Campus BluePrint Nov/Dec 2014 by Campus BluePrint

S U P M A C 2E0R142014 R E B O T O/CDECEMB R E B M E

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s e c i o V d e t a g u j b u S to e c er a p S tory Winn g S t n r o i h v S i nts • !G p U Immigra n d e e t n t e s m i L Undocu ’s Day • us People Indigeno

CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers, In this thing we call life, only the luckiest of us get to choose our paths. Others are shuffled along by forces outside their control--deprived of agency, and most often met with suffering. In this issue we want to remember that. In Layla Quran’s piece (page 12,) men and women who crossed the border or were taken across illegally fight to join the most American of institutions--the US military. Indigenous people of North America are finally given some repreive from the fantastically insulting institution of “Columbus” Day in Tony Liu’s brief history of Indigenous People’s Day (page 20.) And in Cole Wilhemi’s excellent piece, he reminds us that the world’s hungry deserve a broader and more interdisciplinary look at food production (page 22.)

WHERE THERE ARE MOUNTAINS

THE FIGHT TO SERVE

A BRIEF HISTORY OF RACIST LANDMARKS AT UNC

From the Blog Ebola Sensationalized? CBP Creative Writing Winner Folt and Scandal at Carolina The Fight to Serve

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What is Liberal Ideology Anyway? A Brief History of Racist Landmarks Hog Farming in North Carolina Reasserting Native Consciousness The Food Security Debate

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STAFF lindsey kellogg editor-in-chief ina kosova executive editor tony liu, caroline woronoff managing editors

matt keenan executive editor, campusblueprint.com

Finally, in our attempt to make the Campus BluePrint a place for all kinds of UNC art and creation, we have our creative writing contest winner, “Where There Are Mountains” (page 6.) Please check out this beautiful story (that made this editor tear up) and expect more similar projects soon.

layla quran, norman archer managing editor, campusblueprint.com

christopher phompraseut creative director jennifer waldkrich public relations and social media director

anisha padma photo editor lindsey kellogg, ina kosova, matt keenan, tony liu, caroline woronoff, layla quran, norman archer, jennifer waldkrich, thomas gooding, wilson sink, erik rys, anita simha, sami lachgar, duncan yetman, kelly hughes, cole wilhelmi staff writers christopher phompraseut, delaney mcguire, ashley fox, conor atkins, lindsey kellogg

Lindsey Kellogg Editor-in-Chief

designers

anisha padma, kemper ramsey photographers blake brennan treasurer

Cover Photo by Kemper Ramsey

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G O L B E H T M FRO Campus BluePrint publishes blog posts daily. Here are some of the best from the blog since our last print issue. To read the whole posts, visit us at campusblueprint.com. In 1974, Governor Pat McCrory was a senior at Ragsdale High School in Jamestown, NC. His brother, Phil was an incoming first year here at Carolina. A buddy of McCrory’s dropped him off on Franklin street and he got into his brother’s 1972 128 Fiat, where he told his brother to turn on the air condition. It was hot. But his brother refused, because they were at Carolina, and here, we roll down the windows. During his keynote address at University Day this week, Governor Pat McCrory began with this story. He was in awe of Carolina when he visited his brother here, stating “ “This campus was the most beautiful university I had ever visited.” It was a place he said he respected, a place he wanted to return to, a place he still held in high regard. McCrory called on all members of the Carolina community to strengthen the “UNC brand”, and stressed the obstacles that he and the chancellor had to fix coming in to Carolina. As North Carolina governor, McCrory said he inherited the 5th highest unemployment rate in the country, a debt of more than 2.5 billion dollars owed to the federal government, and he “also had to deal with teachers” who had not had a pay raise for over 5 years. McCrory claimed to have begun to resolve these problems, and that it was time to focus on long term problems in health care, transportation, and yes, even education.

[...] McCrory later shifted his speech to alcohol policy, stating “We also cannot afford for our universities to become illicit drug and alcohol playgrounds, that leads to student abuse, danger and harm to the next generation.” Although he himself admitted to going to a “few bars” with his brother as a teen back in the 1970s, he warned that substance abuse was a dangerous issue that needed attention on college campuses. Chancellor Folt gave closing remarks, stating that although we have and always will continue to face challenges, these will be our greatest opportunities. On the 10th anniversary of the Carolina CovenantScholars program, she stressed the economic diversity of the University and the public’s contribution to UNC. Before McCrory gave the keynote address, Krista Perreira was honored with the faculty service Graham Award as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Research, and several alumni, including former North Carolina governor Jim Hunt, were honored for their contributions to the University and the state.

Online managing editor Layla Quran covers Pat McCrory’s visit in October.

November 2014

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Sensationalized or Plausible Threat? SAMI LACHGAR

nce a disease that was just an urban legend to most Americans, Ebola has now flourished into an outbreak of uncalculated fear, inappropriate jokes, and media frenzy. The presence of Ebola in the first-world community, although in an infinitely smaller proportion as what is found in Africa, has illustrated the varied response to the disease across different cultures. While thousands of people die every year of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa, Americans have only just now become interested in the hysteria caused by the disease because it has finally presented itself in the United States. “I don’t like the response in the United States particularly because we didn’t get involved until it was a threat to us,” freshman public health major, Sarah Wright, said. “It’s a world health crisis and the way that we’re responding just isn’t very directed.” Ebola is a relatively new disease, discovered in 1976 in Western Africa. The initial case of Ebola passed from a fruit bat to a human, and since then it has drifted across Africa. The main problem with the tumultuous reactions of many Americans towards Ebola is that few understand how difficult it is to contract the disease. Ebola can only be transmitted through the exchange of bodily fluids, which mostly comes from sex, vomit, or blood. The World Health Organization now reports over

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10,000 recorded cases of Ebola, and warns that that number could escalate to 20,000 by the end of the year without preventative care. Like most viruses, the more people that have the disease, the more likely it is to spread. This factor makes it necessary for people to be taught proper prevention techniques in third world countries such as wearing protective clothing. While maintaining a clean environment and quarantining infected bodies in Africa may be difficult, the United States has had little to no trouble. Most Americans see Ebola as a disease that has the potential to sweep through an entire population, but that is simply not realistic. In Africa, the main reason behind the spread is that the burial rituals require a cleansing of the bodies. This puts many people in direct contact with the dead that are still infected, while this would very rarely be the case in the United States. To give a better idea of how controlled the virus actually is, one can look at the Center for Disease Control’s web page and find the well-documented list of possible people who may have had contact with infected people. These people are then checked out in order to make sure that they are disease-free and once the disease is found in a person, extensive measures are taken in order to keep them from getting in contact with any-

PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Ebola

one else. These measures range from protective clothing to proper disposal of used equipment, which are things that are lacking in African, third world countries. To be fair to those that have an extreme fear of contracting Ebola, its symptoms do truly seem as though they came straight out of a horror film. The hemorrhagic fever not only leads to shortness of breath, chest pain, flu-like symptoms, and rashes, but it also results in vomiting blood, blood in diarrhea, bleeding from the eyes, and heavy bleeding in

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have an Ebola outbreak, we have bad actors who can come across the border. We need to seal the border and secure it.” This quote from Senator Thom Tillis not only exemplifies the overreaction of the American people, but it also displays how Ebola is being used as a political tool. In this case, Republicans are using the lack of action as a way to attack Democrats and are attempting to capitalize off of public unease about the issue. The outbreak has been plastered all

process, such as when Center for Disease Control Director Tom Friedman stated that “In the 30 years I’ve been working in public health, the only thing like this has been AIDS,” but that is simply not the case. AIDS affects approximately four more people per person infected, but it occurs over a lifetime and spreads slowly. Comparatively, Ebola spreads to approximately two more people for every person infected, but over about a 30 day period. Ebola has a higher potential for spreading. This, paired with the men-

“Ironically, it seems as though more people on the world stage cared about the death of the dog than the death of thousands of African men, women, and children with the disease.” the gastro-intestinal tract. In cases that end in mortality, that death occurs approximately six to 16 days after the contraction of the disease. The sad reality of the situation is that the American response to Ebola has an eerie similarity to the response to World War II in the respect that the United States didn’t actively care about the genocide of millions of jews until they were directly implicated. The reactions to the cases that have appeared in the United States have drawn similarities to reactions to Pearl Harbor where Americans reacted dramatically to the approximately 2,500 deaths from the attack. Most Americans had no tangible knowledge of what Ebola was before the viral infections occurred, and now millions of dollars are being funneled towards research and prevention efforts, even though the main method of prevention is sterilizing instruments used to treat Ebola patients. In other words, donating to ease the spread of Ebola is definitely good, but organizations dealing with Ebola need much more directed efforts towards the root cause. “Senator Hagan has failed the people of North Carolina and the nation by not securing our border,” Thom Tillis said during an Oct. 7 debate with Hagan.

over every source of media, which has only amplified the American response. However, the Obama administration has fought back against the stigma surrounding the transmission of Ebola by having an American nurse infected with the disease meet with the President. At the end of the meeting, Obama gave her a hug, which has been put on display for all to see so that the general public understands the exaggeration of their own responses. Only 19 cases of Ebola have arisen outside of third world countries (mostly from African aid workers bringing it back to their respective countries), and these have been well contained but have gathered more media attention than any previous Ebola death in the third world. In Spain, a nursing assistant contracted the virus, but has just recently been medically cleared. During her time in the hospital, however, authorities killed her dog out of fear that it might act as a carrier, which drew much criticism from the public. Ironically, it seems as though more people on the world stage cared about the death of the dog than the death of thousands of African men, women, and children with the disease. Furthermore, Ebola has often been paralleled to AIDS in the transmission

acing 50 percent mortality rate in the third world, grants justification to the panic; however, it must be understood that prevention techniques are simple and make the virus virtually impossible of becoming a pandemic in the United States. The media, unfortunately, tends to leave out how simple the disease is to control. Ultimately, it must be understood that as long as Ebola is not an airborne virus, there is no reason to dramatize its implications or even panic as a nation. It is undoubtedly a disease that must be dealt with, but this can be done with public awareness in favor of public fear. “The general population of the US doesn’t understand that it’s NOT going to happen here,” Wright stated. “We need to step towards clearing the stigma about it so that fewer people panic irrationally.”

November 2014

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Campus BluePrint Short Story Winner HEATHER WILSON

he brother is always the first to wake up in the morning. When he wakes up the mini blinds are not yet white with the glow of morning. His mother is curled up on the couch, still wearing the starched white khakis she wore to work the graveyard shift. His little sister sleeps on a futon in the other room. She snores and kicks at her covers and calls out softly in her sleep. The brother is nineteen, and the sister is only ten. They call her the little one. He stands in the doorway of the trailer, eating cheerios dry from the box and watching the dogs that run in packs through the trailer park. These dogs are filthy, light-footed scavengers. One ragged looking dog—all bones and greed—roots through the plump black trash bags that line the streets. The ragged dog finds a bag of stale bagels and the other dogs circle round. They bare their teeth at one another and cut savage lunges towards the bagels. This family lives in Laredo Texas. It is a town emerged of dust, gardens of dust. They live on the outskirts, right on the border between Mexico and America, in a neighborhood called la colonista. Except it is not exactly a neighborhood. You cannot find la colonista on a map. The trailers and shanty houses do not have street addresses. The streets themselves are dirt roads. The water comes from wells, and is not safe till boiled twice. None of the trailers have heat or air-conditioning. In the summer this family puts fans in every window and keeps the door propped open with a cement block. In the winter they insulate the walls with

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newspaper. They tack blankets over the windows and wear layers on layers. La colonista is not Mexico but just barely America. This family can look out their window and see their old country across one hot flat stretch of land, one thin strip of river. They say, we have not come very far. The brother does push-ups and sits-ups on the kitchen floor. He is strong and every day a little stronger. When the father returns to la colonista the brother will be strong enough and will look enough a man to quietly tell him to leave. He will not have to say it twice. He will not even have to roll his fingers into a fist. The father will want the little one. He will say, she is my child. The brother will say, she is no more your child than I am. Now he fries eggs in the cast-iron skillet for him and the little one. He flips the eggs and peppers them black and scrapes them off the pot and onto plates. He looks for bread but the bread is gone. There are tortias thawing on top of the ice box. He heats two up on the burner until they are ringed with golden spirals. The little one wakes up. From the kitchen he watches her watch the dogs fight over bagels. She props open the screen door and sits out on the stoop. She wears red overalls and a white baseball cap colored from the dust. There is a wooden baseball bat propped up beneath the coat rack. The brother takes this bat and goes outside and beats the bat against the white metal siding of the trailer. The dogs scatter, tails tucked. He tells the little one to go

inside, her eggs are getting cold. And, he says, we’ve got an adventure to go on. What kind of adventure, she asks. I’m going to take you to see the mountains, he says. Now go eat. The brother stands out in the sun and smokes a cigarette while the little one eats. The mother wakes up, stands in the doorway tucking her hair into a bun and looking at the brother. She says, I keep thinking one of these mornings I’m gonna wake up and you’ll be gone. I wouldn’t leave her, he says, even if I had a way out. Even when he comes back? The brother flicks his butt into the weeds where the bent sunflowers grow. Even then, he says. Are you going somewhere? Into town. Take the little one. I am. The brother and the little one walk the dirt road into town. The sun is high and white above them. They pass by the children who kneel in a circle shouting and shooting marbles. They pass by the dogs who lay huddled in the shade of a trailer, mouths gaping, tongues hung to the dust. From far away both the dogs and the children look black as silhouettes. Just beyond la colonista is a pit about four feet deep and twenty feet across. It is usually caked dry. When it rains though,

the pit fills up with water, and the water mixes with the dust and thickens to mud. The children of la colonista wade across this lake of mud in their shorts and shirtsleeves. They come out covered in mud, with mud in their pockets and stuck to their legs. The brother and sister spit into this pit of dust as they go by. The children say it is good luck to spit here as you leave la colonista. To spit is to leave a piece of yourself in la colonista with the ones you love. The brother no longer believes in luck or ceremony. He spits because the sister spits. The little one believes. She plants her feet and spits for her mother, for la colonista. The brother hopes that the children are right. The father will come south soon. He will want what he left behind and he will promise what they do not have. He will say, nothing that came before was real. He will say, I can get you out of la colonista. The mother will agree, she will think it is best. The brother will say, you are walking into another hell. They will live in some apartment in town and in the evenings the father will sit back in his armchair with a strip of cloth tied tight just above his elbow. He will be the same, an awful man, an awful charming man. The mother and the sister, they will dream of the look of the sunflowers bent against the trailer, they will dream of the dogs

and the dust and the hunger and the heat and the cold. Nothing and no one will bring the old world back, not even the brother doing sit-ups in the kitchen, not even the brother with murder in his heart. They spit and then they go on. The sister runs ahead, looking back at the brother through the dust she kicks up. She asks him, where are we going? He says only, we are going to see the mountains. Laredo is as flat as the palm of a hand. In the country there is nothing to mark the horizon but telephone poles. Further south, where there are no telephone poles, it is easy to believe that there is no such thing as movement. There are no mountains, she says. You’ll see, he says. He takes her to the clothes warehouse. This is where the Salvation Army and the Good Will send all of the clothes unsuitable for resale. Jeans without zippers. Shirts stained beyond salvation. Shoes with the tongues cut out. These clothes end piled up in hills and mountains, nearly to the top of the warehouse ceiling fifty feet above. The brother calls it the cotton landfill. People buy these clothes in bulk. They pay 35 cents a pound. What the warehouse cannot sell they compress into cotton blocks and ship to Mexico. The little one has never seen this place. She stands at the foot of a cotton November 2014

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mountain and looks up in awe. Men and women hike up and down these mountains, sorting and untangling the clothes beneath their feet. They look for things that they can use. Shirts that can be washed and mended, leather coats that can be cut into strips, cloth aprons that can be cut up into dish rags, little shoes to fit a child. All the while the children run in ones and twos up the slopes and then tumble down, doing summersaults till they hit the floor and roll to a stop. The brother begins the climb. He digs his feet into the cotton slope for traction. He stops ten feet up and calls down to the sister. El nina, he says. She follows him. A few times she loses her footing and slips earthward. He grabs her by the wrist and pulls her up onto his shoulders. They reach the top and he sets her down next to him. He looks across the colored hills. This is it, he says. The mountains. You didn’t believe it, did you? Yes I believed it, she says. No you didn’t, you said there are no mountains in Laredo. Well I believe it now, she says. If anyone ever tells you there are no mountains in Laredo, you can say, yes there are. You can say you know where there are mountains. No one will ever tell me there are no 8 • November 2014

mountains because everyone can see Laredo’s flat as a map. Even if no one says it you’ll still know better. I don’t see what good that does, she says. It’s worth something, he says. The mountain shifts beneath them. The children on the slope yell, landslide, landslide. The brother and sister hold hands, not out of tenderness but to defy the steepness and the instability of the ground beneath them. With his other hand the brother grabs at a tattered pant leg. This is not enough. The pants fly loose and brother and sister are slipping, they are falling, they are carried down the mountain. The little one calls out and the brother takes her other hand and holds her close, so close she can see nothing but the blue and white patchwork of his plaid shirt. The landslide slows, they tumble forward to the concrete floor. The brother stands up and pulls the little one to her feet. She will not let go of his hand. The brother laughs. The little one laughs until she is breathless. Again, she says. And again they climb the mountain, and again they tumble down. Again and again, until the little one tires. As they are leaving the brother sees a man in a jean jacket faded to white at the elbows, a man who looks like the

father. He is standing in the shadows near the scales where people weigh what they salvaged. His face is white and worn-looking beneath his beard. He is smoking a cigarette and rocking on his heels. But it is only a moment’s fear for the brother. Then this man who looks like the father walks into the light of the warehouse door and it is not the father, it is some other white man with a beard. And they—the brother and the little one—are together, and safe in their togetherness. For now there will be no end to what they have which is one another.

Folt and Scandal at

Carolina DUNCAN YETMAN

hose who are unaware of UNC’s academic history may feel sorry for Chancellor Folt. After becoming UNC Chancellor in April 2014, she has become the face of an academic scandal in the African-American Studies Department, culminating in a damning report by former federal prosecutor Kenneth Wainstein. Look closely, however, and it is clear that Chancellor Folt’s tenure at Carolina has not only been dictated, but created by scandal. The timeline begins in 2012. Pressured by numerous academic investigations, Chancellor Holden Thorp announced his resignation from the university. Weeks later, a search committee was established. The committee was composed of 21 members representing a wide-variety of UNC interests, including students, faculty, donors, and athletic boosters. It seemed clear from the onset that this search was not necessarily about reversing Chancellor Thorp’s academic record, which resulted in increases to both undergraduate applications and research grants, but to rather improve the balance between athletics and academics at UNC. After a six month search behind closed doors,

Chancellor Folt was unanimously at the work or having spoken to me, selected by the UNC Board of Gover- I went to Jim Wright to complain… He nors in a largely ceremonial vote. said I shouldn’t make so much of the Those who knew Chancellor Folt violation of my academic freedom as were likely surprised by the decision. I was part of the ‘Dartmouth family.’... Before coming to UNC, Folt had spent But then I did write to the faculty and 11 years in leadership positions at this was picked up by the state and Dartmouth – about as far as one can national press.” be from the athletically-driven, pubThe response by Folt, among othlic nature of UNC. Initially hired by ers, was less than welcoming. “When Dartmouth in 1983, this article and Folt quickly rose others appeared “It is clear that to become dean Folt, college attorChancellor Folt’s of faculty in 2004, ney [Robert] Donin tenure at Carolina and then interim and former Provhas not only been president in 2012 ost [Barry] Scherr after Jim Yong Kim dictated, but created called a meeting left to become the and threatened me by scandal.” head of the IMF. with disciplinary Her tenure there, action if I did not however, was not cease my public always peaceful. Notable among her campaign to reveal their violation of decisions was to pass/fail an entire my academic freedom… I taught at class after widespread complaints of Dartmouth forty-three years. The first unfair grades by Jon Appleton, one of forty were a gift and the last three a the distinguished faculty members nightmare.” at Dartmouth. Responding to a quesWhile some may criticize her judgtion raised by a member of the Dart- ment at the time, the decision of Folt blog, a campus newspaper, Appleton to pass/fail the grades speaks to her responded as follows: desire to deal with crises actively “When Folt changed all the grades rather than passively, placing more to ‘pass’ without ever having looked importance on the general image of November 2014

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the university than any particular faculty member. Other instances, such as her decision to cancel classes for a day after racist comments were raised online solidify this preference. This boldness to stand up to faculty is not her only defining characteristic. In 2011 she helped create Dartmouth’s first campus-wide strategic planning process. Rather than one large report, the process was a combination of nine groups which offered a wide variety of criticisms. Though the exact details of the report are closedoff for non-Dartmouth students and alumni (thanks, Dartmouth), the

tics UNC wanted. Beginning in 2012, Mary Willingham, a UNC employee who worked with an athlete support program, alleged to reporters that UNC athletes received improper help from faculty. While defended by the media, her divisive comments (she once said that “We may as well go right up the street to Glenwood Elementary and let all the fourth graders in here”) caused unease within the university. Though the scandal had begun a year earlier, the revelation began a firestorm of media attention, little of it positive. Following her resignation in 2014 due to a hostile

uary 2013, shortly followed by one of the victims, Landen Gambill, being charged with an honor code violation for “intimidation of the attacker”. This action resulted in another federal investigation by the DOE, bringing the total to three cases. Such actions further mired the university into more cases of gross misconduct, cases which challenged UNC’s reputation for academic and social integrity. The strong character of Folt followed her from Dartmouth. Rather than let Willingham’s report dictate the narrative of the scandal, Folt harshly criticized inaccuracies within the re-

“We may as well go right up the street to Glenwood Elementary and let all the fourth graders in here.” - Mary Willingham, a UNC employee who worked with an athlete support program

summary of the process contained a wide range of suggestions from “supporting faculty experimentation…, developing a comprehensive communication strategy…, [and] promot[ing] greater engagement with international alumni.” It’s pretty clear that many of these goals are rather vague, yes, but they demonstrate Folt and others’ desire to frame the university in a particular context, and essentially establish a clear narrative on how to lead Dartmouth into the future. These two skills -- her independence and her desire for a campus-wide vision -- were exactly the characteris10 • November 2014

work environment, she filed a lawsuit against the university, claiming that the university’s “retaliatory animus was a substantial causative factor for the adverse action that was taken against the plaintiff [Willingham].” At the same time, UNC was also challenged by a sexual assault scandal. Like many universities around the country, UNC faced criticism for its insufficient policies regarding sexual assault, namely, insufficient support and the policy of relegating sexual misconduct matters to the Honor Court. As a result of these policies, two complaints were filed to the Department of Education in Jan-

port and assigned a complete independent investigation last year. The report, led by former federal prosecutor Kenneth Wainstein, published its findings a few weeks, ago, to damming results. In initiating the report, however, Folt eliminated the flow of the damaging links and established a clear message that UNC was in control and prepared to move forward in the scandal. In remarks regarding the scandal, Folt said “I certainly learned from the day I arrived in North Carolina that this was an issue and that the lingering doubts were really hurting the institution.” Her handling of the UNC sexual as-

PHOTO FROM NOAH PONTON

sault scandal, though less successful, still showed her preference for a strong stance – or at least the appearance of one. Over two years the university established a Title IX office to address compliance issues with the law, though some criticized her choice of Howard Kallem, who had little experience working with victims. Despite further criticisms about the scope and pace of reform, the university has largely pushed on, reviewing drafts of a new sexual assault policy with a sexual assault task force before releasing it on August 28th. One of the most important items was the clarification of consent, which under the new policy is “the communication of an affirmative ‘yes.’” The investigation portion of a sexual assault case was also simplified, with a clearer Folt, was assisted by her no-nonsense idea of where their case stands dur- approach in an effort to unite the uniing the investigative process. A year- versity around the scandals. ly review allows an advisory group to The question lingers, however, as to makes changes as needed, and thus whether this stance will be beneficial respond to any weaknesses in the to Carolina down the road. A sobering new system. note would be to look at Dartmouth. Why mention such specifics? Be- In 2014 Dartmouth was the only Ivy cause it speaks to the work the uni- League institution that experienced versity has done to at least try to a decline in admissions, with applimake conclusive progress on UNC’s cations falling by a whopping 14% critical failures. from 2013 to 2014. The strong action “The critical question While many of the by Folt has drawn for Folt is whether reasons for this some criticism, nodrop can be attribshe can successfully tably in her hanuted to decisions balance UNC’s dling of Willingmade in the last ham’s report, but, unique position as a two years – the deas a whole, that research university, cision, for instance, strong stance has a public university, to not accept AP paid off. In this credits – one can and an athletic sense, she carried wonder whether university.” her assertiveness the culture Folt – what was often helped define creseen as a weakated a negative ness at Dartmouth – over into an in- environment for the university. That stitution that needed a strong voice. question, of course, is debatable. Much of the success of the last two What is clear, however, is that in the years, if not directly attributable to next few years Folt will have to do

more than mere crisis management. The university is still reeling from historic budget cuts, yes, and while progress has been made on sexual assault, more work needs to be done. The critical question, however, for Folt is whether she can successfully balance UNC’s unique position as a research university, a public university, and an athletic university. For all of Thorp’s success and popularity, he was unable to achieve that balance. The question remains as to whether Folt will do the same.

November 2014

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THE

FIGHT TO SERVE

LAYLA QURAN

sabel Chavez was a first year student at Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, North Carolina when her teacher asked her a question: what do you want to do when you graduate high school? She didn’t have an answer then, but later decided to become involved in her school’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program. By the end of the year, she was the top performing freshman in the program. She would later become recruiting officer, then first sergeant. Today, she’s the unit commander of the program. “Most of the freshmen are like, I wanna be a commander like you. So it’s really fun doing that, just seeing that people look up to you”, Isabel said in an interview with Campus Blueprint. Isabel came to the United States when she was three years old from Veracruz, Mexico. The youngest of four daughters, Isabel lives with her family in Charlotte, North Carolina. Isabel, like over 11 million individuals in the US, is undocumented. Thanks to a Pentagon policy unveiled in September, Isabel may be able to apply to serve in the United States military. In late September, the Department of Defense unveiled it’s new policy to allow undocumented immigrants to serve in the military for the first time in decades. Through the new policy, undocumented immigrants apply to the military through 12 • November 2014

the Military Accessions in the Nation- professionals, to serve in the United al Interest, or MAVNI program. The States military. In turn, the immiprogram is now open to immigrants grants are offered an expedited path approved under Obama’s 2012 De- to citizenship. The MAVNI program ferred Action for Child Arrivals policy, accepts 1,500 people per year, but also known as DACA. Undocumented officials say it is unclear how many immigrants, like Isabel, who came to of those allowed in the program this the United States before the age of upcoming year will be DACA-status 16, can now apply for the MAVNI pro- immigrants, as opposed to other imgram. migrants who are eligible to serve in But the new rules will only allow the military under MAVNI. The MAVNI recruiters to target foreign nationals program was discontinued in 2010, with particular but was later reskills, includlaunched in 2012, “In late September, ing specialized and was set to the Department health care trainlast for two more of Defense ing and rare foryears. Although it unveiled it’s new eign language was set to expire fluency. Although last month, the policy to allow there are nearly 2 same memo that undocumented million individuimmigrants to serve allowed DACA als in the US with recipients into in the military for no legal immigrathe MAVNI prothe first time in tion status who gram also set to meet the criteria prolong the prodecades.” for the DACA program until 2016. gram, the expanBut this October, sion to the MAVNI program will allow the MAVNI program entered a new recruiters to target those specifically phase: suspension. with language skills like Arabic, Farsi, Army officials confirmed in October or Chinese. that the program, recently open to The Department of Defense began DACA recipients, would be canceled the MAVNI program as a one-year until the service attempts to finalize pilot in 2008. Its aim is to allow not screening procedures for immigrants only green card holders, but individ- who want to enroll. Margaret Stock, uals holding non-permanent visas in an immigration lawyer and former the US, including students and health lieutenant colonel in the Army Re-

serve who helped create the MAVNI program, said in a POLITICO interview that, “ The MAVNI program is not designed for DACA at all”. A new 2012 requirement for MAVNI mandates that all applicants have to go through a single-scope background investigation, or high-level security check, and have an I-94, which foreigners complete when permitted entry into the United States. However, DACA recipients who were brought to the US illegally here as children or teenagers, would not have the card. The program is now stuck in a bureaucratic limbo, but policy makers say they hope to open it again to undocumented immigrants by the end of November. DACA-status immigrants are still eligible to apply to the US Navy, Airforce and Marines through MAVNI, but the vast majority of applicants to the program have been accepted to the Army in past years. The military is not required to admit members under the MAVNI program, but since its establishment, 2,900 recruits have signed up for the military through the program. The Army accepted the 1,301 out of 1,303 recruits last year (the remaining two applicants were accepted into the Air Force), and the Navy and Marines have not accepted

any MAVNI applicants since the pro- history in his time at Carolina. He gram‘s inception. says military recruitment “depends This new policy may be part of a on the personal needs of the individbroader Obama administration effort ual services. And if their recruiting is to create new paths to citizenship in low, as the economy improves, they the face of a stagmight expand the nant Congress, “For Isabel, serving program in order unable to pass any to get the quality in the military considerable immipeople they need.” is about the gration reform. At He says immithe Congressional opportunity to ‘give grants in the milHispanic Caucus back to this country itary “are likely to Institute’s annual be highly-motivatthat has given so gala this year, he ed young people, much to us.’” vowed to use his who have more of presidential powthe typical reasons ers to take action on immigration to want to serve in the military and to powers, assuring activists that im- do a good job, and many of them may migration reform is “not a question stay for military careers.” of if but when”. Just last year, the For Isabel, serving in the military Department of Homeland Security is about the opportunity to “give announced it would halt any depor- back to this country that has given tations of relatives to US military so much to us”. She has plans to atmembers and veterans. tend a four-year university after high But DACA-status immigrants like school, and wants to join the Airforce Isabel will only be accepted after as a paramedic. successfully completing a 127-page “It’s a feeling that, when someone is form, asking them what type of de- hurt, they’re reaching out to you, you grees they hold, if they can speak have their life in your hands. The pascertain rare languages, and whether sion for helping someone, and knowthey have been terrorists. ing that they’re doing something for UNC History Professor Emeritus you as much as you are for them.” Richard Kohn specialized in military “And if the decision expands, I’m going for it.”

PHOTO FROM CREATIVE COMMONS

November 2014

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PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

WHAT IS LIBERAL IDEOLOGY ANYWAY?

MATT KEENAN

deology encompasses a set of be- to have access to affordable health liefs shared by a select group of care. These three issues take the people. Ideology, however, is not forefront of most modern political all encompassing; a person who elections, so a detailed analysis on identifies as liberal may also be- how each side approaches these lieve in certain conservative ideas. issues may shed light on the true For the sake of this article, I will fo- nature of modern political ideolcus on aspects of liberal ideology, ogy. and then include a few remarks One controversial issue that about its conservative counter- comes up countless times in North part. Liberals tend to believe that Carolina politics is education, yet because the citizens elected gov- the ideological differences beernment officials into power, the tween liberals and conservatives officials should are not that have a good un- “I see ideology as a different. Libderstanding of eral ideology exactly what the metaphorical haze. says that public citizens need, It is there, but you schools are the no matter what best way for stucannot put your dents to receive level of government. In this an education, finger on it.” system of govmostly because ernment, no one public education would live in poverty, and every is free for all students. Liberals also citizen would have an equal op- tend to believe that government portunity to receive an education, should spend more money on imto go into the business world, and proving schools, buying textbooks,

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and increasing teacher pay. According to liberal ideology, government should spend more money on early childhood education programs like Head Start in order to close the minority achievement gap. The Washington Post quotes the Democratic Party as saying education is the “surest path to the middle class.” Yes, you read that right; education will get you into the illustrious middle class, and both sides seem to idealize the “middle class” as the end goal for all American citizens. There are not many major differences between liberal and conservative ideology when it comes to education; both groups believe every student should have access to higher education, and parts of both groups disagree with standardized testing. Yet, in North Carolina conservative and liberal ideas of education clash. The North Carolina General Assembly, dominated by conservative politicians, guts funding for schools and cuts teacher

pay to the point where recently the state was ranked as the worst state for public education. These politicians would not understand how education works if it came with a “How-To” guide and a set of training wheels. Teachers are professionals, so they deserved to be paid as such. We cannot let schools degrade to the point where they become decrepit. These things cost money, money that conservative refuse to spend, which though a seemingly minor difference, is the main difference between liberal and conservative ideology, especially when dealing with healthcare. I think for Halloween this year instead of saying “Boo!” to scare people, I’ll say “Affordable Care Act!” The ACA is a landmark law because it calls for insurance providers to guarantee health insurance to every citizen, regardless of their gender or whether or not they have any pre-existing health conditions. This bill is a perfect embodiment of the liberal approach to healthcare; liberals generally believe that every American should have access to healthcare, and that government should be the body to make this happen. They do not believe in abolishing privatized health care, rather, private healthcare companies should make their coverage more accessible and affordable. Naturally, Democrats tend to look favorably upon the Affordable Care Act, and Republicans tend to criticize it, mostly because of the financial obstacles it presents. Conservative ideology views health care as a private matter that should be determined by individual families, not the government. Conservatives generally believe in

reforming Medicare, but just what these reforms entail, no Republican politician will ever say. The Affordable Care Act requires every American citizen to purchase some form of health insurance, which conservatives view as an infringement of personal liberty. Republican opposition to the ACA is so strong, that not a single Republican voted in favor of the final version of the bill. Thus, if the choice is between the government spending money versus the private businesses regulating the market, conservative ideology almost always favors the latter. I’d like to pause here and reiterate the fact that a specific ideology surely does not encompass all voters who identify with that ideology. Ferrel Guillory, Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Campus BluePrint advisor, says: “Today, the word ‘liberal’ dates itself back to FDR and the New Deal.” Ideology changes through time, though, and what used to define someone as “liberal” may no longer apply. The word liberal, in itself, has changed dramatically, according to Guillory. “What’s happened to the word liberal is that because of its opponents, the word became a pejorative. The result is that liberals end up substituting the word ‘liberal’ with ‘progressive.’ Guillory also notes that throughout American history, there have typically been only two major sides in every major policy debate. From Federalists and Anti-Federalists to Liberals and Conservatives, American political ideology traditionally takes one of two stances on a major government issue. Thus, as Guilloy says: “the big fault line right now is how much government we should have.” As noted, liberal ideology places

heavy emphasis on the role of government in the lives of individuals living in America. Liberals trust government to handle many of the major problems facing the country because they believe government is best equipped to handle those problems. A bigger role for government, however, comes at a price; Democratic governments typically require more taxes than their Republican counterparts, but most liberals feel comfortable paying more taxes to a government that effectively uses the money. Liberal ideology says that government should tax the higher class more, and give tax breaks to the lower and middle class. Government should then use that tax revenue to help create jobs, free impoverished people from living in extreme poverty, and increase the minimum wage. Conservative ideology favors tax cuts for the middle class, but also for the upper class. Conservatives also believe in a smaller government, and more individual freedom in the marketplace. I see ideology as a metaphorical haze. It is there, but you cannot put your finger on it. Both liberals and conservatives cling to ideology to provide the support for laws they create and enact. While researching for this article, I came across a website contrasting the views of liberals and conservatives, and one of the categories, I kid you not, was “Ideal U.S. President.” So with this gem of knowledge in mind, my parting thought is this: Friday Night Fight Night featuring Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.

November 2014

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF RACIST LANDMARKS AT UNC JENNIFER WALDKIRCH

ften, the narratives we form the case that the university still has about our history connect more not come to terms with its past. Evto our beliefs about the current eryday students walk past monuworld than to what actually hap- ments of racism, often with little pened in the past. For many stu- knowledge of their white supremadents and alumni, the University cist connections. of North Carolina exists somewhat romantically. It is touted as the first public university in the United States, existing as the pinnacle of North Carolina’s achievements. Nevertheless, this particular narrative of school history is plagued by a blatant disregard for the history of minorities, particularly African Americans, at Chapel Hill. Yet, generally, the more troubling aspects of our school’s history have receded away from public consciousness. The late historian, social activist, and UNC graduate, John K. Chapman, devoted a lot of his time exploring racial marginalization and African American underrepresen- PHOTO BY ANISHA PADMA tation at Chapel Hill. In his 2006 Standing on the edge of North PhD dissertation, called “Black Free- Campus next to Franklin Street, Sidom and the University of Chapel lent Sam is one of the most conHill,” Chapman began revising the troversial features of our campus. idea that we are, as he called it, a Erected in 1913 with support from “University of the People.” Writing the Daughters of the Confederacy, that “previous scholarship has con- the dedication of Silent Sam was tributed to a culture of denial and a celebration of white supremacy. racial historical amnesia” he made One of the speakers at the dedica16 • November 2014

tion was a wealthy industrialist, named Julian Shakespeare Carr. In 1900, Carr had run unsuccessfully for the US Senate on the platform of white supremacy. His beliefs were evident throughout his speech, stating that Confederate soliders “saved the very life of the Anglo Saxon race in the South.” Later in his speech, Carr then bragged about how he “horsewhipped a negro wench until her skirts hung in shreds” because “she had publicly insulted and maligned a Southern lady,” Carr obviously took great pride in having beaten a Black woman half to death. Next on our list of buildings dedicated to racist white men is Saunders Hall, completed in 1922. William L. Saunders graduated from UNC in 1854 and went on to serve as a colonel during the Civil War. After the war, from his home in Chapel Hill, he became a chief organizer of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina. In his new position, Saunders orchestrated the beatings and assassinations of Blacks in many of the Piedmont counties, including Orange County. Eventually, Saunders served as the Executive Committee of the UNC Board of Trustees.

Completed in 1968, Daniels Student Stores is a building that all students frequently pass through. It was named after Josephus Daniels, a former editor of the Raleigh News and Observer. As editor of the News and Observer, Daniels is credited with forming a new white supremacy campaign in North Carolina. Daniels also played a key part in the infamous Wilmington Race Riot. Two days after the election of 1898, 500 white men went on a rampage, killing an unknown number of Black citizens and forcing the fusionist politicians to resign. Josephus Daniels was instrumental in creating this tension that erupted into mass violence, writing in the Raleigh News and Observer that Wilmington suffered from “Negro domination.” His newspaper frequently published racist propaganda, meant to frighten white citizens away from electing Blacks to political office or even allowing them to vote. Finally, we have the Unsung Founders Memorial. Located in MCcorkle Place, not far from the Silent Sam monument, it contains the inscription, “The Class of 2002 honors the University’s unsung founders – the people of color bond and free – who helped build the Carolina that we cherish today.” Yet, for many, this “memorial” exists as a rather sad representation of the university’s failure to come to terms with its racist past. In 2009, a forum was conducted to discuss the race relations in Chapel Hill. A local poet, C.J. Suitt addressed the issues with the memorial, saying that the university “has erected a 20-foot-tall monument to the Civil War, ‘Silent Sam,’ and less than a hundred yards away is a slave monument that’s ... a table - a table that has these twofoot slaves holding it up,” He added, “The last time I walked past there was a lovely white family enjoying lunch.”

The visible landmarks at our school are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the discussion of racial inequality. The University of North Carolina has been a historic defender of slavery, segregation, and white supremacy, and countless activists have worked to expose this truth on our campus. In 1999, Students Seeking Historical Truth was founded by current and former members of UNC’s Black Student Movement. They worked to encourage historical honesty from the university concerning the many buildings you read about above. Today, The Real Silent Sam is a group that exists on campus, founded in 2011 to “create honest public dialogue and provoke critical thought surrounding the monuments and buildings in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.” The conversation they have sparked demands that the university challenge both its past and present, and confront the fact that institutional racism persists as a problem at our university. Black students continue to be a minority at a school that has historically championed their disenfranchisement. It is hard to imagine that we could ever have been considered a “University of the People.”

PHOTO BY ANISHA PADMA

Of course white men were not only perpetrators of white supremacy in our school’s history. Spencer dormitory, completed in 1924 as the first residence hall for women, was named after a lady, Cornelia Phillips Spencer. She has been was credited with reopening UNC after its devastation during the Civil War. In 1875, Spencer apparently climbed to the top of South Building and rang its bell, announcing to the entire town that the university would soon be reopened. Known as “the woman who rang the bell,” Spencer’s tale remains untarnished by pertinent truths concerning her cause or beliefs. The real story of Reconstruction is far more complicated than the one we see depicted in Spencer’s story. To put things briefly, Reconstruction was initially a very radical change in the political power structure of the South. With the Republican party in charge, from 1870 to 1876, North Carolina had 30 Black state legislators and one Black U.S. Congressman, named John A. Hyman. Formerly enslaved men like Hyman were now representing a constituency in North Carolina that had never before been heard. Of course, this made most Southerners very angry. So angry that they could not bear to see their university open under such a government. A fact that often gets left out of the original story, Cornelia Spencer was instrumental in closing the university in 1870 to protect it from Reconstruction politics. She fought alongside men like Col. William Saunders to defend white supremacy and the Ku Klux Klan while dismantling North Carolina’s Reconstruction government and voting rights for Blacks. While she is still hailed by some as a crusader for women’s equality, it is clear that she only wanted power in the hands of white men and women.

November 2014

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HOG FARMING IN NORTH CAROLINA A Foul Tradition KELLY HUGHES

ince 1990, the hog industry in corporate giants such as Smithfield mental problems, leading to stricter North Carolina has seen major Foods and irrevocably changed the policy regulation. In 1995, 20 million shifts in structure and seem unprec- course of North Carolina’s hog indus- gallons of waste spilled into North edented growth. Today, the hog in- try. Carolina’s New River, and four years dustry includes more than 10 million Over the next 20 years, the num- later, Hurricane Floyd released hog hogs, most of which are concentrat- ber of hogs prowaste and hog “In 1995, 20 million ed in the eastern part of North Car- duced quadrucarcasses into olina, where industrial hog farming pled, increasing gallons of waste spilled many NC rivers. plays an important role in the area’s by millions and The resulting into North Carolina’s economy. However, industrial hog eventually exenvironmental New River, and four farming generates a range of envi- ceeding the hudegradation and years later, Hurricane ronmental problems such as air and man population. negative pubwater pollution, posing hazards to The hog industry Floyd released hog waste licity caused and hog carcasses into legislators to the health of the nearby communi- grew 89% beties. This trade-off between econom- tween 1992 and reevaluate the many NC rivers.” ic benefits and environmental conse- 2002, and North monolithic hog quences is crucial in determining the Carolina emerged as the second industry. New regulations required future of the hog industry in North largest hog-producing state in the hog farms to be set certain distances Carolina. country, a status it maintains today. away from residences and commuChanges in policy generated accel- Nonetheless, less noticeable shifts nity buildings. Even more, the Clean erated growth and consolidation of in the structure of the hog farm in- Water Responsibility Act placed the the North Carolina’s hog industry. dustry were occurring behind the in- restriction on the construction of In the 1980s, the hog industry was dustry’s rapid expansion. While the new farms in North Carolina. Despite developing and consisted mainly of number of hogs produced expand- these regulations, environmental small family-owned hog farms. North ed, the growth was paralleled by an problems continue to plague the hog Carolina ranked only 7th nationally equally rapid shrinking in the num- farming industry to this day. in hog producber of farms, from As indicated by the spills mentioned “The hog industry grew tion. Shortly afa p p r o x i m a t e l y above, hog waste management is a terwards, several 89% between 1992 and 15,000 to just main problem with industrial hog policies were in2,800. Small fam- farming, generating a range of envi2002, and North troduced which Carolina emerged as ily-owned farms ronmental problems. The hog induspaved the way were replaced try generates 40 million gallons of the second largest hog- by large corpora- manure each day, much of which is for the proliferproducing state in the tion-owned facto- stored in open lagoons. Liquid maation of largecountry.” scale industrial ries. The standard nure is often sprayed directly onto hog farms. In the image of the hog agricultural fields, causing excess 1990s, hog farms were placed under farm soon became one of thousands nutrients such as nitrogen and phoslenient environmental regulation, of pigs crowded in confined spaces. phorous to run off into nearby wabenefited from tax breaks and beHowever, this rapid expansion in terways. These excess nutrients can came exempt from traditional zoning the hog-farm industry was accom- lead to algae growth, degrading the regulations. These policies attracted panied by a proliferation of environ- ecosystem and killing fish popula18 • November 2014

tions. The manure can also seep into “overhauling the general permit to groundwater, leading to contamina- protect African Americans, Latinos, tion of drinking supplies. and Native Americans from the adThe environmental problems gen- verse disproportionate impacts of erated by the hog industry can have industrial swine facilities.” The EPA’s health consequences for nearby resi- response has yet to be announced. dents. In addition to generating negaFactory farmed hog production has tive externalities such as unpleasant led to a rise in the economic imporodors, hog farms also negatively impact the air quality by increasing ammonia emissions, which can lead to respiratory problems. Other health problems such as thyroid disruption and anxiety have been reported but not conclusively tied to hog farms. Additionally, hogs are fed large amounts of antibiotics and artificial hormones to promote growth, causing a rise in antibiotic-resistant pathogens. According to the New York Times, hog industry workers are found to inadvertently carry these pathogens, which could lead to their spread. The hog industry has PHOTO FROM US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (NCRS GALLERY) also led to social inequity problems as the negative tance of the hog industry in North consequences of hog farms dispro- Carolina. Today, it is worth over $1 bilportionately impact disadvantaged lion dollars, contributing significantpeople such as minority or low-in- ly to the local economy. Furthermore, come groups. Environmental groups the hog industry employs nearly have recently petitioned the EPA to 12,000 people and accounts for more review the hog farm permits issued than $200 million in wages. Howevby the North Carolina Department of er, the increased consolidation of the Environment and Natural Resource hog farm industry means that prof(DENR). The groups argue that the its are increasingly concentrated in permits violate the Civil Rights Act of the hands of the top players while 1964 as the hog farms are under-reg- individual farmers get an increasingulated and most directly affect mi- ly small share. After several merges, nority groups. The petition argues Smithfield now controls 90% of the that the DENR needs to respond by hog market in North Carolina, where

the economic significance of the hog industry means it has political power. Despite the environmental and health problems, attempts to increase regulation of the hog farms in recent years have been sparse, in part because of the economic and political power of the industry. Most of the debate is focused on the use of lagoons to store hog waste, pertaining to the environmental reasons listed above. Although the Clean Hog Farms Act of 2005 originally planned to ban manure lagoons, it was modified to become less restrictive; even so, it failed to pass North Carolina’s General Assembly. While hog farms have lawsuits and fines for violating the Clean Water Act, lagoons are still a common practice, and legislation has not changed significantly. Historically, it has taken an environmental crisis such as the release of hog waste after Hurricane Floyd in 1999 to prompt a legislative reevaluation of the hog industry. However, recent action such as petition of the EPA for civil rights violations could catalyze similar debate and changes. In order to address the problems of the hog industry, legislators are going to have to weigh the economic benefits against the environmental and health consequences. Their conclusions will shape the future of the hog industry in North Carolina.

November 2014

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PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

REASSERTING NATIVE CONSCIOUSNESS The Role and History of Indigenous Peoples Day

TONY LIU

olidays mark our calendar, punctuating and shaping our experience with time. While many function as welcome reposes from work, holidays also commemorate historical moments that have impacted cultural beliefs, ideas, and frameworks for viewing the world. Columbus Day - celebrated annually on the second Monday of October - serves to celebrate Christopher Columbus’s “discovery” of North America (even though he landed in the Bahamas.) Nevertheless, the days we give symbolic importance are slowly changing--seen here with the movement to alter Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. Ultimately, Indigenous Peoples Day not only recognizes a oft-neglected history within the Americas, but also posits the existence and lived experience of indigenous peoples in the present--an

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imagining and welcomed shift in the cultural dialogue regarding historically marginalized peoples. Within the United States, Berkeley, California was the first city to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. The city formalized the change in 1992, proceeding to celebrate the Bay Area’s Indian community. The process which lead to the change began with the creation of the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission on August 7th, 1984, formalized in 1985. The Commission’s purpose was to “conduct the commemoration of the voyages of Christopher Columbus and to set forth general provisions and policies governing [...] Quincentenary projects.” While the commission was terminated in 1993, the Jubilee was initially scheduled to be held in the Bay Area, spurring the

formation of the Resistance 500 Commission--500 referring to the number of years since Columbus’s arrival in the Bahamas. Ultimately, the commision was the group that not only challenged the Jubilee “commemoration of the voyages” but also successfully petitioned the city council to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day. The subsequent changes, or rather, the increased recognition of indigenous peoples expressed through a day of commemoration was not limited to the United States. In 1994, the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed August 9th as the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People. Continuing into the present, the theme for this year’s International Day emphasizes the importance of implementing the rights

of indigenous peoples throughout the world. This culminated in the first World Conference on Indigenous Peoples in September. While more events have recognizing indigenous peoples has been created in the present, the United Nation’s work in recognizing indigenous identity first began in the mid-late 20th century. In 1974, a NGO of indigenous peoples was granted recognition for the first time by the the United Nations Economics and Social Council. A few years later, the first proposal to change the celebration of Columbus Day occurred in 1977 when the United Nations supported Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations promoted the International Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous Populations in the Americas which aimed to challenge discourse and prejudice towards those populations. As those committees laid the groundwork for change, the First Continental Conference on 500 years of Indian Resistance attended by over 120 Indian nations resolved to challenge Columbus Day. Their declaration aimed to “turn [Columbus Day] into an occasion to strengthen [the] process of continental unity and struggle towards…liberation.” Ultimately, the roots of the Resistance 500 Commission that transformed Columbus Day in Berkeley stemmed from the First Continental Conference. Following Berkeley’s path, other states and cities have dropped the celebration of Columbus Day adopting remembrance of indigenous populations. Codified into state law, South Dakota celebrates Native Americans’ Day, where that celebration is noted as “remembrance of the great Native American leaders who contributed so much to the history of [the state].” More recently in 2014, the cities of Seattle and Minneapolis swapped Co-

lumbus Day for Indigenous Peoples bus Day Parade in Colorado, various Day. The Seattle city council passed a Italian Americans expressed their supunanimous resolution adopting the port for the event connoting it with a shift in recognition of the contribu- celebration of Italian heritage. Other tions that indigenous populations had proponents in favor of Columbus Day made to the area. argue that their support stems from In an interview with Jean Dennison, Columbus’s spirit of exploration, not Assistant Professor of Anthropology at his exploitation of Native populations. the University of North Carolina at Cha- While there is no fault in asserting anpel Hill and memcestral pride, doing ber of the Osage so through the me“More recently in Indian Nation, dium of a man that 2014, the cities of Dennison comsymbolizes conquest, Seattle and mented on the imsubjugation, and deportance of recog- Minneapolis swapped struction potentially nizing Indigenous Columbus Day for obfuscates the celPeoples Day and Indigenous Peoples ebration of that pride. how it challenges Furthermore, it seems Day.” colonial discoursto ignore Columbus’s es regarding naentanglement and tive populations.“To this day, American dependency with Spanish powers as Indians face ongoing representational well as Italy’s own complex developissues, including sports teams using ment as a state and nation. dictionary defined racial slurs against In a political and cultural climate that indigenous peoples as their mascot,” has often ignored and brushed aside said Dennison. Even more, she com- its indigenous population, it is fitting mented on the importance of recog- and just for that population to be not nizing the diversity of Native Ameri- only remembered but also imagined can peoples, not people stating how in the present. Not as a mascot, not as “differently situated American Indian a figurehead on a coin, but rather as populations exist, each as their own polities and peoples who exist in the polities.“ present striving for recognition and While a shift towards recognizing greater livelihoods within their own Indigenous Peoples Day is occurring, communities. Whereas our cultural that shift is localized, and the major- legacy has often mythologized Native ity of people within the states still cel- Americans as wild, natural, or characebrate Columbus Day. The holiday was teristic of American frontier values of established on a federal level in 1937, individualism and freedom, to caricawhen President Franklin D. Roosevelt turize is to reduce the complexity withwas lobbied by the Catholic fraternal in these populations, the problems service organization, the Knights of they face, and their present existence. Columbus, to commemorate Colum- In this regard, Indigenous Peoples Day bus Day within the United States. can serve as a step towards exposing Many of the current groups, nota- past histories, celebrating a rich and bly Italian American ones, have pro- diverse cultural legacy of various natested the transition to an Indigenous tive traditions, and opening up the Peoples Day due to historical connec- imagination of future possibilities and tions with the Knights of Columbus. existences. As protests ensued the 2005 ColumNovember 2014

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THE FOOD SECURITY DEBATE What will ultimately prevent hunger and promote health? COLE WILHELMI

he World Food Prize international at the conference (and overlooked symposium might be the largest by much of the public) is that solvscientific conference that you’ve nev- ing world hunger is a complex and er heard of. Each October, hundreds vastly multidimensional issue. The of top government officials, food sci- going mentality in many public inentists, policymakers, and social jus- stitutions is that a certain problem is tice workers convene in Des Moines, best solved by compartmentalizing it Iowa, with the stated mission of in a specific “silo”--a system of think“advancing human development by ing that minimizes collaboration, reimproving the quality, quantity or source-sharing, and interdisciplinary availability of food in the world.” The solutions. We see silo management symposium is capped with the annu- at work at UNC and many other unial award ceremony, where the World versities: the department of chemisFood Prize is presented to an individ- try does chemistry, the department ual who has made remarkable strides of computer science does computer in the fight against world hunger. It’s science, the department of economoften regarded as the Nobel Prize of ics does economics, and so on. UNC food security (although with a much has improved on its interdisciplinary smaller fraction of press coverage). course offerings in recent years, but If anything, howevthey are still rather “They recognize that er, the world needs uncommon. Most to spend more time GMO the technology is collaboration oclistening to what just that: a technology, curs among fields comes out of this a tool that should be that show obvious conference. Chancused with many others similarities: biology es are, the opinions and chemistry for to solve hunger probgenerated by the example, or mathelems in a diverse set of matics and physics. symposium might situations.” be radically differThe biggest divide ent from your own exists between impressions on food security, and the hard sciences and the humanithey will undoubtedly have a major ties--very rarely will you encounter impact on guiding food policy deci- a class or department that works sions worldwide. between the two. However, the diaSo why are the ideas of the confer- logue at the World Food Prize demonence so important, and how do they strated that this type of interdepartstack up against the beliefs on food mental cooperation is absolutely security commonly held by the Amer- critical to winning the fight against ican public and students at UNC? One world hunger. Food security lies at of the key principles agreed upon the crux of public policy, econom22 • November 2014

ics, and science: idea sharing is the only way that the global food security movement will succeed. The objective of the conference wasn’t just to gather all the leading experts on food security, but also to recognize how incredibly diverse the expertise is. Dr. Amit Roy, President of the International Fertilizer Development Center in India, sums it nicely: “One intervention area won’t be enough to end hunger. Achieving sustainable food security depends on holistic solutions… Going forward, it is vital to have partnership: between the farmer, the research institution, the policymaker and others.” The conference spent a good deal of time covering the use of technology and how to best integrate it into food security solutions. Here is where I think the views held by the attendees of the World Food Prize and the opinions of college students most differ. Certain technologies deemed critical at the conference are non-contentious and infrequently discussed outside the field: developing precision farming methods and using computers and big-data to make farming more efficient, for instance, will be key over the next fifty years. But most people choose to devote their attentions to the more controversial tools- the most (in)famous of which is the GMO. The use of genetic modification in crops is bitterly debated on the news and on college campuses, but the consensus among most environmental groups

PERMISSION OF SPENCER NELSON Student group Sonder Market sells organic produce from its food stand on campus.

is that GMOs are anathema to sustainability and healthy food production. Keynote speakers and panelists at the World Food Prize conference were, surprisingly, mostly pro-GMO. They made an important distinction between GMO, the technology, and GMO, the agricultural system that most people don’t understand. They recognize that GMO the technology is just that: a technology, a tool that should be used with many others to solve hunger problems in a diverse set of situations. When used appropriately, this can be a tremendous boon to global food supplies. In fact, the 2014 World Food Prize winner, Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram, focused his research on selective wheat breeding, ultimately creating over 480 wheat varieties adapted to grow in a huge array of climates and environmental conditions. His work boosted wheat production by over 200 million tons in 51 different countries. However, most of us only hear about GMO the agricultural system. The one associated with large crop monoculturing, environmental destruction, big agribusiness, nutritional deficiencies, over-fertilization and pesti-

cide use…or basically, the US system of agriculture. When Americans hear “GMO”, they automatically associate the technology with the negative effects of the system, when in reality, the two are not necessarily linked. As Mark Lynas, author and environmental activist, said in panel discussion, “We can have GMOs produced in the public sector, without patents, which are offered free of charge to smallholder farmers.” When used correctly, GMOs can be adapted like any other scientific development. The same principle goes for fertilizer and pesticides--well-regulated use must happen to revitalize agriculture in struggling regions in the developing world. Leaders at the symposium dubbed this concept “sustainable intensification”- acknowledging the need for technology in agrisystems without abusing it. Many of UNC’s student organizations related to food development and sustainability share a similar profile: UNC Sprout, FLO (Fair, Local, Organic), and the Sonder Market, an organic food stand that just recently debuted on campus, all favor organic crop production over conventional.

Does this mean that they wrongly reject the idea of “sustainable intensification?” Not necessarily. The principle behind sustainable intensification is to embrace technology where it’s most needed. And it’s clear that in the United States, conventional food technologies have been overused at the cost of consumer and environmental health. So it’s also a matter of recognizing differences in priorities across regions: in developing nations, food production and boosting yield are most important, while in food rich countries like the US, nutrition and environmental health have become top concern. So far, organizations at UNC have done a good job of promoting more sustainable agriculture in North Carolina, and finally giving students on campus some healthier eating options. One must only remember that “local and organic” is not always superior to conscious conventional farming, nor is it always feasible in developing countries facing shortages.

November 2014

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Published with support from: Generation Progress, a division of the Center for American Progress. Generation Progress works to help young people — advocates, activists, journalists, artists — make their voices heard on issues that matter. Online at genprog.org. Also paid for in part by student fees.

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dialogue on progressive ideals at UNC-Chapel Hill and in the greater community. 24 • November 2014