benefits and their unions, who are the ‘real’ villains, the ones who are ‘robbing the taxpayer’ by making sure that policemen may not starve when they retire. And this is pretty amazing. … It was heartening to see that there are tens of thousands of people protesting in Madison day after day, in fact. I mean, that’s the beginning, maybe, of what we really need here: a democracy uprising. Democracy has almost been eviscerated.
”
5.5%
GDP spent on education Source: CIA World Factbook
SALARIES Bonus for Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein:
$12.6 million Average salary for teachers Wisconsin: $46,390 New York: $57,354 California : $59,825
-Noam Chomsky on Feb. 17 Democracy Now!
“I’m attacking the leadership of the [teachers’] union because they’re greedy, and they’re selfish, and they’re self-interested.”
^ highest in U.S.
- New Jersey’s Republican Gov. Chris Christie
STATS
$
total spent on education nationwide in 2010-2011
1.13 t r i l l i o n Source: ed.gov
Source: TeacherPortal.com
*Collective Bargaining:
negotiation between an employer and a labor union usually on wages, hours, and working conditions
BUZZSAW The Access Issue
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to eliminate teachers’ jobs
4,666
#
New York state: Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo to cut
Source: CNN
of people represented by NYSUT, New York State United Teachers:
$1.5 billion in state aid to schools
600,000
Source: CNN
4 4.11. 1N&V.indd 4
4/4/11 1:13:11 AM
%
Rallies and Realism Reflections on protests in the U.S. and elsewhere By Jessica Santos
T
people came together for a cause but, as was the case in previous protests, were unsure how to act next. The cause was left in the hands of the state government, which did not fulfill the protesters’ wishes. Meanwhile, the protesters in Libya and Egypt are fighting for issues that directly affect the majority of their country. Each population has come together despite differences in religious background, race and so on. Because of this, the people have created a stronger voice to express their dissent. As their respective movements gained momentum, Libyans and Egyptians could feasibly hope for actual change, fueling the energy and intensity of their protests. At first glance, it seems that protests in the United States have not been nearly as effective as those in Libya or Egypt. In a sense, this may be true. Recent protests in America have not created nearly as much change as protests have abroad, and they cannot compare to their size and intensity. Regardless, it’s important to realize that these countries have entirely different situations. Some Wisconsin protesters might have compared their efforts to the pro-democracy movements in North Africa, but realistically, they were only calling for collective bargaining, not regime change. The government oppression in Libya and Egypt is far greater than issues in the United States. “Every other way to have one’s voice heard is shut down through oppression and force,” Rodriguez said of Egypt. Weissman agreed that the differences in U.S. and Egyptian protesters’ motivations must be considered. “In Egypt, they want to overthrow their government,” he said. “In the United States, no one wants that. We just want a policy change.” Still, the protests in the United States have not come close to the unity seen in other protests abroad. This is primarily because of indifference: Since it doesn’t affect our lives, why should we bother? Americans are all too familiar with the difficulties of democracy and interparty cooperation. With issues ranging from health care to energy efficiency,
Americans have seen bills written and then go through the lengthy process of being rewritten and rewritten again Image by Brenda Judge to appease both parties. By the time this process is over, the bill is considerably weaker and barely resembles the original. So, even if the protesters successfully brought an issue to the government’s attention, the political process means their goals probably wouldn’t be fulfilled exactly as they originally wanted. Regardless, there have not been problems as major as an oppressive government that needs to be overthrown. If that were to occur, the American people might organize a large-scale protest. There are problems in the U.S., but it is difficult to mobilize a majority of the population and convince them to speak out if the issue does not seem to directly affect them. For now, we should probably be thankful that there is nothing so significantly wrong in our country that we require protests as massive as those in Libya and Egypt. _____________________________________ Jessica Santos is a sophomore writing major who thinks Gaddafi’s gotta go. Email her at jsantos1@ithaca.edu.
News & Views
hrough raised signs and impassioned cries, protesters hope that their actions will positively influence government policy. However, recent protests in America haven’t carried the same momentum as they have since the 1960s, while protests around the world—Libya and Egypt, for example— have inspired citizens to participate and have garnered the attention of the world. So, why are the protests in some other countries so much more successful than in America? The most obvious indicator of a protest’s success is how much policy changes as a result of the movement. Even if the protest doesn’t result in major policy changes, it can still be effective, especially if it results in a series of small changes over time. “We know we won’t dramatically change anything,” said Edward Weissman, the current organizer of the Ithaca Tea Party. “But we can still cause some sort of change that will be beneficial.” Weissman said protests give people an outlet for their voices to be heard while simultaneously allowing them to connect with other people who share their opinions. People with left-leaning opinions also have been trying to mobilize support through protests. Patricia Rodriguez, a professor in the IC politics department, explained that there is a necessary combination of actions in order for a protest to be effective. For example, many people need to unite for the cause despite the fact that it may not affect their lives. Additionally, a government needs to create a venue to listen to the issues of the people— if not, the people must force the government to listen to them. “If [Egyptians] don’t voice their opinions and their desire for change, nothing is going to happen,” Rodriguez said of the recent protests. “No one else is going to pick it up. Here, there is a bit of a tendency to do it to a minimal degree, and then hope that the politicians, institutions or leaders will pick it up.” This is where the recent Wisconsin protests for collective bargaining rights for public employees failed. The
5 4.11. 1N&V.indd 5
4/4/11 1:13:13 AM
Restaurant Review : By Ryan Sharpstene
I
f in the past month you’ve found yourself stopping for a minute staring inside the large front windows of South Cayuga Street’s newest eatery, Culture Shock, you’re
BUZZSAW The Access Issue
Photo by Jacquie Simone
not alone. It’s hard not to stop on the busy side street to the Commons when you notice the new neon-green painted walls, disco ball, abstract art deco paintings and ball pit inside the spacious eatery. Yes, I said it—ball pit, with those multicolor plastic balls from your childhood that your mother yelled at you for throwing at the other kids.
Once inside, as you sneak to the back of the restaurant and pass the bar and small stage for live performances, you will find the kitchen and order station, where large chalkboards list the menu. The menu is simple in terms of variety but bountiful in ingredients. Culture Shock is primarily a salad and frozen yogurt joint. Offering almost a dozen varieties of salads—from a Mucho Queso Lindo (romaine, black beans, carrots, onions and avocado topped with tomato salsa and raw milk cheddar) to the Bi Bim Bop (spinach, carrots, sprouts, beets and onions topped with a sesame orange dressing, sushi rice, kimchi and a fried egg)—there is something for everyone. Customers also have the option to build their own salad, order a cup of the daily soup or enjoy one of the frozen, fruity treats. Customers can enjoy cups of tart and fruit-flavored frozen yogurt, vegan soft serve and smoothies all
made from an array of fresh fruits and other ingredients. Snacks, including macaroons, rice, fried eggs, kimchi, granola and raw cheesecake, are relatively cheap options on the menu. Hot tea and kombucha, fermented tea, are also available. The inspiration behind the 100 percent gluten-free menu lies in the personal history of the owner, Marian Flaxman. Flaxman, who was diagnosed with celiac disease, is unable to digest gluten, a wheat protein. Additionally, Flaxman derived the name of the restaurant from the fact that most of the foods feature a fermented ingredient containing live cultures that aide the digestive process. On a cold March Sunday afternoon, a friend and I decided to sample the Curry Crunchy salad, original frozen yogurt and Berry Bliss Kombucha. The Curry Crunchy salad, $7.50, was more than enough for two and featured a bed of green romaine lettuce, diced red pepper and julienned carrots. All the vegetables were fresh, each bright with their natural colors and crisp to the bite. Sizeable pineapple chunks, raisins and curry cashews added a nice, sweet touch to the natural, dry taste of the raw vegetables. A dressing of homemade curry yogurt and curry kraut added nice deviation from conventional salad dressings. The deep-yellow/ brown South Asian spice dressing was more than enjoyable, giving the already colorful salad a new salty dimension. At first, the $4 small, original flavor frozen yogurt we ordered could have easily been mistaken for the pomegranate flavor, due to its unnaturally bright pink color. This tart treat could serve two or satisfy the big sweet tooth of one. Made from local grass-fed organic milk, yogurt and organic evaporated cane juice, according to the menu, this was an absolutely phenomenal treat. Sweet, rich and without that sometimes found grittiness or thin flavor, this was hands down some of the best “froyo” I’ve tasted. And believe me—I spent a semester criss-crossing the streets of New York between the froyo shops Pinkberry and Red Mango. Customers are welcome to
add a variety of toppings, ranging from traditional granola, banana chips and coconut to chocolate chips, pumpkin seeds and more. Our glass of Berry Bliss Kombucha, $2, was rather bitter and flavorless. Maybe it’s because we aren’t tea fans, but neither of us enjoyed the glass of fermented purple brew. It tasted like seltzer water with a splash of sugarfree juice, and it was best for occasional sipping. I do admit this was my first encounter with kombucha, and it certainly will be my last. I also do not want to blame Culture Shock, as I am sure tea connoisseurs may find the beverage suitable for at least a large gulp. While we had to dash back to campus on this particular Sunday, it was hard not to stop and enjoy the hangout nature of the restaurant. Aside from the cozy seating—tables, sofa chairs, couches and bar stools—bookshelves filled with magazines and board games break the black chalkboard walls that line more than half the interior. Groups of young adults, teenagers and children relaxed inside the restaurant almost as if it were a living room or basement play room— that is, if your family typically plays soft folk indie music in the background. Culture Shock is truly an Ithaca novelty. While not necessarily full after the $14.50 meal, the dishes were each fresh, colorful and enjoyable. If you are looking for a place to sink your teeth into a full meal, look elsewhere. If you are in the mood to kick back and snack on a light lunch and jump up and down in a ball pit on a quiet afternoon or weekend, Culture Shock is up your alley. The Cayuga Street eatery is open Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and stays open to 1:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Take out is available. And yes, we couldn’t resist snapping at least one Facebook picture in the ball pit. Culture Shock is located at 109 S. Cayuga St. ______________________________________ Ryan Sharpstene is a sophomore journalism major who likes strawberries and granola on his froyo. Email him at rsharps1@ithaca.edu.
6 4.11. 1N&V.indd 6
4/4/11 1:13:18 AM
Lend Me Some Sugar, I am Your Neighbor By Dee Dee*
I
Tom,* since the first day I met him. He had dark brown eyes, sandy blonde hair and a six-pack I could wash my laundry on. When I thought of Tom, I did not think of him with Kate—I thought of him with me. Tonight was an interesting occasion for me to fantasize about Tom—tonight, I was living vicariously through Kate. With my ear still pressed to the wall, I fantasized about Tom inside of me and my lips over his large, bulging member. I could feel his thrust of pleasure every time I heard Kate shout from the other side. I could not help myself any longer. I reached into my dresser and grabbed my vibrator, and I stripped myself of all clothes and sprawled out on my bed. I was concentrated on the goal: a mind-blowing orgasm. I continued to listen and picture Tom over me, thrusting and staring at me the way he stares at Kate with his big, brown eyes. Kate’s screams were now penetrating my thoughts. We were both approaching climax, mine from my vibrator and her from Tom (there is obviously no real competition between the two). I slowed down my pace a little, but it was too late. My body began to tremble, and I started to sweat—I too had reached my climax. I lay still for a few moments and pressed my ear against the cold wall. The room next door had fallen silent, and I knew their sexual conquest had ended. I put my clothes back on and crawled into bed. Still a little
shocked at what had just happened, I was pleased with myself and with my orgasm. When I woke up in the morning, I passed Kate and Tom on my way to breakfast. We exchanged friendly hellos. I found myself smirking with pleasure, wanting to thank them for the night they gave me. To this day, I still hear Kate and Tom have sex, but I do not use their sexual pleasure to my own device. Now, you are probably sitting there thinking, “Wow, I can’t believe this girl has done this,” but you shouldn’t be so quick to judge. I know several people who have received pleasure from the idea of their neighbors or people they know having sex. After all, masturbation is extremely healthy. I am not sure if there is much difference between watching strangers have sex on the Internet and fantasizing about your neighbors. I think each person is entitled to his or her own sexual preference. I also think that our neighbors, subconsciously or not, have louder sex when they think someone may be listening. Whether we want to admit it or not, we all become a little excited when we hear our neighbors having sex. But definitely do not tell your neighbor if you do this, or else you will be forever known as a creep. Remember, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
* Names have been changed.
News & Views
t was a Sunday night, and I was planning some alone time while my roommate was at work, when I heard a feverish and passionate scream come from the other side of the wall. I mean, we all know how surprisingly thin the concrete walls are in our residence halls. My first reaction was, “I cannot believe this is happening to me again! My neighbors are having hot and passionate sex, and I am stuck in my room alone, eating Ben & Jerry’s and conjuring up a fantasy worthy of my vibrator.” I tried to shrug off the existence of their passion and continued to scan the Internet for porn, but the moans and the thuds only grew louder. I quickly pressed my ear against the wall and listened closely as my heart palpitated faster, hoping that if I tried hard enough I could imagine the scene beyond my wall. A few seconds of silence went by, and then there was a bridge in the tension. My neighbor Kate* let out a series of words that I was surprised to be hearing. I knew her boyfriend was approaching climax as I heard Kate scream, “Cum in my mouth!” I was stricken with pleasure and intense jealousy. Kate’s breath was slowing, and I could tell that she was holding back her screams. I continued to listen. Let me explain where this jealousy and curiosity comes from: I had been sexually attracted to Kate’s boyfriend,
7 4.11. 1N&V.indd 7
4/4/11 1:13:18 AM
Purchase Power
Confessions of a self-loathing capitalist By Kevin Michels paused on the precipice of Emerson Suites and bent down to lace up my Adidas, my fingers trembling with excitement. As I stood back up, I quickly dusted off my Old Navy jeans, straightened my North Face jacket and took one last deep breath. Freshman year, fall semester: Today was the day I redefined myself. I had entered the Campus Center a mere mortal; I would leave the student organization fair a legend, the greatest human being to walk the earth. Kevin Michels, world savior. Now, I was no stranger to community service—hell, I’d even won a Humanitarian Award at my high school—but I had never dreamt so many opportunities existed to show everyone else how good of a person I was. I quickly scanned the sea of tri-folds until I found the volunteer section. Tentatively, I slinked up to the Habitat for Humanity table, grabbed a pen out of my Jansport and scrawled my name and email across the listserv, my hands twitching in anticipation.
I
BUZZSAW The Access Issue
“
doesn’t? Here’s my email! Concerned with global issues? You bet I was, and I dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s to prove it. I must admit I got a natural high from being such a concerned and involved individual. As I traded quotes from Ghandi and MLK Jr. with the Human Rights Club, I felt a surge of pride and self-righteousness. I strutted out of Emerson Suites with my head in a tizzy and a smile stapled to my face, thinking, “This must be how Mother Theresa felt every day.” Spring semester rolled around, and somehow I had not managed to solve all the world’s problems. I had never been to half of the club’s meetings and never once attended a Habitat for Humanity build. But every Saturday morning when I threw off my Pottery Barn Teen covers and crawled out of my bed, I felt true remorse. Next time, I assured myself as I flipped on the XBOX. Alas, a godsend! In Intro to Sociology, I was first introduced to Messieurs Marx and Engels. I had finally found the solution: Socialism would fix everything.
Often amidst the academic debates and readings in classes, the multiple speaker series, the multitude of student organizations and the constant calls from our elders to ‘be more political,’ we lose sight of the fact that buying is the most political thing we do.
“There’s one catch,” the cute girl behind the table announced. “Our builds are all day Saturday, which means you have to get up early on the weekends.” “No problem,” I said. And I meant it. After all, I was going to solve all the world’s problems—sleep could wait. As I turned away from the table, a smug smile spread across my face. I could already feel myself becoming a better person. With each listserv I signed, the more saintly I felt. Care about modern-day slavery? Of course I did! Sign me up. Want to stop rape? Who
”
As it turned out, others had tried this and not had the greatest of results (see Stalin, Joseph). But I continued undeterred, standing tall on a soapbox of socialism, while wearing UGG moccasins. And that summer, I spent countless nights sneaking Jack & Cokes in friends’ basements, spurning capitalism and arguing in favor of the Nordic countries and their socialist-capitalist mixed economies with anyone who would listen to my drunken blather. Beer pong? Please, I was done with that overly competitive rat race. Let’s find a drinking game where we can all work together and
prosper. I returned to Ithaca the next year a hardened sophomore— ethical, scrupulous and unwilling to compromise. I had to change the world, and I had to change it right then and there. I poured myself into my classes and started attending visiting lectures about healthcare reform, race relations and poverty reduction. I pored tirelessly through my textbooks and articles for my sociology course on poverty, trying to find the one thing that was causing all these problems. As I burned the midnight oil night after night, I knew I was getting close to a solution, and I told myself it would all be worth it as I reached for another bottled Starbucks Frappuccino. That summer after sophomore year was a bitter one for me. I had deduced, from my semester of research, that poverty could not be blamed on one single thing I could campaign against, or at least make a scathing Facebook status about. Rather, I had learned that poverty was not an isolated phenomenon, but rather an inevitable consequence of the capitalist system. Naturally, I declared war on consumerism and blamed the media for hiding these truths from me. Since I was going to start a revolution, I decided I had to dress the part, and I spent nights browsing various Internet retailers in search of the cheapest Che Guevara T-shirt I could find. By junior year at Ithaca, I had started reading AdBusters, celebrated my first Buy Nothing Day and was busy scorning anything remotely corporate or hierarchically organized. I had only maintained active membership in one organization, Stop Wasting Ithaca’s Food Today (SWIFT), but I became very involved in that group. Every Friday, I rolled up the sleeves to my Banana Republic button-up and salvaged leftover food from the Towers dining hall, repackaging it into meals for the homeless and less fortunate. It was a small step, but a positive one with tangible results that tackled dual issues of sustainability
8 4.11. 1N&V.indd 8
4/4/11 1:13:19 AM
tucked deep in my heart, safe from the criticisms of econ majors and realistic individuals. Rather than look for a club to join (the International S o c i o l o g i s t Organization charges at least $20 dues per month. Damn them and their progressive sliding scale!) or reading more Wikipedia articles on the subject, I decided to actually take positive steps and exercise some of my consumer power. I began wearing TOMS shoes, supporting local businesses, avoiding big bargain stores and buying organic food whenever I could afford it. However, I’m also realistic, as a college student on a budget. Although it kills me a little bit inside, I find it hard to resist the occasional bargain bag of frozen mozzarella sticks Image by Zachary Anderson from Wal-Mart. Maybe I’m just a jaded senior, but at this point in the economic freedom to make these my college career, I’ve given up on decisions—I myself get annoyed by the big plans and miracle fixes. I don’t prestige and pretension surrounding believe that buying organic radishes sustainable alternatives, such as and using a refillable water bottle will the $24 Pottery Barn reusable water directly solve malnutrition issues for bottles emblazoned with the slogan “do the urban poor or save polar bears. your part.” However, I do believe that But I do believe that my little iota of those of us who have the economic consumer power can help determine power to do so should at least try to which businesses survive and which shop responsibly in the hopes that businesses are forced to change one day healthy, sustainable, fairpractices or fail. I’m not saying it’s made, fair-trade goods become so easy to make all these decisions normalized that they are affordable and sort through the propaganda— to all. Maybe that’s a bit hopeful, sustainability has become so vogue but it can’t hurt to give it a shot. I that panda poachers are now using know these are all tough decisions, biodegradable bullets—but there are both ethically and financially, but the resources out there. Websites such as principle is simple: If you don’t agree GreenAmerica.org and CleanClothes. with a company’s business practices, org have numerous charts and don’t buy into it. databases that rate businesses ____________________________________ according to ethics, labor practices Kevin Michels is a senior clinical and commitments to sustainability. health studies major who still loves I don’t expect anyone to consult a database before every purchase. I also his UGG moccasins. Email him at understand that not everyone has kmichel2@ithaca.edu.
News & Views
and hunger. I couldn’t help but pat myself on the back with my American Eagle mittens. The summer after junior year, my mother bought me a T-shirt that changed the way I looked at the world. It was from the Gap, and printed across the front were the words, “What we collectively choose to buy or not to buy can change the course of this planet.” That message actually stuck with me. My mother had bought it for me because it was from their (RED) line, and at this point I rarely accepted gifts that lacked a charitable angle. But this $19.95 piece of ironic cotton actually made me reflect on my previous angst and revolutionary dreams. Aside from my involvement in SWIFT, all my big plans and scrupulous principles had amounted to jack squat. Meanwhile, my purchases (yes, it’s a word find now!) had been fueling the corporate monster I had sought to destroy. The Graffiti artist Banksy, in his published book of works, Wall and Piece, writes, “We can’t do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime, we should all go shopping to console ourselves.” While I don’t agree with the severity of measures Banksy calls for, I appreciate the sentiment. Often amidst the academic debates and readings in classes, the multiple speaker series, the multitude of student organizations and the constant calls from our elders to “be more political,” we lose sight of the fact that buying is the most political thing we do. Every time you swipe your Visa, you are saying that you approve of every single part of this company’s business practices, from the wages it pays its sales managers to the conditions of the sweat shops it runs in developing nations around the world. Holding that Gap shirt, I had an epiphany. For once in my college career, I saw this not as another capitalist trap or an excuse to fight the system, but rather an opportunity to use the system to make a positive impact. While I still hold a soft spot for Sweden and Norway and start drooling every time I think of France’s healthcare system, I’m not exactly holding my breath. The success of the Tea Party political movement and subsequent McCarthy-esque slandering of anything containing the words “socialist,” “universal,” “health care” or “Obama” tells me that we might be pretty far away from living the socialist dream I still keep
9 4.11. 1N&V.indd 9
4/4/11 1:13:21 AM
Internationals in Transition
Foreign students struggle to adjust at Ithaca College By Meagan McGinnes reshman Charles De-Ganga’s dimples deepened as he beamed with laughter. His smile is contagious. This winter break was the first time in six years his entire family was able to celebrate the holidays together at home under Nigeria’s hot sun, a welcome change in weather from Ithaca. He craved the spicy, savory food that awaited him, as well as his comical nieces and nephews who never fail to raise his spirits. With a large furry hat on her head and a computer on her lap, freshman “E” Zhu let out a deep sigh of frustration. She was doing a project with a paper still to edit, and she still had more material to read. She realized sleep was not an option. An international student from China, Zhu chose Ithaca College because she imagined its lack of diversity would make it easier to completely immerse herself in American culture. What neither student was expecting was the severity of culture shock they would experience. The cultures of their home countries and Ithaca differ in more areas than just cuisine, behavior and communication. The pressures of being a first-year student are overwhelming enough, but for international students, sometimes the stress is suffocating. Although the campus seems to be filled with laughter and smiles among large groups of friends, for some international and American students, the college is disappointing. Ithaca College’s overall retention rate of 86 percent is less than the national average retention rate of colleges and universities, which is 90 percent. Some students say the college is falling short on the support systems international students need in order to prosper in this country. It is understandable that there can be no program that diverts every hardship or transitional obstacle from these students’ lives, but it is possible to help
BUZZSAW The Access Issue
F
some stressful situations that may be too much to handle emotionally. “It is easy to feel lost,” said Shanshan Mei, a freshman journalism major from China. “I think every international student has felt lost or feels lost in the crowd at some point.” Because international students only make up 2 percent of the entire college’s population, they often stick together in efforts to reduce culture shock. This feeling of solidarity hits close to home for Zhu. She has few American friends because she feels sometimes it is hard to communicate with them, and not just because of the language barrier. Many American
Charles De-Ganga, photo by David Lurvey
students do not know what it is like to be completely thrown into a different culture far away from family and friends, so they cannot relate to the international students. Diana Dimitrova, director of Ithaca College’s International Student Services for the past 10 years, personally understands the hardships of culture shock because she is originally from Greece. She said the obstacles facing international students versus American students are numerous. “I just hope people don’t feel that just because they couldn’t pull themselves out of the feeling of culture shock that something is really wrong with them, because it’s not,” Dimitrova said. “Sometimes, it is just too much all at once.”
Upon arrival at campus, the college is legally required to have a special orientation for international students. The introduction and greeting session lasts a total of 10 days, with a general focus on the academic system. After this orientation, however, the only requirement of the college is updating the student visa paperwork every semester. These students are given slightly more than a week before being thrust into an entirely different world for four years without so much as a required check-up from the institution that enrolled them. Students have to take the step to seek out help from people like Dimitrova. “No one actually asks me, ‘Hey, how have you been?’” Zhu said. Even so, international students rarely transfer, perhaps because of the stress and difficulty of changing visa statuses. As freshman Adeesha Ekanayake from Sri Lanka said, it can be like “jumping through hoops” to get to America, so once here, one appreciates the freedom and the efforts it took so much more. Many students would rather work through culture shock than transfer schools or go back to their original countries. The stresses of maintaining the student visa and legal statuses on top of the first-year experience can be overwhelming. “Being a college student away from home is tough, especially when people don’t take the time to get to know you,” said junior Romi Ezzo, student coordinator of the international orientation for two years. The college’s International Student Services is based on the idea of treating everyone, international and American students, equally in almost all ways. The application process to get into the college is the same, and once here, students are basically on their own like all other incoming students. “IC categorizes everyone as the same, but they aren’t looking at the
10 4.11. 1N&V.indd 10
4/4/11 1:13:30 AM
Image by Kennis Ku
News & Views
human aspect of it,” De-Ganga said. One program the college does offer specifically to international students, as well as for those who want to learn about other cultures, is the Housing Opportunities for a Multicultural Experience, or HOME, Program in Terrace 3. “People here are tolerant but not aware of other cultures and perspectives,” De-Ganga said. “By bridging the gap, it would help both sides.” Ezzo said students in the HOME Program were willing to appreciate other cultures, including languages, cuisines and interesting facts. For this reason, he moved into this dorm after his first semester freshman year. Unfortunately, only six international students lived in the HOME Program as of last semester. The rest of the dorm is filled with scholarship recipients or students who had no other housing to choose from. “HOME wasn’t the home for international students anymore, and you could tell, which is why I don’t live there anymore,” Ezzo said. One organization that still remains a resource for the international community is the International Club. “The international population depends on your definition of who and what is an international,” said Dimitrova, who is also the club’s advisor. “Our office works with the most narrowest [students with visas], but also broader versions. The International Club does the same.” The club’s mission is to bring awareness to diversity and different cultures, connecting international students with local students and viceversa. The organization also holds functions to educate and discuss different cultures and international events around the world. They provide resources to students, such
as summer storage, but also social events such as a trip to the Syracuse mall over fall break. Senior Amanda Wong, the club’s public relations chair, believes the club is a start for counteracting culture shock in the sense that is a jumping off point for meeting new people. “It’s kind of like family,” Dimitrova said. “Even if you are not there all the time, you can come or not come, but is not contingent on anything like that. We are here when students need.” Wong said, however, that it is important to remember the club is not strictly for international students. “It is only going to be productive if international and non-international students come together to talk,” Wong said. Despite the International Club, many of the students continue to feel isolated from the rest of the college community and sense an invisible barrier because of their international backgrounds. Wong says students should remember they are not alone. The things they are experiencing are not only limited to international students, but to the entire college community. Wong personally has lived in four different countries. “Regardless of how far you’ve traveled, living abroad from family and home is a difficult experience,” she said. Dimitrova encourages international students to work through the cultural difficulties. “Remember this will pass, and then it will hit you again, and then it will pass,” she said. “It is a cyclical thing.” De-Ganga agrees and says that it does get better. He pushed through finals week last semester with his eye on the prize of returning home. The trip back was rejuvenating, allowing him to come back to the college with radiant energy. Similar to the heat of Nigerian food, De-Ganga said, “International students are like the spice to the meal of the public community.” _______________________________________ Meagan McGinnes is a freshman journalism major who can’t handle spicy Nigerian food. Email her at mmcginn1@ithaca.edu.
11 4.11. 1N&V.indd 11
4/4/11 1:13:35 AM
The Other Guy
How the TC3 experience differs from IC and Cornell By Maureen Tant oth Ithaca College and Cornell University help drive the local economy and dramatically increase Ithaca’s seasonal population, but there is another secondary education institution in Tompkins County, one that might not be immediately apparent to a non-local: Tompkins Cortland Community College. Undergraduate tuition for a fulltime student at Cornell University is $49,341, Ithaca College’s is $45,944, and only $7,820 for TC3, but there are reasons besides reduced tuition why students might choose TC3 over IC or Cornell. One benefit is TC3’s convenience. TC3’s main campus is in Dryden, N.Y., but it also has an extension center on the Commons in downtown Ithaca. More than 3,000 undergraduates currently attend TC3, and many utilize the extension center for career or psychological counseling services. Extensions do not offer regular classes, but they are helpful to adult students who might not be able to sacrifice two years of work for a full-time education. TC3 also has another extension in Cortland. Plenty of students choose to attend TC3 without matriculating, meaning they take on a few extra classes and transfer the credit to a different institution. “A lot of Ithaca students will come here and grab a prereq,” said Sharon Sanford from TC3’s Ithaca Extension Office. “It’s great—you just have to fill out the paperwork to make sure it transfers.” Ithaca College senior Amy Wiggins attended TC3 before transferring as a sophomore. While at TC3, she resided in one of its 800 on-campus living areas, a feature not common to most community colleges. Learning to live in close quarters and deal with unfamiliar people might be more valuable than academics in college, particularly in a typical community college where students are more likely to commute. “I liked having somewhere that was my own that I could return to after classes,” Wiggins said. “You live in a suite, so each person gets their own room.”
BUZZSAW The Access Issue
B
Community colleges are often seen as places of part-time or remote education, but Darese DoskalScassido, director of Residential Life at TC3, said the school’s oncampus housing adds to the student experience. “It gives an opportunity for students to live with students they might not have before,” she said. “Our global program especially has been growing. We have many international students and students from across the country. It’s a much more diverse experience.” Living off campus while attending community college is different from living off campus at a traditional school. “When students live off campus, they’re much more likely to live alone or with someone they know,” DoskalScassido said. She added that it’s much easier to create new friendships when interacting with strangers is necessary. The residence halls do more than simply provide a place for students to live. “They’ve helped in growing our athletics program,” Doskal-Scassido said. “We’re recruiting in places like Colorado and California—all places they wouldn’t have been able to as heavily before this.” In addition to a number of recreational sports, TC3 has student organizations meant for business students, writers, thespians, communications students, nurses and others. The school also has a chapter of the junior college honor society Phi Theta Kappa. Even with these activities, Wiggins said TC3 lags behind IC in terms of internship opportunities. “The doors opened so much easier when I got to IC,” Wiggins said. “I was pretty much on my own at TC3.” Making her own opportunities wasn’t a bad thing—community college students gain independence and learn responsibility as a result of having to compete with students at four-year universities and colleges. Wiggins realized she wanted to work in television while she was at TC3, which
Image by Garen Whitmore
separates its radio and television departments. The separation of departments forced her to dedicate herself to a specific career path. Wiggins was especially appreciative of the programs available at IC after getting trained at TC3; she noticed a clear difference in the two schools’ resources. “TC3 had a few decent cameras,” she said. “No programs like ICTV, though. It just doesn’t have the funds.” Wiggins said one difficulty she encountered while transferring was that some credits did not carry o v e r from TC3. “I lost an entire semester’s worth of work,” Wiggins said. “There were so many radio classes that were important training, but IC didn’t have equivalents to them, so they’re just sitting there.” Tompkins Cortland provides multiple extension centers, a dorm experience and a sense of independence for its students, but like at any other educational institution, the burden of success resides with the individual. It’s important to continue education and self-motivate to gain internship opportunities. Today, Wiggins says she’d like to be a producer, and she’s confident she has the ability to do so, due in large part to an education that began at TC3. ______________________________________ Maureen Tant is a freshman cinema and photography major who thinks all colleges should have more community in them. Email her at atant1@ithaca.edu.
12 4.11. 1N&V.indd 12
4/4/11 1:13:37 AM
From the Congo to Your Computer The movement to remove conflict minerals from campus By Gena Mangiaratti
I
that is directly related to the students exist yet, it is not realistic to ask colleges and the president,” said Tina Orlandini, to shun electronics companies that use the vice president of publicities for IC conflict minerals. STAND. “What [activists] are asking is that In July 2010, Congress passed the the university engages as constructive Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, a relationship as possible to inquire requiring companies that report to the about these companies’ use of Securities and Exchange Commission resources coming from the DRC and (SEC) to submit annual reports revealing their products, and to try to encourage the sources of the minerals they use— them to adhere to the accountability and if they came from the Congo, and transparency standards that are describing what efforts were made to set forward by both industry actors ensure the minerals were conflict-free. as well as U.S. federal government Some companies must begin reporting legislation,” said Solomon, a sophomore as early as mid-2012 if products made at Georgetown University. in the 2011 fiscal year contained conflict The second option, the Enough Project minerals. website states, would Companies that be a shareholder have been verified resolution, in which a While the concept of to be free of would commit ‘conflict minerals’ is only college conflict minerals to voting for shares of can label their one of the causes of the electronic companies products “DRC that have joined the conflict free,” violence, it is a factor that conflict-free initiative. similar to labels This option was local efforts can on fair-trade adopted by Stanford coffee. University in spring influence. Following the 2010. passage of the The third option Reform Act, the Enough Project released would be a general support statement a “Conflict-Free Campus Initiative” to in favor of conflict-free minerals, which, help college students working toward while non-binding, could provide an transparency from their campuses’ incentive to companies to obtain the electronics vendors about where their conflict-free label. minerals are sourced. The Enough Once they have formed a student Project suggests three options for coalition, the members of IC STAND initiating a conflict-free campus. The plan to build a faculty coalition before best option, according the Enough approaching the investment sector of Project’s website, would be a change in the school. Then, they will approach the university’s procurement policy to the president of the college and finally, make a statement in favor of conflict- the board of trustees. free products. Because Ithaca College “The main reason we are pushing for and other educational institutions this initiative is because the school has a have large contracts with electronics dedication to sustainability, and I think companies, this policy could encourage this is an initiative that speaks to that vendors to track their supply chains. idea,” Orlandini said. “Even though it’s According to the December 2010 not environmental sustainability, it’s study by the Enough Project, Dell and humanitarian sustainability, so I don’t Apple have been revealed to use conflict see why the campus wouldn’t support minerals in their products but are us in some facet of the initiative.” currently making efforts toward being ______________________________________ conflict-free. Other companies, such as Gena Mangiaratti is a sophomore Nintendo and Panasonic, fall behind in journalism major who doesn’t like to their efforts. think about genocide while listening Daniel Solomon, national advocacy to her iPod. Email her at gmangia1@ coordinator of STAND, acknowledged ithaca.edu. that because no “conflict-free” products
“
”
News & Views
t’s hard to imagine how an iPod can be related to a war, but the materials used to make such technology are often from conflict areas. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, poor governing in the war-torn eastern region has allowed for armed military groups to seize control of mineral mines. The driving force behind control of these mines is to collect profits from four central minerals: tin, tungsten, tantalum—also called the 3Ts—and gold. Crucial for electronic devices such as cell phones and portable music players, gold and the 3Ts sourced from these mines are often referred to as “conflict minerals.” After being extracted from the mines in eastern Congo, these minerals are shipped to other parts of the world, where they are used by electronics companies in their products and widely purchased. This inadvertently fuels the conflict and the human rights violations associated with it. As a result, antigenocide activists and individuals are pushing for electronic companies to be transparent in where they obtain their minerals. In December 2010, the non-profit anti-genocide organization the Enough Project conducted a study to rank 21 of the biggest electronics vendors in terms of their efforts to track and eliminate conflict minerals from their products. No companies were certified as “conflict-free” at the time the study was conducted. The Ithaca College chapter of STAND, the student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network, has joined national efforts toward transparency from vendors. Among the factors fueling the violence in eastern Congo is the effort to seize and maintain control of these profit-inducing mines. While the concept of “conflict minerals” is only one of the causes of the violence, it is a factor that local efforts can influence. IC STAND is currently working to form a student coalition against conflict minerals, which is the first step in effecting change at the administrative level. “This is the first time we’ve ever really approached the campus with a conflict
13 4.11. 1N&V.indd 13
4/4/11 1:13:38 AM
BUZZSAW
U P F R O N T
14 4.11. 2UPFRONT.indd 14
4/4/11 1:28:21 AM
Out of the Industry, Into the Community
The wealth of socially conscious food in Ithaca By Andrew Casler
A
fresh foods, you do get more vitamins that would get destroyed” by canning, freezing or simply exposure to air during shipment, Lapp said. Joe Romano, the marketing manager of GreenStar co-op, says he thinks propagation of local food is the most effective way to make food more accessible, stabilize the world food system and provide consumers with nutritious food. One thing that McLean, Romano and Lapp all have in common is that while discussing the benefits of organic foods, they mention the stigma associated with “organic.” The word is an informal synonym for “untasty, yuppie food.” They all agree that breaking through that stigma is one of the biggest hurdles to getting more people interested in nutritious food. Romano made his case against the organic stigma by comparing organic practices to those of the fast-food industry. He describes a mainstream food system that is hijacked from reasonable practices—where food’s nutritional value is only as good as the marketing behind it, profit margins are the main ethics, and quality of life for livestock is seen only as a diminishing return. “Food has been industrialized,” Romano said. “You can get a chicken that was ground into slurry, which is so disease-filled that it has to be soaked in an ammonia bath, dyed so that it isn’t pink and then formed into some kind of patties or nuggets and sold to you as chicken.” With a highly consolidated food system relying on stomach-turning practices for higher output, the world food system is increasingly susceptible to failure—such as disease outbreaks or large-scale corporate bankruptcy. In contrast, local foods are diverse enough to minimize the food security problems that surface from overconsolidation, and the organic ethos is a baseline guide for producing nutritious food that is more beneficial to consumer health. ____________________________________ Andrew Casler is a senior journalism major who won’t be eating chicken nuggets any time soon. Email him at acasler1@ithaca.edu.
Upfront
fter seven consecutive West Haven’s excess crops to local months of record-high food food pantries and is involved with prices, new breath has Groundswell and Healthy Food For revived debate about the All, two organizations that work to importance of local food make nutritious food accessible for infrastructure. more people. With implications of food access Ithaca’s co-op grocery store, embroiled in mainstream political GreenStar, is also working to make its rhetoric, it is important to first food accessible to more people. Two acknowledge slant on either side of months ago, the store instituted a 15the issue. percent discount The right for low-income “Food has been industrialized. is warning households, and it ... You can get a chicken that against provides a free oneObama’s year membership to was ground into slurry, which p u s h the co-op. is so disease-filled that it has to for “food Another player in be soaked in an ammonia bath, the local landscape socialism” because of of food access dyed so that it isn’t pink and expanding is the American then formed into some kind of Red Cross, whose F D A regulations Tompkins County patties or nuggets.” on the food food pantry serves — Joe Romano, GreenStar industry; an average of 150 the left is families per month. concerned with the possibility of a food Homeless Services Director John system collapse because of climate Ward says that although the Red Cross change and overly consolidated is currently working to expand its ownership. food distribution operations through Even in Ithaca, it doesn’t take many partnerships with Ithaca College and questions about the food industry to Cornell University, there isn’t very hear nutritionists, farmers and organic much non-canned, non-preserved grocery store managers discuss their food at the pantry. worries of systemic collapse. “We serve primarily non-perishable One embodiment of Ithaca’s foods out of our food pantry, but from progressive food culture is West Haven time to time, we will have some fresh Farm. Since its inception in 1992, produce,” Ward said. “The problem this certified organic farm has offered with fresh food is its short shelf life, sliding-scale prices on Community and most pantries are only open one Supported Agriculture shares based day a week. … A lot of the pantries do on a shareholder’s income. CSA not have the storage facilities for fresh shareholders get regular deliveries produce, and so it has to come in and of fresh local food at the farms from out the door within a day or two.” which they buy shares. According to Ithaca College nutrition Todd McLean, manager of West professor Julia Lapp, aside from Haven Farm, speaks from experience getting less nutrition on a per-calorie when discussing the problem of basis with processed foods, modern access to nutritious food. Raised in artificial sugars and preservatives a fairly poor neighborhood of Kendall are a major contributor to obesity. Park, N.J., he grew up on food stamps High-fructose corn syrup, a staple in and didn’t like vegetables as a kid. virtually all processed food, has been “I thought vegetables [only] came in proven to cause more weight gain than a can or a bag that you boiled in some normal table sugar because fructose water,” he said. does not satisfy hunger effectively. McLean is now working to break Despite the problems of processed the stigma that healthy food is foods, Lapp says that eating fresh always bland and unsatisfying. He isn’t a panacea solution. is a college-level farming instructor “It’s not necessary to eat fresh foods, during summers who donates to be honest. But nutritionally, with
15 4.11. 2UPFRONT.indd 15
4/4/11 1:28:22 AM
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours? Exploring the myth of easy access to government officials By Sam McCann his February, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s office was under siege. In the midst of his unionbusting efforts, the phone rang off the hook, protesters flooded the Madison capitol building and mail poured in from every corner of the state. Through it all, Walker maintained a steely silence. “He’s just hard-lined—will not talk, will not communicate, will not return phone calls,” state senator Tim Carpenter lamented to The Huffington Post at the height of the turmoil. But in late February, Walker did finally get around to responding to at least a single citizen’s concerns. While he ignored the pleas of the angry constituents gathered outside his office, he held a lengthy conversation with one of the United States’ kingmakers, billionaire GOP donor David Koch. Or so he thought. Turns out that Koch wasn’t on the other end of the line—“Koch” was actually Ian Murphy, Buffalo Beast editor. And as Murphy wound his way through Walker’s notoriously tight-lipped office with ease, speaking with receptionists, executive assistants and even the governor’s chief of staff on his way to Walker himself, he couldn’t help but wonder: “Could it really be that easy?”
T
BUZZSAW
…
The answer, of course, is yes—but only if you have billions of dollars on your side. Walker’s office during Wisconsin’s union-busting efforts may be an extreme example, but it’s one that reflects a larger truth: The sheer number of constituents that elected officials represent requires individual insignificance. Those in office simply cannot afford the time to respond to every person who calls a congressional office or
writes a senator. Unless writers have money or power to offer, they’re at the back of a long line that offers little payoff once they do manage to reach the front. Brendan* discovered this firsthand as a high school senior in the spring of 2008. A suburban Washington, D.C., student, he landed an internship with a U.S. senator through his political science class. Every other school day during his second semester, he would leave his Alexandria, Va. high school about two hours early, hop on the metro and head to the senator’s office. His main job there was reading and sorting constituent mail. Initially, the office impressed him with its handling of this task. Before starting the internship, he didn’t expect constituent correspondence to be particularly thorough, figuring that the average letter stood little shot of actually being read. “I came into the internship thinking that senators don’t really respond that much, that they’re kind of aloof, kind of above state constituents,” he said. “I was really surprised. “We were always about three months b e h i n d because we did read every single letter sent to us,” Brendan explained. “Every single letter, no matter h o w crazy, and I
like that. It was kind of inspiring to think that every constituent had a chance to actually talk to their representative official, even if it’s at a senatorial level.” The office relied primarily on interns to fulfill this massive task. According to Brendan, four interns did most of the letter reading, and some even handled letter writing, while the rest of the staff provided a framework to facilitate that communication. At first, he found that framework encouragingly personal. The staff was significantly smaller than anticipated—only 30 people—and everyone knew each other. That tightly knit staff meant that Brendan’s direct supervisor was the senator’s chief-of-staff, who had direct, frequent access to the senator herself. So Brendan, now just one person removed from the Senate floor, wanted to bring constituents’ concerns to the attention of his boss by passing the letters onto her. But, he found that while someone—usually just an intern—read all correspondence, very few letters actually managed to find their way to the senator’s desk and were therefore addressed in any substantial way. And it certainly wasn’t as “easy” as Murphy found it. “Sometimes I read a letter and was just shocked by what I read,” h e said. “[Sometimes] it was by someone who had been shat on … way too many times, and it was totally unfair. When I read letters like [that], I did my best to make sure that people in power knew how they could help this person. But my overall feeling was that … they were a bit jaded to people’s requests.” Brendan read letter after letter from constituents bringing up important issues, passed them on to his supervisor and then watched them linger, untouched, on her desk. However, while the senator may not have picked up those letters, some of the stories in the letters stick with him today, three years after he read them. “There was this one letter I read
Image by Sam Pinto
16 4.11. 2UPFRONT.indd 16
4/4/11 1:28:25 AM
by this one woman who said that her son had some kind of kidney disease that crept up when he was eight or so, and she and her husband were both working two jobs trying to pay for her son’s medication to keep him alive,” he said. “And it was because of some problem in health insurance that shouldn’t have occurred, and the health insurance company wouldn’t compensate them for something. She had talked to her state senator and everything else, and she had talked to attorneys and lawyers, and nobody would really help her. And it seemed like she had just gotten the short stick because of the crappy health insurance system.” That woman wanted the senator to call a state official who opposed legislation that would help close a key insurance loophole. She hoped that the senator would convince that state leader to support it, addressing her dire situation in that straightforward way. However, as far as Brendan knows, she never got even that because the senator never saw the letter. “I brought [the letter] to my direct boss, and she said, ‘Yeah, we’ll do something about that.’ But the next couple days, the letter didn’t move, and I don’t think I ever saw it move.” While Brendan never saw that letter make it past the chief-of-staff, other mail sped past the interns, over their heads on the way to the senator’s desk. These select few weren’t handpicked for the important issues they raised, but because of the “important” names on the return addresses. Did the senator and her staff handle these letters—the letters from the David Kochs of the world—any differently than what she got from the rest of the constituency? “Oh yeah,” Brendan said. “They write back.” These letters found their way into a special basket separate from the flurry of letters sprinkled across the rest of the office. The chief-of-staff opened the letter, checked for anthrax, and then immediately passed it on to the senator herself. Brendan can’t be sure of what happened beyond that point, but he would guess that the interns weren’t crafting the responses to those letters. He estimates only one in roughly 5,000 pieces of mail—mostly from people Brendan considered to be “powerful”—found their way into
this select group. Once there, they flew through the process. Meanwhile, the letters he and the other interns set aside, the ones from the desperate mothers seeking healthcare reform, spent days simply languishing in the limbo on the chief-of-staff’s desk.
…
Brendan believes that representatives need letter readers— no senator can handle a full load of mail. But, he points out that the process of letter reading, at least in his experience, is deeply flawed, recognizing, “It’s more the idea of constituent mail that’s important than what actually comes out of it.” But what exactly is that idea? And why do mainstream constituents seem to buy into it, feeling compelled to write or call in even after stories like Ian Murphy’s reveal that politicians shun them in favor of the rich and powerful? The answers to those questions seem to lie in the public’s perception of constituent-leader interaction. Politicians know that their constituents demand equitable, total access, and they preserve the positive perception of that access at any cost—after all, failure means a surrender of power. Their vociferous defense of the interaction between power and the voting public reveals an intrinsic understanding of the dynamic—like Brendan said, it’s the idea that matters. To this end, local politicians and federal officials alike make sure to portray themselves as magnanimous, available leaders capable of interacting with the common man. Anne Hughes, spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Moran from Virginia’s 8th District, pointed out, “I think it’s unique in that [Moran lives] so close to DC. The congressman goes home each day. He sees his constituents at the post office,” underlining his constant presence as a neighbor to the people he represents. Meanwhile, a senior Transportation Security Administration official in the office of external communications emphasized, the agency “is unique. … You deal with the public face-toface every day, huge numbers of the public, so it’s just going to generate a lot of correspondence. … I think it’s important to [lend a sense of humanity]
* Editors’ note: Brendan, who has chosen not to reveal his last name, attended high school with the writer. ____________________________________ Sam McCann is a junior journalism major who also only answers one out of every 5,000 letters he receives. Try your luck by emailing him at smccann1@ithaca.edu.
Upfront
Take a look at BUZZSAWMAG.org to read our Q & A with Buffalo Beast editor Ian Murphy on the state of American democracy
as much as you possibly can. With huge numbers it can be sometimes challenging to do that, but I think it’s important.” Ironically, that senior official demanded anonymity after an interview detailing the importance of personal communication with the American people. That both Hughes and the TSA official come back to the same refrain, the importance of individuals interacting directly with leadership, reinforces the notion of constituent correspondence as central to American democracy. But only the notion of it actually matters; it’s not whom politicians care about, but whom they appear to care about, that gets them elected. They make grand shows of their humanity—it’s a point of pride to go to the post office or the supermarket—and responding to letters is just part of that elaborate, hollow ritual. American politicians don’t give a damn about individual constituents without money or power—because of sheer numbers, they can’t afford to. But they can’t afford to let it appear that way, either. So one of their interns will continue to respond to your letters until you stop sending them. Which, if you take Brendan’s advice, should be now. “Individual letters, it’s like winning a freaking lottery,” he said. “You might have a letter that’s good enough to get to my direct boss, but you’d have to write it in a way that appeals to the intern reading it, and my direct boss then has to make the decision to deliver it to the senator herself, and that would take a lot of work. That would take a masterpiece of a letter.”
17 4.11. 2UPFRONT.indd 17
4/4/11 1:28:34 AM
Serving Up Silence
Why IC Dining Service workers remain quiet after Sodexo’s revised media policy By Alyssa Figueroa hile flipping through an employee handbook, it is not unusual to find a media policy outlining the employee do’s and don’ts of speaking with the news media. Many institutions, including companies like Sodexo, a multinational corporation to which Ithaca College contracts its dining services, integrate this section into their manual. In early March, however, an unfair labor practice charge was brought up against Sodexo regarding their media policy, and it ultimately resulted in the corporation’s revision of the policy. Marcia Snell, a Sodexo dining service worker from Ohio State University, said that as the union movement at OSU was brewing, managers posted signs reading, “Do not speak to solicitors”—a tactic she thought implied that workers could not talk to union organizers. This, as well as other factors, sparked the Columbus, Ohio, branch of the Service Employees International Union, a North American labor union consisting of more than two million members, to reevaluate Sodexo’s media policy. SEIU then decided to file an unfair labor charge against Sodexo with the National Labor Relations Board, an independent federal agency that protects workers’ rights. Sodexo’s former media policy (see below) included statements such as, “Do not make statements or comments to the media” and advised that workers contact their manager if “asked by the media to speak or comment on any subject.” SEIU charged that these statements “maintained rules
BUZZSAW
W
governing its workers’ conduct that tend to chill employee Section 7 activities.” Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act gives workers the right to organize. SEIU claimed that by maintaining these rules, Sodexo violated Section 8(a)(1) of the act, which states it is “an unfair labor practice for an employer to interfere with, restrain or coerce employees into the exercise of the rights guaranteed” to these employees. SEIU submitted their case to the regional NLRB office in Columbus, where they investigated and found merit in the union’s charge. The NLRB then approached Sodexo, and the two reached a settlement agreement: Sodexo retained a nonadmission clause, in which they did not admit to violating the act. As part of the settlement, Sodexo wrote a new media policy (see below) meant to clarify that workers could speak to the news media—they just could not speak to the news media “on behalf” of the company, something that does not ordinarily happen when workers speak out. Sodexo’s Public Relations Director Monica Zimmer said it is important to note that the corporation’s intentions were always to allow workers to speak to the media but require them to seek approval only if speaking on behalf of the corporation. Zimmer said, “It was brought to our attention, we took a closer look, we said, ‘OK, you can interpret this other than a way this was intended, so let’s make this crystal clear.’” Leslie Ward, associate consul at SEIU Local 1, a regional district that includes Columbus, said regardless
of intentions, wording is critical when communicating rules. “Language means something,” Ward said. “And when you’re issuing policies to your employees, you need to be careful about what you’re saying. Here, clearly, they weren’t careful. And you can say in the aftermath what your intent was, but certainly any employee could have faced discipline for communicating with media.” Although Sodexo’s new media policy is an improvement, some believe it is still extreme and confusing. Hayden Schortman, SEIU organizer for Local 1, said he believes the new policy is “a step.” He said, however, “I do think the wording of the revised policy is more intense than it has to be.” When Dylan,* an Ithaca College Dining Service worker, received the policy, Dylan said the wording was confusing. For example, Dylan said that if one doesn’t catch or understand “on the Company’s behalf” in the last sentence of the revised policy, a worker may believe they have to contact their manager once approached by the media. Speaking about the new policy, Dylan said, “I think some of [the workers] understood it and some of them took it like, ‘It’s their way of telling us that we can’t talk to anybody about them,’ and it scared them … more than they were before.” Alex,* another IC Dining Service worker, said the policy is not very explanatory. “There was a lot of gray area,” Alex said. “It could mean that you can’t speak to media at all, period. It didn’t say specifically what media—if it meant the College or outside.”
Old Media Policy:
New Media Policy:
It is the policy of the Company that, in releasing information with corporate implications to print and broadcast media, we must “speak with one voice.” Statements from and concerning the Company to the news media must be coordinated, approved and released through a central corporate source. Do not make statements or comments to the media. If you are asked by the media to speak or comment on any subject, contact your manager or Corporate Communications immediately.
It is the policy of the Company that, in releasing information with corporate implications to print and broadcast media, we must “speak with one voice.” Do not make statements or comments on the Company’s behalf to the media. If you are asked by the media to speak or comment on the Company’s behalf, contact your manager or Corporate Communications immediately.
18 4.11. 2UPFRONT.indd 18
4/4/11 1:28:34 AM
including coverage of the Labor Initiative in Promoting Solidarity’s “Week of Action,” at
WWW.BUZZSAWMAG.ORG 4.11. 2UPFRONT.indd 19
Upfront
The managers’ failure to explain the paycheck, the control— policy and its context did not help in creating only an illusion clarifying this legal jargon. Workers of access for these at IC were simply handed the new workers. policy and asked to sign indicating Taylor,* an IC they have received it, a process, Dining Service according to workers, known as “pre- worker, said, “I service.” Workers said this process don’t want to lose my occurs often—a message is posted or job because I talked to distributed, and workers sign. somebody. … I can’t afford “They don’t communicate that well it.” Dylan and Alex also with any of us,” Dylan said. said they believe workers Zimmer said Sodexo managers at IC at IC are afraid of getting handled the distribution of the policy in trouble or getting fired effectively because “employees know if if they express their they have questions or concerns that issues with Sodexo. they can speak with their manager.” Snell, however, allows Two IC Dining Service workers said the media to publish that managers quickly and poorly her full name, has been explained the policy when questioned filmed and has even about it. protested. She believes In Ohio State University, however, the control is actually Sodexo managers held a meeting in in the workers’ hands which workers could ask questions and hopes workers about the new policy. realize they can OSU worker Snell said this meeting access their rights. helped her understand what the The reason Sodexo new policy was and cleared up any brings in billions of questions she had. dollars in profits Snell said, “I made my bosses each year is read me the old policy, read me the because of the new policy, and I said, ‘OK, so it’s work their changing to this, but what does it e m p l o y e e s exactly mean?’” d o — t h e Schortman said he believes meetings workers hold like this are beneficial because they Sodexo’s paycheck. Snell, “help define the policy.” thus, encourages others to Although Sodexo’s new policy is speak out or “nothing’s going to intended to ensure that workers change.” do not speak to the media only Taylor admitted to being ready when speaking on the corporation’s to publicly express specific “behalf,” it is difficult for workers to grievances with Sodexo but know their rights regarding speaking needs to see more support from out to the media without background co-workers. and explanation. While many have “I want to see changes made, but concerns about Sodexo, workers at IC I can’t do it alone,” Taylor said. have said they are afraid to publicly Alex is also prepared to join more speak out. workers in speaking out. Even if workers are aware that they “I would hate to lose my job,” legally have access to the media and Alex said. “But I’m willing to stick other forms of speaking out, workers my neck out for the rights of my may be scared to risk any kind of fellow co-workers who are afraid to retaliation. Their jobs are on the do so.” line—and by extension, their lives are * Names of workers have been on the line. In reality, being able to changed to protect anonymity. afford rent and food each ________________________________ month seems to outweigh Alyssa Figueroa is a junior journalism and politics major the danger of and a member of Labor voicing concerns. Initiative in Promoting S o d e x o Solidarity (LIPS), who loves appears to Check out all of Buzzsaw’s free speech. Email her hold the at afiguer1@ithaca. coverage of the Sodexo edu. controversy at Ithaca College, Image by Georgie Morley
19 4/4/11 1:28:37 AM
South Hill Stoners Clearing the smoke around drug use at Ithaca College By Mike McCabe common phrase in Ithaca, is “Ithaca is Gorges,” a pun referring to the natural beauty as well as the geographic aspect of the area. Another popular slogan that appears on many t-shirts is “Ithaca is High,” and it’s safe to assume that the statement does not refer to Ithaca College’s location atop South Hill. It’s no secret, especially among young adults preparing to leave for college, that IC is known not only for its academic programs and proximity to Cornell, but also for the seemingly universally shared hobby of its student body: smoking pot. Of course, not all Ithaca students use drugs, but there is certainly a market here for various recreational and illegal substances, particularly marijuana. T h e popularity of drug use is perhaps related to the relative
A
accessibility to them on campus. Despite size comparisons, IC’s campus police have issued more judicial referrals for drug abuse violations than both Cornell University and SUNY Cortland combined in year-end statistics for 2007-09. Students and school officials alike agree that while pot and alcohol are by far the easiest substances to find on campus, it is not too difficult to come across some harder drugs, such as MDMA (commonly referred to as “Molly”), LSD and mushrooms. However, investigator Tom Dunn of the IC’s Department of Public Safety and Lt. Chauncey Bennett of the SUNY Cortland University Police Department have noted an increase in prescription pills and painkillers, such as Ritalin and Adderall. IC’s current drug violation policies typically result in a period of p r o b a t i o n for first-time offenders. A second violation will result in harsher penalties and a third usually results in removal from campus. SUNY Cortland’s policies are very similar.However, Bennett noted that SUNY Cortland, unlike Ithaca, notifies parents of their children’s conduct following their first violations.
BUZZSAW
Cannabis Crusaders IC’s drug culture is largely influenced by the campus chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy. In September, High Times magazine named IC the No. 1 college for marijuana activism. A major victory for the SSDP was the passage of a medical amnesty policy last semester. The
policy rules that if a student or friend calls for help after using drugs, they will be exempt from judicial penalties following a board review. The policy is quite popular among students, as well as school officials. Nancy Reynolds, IC’s Health Promotion Center program director, strongly supported the policy. “I think it’s a very important harm reduction measure,” she said. “We’re trying to get students to watch out for each other and call for help from a friend before the situation gets too serious.” Despite the general approval of this new, liberal policy, many students would prefer even looser rules for marijuana use. Evan Nison, president of the Ithaca College SSDP, stated that despite some discontent, IC is on the right track. “I think, comparably, [IC’s drug policies are] lenient,” he said. “I think they realize that strict punishments for drugs, or punishments that are worse than the effects of the drugs themselves, are completely counterintuitive.” Dangerous Drunkenness The SSDP is currently working for a marijuana and alcohol equalization policy, which would give equal penalties for students found violating IC’s alcohol and marijuana rules. Despite these progressive measures, members of the SSDP insist there is more that should be done. They claim alcohol should be more closely watched. SSDP Vice President Emma Carroll joked, “Alcohol is the one that’s going to cause people to die on campus, and pot’s the one that’s going to boost the economy through food sales!” She added that while IC’s policies are “not lenient enough,” they are “admittedly better than a lot of other places.” Nison also noted that alcohol is much more physically addictive, harmful to the body, intoxicating and “you have a much higher chance of doing something stupid while on it.”
Image Chinny Udokwu
20 4.11. 2UPFRONT.indd 20
4/4/11 1:28:40 AM
Alcohol and marijuana are by far the most common drugs on IC’s campus, but the presence of other, harder substances raise the question of whether or not marijuana is a “gateway drug.” Carroll insisted that marijuana itself is not a gateway drug, but rather it is the “D.A.R.E. effect” that miseducates young people and disillusions their outlook on many drugs. Because they find that marijuana is not as powerful as they initially thought, they may be led to believe that harder drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, will also be less harmful than they were told. “You don’t know what the drugs do,” she said. “You think, ‘They were wrong about pot, so they were probably wrong about this, too.’”
The art of the fake ID By Brian Hayes
You’re standing in line holding your six-pack of beer, your hand’s shaking, thinking to yourself, “Is this actually going to work?” You finally get up to the register and hand the woman at the counter your I.D.You put on your best McLovin’ smile as she looks over your picture and the date of birth stamped on that tiny piece of plastic. As she hands you back your I.D., you try not to let out a sigh of relief as she asks, “Cash or credit?” The secret? You’re not 21, and you just passed your first test with your brand new fake I.D. Before the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, nearly all college students had access to alcohol. And while the drinking age is now 21, this doesn’t mean that students under the age limit aren’t drinking. College students find ways to obtain alcohol. If students don’t personally know someone who is older than 21 and will buy them alcohol, the next best step is to invest in a fake I.D. A 2002 study done at Harvard University found that nearly 18 percent of underage students own and use false identification. One of the most common ways of obtaining fake identification is by taking someone’s old license. “I couldn’t wait until my sister turned 21,” Tory,* a junior at Ithaca College, said. “It was almost like I turned 21 when she did because we look so similar. Now I can go to bars whenever I want.” However, not all college students are able to inherit a fake I.D. Some students end up choosing to buy a fake online, although they risk getting scammed. In a 2010 study done at the University of Missouri, 30 percent of students who had fake I.D.s were caught using them. These students face a variety of punishments, from simply not being served alcohol to having their I.D. confiscated and being fined hundreds of dollars. The policy at Wegmans is that anyone purchasing alcohol must show some form of I.D., whether they are 21 or 91. “We don’t confiscate I.D.s even if we believe they are fake,” a manager at the Wegmans in Ithaca said. “All cashiers check with a manager if they are given an out-of-state license, and we refuse the right to sell alcohol if we don’t believe the person buying it is 21.” Among several students interviewed around Ithaca College, the majority said they mostly just used their fake I.D.s to get into bars. “It’s more fun to be able to go out to bars and socialize than just buy a bottle from the store,” Drew,* a freshman at IC, said. “You’re able to meet older people and just hang out as opposed to going to a big party that you know will probably get broken up anyway.” One idea that was shared by several IC students interviewed was that now that they have the ability to purchase alcohol and get into bars, the drinking age doesn’t seem like a big deal anymore. “I feel more responsible with how I drink now,” Pat* said. “Before I had my fake I.D., I bought large quantities of alcohol all at once and drank it quickly. I ended up spending more money than I wanted and didn’t always act smart with the choices I made. Now that I have my fake, I feel much more responsible with the way I drink.” Underage college students will find any way they can to gain access to alcohol. While fake identification may be a way to beat the drinking age, is it really worth the risk? “I like taking the risk,” Morgan,* a sophomore at IC said. “Having a fake I.D. has led me to have a lot of memorable experiences I wouldn’t have had [otherwise]. ... I like taking the risk.” * Names of students have been changed to protect anonymity. _______________________ Brian Hayes is sophomore biology major who is practicing his McLovin’ smile. Email him at bhayes2@ithaca.edu.
Upfront
The Campus War on Drugs Nison said he advocates for these policies on the campus in part to address broader issues on a small scale. One of those broader issues, he said, is the general failure of the War on Drugs. “Drug prohibition, especially marijuana prohibition, has failed utterly in every single thing it has attempted to accomplish,” he said. “Drugs are as easy, if not easier, to get than when marijuana and other drugs were made illegal. The consistency is lower, the drugs are becoming more dangerous because it’s a black market and the quality is unknown, and I’d say it’s time we at least evaluate our current drug policy.” It could be said that a college campus is a microcosm for the world. In the case of IC, just as with the real world, drugs are a fact of life. Students use them, some abuse them and some sell them. It is apparent that regardless of authoritative bans, usage will persist, and no matter what policies and penalties are implemented, students will continue to have easy access to drugs. _______________________________ Mike McCabe is a freshman journalism major who swears no doobies were smoked while writing this article. Email him at mmccabe1@ithaca.edu.
Fake Out!
Image by Kennis Ku
21 4.11. 2UPFRONT.indd 21
4/4/11 1:28:44 AM
The Broadband Internet Desert Exploring the digital divide in rural and urban communities By Adam Polaski n Tabor, Iowa, the selfproclaimed “small town you’ve been looking for,” getting connected to the community has never been too difficult. The town, which measures 1.3 square miles and is home to fewer than 1,000 people, features four churches, only two restaurants and a strong sense of community togetherness. But before 2008, getting connected to anywhere outside of Tabor wasn’t the easiest task. That’s because the town had poor Internet access with few options for providers—the fastest available service was a digital subscriber line, or DSL, from the privately-owned Iowa Telecom service. “With DSL, the speed varies,” Ross Silcock, a member of the Tabor City Council, explained. “They sell it as ‘high-speed Internet,’ and I think they mean ‘high-speed compared to dial-up,’ because it’s not high-speed Internet. It was very variable, and there were times when it would slow down and virtually stop.” Perhaps because the town’s population was so small and thus represented a rather low potential profit, Iowa Telecom was unwilling to upgrade the technology in Tabor. Broadband, or a fast connection to the Internet that’s always on, simply didn’t exist in the town.
BUZZSAW
I
Mapping the Disparity The residents in Tabor weren’t alone in their struggles to connect to broadband. Even in 2011, when you’re considered behind the times if you can’t check your Facebook from your cell phone, basic, reliable Internet access remains out of reach for many communities in the United States. The National B r o a d b a n d
22 4.11. 2UPFRONT.indd 22
Map, a project of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, charts broadband availability throughout the country, and it demonstrates the extent of the issue. Released in February, the map, which is searchable and interactive to show which Internet services are available where, is an easy way to see where holes exist in American broadband coverage. Some of those holes are troublingly large—wide expanses of the mountain west, southwest and inland northwest are essentially broadband deserts. Overall, 5 percent of Americans can’t access Internet at speeds efficient enough to allow for basic web functions, including downloading images, sending email, browsing the Internet and video conferencing. An additional 5 to 7 percent of Americans have substandard broadband service, allowing them to access the Internet, but at comparatively slow speeds and with unreliable connections. “It was pretty shocking when they found out exactly how many people couldn’t really use the Internet,” Molly McHugh, contributor to tech blog Digital Trends, said. “As you can see from looking at the map, which is being updated regularly—the project
is ongoing—it’s pretty blank in the middle of the United States. There’s a huge gap in how many people can access high-speed Internet.” The Rural Population Left Behind An important trend seen in the map—and a significant explanation for some of that gap—is that there is greater access to broadband in urban areas than there is in rural areas. In fact, about 10 percent more people in urban areas have access to fast broadband when compared with people in rural areas. Brian Depew is the director of rural organizing & outreach programming at the Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons, Neb. He argues that Internet access is fundamentally necessary to strengthen the infrastructure of rural communities, which without it could be left behind. “Rural broadband speeds still tend to lag behind urban speeds, and costs tend to be higher because there’s less competition and the technology that serves rural areas is more expensive per person,” he said. “Oftentimes, it means they’re paying more for service that’s not as fast as they have in urban areas.” The map was funded by the Obama administration’s 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which afforded $7.2 billion in stimulus funds to states to increase their broadband access in rural areas. It’s part of the National Broadband Plan, which began in 2009 with one of its most general goals: According to its website, “Every American should have affordable access to robust broadband service and the means and skills to subscribe if they so choose.” Despite some issues, including inconsistent data collection methods that may have resulted in overor under-reporting of the actual amount of broadband coverage, the map was one of the most important first steps in asserting evidence that change is necessary.
Image by David Lurvey
4/4/11 1:28:45 AM
An Essential Resource Obama’s commitment to greater web connectivity brings up the increasingly supported perspective that the Internet is no longer an extraneous luxury. Advocacy groups cite a long list of reasons that people need to be online. S. Derek Turner is the research director of Free Press, a media reform group based out of Washington, D.C., that works as a strong proponent of universal Internet access. “It’s an essential infrastructure,” Turner said. “It’s just as important as energy or water or electricity.” As more news sources migrate to cyberspace and become exclusively web-based, it’s clear that we need the Internet to ensure that we’re receiving information and maintaining a welleducated citizenry. “People are connected to the Internet 24/7, with their phones in their pockets and their computers at work and their computers at home,” Turner said. “It’s really the method that we’re getting our information about the world, our local communities.” Reliable Internet access is also essential for an individual’s financial stability. The search for employment now begins online, and many job responsibilities in a variety of career fields demand virtual attention. Thinking more broadly, areas with poor Internet connections are less inviting as appropriate climates for new businesses or centers of employment. Depew elaborated, “From an economic development perspective, more and more commerce happens online. More people are able to work remotely, but you have to be able to have quality broadband. Your Internet connection can’t be going up and down all morning if you’re going to be effectively making your job on your computer.” Experts say web access also extends the opportunity to participate more fully in democracy, providing the chance to interact with elected officials, other public figures and government agencies. For the people in rural areas of the United States without online access, their voice stands an even smaller chance of being heard. “That’s not good for rural people, but it’s also not good for the country as a whole,” Depew said. “In order to
be fully engaged citizens and to have a healthy democracy, we need everyone to have access to information about what’s going on in our government, have access to our elected officials.” Do-It-Yourself Broadband The City of Tabor understood the advantages of consistently reliable Internet. So after years of feeling like victims of the digital divide, Ross Silcock and the other city council members approved the implementation of a new, city-wide Wi-Fi system—community-supported broadband. They hired a small Internet provider, Efanz, to introduce broadband in the town and made it a municipal service—residents sign on as a subscriber, and the city partly subsidizes their Internet, similar to how electricity and sewage services operate. The result, Silcock said, is faster, less expensive service with very few complaints from residents. Tabor speaks to the success that can be derived from independent, community-supported networks that work outside of a strictly businessdriven system. Christopher Mitchell, who works for the New Rules Project of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, is a strong advocate for publicly owned broadband networks. Models similar to that of Tabor haven’t gained much popularity yet, but according to Mitchell’s research, more than 50 towns and cities in the United States boast their own advanced fiber-tothe-home networks. “We want broadband to cease being viewed as a business venture and start being viewed as an infrastructure,” Mitchell said, explaining that private Internet companies don’t stand to profit much by developing rural areas, which is why many small towns are neglected. “Our interest in community broadband focuses on networks that actually care about the community, that put the community needs first, and the goal of the network is often to break even financially,” he said. “Really, the goal is more about economic development, about education, and so that’s sort of the whole reason for community broadband: to say that the broadband network is an infrastructure and needs to put community needs first.”
Upfront
Want more Buzzsaw?
Fixing the Digital Divide Communities like Tabor are partly responsible for reducing the size of the disparity in Internet access with regard to urban and rural areas of the country. And the National Broadband Map is continually reflecting increases in coverage, showing that one of the most basic issues in the wider problem of affordable Internet access—that is, the fundamental capability to connect to broadband—is seeing improvements. Turner said the coverage problem itself could be corrected with relative ease. “We certainly do have a digital divide,” he said. “It’s what I like to call the ‘Big Little Problem,’ and what I mean by that is that it’s big in terms of the amount of investment it’s going to take to overcome, but it’s little in terms of the relative size to the rest of the country.” Other digital divides, he said, like trends seen along socioeconomic lines or racial and ethnic lines, will be more challenging to overcome. But that’s why the National Broadband Plan is an overall positive program: Acknowledging that these problems exist is the first step in working toward real change. The success of municipally-owned broadband networks and the National Broadband Plan’s push for greater coverage demonstrate that perhaps it’s time to explore what the public sector can do to fulfill the universal need for Internet access. For Depew, the issue he foresees is how the government will take its next steps toward expansion. “Just like any other utility, once it becomes a critical utility, we expect that it’s an appropriate role for government,” he said. “Our water system, our electricity system are often government utilities, and there’s no reason broadband couldn’t be as well. ... At the end of the day, we need federal investment in order to make this happen.” ____________________________________ Adam Polaski is a junior journalism major who is on the phone with Apogee support as you read this. Email him at apolask1@ithaca.edu.
WWW.BUZZSAWMAG.ORG 23
4.11. 2UPFRONT.indd 23
4/4/11 1:28:47 AM
BUZZSAW; The Access Issue
24 4.11. 2UPFRONTpart2.indd 24
4/4/11 1:31:34 AM
Thirsty for a Solution How our access to water comes at a price By Chris Zivalich
n July 2010, the United Nations formally declared water a fundamental human right in an effort to ensure “acceptable, accessible and affordable water and sanitation” for every human being on the planet. While many applauded the decision, others questioned why water needed to be officially recognized as a basic human right in the first place. Didn’t the international community already assume that if there’s something everyone is guaranteed, it’s water? Maybe not.
I
25 4.11. 2UPFRONTpart2.indd 25
4/4/11 1:31:36 AM
Statistics from the United Nation’s Water organization demonstrate the inadequate distribution of the world’s most precious liquid: 2.5 billion people (approximately one third of the world’s population) live without access to fresh water, lack sanitation facilities or pursue dangerous or time-consuming means to fetch it. This combination of unsanitary water and its routine unavailability is conducive to the contraction of diarrheal diseases, the leading cause of death worldwide. Such dire circumstances demand important questions on the ways in which water could be made more readily available: Whose responsibility is it to facilitate access to water? What structural, economic and political conditions
prevent billions of people from quenching their thirst? How should the global community mobilize to respond and take action? Echoing the ideology of neoliberalism, many have pointed to the market economy as a solution that would privatize the delivery and ownership of water. In the World Bank’s and International Monetary Fund’s structural adjustment programmes, or SAPs, developing nations seeking a loan are required to implement policy changes that meet this economic agenda. Today, SAPs include the complete privatization of water services. As a result, while only a small percentage of the world’s
Image by Anika Steppe
water is currently owned by private corporations, the emerging trend seems to favor privatized water services. Unsurprisingly, this controversial proposal has divided the international community and ignited intense debate, part of which focuses on what “water privatization” actually means. For many, water privatization is simply the private ownership of water services, which typically includes delivery, sanitation infrastructure and varying degrees of partnerships with other organizations. Despite the fact that most water services are publicly owned, the water industry is a trillion dollar business with high concentrations of power. This was recently documented in Europe where, according to Public Services International Research Unit, more water is being owned by just two companies—Suez and Veolia. Stephen Shaw is a research associate at the New York State Water Resources Institute at Cornell University, which aims to improve the management of water resources in New York. He believes the call for a privatized water industry comes from a failed public system. “The public system has no incentive to continue to invest in infrastructure, [and] that’s what [privatization] is about—funding the infrastructure,” he said. “It’s an economic question about what’s the most efficient way.” Although Shaw believes private companies that facilitate access to water has worked well in the United States, he admits it might not be implemented as successfully in other countries with different social, political and economic conditions. He thinks private ownership could only work on a global scale as long as it “retains the
BUZZSAW; The Access Issue
A Cinematic Look at the Injustices of Water Privatization Two recent films focus on the politics of water privatization and how citizens’ lives are affected by the growing industry. FLOW Flow raises awareness of the dwindling supply of a resource commonly taken for granted: fresh water. As multinational corporations take ownership of scarce fresh water supplies, convincing society that bottled water is better than tap water, this public good has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Director Irena Salina asks viewers to question the ethics of putting a price on such a precious commodity in this award-winning documentary. Available on DVD.
EVEN THE RAIN Set in Cochabamba, Bolivia, this ambitious film-within-a-film tells the story of a Spanish film crew, headed by director Sebastian, shooting a movie about Christopher Columbus and the Spanish invasion of the New World. Even the Rain (También la Lluvia), directed by Spaniard Iciar Bollain, takes place in 2000, shortly after the Bolivian government privatized the country’s water. It emphasizes the parallels between the current deprivation of water to poor people and the historic oppression of indigenous peoples highlighted in Sebastian’s movie. Even the Rain will begin showing at Cinemapolis on April 14. - Abby Sophir and Gena Mangiaratti
26 4.11. 2UPFRONTpart2.indd 26
4/4/11 1:31:38 AM
there are successful examples of private water companies collaborating with local communities, privatization cannot be the sole standard. “Water privatization will not solve the world’s water challenges and is not the answer to lack of access,” she said. “Private water companies are part of a set of complex solutions. The goal should be the realization of people’s rights—with their input—will lead to different solutions everywhere but will be based on important common principles.” Girard argued that public-public partnerships—partnerships between established publicly owned water services in one city that coordinate to develop new publicly owned services in less developed cities—might be the ideal alternative to full-fledged privatization. As a whole, there seems to be some room for private companies within particular, regulated limits. Thus, while there is a role for privatization in the area of water services, the overall goal of safe and affordable access would require a participatory community that is allowed to help make decisions and organize the facilitation of water utilities. In order to achieve this goal, it is the responsibility of everyone to actively and willingly engage in the discourse on water inequalities. Our arrogant assumptions about the availability of water afford us the privilege to forget how many people go regularly without it—we pass it off as a cruel luck of the draw. We then end up normalizing structural poverty though, in reality, it stems from human-created institutions and economies. It is, therefore, within our capacity to solve this disastrous treatment of billions of people. Being conscientious and critical seems more effective than the simply providing aid to those in need. “Those who do not have access to clean water and sanitation are among the most voiceless and marginalized in our world,” Bouchane said. “Their lack of access is a reflection on the priorities of all of us—in particular on political leadership at all levels—since politics is how it is decided who has and who has not. There is enough water for everyone.” ____________________________________ Chris Zivalich is a junior journalism major who would like to test the waters of public investment. Email him at czivali1@ithaca.edu.
Water bottle companies own your soul A different look at water privatization
Is bottled water the new cigarettes? In a PR campaign launched against, well, the world, bottled water companies are making people believe their product is cool, trendy and healthier than tap water. But look at the facts, and you can see for yourself that the water bottle industry has duped us. For example, New York City residents spend tons of money on bottled water although their tap water comes from the Delaware River, one of the cleanest rivers in America. Ironically, 40 percent of all bottled water comes from a city water system, thus making tap water and bottled water essentially the same thing. Water bottle companies are just like cigarette, oil or bank companies—their top priority is turning a profit. Nestlé, Pepsi and Coca-Cola are the frontrunners, with Nestlé owning 26 percent of the market, Pepsi owning 13 percent and Coke owning 11 percent. They take their water from springs and aquifers in rural areas. This depletes the area’s source of well water, in addition to damaging wetlands and degrading lakes and streams. It takes three liters of this fresh water to make one liter of bottled water. The water bottle industry has capitalized on withdrawing water from public sources and profiting from it, as bottled water can cost more than 1,000 times more than tap water. With an industry this large comes a lot of power and a lot of money—after all, more than $100 billion is spent every year on bottled water. The bottled water industry has created a paradox wherein we pay more money on something that is already almost free. And yet, we accept this absurd concept as an everyday fact of life. - Isabel Braverman
Upfront
water rights traditionally held by the public.” Even though Shaw admits he cannot say for certain how a private water industry would look globally, Richard Girard, research coordinator at the Polaris Institute, which works with citizen movements to enable social change from its headquarters in Ottawa, thinks the notion of privatizing a common human need is unacceptable, citing the motivations of companies whose success is measured by money. “Water is for life and not for profit,” Girard said. “It’s the profit motive ... that tampers everything.” Girard has done extensive research on major water corporations by composing profiles of them during his seven years at the Institute. He said one of the most problematic consequences of the privatized industry is the decrease in quality and access to services, thereby exacerbating poorer communities. Girard referenced Cochabamba, Bolivia, as an example of the privatized sector’s failure to alleviate the water crisis. In 2000, the World Bank forced Bolivia to privatize its water services in order to receive a loan. After the Bechtel Corporation took over, Bolivia saw its service prices raised by an average of 35 percent, hitting hardest the poorest people who already lacked clean drinking water. After fierce civilian protests, the company was kicked out of Cochabamba. Protests against water companies are not limited to this historical moment. In fact, many other cities in Bolivia, like El Alto in 2005, continue to demonstrate against water companies. Additionally, it isn’t only the critics of privatization who notice and admit the flaws in a global water industry. The World Bank noted in a 2006 report, “PPI [private participation in infrastructure] has disappointed— playing a far less significant role in financing infrastructure in cities than was hoped for.” Given the contested nature of privatizing something as vital to human survival as water, humanitarians, activists and others have spoken out in favor of alternative solutions they say will help provide water to the billions suffering. Kolleen Bouchane works for the Freshwater Action Network, a global network that implements and influences water and sanitation policy around the world. She said that while
Image by Lucy Ravich
27 4.11. 2UPFRONTpart2.indd 27
4/4/11 1:31:39 AM
Getting Schooled in Eating Right How America’s schools have limited access to nutritious foods By Elizabeth Stoltz etween lunches and breakfasts, vending machine snacks, bake sales and birthday party treats, schools play a major role in shaping a child’s diet. While many schools have increased efforts to serve healthier alternatives, significant changes are still needed to increase the prevalence of fresher meals and snacks during the school day. Many public health experts claim that due to current dietary trends, today’s children will live 10 years shorter than their parents. Obesity rates among children, which have tripled since 1980, are at an epidemic level. “While schools aren’t responsible for creating this health crisis, schools should be places where we should expect kids to receive a healthy meal,” said Amie Hamlin, executive director of the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food. Because inadequate nutrition impacts a child’s cognitive ability, memory, concentration and behavior, its detrimental effects can be felt in both the cafeteria and classroom. By improving childhood nutrition, students’ performance and health will improve. Before attempting to fill children’s minds, we must ensure that their stomachs are healthily filled. “When your body works well, your brain works well,” said Meg Wolff, an expert on health and nutrition at The Huffington Post.
BUZZSAW; The Access Issue
B
A National Priority While all students are guaranteed access to a meal during the school day through the federally funded National School Lunch Program, not all students are guaranteed access to health-enhancing foods at school. Created in 1946 to provide students with free, reduced or full-price lunches, the NSLP now feeds more than 30 million children. To receive federal reimbursement for school lunches, participating schools are required to implement a wellness program and serve meals that meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Although the NSLP ensures that children don’t go hungry at school, it
Images by Anika Steppe
is not without its problems. When the program was first introduced, the food industry quickly took advantage of the opportunity to influence nutrition guidelines. Today, nutrition advocates, U.S. agricultural commodities and the commercial food industry compete to influence the NSLP’s regulations. Historically, agricultural and commercial food industries’ priorities have trumped nutrition advocates. Because of restricted government funding, many schools were forced to rely on prepackaged commercial foods. Even within the prescribed nutrition guidelines, a lunch consisting of chicken nuggets, tater tots, canned fruit and chocolate milk is still permissible. Furthermore, because students can opt out of selecting two food items from each meal, many consume a nutritionally unbalanced meal. Despite its regulations, the United States Department of Agriculture reports that less than 2 percent of students eat in accordance with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines daily. Only half of school-age children consume a serving of fruit daily, and the majority of children’s vegetable intake is fried. Because the USDA is tasked with educating the public on nutrition and promoting U.S. agricultural products, it’s stuck in a conflicting role. U.S. agricultural products, like refined grains, dairy and meat, are not the most nutritious food options. Hamlin said, “It’s difficult to understand how our tax dollars are being used to fight obesity, yet they are also being used to subsidize unhealthy foods.” Because U.S. agricultural products are heavily subsidized,
nutritional quality can take a backseat to price. While schools are facing even greater funding cuts, school nutrition services are challenged to serve fresher, healthier meals. While the NSLP has played a critical role in guaranteeing that children don’t go hungry at school, reform is also needed to ensure that children’s long-term health is the program’s top priority. As Janet Poppendieck writes in her book Free for All: Fixing School Food in America, “The wellbeing of children has always had to compete with other agendas: the disposal of farm commodities or the maintenance of segregation or the reduction of the federal budget deficit. It’s time to see what we can do if we put children first.” The Challenge of Choice A la carte lines and “competitive food” sources also challenge equitable access to healthy food in schools. These food sources typically make foods like baked goods, salty snacks, sports drinks and soda available for student purchase. Under federal regulations, competitive food sources, such as vending machines and school stores, can’t be accessed during mealtime, but this policy is often unenforced. On the contrary, a la carte items can be purchased during lunchtime. While many schools place stricter stipulations on access to these foods on campus, many do not. These foods are often significantly lower in nutritional value and compete with hot meals. Students may not have consistent access to fresh produce at school, but many can choose to purchase a soda or bag of chips daily. Not only can these food sources promote unhealthy
28 4.11. 2UPFRONTpart2.indd 28
4/4/11 1:31:41 AM
eating, but they can also create a social stratification, as many students can’t afford to purchase such foods. “School should be a place where all children are equal,” Hamlin said. “Food should be available equally for everyone, and thus competitive and a la carte foods present not only a health problem but an equity problem, too.” Providing access to unhealthy food items also undermines parents’ and school’s efforts to promote healthy nutrition and sends students mixed messages. Although they may be taught to eat healthily, both Wolff and Hamlin agree that this dietary hypocrisy is not lost on students. Wolff claims that selling junk food in school “sends a message that these things are OK to be eating.” To reinforce positive eating habits, removing unhealthy a la carte and competitive food choices will, in theory, encourage students to eat a hot, nutritious lunch funded by the school meal program. Serving healthy foods in school is not an insurmountable task. Across the country, schools have taken tremendous steps to increase access to nutritious foods. Nationally, the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act undergoes revisions every five years. The proposed guidelines include updating NSLP to meet the most recent nutrition science findings, increasing access to fruits, vegetables and whole grains, replacing whole and two-percent milk with fat-free and low-fat milk products and enhancing schools’ nutrition education programs. Through these proposed changes, the USDA seeks to place greater emphasis on a food item’s vitamin, mineral, energy and macronutrient content. The USDA hopes that these new proposals will be adopted to improve the health of our nation’s children.
found success in renaming food items, like “Bean Burrito” to “Big Bad Bean Burrito.” To improve access to healthy foods locally, we can advocate for farm-to-school programs and more fresh produce, whole grains and plantbased entrees at schools. Schools can increase nutrition programming and create an environment that supports healthy eating by replacing high fat, sodium and sugar vending machine foods with fresher, healthier alternatives. Federal funding must also increase to match increasing regulation of healthy food at schools. We need to provide students and their families with accurate, unbiased information about nutrition. To increase a child’s success both in and outside of the classroom, schools must make access to healthy food a priority. Upon signing the School Lunch Act in 1946, President Harry S. Truman wisely observed, “No nation is any healthier than its children.” An investment in healthy, fresh food is an investment in our future. _____________________________________ Elizabeth Stoltz is a sophomore IMC major whose school lunch menu would include lots of veggies—hold the tater tots. Email her at estoltz1@ithaca.edu.
>>> Merging Food, Music and Nutrition in Ithaca Fourth-grade students at Ithaca’s Beverly J. Martin Elementary School got a taste of fame this year when Healthy Food for Thought: Good Enough to Eat, a CD that the children collaborated on, was nominated for a Grammy. The CD benefits The New York Coalition for Healthy School Food, a nonprofit that works to improve food options and education in schools in the state. Producer Kevin Mackie was first introduced to the cause after attending a benefit concert. He then teamed up with producer Steve Pullara and the two, along with a production team, came together to find a way to direct attention to the organization in a fun, interesting way. Given their background in music, a CD was the obvious choice. “We were given the task of generating interest and income for the organization,” Pullara said. “We came up with this theme, and we got artists and poetry together to work on this fun, interesting, intriguing batch of poems.” The students of Beverly J. Martin got to be included in this list of now Grammy-nominated collection of artists when Amie Hamlin, executive director of NYCHSF, heard an original song created by the students and local artist John Simon. The song was produced as part of the effort of Project 4, a local initiative that pairs musicians with young students. By working with the kids, Mackie said he hopes their experience and education was
two-fold; hopefully they learned not only the experience of recording a CD, but also the benefits and importance of eating healthy. “The CD is trying to encourage the schools to be healthier for children,” he said. And through that, kids will be more healthy, more educated—live longer.” Simon agrees that they children learned a lot from the experience of recording the CD. “I think a lot of them see themselves being performers now,” he said. They’ve had a taste of it, and it’s not some distant, unattainable pipe dream.” Although ultimately losing to Julie Andrews’s A Collection of Poems, Songs and Lullabies in the category of best spoken word album for children, Pullara said the recognition from his peers, commercial success and the satisfaction of knowing he helped a worthy cause made the whole thing worth it. He attributes the success of the album to the wide variety of audiences that the CD attracts. He said, “It can be digested for each person’s taste.” This album is available at GreenStar Cooperative Market and Beverly J. Martin Elementary School. All proceeds from local sales benefit the Fresh Fruit and Veggie Snack Program at the school. - Carly Sitzer
Upfront
A Local Look Locally, NYCHSF worked with Ithaca’s Beverly J. Martin Elementary School and implemented a pilot version of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program from 2008-10, which continues today. For less than $1 a day per student, this program provides children with fresh snacks like watermelon, cucumbers and pomegranates. The program’s goal to increase fruit and veggie consumption by at least two servings a day was successfully met. In a video produced by NYCHSF, one young participant expressed his excitement with the program, saying, “It’s really cool that I get to eat them
[fruits and vegetables] because I don’t really eat them that often. So, I eat them at school, and I feel really, really fast and strong.” Denise Gomber, the school’s principal, also said in the video, “When it comes to quality food and wellness, just nationally it’s a huge inequity, and there’s haves and have-nots. That has been eliminated at our school, and that is a great feeling.” Many New York City public schools have also transformed their lunch menu. According to an article published in The New York Times, students in these schools can opt for fresh fruit, whole grain pasta and salad bar offerings. The school system pressured food vendors to eliminate unhealthy ingredients from prepared foods while lowering costs. Sometimes, increasing access to healthy foods can simply be a matter of moving fresh fruits and vegetables within students’ reach in the lunch line rather than cookies or salty snacks. A Cornell University-based nutrition initiative, “Smarter Lunchrooms,” experimented with improving the appeal of healthy foods to students through innovative, inexpensive marketing. By simply placing fruit in attractive bowls within student reach, the amount of students who chose to add a piece of fruit to their meal increased by nearly 200 percent. The research group also
29 4.11. 2UPFRONTpart2.indd 29
4/4/11 1:31:43 AM
The Grassroots Healthcare Movement
State community organizers lead the way in national healthcare reform By Emily Miles
n March 25, 2010, Vermont became the first state to begin passing legislation promoting a state singlepayer healthcare system since the initial overhaul of national healthcare reform (House Bill 676) in March 2009. While most American policy negotiation is limited to legislative offices and lobbyist statements, a burgeoning involvement from community organizers has, for some, transformed the healthcare battle into a humanitarian issue. A national grassroots healthcare movement has been growing in the United States for nearly 10 years and has only increased since Obama’s recent reforms. Local community members are now organizing by the thousands, with sit-ins, petitions and rallies at state capitals.
BUZZSAW; The Access Issue
O
The Green Mountain State Goes Universal Following the election of new Democratic Gov. Peter Shulmin, who ran on the platform of a single-payer system, state healthcare legislation has reached actuality for the first time in Vermont. On March 25, the Vermont State House voted in favor of House Bill 202 to move toward a universal system. The plan is developed in three prongs of coverage: state, private and mixed coverage. Regardless of the plan accessed by individuals, care is guaranteed by the state. “This is truly an example of democracy at its finest,” said Mary Gerisch, member of the Vermont Workers’ Center Steering Committee. “It’s the people of Vermont banding together as humans and as a community.” Over the past five years, The Vermont Workers’ Center has led a grassroots campaign by holding hearings, gathering healthcare stories and meeting with legislators and community members to rally around universal care. The plan, developed in part with Gov. Shulmin and healthcare expert Wm Hsaio, is called “Green Mountain Care” and commits the state of Vermont to implement
30 4.11. 2UPFRONTpart2.indd 30
a new healthcare system based on the motto “Health Care is a Human Right.” “This is our way of communicating the idea of universal coverage for all people,” Gerisch said. “It truly is something that all people deserve.” The VWC aims to support workers throughout the state who are trying to improve their wages, benefits, rights on the job, working conditions and their communities. Their main efforts lie in organizing rallies, public hearings, forums, publicizing people’s stories and direct action. “We believe that the most effective means of change is people engaging in collective struggle to place direct demands upon those who hold power,” Gerisch said. As Vermont nears its final stages of voting on a single-payer system, the organization is now looking outside of the state for education and collaboration. In February Gerisch teamed up with organizers from Single Payer New York, Healthcare Task Force and Ithaca College to bring the grassroots success story to Ithaca in a series of panel discussions and speaker events. Legislation from the Ground Up In 2009, 46.3 million Americans under the age of 65 were living without health insurance. According to the 2009 National Health Interview Survey taken by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this number has steadily increased following the national recession of 2008. Before Obama took office, the national healthcare debate largely consisted of decades of failed attempts
to reform by a string of Democratic presidents and years of bitter partisan combat. But after a staggering year of legislative battle, President Obama signed H.R. 676 to begin to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system on March 23, 2009. Not only was this the largest single legislative achievement of his first two years, but it was by far the most controversial. Not a single Republican voted for the final version, and Republicans around the country campaigned against the proposed reform. After November elections, healthcare was not only at the top of each party’s agenda for opposite reasons—but it was also at the top of each American’s agenda for the same reason. Grassroots activist events like those mentioned in Vermont are found often in community centers with a collection of acoustic musicians crooning the social justice blues; tables covered with hummus, fresh veggies and fresh baked bread; and flocks of graying advocates chatting about local struggles. But for the first time in years, these popular gatherings are not merely found in small, liberal towns. They are becoming more widespread and are focusing on healthcare reform. Small Town, Big Health Care Rebecca Elgie, co-founder of Single Payer New York and leader of the Healthcare Task Force in Ithaca, believes the Ver mont example of citizen
Photo courtesy of the Vermont Workers’ Center 4/4/11 1:31:44 AM
activist cultures, other parties are becoming involved as well. Doctors without Insurance On March 25, medical school students from 36 different schools and 15 states gathered at the Vermont Capitol in support of a state healthcare plan. These students came with the message that they would move to Vermont in order to practice in a single-payer system.
“But what people don’t realize is that amount of effort would equal that of challenging national reform,” Coates said. Six months after the passage of H.R. 676, Coates is still working with SPNY to further reform on a national level, rather than solely focusing on state changes. In New York, a state healthcare reform bill that has been on the table since 1992, but now, with a
Photo by Andy Coates
Protests like the one in Montpelier are becoming increasingly popular as doctors and physicians begin to join the grassroots fight. Active New York state physician and organizer Andy Coates began to realize the staggering disparities in the quality and availability of health care early in his career, but he felt disconnected as a physician. “As a physician, I became very aware of the importance of grassroots organizing in every community,” Coates said. In 2008, Coates joined local organizers, physicians and union workers to found Single Payer New York. This organization focuses on policy change on both the state and national level. Coates argues that the increase in connection between grassroots movements and private sector of workers is a driving force behind changing healthcare reform. “Underinsured, uninsured, union or not— everyone needs help right now,” Coates said. “And the only way we can make that happen is to reach out across all of these divisions and collaborate.” Currently, individual states are working toward receiving federal waivers that will allow for singlepayer systems state by state as an “in-the-meantime fix” before adequate national legislation passes.
newly elected Democratic senate and governor, Coates believes that A2356 and Senate Bill 2370 “should pass.” Coates thinks this legislative progress will only further renew efforts around the national bill as well. Next on the Ballot “At this point, it is essential that we work together as a national grassroots collaboration of students, union workers, physicians and organizers,” Mary Gerisch of the Vermont Workers’ Center said. “But most importantly, we must work together as people.” As Vermont nears its final stages of voting, it joins a growing list of states to pursue a universal system: Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, California, Minnesota and Pennsylvania have all either begun the process or committed to a statewide universal system. It is now the decision of national and state legislators to respond to increasing public movements. “We have decided as individuals,” Gerisch said. “Now we must decide as a nation.” _______________________________________ Emily Miles is a sophomore journalism major who gives out free bandages on Thursdays. Email her at emiles1@ ithaca.edu.
Upfront
involvement has been the driving force behind any legislative progress. According to a New York Times poll from 2009, 72 percent of those interviewed supported a governmentrun national healthcare program similar to Medicare for citizens under the age of 65. “This is a social movement from the people to the people,” Elgie said. “Politicians cannot avoid that kind of national voice.” Elgie said that while this is a political discussion, the people are the most important part of the story. Elgie worked as a schoolteacher for 40 years before entering the healthcare reform scene. As a union worker, she realized how difficult it would have been to afford health care without the support of a union. Elgie has since dedicated the past eight years of her life to evaluating national healthcare policy and bringing education about the issue to a local level. “I was shocked by the underhanded practice of the for-profit health insurance industry,” Elgie said. “And I eventually grew to understand that health care is a human right, not a privilege tied to the ability to pay.” It is this exact attitude currently propelling statewide grassroots movements across the country. Elgie now joins a large network of grassroots activists, union workers and physicians in a movement to reform national health care. She now serves as a board member of Healthcare-NOW!, a national organization that advocates for the passage of national, single-payer healthcare legislation. She also serves as the co-chair of Single Payer New York and is a member of Potlucks and Politics, advocacy networks that focus on health care in New York State. Additionally, as the co-director of the Tompkins County Health Care Task Force, an organization that advocates for universal health care, Elgie is now one of the leading advocates in Ithaca. The group formed three years ago to push for a universal, affordable healthcare plan in the United States, largely in support of the National Health Insurance Act (H.R. 676). As Elgie gears up for the next phase of the healthcare campaign in New York, she plans on implementing the innovative strategies of the Vermont Workers’ Center into the local Task Force campaign. As these grassroots initiatives spread through local
31 4.11. 2UPFRONTpart2.indd 31
4/4/11 1:31:46 AM
Going in for the Pill
The slow development of hormonal birth control for men By Rachel Konkler
BUZZSAW; The Access Issue
I
setback in the development of male birth control because testosterone cannot be taken orally, as it is destroyed by the liver. By focusing on transdermal gels, researchers are getting closer to a marketable product. Birth control injections function on a monthly cycle, while the pill works for 24 hours. Men taking the pill would take it every day at the same time. In research trials, subjects are either given the injection or the pill to test effectiveness and side effects. In China, researchers injected testosterone undecanoate in tea seed oil into subjects once a month. Tests have shown a rate of 95 percent effectiveness for preventing pregnancy, and researchers are working to raise this rate to 99 percent. Blithe says the current results of 95 percent effectiveness in trials will not be a problem—it is simply a matter of adjusting dosages to get greater effectiveness. Another concern found in trials is the uncertainty of when a male on birth control has stopped producing sperm. According to ABC News, men starting hormonal birth control will have to wait up to three months for all sperm to leave the body. Despite this issue, tests like Sperm Check can assess sperm levels and notify a man when his body has stopped producing sperm, much like at-home pregnancy tests for females. There is also concern that the testosterone decrease could work too well, potentially causing some men to become sterile. Compared to other forms of male contraception, the pill or injections have many advantages. Men often describe a lack of sensation while wearing a condom, and condoms also pose the risk of breaking. Vasectomies, meanwhile, require surgery and are irreversible. Effective hormonal male birth control has been proven to work, and there is a clear societal interest in such a product—so what’s the hold up? “If a company wanted to try to put a male birth control on the market, they could do it,” Blithe said.
A company just needs to step up to get the product approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Three major pharmaceutical companies—Wyeth, of the United States, as well as companies in the Netherlands and Germany—took interest in marketing male birth control at one point, but, according to Blithe, “decided to put investments in another direction.” Companies are concerned with profit, and because birth control is not as expensive as other medications, they have chosen not to invest. They also fear liability when taking on a new product. “It’s not that it doesn’t work or it’s not available,” Blithe said. “It’s that companies don’t want to take on the responsibility.” Elaine Lissner, director of the Male Contraception Information Project, is taking a stand to get male birth control on the market as soon as possible. MCIP believes RISUG, a non-hormonal drug, is the best method of male birth control. RISUG is a polymer gel injected into the body that blocks the sperm duct and also kills any sperm that may get through. It lasts for about 10 to 15 years and can be reversed by flushing out the system with a sodium bicarbonate solution. Lissner said she sees benefits for both genders, so the public needs to push harder to get new male birth control on the market. Right now, she said, “Women are mostly tolerating whatever they think is least bad, and men have a lot of responsibility but no rights. It’s time for some rights to go along with that responsibility.” ____________________________________ Rachel Konkler is a freshman exploratory student who thinks it’s time for men to become pill poppers, too. Email her at rkonkle1@ithaca. edu.
Image by Emily Miles
f you’re looking for a fun roll in the hay but are trying to avoid pregnancy, there’s a long list of contraceptive options. And despite the range of options, it’s interesting that hormonal contraceptive methods, from the pill to monthly injections, are all tied down by the same problem: They are meant only for women. But women aren’t the only ones responsible for reproduction, so why don’t men have better options? Thanks to modern science, men may soon have access to their own form of birth control, including either daily pills or once-a-month injections. The development of these birth control methods could change the world of contraception, greatly increasing protection against pregnancies and allowing women to deflect this responsibility. The idea of a birth control pill or shot could also greatly appeal to men, some of whom complain about traditional contraceptive methods. According to MSNBC News, scientists expect that male birth control could be available in the next five to seven years. Dr. Diana Blithe, program director of male birth control development for the National Institute of Health, said we may even be able to expect it sooner. “It can work, and it does work,” she said. “Efficacy has been proven.” Male birth control pills and injections use progestin, an artificial hormone, to halt testosterone production, thus lessening sperm count. The level of sperm essentially renders a man temporarily infertile, but these effects are reversible once he stops taking the birth control. Without this adequate level of testosterone, men could struggle with impotence, the loss of muscle mass and, potentially, hot flashes. In order to prevent these problems, additional testosterone must be put back into the body. Testosterone gels, such as Androgel, are already on the market. They are applied to the skin, usually on the arms. In the past, the lack of a testosterone replacement was a
32 4.11. 2UPFRONTpart2.indd 32
4/4/11 1:31:48 AM
Ministry of Cool
33 4.11.MOC.indd 33
4/4/11 1:21:10 AM
Captain Hack and the Internet Pirates The motivations and minds behind hacking By Carly Smith ovies tell us that hackers sit in their parents’ basements alone among several computers. Pieces of hardware are strewn about, and monitors display layers of coding. The hacker’s fingers glide expertly across the keyboard as he snickers at others’ misfortune. But that’s not quite the full picture. George Hotz, a hacker known online as “geohot,” hacked his iPhone to record video before the iPhone had the ability to record video. Hacking mobile phones was originally illegal, but thanks to a recent change to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the law allows anyone to remove limitations on any mobile phone. The “jailbreaks,” running any code on a device, allow users to hack the iPhone to run any applications on the phone even if they are not authorized by Apple. Hotz then moved on to Sony’s PlayStation 3. He found the encryption keys to the PS3, meant to protect the PS3 from excessive modification, giving him full control of it. To Sony’s dismay, he released the exploit to the public, allowing people to run custom programs that Sony has not approved. Hotz said he had no intention of encouraging people to pirate games or software, but Sony does not feel the same way. Sony is now suing Hotz for copyright infringement and violation of their terms of service of user agreement. The contract states, “You must not use any unauthorized hardware or software … or distribute unauthorized software or hardware … You must not modify or attempt to modify the online client…system, hardware, software … for any reason.” Senior Corey Jeffers, president of IC Game Developers and computer information systems major,
M
BUZZSAW The Access Issue
“
experienced hacking when someone took over his World of Warcraft account during his hiatus from the game. He said he finds Sony’s situation amusing. “They were so adamant on advancing hardware, which led to this ability for their games to be copied,” he said in an email interview. “But the number of people that are hacking their PS3s are so minor, it won’t make a difference to the overall consumer. Hacking a console isn’t as easy as downloading pirated music.” The DMCA may have legalized the hacking of mobile devices, but the same does not apply to video game consoles. That stops few from trying, though. Brett Brandes, a senior at Ramapo High School, is an avid hacker. He modified his World of Warcraft account
with it? The DMCA still says no, but not everyone agrees. “I believe once the content is given up from the developers to the consumers, we have the right to do whatever we see fit with that game—everything but copy it for resale purposes,” Jeffers said. “But when hacking interferes with the fairness of play, there is an issue.” Piracy is a clear problem. It is less widespread in the video game industry, but it still drops revenue significantly. Japan’s Computer Entertainment Suppliers Association conducted a study of 114 sites for illegal downloading across the world and concluded that piracy on the Nintendo DS and Sony’s PlayStation Portable between 2004 and 2009 cost them $41.7 billion.
Hacking isn’t so clear. It’s illegal, but not all hackers necessarily intend to hurt others’ gaming experience. to give himself more currency in the game, which result in him receiving a two-day ban. Additionally, Brandes also hacks his PS3. “It’s pretty much one of the easiest to use for us pirates,” he said in an e-mail interview. “It’s so adaptive to any format of files. Remember Sony’s advertising campaign, ‘The PS3 can do anything?’ If you know how to use it, they’re not kidding.” Sony released a statement on the company’s blog Feb. 16 addressing pirated software on the PS3. Through this statement, they urged consumers to delete all unauthorized and pirated software. If consumers refused to comply, they would have “access to the PlayStation Network and access to Qriocity services through PlayStation 3 system terminated permanently,” according to the statement. It’s still unclear how much of the system consumers own when they buy it. Because they paid for it, do they have full reign over what they do
”
Hacking isn’t so clear. It’s illegal, but not all hackers necessarily intend to hurt others’ gaming experience. “I do believe hacking can be used for good,” Jeffers said. “Like finding loopholes in game play and security leaks. But more often than not, we hear about hacking as a form of cyber terrorism.” At times, unnecessary restrictions in games lead people to hack those games, removing the limitations. Popular games such as Assassin’s Creed 2 and Silent Hunter 5 use a type of technology made to control access to content through the Internet. Called “always online Digital Rights Management,” it requires players to be connected to the Internet at all times in order to play even when they are not accessing online content, such as multi-player games hosted online. Yale Law and Technology, a website that students at Yale University use in various courses to discuss events related to what they are studying,
34 4.11.MOC.indd 34
4/4/11 1:21:11 AM
Image by Anika Steppe
explains that while the DRM allows companies to validate users and combat piracy, legitimate users who lack Internet service are hurt in the end. Spore is a computer game that “required users to verify that their copy was legitimate each and every time they went online,” according to Yale Law and Technology. “Users became so
frustrated with this highly restrictive DRM system that piracy became rampant, landing Spore at the top of the list of most pirated games for 2008.” Sony is finally taking hacking seriously by employing new lawyers and an anti-piracy team, but are
they willing to lose customers by pursuing hackers too strongly? Wired, a magazine that describes technology’s effects on culture, reports that Sony is aggressively trying to prevent future hacking by threatening to sue anyone who distributes the jailbreak code. They demanded Google to surrender the IP addresses of those who have viewed or commented about the jailbreak video on a private YouTube page. Sony must learn how to control their system, but they also need to keep their consumers in mind. The customer might not always be right, but there’s something wrong when the customer needs to hack a system to get it to do something that it should’ve done before. “Stopping hackers is possible, but not easy to do and, honestly, hardly worth their time,” Brandes said. “There’s no point in stopping what some of us can do to games nowadays. ________________________________ Carly Smith is a sophomore journalism major who thinks you’re a total n00b. Email her at csmith7@ithaca.edu.
SEESAW PRESENTS: “Standing Room Only”
Image by Anika Steppe
to
Seesaw, our multimedia arm, takes stories beyond the pages of Buzzsaw.
Go to WWW.BUZZSAWMAG.ORG to check it out.
4.11.MOC.indd 35
Ministry of Cool
>>> The hilly campus of Ithaca College features hundreds of stairs, which doesn’t make getting around easy for students with limited mobility. Although newer facilities are completely handicap accessible, older buildings still pose problems, and the college is not legally required to renovate buildings constructed before the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Emily Stoner and Breanne Durning spoke with students dealing with limited mobility at the college in a new Seesaw featurette, “Standing Room Only.”
“L.I.P.S Week of Action” >>> Last week the Labor Initiative in Promoting Solidarity set out to spread the word concerning Ithaca College’s dining service provider Sodexo and how a third of the IC Dining Service employees are not paid the living s Emily Mile wage for Tompkins County. Photo by Seesaw documented the group as they held a silent demonstration to illustrate workers’ fear of speaking out, issued a proposal regarding IC’s contract with Sodexo, marched downtown to rally for economic justice and held other advocacy events. Check out our coverage of the entire “Week of Action” at buzzsawmag. org under the SEESAW tag!
35 4/4/11 1:21:14 AM
Zip-a-Dee Hooha
Fashion trends that leave little to the imagination By Cady Lang ou know you’ve seen them walking back from a night out—bandage-tight miniskirts barely covering a derriere, backless dresses or tank tops with plunging necklines to there. Maybe you’ve noticed that many dresses and skirts now conveniently provide functional zippers or snap buttons as accents running down the back or the front, and maybe you’ve wondered how people can keep themselves zipped or buttoned up during a night out. Or maybe you’re just wondering how and why so many girls on Ithaca’s campus can wear cropped trapeze tops that
BUZZSAW The Access Issue
Image by Clara Goldman
Y
prominently showcase midriffs at parties despite the freezing temperatures. Either way, the clothing’s pretty flimsy—and incredibly easy to get a free feel during a night out. But why are girls choosing to dress themselves in clothes that offer such, ahem, easy access? Some might argue that dressing in this manner characterizes a girl who’s insecure and thus tries to attract attention in barely-there get-ups, while others argue still that choosing to dress in these styles is an outward expression of self-confidence. Freshman K.C. Weston thinks that the message behind “easy access” clothing depends on the attitude and mindset of the wearers themselves. “There are girls that are confident enough to wear whatever they want
when they go out without caring about what people think,” she said. “Then you have other girls that dress that way because they want to boost their self-esteem through the way they look.” Freshman Caleb Miller agrees with Weston’s attitude. He said, “The clothing doesn’t make the person, the person makes the clothing. Her attitude defines whether or not she’s ‘easy access.’” However, he doesn’t dispute that he finds it attractive when girls who dress scantily when they go out. “I think a girl’s hot when she wears that stuff, but at the same time, I’m not really the kind of guy who likes short skirts,” he said. “I like girls better who respect their bodies.” While it is true that the attitude behind wardrobe choices inherently defines the social importance of the clothing choices, the wrong message can be relayed by easy access clothing wearers. When asked to define what they thought about easy access clothing, both Weston and Miller responded that it makes the wearer “look like she’s ready for sex” and that such clothing probably “makes sex readily available.” Girls might choose to wear these clothes when they go out because they are confident in themselves and their bodies, but it doesn’t change the fact that their outfits still carry the stigma of objectification. They might feel that they are empowered when they choose to dress in this type of clothing because they are making the decision to dress in this manner for themselves. However, people won’t look at girls and think about how self-actualized they are in their body when wearing mini-dresses and spandex bandage skirts; they’ll be too busy focusing on the skin exposed by the miniscule clothing. As much as we might try to justify that girls are ultimately empowered by the ability to choose whether or
not they want to dress in easy access clothing, free from societal obligations, the fact still remains that these clothing styles are ultimately rooted in displaying overt sexuality. Journalist Christina Binkley wrote in a 2008 article published in The Wall Street Journal, “The complexities of sexism go well beyond how women dress. But many women seem to be unaware that liberation comes from actual power, not the power to wear bold clothes.” Essentially, easy access clothing presents a paradox for girls. Girls are empowered because they can choose to wear this type of clothing. They can celebrate healthy selfesteem by choosing to confidently wear clothing that might be on the skimpier side, regardless of society’s body ideals. It’s their choice to wear easy access clothing—and they can choose to do it for only themselves, regardless of what others may think. However, at the same time, they are still objectified, because dressing in a manner that’s intentionally provocative, even though they are confident, still panders to gender norms about physical appearance and sexuality. Weston commented that easy access clothing is definitely a gender issue. “I feel like girls have to do a lot more work before going out than guys do,” she said. But the work that girls have to do before going out is infinitely more than just picking out an outfit. It’s a conscious decision about how they react and feel about social norms. When girls dress in easy access clothing, they have a lot more to think about when they go out than just the chilly Ithaca weather—it’s also the social effects of what they choose as their attire. ____________________________________ Cady Lang is a freshman journalism major who wants you to know your epidermis is showing. Email her at clang1@ithaca.edu.
36 4.11.MOC.indd 36
4/4/11 1:21:15 AM
Keeping a Low Profile
Colleges using Facebook in admissions decisions Image by Sam Pinto
By Lindsey Ahern
A
it just to keep my privacy. I don’t like having to worry about every little thing I post on there and wondering who’s going to see it.” Jason Epstein, a senior in high school, explained he maintains privacy by not putting up an identifiable picture. “I never make a default picture,” he said. “I just keep the gray body outline that I was given. You never know who’s looking at your Facebook.” Some students, like Ithaca College sophomore Monami Choudhury, choose to make their profiles private or unsearchable. When making their profiles private, they can choose what information is shared with people who are not their Facebook friends. “[My Facebook is private] because I don’t want my life to be viewed by everyone,” she said. “I want to keep it within people that I know.” Many colleges are very aware of what tricks students are using to not be found. More and more colleges rely on Facebook to show how students carry themselves when they are making decisions between a few students to admit. However, according to Gerard Turbide, Ithaca College director of admissions, Ithaca College is currently not checking Facebook accounts of prospective students as a deciding factor of whether or not they are admitted. As the years pass, an increasing amount of universities are using Facebook as a way to recruit prospective students. According to a survey done by Kaplan, 82 percent of current college admissions officers use Facebook to recruit students. San Diego State University’s director of Sports Management Program admissions, Scott Minto, is one of the many admissions officers who uses Facebook as a way to
connect with students, according to an article published in Bloomberg Businessweek. In a study done by Nora Ganim, director of Marketing Research at the University of MassachusettsDartmouth, 29 percent of university departments surveyed use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. “IC does have a Facebook page, and it’s maintained by our Office of Marketing Communcations,” Turbide said. Social media is becoming a top way for colleges to reach out and communicate with students. Some colleges are not using it as a way to check up on their students, but regardless, prospective and current students should still be mindful in what they are posting on the Internet. _____________________________________ Lindsey Ahern is a sophomore journalism major who likes to keep her friends within stalking distance. Email her at lahern1@ithaca.edu.
Ministry of Cool
dmission into your school of choice used to rely on your grades, SAT score and résumé. If you met the criteria for what admissions generally look for, you were most likely going to get accepted. But as society has become increasingly tech savvy, a lot of material about students has been made viewable to the public. Since the creation and growth of Facebook, colleges now have more access to finding out about prospective students’ lives—they are no longer just names and statistics. Admissions offices can put a face to the name and see what activities students choose to participate in and how they portray themselves to the public. Throughout the years, students began to catch on to this trend, and they’ve tried to avoid being found by college admissions offices at all costs. Farrah Alkhaleel, a freshman at Richard Stockton College in New Jersey, found it was best to avoid Facebook altogether. “I’ve stayed away from the Facebook obsession everyone else seemed to have all throughout high school,” she said. “I didn’t want to take the chance of having something stupid from my past prevent me from getting into a great college. We all make poor decisions. I’d rather just not flaunt mine online.” Unlike Alkhaleel, most students aren’t as committed to staying off Facebook. Some applicants try to find loopholes to the system. For example, many high school seniors change the names on their Facebook after applying to colleges, only to change it back once they’ve been accepted. Sarah Mancini, a sophomore at Georgian Court University, changed her name on Facebook despite already being accepted and enrolled at her college of choice. “My display name on Facebook is Sarah Marinara,” she said. “I changed
37 4.11.MOC.indd 37
4/4/11 1:21:16 AM
Sealed with a Kiss A look at college’s no-commitment culture By Marc Phillips ou’re on your way to your first college party ever. At last, you made it to the infamous “Circles” that everyone talks about. A tall, imposing junior opens the red front door. He nods at you and your guy friends, halfsmiles and motions to hurry inside. You realize it was a smart move to invite the lost girl in the too-tight black dress to join your group. Once inside, you look for a place to put your black North Face, but end up throwing it in a pile with other black North Face jackets. You pray it’ll still be there by the time you leave. Too-tight black dress seems excited to continue drinking. After all, you found her “breaking the seal,” when she was squatting in the woods along the “Rape Trail.” After polishing off a $2 can of Keystone—“Oh-em-gee, the guy who sold it to me was sooo nice”—the girl takes you by your forearm and wants to go dance with you. You squeeze with 40 other horny underclassmen and fight for a spot to dance. You missed the memo about wearing a plaid button-down or black v-neck. The DJ plays an inaudible mashup of grinding songs from the secondfloor balcony. Condensation is forming on the windows, and the air is filled with odors of cheap perfume and B.O. (but mostly B.O.). At this point, your freshman dance partner guides her hands around your waist, turns around and goes in for a sloppy kiss. You think, “Is this really happening? We just met” but you continue to hook up anyway. The girl pulls away after a few minutes, stumbles to the bathroom, never to be seen again. This is an all too common scenario among college underclassmen. American University freshman Brooke* justifies random hookups that she and her friends tend to encounter. “My philosophy is that this is the only time in my life where it’s socially acceptable (and often encouraged)
BUZZSAW The Access Issue
Y
to kiss boys in public while heavily intoxicated,” she said. Perhaps it’s part of the fun of being young and commitment free. However, one idea that varies among younger students is the definition of “hooking up.” Eric,* a sophomore at University of California Santa Barbara, says hooking up can include sexual intercourse. On the east coast, “hooking up” seems to be defined as your parent’s “French kiss”—that awkward moment when you stick your tongue in a stranger’s mouth. Some students who are part of Greek life take a similar stance on drinking and easy hookups. “I have friends—I’m talking about girls—who go out drunk, with the motivation of hooking up with anyone,” Annie, a sophomore at the University of Delaware, said. “It doesn’t even matter if they know the guy’s name or not. Sometimes people have no standards.” Annie believes Greek life tends to foster random, inconsequential hookups among younger students. “I think older students get tired of random hookups at frat parties and start to want more monogamous relationships,” she said. “I have a lot of friends who are seniors in my sorority, and the party scene kind of changes because you’re not going to big, crowded parties, you’re going to mostly bars.” Ian,* a freshman at Wesleyan University, explained he finds men hold a similar view on underclassmen who act on lust and he enjoys the thrill of having a no-strings-attached relationship. “I hooked up with three different girls during fall semester,” he said. “I’ve been seeing one who I’d consider as a friend with benefits. We’re not a couple and it’s very clear that when we’re on school break anything goes.” Ian holds the logic that as long as he is young, he will go out and experience as many girls as he possibly can. Ian was recently inducted into his fraternity and believes that his new
lifestyle is conducive to meeting many attractive sorority girls. Why does Generation Y refute dating in lieu of casual hookups? According to psychologist Rita BrownHolloway, who treats behavioral issues in adolescents, the problem is threefold. “There has been an increase in alcohol consumption among the age group,” she said, referring to her findings. “There is also more stress and depression that causes collegians then to act out sexually and have poor judgment. This also leads to increased alcohol consumption. Facebook has increased the amount possible contacts and ‘hook-up pool’ college students would have had five to 10 years ago—which statistically increases their sexual contacts in general.” Ben, a sophomore at Washington University in Saint Louis, finds his love life lacking depth because the girls aren’t mature enough. “I feel as if a lot of people are not looking for more than a purely physical relationship, and there’s a lack of maturity in many people,” he said. “During fall semester, I brought a couple girls back to my room. At least it’s better than a dance floor hookup,” he said, adding, however, that he still felt unfulfilled. Although Ben is active in his fraternity, he thinks the superficial qualities sometimes rub him the wrong way. He explained, “I’m waiting for someone to show respect, which means sacrificing easiness.” For now, it seems that this promiscuous attitude is primarily favored by inexperienced underclassmen. Those of you wanting depth (and not easy access), just wait, because love may find you later on in college life. *Names of interviewees have been changed due to the nature of the story. ____________________________________ Marc Phillips is a sophomore IMC major who wants to know: Who HU’d? Email him at mphilli1@ithaca.edu.
38 4.11.MOC.indd 38
4/4/11 1:21:17 AM
RAW FROM THE SAW Adele, 21
By
Adele electrifies the studio. Her voice cuts through any and all layering to come out in all its beauty and splendor, pure and radiant. She works in a strange pop-soul hybrid genre—which works, in all its retro, 1960s glory. Her voice is sultry yet clear. Unlike Amy Winehouse, a voice akin to this much younger soul protégé’s, Adele’s music has more earnestness and less bitter irony. This earnestness might be repellent for some— the lyrics don’t have enough bite for those looking for real, spiteful break-up ballads. But this is a small issue, and Adele is a natural talent whose voice goes far beyond her experience. This album has enough strength to produce more than a couple real hits. “Rolling in the Deep” has true, dramatic impact and replay value. It is an addictive song and can be listened to on repeat for an extensive period of time. This song offers enough in both composition and vocals to be one of the strongest of the year, and as an album opener it cannot be beat. “Rolling in the Deep” may be the closest to perfection the album comes, but the rest of the album stands the test and feels like a steady stream of hits (which they very well could be). The production value of 21 is amazing—a solid horn section, backup singers who can keep up with Adele’s intimidating and breakthrough vocals, and Adele’s voice itself, which needs absolutely no reverb. The phenomenon of Adele is a case in point of the fact that talent and age are independent of one another: We know a prodigy when we hear one, and Adele proves in spectacular fashion that she understands soul acutely,and that she has it at the young age of 21.
Ministry of Cool
Columbia Records, 2011
By Quinton Saxby
Adele is a powerhouse and a prodigy, and her new album 21 showcases her purely natural talent. Finding real talent is always a noteworthy and rare experience, because it’s very hard for an artist to be already so well-developed and aware of her aesthetic bent. This is why Adele’s rise to fame has been such a great event—she managed to make her own brand of pop-soul music accessible to audiences before the age of 20. Her debut album, 19, gained a lot of recognition and critical acclaim as one of the best albums of 2008 from one of the youngest singers in the music industry. Adele’s voice belies her age, and at 19 she managed not only to gain critical recognition for her prodigious talent, but also accolades for some risky and interesting artistic choices. She covered Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” from his 1997 album Time Out of Mind—quite a feat for this British amateur vocalist who had a year before posting her first song on Myspace. Seasoned vocalists would certainly think twice before even thinking about covering Dylan, but Adele made the move, confident in her status as a natural-born vocalist and throwing caution to the wind. Adele’s new album, 21, has already garnered a lot of attention, and for good reason—Adele is one of the most naturally gifted vocalists to have hit pop music charts in the past couple of years, with a resonant and powerful voice light years ahead of the common stock of vocalists in contemporary pop music. Listeners know a real voice when they hear one, and Adele is rapidly winning recognition for just this reason. Listening to the album, one can hear that
39 4.11.MOC.indd 39
4/4/11 1:21:20 AM
Bright Eyes The People’s Key Saddle Creek, 2010
By Kyle Allen
What is the significance of a Bright Eyes album in 2011? Conor Oberst seems to be asking himself the same question. When the singer/songwriter and company revealed a great deal of talent on Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground nine years ago, he left fans and critics alike wondering where he would take the project. Several albums, a number of side projects and many tours later, The People’s Key reminds one of the band’s earlier, more scattered albums, which is not necessarily a bad thing. From the slow build of the opener “Firewall,” with lyrics like “Walking through the land of tomorrow/ Martian trinkets, plastic Apollos/ In the sunshine try to act normal,” to the Rastafarian ranting of “Haile Selassie,” which sings, “We are the
same brother/Hitchhiking back to Zion,” to the flowing final half, the album is uneven but inspiring at its best moments. Certain songs give you the impression that Bright Eyes could have, collectively, tried harder. However, perfection is not the purpose here—free exploration is. Likely fueled by marijuana and Bob Marley philosophy, Oberst enters a new realm of his notoriously polluted psyche. With The People’s Key, Bright Eyes prove that innovation among the group hasn’t been lost. In addition, lyrical expression is at a peak. Still, the album lacks the overall finesse to truly captivate the listener, and at only 10 tracks, the length is a bit dissatisfying. But is the album entertaining? Certainly.
Castaways, April 2, 2011
BUZZSAW The Access Issue
By Brennin Cummings
John Darnielle pressed his eyes closed and reached his arms out to the crowd, stroking his grateful disciples’ faces while they all screamed the gospel of The Mountain Goats- “I HOPE YOU DIE. I HOPE WE BOTH DIE.” Their 90-minute set at Castaways on April 2 felt more like a church service. The Mountain Goats covered new material from their new album, All Eternals Deck, as well as pulling out old favorites from Full Force Galesburg, that Darnielle himself admitted he might not even remember how to play. Opening band, Megafaun, joined The Mountain Goats on stage during the anthem “This Year” and watched Darnielle with amazed eyes as if they were his apostles, as they banged on tambourines and yelled the lyrics along with the gathering of college kids. I was singing along in the front row during “Damn These Vampires” when Darnielle looked straight at me. Of course, being the spaz that I am, I got nervous and fucked up the lyrics—right in front of John Darnielle. He laughed, finished the song and said, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to trip you up!”
After the show, when me and my friends asked for a picture with him, he remembered me and said, “I didn’t mean to make you nervous! I just like to make that connection with people.” LinetoPictures, 2010 connections That De need make personal with his audience was obvious throughout the show, but especially during the aforementioned emotional encore performance of “No Children.” Darnielle dove into the crowd grabbing his worshippers’ cheeks while both deity and devotee yelled into the same microphone, standing on the same dirty bar floor as the audience. It’s rare to get that feeling of intimacy with a band in a room of 200 people, yet when I walked out of Castaways last night, I felt like I had some sort of personal bond with Darnielle, as I’m sure everyone in that room did. The show transcended a normal concert into a display of straight up emotional spirituality. All I have to say is: All hail John Darnielle.
Check out our awesome blogs @ www.BUZZSAWMAG.org 40
4.11.MOC.indd 40
4/4/11 1:21:21 AM
s n o C & e s Pro Carpe diem By Meagan McGinnes
S
who slid onto the seat next to her. He ordered straight whisky. Plopping onto the bar stool, all James wanted was to numb the pain. The straight whisky burned his throat. He ordered another. Next to him sat a tightly-wound girl with chocolate brown hair. He thought she would look nice with her hair down. With the second whisky kicking in, he turned toward her and said hello. Jen could not breathe from laughter! The blonde haired stranger’s dark sarcasm was shockingly funny. She had just told him all about the publishing firm and the horrible accounts of her day, which now seemed trivial. The foreign smile on her face felt lovely. James laughed so hard that he cried! He had not enjoyed himself this much in so long, yet he continued to cry. The tears would not stop. Soon he told Jen of his fiancé, the live coal that was constantly burning inside of him, and his art that he’d abandoned. James felt Jen’s reassuring hand on his knee. He finally controlled his emotions. “Look at us!” Jen exclaimed. “Two sloppy drunks wasting our lives away! So much for all of that seize-theday, carpe diem crap.” They snickered, then suddenly looked away from each other, feeling the sting of truth. James paid the bill and both slowly wandered outside, self reflecting on all the time they had wasted in their lives. They turned to each other to say goodbye, but no sound escaped them. Nothing needed to be said. The look of gratitude shined almost as bright as the neon lights on the Louis’ sign. Two strangers in a bar, never even learning the other’s name, had somehow touched each other in a way no one else had been able to. They turned their separate ways, forever changed. Almost down the street, the silence of the night was broken with James’ cry to Jen. “Hey!—Carpe diem, right?” He exclaimed. “Yeah, Carpe diem!”
Prose & Cons
he doesn’t know how she let herself get to this point. Jen’s hair, originally tightly wrapped in her usual bun, is free like a cascading waterfall of chocolate brown over her shoulders. She chucks her cell phone into the nearby wood. The wind dances around the bottom of her dingy, black skirt, but Jen doesn’t seem to notice. Instead, she inhales deeply, throwing her head back, taking in the scent of lilacs and the cheap wine still on her breath. She wants to run; to skip; to dance. She is out of control. She quit her job and lost her grip on reality. Yet, in the face of life’s animosity Jen feels the most intense feeling of delight. In this moment, Jen might transform into a bird, finally free from gravity’s cruel pull. It is a fresh start, a new beginning. Carpe diem. He fumbles with his keys, trying to unlock the door. James is still buzzed with the excitement of the night. Or is it early morning? His mind racing, he runs his fingers through his ruggedly messy, blonde hair; as if it will keep his head from exploding with thoughts of her. Finally opening the door, James sees his tiny apartment through different eyes. It is no longer haunted with ghosts of the past; the air is no longer thick with burden and grief. He walks over to the corner next to the only window and sits at his abandoned easel. The smell of gasoline and the Pizza Palace from the floor below slowly seeps into the room. The somber streetlights stand alone as the rest of the street is silent with serene slumber. James keeps the window open, the frigid air a constant reminder that this has not been a dream. With the back of his wrinkled, blue sleeve, he
wipes away the dust and cobwebs of the easel, picks up the charcoal, and begins to draw for the first time in three years. Carpe diem. “Sensible.” That would be the word most people would use to describe Jen. She would also be described as a “hardworker” or “devoted employee” It’s too bad—that is all anyone could tell you. I mean her tightly, pulled back hair; long, lackluster skirts; stern, painted-on frown; and screw-the-world attitude did not make Jen the “Ms. Congeniality” of the publishing firm. She got there early, worked late. Jen truly wanted to write, but did not believe she had the talent. She didn’t date much or go out with friends because she would rather stay at home, curled up on the couch watching Grey’s Anatomy and eating Oreos. Work at the publishing firm consumed her, acting as filler for the emptiness in her life, an emptiness Jen was blissfully unaware of until the night that changed her life forever. James hit the snooze button for the third time. The house was cool with morning, but wrapped in the cozy, flannel sheets, James felt no desire to move. James finally forced himself to break from his cocoon. He stubbed his toe on a box of old photographs and drawings as he attempted to make his way toward the bathroom. Surprisingly, he was thankful for the pain in his toe. It helped him forget about the constant ache in his chest; as if someone had taken a scorching coal and left it in his heart to slowly kill him from the inside out. This relentless pain had been steadily torturing him for three years since his fiancé died. Everything acted as a reminder. James could not even draw without becoming nauseous. He was an empty shell, a sorry excuse for life. He did not know that his routine “Thirsty Thursday” visit to Louis’ bar later that evening would instill in him a renewed sense of being. Jen sat at the bar checking her emails on her phone, sipping on her second glass of cheap wine. She never drank, but work had been hell. She glanced over to the handsome, blonde man with empty eyes
41 4.11. 4P&C.indd 41
4/4/11 12:48:53 AM
BUZZSAW :
The Access Issue
SAWDUST
42 4.11. 5SAWDUST.indd 42
4/4/11 12:58:53 AM
Fat Kids Angered By Healthier Vending Machine Options at School
Protesters reaching out to slimmer brethren to strengthen movement By Catherine Fisher
T
at Sweeping Pines Middle School, an event at which teachers are expecting another demonstration to occur. When asked to comment, Crunch chalked the town’s conceit up to “classic lethargy.” According to Fitz, the chocolatecraving youths have already set their sights on her. Fitz reported she came to work early Friday morning and found her mailbox stuffed with used candy wrappers. Next, the nutrition posters that were recently hung up around the school were torn down and defiled, many of them covered with pro-junk food graffiti messages on them, such as “Reese’s Rocks” and “Taste This Pissed Off Rainbow, Fitz.” “This whole business is really starting to get out of hand,” she said. “I don’t think these kids are aware, but everything comes out of the school’s budget. This is going to cost them their trip to Washington.” Neighborhood Watch has currently been notified of the situation. In the meantime, cafeteria staff assured the student body during Monday morning announcements that the curly fries, for now at least, are to remain a lunch option. As for the Happy Kid, Healthy Kids Youth Program, a health inspector has approved of the addition of a salad bar that is scheduled to be available by next fall. Features include three kinds of lettuce, cheese and vegetable toppings as well as croutons. Negotiations over the addition of bacon bits are currently pending. ____________________________________ Catherine Fisher is a sophomore cinema and photography major who doesn’t give a shit if her Sour Skittles are supposed to make you fat. Email her at cfisher2@ithaca.edu.
Sawdust
urmoil filled the halls at player Shelley Grace, who said the Sweeping Pines Middle school’s policies are starting to School after a group of become overbearing and out of line. heavyset eight-graders put “They took away the McDonald’s,” on a protest Thursday during she said. “Now, after soccer games, school hours. The students, angered our coach treats us to the salad bar after the removal of a snack machine, at Whole Foods.” spent the day answering only to their “They made us run a mile in gym self-proposed nicknames like “Twix” and we said nothing,” said Mitchell and “Baby Ruth.” In addition, several “Crunch” Knicks, who is rumored students came to school wearing among authority figures to T -shirts sporting the logos of their be the frontrunner favorite brandname candy bars. behind the Teachers complained the movement. demonstration was a distraction “They switched during class time, and many the soda out students were mistakenly with juice, and marked absent we remained because of it. silent. If “I take roll, we don’t do and half the something kids don’t now, who answer,” one knows when it math teacher will stop?” said. “Let L i n d a alone the fact Fitz, head that they’re all of after school Image by Garen Whitmore calling each other activities and ‘Skittles.’ Tell me, chairperson of the PTA, how am I supposed t o stands in direct opposition to Knicks teach with that?” and his movement. Once the owner The snack machine, which was of a small boutique, Linda is now removed over spring break, was the known in Sweeping Pines as the last of the privately owned “junk woman behind the town’s “Happy food” distributors in the educational Kids, Healthy Kids Youth Program.” facility. Though it was replaced with Over the past 18 months, she and a new device, options such as Lays a group of equally motivated staywere replaced by things like fruit at-home moms have organized their strips and oats. Educators insist they program to the local community and mailed out a newsletter explaining introduced a variety of fit-focused the switch, but this had yet to be events aimed to encourage active confirmed at press time. lifestyles. The protesters, mostly chubby but The “Happy Kids” program was now growing in numbers and weight originally conceived by personal diversity, declare they are taking a trainer-turned-author Rod Brigham, stand against a huge injustice. Even who is best known for his works Get athletes and other active students America Skinny and It’s Too Late for have decided to take their part in Us, But Think of the Children. Brigham the fight, such as sixth-grade soccer is set to make a speaking appearance
43 4.11. 5SAWDUST.indd 43
4/4/11 12:58:55 AM
Old Man Falls Asleep While Hosting Public Access Channel Cameras stay rolling for more than two hours By Marc Phillips oe Kalbert, host of Smethport’s first and only public access talk show, Joe’s Spin, fell asleep during a live broadcast today for unknown reasons. “This has never happened before,” his wife, Lisa, said. “At home, we normally fall asleep watching reruns of My Name is Earl, but this time he actually fell asleep mid-sentence on camera.” Every Tuesday evening from 7 to 9 p.m., Kalbert and his wife broadcast Joe’s Spin at the East Water Street cable studio. Shows often cover technology, parenting, government and religion. “We’ve been running this weekly show since 1998,” Lisa said. “Except with the holidays in which we honor our Lord and Savior, we have not missed a single taping.” Reports state that Kalbert was discussing his gripes with high-speed I n t e r n e t and why he favored his dial-up connection b e t t e r. Kalbert t h e n proceeded to go on a diatribe a b o u t how he loves his AOL 6.0
BUZZSAW :
The Access Issue
J
Image by Garen Whitmore
CD-ROM and will never upgrade his desktop Compaq Presario. Lisa reportedly put up a test pattern when she noticed that her husband of 35 years was starting to trail off at the end of his sentences. “I was just confused,” she said. “I tried nudging him, budging him, but got no response. I just saw him breathing peacefully in his folding chair. His eyes were shut, and his hands were rested on his gut.” Local 58-year-old resident Adam Peterson was tuned into Joe’s Spin when he noticed the host wasn’t making sense. “I was really into Joe’s opinion of Windows 98,” he said. “But then he started stringing words together to the point of jibberish. Before I knew it, you just heard heavy, labored breathing.” “I had to turn off his microphone and put up the test pattern because his snoring was being broadcasted to all 70 of our viewers,” Lisa said. “Sorry, but we have standards to uphold, even if this is a small operation. The weirdest thing is, once the test pattern was up, my TracFone wouldn’t stop ringing. I definitely went over my prepaid minutes.” Lisa explained how viewers wanted to see her husband sleeping and place bets on how long he would be passed out. She thought it was peculiar, but she obliged. She set up a bet, and the winner could decide how the money should be used to improve Smethport. “Personally, I was hoping for more park benches,” Lisa said. After a little more than two hours, Kalbert woke himself up when he expelled gas. Homemaker Jean Roberts won the contest, with her bet of two hours and 10 minutes. Roberts said she wanted
to put the money toward a traffic light at the intersection of West King and State streets. “It’s so hard to make a left when you have two cars in oncoming traffic,” she said. Unfortunately, the lofty plan could not be reached, with total contributions of just $45. According to the episode guide on Kalbert’s Yahoo! GeoCities homepage, Joe’s Spin on the World Wide Web, his show has won numerous awards for its hard-hitting stories. Some honors include “Best and Only Public Access News Commentary Program in Northwest PA” from the local government, as well as “Best Meemaw and Pop-Pop TV Program Award Thingy 1999” from grandson Eric, then 7 years old. When asked if Kalbert would be receiving any medical examination due to his narcoleptic episode, he declined to comment. “All I’m gonna say is, tune in next week when I talk about Barrack Hussein’s Obamacare and why doctors are part of Nancy Pelosi’s death panels,” Kalbert said, not realizing he had covered those exact issues in a show just two weeks earlier. ____________________________________ Marc Phillips is a sophomore IMC major who wishes Joe’s Spin could get picked up by ICTV. Email him at mphilli1@ithaca.edu.
44 4.11. 5SAWDUST.indd 44
4/4/11 12:58:57 AM
Girlfriend Withholds Sex for Increasingly Trivial Reasons A flash fiction piece By Miles Eckardt
“
Image by Zachary Anderson
“He tried to say he was asleep, but I just watched an episode of Dog Whisperer where Cesar Millan said sleep farting is a subconscious signal that the farter is shitting on the relationship. That earned Jeremy four weeks on the couch.” “Four weeks for farting in bed? Does he know that you had sex with another man and that you have to visit a gynecologist because of it!?” The doctor exclaimed. “Don’t get smart, doc. I was just getting even when I slept with Henry. Jeremy never picked up my tampons that one time. He is always forgetting me, so I paid him back in kind.” “Right, forgetting an errand is worth sleeping around. I see.” The rest of the check-up went smoothly, aside from the battle going inside Lunker’s head. He prepped Marybeth for a Pap smear while seriously debating whether or not to tell her the true results of her test, grappling with whether or not Jeremy would care about Marybeth’s STD status at this point. His hand, which
appeared to be constantly dancing in a strobe light, gripped the analytical needle only to throw it to the floor after Marybeth asked, “How bad would it be if we never had sex again?” The doctor exploded, and not in the fun, pleasant way. “It’s a rash! You must have skipped a segment in the shower or have a moldy bike seat or something, just go home and fuck Jeremy for Chrissake!” He stormed out of the room, leaving Marybeth somewhat stuck in the stirrups. As she struggled to defy gravity and her portliness simultaneously, she contemplated the dreadful thought of actually having sex with Jeremy, and decided it was worth it to wait for a second opinion. ____________________________________ Miles Eckardt is a sophomore legal studies major who will be writing satirical erotic fiction for the Sawdust section online. Really. Email him at meckard1@ithaca.edu.
Sawdust
The Gynecologist’s office is no place to spend an anniversary, Marybeth.” The words floated from the mouth of tremor-ridden Dr. S. P. Lunker to his patron, who was lost in thought. “Any concerns to raise before we begin?” Marybeth had only one thing on her mind. “The test results,” she said. “I can’t keep lying to my boyfriend. I need to know whether or not I have an STD.” “Marybeth, a truly loving man would not care. You can use contraception for protection.” “One, condoms are completely devoid of pleasure. Protected sex is about as fun as dry-humping a garbage bag. Two, I’ve had to hide my vagina until this is sorted out. Jeremy has been misbehaving, so I’ve been able to withhold sex, you see?” Doctor Lunker did not understand any justification for withholding sex, but he relented. “Go on,” he said. “Well, it was easy at first. He got arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct, so I cut him off for a week. Then I caught him masturbating and added two more weeks.” “Masturbating is worse than being arrested?” the doctor asked quizzically. “Of course it is! He’s cheating on me, directly violating the fidelity of the relationship. In fact, the only thing missing here is another woman,” Marybeth said. The doctor let out an audible scoff, something that may or may not have been related to Marybeth raising her legs into the stirrups. “He said if we don’t have sex tonight, we’re through,” she said. “It’s been 12 weeks.” Lunker’s arms fell to his sides. “What on Earth has he done to deserve 12 weeks without sex?” asked the doctor, only partially concealing his astonishment. “Most recently, he farted in bed. That’s direct sabotage.” “Really?”
45 4.11. 5SAWDUST.indd 45
4/4/11 12:59:00 AM
HELP THE ETHIOPIAN BOY FIND WATER!
Image by Catherine Fisher
Porn Addict Discovers Versatility, Power of the Web Through Revolutions in Middle East Addict still content with lifestyle, however By Matt Honold arold Johnson is a porn addict. He leads a modest lifestyle in a small one-bedroom house in Oneonta, N.Y., a far cry from any exciting human activity, though certainly never far from an Internet connection. Johnson is often enthralled by the “shocking and profound” capacity of the web, but when he heard that Libya and Egypt were using Facebook to incite revolutions, his whole concept of the Internet’s possibilities was changed—this for a man who has witnessed countless seemingly impossible acts through his computer. “Here I am reading Google News, when I find out that Facebook and other networks are being used in northern Africa to arouse the [fighting spirits] of the people,” he said. “I thought someone was yanking my chain, then I realized it was just me,” he added, winking creepily. He went on to say he’s always known the Internet to be an amazing place
BUZZSAW :
The Access Issue
H
with immense potential for mankind. When asked if this was an opinion formed while visiting the site Big Booty Babes, he responded, “Well yeah. But the people of Egypt went on Facebook, and instead of looking at pictures of [obscure porn stars] Henrietta Lovejoy or Susan Greenberg, they communicated and took down that guy—Mubarak, that’s it.” Shortly into the revolutions of both countries, the Internet servers were shut down, forcing the people to organize themselves through phoning, faxing and meeting one another in person. “If I were forced to meet the goals of my Internet use the old-fashioned way, I would probably end up spending a lot of money,” Johnson said. Here we see the stark and contemptible contrast between the historical accomplishments of the Internet and the horrible, brain-melting waste of life it has spat back at the human race. Upon query as to whether it is rel-
evant to compare pornography to grassroots revolution, he responded, “Well yeah, they’re both really awesome. The [revolutionaries] make me want to start a message board or a blog about the things that really matter to me,” he said, then laughed. “I think that way, we can all have our own little uprisings.” When asked what truly matters to him, what he would encourage others to care about, he paused for a moment to reflect, then spoke. “I think porn,” he said. “Yeah, all different kinds of raw, experimental adult entertainment. I respect what others are using the web for, but I simply believe this to be my calling in life.” Maybe it is enough to be grateful that in some part of the world, the Internet is being used for positive change. ____________________________________ Matt Honold is a sophomore writing major who wishes the majority of the Internet didn’t have to be porn. Email him at mhonold1@ithaca.edu.
46 4.11. 5SAWDUST.indd 46
4/4/11 12:59:01 AM
Buzzsaw Asks Why... Is Ithaca College’s parking situation so atrocious? This is a BAW we’ve been sitting on for a while, a relatively generic problem we all hear our friends and classmates complaining about on a daily basis. Generally, we’ve all just had to suck it up and deal with it. However, with the NCUR parking issues still fresh in all of our minds, we think this is a concern worth addressing now. During the few days of NCUR, many on-campus drivers kept their cars in their spots, knowing they would be snagged within moments if they wanted to go somewhere, while off-campus students, like myself, were generally too afraid to see what the campus might look like with thousands of extra visitors taking up spaces. The decent spaces were even reserved in the early evenings, when nearly all of the NCUR visitors had left, leaving lone members of Public Safety to carry out the inexplicable duty of turning away cars from practically empty parking lots. But all that is beside the point. Successfully hosting something like NCUR is undeniably beneficial to the
reputation of the college, one that has, of course, always been overshadowed by another nearby institution (yup, TC3). Also, the argument that IC was too small to accommodate NCUR is relatively flawed—doesn’t every school try to set itself up to function at capacity, whether big or small? But the parking at IC truly is a pertinent issue that must be addressed by the school if it wants to continue to expand its facilities and attract more prospective students, and one can only expect that it will attract more students once the $65-million Athletics and Events Center is finished. I’ve personally had to park my car behind Emerson Hall, the final frontier of IC parking, pretty often this semester, making my own spot along the perimeter of the lot on a couple occasions. We’ve all heard and seen the stories from our own friends and classmates— students who run into class late because they’ve had to shop for a spot for so long, other frustrated kids who miss class and go home because no spaces
are left for them… Well, that’s probably it really, but there’s not much variation in failed parking stories, and there are definitely plenty of them. But going back to the NCUR parking fiasco, the school offered a free shuttle bus on those days for visitors. Why not offer that service every day of class? Much of the current parking debacle is exacerbated by nearby residents, often in the Circle and Solar Apartments, who drive relatively short distances to avoid painfully long walks (not to be accusatory—I wouldn’t want to do that walk either. But really, you’re ruining it for everyone). So just send an empty shuttle bus up to the Circles once or twice an hour and hopefully things will improve—and isn’t this supposed to be an environmentally sound campus? Why not encourage mass transit? It’s much more efficient and green! But if not, fuck it. Just build some ugly-ass parking garage somewhere… but please do something. -Chris Giblin
By Jonathan Schuta Sawdust
47 4.11. 5SAWDUST.indd 47
4/4/11 12:59:02 AM
The Access Issue
BUZZSAW :
48 4.11. 5SAWDUST.indd 48
4/4/11 12:59:04 AM