winter gardening • outing club cabin restoration • phish concerts • and more inside
volume xciii, no. 7 • october 31, 2013 | clarkscarlet.tumblr.com |
Diversability
the.clark.scarlet
RED SOX WIN WORLD SERIES
Exploring the diversity of disabilities By Tessa Isis-Bahoosh scarlet staff
Snuggled away on the fourth floor of the Goddard library is a friendly little office that keeps its door ajar every weekday between 9:00 and 5:00, consciously cultivating a sense of openness and invitation. This is the home of the Office of Disability Services, and although over 240 Clark students take advantage of its resources, the general student population seems to know remarkably little about what it has to offer, representing a gap between students and services that Megan Jones, head of the new campus club, Diversability, aims to eradicate. Jones decided last semester to use her awareness of Clark’s disability service offerings for good. “I had this realization that things don’t get done unless the students decide to make change,” she says. “I’m a junior, and freshman year, the staffing got cut in half for learning disabilities.
I started to get the sense that more could be done… instead of complaining about it, I decided to make things better.” Although she began the club out on an initial desire to find resources centered around learning disabilities, Jones is eager to hear general concerns from students, and stresses the group’s inclusivity. “Something I think is really important is learning to be a selfadvocate,” she says, explaining her hope that the club’s trajectory will be decided by the students themselves. “We want to hear things we might not be thinking.” Diversability’s first dialogue session ran this past Monday, and in keeping with Jones’s vision, a variety of concerns were discussed: topics ranged from study techniques, to anti-distraction apps, to the importance of getting disabilities documented. The proactive feel of the session perfectly echoed Jones’s attitude tocontinued on page 7
courtesy of thebostonglobe.com (barry chin/globe staff)
By Jeremy Levine editor-in-chief
The Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Six of the World Series on Wednesday, October 30. The Red Sox, who collapsed at the end of their 2011 season,
struggled throughout 2012 and the beginning of this year. In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, however, the team began a gradual incline, blazing a trail from worst to first, which culminated in this week’s series. David Ortiz, whose stirring words a few days after the bombings set the tone for the season,
won the coveted World Series Most Valuable Player award. Ortiz went 11 for 16 in the series, with two home runs and six RBIs. Red Sox at Clark largely celebrated in their homes with friends, although plenty of car horns and shouts of “Go Sox!” could be heard throughout campus.
2 | news
The Scarlet
The Scarlet
october 31, 2013
UPCOMING EVENTS
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF CLARK UNIVERSITY CONTACT scarlet@clarku.edu | clarkscarlet.tumblr.com
EDITORS Editor-In-Chief: Jeremy Levine Layout Editor: Rose Gallogly Web Editor: Pooja Patel News Editor: Sarah Cramer Opinions Editor: Keitaro Okura Living Arts Editor: Matt Emmer Sports Editor: Brian Kane Community Correspondent: Claire Tierney Photo Editor: Anna Spack
SCARLET STAFF Ethan Giles Hannah Rosenblum Jenna Lewis Jonah Naghi Maria Rotelli Ronald Gerber Scott Levine Senegal Carty Tyler Terriault Will Heikes Alicja Ganacarz Fileona Dkhar Tessa Isis-Bahoosh
CCN CORRESPONDENT Ethan Goldstein
[ Saturday, November 2 ] Diversity: Face-to-Face - Tilton Hall and Jonas Clark Hall, 9:00 a.m. Memphis: The Musical - The Hanover Theatre, 2:00 p.m. The Four Faces of Israel - Jefferson Room 218, 7:30 p.m. BSU and RHA Step Show - MLC Weekend in Atwood Hall, 8:00 p.m. Divekick Tournament - Grace Conference Room, 8:00 p.m. Memphis: The Musical - The Hanover Theatre, 8:00 p.m. MLC After Party - The Grind, 10:30 p.m. [ Sunday, November 3 ] Clark Quidditch vs. Smith - The Green, 1:00 p.m. Memphis: The Musical - The Hanover Theatre, 1:00 p.m. Memphis: The Musical - The Hanover Theatre, 6:30 p.m. [ Tuesday, November 5 ] The World in Worcester Art Show Opening - Traina Center, 5:00 p.m.
LAYOUT STAFF Cami Ferreol Hannah Jaffe Rachel Orlomoski
PHOTO STAFF Cora Torton Jonathan Edelman Nainika Grover
[ Wednesday, November 6 ] Coffee for a Cause Giveaway - Red Square, 1:00 p.m. Rudy Giuliani - The Hanover Theatre, 7:30 p.m. Grouplove - Kneller Center, 7:30 p.m.
The Scarlet
october 31, 2013
news | 3
The Scarlet/News Outing Club cabin restoration
Cold weather doesn’t have to mean a barren garden
Continuing an ongoing project
Sustainable Clarkies share tips on winter gardening By Claire Tierney community correspondent
photo by gordon crean
By Gordon Crean contributing writer
Last Saturday, the Outing Club took a group of student volunteers to Southwick Pond in neighboring Leicester–a mere fifteen minute drive from campus–to a quaint cabin in the woods. Reckoned to have been constructed in the late 1800s, the one-room cabin is equipped with a magnificent stone fireplace, a newly screened porch, a recently redone roof and a certain
mysterious charm. Outside is an environment too rarely seen by many Worcester residents and Clark students; beautiful forestland with little evidence of its nearby industrial surroundings. Adjacent to the cabin is an incredibly gorgeous (not to mention rowable and skateable) pond, complete with two beaver dams. This pond area is the very first patch of land that was acquired by continued on page 4
The Clark Sustainability Collaborative (CSC) teamed up with Clark’s “Herban Gardeners” to educate the community about smart winter gardening practices this past Saturday, October 26. We harvested veggies and winterized the Clark Community Garden in the President’s Field on Charlotte Street. The garden functions all four seasons throughout the year and is always producing food for the community. The herban farmers, Emmy and Eric, were friendly and knowledgeable and encouraged questions and participation. Emmy said that the garden was modest, as it is late October; however the raised flatbeds seemed plentiful to me. Varied produce from yellowish Zebra tomatoes to Swiss Chard, from Zucchini to the edible flower Nasturtium. Many of the plants grow through winter, like garlic, which is planted in late fall and pops up in spring, and lettuce, which is cut an inch above the soil when harvested in fall so as to allow for continuous growth. To winterize them, we covered them with wooden frames and clear, hardy plas-
photo by sarah glick
tic wrap, creating a greenhouse effect and warming some of the plants through the winter. As for the plants that would not make it through the winter, we picked off the last of their vestiges and uprooted the massive tomato stalks and bean sprouts and tossed them into the compost bin. The community is encouraged to use the compost, which goes straight back into the garden beds. We learned useful and interesting information, like the ideal fresh-
ness of arugula, when it initially flowers, which is before the nutrients all shift toward the flowers and away from leafy greens. We were also taught that coriander turns into cilantro, when the plant begins to turn brown. The best part of the Clark Community Garden is the free food! Clark’s urban farmers and the rest of the Main South community harcontinued on page 7
The Scarlet
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Clark celebrates Food Week Bringing awareness to food sustainability through events
october 31, 2013
Outting Club cabin restoration cont. continued from page 3
By Jonah Naghi scarlet staff
Last week, the student club Food Truth, along with Dining Services, the Student Alliance of Vegetarian and Vegan Youth (SAVVY), and Eco-reps hosted Food Week, a series of events from Monday through Thursday that focused on aspects of the food cycle. Now that President David Angel and Clark Dining Services signed the Real Food Commitment of 20% real food - locally sourced, ecologically sound, fair trade, and humanely raised food - on campus by 2020, Dining Services General Manager Heather Vaillette said, “Now it’s time to work toward higher real food purchases, which involves educating fellow students on choosing real food items, such as Fair Trade coffee.” Food Week was designed around Food Day, which foodday. org describes as the nationwide celebration of and a movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. This year, Food Day fell on Thursday, October 24. Food Truth kicked off Food Week last Saturday with a walk to the REC Community Farmers Market at the YMCA Fuller Family Park. On Monday, Vaillette held “behind the scenes” tours for students and staff of the kitchen. The tour groups got to see where and how the Dining Services staff makes the food from scratch and works long hours to provide nutritious food to Clarkies. Vaillette also mentioned how the tour groups were amazed by the fact that Clark dining services “can produce over 85,000 meals a month in Higgins Café!”
photo by jonah naghi
That same night, SAVVY hosted a cooking workshop where they baked apple crisp. On Wednesday, there was a food panel discussion, led by Clark professors and Sustainability Coordinator Jenny Isler, about the food system at Clark and the importance of food sustainability. Wednesday night featured the unique event similar to the television series Chopped. Clark’s top chefs competed for the best-tasting dish. Students voted for who they felt had the best overall dish, which included criteria like whether they felt the cuisine was sustainable,
the nonprofit Greater Worcester Land Trust, the organization who reached out to the Outing Club about working on and using the cabin. The GWLT has spent the past 25 years protecting about 2,300 acres of land in and around the city of Worcester. The organization bought five acres of private property a couple years ago to connect their existing land around Southwick Pond to a nearby road. Colin Novick, executive director of the GWLT, explains that “this little funky cabin was accidently on that property...and we became smitten with it. Shortly after we had gotten it we brought out some of the Clark Outing Club folk, and they also became smitten with it. So we’ve been trying to figure out how to not have this thing rot into the ground, and also [to] be sort of a place where people who are in Worcester could drive about a minute and a half to immediately be in a place that feels a lot more like Vermont, New Hampshire, or Maine, that has a whole series of ponds, a
whole series of trails, has wildlife.” For the last couple of years, the Outing Club has been working hard with Novick and other volunteers to get the cabin fixed up to a usable state. Past projects include debris clearing, porch screen re-doing, chimney repair, trail clearing, and more. This past summer, as part of a LEEP Pioneer project, the roof was completely repaired. At this point, the restoration is in its final steps. The group of twelve cheerful volunteers from this past Saturday’s work session managed to paint an interior porch wall, replace some water-damaged wooden boarding, do some trail marking, destroy a dense population of Japanese knotweed (a resilient, fast-spreading invasive species), and more. The crew did all of this in spite of the lingering smell of dead skunk. They are all excited to return to the cabin soon in order to add some more finishing touches, or possibly even to start putting it to use. If you would like to learn more about the cabin restoration process, you can check out the Outing Club’s website for details and pictures.
how much of the meal was made from scratch, and how good it tasted. The event promoted a fun atmosphere for both students and faculty. “Chef Betzaida (Beth) Kranwinkel won with her seafood dishes, which was a proud moment for all of us since Beth began working at Clark as dishwasher in 1997 and has worked her way up as a cook, lead cook, and now Lead Sous Chef at Clark,” Valiette explained. To celebrate Food Day, Food continued on page 6
photo by gordon crean
october 31, 2013
CUSC in brief By Hannah Rosenblum scarlet staff
Clark University Student Council is making moves. This Wednesday saw lengthy but efficient student council meeting. $250 was allocated to Maya Baum from the advocacy fund. $150 was allocated to the Economics Society for an Entrepreneurship Forum at Babson College. $1500 was allocated to the Model United Nations for their participation in a conference at the University of Pennsylvania. Model United Nations is one of Clark’s most successful clubs – they were ranked 17 by bestdelegate.com. The council was hesitant to support their own member, Rebecca Liebman, with multiple representatives questioning how their support of her presentation at the Spatial Planning Environment Conference would affect the Clark community. The request was eventually tabled. Meanwhile, various members of council quietly fought over which of the five windows should be opened. The Board of Trustees was on campus last Friday and Saturday. CUSC president Rian Watt hopes that they will add a ‘young alumni trustee’, someone who has graduated within the last ten years. He thinks the change is likely. A Safety Forum regarding issues facing off-campus residents including parking, burglaries, and garbage will take place in room 112 in the Traina Center at 4 p.m. on November 12. CUSC Vice President, Will Cretinon, chased an ambulance to the site of the fire on Maywood Street that took place on October 30, and reported to the council that no Clark students were harmed. Through surveying, CUSC has discovered that one of the most significant issues on campus is that the execution and communication of LEEP has failed. There was a motion to appoint, as described by CUSC President Rian Watt, “a whole bunch of people to a whole bunch of positions”. There are still 17 open chair positions. DaVaughn Vincent-Bryan, Area Coordinator for First-Year and Transfer Communities said his goal is to meet with each council member individually to discuss their goals and to make sure the goals have long lasting effects, but added “[the meetings] are also for fun.” Each council member shared their current goals. McKenna Hunter ’17 talked about increasing the number of benches on campus. Anthony Senesi ’17 mentioned a scholarship database. Holden Beale ’15 suggested increased printing allowances for humanities majors. Joanna Green ‘16 expressed a desire for more laundry options, while Zoha Nagvi ’16 advocated for more hand drying options.
The Scarlet
news | 5
Obamacare fails online fitness test Faulty website causes delays
courtesy of www.slate.com
By Ishan Chatterjee contributing writer
After a prolonged weekend outage, the Federal Health Insurance website was up and running last Monday. Federal officials fought hard to protect the integrity of the Affordable Care Act and its accompanying website after one of the main contractors allegedly threw it offline. As expected, after a tumultuous government shutdown that ended only days ago, the Obama administration was heavily criticized by the Republican opposition. Republicans claimed that this debacle was only the “tip of the iceberg.” Could this really be symptomatic of greater issues with Obamacare? Should citizens leave it up to bureaucrats in Washington to determine what kind of healthcare they need? Does a “one size fits all” policy ever work? The Democrats were faced with a multi-
plicity of hard-hitting questions. The online portal to buy health insurance suffered another glitch Sunday when the data services hub, a conduit for verifying the personal information of people applying for benefits under the law went down. People claimed that the website was posing problems even after it’s so called, “recovery” on Monday. A group of IT experts concocted a theory behind the failure. The database that works behind the registration for the plan required authentication by government officials first. Thus, the time it takes to authenticate your information increases exponentially when the number of people signing up far exceeds the number of people going over the information. This is what creates an enormous traffic bottleneck. However, the crash of the website itself isn’t the only problem that has surfaced in recent times. Some claim that the only reason the website
asks you to register before you can even see the plans available to you is because the government doesn’t want you to know how expensive the plans actually are. While the Obama administration has indeed dismissed these facts as “baseless rumors”, there has been no concrete proof presented to prove otherwise. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who has come under fire for the problems that plagued the introduction of the enrollment website said that said President Barack Obama didn’t know of the problems with the Affordable Care Act’s website until after its glitch-laden launch on October 1. This was despite the fact that insurance companies had been complaining and the site crashed during a pre-launch test run. To conclude, this is nothing short of mere lack of planning on the part of the federal government.
The Scarlet
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The Luxembourg experience By Dan Stein contributing writer
My experience participating in the May Term in Luxembourg was unlike any other. Having never been to Europe before, I was anxious about living in another country and experiencing another culture. I only knew one other student going on the trip, which also worried me at first, but it turned out to not matter at all. Going on the May Term gave me the chance to make new friends from both Clark and Holy Cross, because we lived together, ate together, took classes together, and traveled together. I made many friends I would otherwise never have met thanks to this program, and now feel like my social circle in Worcester has expanded within and beyond Clark’s campus. Along with making new friends, I also had the unique chance to live under the same roof as my professors, which was new for me and definitely enriched my educational experience. We lived for nearly four weeks in a small town called Remich, settled right on the corner where Luxembourg meets Germany and France. Staying there gave me and the whole group the opportunity to experience
a bit of everyday Luxembourgish life. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to first experience Europe, or a better group to share that experience with. The course I took was called “Imagining Europe: Spaces, Borders, and Cultural Identities,” which fulfilled my Language and Culture Perspective. Taking this class in Luxembourg allowed me to actually see and live what we learned about in class. We would have our seminar from 9 a.m. to noon, and then would frequently go on field trips (around Luxembourg and to France and Germany) in the afternoon to immediately engage the critical and observational skills we were developing as a class. We even had an overnight trip to Strasbourg, France, and the seat of the European Parliament. It is one thing to read about something and another to experience it in real life, and this program gave me and the other students the opportunity to bring these aspects together on a daily basis. My May Term in Luxembourg was an unforgettable experience that gave me educational and social opportunities I have not had anywhere else. I’m extremely glad I chose to apply and participate, and would highly recommend the program to others.
october 31, 2013
STUDY AND TRAVEL IN The GRAND-DUCHY of LUXEMBOURG/Europe from May 19 to June 13, 2014 APPLICATION DEADLINE: MONDAY, January 27, 2014
The May Term Program in Luxembourg -->Do you want to live & study in Europe at an affordable price? -->Do you need to earn/make up a full course credit? -->Do you need to fulfill a Historical or Scientific Perspective? -->Do you need to fulfill an ISS study abroad requirement? The May Term in Luxembourg…can provide you with all of the above. ******
PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR INFORMATIONAL MEETING ON
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5 at 7:00 p.m. Lurie Room, University Center
Food Truth cont. continued from page 4
Truth and Eco Reps teamed up to “Weight the Waste”. From 7 a.m. - 9 p.m., they collected all leftover food
from plates in the cafeteria. Volunteer Jake Kailey commented, “we’re trying to visualize how much wasted of food there is, how we can cut back on it, what the savings would be.” In the end, the waste measured
weighed 396 pounds. Vaillette said it was the highlight of her week because “it was the first true baseline analysis on how much food students waste post-consumer in Higgins Cafe.” She hopes to educate
students about how to waste even less food now that they are aware of just how much they are wasting. Food Truth ended Food Day and Food Week with “Food Night” in the dining hall. Kira Foley, presi-
dent of Food Truth, said that the goal of the event was to raise awareness about the importance of real food and to motivate students to eat more fresh food.
The Scarlet
october 31, 2013
Take Back the Tap is distributing water bottles in Red Square and you don’t want to miss out!
Diversability cont. continued from page 1
ward Disability Services’ accommodations–she wants students to ask, “What can I learn here that will support me out in the real world?” and to use the available services not only to ease the undergraduate experience, but also to identify resources that can aid future careers and everyday life. Working in alignment with this vision are the staff of the Office of Disability Services: the new director, Emily Tarconish, and advisor, Amy Curran. Both are new to the school. Curran joined the Clark community in July, and Tarconish in August. “The change has been hard for some people,” Curran says, “but the vibe of the office is the same–we’re here to help.” She notes that the word “disability” can carry its own stigma, but says it shouldn’t stop anyone from getting whatever help they need. “I don’t want anyone to ever feel nervous to come and talk to us,” Curran says. “We’re more than happy to meet students somewhere else on campus... if [coming to the office] is making someone nervous, that shouldn’t stop them from making a phone call or sending an email.” Sitting before a wall of inspirational quotes and posters, Curran outlines what the office provides: accommodations for students with documented disabilities (such as additional time to finish exams, pairing up classmates who can share notes, and the giving students the opportunity to take exams in reduced-distraction zones), and more individualized academic help, which might include counseling students on time management, scheduling, and organizational skills. The office has also recently invested in ten Livescribe Smartpens, a tool capable of capturing both written notes and audio, valuable for students who struggle to pay attention during class. “I don’t want people to doubt themselves,” Curran says, “but there’s no sense
in struggling alone when there are so many departments here to offer a hand...It’s okay to reach out and ask for help. No one should ever feel like they’re alone.” Although it’s important that students have a documented disability before accessing the office’s services, Tarconish has expressed interest in helping find more cost-friendly ways of seeking documentation, acknowledging that the process of diagnosis can be its own hardship. Throughout both the office and the Diversability dialogue session, this attitude is apparent: that everyone deserves the chance to do their absolute best, and, with the proper support, no one’s best is impossible to reach. Diversability and the Office of Disability Services are currently joining forces to develop a peer-topeer mentorship program, centered around students with learning disabilities who might benefit from additional academic support. The club is looking for students who are interested in filling mentorship roles, and is hoping to have the program running by next semester. Jones is also interested in cultivating a relationship with the Writing Center, looking to expand the one-meeting-per-week limitation for students who could use extra time. With the school’s support, Jones feels that students should be able to find the resources they need right on campus, without being forced to look for outside tutoring. The group’s services also extend beyond learning disabilities. Although the university has no legal obligation to add additional physical accommodations to its buildings (such as wheelchair-accessible ramps or braille), the group still seems ready to push for change–as Jones says, Clark’s campus is “not ideal” for students with physical disabilities. “Remodeling involves a lot of effort,” says Tarconish, “but if there’s silence, nothing is going to change.” It’s easy to see why Tarconish and Curran make a good team, sharing a belief in
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Tuesday, November 5 12-2 pm
Camelbak bottles are $3 Nalgenes are $2 And cool stickers, if you already have a reusable water bottle!
students’ ability to do whatever they set their minds to: back in the office, Curran places her hand by a poster featuring an Eleanor Roosevelt quote. “This is my favorite quote,” she says, nodding up to it. “‘You must do the thing you think you cannot do.’ Sometimes learning is a struggle, but if you do the thing you think you cannot, it will reward you ten times over.” The positivity in the office is reflected in Jones, who sounds confident and eager to work with the school administration.“They’re ready to hear it, which is fabulous,” she says, adding, “one of the most important things is learning that if you’re unsatisfied with something, anyone is good enough, smart enough, and creative enough to start a change.” With that attitude, cooperation of the school, and the investment of the student body, it will be no surprise to see Diversability making waves in the near future. Diversability meets every Friday at 4:15 in the Office of Learning Disability services on the 4th floor of Goddard library
Winter gardening cont. continued from page 3
vest veggies and herbs from the garden and make delicious food. Participants got to take home red tomatoes, Zebra tomatoes, gourds, radishes, and all sorts of greens. The urban farmers often improvise their needed materials by recycling objects like old doors and work with local farmers to fulfill some of their needs, and have managed to grow a lot of food all while staying sustainable. The event was the first of many “Skill Shares” that CSC is hosting to provide helpful information to the eco-conscious Clark community. Gaia Khairina says CSC helps the eco-friendly students on campus collaborate through, “an open meeting each month where all eco-related groups and individuals in the Clark community meet create a
sense of eco-community on campus.” The Skill Share program is new, and aims to “teach practical skills to the Clark community for a sustainable lifestyle,” according to Khairina. Clarkies (or anyone who wants to teach) will be educating Clarkies (or anyone who wants to learn) about practical skills. Plans for future skill shares include, “skills such as canning, beekeeping, daily Yoga routine, and DIY bike maintenance--all taught by Clarkies/Clark student groups. Simple or complex, anyone with a skill is encourage to share. If you’re interested in getting involved with the Clark Sustainability Collaborative, contact Gaia Khairina at khairina@clarku.edu If youre interested in getting involved with the Herban Gardeners, contact Emmy Smela at esmela@clarku.edu
The Scarlet
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october 31, 2013
Residential Life and Housing staff changes By Sarah Cramer news editor
Alex Villagomez
Jeff Carter
DaVaughn Vincent-Bryan
clarku.edu
clarku.edu
clarku.edu
“Much of my life I’ve challenged a lot of convention...I always wanted to think about why things are the way they are.” A little over two weeks at Clark and the Johnson Sanford Center’s new Hall Director Alex Villagomez already uses Clark’s motto in his everyday speech. His background, however, is much more unique than his job title suggests. Growing up in Sacramento, California, Villagomez attended a project and internship-based high school built by the nonprofit organization Big Picture Learning on philosophies of alternative education. For the first two years of high school he interned at a comic book store to learn about small businesses, and in his last two years he worked with a landscape architecture firm. In 2009, a year after he graduated high school, Big Picture Learning created College Unbound, an undergraduate continuation of their high school program. Villagomez was chosen as one of eight students nationwide to participate in the pioneer College Unbound that operated through Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. A three-year year-round program, College Unbound allowed him to, among other things, do a Social Justice Tour along the Mississippi River, build a sustainable tree house classroom, and travel to South Africa. After graduating from College Unbound in 2012 and working with Southern New Hampshire University to start a College Unbound program there, Villagomez realized, “I valued the work that happened inside of residence halls more so than I valued being in front of the classroom.” Accordingly, he became an Assistant Coordinator for Residential Learning Communities at Southern New Hampshire University. With so many varied experiences under his belt, Villagomez has come to Clark to pursue his newest passion: to be an integral part of residential life and to “offer students something that they don’t get anywhere else.”
After nearly three and a half years with Clark, Jeff Carter is leaving Clark at the end of October to be an Academic Adviser at nearby Worcester State University. While Clark’s former Area Coordinator for Upper-class and Graduate Communities is “very excited for this new opportunity to work with students in a different context,” he is also sad to say goodbye. Carter has worked in the field professionally for about five years. An RA in college, he always knew he “wanted to be involved in education in some capacity.” For most of his undergraduate career he was a history education major, but in his senior year decided to become involved in higher education and student affairs instead. While Carter enjoys working in residential life, he wants to have a connection to the academic pursuits of students too. His new job at Worcester State will allow him to have such a connection. The majority of his advisees will be first-years, undeclared, and transfer students. A first-generation college student, as well as a transfer student himself, Carter understands how difficult the college transition can be and wants to help others successfully navigate the transition. He also looks forward to the shift from focusing on behavior and policy to focusing on the student sand their passions, both academic and non-academic. Carter emphasizes communication as the most important skill in his job, and also cites empathy, patience, and flexibility as key characteristics to have in order to build successful relationships with students. RLH Director Kevin Forti and Assistant Director Sarah Bergeron will take over Carter’s duties after his departure. We wish Carter the best of luck at Worcester State, and in all his future endeavors!
DaVaughn Vincent-Bryan wants, above all else, to “make an impact.” In his first year as Area Coordinator for FirstYear and Transfer Communities at Clark, Vincent-Bryan plans to do a full evaluation of the first-year and transfer experiences so that he can then figure out how to create “intentionality behind the first-year experience.” Vincent-Bryan came to Clark after working as Residence Director and Program Coordinator at Southern New Hampshire University, turning down an offer to be the Assistant Director of Student Life at Champlain College in the process. He purposely wants to be an area coordinator before an assistant director, so that he can “grow organically [in his job] and lead from a place of earned trust.” Vincent-Bryan always looks for his next challenge. On his first day as student body president during his undergraduate career at the University of Vermont, he had to deal with a hunger strike. He quickly learned crisis management, and to be very comfortable with crisis. Vincent-Bryan notes that it is important that he actually lives in Bullock Hall, as “crisis and need don’t happen in the 9-5.” He thinks it is very important to build a community by finding ways to make meaningful connections. During one of his years as an RA at UVM, he found himself on a floor of mostly athletes, a group of students he wouldn’t usually befriend. He managed to push past the initial divide by engaging his residents in conversations about masculinity, and ultimately formed real connections with them. In order to forge these essential connections at Clark, Vincent-Bryan intends to focus programs specifically on students’ needs and to make individualized plans for students. While he hopes to one day be vice president of Student Life, his secret life goal is to be Chief of Staff at the White House, which he thinks is the “ultimate organization challenge.”
The Scarlet
october 31, 2013
news | 9
CLARKIE of the WEEK we don’t have an official budget yet, therefore every time we need to fund a game – with transportation expenses, jerseys, or anything like that – we need to go through the Grants Committee of Student Council as opposed to using our own budget. So that adds an extra step. Brian Kane [the vice president] and I have to schedule our practice times and reach out to different schools so we can have a more complete schedule. We have to create the budget proposal too. We’re also working with the Athletics Department a little because we practice in the Dolan right now and that’s not necessarily the most ideal facility for us. Reaching out to other teams [at other schools] is especially difficult.
courtesy of dan diez
Dan Diez Dan Diez is a Political Science major from Burrillville, Rhode Island. An avid bowler in his free time, Dan is involved in a number of groups on campus as well. Dan also talked about his interest in politics.
Scarlet: What activities are you involved in on campus? Dan: I’m a Resident Adviser in the Johnson Sanford Center (specifically Johnson), I give tours [with] Scarlet Key, and I’m the president of the club basketball team. I’m also the president of Pre-Law Society. Scarlet: How did you become president of the basketball team and what does that role involve? Dan: Last year we were a new organization, founded by a senior who graduated. So at the end of the year, our team nominated me [as the new president]. It’s a little different from being the head of any other club because
Scarlet: Did you play basketball in high school? Dan: Yeah. I’ve been playing basketball since I was five. Scarlet: What does Pre-Law Society do? Dan: Every year we use a significant portion of our budget to fund a trip to the Supreme Court, which is run by Professor Miller in the Political Science Department (who is also my favorite professor). We take 12 students every year. I went on the trip last year and it was an amazing experience. You have all nine Justices up in front of you. We get to sit and hear two arguments from both sides. As great as that is, it’s also a little bit unfortunate because we don’t have that much funding to do a lot of things around campus. But we are in the process of sponsoring a practice LSAT on
campus. We had a law school admissions panel earlier in the year, and we also sponsored a mock law class this past Wednesday with a law professor from Roger Williams. So we’re pretty active on campus but we do definitely cater to a specific demographic of Clark students. Scarlet: I assume you want to go into law then? Dan: Yes. After I do Fifth Year I want to go to law school. Scarlet: Do you want to be a lawyer? Dan: That’s the game plan. I want to be a corporate lawyer. Scarlet: I heard that you ran a marathon. Can you talk about that? Dan: Well to start, I hate running. In high school I ran cross country my senior year where I met my nowbest friend from home who was an all-state runner her junior year. I told her, “If you make all-state again your senior year, I’ll run a marathon with you.” But she ended up running the worst race of her life, and she called me after really upset. I was like, “you know what? I’ll still run a marathon with you.” She ran varsity last year (she goes to Providence College) and then this year she decided not to and was like, “so about that marathon….” So I kept my word, trained a lot, and we ended up running the whole thing together in 3 hours, 58 minutes, and 20 seconds. It was about 15 minutes faster than I was expecting. Scarlet: Where and when was it? Dan: It was the Maine Marathon on October 6.
by Anna Spack
Scarlet: Do you have any other hobbies or interests? Dan: I LOVE bowling. Bowling makes me happier than most things in this world. I only bowl like three or four times a year and I was never in a bowling league. I guess it just makes me feel cool that I can spin it and stuff. Scarlet: Any fun facts about yourself? Dan: I’ve met Leonardo DiCaprio but I’ve never seen Titanic. Scarlet: How did you meet Leonardo DiCaprio?! Dan: My senior year of high school I won a private scholarship that [involved] a trip to D.C. to attend the National Scholars Conference. It was through the Horatio Alger Association, which is for distinguished Americans, and Leonardo was one of the people being inducted, along with the CEO of Fox News, Mayor Bloomberg, and the CEO of PNC Bank… a bunch of really big people. Scarlet: So did you get to shake hands with Leo? Dan: No, but I asked him what his greatest non-financial contribution was to charity. He talked about awareness and how he promotes his charities. I have a couple pictures of him but not any with him. I was in the urinal next to him in the bathroom…. Thanks for the interview, Dan!
The Scarlet
10 | news
october 31, 2013
Store clerk’s cell phone blocks bullet to the chest
Samsung Galaxy S4 burns down Hong Kong home
Robber fires at Florida clerk; shot lodges in cell phone
Cell phone allegedly explodes in owner’s hands
(Reuters) - During an attempted robbery in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday, a middle-aged male store clerk was fired at by a robber who had demanded that he open the store’s safe. Although he initially thought that the robber had missed, the clerk later found that the bullet was embedded in the cell phone in his shirt pocket.
(Huffington Post) - Hong Kong resident Du reports hearing a loud ‘pop’ from his Samsung Galaxy S4’s battery while he was playing a game on it. Du immediately threw the phone away from him, but it allegedly set fire to the sofa on which it landed. The flames quickly spread and the house where Du and his wife lived suffered serious fire damage. Fortunately, the couple managed to escape safely.
Texan man hit twice by lightning in the same storm
College squirrel suspected of vandalism
Survives almost unscathed
Squirrel was photographed attacking professor’s bike
By Sénégal N. Carty scarlet staff
Melting of Himalayan glaciers blamed on funeral pyres and incense Study finds that one quarter of India’s and Nepal’s fossil fuel emissions come from religious ceremonies (Telegraph) - Twenty-three percent of the atmospheric pollution from fossil fuels in India and Nepal come from practices such as cremation and burning incense, according to researchers from the Pandit Ravi Shankar Shukla University in Southeast India and the Desert Research Institute in Nevada. Evidence from their study suggests that these practices are contributing to the melting of the Himalayan glaciers, and are a major source of atmospheric carcinogens.
(Miami Herald) - Thirty-one year old Casey Wagner was standing under a tree at an off-road racing competition in northern Texas on Sunday when he was struck by lightning, then struck again after falling to his knees. He survived and was released from the hospital after receiving treatment. According to Wagner, doctors told him to expect the tingling sensation to last about a week.
(Miami Herald) - A squirrel at Iowa Lake’s Community College is suspected of chewing through both of the tires and the seat of a bicycle belonging to an associate math professor, as well as damaging its taillight and headlight. The incident was reported to the police by the bike’s owner. Later on though, a second professor brought in a photo of the bike being ‘vandalized’ by a squirrel.
The Scarlet
october 31, 2013
opinions | 11
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.
The “unlimited” meal plan — with restrictions Athletes struggle with dining limitations
editor-in-chief
An open letter to Dunkin’ Donuts
By Celine Manneville contributing writer
After an exhausting two and a half hour practice filled with sprints, new drills, new corners, and one-on-ones, all I want to do is eat everything in sight. I burned so many calories that I feel like I am going to faint. My hands, arms, and legs are starting to tremble; I need to eat something soon or things will go downhill really fast. I look at the time on my phone. 8:30 p.m. Crap. I sprint into the locker room as fast as I can, throw my gear into my locker, grab my stuff, throw on my shoes, and run out. I go to the training room to get some ice. It seems like it’s taking forever. 8:45. I don’t know if I am going to make it. After getting ice wrapped on my knee, I try to get out of the Dolan as fast as I can, but all I can do is hobble. I waddle up Beaver Street as fast as I can, racing against the clock as if it is the final minutes in a championship game. 8:55. I am so close, almost there. 8:57. I made it, but of course, there is a huge line. I jump in line, hoping to get to the register in the three minutes I have left. I finally reach the register. 9:03. I lost the championship: swaps are over for the night. Based on the cost of the meal plan, I do not think that I
By Jeremy Levine
courtesy of admissions.clarku.edu
should ever be hungry, especially when the reasons for missing a meal are out of my control. I do not choose practice times; I do not choose to be at Dolan until 9:30 p.m. when we have a home game. If I got to decide our schedule, I would be making it to dinner every night. There is a serious issue with the system with respect to athletes. On Mondays and Tuesdays, the field hockey team has practice from six to eight. The Cafeteria closes at eight. By the time we get up to the UC, it is usually somewhere between 8:10 p.m. and 8:20 p.m. This is so frustrating. It is not like we miss closing time by an hour; we usually miss it by a matter
of minutes. For athletes getting out of practice at eight, there should be some type of grace period, allowing us to go to the Caf and eat dinner. If the Caf was open for another thirty minutes we would be able to go, but instead we are forced to go to the bistro. And honestly, I do not want to eat bistro food three to four times a week because of practices and games. Eating really becomes an issue when we have home games. Our games are never over by the time the Caf closes at eight, and we have accepted that. The issue is that by continued on page 14
Dear Dunkin’ Donuts, I entered a Dunkin’ Donuts location the other day and was greeted warmly by its staff, as I’m sure is the standard that you wish to uphold. I then had a doughnut (please note the spelling), which was pretty OK, which I’m sure is the standard that you wish to uphold. I was then given my coffee, complete with a label reminding me that it might be a little warm, which I’m sure is the standard that you wish to uphold. And then you offended, appalled, and alienated me (all at once!), which I’m sure is not the standard that you wish to uphold. You see, Dunkin’ Donuts, you claim that America Runs On Dunkin. It then seems strange that an American such as myself could feel so outof-place in a Dunkin’ Donuts. But it happened. And do you know how? By your placement of the New England Patriots logo on the coffee cup’s side. I’m a Buffalo Bills fan, and as a Buffalo Bills fan, I have been taught to despise anything relating to the New England Patriots. And so, when you placed them on your mug, I immediately resented you, your coffee, and even those relatively nice cashiers. If American Runs On Dunkin’, then you’re doing a dandy job of ostracizing most of America. Now, I was taught to be accepting. I was taught that, no matter what you do, you should try to include people of all races and religions and sports affiliations. You, Dunkin Donuts, apparently have no such values. I am apprehensive to patronize your place of business in the future (unless like I need to use the bathroom on a road trip in which case I’m going in there and not even buying anything!). Open your minds. Come back to the American values of totally not excluding any groups of people at all. If America is truly to run on Dunkin’, then Dunkin’ should consider running on some American values. Only then will you be America’s one true coffee shop. Right now, that position is held by Jazzman’s Café. You won’t see any sports teams on their styrofoam cups. That’s because they don’t even have styrofoam cups. Stop killing the planet, too. That’s mean. Respectfully Yours, Jeremy Levine
The Scarlet
12 | opinions
The evolving standard of decency Supreme Court to review capital punishment standards
courtesy of www.britannica.com
By Jeremy Levine editor-in-chief
The death penalty is a tricky thing. We, as a nation, have trusted people to decide whether or not certain other people live or die. That’s a pretty hefty responsibility, and it’s irreversible. Basically, we better get it right. The Supreme Court of the United States is preparing to hear arguments on Hall v. Floriaa, which challenges the standards for mental retardation (which is the accepted legal term) set by the Court in Atkins v. Virginia (2002). Quick review: Daryl Atkins (and an accomplice, William Jones)
murdered Eric Nesbitt in Virginia in 2002. Atkins, who had an IQ of 59, was going to be sentenced to death, but then the notion of cruel and unusual punishment, as per the Eight Amendment, was brought up. The question was whether or not it was constitutional to execute someone who was mentally retarded under the standard of “cruel and unusual.” Long story short, the Supreme Court said that it is unconstitutional to do so, but it did not define mental retardation. And that’s where we are today with Hall v. Florida. Now, assuming that the death penalty is morally acceptable (which is a huge assumption,
but necessary for this article), the question at hand is whether or not the Court should issue some sort of standard for mental retardation. IQ testing is not precise. On separate occasions, Hall has scored 71, 73, and 80 on the IQ tests. Florida has an “inflexible bright-line cutoff,” which basically means that anyone with an IQ under under 70 constitutes mental retardation. But not every state has this same cutoff, and many states use other standards. So it is totally possible for someone to be mentally retarded and ineligible for execution in one continued on page 13
october 31, 2013
The Scarlet
october 31, 2013
Capital punishment cont. continued from page 12
state, but not another. So even if the death penalty is morally justified, that seems like a lousy standard on which we base our most permanent judicial move. But wait, it gets worse. Capital punishment is far more popular in some states than it is in others. Texas has executed fourteen people so far this year, but New Hampshire, where the death penalty is legal but not particularly popular, hasn’t had an execution since 1939. What can then happen is that a state can define mental retardation loosely or tightly in order to ensure more or fewer executions, based on whether or not capital punishment is popular in their state. In a state like Texas, the definition for mental retardation is rather strict and very few people are deemed legally mentally retarded, which drives their execution figures up, which is good for whoever happens to be Attorney General and on the bench at the time and is looking to get reelected. You can’t tell me you’d be surprised to find out, in this political age, that judges would be willing to change execution standards in order to get some votes (especially in states where judges are elected as opposed to appointed). Of course, this whole thing gets a little hairy when you think about this seemingly slimy politicking in terms of state’s rights. It can easily be argued that the good people of Texas, who favor capital punishment, would see it fit to define mental retardation at a certain point that leads to more executions. After all,
the state of Texas, not the United States, executes people. It’s easy to get caught in such arguments. Is it state’s rights, or is it a manipulation of voters? Those two things are never mutually exclusive, but the question to consider is really one of certainty. By the very nature of the death penalty, we as a nation should not be at liberty to mess with who is considered for execution. We need to get these cases right, and the kind of inflexibility posed by a bright-line system prevents any degree of conclusiveness. In the end, this one boils down to federalism. Who decides who will live and who will die? The states, or the nation as a whole? Is it time we had a constitutional amendment addressing capital punishment? Some say yes, some say no, and those that say yes are divided on whether such an amendment should abolish or uphold the penalty. Right now, it seems that these changing standards based on states are unjust for such a serious issue, but sitting around and hoping for a constitutional amendment is going to be a very long wait indeed. Instead, let’s just wait to see what happens in June 2014, when the Court will probably release its decision in Hall v. Florida. Much of the literature surrounding this matter discusses society’s “evolving standards of decency.” Apparently, one day, we’ll all be decent enough to stop executing people that don’t fully understand their actions. I wonder why that day isn’t today.
opinions | 13
Speculating on Fantex Site gives new meaning to trading players
courtesy of cary edmondson_usa today sports
By Scott Levine scarlet staff
Fantex is a new website that allows people to invest in a professional athlete. This website allows people to invest in stocks that are dependent on the professional athlete and therefore his future earnings. Houston Texans running back, Arian Foster, is the poster child of this website. Fantex just gave him ten million dollars to give away 20% of his salary to the website. Foster is making a solid and safe investment by all accounts. Running backs in the NFL often have a very short span of success. Foster himself may have peaked three years ago. He led the NFL in rushing yards in 2010. Chris Johnson did it the year before, and Maurice Jones-Drew the year after. Neither of those three backs have enjoyed quite the same success since then. The relevancy of a running back
is similar to that of a fashion trend: short lived. Fans will forget about a running back once he makes a departure from his ephemeral stay at the peak of his abilities. We are quick to dismiss past players to focus on the ones that are currently doing well. This is the culture of sports that we live in. Fantex fits right in with today’s sports fan culture. Fans are always predicting which players will perform well and which ones will perform poorly. We enjoy speculating on the information given to us by ESPN and other popular sports networks. We treat players as though they are stocks, not people. We bet money on players. They make or break our fantasy sports seasons. Eventually, however, we may start to see these players as things as opposed to people. Rembert Browne, a writer for the sports website Grantland, summarized this phenomena best when talking about former Laker
Cedric Ceballos. “Cedric Ceballos. Yes, that is the name of a person, but for the past 10 years, I’ve thought of him more as one of the many representations of my childhood than as an actual human who played in the National Basketball Association. Non-humans fall into this category, too, from NBA Jam: Tournament Edition to Sports Illustrated for Kids to GameDay ‘98 to Eastbay, Inside Stuff to Beckett’s Price Guide and Rock N’ Jock…” Browne’s mentality is shared by many sports fans. Our depersonalization of athletes is thus understandable. We don’t know them personally and have a hard time relating to them. They make more money than us and lead completely different lifestyles. Even so, the degree to which we objectify them is alarming. It has gotten to the point where a website that sells shares of their salary seems completely normal.
14 | opinions
The Scarlet
october 31, 2013
Meal plan cont. continued from page 11
the time our game is over and we are free to go, the clock is ticking closer to nine, which is the time that all swaps end. On one occasion, my team got to the bistro well before nine. The line was huge, so by the time they got to the registers, it was past nine. They were not allowed to use swaps that night because of the line, so they had to pay for their meal. The situation was ridiculous. It was not their fault that they missed the deadline for swap, as they were there before nine. The size of the line, which was a factor out of their control, made them miss their swap. One of the girls had to talk to the people in charge and explain what happened in order to get her money back. In my opinion, nobody should have to do that. It is so frustrating to show up at the bistro and not be able to swap because it is nine. As with the Caf, it is not like we are showing up an hour after swaps have ended. Usually, we miss swaps by a matter of minutes. Why should I have to pay ten dollars for a meal when I had a game and was unable to reach the bistro until 9:05? Again, is there any way that a grace period can be added, allowing athletes to swap until 9:15 or 9:30? I am an athlete. I need to eat in order to fuel my body. I do not think that I should be denied from using my meal plan because a game or practice runs a few minutes late. Based on the amount of money that I pay for my meal plan, I do not think that I should ever be hungry just because my practice and game schedule conflicts with the schedule of when I am “supposed to” eat.
Dear Sigmund, I’m a first year student at Clark and I’ve been dating my girlfriend for 2 years. Her school is about an hour away and even though we’ve seen each other a few times since school started, we have been talking more and more about our relationship. Last week she told me that she wanted to consider having an open relationship, where we would be together but be able to hook up with other people if we felt connected to them. To me this sounds a lot like she wants to have her cake and eat it too. I really love her and want her to be happy, and I don’t want to lose her, but I don’t know how I feel about her hooking up with other guys. Do open relationships work? Any advice? Confused Dear Confused, Thanks for writing in. Open relationships are a topic that seems to be coming up more and more often, and opinions about them appear to be mixed. There are two ways to answer your question about whether or not these types of relationships work: there’s the easy answer and the not so easy answer. The easy answer is that most of the time open relationships do not work out in the long run. The not so easy answer is that it entirely depends upon the couple, and what both partners want. The most important factors to think about when considering an open relationship are the motivations behind it, the level of trust and communication you have as a couple, and whether or not BOTH people are on board. If the motivation behind it is that you or your partner just want to be able to hook up with other people, then perhaps you should consider your reason for being
in a relationship to begin with. Open relationships can often bring up feelings of insecurity, jealousy and lack of trust down the road. Being prepared to potentially deal with these feelings is a necessary aspect to consider. If an open relationship is the path you decide to go down, it is crucial to have some in-depth conversations about what that means to each person in the relationship. Some helpful questions to discuss with your girlfriend could be: Will there be boundaries? What is your definition of “hooking-up?” (Be explicit about what is okay and what isn’t.) What happens if one of you develops feelings for someone else? What if one of you is no longer comfortable with the open relationship? These are all important things to talk about before you decide to pursue an open relationship. Overall, these relationships can not only introduce new people into the relationship, but can also introduce feelings of jealousy, resentment, and sadness. Communication, honesty, and check-ins with your girlfriend are essential. And both parties must be 100% on board in order for the open relationship to have any chance of success. If you decide against it and your girlfriend still wants it, perhaps it would be helpful to ask yourself whether or not this is the right girl for you. While these types of relationships traditionally do not work out, some couples do make it work for them. If this is something that you and your girlfriend BOTH decide is a path you want to pursue, give it a shot. Just remember to keep the communication open between the two of you. Sigmund
If you have a question for Sigmund, email SigmundSays@clarku.edu, and keep checking to see if your question appears in a future column. Please remember that the advice given here is not meant to act as, or replace, therapy or emergency care.
The Scarlet
october 31, 2013
opinions | 15
The real winners The Nobel Peace Prize in the age of NGOs
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Are you currently an undergrad? Are you inspired? What’s your green idea? courtesy of www.dw.de
By Patrick Fox scarlet staff
The U.N.-backed watchdog agency known as the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has won The Nobel Peace Prize. The group has been scouring war-torn Syria, in an attempt to remove chemical weapons from the conflict situation that has been raging there for almost three years. The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited that the main reason for the decision as the OPCW’s “extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons”. The other nominees for the award included Chelsea Manning (formerly known as Bradley Manning), the infamous U.S. intelligence soldier who released hundreds of confidential files to the immensely controversial
WikiLeaks, as well as 49 other organizations. The favorite among commentators was the, now world-famous, Pakistani teenage activist, Malala Yousafzai. Yousafzai skyrocketed to fame after the bus carrying her to school was stopped by Taliban fighters. A gunman then stepped onto the bus, and shot Yousafzai in the head, at point-blank range. The awarding of the medal to another large organization (last year’s recipient being the EU) is very troubling. The prize ought to have been given to Yousafzai. First and foremost, Organizations like OPCW have won in the past, many times. The EU, Grameen Bank, and the International Atomic Energy Agency, are all large organizations that have won the award in the past seven years. Malala Yousafzai does not just stand for her original platform of education for women. She stands
for true, grassroots change; at a personal, intimate level. Her nomination was an important clarion call to those who want to change the world, not at the level of nations, but individuals. Yousafzai is a true champion of her beliefs, one who is not afraid to die. While it is true that the members of OPCW were risking their lives too, there is a difference between being a seasoned veteran of horrific wars and conflicts, and a fifteen-year old girl who almost became a martyr for her beliefs. That is change, and whether or not Malala Yousafzai makes television appearances or meets the U.S. president, she has most likely inspired people – of all ages and genders – that with enough motivation and bravery, anyone can achieve peace and bring significant change, whether or not they belong to a wider organization.
Tell us and we could help make it a reality!
The Campus Consciousness Tour with Wednesday, November 6 Kneller Athletic Center
CampusConsciousness.org
16 | living arts
The Scarlet
october 31, 2013
The Scarlet/Living Arts Four hands and much applause World renowned pianists’ outstanding duet
I smoke a pipe. Not ‘cause it’s edgy, I just have dangerous hobbies
by Tyler Terriault
Do you ever think of me, Wright Hall, my olde friend? It’s been far too long Twelve thirty on a week day and I have free time? What the hell is this?
By Jenna Caskie contributing writer
On Friday, October 25 at 7:30 p.m. several students of Clark University (and several more people over the age of sixty-five) filed into Razzo Hall in the Traina Center for the Arts to listen to the classical piano duet performed by Clark’s very own Sima Kustanovich and Russian pianist, Pavel Neersessian. Sima Kustanovich is known around the North East as a spectacular pianist as well as an esteemed teacher. She is on the faculty here at Clark University, and works with many students majoring and minoring in Music, as well as graduate students. She is also the accompanist for the Clark University choir. Her accomplishments include being appointed Distinguished Artist in 2008 by Clark University, as well as having performed around the world in countries which include Russia, Estonia, Austria, and Italy, as well as in several venues which include St. Jacoby’s Cathedral in Sweden. She has previously taught at Walnut Hill School for the Arts.
I love you so muchYou’ll never know… Wacky Wednesday Ice Cream Dish
courtesy of thevitalitymag.com
Pavel Nersessian is described as one of the most incredible Russian pianists of his generation and has won prizes in every piano competition he has entered. Some of these include Beethoven Competition Vienna and the Tokyo Competition. The two pianists walked on si-
lently and immediately the crowd became quiet. They sat down and began playing. The pieces they played included Liebeslieder Walzer (Love Songs), op. 52a by Johannes Brahms, Antiche Danze ed Arie, Suite No.I, and Sonata for 4 hands in g-minor, op.17.
The entire concert lasted about an hour and kept everyone in the audience captivated in their seats (or for some, in their dreams) over the entire course of the concert. Immediately you could see the passion each one held for the music; the energy seemed to fill their bodies only to be released when their fingers touched the keys. After the first piece Kustanovich and Nersessian stood and bowed, and the auditorium filled with applause while the couple behind me muttered to one another “stunning!” and “just fabulous! So exciting!”. It amazed me how fast their hands moved across the instrument. It seemed like so much more than just making music because even their subtle body movements, the breath in each note that was created, made it
seem almost like dancing. Everything about this pair seemed to fit together, and therefore the experience became more than listening to classical music; it became something spectacular. After the concert ended, and the pair took their bows and were encouraged to return for an encore, a couple of Clark students who have had experiences in class with Kustanovich were left talking about the concert. One students, a fifth year, said that although it is intimidating, being able to work with Sima Kustanovich is a great opportunity. After watching her perform, that seems easy to believe. The two pianists performed three incredible pieces and demonstrated incredible passion for the arts while doing so. This was definitely a concert worth stepping out for.
The Scarlet
october 31, 2013
living arts | 17
I feel I never told you the story of the Phish Phish plays two nights at the recently renovated DCU Center By Matt Emmer living arts editor
This weekend saw Vermontnative band Phish play two incendiary concerts at Worcester’s DCU Center. These performances marked the band’s 15th and 16th visits to the venue, starting with a historic 1993 New Years Eve show that featured a stage set up like an aquarium and the debut of set list mainstay “Down with Disease”. The arena, previously known as the Worcester Centrum, is usually home to Worcester Sharks games. It was recently renovated with a new glass facade, improved concourses, and mechanical upgrades, aimed at making the historic house of countless concerts and sporting events more fan friendly. Both nights saw phans mostly disregarding the repairs during the hurried exodus from the customary parking lot craft and culture fair, known as “Shakedown Street”, to their seats. Long lines at concessions and bathrooms persisted as well. Anyone who’s seen a Phish show can attest that the concert is, at the very least, a unique experience. In the band’s thirty-year history, they have never played the same set twice, making each concert a vastly different occurrence. Additionally, the band is known for extended composed sections and improvisational explorations, combining influences as diverse as funk and traditional American bluegrass and folk music. The music is accompanied by a spectacular light show, created live by the legendary Chris Kuroda. As the unofficial fifth member of the band,
Kuroda, known to his followers as CK5, crafts a form of communal synesthesia with a vivid pallet of color, closely synchronized with the oftenimprovised music in real time. The first set of Friday night’s show began around 8:34, slightly late for the average Phish show, with the syncopated and bluesy start-stop intro to “Funky Bitch” by blues musician Son Seals, a solid but predictable set opener. While an above-satisfactory reading of the song, it was the “Wolfman’s Brother” that followed that signified to the capacity crowd that the band was ready to get down to business. The exceptionally strong first set included a whimsical “Wilson” that was dedicated to Rog, a high school friend of guitarist Trey Anastasio mentioned in the song’s lyrics who was present that evening. Also played were the compositionally complex early rarity “The Curtain With” and the first performance of the pseudobluegrass original “My Mind’s Got a Mind of its Own” in nearly three years. After a satisfyingly funky “46 Days”, the band left the stage for the set break. Most Phish heads will tell you that, while a first set can be an enjoyable warm up, the second half is what truly makes a show great. Thus, the hungry crowd, not satiated by the almost perfect set they had witnessed, waited breathlessly during the 45-minute intermission. An extended take on “Waves” opened a continuous second set that failed to disappoint the near-flawless promise of the first. A blistering “Carini” was followed by the only real disappointment of the night, a poorly placed rendition of the notoriously set-killing “Prince Caspian”.
courtesy of livemusicblog.com
“Backwards Down the Numberline” kick-started a run of songs that quickly revived the set, including inspired versions of “Ghost”, “Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley”, and the previously mentioned “Down with Disease”. Following the set closing “Run Like an Antelope”, the band triumphantly returned for a rare four-song encore, apparently for the benefit of fans delayed by traffic on the Mass Pike. Phish paid tribute to the incident by starting the encore with the goofy and instructional “Contact”, which contains the immortal line, “The tires are the things on the car that make contact with the road.” The unprecedented string of songs concluded with a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times, Bad Times”. The second night of the run opened with the one-two-punch of “Party Time” and “Punch You in the Eye, proving that lightning can, in
fact, strike twice. The set that followed demonstrated the band’s virtuosic eclecticism, ranging from the roots stomp of “Back on the Train” to the improvisational bliss of “Simple” and “David Bowie”. Of all the music played in Worcester that weekend, the most likely to be entered into the cannon of Phish lore is Saturday night’s second set. It began with a near twenty-minute cover of the Who’s “Drowned”, a remnant from Phish’s 1995 Halloween tackling of QUADROPHENIA. The explosive rendering only increased excitement and speculation over what album the band will cover this year on Halloween, a Phish tradition known as a “musical costume”. The set culminated with a “Mike’s Groove” punctuated with a rare and striking version of Led Zeppelin’s “No Quarter”, carrying over the theme established with the previous evening’s final encore. With an
average song length of 10:42, the set proved the worthy answer to other legendary Phish DCU performances. The final surprise of the weekend was the encore. A few measures into a deliciously funky cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Boogie on Reggae Woman”, drummer Jon Fishman was seamlessly replaced by a mysterious other percussionist. After the conclusion of the song, Fishman returned from the wings to announce the guest as Kenwood Dennard, famous sideman for Jazz musicians Miles Davis and Chick Chorea, among others. Dennard then remained for “Possum”. His distinctive grooves were used to make Phish’s second most commonly played original seem new and refreshing. Both nights proved unforgettable and unique experiences, each with distinct highlights and surprises. After the conclusion of their Fall Tour on November 2nd, Phish will
The Scarlet
18 | sports
october 31, 2013
The Scarlet/Sports COUGAR of the WEEK Rachel Spera
by Scott Levine
volleyball
The volleyball players who spike the ball and rack up kills are often the ones who get the most attention, but the player setting those spikes up is equally important. Senior captain Rachel Spera has been setting up spikes at Clark for four years now, and she is one of the best at what she does. She is averaging 7.47 assists per set, for fifth in the NEWMAC this year.
courtesy of clarkathletics.com
Scarlet: You’ve been near the top in assists per set this year. You had 33 assists against Wheaton. What do you attribute to getting all of these assists? Rachel: Definitely my passers. My passers this year are incredible, so I would not be able to do this without them. And my hitters are the ones that give me the assists. They have to get the kills, so it’s definitely a team effort. Scarlet: You’ve had a lot of different players step up this season. How has it been different to have a lot of people to assist to? Rachel: It’s actually made the team a lot closer, which helps us win. And it makes it more fun. When everyone’s playing their best game, it’s a lot more fun and we’re going to end up winning. Individually, we have to step up, but once were all there on the same page, it makes a big difference. Scarlet: Have you always been the setter of the team? Rachel: Yes. I always have been. I started my freshman year and I played ever since. So I’ve always been the main setter on the team. Scarlet: Did you play setter in high school? Rachel: I was not a setter at first, actually. One of the girls on the team was
asked to be setter, and she quit. Then I was asked to be setter, and I found out that I loved it. Scarlet: What about being the setter do you like? Rachel: I love being kind of like the quarterback of the team. I like being the one who talks to passers and then talks to the hitters. I’m kind of like the glue. And I love being able to run different plays, and see the whole court. Scarlet: Do you think your role as a setter has increased responsibility now that you’re a senior? Rachel: Yeah. I’ve had to learn a lot. It’s not easy being a setter. You have to learn how to be intense, and what your team needs, and how to be positive, and when to say certain things at certain times. So now that I’m a senior, I’ve definitely learned how to best talk to my team. I definitely mess up sometimes, and my teammates definitely tell me. Scarlet: In what regard? Rachel: Sometimes I’ll get too intense and too excited about a certain play, and they’ll be like, “Okay, Rachel. Settle down girl.” But I’m finally reaching my peak and where I want to be. Scarlet: How do your leadership skills compare to years past? Rachel: I used to think that being intense and being loud was the right way. I’ve really thought about my
teammates and what they thought. And after talking to them last year, I realized that the way that I was on the court was actually not helping us win games. It was probably hurting the team, and I had to change that. I feel that having them support me, I’ve been able to become a better leader and a better setter on the court. And I think that’s translated into [success] this season. Scarlet: Great, I’m sure it’s especially important to have those skills since the setter is usually the emotional leader. Rachel: Right, so keeping that constant, “everything is okay, guys,” positive attitude is very important. Scarlet: Are you beating teams that you did not beat in previous seasons? Rachel: We’re beating teams that we have beaten normally, and teams that we haven’t. We beat Salve Regina, and they were 19-1. We beat them in four sets, which was super exciting. We have never beat them in the four years I’ve been here until this year. So now they have two losses (laughs). Scarlet: What are some important games coming up? Rachel: [We play] Emerson on Saturday. If we win, and Wheaton loses to Babson, we will be going to the playoffs which is so exciting. We haven’t done that in the last two years, so it would be really great to go this year.
Fantasy Football Add/Drop for Week 9 By Ethan Giles scarlet staff
ADD • Marvin Jones, WR, Bengals: After a relatively quiet season, Jones erupted Sunday with four touchdowns against the Jets. While that kind of performance cannot be expected, Jones should now get the majority of the snaps across from AJ Green and should see a lot of one-on-one coverage. Jones is owned in only 1.1% of espn.com leagues, 2.4% of nfl.com leagues, and 27% of yahoo.com leagues. • Andre Ellington, RB, Cardinals: Ellington exploded for 154 yards and a touchdown Sunday after finally getting the work he has deserved all season. Look for Ellington to displace Rashard Mendenhall as the lead back for Arizona. Ellington is owned in 11.3% of espn.com leagues, 25.5% of nfl.com leagues, and 54% of yahoo.com leagues. DROP • Joseph Randle, RB, Cowboys: Randle did not do much while filling in for DeMarco Murray, and with Murray on the way, back Randle is no longer worth keeping around. If you took a flier on him, it is time to cut bait. • Sydney Rice, WR, Seahawks: Percy Harvin is coming back soon, and Rice tore his ACL on Monday night. If you have him, drop him. BUY LOW • Danny Amendola, WR, Patriots: While he might get hurt at any moment, Amendola could put up solid numbers the rest of the season. Danny has not been able to stay on the field long enough to get in rhythm with Tom Brady, but by the end of the season he could very well be the Wes Welker replacement the Patriots thought they were signing this offseason. Try to pick up Amendola, especially if you are in a Points Per Reception league. SELL HIGH • Vincent Jackson, WR, Buccaneers: The Buccaneers season is officially out of control. The whole team hates the head coach, the quarterback play is terrible, and now injuries are starting to pile up all over the offense (and that doesn’t count the whole MRSA outbreak). Abandon ship on the one guy still standing.
The Scarlet
october 31, 2013
The Scarlet/Puzzles CROSSWORD
SUDOKU
copyright © 2013 crosswordsite.com ltd.
ACROSS
DOWN
1. Unable to see (5) 3. Draws into mouth (5) 6. Thrust with a knife (4) 7. Swiss city (6) 9. Banish (5) 10. Fail or misplace (4) 11. Open mesh fabric (3) 13. Small island (4) 15. Speed (5) 18. Bigger (6) 19. Breathe hard (4) 20. Incident (5) 21. Slumbered (5)
1. Woven container (6) 2. Inhabitant of Iraq (5) 3. Furtive (8) 4. Ships’ companies (5) 5. Stately aquatic bird (4) 8. Apartment (8) 12. Group of six (6) 14. Rush (5) 16. Frighten (5) 17. Sky colour (4)
THIS WEEK’S SOLUTIONS IN NEXT ISSUE
puzzles | 19
The Scarlet
20 | puzzles
october 31, 2013
SOLUTIONS TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLES
Police Logs
October 24th 2:39 - Fireworks complaint 18:24 - Escort van was hit. 21:39 - Unarmed robbery off-campus. 23:15 - Reporting person states that earlier party that went by red cab to the hospital is ready to be brought back. October 25th 16:21 - Report of car parked in the middle of the throughway in the commuter garage. 18:47 - Man in dumpster on Woodland Street. October 26th 16:05 - Washing machine won’t open in Bullock Hall. October 28th 15:28 - Photographer will be taking photos on the roof on 22 Downing Street. October 29th 18:02 - Suspicious male with grey beard in silver explorer. 18:42 - Trash can is on fire. This week University Police saw one complaint, one loud party, one disorderly person, one motor vehicle stop, one count of vandalism, one threat, three fire alarms, three suspicious persons, nine calls to escort, and eleven calls to EMS.
SUDOKU SOLUTION
October 23rd 18:43 - Per Dean Darrigrand: call her for all calls that would normally go to Jason Zelesky. Jason no longer works at Clark.
CROSSWORD SOLUTION
compiled by Maria Rotelli
what happens in The Scarlet office at 1:57 a.m. stays in the The Scarlet office... sort of “It looked like a floppy disk to me–” - Rose “But it was a rat carcass!” - Matt “Once the game is over, we should disperse and look for trouble.” - Jeremy “Do we have a Segway I can use? I really want to GOB over to the crime scene.” - Claire “Did you call your womb a ‘lady garden?’” - Sarah “Oh. I just did.” - Claire “Scurvy really is good fun.” - Claire “Ninth grade was six years ago. We’re so old. We’re gonna die soon. Not really. But actually. Sort of.” - Anna