October 2010

T N M O E A R L C

rockin’ the boat

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Dems, Reps, & InsaniTEA

in(side) the port(side): campus, national, international news THE WAR AT HOME For Claremont’s ROTC cadets, Afghanistan isn’t so far away

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MUDD WOMEN? For the first time, women > men in freshman class volumeVIII issue1

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PEACE TALKS Students in IR class simulate Middle East diplomacy

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I’ve hosted several tea parties over the years. Most have involved Barbie and Ken, Jasmine and Aladdin, a couple of motley extras from the toybox, and my mom’s burnt sugar cookies. But when I (along with staffers Alyssa Roberts, Kayla Benker, and Chelsea Carlson) attended a Tea Party assembly this month, I didn’t know what to expect. In lieu of my typical frilly pink chiffon, I donned the perfect outfit: something that screamed, “If I were a man, I’d be wearing a barbecue-stained white t-shirt and a fraying construction company baseball cap.” Having thus disguised myself, I had two final tasks: to drive from Claremont to the Cocky Bull Saloon in Victorville, and to determine what Tea Partiers were all about.

The Tea Party – at least the 150 people we saw – is inherently violent and militaristic in its rhetoric. Through ritualistic training exercises intended to emulate those in boot camp, these Tea Partiers were taught to “scare the crap out of [their] local politicians.” A total of 15 minutes was spent practicing and explaining the merits of shouting “FREEDOM!” loudly and in unison.

(Yes, we joined in.) The violence manifested itself later, when one participant ranted against the city’s removal of some campaign signs whose placement violated election regulations. The emcee’s response? “The day I run for city council and somebody takes my signs down, somebody’s gonna get shot!”

But even more frightening is that most don’t know what they’re screaming about. Here, group dynamics come into play. Picture a “Joe the Plumber”-esque, mustachioed man wielding a microphone and shouting, “Anyone here support [random candidate] for [random position]?” If the crowd’s response was lukewarm,

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editor’s note

“Somebody’s Gonna Get Shot”

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he’d give a short soundbite about the candidate’s desire to cut taxes or repeal healthcare, and repeat the question. This time, all would cheer enthusiastically. Once, one confused outlier accidentally said “nay,” to which the emcee responded, “Nay? Shoot that person.”

Despite their ignorance of state and national candidates, the Tea Partiers know their local issues. The most critical issue for this group: red-light cameras. Apparently Big Brother’s efforts to reduce the number of car accidents just aren’t worth the fines. Threefourths of the city council candidates onstage pledged to remove the cameras. As for the outlier, “You wanna get elected, you better get on the bandwagon, fella!” one audience member shouted.

Yet underneath the “nays,” “ayes,” “hear, hears,” “hip hip hoorays,” “boos,” “hisses,” and gun-toting was something very human: a concern for the common man. When a woman stood onstage and explained how the passage of California’s Prop. 23 would save her family’s dump truck business, I’d have pitied her had she acknowledged the other side of the issue. But when someone later yelled, “Do you know they’re trying to take away the uniforms from the Boy Scouts?” I was back to suppressing laughter.

Don’t get me wrong – I respect the Tea Partiers. Their civicmindedness, energetic campaigning, and willingness to challenge authority are personally inspiring. Nevertheless, I hoped that my undercover experience would show me another, softer side to www.claremontportside.com/blog the craziest political movement of my lifetime. Instead, my first impressions remained intact: befuddled amusement, disgusted frustration, and a heightened fear of getting shot.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michelle Lynn Kahn PUBLISHER Alyssa Roberts EDITOR EMERITUS MANAGING EDITORS Andrew Bluebond CAMPUS Alex Heiney WEB EDITOR NATIONAL Nicholas Rowe Jeremy B. Merrill INTERNATIONAL Russell M. Page COPY EDITORS Kayla Benker, Sara Birkenthal, Derek Ha, Jacinth Sohi, Andy Willis ILLUSTRATORS Laura Bottorff, Chelsea Carlson, Jack Flannery The Claremont Port Side is dedicated to providing the Claremont Colleges with contextualized, intelligent reports to advance debate among students and citizens. This is a progressive newsmagazine that offers pertinent information and thoughtful analysis on the issues confronting and challenging our world, our country, and our community. Each article in the Claremont Port Side reflects the opinion of its author(s) and does not represent the Claremont Port Side, its editors, its staff, or the Claremont Colleges.

Letters, Questions, Comments? editor@claremontportside.com

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Campus Progress works to help young people — advocates, activists, journalists, artists — make their voices heard on issues that matter.

Learn more at CampusProgress.org.

Reading the Tea Leaves

The Tea Party must brew a new path forward

Whether or not its members agree, the Tea Party is essentially a far-right economic movement. Lacking a concrete platform or party organization and comprised of an amalgam of individuals with vastly differing social views, the party as a whole has no discernible stance on non-economic issues. The movement’s many splintered factions may hinder its sustainability, turning it into a “short-term burst party.”

Only few die-hards cling to “short-term burst parties.”

Ever heard of the Peace & Freedom Party? It emerged in the 1960s espousing pure opposition to the Vietnam War, peaking in 1968 when it nominated the Black Panther-leading, soon-to-be drug-using, Reagan-supporting Eldrige Cleaver for president. It died out quickly.

What about the U.S. Marijuana Party or the American Nazi Party? Both are exactly how they sound.

One supports California’s Prop. 19. The other, which cropped up in the mid-1960s after the Civil Rights Act’s passage, supports... nothing in particular; it just hates nonwhite people.

Does this model bode poorly for the Tea Party? Busch elaborates that “short-term burst parties are only around insofar as their issue is relevant with the people.” With the economy as their main concern, the Tea Party message will “likely reduce with the recovering of the economy, but it probably won’t do them in altogether.”

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Claremont McKenna Government Professor Andrew Busch explains that third parties have two primary origins. Those built around a specific ideology tend to be “long-lasting, have very little effect overall, and maybe from time to time succeed on a small-scale.”

Think Green Party. The other iteration is a “shortterm burst party,” which, like the Tea Party, arises “out of intense reactions against specific policy.”

OBAMACARE SOCIALISM ETC.

And the Libertarian Party, founded in 1971 in reaction to Richard Nixon’s regulatory policies, essentially stands against government; its members rant in Glenn Beck-style about the government stealing everything from your unborn babies to your soul. It peaked in 1980 with 1.1% of the national vote and later faded into relative oblivion, usually garnering between 0.3-0.4% of the presidential vote.

The Tea Party may reach its peak this election. Some of its candidates have already defeated incumbent Republicans throughout the country. If Tea’s success halts, however, it may become the much-dreaded third party that siphons votes from the bipolar Democratic and Republican hegemons. In that case, they will likely cease threatening Democrats and actually harm Republicans.

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While both Democrats and Republicans fear the Tea Party, all have sought to exploit it throughout the 2010 election season. However, many in the unstructured, seemingly chaotic grassroots movement want it to stand alone. They dream of becoming the third great American party, but accomplishing this feat will require counteracting history in a way many have attempted but at which very few have succeeded.

But the Tea Party is not espousing novel, timesensitive ideas; it is essentially a rebirth of several former libertarian third parties, including the Constitution Party and American Party, among others. The American Independent Party carried ten million votes in 1968, largely as a response to Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society Program.”

Their goal: to cut spending and reel in “big government.” Sound familiar?

In the future, the Tea Party has two options: it can attempt either to become its own party or (more likely) to sway the GOP. If the Tea “movement” takes the blue pill, it will follow a long history of parties evolved out of single issues and fade into comical oblivion by the time the economy recovers and people start cashing in on the new healthcare legislation. If it takes the red pill, however, it might succeed in pulling the Republican Party toward an actual Republican mantra rather than just “fiscal conservatism.”

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By Quinn Chasan Sta f f Writer, CM C ‘ 1 3

The Committed Among Us

For ROTC cadets in Claremont, war hits close to home

By Eliot Adams C on t r ibu t in g Wr it er, CM C ‘13

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“Sure, the United States is at war, but it doesn’t really affect me.” Citizens are typically concerned only with their everyday lives – with what affects them. There is no possibility they could be drafted, the fighting takes place in some far-off country, and many contend that the war was a mistake entirely. The last point serves as a convenient way to avoid accountability for our actions; whenever the issue comes up, we have a clear way to react to and subsequently disregard it. The problem is: mistake or not, the war is still on, and most of us are more responsible for it than we would like to think.

Cadets in Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs at the Claremont Colleges are in an awkward position. For most students here, high school was a haven safe from adult decisions. We just had to get into a good college in order to get a good education and be deemed worthy of an exciting

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After the soccer team finishes practicing on Parents Field, they are replaced by men and women in camouflage uniforms marching around and yelling , only to be replaced by students wearing green bandanas and pretending to zombify each other with plastic Nerf guns. ROTC is a blip on our colleges’ eclectic activity radar.

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cadets have their non-ROTC friends and their ROTC friends, each of which exist in their own sphere and sometimes overlap. At the same time, they must seem like a club. ROTC is a studentrun program, so the cadets have all the e-mails and unofficial meetings to which any other serious club is accustomed. After the soccer team finishes practicing on Parents Field, they are replaced by men and women in camouflage uniforms marching around and yelling, only to be replaced by students wearing green bandanas and pretending to zombify each other with plastic Nerf guns. ROTC is a blip on our colleges’ eclectic activity radar.

In reality, most cadets have signed a contract to serve in the U.S. Army for eight years after graduation, at least four on active duty. This can isolate a cadet from his fellow students, since the anticipated deployment is just not on their friends’ minds. For certain people, it can even be uncomfortable to talk about. When people casually ask what being in ROTC means, the answer usually surprises them. This is because the war hits home. The war that they had compartmentalized as something far away and silly suddenly becomes personalized in the 18-year-old freshman they are just beginning to like. “I wish it wasn’t so awkward,” a friend of mine in the program said.

“They should just be comfortable with it and be like, ‘So that’s what he’s doing.’”

and/or well-paying job. For most of us, college is a place where we can work hard but also have a lot of fun. Blue skies are all we can see ahead; and for the freshmen and sophomores, graduation is just too far away to be relevant. Afghanistan is even farther away, except for a few of us.

Even those who want to work in the military for the rest of their lives admit that the oath is a heavy one. It is one thing to read the oath, but to be saying it and realize its connection to the paper just signed can be an incredibly sobering experience. Everything that makes the oath of a new ASCMC Senator unimportant is what makes the enlistment oath incredibly weighty. One comes to realize, “Woah…

I am swearing that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Not some statistic. Not some actor in a film. Not my roommate. I just put pen to paper, and they’re going to hold me to it.”

To onlookers, ROTC may seem like a club or sports team. While at times it may be less athletic than the football or cross country teams, all foster similar camaraderie at whichever communal table they eat at in Collins. Like the football team,

This commitment is made four years before it is expected to be fulfilled, so it is really a consignment to some future self. During those four years, cadets undergo training, but it is a marginal part of their lives compared to how central the military will be once

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their oath is called upon. No one else at the colleges has had to make this promise or another promise equal in weight.

military officers and senior cadets strictly evaluate students. Upperclassmen must constantly act as role models for younger cadets. For example, in “STX” lanes, a third-year cadet leads about 15 younger cadets to complete a mission. These exercises require a variety of skills, such as navigation, time management, foresight, and adaptability. The “Leader Development and Assessment Course” in the summer after junior year is the culmina-

replace the clapping in a not-so-distant future. Not every cadet will face combat; some will not even go to Afghanistan. However, every cadet must face that possibility. Even if they are not involved in combat arms, Afghanistan is a dangerous place and they will be responsible for their subordinates’ safety.

tion of the program’s training. Cadets’ scores largely determine their freedom to choose their career in the military. What other club requires its leaders to have such finesse under pressure? What other club holds its leaders this accountable? What other club not only trains its members in leadership concepts, but repeatedly tests their mastery of these concepts?

So, while Afghanistan feels much closer for these cadets since it directly affects them, they are also preparing for a war they cannot entirely understand. War is still abstract and unknown to them.

The training only gives cadets some

To prepare cadets, ROTC tries to train leaders. While the Claremont McKenna community often touts the phrase “leaders in the making,” this program offers leadership skills that no other club or activity at the 5Cs can possibly aspire to.

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These cadets are not better than their fellow students, but they are not the same. Their world is different. They are committed to something they cannot fully understand, something happening soon, but not too soon. They are surrounded by people who have no similar commitments. Perhaps if more students realized this, Afghanistan would be closer to us all.

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and devoted – must hear closing doors slam and see other opportunities melt away. They wonder, “I want to do this, but how can I truly know this is what I want? I do not know what war is. What if it’s not what I think it is? What if I’m a different person four years from now and I no longer want it?” Cadets must deal with this. Contracting also opens many new doors previously unavailable. Hopefully, those that sign the contract see the doors opened as better than the doors closed.

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I firmly believe that one can understand war only in the abstract unless one has participated in it. This puts the cadet in an odd limbo in between student and soldier. Even those who are knowledgeable of what they are getting themselves into – the most determined

perspective of what they will be doing for eight years after college. Combat drills are a part of training similar to practicing football plays – except they are tactical maneuvers. After running to the right flank someone yells, “Assault through!” and a line of them runs across the field, clapping their hands.

The clapping symbolizes firing their rifles. It becomes easy to take the training passively and not think of what will

The Greenest of Them All?

Why CMC and Mudd beat Pitzer in sustainability rankings

By Sara Birkenthal Copy Editor, C MC ‘ 1 3

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The Princeton Review recently partnered with the U.S. Green Building Council to publish its first Guide to 286 Green Colleges.

Only two of the five Claremont Colleges were included on this list. If your first thought after reading this statement was “Pitzer,” you are incorrect. Both Claremont McKenna and Harvey Mudd, however, made the cut.

Claremont students seem to perceive Pitzer as far “greener” than the other four colleges. When asked what about Pitzer “screams green,” one Scripps student replied, “The dining hall food seems organic and environmentally friendly.” A CMC student echoed her views, noting that the “overall social awareness of the students” adds to Pitzer’s “green feel.”

At first glance, however, the Princeton Review and the U.S. Green Building Council think otherwise. In ranking each college on a scale from 60 to 99 and deeming CMC and Harvey Mudd the “greenest” of the Claremont Colleges, they considered several factors: percentage of food budget spent on local/organic food, available transportation alternatives, whether the school has a formal sustainability committee, and what percentage of the school’s energy comes from renewable sources.

Considering these criteria, the Port Side did some investigating to see how Pitzer, the seemingly “greenest” Claremont College, stacked up and why it was not included.

According to the sustainability page on Pitzer’s website, “Green is not merely a buzz word or a get-on-the-bandwagon trend at Pitzer College.” Pitzer President Laura Trombley has stated that “[Pitzer] students have set up vegetable gardens, composting areas…and campus xeriscaping,” a style of landscape design requiring little or no irrigation. page 6

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The site also states that Pitzer is poised to become the first college in the nation to have all Gold LEED certified residence halls as a result of a three-phase construction project in process. This is one area where Pitzer undoubtedly has CMC beat. But CMC is trying. Sophomore Katie Browning, President of CMC’s environmental club SPEAR, noted that “Claremont Hall has Silver LEED certification, and the campus is aiming for overall LEED certification.” Furthermore, according to CMC Director of Facilities Brian Worley, “while CMC currently has no Gold LEED certified buildings, the new Kravis Center will be gold-certified.”

Both Browning and Worley were surprised at Pitzer’s exclusion from the Guide to 286 Green Colleges. Worley expressed his concerns, noting, “when I sit down with my fellow Facilities Directors and talk about the focus of each campus,” Pitzer’s sustainability priorities are clear. However, he assured the Port Side that “with all of these kinds of surveys, you always have anomalies where somebody just misses something.”

Worley’s prediction could not have been more accurate. Jeanne Krier, a publicist for Random House and Princeton Review Books, explained that the Guide to 286 Green Colleges was compiled based on survey data from the 2008–2009 academic year, and that Pitzer wasn’t included because “whatever survey information we had simply wasn’t enough.”

David Soto, Princeton Review College Ratings and Rankings Director, reiterated Krier’s statement that Pitzer’s exclusion was simply an issue of data

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reporting (or lack thereof). He told the Port Side that during the 2008–2009 school year, 2,000 colleges were sent environmental sustainability surveys; approximately 700 completed them.

Only these colleges’ ratings were used to compile the first edition of the Guide to 286 Green Colleges, which was released on Earth Day 2010.

The Princeton Review is scheduled to release a second edition of the guide on Earth Day 2011, and Soto said that Pitzer, which currently has an online green rating of 98, “has since returned the survey and will certainly be included in the new edition.” The irony of the situation is that CMC, with a current online green rating of 86, may be bumped off the 2011 edition. Moral of the story: college ratings and rankings should be taken with a grain of salt.

Tea, the People

A closer look at the Constitution is both “necessary and proper”

Many Tea Partiers oppose legislation based on a misguided understanding of the Founders’ goals.

They rail against the 2010 healthcare bill on the grounds that the federal government lacks the constitutional authority to mandate individual health care. Yet Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 supports this aspect of the bill: Congress has the authority to regulate interstate commerce and make all laws which are “necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States.” This clause has been invoked to defend government programs since the days of the New Deal. Government mandates are not a novel concept; they stretch all the way back to the second Militia Act of 1792, when the government required male citizens to possess certain weapons and other items, such as a “knapsack,” ammunition, and, in some cases, “a serviceable horse.”

Tea Party supporters and candidates have also contested numerous Constitutional amendments. Tea Party-backed congressional candidates, such as Vaughn Ward of Idaho, have argued that the 17th

Government mandates are not a novel concept; they stretch all the way back to the second Militia Act of 1792, when the government required male citizens to possess certain weapons and other items, such as a “knapsack,” ammunition, and, in some cases, “a serviceable horse.”

With their emergence on the national scene, Tea Party supporters and candidates have brought Constitutional issues to the forefront of American politics. Their efforts to match current political issues to our government’s framework should be lauded. However, if the Tea Party wants to be the “party of the Constitution” and maintain its relevance in Washington, its supporters must embrace the Constitution as a whole rather than just picking and choosing. They must acknowledge that while the Constitution restrains the federal government from resembling the 18th-century British monarchy, it also strives to create a strong national presence to govern its people effectively.

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To understand America’s sacred text accurately, the context is critical. Our Founding Fathers convened in Philadelphia in 1787 to replace the inadequate Articles of Confederation, which suffered from a feeble national government and an inability to raise revenue or solve national concerns. The delegates at the Constitutional Convention sought to create a new framework for our young nation by balancing individual rights and a strong national government. This equilibrium makes our nation functional and free.

The 16th Amendment (federal income tax) has also come under fire. Harry Reid’s challenger Sharron Angle, who proclaimed, “I am the Tea Party,” argued against the income tax as an unnecessary federal government expansion. While the Founders did not impose an income tax, they clearly understood the necessity of taxation after the failed experiment of the Articles of Confederation. And the Constitution reflects this: Congress has the “power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.” Indeed, the Founders understood the difference between colonial taxation, in which colonists were unrepresented in parliament, and taxation legislated by representatives of the people.

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Tea Party supporters demand that their legislators abide by it, hold readings of it at rallies, and consider it the foundation of their political movement. But, echoing many religious fundamentalists’ approaches to scripture, Tea Partiers adhere to the Constitution’s text and history only selectively. Ignoring certain passages while emphasizing others, many espouse a warped view of the Constitution that muddles their own goals. If our government is to truly follow our Founders’ intentions, our politicians and citizens must view them in light of our current political discourse.

Amendment (direct election of Senators) does not represent the Founders’ will because it diminishes the influence of states in Congress. Nevertheless, the intention of federalism within the Senate remains by its inclusion of two representatives per state.

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By Nicholas Herzeca Staf f Writer, CMC ‘ 1 4

Interfaith Interaction

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Global dialogue builds bridge for religiously tolerant future “Islam=Terror,” and “All I need to know about Islam, I learned on 9/11.”

In his new book Acts of Faith, Eboo Patel writes that the premier conflict of the 21st century will be over faith – not necessarily between different religions but rather between the totalitarians and pluralists within those religions. Examples of totalitarian groups are Al-Qaeda, the Christian Identity Movement, and Aum Shrinrikyo. Their members are people who, as Hishem Melham said during his Athenaeum speech on terrorism, “believe that they are 100% right and you are 100% wrong.” This mindset exists because of lack of understanding and fear of others and their traditions. Therefore, the best way to fight terrorism and religious totalitarianism is to embrace a more pluralistic society. Unfortunately, the movement towards pluralism and interfaith cooperation can sometimes be stalled by fear of “the other.”

This is not the only incident of a controversy over a proposed mosque or over Islam itself. Other controversies over proposed mosques have gained prominence in Tennessee, New York, Wisconsin, Georgia, Kentucky, California, and Illinois. In Gainesville, FL, a nondenominational church’s plans to hold an “International Burn a Qur’an Day” on September 11 were narrowly thwarted after riots in Pakistan and direct pleas from President Obama and General Petraeus. Muslims have become victims of numerous hate crimes, from a cab driver being stabbed after stating he was

This summer, controversy erupted over the construction of the Cordoba House – now renamed Park 51 – a couple blocks of away from Ground Zero. Costing an estimated $100 million to build, Park 51 is a proposed Islamic community center featuring state-of-the-art facilities including a 500-seat auditorium, swimming pool, gym, basketball court, restaurant, art exhibition, childcare services, 9/11 memorial, and mosque. Those behind Park 51, a group led by the progressive Imam Feisal AbdulRauf, hope to use their project to empower the Muslim community of New York, pursue social justice initiatives, encourage open discussion and dialogue on issues of relevance, and promote greater understanding of Islam via interfaith dialogue. Despite these noble objectives, the construction of this mosque spawned a national controversy. Part of the controversy is understandable given the lingering national anguish over the events of 9/11. Some of the vitriol, however, demonstrates a brand of totalitarianism that is nonviolent but intolerant nonetheless. Fortunately, the protesters who have assembled at the construction site betray the cause of their fury: ignorance. We know this because their signs include slogans like “No Clubhouse for Terrorists,” “Stop the Islamification of America,”

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By Andrew Willis C opy Edit or, C MC ‘ 1 4

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Muslim to a case of arson at a mosque in Tennessee.

Ron Ramsey, a Republican candidate for governor of Tennessee, called Islam a “cult” which does not qualify for First Amendment protection. Tea Party Express chairman Mark Williams called Park 51 a monument to the 9/11 attackers, providing a place “for the worship of the terrorists’ monkey-god.”

These are just a few examples of what appears to be a growing trend of Islamophobia in the United

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Policies and practices that treat MuslimAmericans as part of the problem rather than the solution are born of ignorance.

Fortunately, there are organizations that recognize and combat this problem such as the Interfaith Youth Core, the Cordoba House, the Harvard Plurality Project, and Scriptural Reasoning.

These kinds of organizations encourage people of all faiths to embrace the American tradition of plurality.

Through education, they help not only to prevent the spread of Islamophobia and intolerance but also to diminish the strength of Islamic extremists who use any oppressive or hypocritical action by the West as a recruitment tool. Most of these organizations also emphasize community service initiatives, as most religions encourage combating social injustice and poverty. President Obama recognized the importance of the growing interfaith movement by signing a 2009 executive order to create the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Working together, these groups will not only create a more harmonious future for local communities but will also help young people establish firm religious identities based on mutual respect.

simply does not ex- ist. According to a study by researchers at Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the terrorist threat posed by radicalized Muslim-Americans has been drastically exaggerated. Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf emphatically states that “we [Muslims] condemn terrorists. We recognize it exists in faith but we are committed to eradicate it.” Indeed, the true way to un-

College campuses have been at the center of this new interfaith movement. As of 2009, the aforementioned Interfaith Youth Core has had a presence on over 50 campuses including Stanford University and St. Mary’s College of California. On June 10, the Claremont School of Theology announced that it was going “interfaith” and volumeVIII issue1

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The Claremont Colleges have also embraced interfaith cooperation to some extent. The McAlister Center for Religious Activities has a chapel that is notably interfaith and invites all people to develop their understanding of religion. One of the most recent interfaith events was “The Eid Al-Fitr Celebration,” which the 5C Muslim Student Association and Hillel jointly hosted. Father Joe Fenton of the Office of Chaplains told the Port Side the event was a major success with a great turnout of people from a variety of religious backgrounds. Additionally, the Claremont Colleges feature a variety of Ecumenical organizations like Uprising, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, and Populist Christi.

What the Claremont Colleges lack is a student organization similar to the Harvard Plurality Project, which combines service and inter-religious cooperation. In this respect, Father Fenton acknowledged that there was a place for such an organization that encourages inter-religious dialogue.

It is remarkable to see prejudices disappear once someone takes the time to learn from someone else. To share a personal example, one of my mother’s most vivid childhood memories is of a burning cross placed directly across from a Catholic Church attended by people of Polish descent in Baldwinville, MA. A Protestant faction on the other side of town had put it there. It was a violent and terrifying image, which sent a clear message that the Polish were not welcome. Members of the Polish community, however, were deterred neither by this effigy nor by the local polarization.

They recognized that the American Dream is pluralist. Funny thing about Baldwinville, MA – today, the town enjoys a relative harmony between those of different faiths.

The visions of the totalitarians were swept away once the people grew to know one another as a community with shared core values of compassion and charity. A helpful reminder to those who would seek to divide us in order to score politically expedient points: history favors those who build bridges rather than burn them.

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On his website, Newt Gingrich posted that “America is experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization.”

Gingrich and his supporters perceive a threat to the core American values that

formed teaching partnerships with a Jewish academy and an Islamic center. The school will feature classes in which future imams, rabbis, and pastors will study together and hopefully learn from each other.

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dermine and destroy our civilization would be to reject our traditional core values of tolerance and pluralism. The Muslims of Park 51 are not seeking to establish Sharia law in the United States. Nor do they intend to contribute to Al-Qaeda’s global insurgency. Instead, they wish to combat the extremists and totalitarians within their own faith, something every American can get behind.

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States. If only Islamophobes would read the book they are burning, I believe that a lot of controversies regarding Islam in America would dissipate. A recent Pew survey on religion revealed that only 50% of Americans have ever met a Muslim.

Certainly, we can infer a correlation between this poll and another one which found that 30% of Americans believe Islam is a religion that encourages violence.

ENGINEERING GENDER BALANCE:

By Russell M. Page Inter national Edit or, C MC ‘ 1 3

Strauss’s tenure, female representation had reached 30%.

One of the Claremont Colleges seems to be favoring women, and for once it isn’t Scripps. Unlike typical colleges, whose student bodies are now majority female, science and technology schools like Harvey Mudd tend to treat women like minorities. Mudd’s administration, faculty, students, and alumni were surprised to learn that this year’s freshman class is 52% female, a huge jump from previous numbers. Although the news has prompted understandable skepticism and concern centered around the possible lowering of admissions standards and changing of campus culture, the overall sentiment seems positive; the new gender ratio may be a sign of progress.

Under President Maria Klawe (2006– present), Mudd has continued this commitment. Mudd’s percentage of female professors (35%) is now much higher than that of its peer institutions, which hover around 10-15%. Yet until this year’s breakthrough, Mudd continued to enroll classes of over 30% women; few exceeded 40%. For Klawe, who has made it a focus of her administration to enroll more females and minorities, this year’s freshman class is an achievement.

Mudd encourages its female students to pursue traditionally male-dominated fields. By altering the lesson plans of introductory classes to include more problem solving, application, and group Mudd and its peer institutions have al- work as opposed to just theory, Mudd ways struggled to attract well-qualified has seen fields such as computer science women, who are often underrepresent- and engineering gain popularity among ed in math and science-related fields. its female students. In recent years, many have reUntil the early ceived the 1990s, women rarely constituted This year’s freshman opportunity to attend the over 20% of a class shows that if you prestigious given class. Former President Jon are consistent in changing a cul- Grace Hopper ConferC. Strauss (1997– ture that discourages women from ence, which 2006) sought to celebrates rectify the gender entering our fields, it works. women in imbalance by hir— Maria Klawe, Harvey computing. ing female faculty members and reMudd Collge President While Klawe cruiting female thinks the applicants, even subsidizing their flights to visit cam- influx of women has made the compus once admitted. As an underrep- munity more “warm and engaged,” she resented group, women also received also admits a significant negative reacpreference (along with minorities and tion. When she announced the statislow-income males) in the awarding tics at Alumni Weekend, many alumni of merit scholarships. At the end of were shocked; some worried that their

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school’s character was changing. Some faculty members questioned admissions standards, wondering whether affirmative action had gone too far. Others have accused the school of lowering core academic requirements in order to enroll less qualified students.

Director of Admission Peter Osgood adamantly denies that admissions standards were lowered for female applicants. Women who apply to Mudd are “typically more self-selecting than their male counterparts,” he said, commenting on their higher acceptance rate.

Women also tend to have a much lower yield rate than males because they face better offers from competing schools.

So what accounts for this switch in the gender ratio? Osgood attributes the change to admission policies that have been in place for years. With the help of unique factors, past recruitment and commitment strategies simply worked better this year than he ever thought possible. The reason for the discrepancy between the class of 2014 and previous classes is that more accepted women actually committed.

Osgood thinks that Mudd’s reputation and name recognition may be improving among highly qualified female students, making it more on par with MIT and Caltech. Another factor may be Massachusetts’s Olin College of Engineering’s decision to charge tuition. “Around 10 to 20 women, who in past years may have decided to go there, may have decided instead to attend Mudd,” he said.

The ills of the University of California system may also play a role. While these factors may seem insignificant, gender ratio switches can occur much more eas-

time, women outnumber men in Harvey Mudd’s freshman class at such a late stage or whether parents and elementary school teachers should prevent it from occurring at all. O’Neill says that the rapid gender ratio switch logically brings into question whether Mudd should be trying to focus on “equal opportunity or equal results.”

For female Mudders who have in the past felt like outsiders in a boy’s club, the arrival of more women is mostly viewed positively. Sophomore Kate Crawford thinks that the new gender ratio will “force Mudd men to interact with women and learn how to deal with social situations they will encounter in the outside world.” The more balanced student body will help all Mudders develop “social skills that will in the long run be more important than any technical skills learned in the classroom.” Yet she and many other female Mudd students view the claims of lowered standards as offensive. ily at schools like Mudd, which has a mere 756 students this year.

Given the school’s size, the influx of women has had a large impact. Current students, particularly Proctors (Mudd’s version of Resident Assistants), were charged with addressing gender issues on campus. Through these measures, the administration sought to engage the women in the freshmen class and to assure them that they truly belong at Mudd.

Mudd students’ reactions have been mixed but mostly positive; the prevailing emotions still seem to be shock and confusion. One disappointed sophomore male Mudder, who wished to remain anonymous, wondered, “With all the new women on campus, where are all of the attractive ones?”

Other students were more serious. “I think the sudden shift was definitely questionable,” senior Georgi Dinolov said, “but based on factors [such as Olin and other yield issues], it was probably reasonable.”

While he saw it as “shocking at first,” he now thinks “it makes some sense.”

Freshman Tyler Robinson “has no problem with [the gender ratio].” Knowing nothing different from his class’s makeup, the concept of gender balance seems to be normal.

Regardless of whether or not the gender ratio shift came too quickly or by questionable methods, the overall feeling on campus still seems to be positive. The fact that there were enough qualified female applicants to create the gender ratio shift is a sign of progress. As Klawe said, “This year’s freshman class shows that if you are consistent in changing a culture that discourages women from entering our fields, it works.”

But not everybody is sure that the gender ratio is such a good thing. Sophomore Kevin O’Neill agrees that “the lack of women in math and science is a serious societal problem,” but wonders whether admission officers should fix the problem

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Simulating Mideast Peace

IR class schools students in Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy

By Wendy Qian S t af f Wr it er, C MC ‘ 1 3 Volatile and opaque politics in the Middle East continue to leave onlookers uncertain. With another round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks having begun on Sept. 2, the topic is rife for academic study. Nevertheless, past case studies of Israeli-Arab relations often serve as exceptions to many political theories. Without a consistent theory, teaching the dynamics of the Middle East conflict often requires putting global politics into do-it-yourself action.

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Claremont McKenna Professor Edward Haley has conducted peace talk simulations in his annual seminar “The United States, Israel, and the Arabs” for over 20 years. Students choose their country and work in a group consensus format. As a class, they conduct months of strategic planning, practicing, and researching. They announce public goals and secretly debate private ones.

Haley meets with them regularly, and enjoys working as a facilitator and advisor rather than a judge. “I will evaluate them eventually, but it will be based on goals they set themselves,” he explained, adding that simulating politics helps bring students and text together, rather than traditional lecturing and filling their brains “like pouring water into a vessel.” When students strive for self-devised goals, Haley said, they are “more responsible and work ten times harder.”

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The first steps in the process are researching the topic and planning the conference agenda. According to Haley, the biggest challenge is for students to persuade the others to make concessions or agree with their position. Maintaining cordiality is critical. “Back when Israel was opposed to any settlement, delegations still had to appear reasonable and plausible in front of the Palestinians,” he said.

Since the peace talks involve multiple actors with different level of interests, students can acquire the arts of diplomacy, negotiation, and group dynamics. Haley recalls CMC alum Luke Johnson ‘09, who represented Israel: “During the talks [Johnson’s] face would sometimes flush, but he never raised his voice.” The Palestinian delegations later debriefed that they had a good impression of him, “but you didn’t give us anything!” p a g e 12

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While the simulations are intellectually challenging, students also become personally involved: tempers flare and faces flush during heated negotiations.

“One year, students were so enmeshed [in the simulation] that they stayed in character outside of the talks.

They debated with each other in Collins and their dorms. There was no limit!” Professor Haley recalled. “Of course, the chemistry within each group varies, but all of the members are caught up in the enthusiasm.”

In particular, Haley was very moved by former seminar students who went against their personal loyalties. “Of course, I had staunch American Jews who were extremely passionate when defending the Israeli position, but there were also Israeli students who chose to represent the Palestinians and contributed tremendous amounts of effort in doing so,” he said.

Since the simulations replicate the world, talks are often frustrating and cruel to the Palestinian delegation, which has little political leverage. During the Second Intifada, one Palestinian delegate in Haley’s class exclaimed during debriefings that the Israeli and U.S. representatives “would not even look at us during the talks.”

“We could be either be passive or walk out,” said Pomona senior Michael Levine, a former Palestinian delegate. Yet walking out would result in international scorn and let Palestinians down. “The thought processes and decisionmaking factors at play were very realistic,” he noted. “The very situation I have described here played itself out [recently] when Israel ended its ban on settlement expansion and Palestinians remained in negotiations.”

Haley allots students considerable leeway in devising creative solutions. As a result, some simulated events actually anticipated reality. In 1992, the simulation’s Palestinian delegation eventually offered to denounce terrorism and recognize Israel; a few months later, in real life, the PLO officially recognized Israel.

This semester the simulated peace talks will continue.

On Nov. 13 and 14, a new group of students will participate in another round. But will the students’ outcomes provide hope for the actual delegations?

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Global Warming, a Scapegoat?

With Russia ablaze, easy blame detracts from real causes

Char Miller, Director of the Environmental Analysis Program at Pomona College, thinks the “Russian political leadership was quick to blame climate change for this searing tragedy.” There may be no direct correlation. “Although the ignition sources were meteorological, it is a bit too easy to say that the massive plumes of smoke that obscured Russian skies were a direct result of global warming,” he said.

Irregularities in the weather are often initially blamed on climate change because it has become a household name. Despite its ubiquity, many do not understand that its repercussions are not necessarily extreme and that a temperature rise is a gradual and often fluctuating process.

Although the suspect cannot be necessarily ruled out, a causal relationship can-

Jennifer Perry, Chair of Pomona’s Anthropology Department, discussed the problems with traditional methods. “In the U.S., and California specifically, fire management has been synonymous with fire suppression for about 100 years,” she said. “However, fire suppression runs counter to archaeological and paleo-environmental data. In this case, fire suppression is a 100-year anomaly that isn’t working because, in the end, it results in larger fires.”

Service has had its budget slashed; in a massive reform effort, the nation-state in 2006 pushed responsibility for forest management down to the local level and/or to private corporations.” Perhaps the wildfires will draw more national attention to forestry issues. At the very least, Miller says, it could spur a “more careful evaluation of the interaction between climate change and human behavior. If so, that could be the silver lining in this dark moment.”

Regardless of the cause, Russia must now pay a large sum not only to douse the fires but also to rebuild what was damaged.

Grain production has suffered so much that export bans have been imposed to help the country stabilize. In addition, the deaths and injuries have infused the country with a widespread sense of angst.

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But for outside analysts, Russia’s tragedy may provide hope for political reform.

According to Miller, the “Russian Forest

The global attention paid to Russia’s wildfires can only compel world citizens to be more environmentally conscious. While the absolute and confirmed cause of the fires remains unknown, climate irregularities may loom in the future. This ordeal serves as a reminder for better preparedness. Even if climate change accepts permanent blame, such a title may be proactive in pushing people around the world to properly acknowledge the risks and consequences associated with environmental deterioration.

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Russian President Dmitri Medvedev publicly blamed the tragedy on climate change, urging other nations to better cater to environmental conservation efforts. Such claims led to a general belief that global warming “was responsible” for the fires, and other causes were quickly overlooked in lieu of a familiar scapegoat.

change as an easily acceptable explanation.

Further research into the actual cause of the wildfires has often been disregarded.

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Although Russia is notorious for its extreme climate, it lived up to its reputation in an entirely new way this summer. The end of July beckoned soaring temperatures above 100 degrees Farenheit, exacerbated by an extended drought. Sections of Russia were set ablaze as brushfires sprung up over huge expanses of the country’s southern half. Despite the efforts of over 150,000 firefighters, the fires destroyed not only human lives but also Russia’s landscape and agriculture. Even urban areas were forced to cope with gigantic smog blankets in the skies and risks of radioactive particles reaching the population. Given the widespread effects, many questioned the possible causes.

not be presumed. Lurking variables, like fire management strategies, may factor in.

While Russia’s fire management strategy and firefighting network lacks the press and attention that global warming has received, parallels may exist with the United States.

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By Danielle Holstein Sta f f Writer, Pomona ‘ 1 4

Profiles in Crazy

Five of this election season’s most eccentric candidates

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By Brian Sutter Staf f Writer, C MC ‘ 1 3 This is an article about craziness. “Passion without logic” is not how Ernest Hemingway described it, but I think he would have. Among the candidates for this year’s midterm elections are individuals who have claimed AIDS is a government conspiracy, dressed up like Nazis, and “dabbled in witchcraft.” The field is overrun with crazies this year, but I will attempt to highlight the cream of the crazy crop by sharing the stories of five candidates.

BEN QUAYLE: THE IMMORAL “HISTORIAN”

I can barely find the parking lot.” He may not have a working moral compass, but the least I can hope is that he can spell the word potato – unlike his father.

CARL PALADINO: THE HOMOPHOBIC PORN ADDICT Enter the “Empire State of Mind.” As if a governor who spent over $15,000 on prostitutes wasn’t bad enough, New York has again selected the craziest of the crazy.

Republican gubernatorial nominee Carl Paladino boasts business experience as the owner of a construction and development company. But “business experience” is a flexible term. For Paladino, it means he is accustomed to forwarding e-mails that depict racism, sex, and bestiality to friends and co-workers. The e-mails, released by wnymedia.net, contained pornography, a depiction of President Obama and the First Lady as a pimp and a prostitute, racist de-motivational posters, and a video of a woman having sex with a horse.

“Barack Obama is the worst President in history,” a bold statement by notorious non-historian and Republican nominee for Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District, Ben Quayle. In his provocative ad, the son of former Vice President Dan Quayle slaps U.S. News and World Report in the face (the renowned publicaMy moral compass Paladino’s lattion ranks Richard Nixon as the worst is so broken I can est bout of crazy president). The ad came in the form continues with an- barely find the parking lot. of comments other inflammatory — Ben Quayle, under the alias about homosexuclaim devoid of logality. In a recent Brock Landers (an abusive ic: Quayle compares speech given to drug cartels in Mexiporn star in Boogie Nights) leaders from New co to the “tax cartel” York Orthodox in D.C. But the ultiJewish communimate irony is in Quayle’s declaration that ties, he said, “I just think my children he was “raised right.” and your children will be much better off and much more successful getShortly after Quayle announced his bid, ting married and raising a family; and I Nik Richie, founder of TheDirty.com, don’t want them to be brainwashed into discussed Quayle’s relationship with the thinking that homosexuality is an valid social networking site, which features or successful option. It’s not.” Paladino graphic accounts of drunken, sexual even even attacked his opponent Anescapades and photos of half-naked drew Cuomo for lacking morals: “Anwomen waiting for Richie’s approval as drew’s actions of taking his kids to a to whether he would have sex with them. gay pride parade defines him as a guy Under the alias Brock Landers (an abuwho is kind of out of the box when sive porn star in Boogie Nights), Quayle it comes to family values.” Rebuttal: at posted, “My moral compass is so broken least Cuomo doesn’t have a mistress. p a g e 14

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ALVIN GREENE: THE SLEEPING GIANT Alvin Greene, the Democratic nominee for South Carolina’s open Senate seat, is the ultimate underdog candidate. An unemployed veteran honorably but involuntarily discharged from the military, Greene lives with and takes care of his father. He aspires to create a universal healthcare system, provide free university education, and stop free trade and home foreclosures. That works, but problems arise when his candidacy’s legitimacy comes into question.

First, Greene faces charges of felony obscenity for allegedly showing an 18-yearold college student pornographic images in a computer lab and then allegedly asking if they could go to her room. In an interview with CNN anchor Don Lemon, Greene avoided all related questions by saying “no comment” or “my lawyer is dealing with that.” Lemon even questioned the state of Greene’s mental health: “Two lawmakers from your state have concern that you have a mental impairment. What do you have to say about that?” Greene’s response? “I say that back to them then; they are the knuckleheads.” The rest of the interview continued on in painful agony and frustration as Greene attempted to answer simple questions but could hardly form sentences. Greene may or may not have a mental disorder, but the story of his campaign and his unformulated speech sure qualify him as a little bit crazy.

SHARRON ANGLE: THE CONSPIRACY THEORIST Sharron Angle, Nevada’s Republican U.S. Senate nominee, lacks tact and reasoned logic and has advocated using “Second Amendment remedies” if things do not go the Tea Party’s way at the ballot box.

Another case in point: her comments that “our economy is just being water-boarded here. We are being tortured, and it is all Harry Reid’s fault.” Almost as offensive as Angle’s confusing rhetoric are her actual

Case study #1: mice. In a 2007 episode of The O’Reilly Factor, O’Donnell discussed research in cloning: “American scientific companies are cross-breeding humans and animals and coming up with mice with fully functioning human brains.”

Case study #2: China. The Associated Press reports that during a debate in Delaware’s 2006 Senate primary, O’Donnell said that China had a “carefully thought out and strategic plan to take over America” and that she possessed classified information from Christian missionaries there. Case study #3: masturbation. In an interview on MTV’s “Sex in the 90s” series, O’Donnell said that having lust in your heart is adultery and that you can’t masturbate without lust. Public service announcement: masturbation is now adultery. Finally, on an episode of Bill Maher’s 90s television talk show Politically Incorrect, O’Donnell was presented with the question “What if you were hid-

ing Jewish people in your house during WWII and Hitler asked you if you were?

Would you lie to him?” Her answer? No: “You never have to practice deceit.”

The 2010 midterm election season has proven extremely entertaining and somewhat frightening. Americans are uncharacteristically involved and in tune with an election that typically displays fewer moments of theatrics and grandeur. But let us at least hope that we the people of the United States understand just how crazy these candidates are. Do we really want legislators fighting terrorists in towns that don’t exist or regulating mice with human brains? Or can we accept that our politicians can be boring as long as they are sane? I cast my vote for the latter.

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Her campaign ads are as bad as, if not worse than, her policy standpoints. In an attack ad, Angle says, “Harry Reid voted to use taxpayer dollars to pay for Viagra for convicted child molesters and sex offenders.” Angle argues that because Reid didn’t amend a bill’s erectile dysfunction subsidy provision to exclude convicted sex offenders, he therefore endorses appropriating federal expenditures toward supplying sex offenders with Viagra. This is passion without logic, but the insanity does not stop here. Behold Angle’s claim about Sharia law, or Islamic law, taking root in Dearborn, MI, and Frankford, TX. Believing we are in danger, she suggested that Americans bear arms in response to this “militant terrorist situation.” The mayor of Dearborn responded, “I am deeply distressed that you have been misled about our community and the way that we conduct our affairs. Muslims have been practicing their faith in our community for almost 90 years without incident or conflict.” The mayor of Frankford was unable to comment; the town no longer exists.

Beautifully orchestrated campaign message aside, O’Donnell might be the craziest candidate of all time.

CHRISTINE O’DONNELL: THE PIOUS WITCH

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Christine O’Donnell, the GOP’s choice for Delaware’s Senate seat, is quite possibly a perfect candidate: she is a likable, polite, and pretty working-class girl. In a campaign ad she says, “I am not a witch...

I’m nothing that you’ve heard...

I’m you.”

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policy positions, which include U.S. resignation from the UN, abolishing the Department of Education, phasing out social security, and shutting down the IRS.

Connecting Claremont

Critics say new rail expansion will help rich, hurt poor

By Anna Pickrell S t af f Wr it er, S c r ipps ‘ 1 4

The Gold Line curconnects riders There are over 6,000 rently from East Lost AngeClaremont College students les to Pasadena, runthrough Union who would benefit from the extension ning Station, where it meets of the Gold Line at the expense of Little Tokyo on the east Chinatown on the the poorest residents of Los Angeles. and west. If the extension — Claremont for Transit Justice is finished as planned, the line will continue to Azusa and create new stations in Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, and Irwindale. Instead of terminating in Pasadena as it does now, the line will extend out to Montclair.

The catch? The construction of this line extension means a big cut from the public bus system running in these areas. Since Metrolink and Metro Rail trains do not hit many crucial labor-intensive areas of L.A. County, many full-time workers rely on this bus system for their daily commute. The extension will also require fare increases, despite the $725 million already put aside for the project from the success of Measure R, approved by a two-thirds majority of L.A. County voters in 2008.

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Metrolink, Los Angeles County’s main public rail system, is effective in only one thing: getting downtown in a slow and unventilated manner. Realizing the lack of efficient and adequate transportation to locations other than Union Station, workers broke ground on the extension of the Gold Line Metro Rail in June. The new line is scheduled to open for operation in 2014 – just in time for none of the current 5C students to use it.

Many of the bus riders, who are in jeopardy of losing their daily transportation and even more of their income to fare hikes, are ethnic minorities from lowincome backgrounds. Roughly 75% of riders make less than $20,000 annually, and more than half are women.

Claremont for Transit Justice, an on-campus club founded last spring, has taken a firm stance against this extension. According to the student group, the project’s favoring of surrounding suburban areas while creating setbacks in low-income communities p a g e 16

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constitutes “transit racism.” While Claremont for Transit Justice understands that many of the communities on the Gold Line – most notably Pomona and Montclair – are predominantly Hispanic and low-income, they “believe that the line is not being built to support these populations,” said Co-President Dan Berez, Pitzer ‘13.

In an op-ed published in the Claremont Courier in April, a representative of Claremont for Transit Justice claimed that the company’s desire to “prioritize rail expansion at the cost of bus riders” is just one more cruel action on MTA’s part. According to the piece, “Minority and low income populations will be better served by the increased and improved bus service that should be installed as an alternative to the hugely expensive Gold Line… This bus-only alternative will allow the MTA to continue, and improve bus services that will otherwise be cut around Los Angeles County.”

The difference between this transportation cut and those in the company’s past? Claremont students intend to raise enough hell to stop it this time. Where it hits home the most with Claremont for Transit Justice members is in the fact that all Claremont students, despite financial status, are considered upper-class simply because we reside in a suburban area. “There are over 6,000 Claremont College students who would benefit from the extension of the Gold Line at the expense of the poorest residents of Los Angeles,” the op-ed says. “The MTA sees all of these students as potential riders of the Gold Line. Students, therefore, are in a position to exercise an extraordinary amount of political power at very little personal risk.”

As with all controversies, there is at least one other side to this argument. What about those who depend on the rail for their daily commute and are anticipating the benefits of an extended Gold Line? What about bettering the Los Angeles area in general?

What it comes down to is that we, as students about to receive the upper hand on a project with serious ramifications for some of our closest neighbors, have a chance to refute this “transit racism” before it gets out of hand. We have a stake in this project’s outcome, which may prove a stepping stone for further cuts to the bus system. The poors’ cost may be our benefit – but do we really want a quick train ride to Pasadena on our consciences?

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Game(s) Over

Pitzer Beirut ban shows problems with policy, perspective

In August, the Port Side was the first to report yet another change: Pitzer formally banned all types of drinking games.

When students arrived on campus, most were unaware of the new rule until alerted by peers. The language was among the most drastic so far, expressly forbidding both drinking games and the possession of equipment used for them: “Games that are centered on alcohol, focus on drinking large quantities of alcohol or promote irresponsible drinking are prohibited. Any devices or paraphernalia which aid in these games may be confiscated and will not be returned. These devices include, but are not limited to beer pong or ‘Beirut’ tables and beer bongs or funnels.”

Pitzer students’ reactions to the new rule have been mixed. “I don’t think that anyone has really paid attention to it, and I don’t think the administration really thinks they can enforce it,” sophomore Acacia Hori said. This attitude reflects an important question at the heart of the alcohol debate: why make a rule about alcohol if it cannot be enforced and will not noticeably affect alcohol consumption? Moreover, even if drinking games are the main cause of binge drinking, does the problem lie in policies or students’ mindsets?

“Playing a drinking game is one thing, getting alcohol poisoning is another,” Hori said. “It’s not the game that’s the issue, it’s a matter of self control.” Rather than eradicating binge drinking, policy drives the activity underground. Sure, a few students were hospitalized for binge drinking, and drinking games played a role, but to focus on rules is

to sidestep the real issue: we have a problem within our culture, and we need to admit it.

The first step towards a solution is not hearing a speaker talk about the dangers of binge drinking or discussing policy changes. We need to start by thinking about the expectations and realities in Claremont and at the rest of our nation’s colleges. Consuming alcohol is a personal decision, and like most other personal choices, outside actors can only do so much to influence outcomes. Sweeping changes in mentalities are unlikely, and the only solution to this problem may simply be time. With time, cultures change, values progress, and public opinion shifts.

In the meantime, we can, and should, discuss the issue of alcohol on campus in a variety of ways. These very discussions could be the catalyst for the change we wish to see. Either way, alcohol on campus is here to stay, and you can bet that the drinking games policy will not be the last controversial move administrators make towards the issue.

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The changes are not unprecedented. In fact, Pitzer is the third Claremont College to specifically ban games centered on alcohol, although its policy is by far the most comprehensive. Policies at Pomona and Scripps forbid drinking games but do not mention items used to participate in these games.

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Applicants to the Claremont Colleges are promised an experience that emphasizes social interaction between all the schools.

However, disparities among and drastic changes to the five colleges’ alcohol policies have made drinking a touchy issue.

curb alcohol-related incidents, such as more comprehensive freshman alcohol seminars.

The administration’s goal, he added, is “not to punish, but to rehabilitate.”

Jim Marchant, Pitzer’s Vice President of Student Affairs, gave candid and reasoned insight into the situation. “We had about eight students hospitalized last year for reasons relating to alcohol, and at least four of those involved drinking games,” he told the Port Side. “Three quarters of our students are underage… this is just putting into writing the policy we already had.” (Before the recent revisions, Pitzer’s alcohol policy stated that “excessive” quantities of alcohol were not allowed in student rooms.)

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By Jonathan Rice Con tr ibuting Writer, Pit z er ‘ 1 3

Underwater, But Under-covered Why Pakistan’s political instability deters flood relief

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By Manassinee Moottatarn Contributing Wr it er, C MC ‘ 1 3 An unprecedented torrent of monsoon rain began falling in northern Pakistan in late July, causing the Indus River – Pakistan’s main water artery, which snakes across the entire country – to burst its banks. Floods soon engulfed one-fifth of the country, including Pakistan’s poorest regions. Nuclear facilities escaped the floods, but two million homes, 5,000 km of roads, 200,000 livestock, and 10,000 schools have been completely swept away in their wake. The official death toll is at 1,700 people. The UN estimates that 21 million people have been displaced, with 13.8 million people in 6,300 overcrowded, disease-ridden camps. Aid efforts have been hampered by landslides, broken infrastructure and haphazard weather – some areas are so inaccessible that donkeys can be the only carriers of aid. Fields of Pakistan’s main crops have been destroyed, resulting in high food prices and a food shortage. The World Hunger Organization and the Red Cross anticipate 1.5 million cases of diarrhea and cholera.

Stories emerging from the catastrophe are grim. A jobless father of five who lost everything in the flood set himself on fire in protest of the government’s slow response. In Peshawar, the local Taliban have recently claimed responsibility for bombing a girls’ school. The handicapped, the elderly, and minority groups such as the Ahmaddiya – followers of a minority sect of Islam – have been cruelly turned away at camps due to a shortage of aid. Millions of landless and homeless peasants crowd around the outskirts of cities seeking food and shelter, drinking from dirty pools of standing water.

International relief efforts started off lukewarm but have improved recently, totaling $640 million through the UN and $866 million outside it. But Secretary of State p a g e 18

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Hillary Clinton’s poetic pledge of U.S. aid – “We will be with you as rivers rise and fall; we will be with you as you re-plant your fields and repair your roads” – rings hollow against the reality of the Western public response, where public fundraising by charities in the U.S. and Europe is the lowest for any natural disaster in recent memory.

The recession has been cited as one of the reasons behind donor reluctance, as well as Islamophobia and the perception that the region is a war zone where humanitarian crises can be overlooked. “I think it was easier for Americans to view Haitians or Chileans as innocent victims who need our help,” Claremont McKenna sophomore Sumaiya Hashmi said. “If Pakistanis are being type-cast as terrorists, Americans are clearly going to be reluctant to give aid.”

A lack of media coverage reflects this reluctance to donate. There is no sign of any high profile celebrity involvement, nor are there big-name media reporters in the region. George Clooney organized a muchpublicized celebrity telethon for Haiti’s earthquake victims earlier this year, raising $58 million in the U.S. alone. But where are the Justin Biebers singing for Pakistan?

“When it’s Pakistan’s turn, the world closes its ears and turns away,” said Daniyal Shahid, a Pakistani sophomore at CMC and President of the 5C Muslim Students Club.

“It surprises me that people try and shrug it off like it’s not that big of a deal.”

Pakistan’s economy simply cannot deal with the floods. On the verge of bankruptcy and currently dependent on a longterm loan from the IMF of $11.3 billion, the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will find total flood damages of $43 billion a heavy burden. Partly to blame for the government’s empty coffers are years of low tax revenue; at only 10%, Pakistan’s ratio of taxes to GDP is among the world’s lowest. Economic growth has slowed to a trickle from an average of 7% in the mid2000s to 4.4% in 2009. Many of Punjab’s famed textiles factories have been de-

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stroyed. Emigration abroad, already widespread, is looking increasingly attractive.

Tempers are rising over the PPP’s sluggish relief efforts. Their popularity has

With the army’s attention diverted to flood relief, separatist and Taliban groups have sprung to life. Destitute flooded areas are fertile soil for fresh and angry Taliban recruits, and the idea that the disaster is a sign of God’s wrath against the PPP will spread easily. In KP, Jama’at-ud-Da’wah (a terrorist militant group) and Al-Rasheed trust (an organization under UN sanctions for its links to Al-Qaeda) were the first to provide aid to the flood victims. A Taliban spokesperson reputedly told the Pakistani government to reject aid from Western “Christian and Jewish” countries.

However, it is unlikely that Islamist parties will draw enough support for a state takeover. The militants are divided, their funding low and number of followers negligible. But the danger is that the two largest parties in Pakistan – the ANP and the PPP – are so incompetent that Islamist parties might start to look appealing to the disillusioned populace.

The catastrophe presents an opportunity for the U.S. to improve its sullied image in South Asia. The U.S. is currently the leading donor nation, allotting $340 million dollars in disaster relief, with a significant amount coming from the PakistaniAmerican Diaspora community. Close behind its heels, Iran is ranked the third largest donor nation in terms of delivered aid. A message on an Islamist website purportedly from Osama Bin Laden called on Islamic nations to increase the volume of aid to Pakistan, urging the Gulf States, Malaysia, and Turkey in particular to step up their efforts. But the fact that the U.S. remains the top aid donor sends a powerful message of where U.S. interests lie.

A chaotic country already torn apart by ethnic, regional and religious divides, maybe the floods are exactly what Pakistan needs: a clean sweep. As of now, some semblance of order needs to be restored and the trust of the people regained, while in the long term, Pakistani leaders should try to boost the country’s ailing economy and reform its democratic system if they want it to get back on its feet.

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The transparency of PPP aid has also come under fire. The Awami National Party (ANP) of the KP district is widely

Meanwhile, former President Pervez Musharraf, currently in self-imposed exile, plans a dramatic comeback to Pakistani politics.

He is currently riding the wave of discontent with the PPP, claiming the Pakistani people are “clamoring” for his return. Many benefited economically during his tenure, with the proportion of Pakistanis living below poverty falling from 34.5% to 7%.

Nonetheless, with fresh memories of his undemocratic actions – including rewriting the constitution to keep himself in power, gutting the Pakistani judicial courts and gridlocking Parliament – his rivals at home will surely not allow him easy victory. Moreover, with the military firmly in power, current prospects for furthering democracy in Paki-

stan seem bleak. Having rescued thousands of stranded people, dispensed government aid, and guarded homes against looters, the military has surged in popularity.

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Plagued by incompetence and paralysis, Zardari’s PPP has not taken this opportunity to improve its image in this highly unequal country. Opposition parties are planning to pass a vote of no confidence in the PPP soon. One self-exiled political leader, Altaf Hussain of the Mohajir Quami Movement, thinks the “time is rife for revolution,” calling on peasants to overthrow the traditional feudal system that has kept Pakistani aristocrats at the top of the social, economic, and political ladder.

perceived as corrupt and has little control over its own territory. This lack of trust between federal and central governments is so strong that the Punjab government has proposed the plan of outsourcing all relief efforts to the private sector. Shahid offers a suggestion. “I think people need to send actual goods as opposed to money,” he said. “You never know what will happen with the money, whereas with actual goods you know exactly how you’re helping.”

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plummeted in flood affected areas, which happen to be the most impoverished and least literate areas of the country. Ironically, Central Punjab, the richest region, escaped the disaster but raised a mere $12 million in flood relief. President Asif Ali Zardari came under fire for abandoning his country and visiting leaders in Europe during the floods, with one protester throwing a shoe at him in England. In Sindh, PPP ministers have been accused of directing flood waters off their own lands and into densely populated areas.

Roofies and Rumors

If it wasn’t for date rape, would Stags ever get laid? the plank

By Samantha Morse Sta f f Writer, Pitz er ‘ 1 4 Claremont College stereotypes are often expressed by a well-known roofie analogy: “Harvey Mudd makes the roofies and sells them to Pomona, who markets them to CMC, who buys and uses them on Scripps girls, while Pitzer uses the drugs for recreational purposes.”

Though many groups at the 5Cs joke about their own reputations, none is as harshly slurred as that of the CMC male – the notorious “creeper” of the colleges, the most likely to hit on and date rape girls. Surprisingly, rather than developing throughout a semester or year, this stereotype appears to take hold during a new student’s first days.

When first-year Scripps student Alden Weaver arrived on campus, “everyone said to be cautious of CMC guys, because they have a bad reputation.” Pitzer freshman Elisa Claire knew even before. “Of course I came here with a stereotype of CMC guys,” Claire said.

“I thought they were creepy douchebags.”

Given the hype about the “creepy” Stags, there should be some evidence. Security reports, however, are far from enlightening.

CMC constitutes less than one-fifth of the 15 date rape cases reported recently in the Consortium. According to 2007–2009 crime reports published by Claremont College officials, CMC’s campus had only four cases of forcible sexual assault. Although six were reported on Pomona’s campus, the reputation of Sagehen men has not been affected.

Campus safety officers support these findings. Shahram Ariane, Director of Campus Security, told the Port Side, “I must say that I have never heard this [stereotype] about the page 20

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CMC male students in the five months that I have served with the Claremont Colleges.”

Ariane also stated that officials with a longer history at the 5Cs were similarly unaware, and that “we have been unable to find data that would support these allegations.”

Still, the rumors must have an origin. When asked about the presence of date rape drugs, a CMC junior, who requested to remain anonymous, explained, “No, we don’t have date rape drugs here… unless you call alcohol a date rape drug.”

In fact, at the 5Cs it seems that the overconsumption of alcohol toward a sexual end is considered synonymous to date rape. Pitzer’s alcohol awareness program, a mandatory two-hour program during orientation week, establishes a baseline: if a woman is intoxicated, even if she gives consent, the sex is still not consensual because the alcohol has impaired her judgment.

With this in mind, the predominance of alcohol on CMC’s wet campus must contribute to the stereotype. “CMC is constantly littered with red cups, and you can virtually see students, namely guys, getting drunk every night of the week,” Pomona sophomore Megan Johnson said. “I guess we just

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tend to associate alcohol with promiscuity.”

Though date rape is not occurring with the frequency that the stereotype suggests, CMC males’ forwardness is an issue. “It’s just the kind of people that come here,” said CMC sophomore Alexander Chanick, who laughed when asked about date rape “myth.” “We have the econ[omics] and government guys, and they tend to be alpha males.”

There is no factual evidence to support the myth that date rape by CMC males is a common crime. Though CMC males may pursue the opposite sex with more audacity than males at the other schools, this trait has been exaggerated and blown out of proportion to create the current stereotype.

Claire sums up the allegations: “When I first came here, all I saw were CMC guys playing a lot of beer pong. Of course that is going to give them a bad reputation! But I have CMC guys in my classes, and have gotten to know them, and am friends with them. I’m sure there are creepy guys at all the schools, and CMC guys just get the most negative attention, which is a shame.”