OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331
The Daily Barometer
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DAILYBAROMETER
MONDAY APRIL 14, 2014 VOL. CXVI, NO. 114
@BARONEWS, @BAROSPORTS, @BAROFORUM
Candidate admits to posting anti-gay slurs ASOSU presidential candidate Bret Barlow belonged to antigay Facebook page until March
a joke? i need to know now since i have a fag tied up and im holding a can of gas and a lighter.” Last week, he admitted to posting the anti-gay comments. He said they were made in poor taste. By Tori Hittner THE DAILY BAROMETER “I’m not going to sit there and deny that it was me, because it was me,” This article contains explicit Barlow said. “Originally, how it started language. out was it was a really bad joke between myself and some friends.” Two other males were listed as also An Associated Students of Oregon State University presidential candidate being administrators of the page. The previously espoused violent anti-gay two could not be reached for comment. views on a Facebook page titled, “We Evidence of the page and Barlow’s Burn Homosexuals for a Living.” involvement was provided by Thomas A junior studying new media com- Bancroft, the current ASOSU Speaker of munications, Bret Barlow posted the the House. Although the comment and page were created nearly a year-andcomment on July 22, 2012. Barlow’s comment on the page, for a-half ago, Bancroft said the incident which he was listed as an administra- mattered in light of the election. Bancroft said he did not believe sometor, was as follows: “… do we seriously burn homosexuals for a living or is this one with such a viewpoint should be n
elected to hold such a prominent position representing the entire student body. “Those particular kinds of comments go beyond any sort of debate with a call to violence,” said Qwo-Li Driskill, assistant professor of queer studies. “It calls each of us to ask what kind of conditions exist that these things are allowed.” Barlow said he does not use his Facebook account often and forgot the page or comment even existed until March 11, when a new co-worker alerted him. Barlow promptly took the page down, but not before an unnamed individual within the current ASOSU administration noticed it. ASOSU student advocate Drew Desilet met privately with Barlow on March 14 to discuss the matter and the potential repercussions it may have on his campaign. “I met with Bret to discuss with him
about the post because it was concerning that these were views we would not want a student leader to have,” Desilet said. “I offered advice that the campaign can get very ugly and issues like this can dominate the conversation when you might want to take it a different direction to talk about other issues.” Barlow disagreed, saying that the meeting was far from cordial or open-ended. “(Desilet said) that they were going to go to the press with this, basically trying to blackmail me out of the race,” Barlow said. “My hope is that this exposes some of the corruption that’s going on in OSU. They attempted to blackmail me to submit to them. I will not submit to them; even if it means I am the worst person on campus for the next week-and-a-half.” COURTESY OF BRET BARLOW Desilet said he left the matter of expos- ASOSU candidate Bret Barlow’s ing the information to the students who official candidate photo, which he See BARLOW | page 3
Japan Night honors traditions, embraces differences n
Meet the presidential candidates
Japanese Students Association brings truth to modern Japan, honors ancient history in the Memorial Union ballroom
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By Ria Rankine
THE DAILY BAROMETER
The koto, a traditional Japanese harp, resonates on a dimly lit stage designed to show the parallels of ancient and modern Japan. Japan Night 2014 was held Saturday in the MU Ballroom to a full audience. The production, which began in January, is a presentation of Japanese culture. The Japanese Students Association, along with volunteers, put on a play to illustrate the ways of Japan, which was spoken and unspoken. The play witnessed two university students on an internship to Japan. On their journey, they experience the culture, past and present, and are See JAPAN | page 3
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By Tori Hittner
“We basically tried to capture the whole of India,” said Varunika Bhargava, a senior in microbiology and the ISA’s co-president. “We tried to take as many people as we could just so the show is packed and full of performances and we get the most variety out of it.” Bhargava said the ISA committee took extra steps to ensure accuracy as well as diversity in representation of Indian culture, which included ISA members working closely with OSU Catering to follow ISA-provided recipes. The effort to achieve accurate representation of the broad and diverse nation of India shone through and the audience responded. “The audience seems amazing,” Bhargava said during the intermission. “I’ve never heard it louder. I know from past years, it’s not been as enthusiastic, so they’ve definitely been really, really loud.” Winter 2013 alumna Roshni Pantel was impressed with how well her friends and former classmates car-
Presidential candidate: Anderson Duboise, ethnic studies and education Vice presidential candidate: Tyler Morrison, political science Slogan: “Building a better OSU” Purpose: Duboise and Morrison said their decision to run together was a natural, logical process. Both are involved in several student organizations across campus; Duboise focuses on student collaboration while Morrison has a background in politics with her experience as an Associated Students of Oregon State representative. The two used their backgrounds in student involvement to find campaign inspiration. “I’ve been doing a lot of community work as a student leader and working with different groups, and I realized that the same challenges they have echoes throughout the whole school,” Duboise said. “We really want to make sure that all students are represented and that they are able to work all together. We want to return the ASOSU back to the students.” Goals: Duboise and Morrison hope to create a link between the students and the administration, uniting the university in new and beneficial ways. “We want to be actively engaged and more visible,” Morrison said.
See INDIA | page 4
See CANDIDATES | page 2
NICKI SILVA
| THE DAILY BAROMETER
Caspar Kinsella is impaled by Yosuke Masuda during a fight scene during a re-enactment Saturday at Japan Night.
India Student Association impresses with India Night, shows all sides of its culture By Kaitlyn Kohlenberg THE DAILY BAROMETER
NICKI SILVA
| THE DAILY BAROMETER
Baseball takes series vs. WSU
Sports, page 5
A brief, unofficial voter’s guide to who’s who in this year’s ASOSU presidential election THE DAILY BAROMETER
Cultural event unifies people through diversity
Dyuti Sengupta performs a semi-classical dance montage from Bengali films.
painted himself.
The diverse population of India uses an estimated 700 different languages or more each day. With such variation in language alone, it makes sense that the Indian Student Association of Oregon State University would use the model, “unity through diversity,” as the basis of all of its events and actions on campus. The use of this model was undeniably in practice Saturday night at the 2014 India Night at the LaSells Stewart Center. Through a process of three auditions, 20 skits, vocalists, dance groups and even a short film were chosen to share perspectives of Indian and Indian-American culture.
Social media’s impact is far-reaching Forum, page 7
An ode to Stephen Colbert, the character
Forum, page 8