The Scarlet - 02/12/2015

the tilton piano • jon stewart• mock trial • and more

volume xciv, no. 14 • february 12, 2015 | clarkscarlet.com |

With a leap and a bound, LEEP travels to Hampshire College

the.clark.scarlet

Trustees Decide on Tuition, Expansion of CAVE, Timeline for New Building

By Jeremy Levine editor-in-chief

courtesy of clarku.edu

By Alex Grayson opinions editor

As of Thursday, LEEP no longer stands alone in the United States or in the Commonwealth. In what is being hailed as coincidence, Hampshire College, situated just 52 miles from Clark in Amherst, Mass., launched its own LEEP program.

Hampshire’s LEEP acronym breaks down into “Leadership and

Ethical Engagement Project.”

Elaine Thomas, Director of Communications at Hampshire, told The Scarlet in an e-mail that its LEEP program is “much different” than Clark’s. Thomas clarified, saying that “Hampshire’s project focuses on ethical engagement and Clark’s program focuses on Liberal Education and Effective Practice.”

Michelle Bata, Associate Dean and Director of Clark’s LEEP Center, took no issue with Hampshire’s new

LEEP program.

Bata said, “I don’t know how problematic it will be because there are so many LEEP acronyms out there. As a matter of fact Clark University’s version of LEEP is an individualized version of the Association of American Colleges & Universities Liberal Education and America’s Promise model.” continued on page 4

The Clark University Board of Trustees held their second of three annual meetings last weekend, at which they decided on tuition for next year, expansion of Clark Anti-Violence Education (CAVE), a timeline for the Alumni and Student Engagement Center, among other long-term processes. The Board of Trustees is comprised of several committees, each of which focuses on a different component of the Board’s mission.

Finance Committee Questions of revenue dominated the finance committee’s discussion this weekend. According to President Angel, the trustees decided on a 3% increase in tuition for

next year to approximately $42,592.

The committee also decided to keep aiming for 580 new first-years per class, keeping the size of the student body roughly the same. “There’s a rumor about out about [expanding the undergraduate program],” President Angel said. “We think we’re about the right size.”

President Angel added that “there is an interest in growing graduate enrollment at Clark,” and starting next year, the graduate school will aim to offer six to eight online courses. Currently, the graduate school offers online courses “on an ad hoc basis.” Angel said that the decision to create online classes is “largely about convenience,” as many graduate students are working adults. There is no plan to offer full degrees online. continued on page 4

The Scarlet

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The Scarlet THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF CLARK UNIVERSITY

UPCOMING EVENTS

CONTACT scarlet@clarku.edu | clarkscarlet.com

[ Thursday, February 12 ]

EDITORS Editor-in-Chief: Jeremy Levine Executive Editor: Ethan Giles Layout Editor: Christian Rentsman Web Editor: Pooja Patel News Editor: Jenna Lewis Opinions Editor: Alex Grayson Living Arts Editor: Matt Emmer Sports Editor: Scott Levine Photo Editor: Celine Manneville Managing Editor: Madhubanti Anashua

Snow Painting - 12:30 p.m. in Red Square

CORRESPONDENTS News Correspondent: Kate Summers Opinions Correspondent: Molly Powers Sports Correspondent: Kate Conquest SCARLET STAFF Senegal Carty Savannah Cohen Ronald Gerber Beatrice Misher Jonah Naghi Dalton Phillips Ted Randich Allie Richards Hannah Rosenblum Tyler Terriault Nikolas Wagner PHOTO STAFF Jonathan Edelman Emily Valante Soraya Madlala Krithi Vachaspati Illustrations: Santiago Jose Herdozia Ponce LAYOUT AND WEB STAFF Molly Caisse Erin McKeon Karina Ramchandani Jenny Rubin

WANT TO BE PART OF

The Scarlet?

The Scarlet is looking for writers, copy-editors, photographers, graphic designers, cartoonists, and web designers.

No previous experience necessary!

EMAIL SCARLET@CLARKU.EDU

february 12, 2015

Women’s Basketball vs. Pine Manor - 7:00 p.m.

Kink 101: The Real Fifty Shades - 8:00 p.m. in Jefferson 218

[ Friday, February 13 ] DIY Friday: Homemade Valentines - 2:00 p.m. at the Community Thrift Store The Vagina Monologues - 7:00 p.m. in Atwood Hall PEC: Unlucky in Love - 9:00 p.m. in the Grind The Peapod Squad Presents: Build-A-Babe Workshop - 10:00 p.m. in Jefferson 320

[ Saturday, February 14 ] Men’s Basketball vs. Babson College - 1:00 p.m Masquerade Ball - 5:00 p.m. in The Grind The Vagina Monologues - 7:00 p.m. in Atwood Hall The Peapod Squad Presents: Build-A-Babe Workshop - 10:00 p.m. in Jefferson 320

[ Monday, February 16 ] Kasim Hafeez: One Man’s Journey to Understanding - 7:30 p.m. in Lurie Conference Room

[ Tuesday, February 17 ] Pre-Health Society: Pot-Luck Brinner - 7:30 p.m. in Lurie Conference Room

The Scarlet

february 12, 2015

news | 3

The Scarlet/News Lost Beneath the Keys

New Challenge for Mock Trial

Student Loses Phone in Tilton Piano

Team Moves onto Nationals

By Jeremy Levine editor-in-chief

Clark University’s Mock Trial “ATeam” is moving on to the national tournament, which will be held in Washington, D.C. and hosted by the University of Virginia on March 14-15.

Clark earned its bid during the regional Intercollegiate Mock Trial Tournament held on Jan. 31 – Feb. 2 at St. Anselm’s College in Manchester, N.H. The A-Team is made up of mock trial veterans and has been practicing

since September. The B-Team consists of members of this semester’s section of LAS 038, Trial Advocacy, currently taught by a practicing attorney and trial lawyer, Steven C. Kennedy (‘88).

Clark split its round with Fitchburg State, beat and tied (as rounds are scored on multiple ballots) with Amherst College, and beat both Williams College and the College of St. Rose.

A-Team members Katharine Courville (‘16) and McKenna Hunter (‘17) won Best Witness Awards, as did B-Team member Carlotta Kane (‘18).

photo by celine manneville

By Liam Kelly Fleming contributing writer

Tilton Hall is home to many a Clark event: open houses, esteemed guest lecturers, and a phone-eating piano. The piano in question is an aged Steinway & Sons grand piano tucked away to the right of Tilton’s main stage.

This past weekend the piano devoured a phone. Nick Kisrchner (‘18) was playing the piano when his phone, which he uses to look up songs, slipped behind the keys.

Alex Wall (‘16), who works at the Information Desk, was the first responder this past Sunday night.

“Someone came down and said that he thought he was hearing a

phone ring while he played the piano,” Wall reported.

Wall promptly informed Jenn Parissi-Forti, who manages activities in the University Center out of the Student Life and Programming office.

“This a first; I have never heard of someone losing their phone inside the piano in Tilton.” said Parissi-Forti.

After it was reported to her, she contacted a piano tuner, who was scheduled to come on February 19th,and let him know about the phone-in-piano situation.

On Monday evening Kirschner returned to attempt to retrieve his phone. “I knew once it dropped down and it slipped behind the keys, that there was no way to get it out myself and that I needed [Physical Plant] to retrieve it by taking the front of the

piano off,” he said.

According to Kirschner, Jennifer Gleim (‘18), had the same problem last semester when her phone was also swallowed up by the piano.

Kasey Poulin, who was working at the desk on Monday night, said that she and a custodian from Physical Plant attempted to retrieve the phone. “We were trying to find a way to open up the front, but everything was bolted down so tight, we didn’t want to hurt the old thing,” she said.

The Steinway & Sons grand piano has been in Tilton since the 1990s, according to Parrisi-Forti. A quick search shows that used pianos from the eminent brand run between $30,000-$60,000.

photo courtesy of valerie johnson

Clark University Mock Trial A and B Team Top row from Left to Right. Carlotta Kane (‘18), Sarah Maloney (‘17), Matt Sullivan (‘17), Josh Dell (‘15), Michael Spanos (‘17), Valerie Johnson (‘15), Katie Courville (‘16), Seth Katzman (‘15), Emily Art (‘17), Courtney Thomas (‘17), Alex Grayson (‘18), Advisor Steven Kennedy Bottom row from Left to Right: McKenna Hunter (‘17), Anne-Claire MerkleScotland (‘17), Simran Totwani (‘18)

The Scarlet

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The Work of Play Professor Gray Delivers First Lecture in New Higgins Symposium

By Senegal Carty scarlet staff

After last week’s snow-clogged roads caused the unfortunate cancellation of what was meant to be its opening lecture, this semester’s Higgins Symposium, The Work of Play finally got underway this Tuesday.

In a talk entitled Real Play: Promoting Children’s Intellectual, Social, and Emotional Development, Professor Peter Gray of Boston College addressed the burgeoning problem of childhoods deficient in the real play experiences that are so natural and indispensable to humans.

With a generous dash of humor that only accentuated how concerning and intriguing the issue is, Professor Gray pointed out that too many children and young adults in the U.S. are failing to develop basic skills such as negotiation and selfcontrol through play. Instead of freely exploring their capabilities, they are forced to focus on overlydemanding academic lives and extracurricular activities. Overprotective parents make it hard for them to develop the sense of self-agency required for true play.

Growing suicide rates among children under fifteen, the appearance of clinical depression and anxiety disorders in an increasing number of young Americans, and the dwindling creative expression in children and teens at all grade levels is closely connected to limited opportunities to truly play. Games that are freely initiated and self-directed are how children practice dealing with problems.

In environments where children can make their own rules, they build creativity, learn how to treat others, and take risks in stress-free situations. According to Professor Gray, “the role of adults in children’s education is to get out of their way.”

This can seem impossible to parents who are encouraged to

groom their children into the best and brightest by keeping them on tight schedules and under close watch. As Professor Gray puts it, children are now being taught “that their own activities are a waste of time...We have stretched the environment… so that our children can no longer adapt to it.”

Professor Gray went on to give anecdotes about college students who would seek professional help for something as trivial as being called a name. He also talked about the Sudbury school district, where kids at all grade levels aren’t given tests or strict class schedules. They are encouraged to spend their time learning what they feel they should.

Graduates of these schools go on to do well in both college and professional life, because they retain the natural curiosity that more mainstream schooling often suffocates.

When left to their own devices, Professor Gray explained, children will challenge themselves, protect those younger than them, teach one another and learn to look after their own emotional health. As hard as they may try, parents and teachers can’t give the lessons children that get through true play.

After his lecture, Professor Gray responded to several questions from audience members concerned with bringing real play culture back to their communities. He stated that the disappearance of play in a neighborhood can be easily rectified if people notice how big of a problem it has become.

Professor Gray also reminded the audience that the importance of play extends far beyond early development. Next week, Professor Nina Huntemann of Suffolk University will speak on how play theory relates to feminism. Videogaming and gender issues, including the infamous #GamerGate, will be addressed in her presentation Playing Like a Girl: Tales of a Feminist Gamer.

LEEP Cont. continued from page 1

Bata added, with a smile, “Imitation is the highest form of flattery.”

On November 2, 2010 the acronym “LEEP” was federally registered as a service mark by Clark’s Board of Trustees. A service mark identifies and distinguishes an institutions services and is given the same protection as a trademark. The law of unfair competition forbids institutions from instigating brand confusion by using similar service marks.

Since both Clark’s and Hampshire’s LEEP acronyms are used in the same market of higher education, actual brand confusion does not need to be established to pursue a claim of trademark infringement.

Legally culpable or not, it seems as if there is room for two LEEP programs in Massachusetts.

Paula David, Clark’s Vice President of Marketing and Commu-

Trustees Cont. continued from page 1

Student Affairs According to President Angel, the trustees prioritized “very substantially [expanding] the scope of training that we have around sexual misconduct issues from consent to sexual harassment, but moving towards requiring this training more comprehensively for all members of our community,” including graduate students, faculty, and staff. Much of CAVE’s funding came from federal grants which are running out, and so Clark has to allocate internal funds to move toward this comprehensive training and implementing “a more robust staffing model.”

february 12, 2015

nications, told The Scarlet in an e-mail that Clark “determined that [Hampshire’s LEEP] is not being put forward as a prominent aspect of their education model, and it does not specifically reference “effective practice.”

In slight contrast, Hampshire President Jonathan Lash said in a press release that, “[LEEP] will support the development of the skills, confidence, and practical experience to become effective changemakers.” The same press release cited the development of new academic LEEP-focused courses and confirmed that “[LEEP] will provide a model for integrating a deliberate focus on ethics within the academics and culture of an educational institution.”

David concluded, “Clark is not pursuing any [legal] action on this matter at this time.”

Thomas, of Hampshire, told The Scarlet in an e-mail that “Hampshire [was not] aware that Clark was asserting trademark rights to that acronym for a much different program at Clark.”

Thomas added, “Although Hampshire does not think that

there is any likelihood of confusion, Hampshire will consider no longer using the LEEP acronym to describe its ethical engagement program and will consider an alternative title.”

A quick “LEEP” search on Hampshire’s website offers some depth into the brand new program: “With a distinctive focus on contributing to the common good, LEEP will provide academic, research and internship opportunities to our students who want to apply critical thinking skills to both problems and values; who want to identify and understand core ethical beliefs that guide their own as well as institutional actions and the consequences of those actions; and who wish to develop a set of skills that gives them the confidence and practical experience to bring about positive change in the world.”

With Hampshire’s official launch of LEEP on Wednesday, floor decals and flags may soon be plastering the ground and flying high on two Massachusetts campuses. As Bata said, “I suppose there is a potential for confusion, but the reality is there are a lot of LEEP-y things.”

Environment

Worcester” for those coming up Main Street and heading toward downtown.

Site-clearing for the Alumni and Student Engagement Center is slated to begin February 23, with construction beginning in May. President Angel described the building as a “literally accessible one-stop shop,” as accessibility for members of the Clark community with limited mobility has “been a real vulnerability for Clark.”

The ground floor of the building will include the bookstore and a “modest coffee bar,” the second floor will be home to many of the offices currently found in Dana Commons as well as seminar rooms and conference rooms, and the third and fourth floor will mostly be relocated versions of the offices on Woodland Street, like the Registrar and Financial Aid. Jack Foley described the building as a “major anchor for the neighborhood,” which will “create a gateway to

LEEP The conference contained a session for only trustees and upper-level administration to discuss assessment of LEEP’s effectiveness.

The Board reached the conclusion that LEEP’s efficiency won’t be measured for several more years.

“The proof in the pudding will be how well our graduates do,” said President Angel. As such, the goal of this session was to determine ways to gauge LEEP’s effectiveness until the Board can obtain reliable data from graduates who experienced LEEP. This dashboard system will rely on approximately twenty criteria, such as how individual faculty are implementing LEEP in their classes, to determine the initiative’s effectiveness.

The Scarlet

february 12, 2015

CUSC Election Preview

By Kate Summers news correspondent

Presidential candidates Amy Fallon (‘17) is an International Development and Social Change, and Cultural Studies major with minors in Geography and Communications. She plays on the Varsity Tennis Team and is a Resident Advisor in JSC. She is currently the International Student Representative and Vice Chair of the Student Life Committee, and Fallon says she is running for president because she “genuinely wants to help other people out.” When she first came to Clark, Fallon did not feel like anyone was there for her, and she now wants to fill that role for other students. If elected, she would like to work on communication between Clarkies, the administration, Student Council, and the LEEP Center.

In addition, she wants to work on school spirit, allow students who live far away to come back to campus early, and help club sports become varsity teams. “A vote for me is a vote for everyone,” said Fallon.

Kevin Kim (‘16) is a Political Science major. He is the Blackstone Hall Representative, and has been on Student Council since his first year. He is a member of the Model UN team, Christian/Clarkie Fellowship, and the Asian Culture Society. Kim wants to work on Student Council emphasizing the needs of students to the administration, and said “I want to bring attention to those who are silenced or perhaps afraid to speak.” If he were elected, he would make sure all documents regarding financial transactions and procedures are made public.

Kim wants to establish a president listserve, so he can have direct contact with the student body instead of going through SLP. He believes that Student Council’s role is to enhance and enrich the lives of students.

Dale Watt (‘17) is a Geography and Physics major. He is an Escort driver, a member of the Clark Geography Association, and is the Clerk for the Worcester Student Government Association. He is currently the Financial Committee Chair and Minority Representative. If elected he wants to establish a new club fund, as it currently takes two semesters for clubs to be recognized

by Student Council. With this new fund, clubs will be able to “go and get a budget immediately, [and] putting on events...I don’t think Clark makes it very easy for clubs to get started and I think that’s a shame,” said Watt. In addition he wants to get rid of the February and November audits, because he does not think they are beneficial and would like to replace them with “something that actually works.” In addition, he wants to the Council to take more advantage of their roles as representatives. “We need to take our responsibility to represent the students...to the administration more seriously,” he said.

news | 5

CUSC in Brief

By Molly Caisse layout staff

At the meeting of the 104th Session of the Clark Undergraduate Student Council, the Grants Committee heard appeal requests from eight groups and organizations including EMS, participants of the Harvard Social Enterprise Conference, members of Clark Yoga, the Clark University Geography Association, students attending CEV’s Alternative Spring Break trip, and members of The Jazz Workshop and Clark’s Mock Trial Team. All were allocated a portion of funds.

President Brittany Klug (’16) announced the launch of a survey that will aid the process of renaming Academic Spree Day and Fall Fest.

On Monday the 16th and Tuesday the 17th, elections will be held for the appointments of the members of the 2015 – 16 Executive Board of CUSC. Grants: $280 EMS – Collegiate EMS Foundation 2015 Conference $180 Harvard Social Enterprise Conference $730 Clark Yoga – Equipment and Workshops $420 Clark University Geography Association – Association of American Geographers Conference $2250 Community Engagement and Volunteering – Alternative Spring Break trip $1850 Mock Trial team – Opening Round Championship Series $130 Jessica MacBrough – College of Democrats of American Winter Summit $299 Clark University Jazz Workshop – Geller Jazz Series and a printer

Vice Presidential candidate Anayeli Nieves (‘17) is a Political Science major. She is Vice President of Democrats of Clark and a Resident Advisor in Dodd. Nieves currently serves as the Minority Representative and Vice Chair of the Finance Committee. In the future, she would like to run for president and she believes that being vice president would serve as good preparation for that role. Her goal is to help the Clark community get to know their representatives, so that Student Council can be more effective in helping their constituents. Nieves said that she is someone who takes on responsibility and enjoys administrative work.

Treasurer Wandong Yang (‘16) is a Political Science major, with a minor in Communications. She works for ITS, is the secretary of the Clark Entre-

preneurship Club, is the publicist for Asian Cultural Society, and is working to organize April’s TEDx conference.

Yang is the CUSC Junior Representative and Grants Committee chair. As chair, she has worked with individual students and clubs without a budget and has helped them to both submit and receive their reimbursements.

While on Grants Committee she has seen how passionate people are about their clubs and how they work to make the best of their Clark experience. As Treasurer she would like to sit down with clubs and help them structure and plan their budgets.

Secretary Candidates Kassie Benzing (‘18) is a Psychology major and Education minor. She

is the president of the Red Cross club, a contributing writer for The Scarlet, a member of Relay for Life, and on the First-Year Transfer (FYT) Board.

She is a Wright Hall Representative & member of Student Life Committee.

Her mission is to “Bridge the Clarkie/ Cougar divide,” or to bring athletes and non-athletes together on campus. On the non-athlete side Benzing believes that students are “scared” to join athletics. However, she believes that sports should be used for students to have fun, saying,“be the best you can, even if you suck.” She also believes that she is connected to many people on campus, and that would benefit her constituents. “I have been in communication with a lot of people and have a lot of connections that not everyone has,” she said.

Alicija Gancarz (‘17) is a Resident Advisor in Dodd, and Treasurer of Clark Democrats. She is currently Dodd Hall Representative and is working to get more laundry machines and light in her hall. She would like to improve communication between the administration and students on campus. She believes that through her involvement on campus she has the experience necessary to be Secretary. Last year she was secretary for Dodd Hall council and has taken on other leadership roles on campus.

She describes herself as timely, efficient, a good listener, a good note taker, and organized. Gancarz also wants to make Clark more inclusive and less cliquey. “I want to make it a better place,” she said.

The Scarlet

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CLARKIE of the WEEK

photo by celine manneville

Matt Malsky Scarlet: How long have you been at Clark?

Matt: I started teaching here in 1994. Faculty have slightly different metrics for when things start, so I had a little bit of an unusual introduction. When I was first here I was a parttime instructor, so the first year I wasn’t fully on the faculty but I taught [a few classes] part time. And then the next year I had a visiting appointment for two years and then I was hired on a tenure track. So I have three anniversaries. ’94 is when I start teaching, ’97 is when I became a tenure track faculty member.

Scarlet: And that’s how you were promoted to professor? With the [visiting appointment]?

Matt: So the clock starts in 1997 and then I was tenured in 2003, and I was promoted to full professor in 2011, and I was the Jeppson Professor of Music, which is an endowed chair for a three-year term that ended last year.

Scarlet: What motivated you to apply for the position of Associate Provost and Dean of the College?

Matt: It’s motivated by a couple of things, some personal, some professional. So I’ll start with the professional side of it. Well, I think that what Clark is doing with the LEEP initiative is vitally important not only to Clark but a great example of where colleges should be going and it’s something that I’ve been involved in since its inception at Clark.

And I think that as a senior member of the faculty, it’s my responsibility to do what I can. I think I’m in a position to help a lot and I think I can, so that’s really the principle motivation: that I think Clark is at a critical moment where we’ve laid our cards on the table and we’re committed to doing something really unique and ambitious and I think that it’s going to require a lot of careful planning and thought by the faculty and I’m looking forward to working with faculty as a committed member of the faculty to make LEEP into everything that it can be.

Scarlet: What does the position entail?

Matt: The Dean of the College is the person who, at least titularly, is in charge of overseeing undergraduate education at Clark. So the Provost is the person who oversees all academic affairs. And then there’s a layer of Deans that are responsible for different areas. So there’s a Dean of Graduate Education, and there’s a Dean of Research, and then the Dean of the College is responsible for overseeing everything that happens with undergraduates. That said, Clark has an unusual kind of organization in that there’s a great deal of cooperation among all the administrators and that’s where the term, the title of “Associate Provost,” comes from, that all the Deans work in close coordination with the Provost overseeing all areas of administration at Clark. There’s really a sense that there’s a team overlooking everything that’s important, and sharing responsibilities and duties, but the Dean of the College concentrates mostly on the undergraduate experience.

Scarlet: Now as Dean of the College, will you still be able to teach classes or will it become more of a full-time job?

Matt: Well it’s a full-time job. It’s a job that goes 12 months of the year, and at least initially I won’t be teaching. So I’d say if I had any regrets or hesitations, the biggest one is that at the moment when I’m going to take a step back and think about undergraduate education most broadly, I run the risk of becoming disconnected and I’m gonna miss having connections with students on a day-to-day basis, and that’s something I’m concerned to try to build into the position for myself. Every Dean has to do that in their own way so I’m thinking about that already.

Scarlet: What will you bring to this job from what you learned in the Visual and Performing Arts (V&PA) Department?

Matt: What will I bring? I think one thing that happens very effectively in V&PA is that the boundaries for students’ educational experience between what happens in [the] classroom and what happens on campus but not in the classrooms is most broadly defined, that those boundaries are most fluid. So students in V&PA, like everywhere, take classes, but to be a Visual and Performing Arts student, being an artist, or being someone who studies the arts, you live that.

So you do more than your homework, you’re constantly involved in working on your own projects and collaborations with other students, going to events, hearing speakers, going out into Worcester and beyond, and thinking as an artist. And I think there’s a kind of wonderful integration between what happens in the classroom and life as an artist that is a profitable model that can happen in lots of places [and] is happening across the university but is really integral to V&PA. So I think I want to take my experience with how students become artists and think globally with me, as I become Dean.

Scarlet: So how did you become an artist?

What led you down the track?

Matt: How did I become an artist? There was actually a fork in the road. When I was really young I didn’t want to become a musician, I

february 12, 2015

by Celine Manneville

wanted to be a dancer. When I was about nine years old I saw a picture of a Russian dancer who had defected to the United States. His name was Edward Villella, and he was on the cover of Time Magazine.

And he was caught leaping in full motion and I was nine years old and I said, “That’s what I want to be when I grow up.” I started taking dance lessons and eventually took classes with the Boston Ballet and performed with the Boston Ballet and reached a point where... I was encouraged to become professional, in high school. And at that point I was also playing a lot of music and I was pulled in two different directions and I decided to pursue music, and went to an undergraduate college where I was a music major.

It wasn’t until college that I really focused on composition as the area within music that I wanted to pursue. And I went from college to graduate school and essentially apprenticed with an older composer. And the rest is history.

Scarlet: Do you have any current projects?

I know you’re a composer, what are you working on now?

Matt: There are three areas that my work is taking currently. One area of my own creative energy and teaching interest is to work with live instruments in conjunction with electronics. So I work with computer software in performance to supplement live instruments with electronic sounds and performance, so that’s one. The second, I’m trained, in a conventional sense, in a traditional sense, as a composer of instrumental music and I write a lot of chamber music, and I just had a CD released of chamber works with Boston and Worcester area professional musicians and recorded at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, released on a commercial label in New Hampshire called Parma, that’s a second area. And the third, I write new music for silent film scores.

And all of these are ongoing projects. I’m working often times in collaboration with particular musicians, so I’m writing for particular performance opportunities

The Scarlet

february 12, 2015

and particular groups of people and they’re tailored to those situations.

Scarlet: That’s very interesting.

Do you have any initiatives for the university as Dean of the College?

Matt: Well I think the big initiative, the overarching thing is to think about LEEP. I think from my own experiences I’m interested in working with faculty on figuring out how to bring that to fruition. I think from my background as an artist I’m very interested in thinking about how the interface between curricular and co-curricular activities really mutually reinforce each other, I think that’s really an important piece. These are all things that are on the table with LEEP and you know that’s the easy answer.

The hard answer [is] how to get it all to work together. I’ll also say, since this is The Scarlet, one thing that I really took away from the forum with the Undergraduate Student Council was the need to keep the lines of communications with students open. Both to make sure that the priorities and the ambitions of the administration are clear and understood by the students, but also to hear what students’ concerns are, and to make sure that student voices are heard in that whole process. So I’ve already spoken to the current President and expressed a concern to, you know, keep in touch and I’m looking forward to working with students very much.

Scarlet: What do you do in your free time?

Matt: In my free time?

Scarlet: Yeah, do you have anyMatt: What free time? [Laughs] I’m an avid bicyclist, so I enjoy biking a lot. I’m married and have two kids, both of which are in college right now. So you asked what the motivations and the interest in becoming Dean, the personal side of it is that I’m

an empty nester for the first time, but I’ve also witnessed my own kids go through the process of looking at schools and coming to terms with what it means to pick a college, and what it means to become a member of a community. And my daughter’s about to graduate, so I’m very familiar with the anxiety of what you’re going to do when college ends, and so I think a lot of my personal motivation for being Dean was that I feel like those experiences are very fresh to me and I can bring that to the table as well.

Scarlet: Makes sense. So, if you were a sandwich, what sandwich would you be and why?

Matt: A sandwich? What would be my sandwich? [Laughs] I should have a good answer to this one…let me think about it and I’ll come up with something good. Okay, I’ve got an answer: pastrami on rye from Katz’s Delicatessen – a little mustard and a couple of pickles on the side, because we’re both tender, salty and delicious.

How’s that?

Scarlet: [Laughs] That’s a great answer! So what was the process to become Dean like? It was a very long, tedious process but what did you have to do?

Matt: I wouldn’t say [tedious]; maybe grueling, but not tedious. It was actually tremendously interesting.

The process started with the administration publishing, or distributing to the faculty, a description of the job. And then there was a period where people could think about it, and for me, that meant talking to a lot of people that are involved in the administration now, several former Deans, and talking to faculty and staff and students to see if people thought I was going to be someone who would be good at it. Then once I had announced, I wrote a letter to the Provost and said I was interested in being considered. Several faculty expressed interest and finally there were just two candidates who decided to go forward. And at that point, there were a series of 13 separate interviews, and some of them were

very large forums. Like there was a forum organized by the Undergraduate Student Council, and there were several for faculty and there was one for staff. So those were big groups that came and asked questions. I met then with different faculty groups, the group of all the chairs of departments, different groups of administrators, the current Deans, and then finally there was an individual interview with the Provost and the President. So all together there were 13 of those where people asked me whatever they wanted to ask me. Then finally, people gave their responses to the administration, the Provost, and it was ultimately the Provost and the President, taking everyone’s input into consideration, they made the final decision.

Scarlet: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Matt: I’ll just say that I’m tremendously excited to be picked as the next Dean of the College, and I feel like it was a great process to go through that I’m not sure everyone realizes but it extended on for weeks and weeks and there were many, many opportunities to meet people across the university. I think I talked to every person on campus, or at least every person on campus who would talk to me, and that I’m looking forward to continuing that and [I’m] very excited about being Dean.

Thanks For The Interview, Professor Malsky!

Email scarlet@clarku.edu if you have a suggestion for Clarkie of the Week!

news | 7

The Scarlet

8 | opinions

february 12, 2015

The Scarlet/Opinions The opinions enumerated in this section represent those of the author and the author alone.

They do not reflect the opinions of the editorial board, The Scarlet, or Clark University.

Oil Rises to the Top Gas Prices Will Not Be Down For Long

By Jeremy Levine

By Molly Powers opinions correspondent

Americans are going to save hundreds of dollars on gasoline this year thanks to the decline in oil prices, and the longer prices stay down, the better off the national economy will be. Definitive predictions cannot be made because the oil industry is always in flux, but the optimistic outlook is that if gas prices stay low, citizens will invest the money they save back into the economy. The negative implications are that an independent United States will further damage the global economy.

Gas prices in the US have not been this low since 2009, so coming back from a global recession, this sudden shift is more than welcome. There are a number of reasons why oil has become so inexpensive, one of which is that the US has been expanding its own oil industry. Increased drilling in the Gulf of Mexico as well as the use of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” has led to the production of more domestic crude oil than ever before.

Fracking of course can have extremely negative effects on the environment but, on the one

hand, it is helping to lessen US dependence on foreign oil, which drives down demand and lowers global prices. The US has traditionally spent billions of dollars on foreign oil every year, but decreased US spending is not the only factor driving global prices down.

In November of 2014, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced that it would not manipulate prices by reducing its output of oil. In other words, in spite of the fact that there was less demand from other countries for the oil, OPEC decided not to reduce production in order to keep its dominant position in the market (they produce about 40% of all the world’s oil).

Many nations, such as the US and Europe, were responding to rising oil prices by investing in energy efficiency measures as well as domestic oil production. Due to declining demand, oil prices fell $100 a barrel to $50 in a matter of months – and it kept falling.

If OPEC had cut back on the production of oil, then that would have driven their prices – and profits – up. But instead they decided to continue producing at the same rate as before. They seemed to have put their faith in

the neoliberal principle that the market would fix itself, but this only served to drive oil prices even lower. The free market, however, is anything but stable, and it is more than possible that oil prices will go up again. Some oil companies in the US are already scaling back on their drilling as fracking wells start to go dry. The US does not contain nearly as much oil as the Middle East, so complete independence from foreign oil is most likely a pipe dream. Also worthy of consideration is the fact that US independence from foreign oil, while good for the US, is not the best thing for the global economy in the long run.

Countries that produce oil as one of their main exports – such as Russia, Venezuela, and Iran – will suffer major hits to their economies if there is no longer a high demand for oil. Even in the US, falling oil prices are not good in the long run for states like Texas and North Dakota whose revenues rely heavily on their oil out-

continued on page 10

editor-in-chief

In a recent column, I wrote about the weather and how much I despised it. Now, I would like to retract my comments (that foul weather brings people together) in light of the recent blizzard.

Yesterday, I was walking across campus when I ran into my friend Matt.

(Names have not been changed. I don’t care about protecting the innocent.)

Matt turned to me and said “Nice weather we’re having.”

He used those words. Those exact ones. When you’re writing a sitcom and you need someone to resort to desperately cliché small-talk, these are the words you chose.

“Really?” I asked.

Matt immediately apologized, saying that he always resorted to the weather when looking for smalltalk. (First, Matt, I thought we were above smalltalk, but that’s a different problem for a different day.)

I am simply bored of the weather. It will always change. There will always be snow. It will sometimes be more than we expected. It will sometimes take up extra space in the street. It will often get dirty. None of these things should be surprising, unless you are from a nation in which it never snows. Then, you get to be surprised for a couple of years. However, if you are from Worcester County, (as Matt is) the weather should not be something which you consider newsworthy.

Why not just jump into what you just did in class? Tell me about the biology you just learned. I’m sure I’ll find it interesting. Immediately jump into a story from this weekend. Are you low on groceries? I’m going shopping later. Want to come?

This is a sample of conversations topic that Matt (and you, dear reader!) can use to kickstart your next interaction. I have made a pledge to myself to not start any conversations this week by talking about the weather. I don’t care if it is currently snowing. If it is currently snowing, the person you are speaking to will almost definitely know that it is currently snowing. There are no excuses.

There will always be weather.

The Scarlet

february 12, 2015

Securing Freedom and Stopping Internet Monopolization

By T.J. Anania contributing writer

The Federal Communications Commission’s (F.C.C.) Chairman, Tom Wheeler, has put forth a proposal that would change the status of broadband Internet from an informational service to a Title II utility under the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

This proposal, scheduled to come before the commission on February 26, is expected to pass by a 3-2 majority.

Title II status would give the F.C.C. extensive power to issue new rules and regulations in regards to how Internet service providers (ISPs) treat their customers as well as businesses that operate online. If and when the proposal is passed, telecommunication companies have already vowed to fight it tooth and nail in court, and they have a strong case. The legality of

applying utility status to the Internet under the archaic language of the 1996 act is very open to debate.

As it stands, ISPs cannot filter or discriminate between different webpages looked at. All web traffic is treated equally and as such with the same priority as was intended by the World Wide Web’s creators. This is the basic concept of net neutrality. If the ISPs were to get their way in court they would be free to charge more for a faster prioritized service, the ability to access certain websites, and block websites altogether; essentially creating a two-tiered Internet.

Opponents of the F.C.C.’s proposal - and by extension a neutral network - cite economic reasons such as suppression of innovation and the disincentivizing of investment in high speed networks. However, Verizon executives are on record stating that the

opinions | 9 new rules would not deter them from further investment in their broadband and mobile networks. That being said, the argument of economic stagnation doesn’t stand up to reasoning.

A free marketplace on the Internet actually spurs innovation. Without net neutrality we would likely see far fewer online business startups as they wouldn’t be able to afford to prioritize their website and stay competitive with larger companies. Only those with deep pockets would be able to bring products to the ever-growing online marketplace. Gone would be the days of the “self-made man” in the digital era.

A neutral network isn’t just the concern of the little guy. Companies like Netflix, Google, and Amazon have all come out publicly for a free and open internet. Paying more to maintain the same loading speed is unacceptable to their bottom line. Should paid prioriti-

zation become a reality, any increased costs that companies experience will inevitably be passed on to us, the consumers, in one way or another.

The only people in a position to gain anything from the abolishment of net neutrality are the telecommunication companies, many of which maintain local monopolies all over the country. Expanding market power is the glaringly obvious motivation of companies like AT&T and Comcast.

Together they spent a whopping $31.36 million in lobbying efforts in 2014. People must ask themselves now, should a company like Comcast who has a history of blatant disregard for its customers and is hated in this country more than the IRS according continued on page 10

IQ Thresholds and Capital Punishment How the Definition of “Intellectual Disability” Varies Across America

By Nikolas Wagner scarlet staff

The issue of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) thresholds for capital punishment brings up not only the flaws of the federal system, but also the ethics of how we treat convicts and those with intellectual disabilities. Notably, the detached attitude of state governments that toy with human lives furthers the dehumanizing and violent nature of federal authority.

On January 27, Warren Lee Hill was put to death by the state of Georgia for beating an inmate to death with a nail-studded wooden board. His lawyers argued that he had an intellectual disability and therefore could not be held culpable.

Two days later, the state of Texas executed Robert Ladd, who had an IQ of 67, despite the appeals of his law-

yers from the American Civil Liberties Union, who cited Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men as Texas’ criteria for who has an intellectual disability.

Both of these cases, in which two men were executed despite the fact that they had an intellectual disability, are significant in the context of two Supreme Court (SCOTUS) cases: Atkins V. Virginia (2002) and Hall V. Florida (2014).

Atkins V. Virginia determined that it was “cruel and unusual punishment” to execute murder convicts who have intellectual disabilities because “mentally retarded offenders [are] categorically less culpable than the average criminal.” The Court did not define what it meant to be, as they put it, “mentally retarded,” so it was left to

the states to determine what that term actually meant. The unfortunate result of this is that the definition of a Medical Condition could vary from state to state.

However, Hall V. Florida was significant in that it realized the flaw in the previous case. Freddie Lee Hall, who was on death row at the time Atkins was still being discussed, cited his IQ score of 71 in an effort to preclude him from the death penalty, even though the IQ threshold in Florida was 70. SCOTUS argued, however, that the definition of “intellectual disability” in Florida depended solely on IQ tests, which can be imprecise in gauging the facilities of an individual.

For the purposes of this article, it is worth noting that the term “intellectual disability” is a recent development in United States Justice System.

The American Association on Mental Retardation introduced the term “mental retardation” in 1961, and was

accepted by the medical community to describe the condition known today as “intellectual disability”. Understandably, “mental retardation” found its way into the legal lexicon (such as in Atkins V. Virginia) when discussing IQ thresholds. However, since the term has become pejorative, a change in the law was made in 2010 in favor of the latter term. Therefore, the Court has changed its terminology “to describe the identical phenomenon,” between Atkins V. Virginia and Hall V. Florida.

Essentially, the Court voted in a 5-4 decision that using an IQ test alone to determine whether or not a convict should be executed was too unreliable.

Rather, the Justice System should take in account the definition set down by the medical community, which is more comprehensive than a simple IQ test.

In light of Hall, the Hill and Ladd executions are troubling. Effectively, Texas and Georgia have turned a blind

eye to the decisions made in Hall entirely, ignoring the clear, but admittedly complex, standards set by the highest court in the the United States.

If the government is going to remove an individual’s right to life, it would be advisable to kill as few people as possible.

The United States has become more sophisticated in its understanding of intellectual disability, but when it comes actually setting that understanding in practice, particularly in the context of morality and punishment, it has failed.

If we are going to strive for a nation free of execution, it would be prudent of us to recognize the many shortcomings of this relic, including its tendency to punish those who are not worthy of being strapped to the chair.

The Scarlet

10 | opinions

february 12, 2015

Anti-Vaxxers Cause Disneyland Outbreak Moronic Movement Resurrects Measles

By Nikolas Wagner scarlet staff

Measles, once thought to be eradicated from the United States in 2000, has made a comeback. As of February 10, there have been at least 166 cases in 18 states, many of which are linked to Southern California’s Disneyland. This recent news is not to be expected in a developed nation like the United States.

Doctors have blamed the recent outbreak on the anti-vaccination movement, whose supporters are often known as “anti-vaxxers”. The anti-vaxxer movement was largely inspired by former medical researcher Andrew Wakefield, who published a study in 1998 claiming that vaccinations caused Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD or autism), which was fully retracted from the published record for being blatantly false.

The reality of autism is that its causes are unclear, but it is most definitely not caused by vaccinations. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, stated that there is, “absolutely no doubt” that vaccines do not cause autism.

It is likely caused by an individual’s genetic predisposition and other environmental factors. Furthermore, the National Institutes of Health clearly states, “The theory that parental practices are responsible for ASD has long been disproved.”

The anti-vaccine hysteria has become so widespread that even Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, M.D.

expressed sympathy for those who choose not to vaccinate their children, saying, “I’m not arguing [that] vaccines are a bad idea. I think they are a good thing. But I think the parent should have some input. The state doesn’t own your children.

Parents own [their] children, and it is an issue of freedom.”

All in all, this outbreak and the anti-vaccination movement as a whole has taught us an important lesson that “We the People” are not scientifically literate. One irresponsible medical study has set off a firestorm of blindness in a classic misunderstanding of correlation versus causation, and as a result, the United States is suffering.

Left-leaning Americans often assert that they are more accepting of science, due to their tendency to acknowledge climate change, but the anti-vaxxers have shown that this is not the case. Alex B. Berezow, founding editor of RealClearScience concluded, “… as a whole, the conservative and religious Deep South is the most pro-vaccine part of the country.”

Scientific literacy isn’t necessarily a question of political ideology, but rather a question those who are willfully ignorant and those who accept the scientific process. Combatting scientific illiteracy concerns us all, because like non-vaccination, it is passed down to our children and puts our entire society at serious risk.

cartoon by santiago jose herdoiza ponce

Gas Prices to Rise Cont. put. In the short term though, these low gas prices will give the national US economy the boost it needs.

More money saved on gasoline will increase consumer confidence, encouraging people to spend more money this year. A stagnant economy, one in which no one has enough money to buy any of the products that are being reduced, is what leads to recessions. The more money that working class Americans have to spend on commodities, the better for the country - and the worse, perhaps, for the rest of the world.

The oil industry has never and will never be stable. Increased production in any region has historically only been temporary, but those short periods of production can have positive and long-lasting effects. Oil prices may not go back up to $100 a barrel in the near future, but Americans should not expect prices to stay this low, either. Rather, we should enjoy this period of economic growth while it lasts, and hope that it will lead to national stability if and when there is an at least partial return to foreign dependence.

Internet Monopolization Cont. to the American Consumer Satisfaction Index, be in charge of what we look at online?

With power consolidated into such few hands of the ISPs the biggest concern now is not just the looming high prices of a telecommunications oligopoly. Should the Title II utility status be thrown out in court, huge corporations will be able to control what you and I look at online. This terrifying prospect alone should be enough motivation for anyone to call for a free and open net.

The Scarlet

february 12, 2015

living arts | 11

The Scarlet/Living Arts End of an Era Jon Stewart Plans his Exit from The Daily Show

by Tyler Terriault

So with all this snow still coming down, who’s getting ready for Spree Day?

By Matt Emmer living arts editor

At the end of Tuesday night’s broadcast, Jon Stewart announced what had been leaked online earlier that day: he would be leaving The Daily Show sometime before the end of 2015. Since replacing original host Craig Kilborn in 1999, Stewart elevated the show from a basic-cable obscurity to cultural-political juggernaut.

In the ensuing 16 years, Stewart has focused the show around a clear and resonant comedic voice that pushes against the dominant discourses of American politics, as well as the media wave it inspires. He’s created a media empire than not only encompases The Daily Show, but also the recently-ended Colbert Report and its successor, The Nightly Show. His single appearance on CNN’s Crossfire is credited as a factor in its cancellation. His 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity filled the National Mall.

I started watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in 2004. I was ten years old and obviously too young for the more mature humor, but the host’s mastery of snark and satire appealed to my already irreverent taste.

In the following ten years of viewership, the show has been a ritualistic marking of time.

I remember being allowed to stay up late to watch the show’s In-

Freud and I had a long talk before I saw that he was a statue Boycott the Bistro!

Nobody eat there ‘till I can swap three cookies!

photo courtesy of pixel.nymag.com

decision 2004 election night coverage.

I went to fifth grade bleary-eyed the next morning. I remember the show’s giddy coverage of President Obama’s 2008 and 2012 landslides, the latter of which I viewed crowded around a Wright common room big-screen during my first semester at Clark.

That being said, I did not take Tuesday’s announcement well. Initially, I denied the claims made by members of the studio audience to the Onion’s AV Club. I dismissed it as an elaborate hoax, maybe something similar to his mock resignation following the Anthony Weiner ordeal.

After the reports were later confirmed

by The New York Times, NBC, CNN, and

Comedy Central itself, it was finally time to come to terms with the reality that the reliable 11:00 p.m. fix would soon be running dry. A new person would be occupying that desk for my post-2015 life.

The news is both expected and a surprise, especially so soon after the departure of Stephen Colbert in December. Stewart also left for most of the summer of 2013 to make ROSEWATER, his directorial debut.

John Oliver, his temporary replacement and one-time heir apparent, has been enjoying creative and critical success on HBO, where he is free to push the boundaries of commercial television. Already, his pow-

Vagina MonoVagina Monologues- there we go. Go see it Ethan is really bad at stalking people on Facebook. It’s funny.

erful and hilarious segments have influenced the debate on issues such as net neutrality, the Miss America pageant, and the prison system. Some critics have even questioned the relevancy of THE DAILY SHOW in light of Oliver’s genre-shifting success.

This leaves the question of who will succeed Stewart in the anchor chair. Some are suggesting recently idle NBC newsman Brian Williams,

while others hope for the promotion of one of the show’s present of former correspondents, perhaps Jessica Williams. Whichever Williams prevails, its clear that the inheritor of THE DAILY SHOW will have a high bar to reach.

12 | living arts

The Scarlet

february 12, 2015

Speaking Out on South Asian Sexuality SASA Presents Yoni Ki Baat

By Ethan Giles executive editor

The Grind was packed to the brim on Saturday, February 7 to witness the South Asian Student Association’s (SASA) Yoni Ki Baat (YKB). Yoni ki baat is Sanskrit for “the stories of the vagina”, and the event focused on stories about the experience of being a South Asian woman.

Yoni Ki Baat is very similar to The Vagina Monologues, but allows performers more flexibility in their pieces (and focuses on South Asian women). Rather than having to stick to a strict script, YKB performers can use whichever script they want, which may include a predetermined script from the South Asian Sisters.

After a brief introduction, Hasini Assiriyage (‘17) performed “Mother May I” written by S. Nadia Hussain. The piece looked through the lense of a South Asian woman talking to her mother while pointing out the sexist and hypocritical tendencies of the culture.

Michino Hisabayashi (‘15) took the stage next to recite “Staying in Touch” by Sandra Chatterjee. Hisabayashi wonders why she lost touch with her vagina, as it has always been a close companion of hers. Throughout the piece she realizes that the male subjugation of women, through catcalling, mock spanking, and more, is the reason she no longer pleasures herself.

Next up were Aiswarya Ayyappan (‘18) and Asmita Acharya (‘18) to perform their self written work “She”.

The piece first examines the point of view of a new college student who grew up in South Asia. While at college she discovers her interest in other women and soon finds a girlfriend. She then returns to South Asia and tells her mom, who cries upon hearing the news and instructs her to never tell her father. A month later, she is forced to marry a man she has no interest in.

The audience then sees the woman many years later.

She is miserable in her marriage, hates being “the perfect South Asian wife”, and misses her college girlfriend everyday. She cannot escape the miserable life that has been chosen for her, regardless of her desire to run away.

Ravina Wadhwani (‘15) then performed “Egosexual” written by Anjali Kamat. Wadhwani examines whether or not women need men, and calls romance the “root of all evil.” She hates watching people become STDs and STPs, or “Slaves to the Dick” and “Slaves to the Pussy.” Wadhwani realizes that all she truly needs is to keep her “yoni satisfied,” since she was done with society’s “solemate bullshit.”

Lubaina Selani (‘17) then performed the anonymous-

courtesy of facebook.com

ly written “Mum’s the Word”. This piece was written as a letter to a girl’s parents explaining how they do not know their own child. She laments how her parents were never okay with her relationships with men since she was a young kid. She then details how she fell in love with a guy who subsequently cheats on her, but she can not tell her parents since they can not handle the truth.

After a brief intermission, Christie Joyce (‘16) took the stage to perform the also anonymously written “The Mile High Club”. The piece dives into the myth of the “Mile High Club.”

She claims that she has never tried the act, but does understand the need to climax before seeing family in South Asia, and gives out a few tips as to how to enjoy an orgasm before arriving at a destination.

Then, Suaida Firoze (‘16) performed “An Expression by Kalki Koechlin-La Femme Terrible,” written by Kalki Koechlin.

Firoze speaks out about the way that society supports men.

Women are told to act proper and be ladies from an early age, but men are expected to be barbaric. Firoze said she has no interest in acting like a lady, she is “craving to be me.” She asks men to take women off the pedestal, to stop controlling women.

Firoze ended the performance by asking the audience to “Look beyond my body and really look at me. I am a woman in a South Asian society and I am not yet free.”

Reuben Datta (‘17) took the stage to perform Parth Patel’s (‘14) piece “Savage”. The piece provides a male perspective on rape and molestation in New Delhi. Datta explaines how hard it is to associate with the many men who rape and abuse women in his home city, at one point saying “Indian men will grope anyone who has a skirt above the knee or blue jeans that are too tight.” He goes onto say that Indian men who rape women are not men at all, but savages.

Datta was the only male who performed, which he described as “a little daunting at first...but exciting.” He said he chose “Savages” because he is from New Delhi, and people often question him about being from “the rape capital of the world.”

After Datta, Bhumika Regmi (‘14) expanded on the anonymous poem “Rape Culture”. The poem brings to light the ways people make excuses for rape, which then allows rape to continue to be prevalent in our society. She chronicles a conversation with her father, in which he blames girls for “asking to be raped,” and explains that she “thought it would be better for my parents to find me dead than to tell them I’ve been raped.”

Then Meyru Bhanti (‘18) took the stage to perform her self written piece “Women There Are Really Oppressed”. The piece is a response to being asked “Are you a feminist because of all the rape in India?” in the cafeteria. Bhanti explained that she is a feminist because, growing up in America, she saw how white males held all the power, and when she would travel to India she saw how men had all the power there as well.

She ends the piece by asking “Yes I’m a feminist, but the better question is why the hell aren’t you?”

The final piece of the night, “Hairy Pussy” by Ranjani Vedanthan, was performed by Wadhwani, Joyce, and Firoze. The women question why men will not perform oral sex on women with pubic hair, as pubic hair is natural and should not be put down. They explain that it was not worth it to shave for men just because they expect beauty to be hairless.

After the final act all the performers took the stage for a bow. They were grouped into their different nationalities to show the diversity of cultures that embody Southern Asia, and hoped the performance enlightened the audience on many new perspectives.

Julia Miller (‘17) said she found the performance “empowering, diverse” and Arianna Brugnola (‘18) felt that the performance shed light on “issues that every woman has to face.” Gabe Epstein (‘17) summarized the show by saying “I like it. It was good.”

The Scarlet

february 12, 2015

sports | 13

The Scarlet/Sports Weekly Scores Men’s Basketball

Women’s Basketball

Saturday, February 7

Saturday, February 7

Men’s Basketball vs. Emerson College - W 79-70 Clark Leaders – Points: David Mercier (‘17) - 27

Rebounds: Lamar Berk (‘17) - 7 Assists: Joe Atkinson (‘17) and

Lucas LaLima (‘17) - 2

Wednesday, February 11 Men’s Basketball vs. Wheaton College - W 70-55 Clark Leaders – Points: Andrew Musler (‘14) - 18

Rebounds: David Mercier (‘17) - 10 Assists: Lucas LaLima (‘17) - 5

Women’s Basketball vs. MIT - L 47-44 Clark Leaders – Points: Aretha Sullivan (‘17) - 12

Rebounds: Aretha Sullivan (‘17) - 7

Assists: Aretha Sullivan (‘17) - 5

Wednesday, February 11 Women’s Basketball vs. Wellesley College – W 41-36 Clark Leaders – Points: Sam O’Gara (‘18) - 12

Rebounds: Gwyneth Ivory (‘17) - 7

Assists: Aretha Sullivan (‘17) - 3

Swimming and Diving

Men’s Tennis

Saturday, February 7

Saturday, February 7 Men’s Tennis vs. Vassar College - L 5-0 Clark Notables: • Number one doubles team (Dan Stein (‘14) and Zack Goodstein (‘15)) lost 8-5 • Number two doubles team (Fernando Pinoargote (‘16) and Spencer Pinkney (‘17)) lost 8-6 • Number one singles (Stein) lost 6-1 3-2 • Number two singles (Pinkney) lost 6-2 6-1

Men’s Swimming and Diving @ Wheaton Invitational (No team scoring) Clark Notables: • Jack Hall (‘15) finished first in 1,650-yard freestyle (18:21.75).

• Steven Castiglione (‘18) finished first in one-meter dive (309.55).

Women’s Swimming and Diving @ Wheaton Invitational (No team scoring) Clark Notables: • Melissa Orzechowski (‘17) finished first in 500-yard freestyle (5:18.86), 1,650-yard freestyle (18:06.15), and 200-yard backstroke (2:16.90).

• Breanna Tucker (‘15) placed first in three-meter dive (395.25).

All photos and statistics courtesy of Clark Athletics

The Scarlet

14 | sports

february 12, 2015

COUGAR of the WEEK important’ but then I was like ‘no, it’s not.’ I’d much rather be diving, so this year I decided I would dive in a much more safe manner, like focusing on having fun, and perfecting an easy diving list instead of throwing in really big dives that would get me injured.

Scarlet: So the harder the dive, the more likely you are to get hurt?

Tucker: Yeah, and like the more flipping and twisting, the easier it is to get lost, and then the easier it is to hit your head.

photo by jonathan edelman

Breanna Tucker women’s swimming and diving Breanna Tucker (‘15) posted a whopping score of 395.25 in the three-meter-board in the team’s Wheaton Invitational and is poised to dive in to the NCAA Regionals on Friday, February 27. The Temecula, CA native is majoring in both Psychology and Studio Art and she sat down with The Scarlet to discuss diving, dancing, and more.

Scarlet: How did you get into diving?

Tucker: I was a gymnast when I was young...then I quit gymnastics when I was 13 and started diving after that. It was an easy transition into diving.

Scarlet: What drew you to diving?

Tucker: Well originally to get injured less, because I figured flipping into water would prevent injury, but I’ve actually gotten injured much more in diving then in gymnastics.

Scarlet: What injuries have you had?

Tucker: I have hit the board and broke my foot. [I have also had] five concussions.

Scarlet: Do the injuries make you want to stop?

Tucker: No [laughs]. The concussions, after the fifth one, I almost wanted to stop, because I was like, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this because my brain is

by Ethan Giles

Scarlet: You’re graduating in a few months, do you have plans to dive after college?

Tucker: No, I’m a dancer too, I have plans to dance after college. I’m auditioning for a few companies and I’m auditioning to become a performer at Disneyland. But I’m not gonna dive. In order to dive after undergrad you have to be super good, you have to be like training for the Olympics, and I’m just not.

Scarlet: I saw that you want to get a doctorate in marriage and family Scarlet: What do divers do at practice?

Tucker: We work on our dives and we train....we work out. We condition therapy with a specialization in art therapy. What is art therapy?

Tucker: I’ve always been an artist, and art therapy is using art as a mefor like an hour, and then we train diving for two hours every day. dium for healing for people. So they are doing art and making art and I Scarlet: I know that swim team has to get to practice very early, do divers am leading them through making art. It’s like a way they can communicate their feelings if they can’t verbally. It’s mostly with kids. do the same?

Tucker: No we don’t have to do that. We still have to work out the same amount of time, but we don’t have to get up that early. We can only prac- Scarlet: Do you work with any group of kids in particular?

Tucker: All kinds of children, they do a lot with trauma, like trauma tice from 6-8 p.m. so since we have that limited scheduling [our coach] victims, and also with PTSD, so war veterans do a lot of art therapy, it’s doesn’t make us get up at 5:30 a.m. and practice in the evening at six. becoming very popular.

Scarlet: Are you guys in the same shape that the swimmers are?

Scarlet: What got you interested in art therapy?

Tucker: No it’s very different: they’re training endurance, they’re trainTucker: I was thinking about that the other day, I think I was studying ing fast-twitch muscles, we like train our muscles to get stronger and faster and they train their muscles to get more endurance. Unless they’re both Psychology and Art here, and I was like ‘I should put this together’ and then discovered that there is a whole field and I can do that. I don’t sprinters, I would say I am in similar condition physically to a sprinter. really know what got me into it...I was a guest dancer for [Clark Summer Camp Main Idea], and that solidified my want to do art therapy, because Scarlet: You qualified for regionals for the second straight year. How it’s like using art as a medium of healing, art and you can draw, dance, do much of an accomplishment is that? music, drama.

Tucker: It is a really huge accomplishment. Regionals my sophomore year I qualified, and that’s where I hit the board and broke my foot, so Scarlet: What will you remember most from your diving career here at that prevented me to go to nationals. So you qualify to get to regionals Clark? and then you compete at regionals to get to nationals. So I was comTucker: The team. This team is the greatest team I’ve been a part of. I’ve peting really well, was probably going to go to nationals, but I couldn’t compete because I broke my foot. It’s super encouraging to qualify again never been a part of a group that has been such a family, and I feel really supported by my team, and I am going to miss them the most. I will miss this year, because then I can give myself another chance to make it to diving, but I will be satisfying my need to flip and twist by dancing, and I nationals. will definitely miss my team. Our last meet, on the way back from Wheaton the seniors give a senior speech and everyone was crying. So yeah, I’ll Scarlet: Do you think you have a good shot to make it to nationals?

Tucker: There are some really good divers, so I don’t know. I have a shot, miss the team. but I would have to do exceptionally well at Regionals to make it.

Scarlet: Are there a lot of similar movements in diving and dancing?

Tucker: Well there’s like, kinda, like you’re doing twisting and I’m an Scarlet: How good is the Clark diving program compared to other schools? We have three female divers and one male diver here, is that the acrobatic dancer so I do tumbling and stuff, so there is, but there isn’t water. normal amount?

Tucker: It varies, there’s not normally a lot of divers. We’re pretty comScarlet: Finally, this might be a really dumb question, but how do divers petitive, [male diver Steven Castiglione (‘18)] and I are pretty competinot get water in their nose every single dive? tive. At the last meet he got first on one meter and I got first on three meter and that was like some of our biggest competitors at that meet, at Tucker: [Laughs] You blow water out of your nose when you get under the water. the Wheaton Invite.

Scarlet: How has it been seeing Steven come in and set all the records he set? Do you enjoy seeing that?

Tucker: Yeah it’s super exciting... Steven and I are really close, he’s like my puppy. It’s been really exciting because he’s been breaking records and doing really well, and he also has a really good attitude on our team.

Scarlet: But like, when you fall from that high and have so much of an impact, isn’t it impossible to keep out?

Tucker: Sometimes it’s just inevitable.

Scarlet: So you just have to deal with it?

Tucker: Yeah [laughs].

The Scarlet

february 12, 2015

puzzles | 15

The Scarlet/Puzzles CROSSWORD by Ted Randich

SUDOKU

5 7 1 9 6 4 3 5 4 7 6 7 5 4 3 1 8 3 7 2 3 1 4 2 5 4 9 6 8 2

Puzzle by websudoku.com

Down 1. Jeans depot.

2. Beer category.

3. Syntax change. Change of syntax.

4. Physical Plant house color.

5. Key function.

6. Apple pie _ __ mode.

7. Gotham protector.

8. Sensory organ.

9. Pipe material.

10. Too-smart computer.

11. Holocaust Studies house color.

12. Source of blizzard relief?

13. “Mistakes were made” expression.

14. Motherly nickname.

15. Important elementary skill.

16. Waterpark chain adjectives.

17. Houston ballclub.

18. NH 4,000 footer.

19. Augment.

20. Six teaspoons.

21. Neither/___.

22. I love you; te ___.

23. All-important grading measure.

24. Animal that once lived here in Mass.

Miss you guys.

25. At-risk eastern tree.

26. Shakespeare specialty.

Across 1. Thrash-metal band.

4. Intuition.

6. “Honest” president.

9. Lighthearted action.

12. Clark University thoroughfare parallel to 34 across.

14. Sea in Spain.

16. Moon transformation.

19. Shoot for.

23. Mythical mischievous creature.

27. Education goal.

28. “Close call” expression.

29. Increase altitude.

30. Best cookie ever.

31. E.g. 5, 23, 91…

32. Spatial representations.

33. Donkey.

34. Clark University thoroughfare parallel to

12 across.

35. Anchorman actor Paul.

36. Distort.

37. Horse-centric game.

38. 60s sitcom Green _____.

39. Inquire.

40. Partner of Him. 41. Narrow.

THIS WEEK’S SOLUTIONS IN NEXT ISSUE

The Scarlet

16 | puzzles

february 12, 2015

LAST ISSUE’S SOLUTIONS

Police Logs

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU 6 9 5 7 4 2 8 3 1

Reported by Maria Rotelli This week there were four complaints, one disturbance of the peace, four parking complaints, three reports of suspicious persons, one report of suspicious activity, one check of student welfare, and one report of larceny/forgery/fraud. Three burglar alarms were sounded along with six fire alarms. The police assisted four citizens, assisted WPD once, and they assisted a disabled assistance vehicle. The police also made arrests this week responding to a domestic disturbance on Beaver Street. The police unlocked thirteen doors for students, assisted in five money transfers, along with three plumbing issues and one heating issue. Finally, there were eleven calls to EMS and 57 calls for police escort.

1 7 3 9 5 8 6 4 2

2 8 4 1 3 6 5 7 9

7 2 8 4 6 9 1 5 3

3 5 9 2 1 7 4 8 6

4 6 1 5 8 3 2 9 7

9 1 6 8 7 4 3 2 5

8 3 2 6 9 5 7 1 4

5 4 7 3 2 1 9 6 8

Puzzle by websudoku.com

What happens in The Scarlet office at 3:35 a.m. stays in The Scarlet office... sort of “He said that it isn’t in the right form.” - Alex “Is it a sonnet?” - Jeremy “I got a twitter yesterday.” - Jeremy “I saw that. You followed me. I was scared for a second.” - Celine “Philadelphia is an educated populace.” - Ethan “I still primarily use my AOL account.” - Matt “Do you have a list of Clarkie of the Week candidates on your phone?” - Jeremy “No, I’m just looking at who updated their snapchat stories recently.” - Jonathan “Chicago is far superior to MLA.” “It’s near Lake Superior.” - Ethan

“No it’s not.” - Kate, who then educated Ethan on the geographic properties of the Great Lakes region with the aid of a sticker on her laptop. Kate, if you were curious, is from Michigan.

“I thought you took my phone.” - Matt “You mean the one that’s in your hand?” - Celine “Do we really have to define what the Mile High Club is?” - Jenna “Time Vacant” - Matt “Are we allowed to use the work f***boy?” - Chris “I want to write a play called the Virginia Monologues about women with dyslexia talking about their vaginas, who happen to be from Virginia.” - Matt “HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA,” - What’s going on?