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LOCAL ELECTIONS NEW FAFSA DEADLINES
NOVEMBER 15, 2017 VOLUME XXXV ISSUE
New College of Florida's student-run newspaper
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In case you missed it: action-packed fall semester for the NCSA BY COLE ZELZNAK “Everything that has a possibility of going wrong has gone wrong,” third-year and New College Student Alliance Chief of Staff (NCSA CoS) Katie Thurston said. It may not be apparent to the casual reader of meeting minutes or the once-a-year Towne Meeting attendee, but the NCSA has dealt with a number of bureaucratic hangups and just plain bad luck this fall. In an effort to demystify what has been an overwhelmingly busy semester for student representatives, the Catalyst has prepared this overview of the NCSA’s fall semester activities. The year got off to a rocky start after NCSA Co-president Kayla Kisseadoo decided not to return to New College of Florida (NCF). Kisseadoo’s absence left current NCSA President and third-year Ximena Pedroza as
Giulia Heyward/Catalyst
Students pictured at the 2016 Midnight Debates. Student turnout to NCSA events such as the Midnight Debates or Towne Meetings has decreased in recent years.
the sole chief executive of the NCSA. Pedroza has continued working hard to accomplish her agenda, which includes establishing a food pantry on campus, making sure students have easy access to Plan B and revising the Great Book. However, the work-
load she faces as a solo president is heightened. The duties of the NCSA’s presidential office have been shared by co-presidents for the past three years in a row. Although Pedroza was not elected as a solo president, she is the first to serve as one since the
2014 administration of Carlos Santos. Co-presidencies ease the burden shouldered by holders of the office, a strategy that illustrates one of the major problems faced by the NCSA in recent years—a lack of candidates running in elections. If no one runs for a position, the resulting vacancies increase the workload of other NCSA officials and cause hold-ups like the one that impacted the Student Allocations Committee (SAC) earlier this semester. “There are supposed to be 74 people in the NCSA [...] The machine is supposed to work with 74 people and we are in no way at capacity right now,” Thurston said. “You have a voice in student government and if you want it to work better, you have to get involved.” Pedroza planned to confirm the continued on p. 11
The Student Coalition for Combating Homelessness and Poverty addresses increase in houseless population BY JASON D’AMOURS
https://doc-0k-18-docs. googleusercontent.com/ docs/securesc/s7jurnmk912se8sp3mgg3hd8llrh0uos/obdpo7fpcdn719 co01n4qb7t57rv346b/1 506448800000/0533393 9401667025082/025783 83506865688437/0B4ze ECbsUTILVjVXY25YUU 52ZUk?e=download
A 2016 report by the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness revealed that there are 1,468 people in Manatee and Sarasota counties who are homeless. 497 reside in Manatee County and 971 in Sarasota County. This report disclosed a 207 person increase since the 2015 annual report. The Student Coalition for Combating Homelessness and Poverty (SCCHP) was recently established in response to these numbers and the increase in the houseless population in the counties immediately surrounding campus. This semester, the SCCHP is partnering with Turning Points— a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Bradenton that works to prevent and aid homelessness in Manatee County—to hold a supply drive on campus. They are collecting baby formula, blankets, diapers, games, toys,
WHAT’S INSIDE
photo courtesy of Jason D'Amours
First-year Elizabeth Bowerfind, first-year Connor Rupp, second-year Michaele Joseph and fourth-year Gabriella Elmir are a few of the committed students who have joined the Student Coalition for Combating Homelessness and Poverty.
jeans, mosquito repellant, books, shoes, socks, toiletries, underwear, workboots and much more. These resources will be donated to Turning Points and used to provide basic need services to community mem-
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As We Are
bers struggling with homelessness or poverty. The coalition also seeks to address homelessness on campus and hopes to work with administration to create constructive policies to ad-
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dress the issue. The SCCHP sent an email to the [forum] on Nov. 9 containing an anonymous survey to gauge how many students on campus are struggling with homelessness or near homelessness. “At the beginning of the school year I started to volunteer at an organization called Turning Points, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides resources to people who are either homeless or are close to being homeless,” Sinitch said in an email interview. “They provide necessities such as clothing, food, a safe space where people can rest, computers where people can apply for jobs, a showering area and a laundry room. “When I began volunteering there, the volunteer coordinator told me about supplies that Turning Points is in need of,” Sinitch continued. “She gave me a list of these continued on p. 11
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Evita, Tony Award winning musical, comes to Asolo BY TIM MANNING
In el Cementerio, a cemetery in the heart of Buenos Aires, the richest families of the city are buried in ostentatious and expensive tombs, lined like a little neighborhood, the ultimate posthumous-gated community. In a back alley of sorts, away from the presidents’ tombs and Grecian statues, flowers, notes of remembrance and thank yous from contemporary social movements adorn the grave of an improbable and indelible Argentinian hero, Eva Perón. The same Evita whose face, frozen in impassioned oration, graces the outside of a downtown skyscraper, which remains an active symbol in Argentine politics. This fall, the Asolo theater is bringing the life and story of Evita to Sarasota in the critically acclaimed and Tony Award winning musical “Evita.” The musical, written by An-
drew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice and named after its protagonist, depicts the life of Evita, beginning in provincial Buenos Aires and following her rise to stardom, power and, ultimately, a symbol of care and resilience. The play first took stage in London’s West End theater in 1978 and landed on Broadway the following year. Since then, it has returned to the stage a number of times, once on Broadway, a number of times in London and once in a film adaptation featuring Madonna as Evita. The Asolo production will feature Ana Isabelle, the Puerto Rican winner of Viva el Sueño, a Univision show dedicated to finding the next Latinx superstar. The show opens on the Nov. 14 and runs until the end of December. Tickets are on sale, and can be grabbed for as little as $35 with a student discount.
Lido Beach Development Partners LLC, run by the owners of Daquiri Deck, are in negotiations with the city of Sarasota over a development project on Lido Beach. The proposed development would allow the proprietors of Daquiri Deck to add a restaurant, bar and outdoor seating to the Lido Key Beach Pavilion. The idea of giving control of the pavilion-now run by the city of Sarasota--to a private company originated in 2011, when it looked like the pavilion may have to close due to the costs of operation. Earlier this year, the city approved the plan proposed by Lido Beach Development Partners and a meeting, originally set for the Nov. 6, to approve the plan has been postponed with a new date pending. Unsurprisingly, there has been rising controversy and protestations sur-
rounding the plan. The intent behind the development is to lay the costs of improving the existing property onto an LLC in the hope that the Lido Key and wider Sarasota community would benefit. However, many residents feel that the proposed changes are little more than an excuse for the owners of Daquiri Deck to expand their franchise onto Lido Beach, though under a different name--the proposed restaurant would be called “The Castaways of Lido Beach.” As the LLC has no past development projects, this assertion seems to carry at least some validity. For those in opposition to the plan, Lido Key is attraction enough without the meddling of the Lido Key Development Partners, and passing managerial responsibilities of part of the beach to the folks behind Daiquiri Deck would detract from the value of the space.
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White House quietly confirms climate change BY TIM MANNING
After a campaign of vociferous denial of climate change, the White House released a special report on climate. The report, based off research conducted by a conglomeration of federal agencies, asserts that humans bear the brunt of the responsibility for climate change. The assessment, beyond citing humans as the main cause of a changing climate, confirms what the scientific community and the rest of the world has been saying for some time: global warming threatens ecosystems, economic systems, agriculture and coastal communities, to name a few of the systems in danger. In spite of all this, the White House continues to sullenly stick to its guns of hard denial, as the second to last nation that had not signed onto the Paris Climate Accord until
Syria joined the pledge, leaving the U.S. as the sole country in the world continuing to ignore global scientific consensus. The report shows that even best case scenarios run the risk of passing the two degrees Celsius mark, which is the point considered by the Paris Accord to be the peak that should be allowed. Current rates of emissions threaten to race by that mark, and the U.S.’s dalliance and inaction exacerbate the risk of blowing by it. The line of two degrees is far from arbitrary, too--scientists and studies suggest that any warming past the two degree point could lead the world into an uncontrolled spiral of warming.
Efforts to preserve Newtown find their way into local classrooms
Daquiri Owners make grab for Lido BY TIM MANNING
BY TIM MANNING This year, the history of Newtown will be a part of Sarasota public education during Black History month. Thanks in large part to a partnership with Newtown Alive, a local organization dedicated to sharing the history of Newtown, fourth graders will have the opportunity to get to know Newtown and its history a little bit better through a events and a field trip dedicated to Newtown’s past. This is just the most recent effort by Newtown Alive, an organization that came to life in 2016, though it had been in the makings since the mid 2000s. A central objective of Newtown Alive is the preservation of the Newtown community in the face of Sarasota’s growth and the gentrification that it brings. Gentrification continues to af-
fect historically Black communities in Sarasota, and it has already demonstrated its capacity to damage communities. Through gentrification, Overtown, Sarasota’s original African-American community, was converted into the Rosemary District. The changes to the district in part inspired the Newtown Alive campaign. Newtown Alive looks to combat both the economic and cultural impacts of gentrification through a collection of initiatives, including history tours carried out on trolleys through Newtown and the sharing of the stories of Newtown residents. Locals hope that these initiatives will help keep Newtown from ending up the same way as Overtown and will help to preserve and strengthen the district.
Correction: In the "Bayfront Clambake raises over 240,000 for international and out of state student scholarships," story from Issue 8, Ximena Pedroza and Caitlyn Ralph were both stated as having given speeches at the event. Caitlyn Ralph was the only student to give a speech at this event. In the same article, out of state and internatioanl students are said to be the benefactors of this scholarship. While out of state and international students are often the recipeint of fundraising from this event, in state students are also able to receive scholarships. The article stated that expenses for the event are covered by ticket prices. However, expenses for the event are covered from sponsors and only a portion of the ticket price. The Catalyst apologizes for these errors.
"I owe $90 in parking citations." © 2017 the Catalyst. All rights reserved. The Catalyst is available online at www.ncfcatalyst.com, facebook.com/NCFcatalyst instagram.com/NCFcatalyst twitter.com/ncfcatalyst The Catalyst is an academic tutorial sponsored by Professor Maria D. Vesperi. It is developed in the New College Publications Lab using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign and printed at Sun Coast Press with funds provided by the New College Student Alliance.
General Editor Managing Editor Copy Editor & Writing Coach Online Editor Layout Editors Social Media Editor Staff Writers & Photographers
Giulia Heyward Magdalene Taylor Ryan Paice Jacob Wentz Anya María Contreras-García,
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Jason D'Amours Noah Baslaw, Miranda Gale Michala Head, Azia Keever, Tim Manning, Samantha Ramirez, Cole Zelznak
Direct submissions, letters, announcements and inquiries to: The Catalyst 5800 Bay Shore Road Sarasota, Florida 34243 ncfcatalyst@gmail.com The Catalyst reserves the right to edit all submissions for grammar, space and style. No anonymous submissions will be accepted. Submissions must be received by 12:00 p.m. Friday for consideration in the next issue.
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ELECTIONS
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Bye bye, Rick Scott! Four democrats to run in Florida’s 2018 gubernatorial election BY JASON D'AMOURS The start of November marks approximately one year until Florida’s 2018 gubernatorial election that represents the long-awaited end of incumbent Republican Governor Rick Scott’s eight-year term. Currently four democratic candidates have declared that they will be running in the primary race for Florida governor: Andrew Gillum, Gwen Graham, Chris King and Philip Levine. Andrew Gillum Andrew Gillum was born in Miami, was the first in his family to graduate college, is the youngest person in history elected as the Tallahassee City Commissioner and currently serves as the mayor of Tallahassee. During his term as mayor, Gillum supported the city of Tallahassee in joining the Ban the Box campaign, an international civil rights campaign that encourages employers to remove the box on applications that asks if potential employees have a criminal background, under the
premise that applicants should have the chance to display their qualifications before being labeled as a criminal. Additionally, Gillum has emphasized investment in early childhood development and launched community-led task forces as part of his family-first agenda to improve affordable childcare. Gillum is running on a platform that considers healthcare to be a fundamental right and supports Senator Bernie Sander’s Medicare for All plan. He opposes high-stakes testing and teaching to the test and believes that all children should have access to training for a career or college education that will not leave them in debt. Gillum will push for equal pay legislation, will protect and encourage women-owned businesses and will trust women to make their own healthcare decisions. Gillum is “the only candidate for Governor who has led to oppose both Donald Trump and Rick Scott’s policies that target immigrants,” according to his cam-
paign website. Gwen Graham Gwen Graham was born in Miami Lakes, went to college and law school and worked as a private attorney. She volunteered at her children’s school and worked for the local school district. In 2014, she ran for congress against a conservative incumbent and won, becoming one of the two democrats across the country to defeat an incumbent republican. During her term in Congress, Graham participated in a sit-in to demand commonsense gun safety, supported President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, voted in support of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan and voted in favor of the Keystone Pipeline. As governor, Graham promises to end corporate profits from for-profit charter schools and highstakes testing. She will focus on keeping university tuition low and will fully fund need-based assistance
photos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Four democrats are running in the primary race for Florida governor: Andrew Gillum (top left), Gwen Graham (top right), Chris King (bottom left) and Philip Levine (bottom right).
programs. Graham supports a constitutional amendment that aims to restore voting rights to citizens who have completed their sentences. Further, she aims to encourage and increase voting access by fighting for automatic voter registration for all continued on p. 9
Democratic wins in Florida,Virginia and New Jersey threaten Republican dominance BY MAGDALENE TAYLOR A number of states participated in off-year elections last Tuesday, Nov. 7, making predominantly Democratic choices. In measures both statewide and local, voters elected new officials and made ballot decisions that skewed away from the Republican dominance of last year. New Jersey and Virginia--two states that have often held Republican leadership--elected Democratic mayors. In Virginia, Democratic mayoral candidate Ralph Northam won by a significant margin, and made leads toward increasing the Democratic presence in the House of Delegates. Both of these factors are expected to be significant in the 2020 election. In New Jersey, Phil Murphy replaced Chris Christie, who had held mayoral office in the state for the last eight years, previously bolstering its Republican presence. On a smaller, more localized level, Democrats again made significant wins. States also saw a number of “firsts” for diversity in their representation. Again in Virginia, Danica Roem, a 33-year old transgender woman, ousted incumbent Republican delegate Bob Marshall in the House of Delegates. Roem will be the first openly transgender elected
official in the U.S. Marshall had held the seat for the last 26 years, and was considered one of the state’s most conservative officials. Marshall was known for shaping North Carolina’s bathroom bill and for referring to himself as “chief homophobe.” Many Democratic candidates, including Northam and Roem, campaigned as explicitly anti-Trump. Republican candidates who campaigned with a similar rhetoric to Trump, as Ed Gillespie did in Virginia with antiimmigrant commercials and other culture war issues, failed to resonate with voters in the same way Trump did last year. In a tweet on Nov. 8, Trump tweeted that, “Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for. Don’t forget, Republicans won four out of four House seats, and with the economy doing record numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!” However, Gillespie did in fact embrace much of the policy and ideology of Trump. Though the Republican party was not entirely unseated in Virginia, there is evidence of a growing Democratic strength in the significant swing state. The state has swung blue for the last three presidential elections and holds two Democratic seats in the U.S. Senate. Like Virginia, Florida is an inte-
gral state in determining the political environment of the nation. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Florida is increasingly leaning toward the Democratic party. In a survey conducted by the newspaper published in the days following the November 7 election, 76% of nearly 200 Florida lobbyists agreed that Donald Trump will hurt Republican candidates in Florida in the 2018 elections. Tampa Bay Times’ political editor Adam C. Smith cited Florida governor Rick Scott as the “loser of the week” in state politics, given the Republican losses of last week. Scott is currently a likely candidate for Senate. In St. Petersburg, Florida, the mayoral race was portrayed as being divided by Trumpism. Ultimately, Democrat Rick Kriseman was reelected. This election saw an increase in voter turnout in the suburbs that swung overwhelmingly Democrat, though rural areas with predominantly lower class white voters still delivered a majority Republican vote. However, these results suggest that Democratic voters are politically motivated in the wake of Trump’s election. For Virginia, the alt-right protests in Charlottesville that led to the death of a counter-protester may have been in consideration.
photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Times
Ultimately, Democrat Rick Kriseman was re-elected in St. Petersburg, Florida. The successes of the Democratic party last week are potentially bad news for Trump and the Republican party, as a Democratic majority becomes an increased possibility heading toward the midterm elections of 2018. Information for this article was taken from CNN and Tampa Bay Times.
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NEWS PAGE 4
Cross-Registration offers opportunity for academic exploration BY JORDI GONZALEZ The final deadline for submission of all necessary paperwork, which includes approval from a student’s advisor and their home institution’s Cross-Registration Coordinator, is set for this upcoming Nov. 22 and it seems most students having interest in the idea have no clue as to how to make the cross-registration a reality. Dean of Studies and Associate Professor of English Robert Zamsky, also serving as New College of Florida’s Cross-Registration Coordinator, sheds light on the matter and heeds students to have open discussion with advisors prior to setting out for any of the courses offered by the other participating institutions. “Students should always make sure to speak with their advisor about how cross-registration might fit within their academic program,” Zamsky wrote in an e-mail interview. “In the end, students can't register for a cross-registration course without their advisor's approval; but that conversation should happen at the beginning of the process.” The participating schools of the Cross College Alliance (CCA) that undergoes the Cross-Registration Pilot
Program include the four colleges in the Consortium of Colleges on the Creative Coast (C4): New College of Florida (NCF), State College of Florida (SCF), University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee (USFSM) and the Ringling College of Art and Design. The three other institutions an NCF student could apply to for cross-registration all have their Spring 2018 semester starting on Jan. 8, which is right at the beginning of NCF’s January Interterm where Independent Study Projects (ISPs) are underway. This means the cross-registration courses one may be taking will finish earlier than the NCF Spring term would go on for. Luckily, for this upcoming Spring term, there isn’t much of an intercollege academic calendar dilemma, but it’s always something a student should be wary of. “There are always inconsistencies between the calendars; students interested in cross-registration need to double-check when classes start, and they need to make sure their schedule can accommodate the calendar differences,” Zamsky wrote in an e-mail interview. What would make cross-registration easiest for a student would be if they owned a car for transportation from campus to campus, but oth-
erwise if there’s a will there’s a way. Another key point to keep in mind is that whatever course one takes in a host institution won’t count towards the semester’s contract completion. Meaning, if the contract contains three NCF courses and one Ringling College course, the student that the contract pertains to would have to successfully satisfy each of the three NCF courses, which might be a heavy burden. “Your cross-registration credit doesn't count towards your minimum of three classes, which means you're going to have to pass the other three classes you're taking in order to get a full contract,” third-year Volanta Peng, who cross-registered for a printmaking course in Ringling College in Fall 2016, wrote in an email interview. “Having a light workload while doing cross registration at Ringling is a benefit because you have to pass your other three classes, so do not do cross-registration if you're going through a rough patch because it definitely restricts the flexibility New College students are used to.” Cross-registration allows for students to have the opportunity to take courses that aren’t regularly offered by their home institution, but are offered by a host institution. This
is significant to students of NCF especially since most classes have low availability and students regularly get capped out of classes. The other institutions involved typically have greater capacity for their classes and greater number of offerings for the same type of course, such as with physics courses and their respective pre-requisites courses. “I think cross-registration is a terrific asset to our students, and to everyone in the consortium. The increased academic breadth is an obvious benefit, but there can also be social and interpersonal positives related to doing work on a different campus (and having students from other campus here),” Zamsky wrote in an e-mail interview. A maximum of three courses is allowed per semester for crossregistration. Notifications of course enrollment will be sent out on Dec. 8, but for a student to be fully considered for approval they must have good academic standing in their home institution, be a full-time degree seeking student and may possibly have to show proof of immunization, but this should already have been settled with the home institucontinued on p. 4
Financial aid, changes in FAFSA and dealing with unique circumstances BY JACOB WENTZ Recent changes in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) have made it easier for students to file for aid, but have also created drawbacks for families going through certain circumstances. Often the deciding factor for whether or not students attend college, financial aid is the crux of higher education. At New College, a school that prides itself on being a “best value” choice, the financial aid department works to ensure that students are provided with aid that best reflects their needs and financial situations. How financial aid is determined New College’s total cost of attendance is the combination of direct costs and variable costs. Direct costs consist of tuition and fees and room and board. Variable costs include transportation, books, supplies and “personal” costs. “We build in about $4,700 for things like books, transportation to and from school, supplies--like if you need a laptop--and we create a budget,” Associate Director of Financial Aid Kim McCabe said. For the 2017-2018 school year, costs of attendance were approxi-
mately as follows: Florida Residents Direct Costs: $16,180 Variable Costs: $4,470 Total Cost: $20,650 Out of State Residents Direct Costs: $39,208 Variable Costs: $4,470 Total Cost: $43,678 Financial aid is awarded based on demonstrated need. FAFSA takes a student’s family income and calculates an approximate amount of money that the family can contribute. This value is called the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) and is used by the college to determine how much aid is awarded. “What we do with the FAFSA is we take the cost of attendance minus the EFC and we get need,” McCabe said. For example, if a Florida resident’s EFC was $5,000, they would have $15,650 in need. “We take that need and try to meet it from a variety of sources,” McCabe said. “So your New College scholarship gets figured into that, if you have Bright Futures, if you have any other state aid or any federal aid like a Pell Grant--all of those things get subtracted and we try to do our best to meet everyone’s need from
those variety of sources.” McCabe emphasized the importance of submitting the FAFSA on time, as students who do not file the FAFSA are not considered to have need. FAFSA is also important for students who need to take out loans. “You can’t take out any federal student loans if you haven’t filed a FAFSA. It really is a big tool, we deal with it quite a bit,” McCabe said. Scholarships are awarded to students to help alleviate the cost of attendance. “Here at New College, every student gets a scholarship,” McCabe said. The amount of money obtained from the scholarships differs according to academic merit. Florida residents can receive an academic scholarship of either $1,000, $2,000, $2,500, $3,000 or $3,500 based on high school Grade Point Average (GPA) and standardized test scores. A calculator on the school’s website is available to determine which award correlates to the student’s GPA and Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores. Every Florida resident receives at least a $1,000 academic scholarship. Out of state students receive a
$15,000 Presidential Scholarship. After scholarships, grants, the EFC and other sources of funding are taken into consideration, the financial aid department determines the amount of aid to allocate to the student. The New York Times published economic diversity records from colleges and universities around the nation. Because the median family income of a student from New College of Florida is $93,600, and 42 percent come from the top 20 percent, many students do not qualify for much aid. For those who do qualify for large amounts of aid, there is a maximum amount that can be alloted. “Nobody can get financial aid more than the cost of attendance,” McCabe said. Changes in FAFSA Starting with the 2017-2018 FAFSA, students now report earlier income information than previously necessary. This change was made by the Obama administration with the intent of making things easier for families contemplating first-time college attendance. Those who submitted the 2016continued on p. 9
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PAGE 5
The deep sexual harassment culture in Hollywood BY SAMANTHA RAMIREZ
Just a few weeks after the sexual assault allegations against hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein exploded into America’s public eye and media networks around the world, there have been new allegations made against other powerful men in various industries revealed almost every day. These accusations have shocked the public and shed light upon a sickening sexual harassment culture that exists in Hollywood. Industries and companies alike are now taking a second look at their sexual harassment policies. The scandals have inspired people all over the world to speak up when it comes to sexual assault. The media was flooded with the tide of #MeToo stories from all around the globe. A-list actors and actresses have come forward with stories that are putting acclaimed Hollywood stars on a different type of spotlight. Academy award-winning Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was exposed after the New York Times published a story detailing numerous accusations of sexual harassment made against the powerful movie producer. The story detailed the multiple accusations that spanned for over three decades of unwanted physical contact and sexual harassment by a number of women, including actress Angelina Jolie. The piece also mentioned at least eight settlements Weinstein had reached with his accusers through the years. Following Weinstein’s exposure, a flood of new accusations from dozens of other women surfaced, including some who spoke of Weinstein raping them. Weinstein has since denied any claims of nonconsensual sex. Following the multiple accusations, Weinstein's own film company has fired him and his wife has left him. Stories and rumors of harassment involving Weinstein have circled around Hollywood for years, leading many to wonder why nothing has been done about it, or why it took so long for the truth to
finally come out. Actor Kevin Spacey was among those accused of sexual harassment. Actor Anthony Rapp accused Kevin Spacey of making a sexual advances toward him when both of them were working on Broadway in 1986. Rapp alleged Spacey approached him in a bedroom at a house party and "picked [him] up like a groom picks up the bride" and put him on the bed, falling on top of him. Rapp was 14 at the time and Spacey was 26. Spacey tweeted a public apology regarding the incident, and in the same tweet came out as a gay men. Many criticized his statement, saying that Spacey's sexuality had nothing to do with the harassment of a minor. Spacey stars in the hit Netflix series "House of Cards." After the allegation became public, Netflix and Media Rights Capital, which produces the series, later announced production on the final season of the show would be halted. James Toback, the Hollywood screenwriter and director behind films like "The Gambler" and "Bugsy," was accused by at least 38 so far of sexual harassment throughout his years in Hollywood life. The multiple women who spoke out against Toback, reported that he would lure them to hotel rooms, movie trailers and other places for what was billed as interviews or auditions. But the women say these meetings would quickly turn into unwanted sexual approaches. Weinstein, Spacey and Toback are only a few of the names that are surfacing into what has become one of the biggest Hollywood controversial scandals in recent history. Other Hollywood figures that have been accused of sexual harassment include Ben Affleck, Brett Ratner and Ed Westwick, however, the list seems to grow every day with new women speaking up about their experiences with the hidden sexual harassment culture that surrounds Hollywood. Information gathered from cnn.com
Cross Registration CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
tion. There’s no extra cost to be a part of the program other than fees associated with the course itself, such as art supplies. Contact the Registrar Offices of the participating schools if interested.
Contact Information: Ringling College: Justin Selph, e-mail: crossregistration@ringling.edu SCF: MariLynn Lewy, e-mail: records@scf. edu or call: 941-752-5383 USFSM: Glenna Schubert, e-mail: registration@sar.usf.edu
The Activist Newsletter photo courtesy of Jasmine Respesss
BY ANYA CONTRERAS-GARCIA This week (11/15 – 11/23), activists have the opportunity to participate in panel discussions, educational lectures and peaceful gatherings! Read on if you want to get involved in the community regarding activist art, racial equality, anti-fascism, trans rights or environmental issues.
Wed., Nov. 15, Art as Protest @ 6 – 8:30 p.m. The Studio@620, 620 1st Ave S, St. Pete, FL 33701 This panel discussion invites a diverse group of artists and organizers to discuss the ways they apply creativity in their socially-active work. The evening will include a short cocktail hour followed by presentations and panel discussion. There is a suggested $5 donation at the door to benefit the ACLU Pinellas Chapter. For more info, check out the event page on Facebook. Thurs., Nov. 16, Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead @ 6 – 8:30 p.m. Eckerd College, 4200 54th Ave S, St. Pete, FL 33711 Frank Meeink, author of "Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead," will share his personal story. By age 17, he was roaming the country as a skinhead leader and Neo-Nazi recruiter, with gangs that would beat people indiscriminately. By age 18, he was convicted of kidnapping and beating a member of a rival skinhead gang. In prison he befriended men of different races who he used to think he hated. Now a noted speaker and author, Meeink’s life stands for tolerance and diversity. This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP by calling The Florida Holocaust Museum at 727.820.0100, extension 301. For more info, check out the event page on Facebook. Fri., Nov. 17, White Nationalism, Anti-Semitism and NeoFascism @ 7 – 9:45 p.m. Allendale United Methodist Church, 3803 Haines Road North, St. Pete, FL 33703
Investigative journalist and author Chip Berlet is a progressive activist, journalist and scholar who has spent over 30 years studying bigoted right-wing movements. The “Social Justice Shabbat” will begin at 7 p.m. followed by the lecture at 7:45 p.m. and concluded by a Q&A and dessert reception. This event is free and open to the public. For more info, check out the event page on Facebook. Mon., Nov. 20, Trans Day of Remembrance @ 6 – 7:30 p.m. ALSO Youth, 1470 Boulevard of the Arts, Sarasota, FL 34236 Transgender Day of Remembrance is an annual, international observance to honor the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence and to bring attention to the continued violence endured by trans people. ALSO Youth is hosting memorial event to commemorate the 25 known deaths of trans people in the US this year. For more info, check out the event page on Facebook. Tues., Nov. 21, Fracking in Florida @ 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. Fogartyville Community Center, 525 Kumquat Ct, Rear, Sarasota, FL 34236 The oil and gas industry continues to use fracking and other forms of drilling in Florida. Over the past several years, Food & Water Watch has partnered with local activists, community leaders and residents from across the state to form the Floridians Against Fracking coalition. Attend this free event to learn more about fracking in Florida. For more info, check out the event page on Facebook.
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Photo series depicts students of color 'As We Are' BY GIULIA HEYWARD Giulia Heyward is the founder and photographer behind the As We Are New College Project. White boards and markers were piled onto a table, inviting students to take them. I was prepared for the question I received from every individual who approached me just asking what they were suppose to say. I thought it was interesting that even when faced with the idea of writing about merely existing, students of color wanted to know what exactly was expected of them to do. When I was a first-year, one of the few students of color on our campus at the time, Wilmarie Rios-Jaime (‘12) compiled photos of other students of color that were showcased on a tumblr blog. In the semesters that followed, I saw students host events that centered around feminist or queer identity, but never any that focused on Black students. I had so many friends who I had met through the Black Student Union (BSU) or the Black History Month Planning Committee (BHMPC) who were poets, musicians or artists. It occurred to me during my third-year that we needed an event that was centered around us. The As We Are New College Project was inspired by the #itooamharvard series created by Black students at Harvard University. This photo series is sponsored by the BSU and is open to all students, faculty and staff of color attending our pre-
dominantly white institution. This project aims to uplift our voices and draw attention to the both covert and overt forms of racism that we experience. This semester, the photo shoot that took place on Wednesday, Nov. 8 from 4-6 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre (BBT) was co-hosted by thesis student, Resident Advisor (RA) and Latinx Club President, Jennyfer Gonzalez. The experiences of students of color at white universities have been covered from the Washington Post to the New York Times. Currently, thesis student Miles Iton is working on a short film for the Sarasota Film Festival (SFF) that looks at the unnerving trend of black campus leaders in student government positions that have dealt with harassment or threats of impeachment at colleges across the country. The photos students of color allow me to take can be serious and emotional, or they can be funny and meant to make the viewer laugh. The common theme that I found was that each student photographed revealed that racism affected their life in some way, whether it was side comments from white classmates or the fear of not using their turn signal when they drive. I’m not entirely sure what will happen to this project once I graduate. I can only hope that by showcasing how we feel, it will force you all to listen. Photos and more information can be found on aswearenewcollegeproject. com. A full list of events for Black History
Second-year and Million Hoodies member Cabrini Austin pictured with their sign.
(Left) Residence Hall Director (RHD) Daniella McCalla pairs a funny face with her message. (Right) Third-year Mathew Bocanumenth chose to wrote his sign in Spanish.
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Catalyst reporter and thesis student Azia Keever provides an accompanying face to go along with her photo.
(Left) Second-year transfer Yasmeen Wilson lets her sign take the focus. (Right) Thesis student, BSU Founder and President Paul Loriston's sign was a reference to Kanye West.
(Left) RA and Latinx Club President Jennyfer Gonzalez co-hosted the event. (Right) Librarian Crishuana Williams looks down at her inspiring message.
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The Florida Project Movie Review BY AZIA KEEVER Cara Buckley, in their article on the “The Florida Project” for the New York Times (NYT) uses the inappropriate adjective “vituperative”--it means bitter and abusive--for one of the main characters, a mother named Halley played by Bria Vinaite. This word choice exemplifies exactly the classist mindset that propagates the structural violence that places Halley in her precarious situation in the first place. Halley is a young, single mother living week-to-week in a sordid, incredibly purple, motel ironically named the “Magic Castle” with her six-yearold daughter, Moonie. The motel is situated on the outskirts of Orlando. Disneyland’s presence looms over the on-screen action from the name of the motel to the fireworks in the background of a birthday scene. It’s summertime and Moonie gets into all kinds of trouble while the adult world goes on around her. The camera follows Moonie through her world. “We wanted to really see the story through the eyes of children,” Alexis Zabe, the film’s cinematographer, said in an interview with GoldDerby.com. The camera was mostly kept at a low angle to capture a child’s viewpoint. Heads of adults are sometimes too tall for the frame and all one can see is their torsos and legs. Moonie’s perspective of what is happening on screen is vastly separate from that of the adults around her.
hearing about his most popular two films, films which have female main characters who live below the poverty line involved in sex work. As a director, Baker realized he had to navigate his privilege if he wanted to work with the topics he felt were important to explore. “I was heading down a road where I felt that if I was going to continue to explore worlds that I wasn’t a part of— that doing it too much in an observational manner or too much from a witnessing-from-a-distance thing—I was becoming condescending towards its characters and the world that we were focused on,” he said in an interview with Vulture.com. Photo courtesy of The Florida Projet It’s important work to be doing, esThe film portrays the power of poverty to infiltrate even the strongest of pecially in a cinematic climate of throw childhood imaginations. away media. In a world where media giants like Netflix.com invest over $7 bilMoonie’s carefree attitude is right- comedy that follows a day in the lives lion to mass produce content. ly juxtaposed with the solemn adults of two black trans sex workers, Sin-Dee “The Florida Project” has won around her. The mother, on the other and her best friend Alexandra. Baker is Hamburg Film Festival's Film Critic hand, is usually as jubilant as Moonie. interested in the ways film can heighten Award and the International Antalya Though she is recently out of work and awareness of the fringes of society. He Film Festival's Jury Special Award. struggling to pay the bills, whenever wants his films to undue the erasure The film’s Critic’s Consensus on she interacts with Moonie she is care- done by big production U.S. cinema of Rotten Tomatoes said, “‘The Florida free, loving and understanding. What the multitudes of identity present in Project’ offers a colorfully empathetic that word fails to take into account is the U.S. look at an underrepresented part of the “If more stories are told about population that proves absorbing even the interactions between Moonie and Halley, the struggle of supporting fi- marginalized communities, subcultures as it raises sobering questions about nancially and taking care of a family. and minorities, the less marginalized modern America.” The film portrays the power of they will be,” he wrote to Film Maker poverty to infiltrate even the strongest Magazine in an e-mail following an inInformation gathered from huffingtonof childhood imaginations. terview with Matt Prigge. post.com, ntimes.com and fimmakermaThis is not Baker’s first film. A preOne may be surprised that Baker gazine.com vious one, “Tangerine,” is a lighthearted is a middle-class white man after only
West African Dance class hints at increasingly diverse curriculum
BY GIULIA HEYWARD
Students and faculty lined up in rows to the sound of beating drums as they danced in synchronized movements as Professor of Sociology Mecca Zabriskie instructed them where to go. A nod to the African Goddesses tutorial taught this semester, this event was a hint at more diverse classes focusing on West African material to come next year from Independent Study Projects (ISPs) to a semester long course in the spring. “This was great!” Thesis student Jada Bennett, one of the students in the African Goddesses tutorial taught this semester, said. “I’m so happy that we have something cultural that wasn’t European and more geared towards people of color. Physically, it’s been a very enlightening experience. The teacher and all of the drummers are great! It’s been a really great experience.” The attendants started off with stretches, before immediately learning some of the steps whilst drums played in the background. Most of the attendants could be seen sweating or stopping for water at various points during the lesson. Par-
Coming to America and think that that opening scene is West African Dance,” Kya Conner, the Lead Choreographer for Kuumba, said. “Really, most of or dances that we do now in either hip hop or afro beats--a lot of that comes from West African dance. [...] There is a technique to West African dance just like ballet or jazz.” The event was free, open to the public and made possible from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, a grant that New College of Florida was awarded the previous year, to go towards increasing humanitiesbased projects at the institution. “I was so happy to be here, I think that they [the participants] are Giulia Heyward/Catalyst so good,” Khady Badji said. “I’ve been Kya Conner instructs the class on a West African dance known as Soko and doing this dance for years and, for typically danced during moments of celebration. them to have done this for one day, they were perfect.” ticipants learned a particular dance Master Drummer and Musical DirecZabriskie revealed at the end of called “soko” from Guinea, West Af- tor for Kuumba Dancers and Drumthe event that students could take a rica. Traditionally used for rites of mers, a Tampa-based West African West African ISP in January, as well passage, this dance can now be seen dance troupe, and Khady Badji, Masas a tutorial that will be taught by at any event causing for celebration, ter Dancers and Choreographer for Zabriskie in the spring. such as weddings. the Compangnie Bakalama, who had The West African Dance and traveled here all the way from SenMore information about the Kuumba Drum Masterclass took place on egal. Dance Troupe can be found on their Wednesday, Nov. 8, in the Music “I think a lot of people have a lot website. Room at College Hall. Zabriskie had of misinterpretations of West Afriinvited Cheikh N’ Dong, who is the can Dance. A lot of people have seen
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Be Kind to your Mind: The importance of emotional hygeine BY MICHALA HEAD According to a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA), 95 percent of college counseling centers reported that the number of students with significant psychological problems was a growing concern for their center. The same survey reflected that nearly 42 percent of students suffer from anxiety and roughly 36 percent suffer from depression. The growing emphasis on mental health seen today is due to these climbing statistics. Oftentimes, students facing the newness of their environment and the need to effectively care for themselves struggle to develop the skills needed to do so, either causing or exacerbating these disorders. One may hear the term “selfcare” floated around and may associate it with the occasional, little things, such as taking a moment to enjoy a warm cup of tea or taking some time to meditate here and there. Maintaining one’s emotional hygiene, however, is that it is more habitual than doing nice little things for oneself every now and then. Not to say that those smaller moments are inconsequential, rather that rejuvenating actions ought to be more
Photo courtesy of Michala Head
Mental distress can manifest physically--such as dirty dishes or an unkempt dorm room. routine. “New College has a healthy dose of imposter syndrome, it’s an honors college, people come in wondering if they are going to be able to meet the demands,” Dr. Duane Khan, assistant director at New College of Florida’s Counseling and Wellness Center (CWC) said. “Out of that anxiety comes a significant focus on accomplishments for academics and adjusting to social environment and those kinds of things and then self
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Florida citizens. Graham aims to make the sunshine state the solar state, she will veto any law that infringes upon a woman’s right to choose and will “fight for a statewide human rights statute that bans discrimination for gender, sexual orientation or gender identity and she will sign an executive order immediately doing the same in the governor’s office,” according to her campaign website. Chris King Chris King was born in Orlando, went to college and law school and launched a purpose-driven business that revitalizes homes for fixed-income seniors and working families. King is not a politician, but is still active and involved. His foundation funds programs that provide mentorship opportunities for lowincome Florida students interested in pursuing a college education. As governor, King vouches to increase Florida’s minimum wage, to protect women’s right to choose, to protect Florida’s beauty by acknowledging the impact of climate change, to increase access to health care--considering 2.6 million Floridians have no health insurance--and to extend bans on lobbying in state
government. Philip Levine Philip Levine was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and moved to South Florida at the age of 10. He became a public and private entrepreneur and was elected as Mayor of Miami Beach in 2013. As a two-term mayor, Levine combatted sea-level rise in Miami, fixed a broken police department, decriminalized marijuana and made Miami Beach one of only a few cities to consecutively win perfect scores for LGBTQ+ inclusiveness. As governor, Levine wishes to make Florida a leader in solar and renewable energy, to raise the statewide living wage, to allow children to attend college debt-free and to make Florida more inclusive, “where everybody is treated equally—regardless of race, creed, gender, or origin,” according to his campaign website. Information for this article was obtained from andrewgillum.com, gwengraham.com, chriskingforflorida.com, philiplevine2018.com and tampabay. com.
care and care of our machinery, our body, our emotional and psychological health becomes secondary, it becomes a thing that needs to function without our paying attention to it so we have to be really purposeful in putting that back into the equation.” In regards to how to put mindfulness into the equation that is one’s routine, Khan takes a nondirective approach when advising students. “If you are coming from a place and taking an approach then you
can find all sorts of ways to meet the needs that you have. The approach is to be in the present moment,” Khan said. “The future is the unknown and we have no idea what is going to happen and we ratchet up the consequences that we need to prepare for, all of that leads us to forget to live in the present moment, which is safe, for the most part if we locate ourselves. “Being in the present moment allows us to attend to what is happening with our body, our mind, our current relationships, our goals and how we are doing that day,” Khan continued. Khan stressed the importance of understanding and giving credit to all of the stressors faced when evaluating oneself. “The hurricane, for example, this semester was shortened, the amount of psychological and emotional resources that we have were truncated. The amount of cognitive space that we have to work was shortened, but the academics remained at the high standard of excellence that we expect from our students, that was not the design,” Khan said, in reference to how the academic calendar was altered by Hurricane Irma. continued on p. 11
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2017 FAFSA were required to use 2015 income documents, reflecting money earned in the year prior. For the new 2017-2018 FAFSA, students were required to use 2015 income documents again, marking a shift from using documents one year prior to two years prior. “The Department of Education changed it for two reasons. One; so many people didn’t have their taxes filed yet, so everybody was scrambling to meet the deadline to file the FAFSA, to find out their financial aid,” McCabe said. “But they also did it for incoming students, to give them more time to get their financial aid package and to make a better decision about where they want to go to college.” This change grants students and their families more time to collect their tax information, but can also incorrectly reflect the financial situation that the family is in, as it fails to account for any circumstances that arose in the year prior. Some of these circumstances, centered around changes in family finances, include job loss, involuntary reduction in wages, separation/ divorce, the death of a spouse or parent, unusually high medical expenses
and more. To accommodate for these cases, there is a section on New College’s website entitled “Special Circumstances.” It can be found by going from the Admissions tab to the Cost and Aid tab and then from there to Special Circumstances. On this page, students can find an “Income Adjustment” form, which allows them to report the changes. “In many cases, the more that [your family income] goes down, we’re asking for both tax years,” McCabe said. “It has to be more than a $5,000 change in income for us to look at it because otherwise it doesn’t really make much of a difference.” The financial aid department will not start reviewing the professional judgment requests until around January and February, which grants families the time necessary to obtain the most recent financial information documents.
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NFL owner collusion case sprints to depositions, Goodell contract extension sputters in backfield BY RYAN PAICE Colin Kaepernick’s case against the National Football League (NFL) for accused collusion between owners to keep him out of the league for his national anthem demonstrations has taken its first steps into legitimacy. His attorney, Mark J. Geragos, notified the NFL that they are requesting depositions from several team owners, including Houston Texans’ Robert McNair and Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones, according to the Washington Post. Additionally, Kaepernick’s grievance requests access to emails, text messages and other forms of electronic communications from owners and numerous teams that were linked with Kaepernick. Neither the NFL nor many of its teams have commented on the situation to the press, so the league and its ownership’s cooperation with the case is yet to be determined. Last season, Kaepernick was the first in a snowballing movement of NFL players protesting throughout the national anthem that has carried on into the 2017-18 season. Despite having played a major role in the San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl XLVII appearance in 2013—in only his second year—Kaepernick has remained unsigned since he opted out of his contract with the 49ers after last season. The NFL Players Association has also offered support for Kaepernick’s grievance, lending the case the weight of the players’ collective political influence through their collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
Photo courtesy of Flickr Football player Colin Kaepernick has filed a case against the NFL for collusion between owners to keep him from playing. Under the CBA, Kaepernick’s proof of collusion must consist of more than simply the fact that he remains unsigned, while other players continue to get signed around him. That proof is being sought through his grievance’s request for electronic communication between team owners. Jones and McNair have been targeted specifically because both owners have had direct involvement with the national anthem protests—Jones having said he’d bench protesting players, whereas McNair reportedly said during a recent owners’ meeting that they “can’t have the inmates running the prison.” Kaepernick, despite having not
been signed back into the NFL, was named the “Citizen of the Year” by GQ magazine for demonstrating against police brutality. Meanwhile, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s negotiations with team owners for a contract extension have sputtered. He is only signed through the entirety of next season, but, according to CNNMoney, owners would rather not replace Goodell as commissioner only a year before the current CBA expires in 2020. Despite having faced the backlash of “Inflategate,” falling TV ratings, growing concerns regarding CTE and the increasing politicization of the
sport, Goodell is asking for a yearly salary of $49.5 million, along with a private jet for life and lifetime health insurance for his family, according to ESPN. An NFL source disputed those facts, telling CNNMoney that Goodell already has the use of a private jet and health care for his family. Goodell made $31.7 million in 2015, so his request for nearly $50 million a year is a significant increase in a league whose ratings and revenue have fallen in respect to recent years. Goodell has faced mounting pressures not only from owners or protesting players, but President Trump himself. Trump has frequently expressed his stance opposing the players’ right to protest by kneeling during the national anthem through Twitter, even going so far as to say that owners should fire any player who takes a knee in protest during the national anthem. The NFL has never had an official policy regarding the standing/kneeling of players during the anthem, and Goodell has done well so far to avoid overstepping his role in maintaining and enforcing official policies of the league. He has stated that the league needs to get past the issue, saying only that players “should” stand, while also noting that players have the freedom to express themselves as there is no established rule to keep them from doing so. Information gathered from washingtonpost.com, si.com, cnn.com and nytimes. com
Submission: La « race » in France : France’s attempts to deal with immigration must first overcome the nation’s inability to talk about race BY AUDREY WARNE The recent surge in terrorism and violence in France has contributed to a pervasive sentiment of racism and fear of the Other which has become only too evident in the nation’s capital. The tendency for those who live in big cities to become less prejudiced as a result of daily interactions with the “feared” population can have a seemingly reverse effect if those daily interactions serve as daily confirmations of racist and xenophobic beliefs--the result of interactions with the Other being characterized as interactions with peripheral outsiders instead interactions with community members. When immigration from southern Europe increased in the 30s and 40s with the rise of fascism, the similar complexions and shared Catholic backgrounds of these im-
migrants made assimilation and acceptance easier. The current wave of immigrants tends to diverge from the accepted European standards of complexion and religious orientation and brings with them a diverse range of cultural values and practices that do not always meet France’s rather stringent definition of what is and is not “French.” France’s position on racism also raises some interesting questions on how the nation should best deal with an increasingly diverse population. During a campaign speech for the 2012 French presidential election (which he won), François Hollande said : « La République ne craint pas la diversité. La diversité, c’est le mouvement, c’est la vie, [mais] il n’y a pas de diversité des races […] Il n’y a pas de place dans la République pour la race. Et c’est pourquoi je demanderai au lendemain de la présidentielle au Parlement de supprimer le mot race
de notre Constitution. » (The République is not afraid of diversity. Diversity is action, it’s life, [but] there is not diversity of races […] There is not a place in the République for race. And that’s why, tomorrow, I will ask the president of the Parliament to take out the word race from our constitution.) It is commonplace for French individuals to deny that race exists in France, as la race implies difference where there should be none if all who live in France are truly “French.” French law forbids the collection of data relating to race, ethnicity or religion, as the historically nationalist view has been that in choosing to become French one chooses to give up one’s previous cultural and ethnic ties in favor of their new French ones. But not all immigrants who move to France are doing it out of a Sartrean conception of libre arbitre and a desire to become “French.” Increasingly
large numbers of immigrants have been forced to leave their homes due to violence and deteriorating economic conditions and are actually not all that interested in assimilating into the French model of le citoyen. While race may be a social construct, the discrimination, prejudice and violence faced daily by a large part of the population are not conceptual constructs but tangible experiences. Removing the word race from the political and daily vocabulary seems to further ignore the problem instead of accepting responsibility for institutionalized discrimination and injustice and attempting to begin to correct the damage done by centuries of racism. Information gathered from veritepolitique.fr and franceculture.fr
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Emotional Hygeine
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 “When students evaluate how they are doing and what their progress has been should be able to give themselves a break and acknowledge the difficulties they have been through, factor in that information so that they can have a sense of accomplishment but also a sense of compassion with themselves,” Khan said. Khan also brought up resources available to students, such as relaxation, mindfulness and meditation videos that can be found on Youtube and the CWC’s therapy assisted online program. The program contains a mindfulness library and can be accessed from one of the counselors or on their homepage. The Catalyst spoke with New College students about what they do to maintain their emotional health. “Sometimes you just need to make a day for yourself, make it an entire day for yourself rather than taking a couple things out to recover and recuperate from having a busy life. If you do not take that time it is likely you will deal with burnout, and it will set you back further,” thirdyear Hal Trejo said. “The self-care wheel really has been so informative and reminds us that we have psychological, personal, professional, spiritual and emotional needs in addition to physical ones,” third-year student Sara Friend said. “We can learn to take mental health days when we need them, practice self-compassion and forgiveness, call the people who mean a lot to us, and write out our long- and short-term goals. “All of these practices can be extremely grounding and through this, we can work on cultivating a better understanding of ourselves and our needs and what makes us feel best. Of course, getting plenty of sleep and food and water is also important.”
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appointments of two new SAC representatives at that Towne Meeting, third-year Volanta Peng and thesis student Alexis Pujol. These appointments were later invalidated by Student Court because they were not included as separate agenda items in the Towne Meeting’s records. The failure to confirm two new SAC members, along with a major disruption in scheduling due to Hurricane Irma, left the SAC unable to fulfill funding requests until Oct. 3, over a month into the semester. NCF is currently facing state audits that prohibit retroactive funding, preventing the SAC from reimbursing clubs for purchases that could not be funded earlier and from reimbursing NCSA officials and Resident Advisors (RAs) who use their own money to hold events with the expectation of reimbursement. Peng and Pujol were confirmed at the Emergency Towne Meeting held on Sept. 29, but not without a challenge to the legitimacy of Pedroza’s appointments. Several students complained at the Emergency Towne Meeting that the NCSA had not adequately publicized the availability of the positions. It is true that Peng and Pujol, as well as Vice President of Student Life and Catalyst Staff Writer Timothy “Tim” Manning, were appointed without an announcement of an application process. However, alum and former Chair of the Constitutional Convention Gary Baker (‘10) told the Catalyst that the Great Book does not explicitly require that any appointments made to fill vacant positions be accompanied by a public application process. “When we were writing the Great Book, my recollection is that we decided specifically not to include a requirement that applications be solicited. Mainly because if the president was set on appointing a specific person anyways, an application pro-
cess would be nothing more than a facade,” Baker said. In Peng and Pujol’s cases, the appointments were made to get an SAC hobbled by the ban on retroactive funding and Hurricane Irma back up and running. In Manning’s case, his predecessor, third-year Erika Thompson, suddenly resigned as VPSL only a few days into the semester. Two other positions that were unexpectedly vacated later in the semester, Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion (VPDI) and Supervisor of Elections (SoE), were filled by presidential appointments that did include an application process. “This year is the first year that there is no retroactive funding,” Pedroza said in a Student Court meeting on Sept. 28. “That’s why I had to appoint people right away, so that they could meet and allocate funds.” Several other factors have made the NCSA’s job more difficult this semester. Speaking to NCSA officials, it became apparent that the Pedroza has had to appoint many positions in response to a lack of participation in student government. Thurston, who is working on an internship program that she hopes will encourage more first-years to become involved in the NCSA, thinks that including more first and secondyears will be a great step in improving the organization. “Student government, especially at this school, it’s really scary to get involved with. [Being a public figure] can be really alarming. I know it was for me my first year,” Thurston said. There are also inadequacies with the Great Book, which was purportedly written in a single day, that hamper decision-making within the NCSA. “It’s got so many holes. It doesn’t have certain rules. It contradicts itself all over the place,” thirdyear and Speaker of the Town Meet-
ing Emily Via said. “Some positions just aren’t listed [in the Great Book] that have been there for years,” third-year and Vice President of Academic Affairs (VPAA) Araya Barnes said. Events that took place last year have also shaped how the different branches of the NCSA interact. The attempt last year by thesis student and SAC representative Sage Ray to impeach former Co-presidents Miles Iton and Paul Loriston--and later the impeachment proceedings brought against Ray--have had a lasting impact. “Since last year and everything that happened [with Sage], I feel like people are reading into every little line and detail in the Great Book now, to make sure stuff like that doesn’t happen again. Anything that’s out of order with the NCSA, if you do something wrong that’s not procedural, now there’s a lot of people watching,” third-year and Vice President of Relations and Finance (VPRFA) Riley Lewis said. “[Pedroza] has been more involved than any president has been in the past with the SAC [...] We’ve been told that, with our minutes, nothing can be off the record. We have to record it and Elan, the secretary, has to type out every word that everyone says,” Pujol said. Despite these issues, the NCSA remains optimistic in the face of the problems they’ve dealt with this semester. “I think one of the strengths of this cabinet is that it’s not a clique. I think that’s a huge strength for this cabinet and one of the reason we’ve been able to take all these bumps in the road in stride,” Thurston said. “Everyone wants the same thing, everybody wants the school to work as much as it can and to be an advocate for students.”
SCCHP
Information gathered from apa.org, olgaphoenix.com, psychologytoday. com, and ted.com supplies and asked if I could possibly hold a supply drive for Turning Points at New College. I was very receptive to this and was excited to establish the drive on campus. I then thought to myself that I am only one person with a very limited span of ideas, and if I truly wanted to help construct some change in tackling these large, systemic issues, I think it would be best to start a club where there were multiple people vocalizing the ways in which they feel we could help the community.” The SCCHP was born. The coalition has held three meetings thus far.
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“I am extremely grateful for the members of the club; they are so passionate and dedicated to this cause— it is inspiring to work with such earnest people,” she said. Second-year Michaele Joseph is one of the few committed students in the coalition and is passionate about helping those in need. “It's extremely important to combat homelessness and poverty because any one of us could've easily fallen into or been born into circumstances that could have led us to being impoverished and/or homeless,” Joseph said in an email interview. “As students we have access to
a large pool of individuals, and each person is capable of evoking change,” Joseph continued. “We should use the influence that we have to educate individuals, spread awareness on the gravity of the issue and decrease the stigmas associated with homelessness.” Students interested in joining the coalition can stop by the meetings on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. in the Gender and Diversity Center (GDC). Information for this article was obtained from bradenton.com, tpmanatee.org and suncoastpartnership.org.
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“Rebelde” makes Black Box Theater history with all women of color cast
BY ANYA CONTRERAS-GARCÍA
Thesis student Kailah Santos made New College history on Thursday night with the opening of her thesis play “Rebelde: Confessions from Your Dead Abuela,” the first Black Box Theater (BBT) production to feature an all women of color cast. The play adapted three stories by female Puerto Rican writers into an exploration of race, gender and identity through conversations between abuelas y nietas centered around a mirror. Santos began writing “Rebelde” in response to feeling alienated from white-dominated theater culture. “It was hard claiming this space,” Santos said. “I’ve never felt welcomed in the theater in this school. [Women of color] get typecast and exotified a lot, so I couldn’t just keep acting. I realized I had to make my own production. I wrote this play out of frustration with that my second year for my ISP.” Santos’ academic advisor, Associate Professor of Spanish Sonia Labrador-Rodriguez, pushed her to read works by Puerto Rican female writers to inform her Independent Study Project (ISP). Santos began reading some of these short stories and ended up creating a theatrical adaptation of her own. “[Professor Labrador-Rodriguez] really liked what I came up with and she kept pushing me to do something with it, so I decided to incorporate it as part of my thesis,” Santos said. “I wanted to do it because I had the opportunity to maybe start something where women of color can feel more welcome in these creative spaces.” Santos’ adaptation weaved together the themes from the original works--“Pollito Chicken” by Ana Lydia Vega, “Herba Rota” by Mayra Santos and “Una Semana de Siete Dias” by Magali Garcia Ramis--with contemporary characters to discuss how these same issues have been reproduced and passed down through generations. “These issues are affecting us today which is why I wanted to create a modern context through the granddaughters in the show,” Santos said. “People need to realize that what your family went through shapes who you are. It’s important to revisit that past in order to understand yourself and heal.” Not only did the “Rebelde” shows serve as a time for audience members to reflect on the characters stories, but it was also an important process for the all women of color cast to process the painful themes in the play that they related to personally. “It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my entire life,” third-year Paola Baez, who played a character in the play, said. “Every night after this I have to sit in my room for two hours and just think about it. Everything about this play for all of us here is too real. But in the end, this is something that we did for us to heal. That was the most important part for me. I feel like that comes across in the production
and that’s what makes it so special and impactful.” The play featured a soundtrack of songs by Caribbean artists that helped tell the stories present in the script. The play opened with Afro-Puerto Rican rapper Princess Nokia’s song “BRUJAS” with the lines: “I'm that Black a-Rican bruja straight out from the Yoruba/ And my people come from Africa diaspora, Cuba/ And you mix that Arawak, that original people/ I'm that Black Native American, I vanquish all evil/ And I come from an island and it's called Puerto Rico/ And it's one of the smallest but it got the most people” “I think [Princess Nokia’s song “BRUJAS”] was a good introduction to the play because it’s about embracing all her different parts of her racial identity and it’s really important for women of color to celebrate who they are, claim their divinity and love themselves,” Santos said. “I put that song at the beginning of the play because that character was trying to figure out how to love herself and her hair and her Blackness.” Another song featured on the playlist was “La Negra Tiene Tumbao” by Afro-Cuban salsa star Celia Cruz. “She was groundbreaking,” Santos said. “It was like you never saw a Black Latina anywhere before Celia Cruz, who was wearing bright colors and loving herself and shouting, ‘Azucar!’. She’s a pioneer, like all the grandmothers in this play are pioneers. I wanted to show how difficult it was for them to pave the way and I think this soundtrack was a nice journey through that.” Although these issues are not new, the production centers Puerto Rican narratives at a time when the island nation’s deep suffering has never been more visible in the media. More than six weeks after Hurricane Maria, borinqueños are still burdened by lack of federal aid. “Hopefully seeing people’s stories helps them empathize more and see the humanity in people that are different from them,” Santos said. “I want them to care more about the people than the cause.” Donations were collected after every show to go towards disaster relief efforts for Puerto Rico, grounding “Rebelde” in its purpose to empower and heal from within the greater diasporic community. As for the New College community, “Rebelde” paved the way for other women of color in creative spaces on campus and centered narratives that are too often left out of artistic conversations. “It’s empowering for us but also younger generations,” third-year Ximena Pedroza, who also played a character in the play, said. “I hope it shows others that they can take up this space, they don’t have to just be typecast or be the comedic relief. They can make their own content, too.”
all photos courtesy of Briana Nieves
Princess Nokia's song "BRUJAS" plays as thesis student and cast member Iyanu Corniel delivers her opening monologue.
Third-years Paola Baez and Diana Barroeta play grandmother and granddaughter in Kailah Santos's thesis play.
Third-year cast member Ximena Pedroza plays a grandmother who passes down wisdom to her granddaughter after she dies.