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CATALYST
SEPTEMBER 19, 2018 VOLUME XXXVII ISSUE II
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New College of Florida's student-run newspaper
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Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Sarasota: The pro-choice alternative to Planned Parenthood BY MICHALA HEAD AND CHARLIE LEAVENGOOD
In the state of Florida, there are around 200 crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) and only about 30 Planned Parenthood clinics, according to Planned Parenthood Regional Organizer Annie Rosenblum. The former consists of mostly faith-based, non-profit organizations that offer care, counseling and resources to pregnant women. According to the American Medical Association (AMA) Journal of Ethics, CPCs act without any regulation that requires them to be medically accurate in their advice or to even have medical training. “We envision a new reality where every person making a pregnancy decision is empowered to choose life for their child,” Care Net, one of the largest networks of CPCs
in North America, states on their website. One of the CPCs central goals is to intercept people who are considering abortion and convince them to carry their pregnancy to term. “They’ll strategically try to open their doors near a health care provider that offers a full range of reproductive healthcare options,” Rosenblum said. “There are volunteers from the crisis pregnancy center who protest our health center right next door on Tuesdays during our abortion service days and their main goal is to dissuade folks from entering Planned Parenthood.” As the current administration appears to align heavily with conservative stances against abortion, crisis pregnancy centers are on the rise and will not likely be regulated by law any time soon. In the case of Florida and 14 other states, they are
receiving state funding. In March 2018, Justine Griffin reported for the Tampa Bay Times that Governor Rick Scott signed a bill into law that would allow for permanent state funding of “pregnancy support centers,” meaning that CPCs will no longer only receive funding on an annual contractual basis. Griffin also said in the article that the Florida Pregnancy Care Network, a pro-life coalition, has received $21 million in state funding since 2007 and $4 million in this fiscal year alone. With this funding, money from donors and, in some cases, money from churches, CPCs are usually stocked with maternity clothes, food and diapers, among other supplies for prenatal and infant care. Rather than providing medical care on site, CPCs refer clients to actual physicians or gynecologists and
Charlie Leavengood/Catalyst A CPC located off of Tamiami Trail near New College.
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SDS searches for new director following departure of Meighen Hopton BY CASSIE MANZ
https://doc-0k-18-docs. googleusercontent.com/ docs/securesc/s7jurnmk912se8sp3mgg3hd8llrh0uos/obdpo7fpcdn719co01n4qb7
In an era of change—growth plans and mailboxes and coffee cafes—Director of Student Disability Services (SDS) Meighen Hopton was a constant for many students on campus seeking accommodations, like emotional support animals (ESAs) or help with classes and professors. However, over the summer, Hopton’s contract was not renewed and members of the administration are not at liberty to explain why. An email announcing her departure was sent out to students who had previously received accommodations, but not to the student body at large. In her place, SDS Coordinator Meghan Machold has stepped in, while Dr. Elyse Chaplin has been brought in as a consultant to assist the department as they search for a new director. Although Hopton’s departure leaves a significant vacancy in an already understaffed depart-
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ment, administration and students say the transition has been smooth overall. “Dr. Chaplin and I have been working very well to ensure a seamless transition for our students and the campus,” Machold said in an email interview. “Students have been terrific in adjusting to the transition, working with both Dr. Chaplin and myself, and communicating needs during this process. Students’ voices and insight are an invaluable resource to us as we look at moving forward.” Chaplin’s business, Chaplin Educational Consulting LLC, “works with educational institutions in a variety of capacities, as well as provides one-on-one coaching to students with disabilities,” Machold said. Chaplin, with one doctorate in Higher Education Theory and Policy and another in the works (A.B.D), has over 25 years of experience working with students with disabilities at the
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postsecondary level, including serving as both Director of SDS and as a dean at Brown University and working in accessibility services at Harvard University. She also served as the Interim Ombudsperson at New College and is thus “familiar with our campus,” Machold said. “In her current part-time role with Student Disability Services, we are working to help maximize students’ personal and academic success by working individually with students in the determination and provision of disability-related accommodations,” Machold said. In the meantime, Accessibility Representative and second-year Liz Bates worries what will happen if Hopton’s vacancy is not filled before the end of Chaplin’s short-term contract in September. “If Elyse leaves and someone needs accommodations in the middle of the semester, I don’t know what we’re going to do about it,”
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Bates said. “What if they can’t find someone before January?” However, in an email interview Dean of Student Affairs Robin Williamson noted they may extend Chaplin’s contract if needed. At the beginning of the semester during Mini Classes, New College Student Alliance (NCSA) Co-presidents third-year Selena Goods and third-year Steven Keshishian, Executive Secretary and third-year Elan Works and Bates met with Williamson and Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Mark Stier. “[We] just kind of said, ‘Look, we’re curious what happened to Meighen, we realize you can’t tell us anything, but we need to know that every student who seeks accommodations receives enough time and consideration and respect in the conversations that they have
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briefs by Izaya Miles
Error 404: Computers not found Library Representative and second-year Adam Johnson did not think too much of his job when he was appointed to it. That was, until he saw the changes that occurred inside the Jane Bancroft Cook Library over the summer. Where there are now modular orange chairs and low cylindrical tables, there were nine computers. And Johnson wants them back. “Every single day last year, I used the library to read PDFs and stuff for class,” Johnson said, as we sat in the same bright orange chairs that have caused him so much frustration this year. “I didn’t think much [of my position] until I got here and saw the new changes. I was like, ‘Where the fuck are the computers?’” According to Johnson, the
whole atmosphere of the library has changed. The computers were a place for quiet; not extreme silence, but the kind of quiet that could be expected in a library. But the new furniture and the cafe all promote a much more convivial environment, which means less peace for students like Johnson looking to study. In a survey he conducted with students, 80 percent said that they used the computers often. There were myriad reasons why: easier printing, access to the software or just preference versus their laptops. “It’s not enough computers,” Johnson said, frustration tingeing his voice. “And the function that this place used to serve [as a quiet place], it’s not been replaced.”
“I was like, ‘Where the fuck are the computers?’”
Bolton announces shuttering of Palestine Liberation Organization office Repositioning towards the much-anticipated ‘deal of the century,’ the United States has decided to make a series of decisive moves rebuking Palestinians’ continued opposition to Israeli occupation. Following the cut of over half a billion dollars worth of aid, be it direct aid or contributions to the controversial United Nations Works and Relief Agency (UNWRA), National Security Advisor John Bolton announced that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington D.C. will be closed. He claimed this as a response to the PLO’s loud attempts to prompt the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel’s actions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and, as State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said, “[refusing] to engage with the U.S. government with respect to peace efforts and otherwise.” The closure of the office has, predictably, sparked harsh rebuke.
Husam Zomlot, the PLO ambassador to the U.S., responded by claiming this administration’s actions amount to little more than “the implementing of Israel’s grocery list.” However, the PLO has long been a target of criticism from those on the right. Senator Ted Cruz claimed its continued presence in Washington “signaled to Palestinian leaders that violence and intransigence had no costs, and so hindered the cause of peace.” All of this serves to put more pressure on White House Innovations Director Jared Kushner and the peace deal the administration has been vague about since the beginning. As of now, the overall strategy remains unclear.
Information gathered from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and CNN.
© 2018 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.
Trump says bull about the bull market Early Monday morning, President Donald J. Trump tweeted out, “The GDP Rate (4.2%) is higher than the Unemployment Rate (3.9%) for the first time in over 100 years!” Unfortunately for Trump, that statistic was not true. Unfortunately for his critics, the truth still works to his favor. Kevin Hassett, Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, quickly corrected the President’s gaffe later that day, Sept. 10, at a White House press conference. The growth rate has been higher than unemployment before this century, several times in fact, but it is still a rarity; the last time it occurred was
in the first quarter of 2006. This is just the latest in a slew of impressive economic news coming out, following an unexpected increase in new jobs in July, which succeeded predictions by over five percent, and more moderate success in August. Additionally, methods of tracking wage growth that incorporate non-salary benefits, such as time off and medical benefits, have last quarter’s growth at one percent (which is still below the average for his term). Taken as a whole, this paints a strong picture for the President and the GOP to point to in the upcoming midterms.
India lets love win
In a landmark case, the Supreme Court of India became an Asian leader in LGBT+ rights with a unanimous ruling on Sept. 6 that struck down the provisions of a centuries-old law that criminalized sodomy. This comes as a climax in a contentious modern history in which the law has been challenged several times, and was famously upheld by India’s highest court back in 2013. The law originated in 1861 under the British Raj and banned “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal” and allowed for imprisonment up to a life sentence. “[The ruling is] the first step on the long path to acceptance of the diversity and variegated hues that nature has created,” Chief Justice Dipak Misra said as he gave the court’s official statement, to the cheers of LGBT+ advocates. However, while the Justices announced their enthusiastic support for not just the change to the law but for wider cultural shifts towards tolerance, politicians, including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, remained
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons India legalized sodomy on Sep. 6.
silent on the issue. A strong outcry against the ruling has come from a coalition of Christian, Muslim and Hindu conservatives, exemplified by Swami Chakrapani, president of All India Hindu Mahasabha. “We are giving credibility and legitimacy to mentally sick people,” Chakrapani said. Regardless, the weight of the decision will be felt heavily across the country.
Corrections Staff writer Eileen Calub’s last name was incorrectly spelled in the byline and photo credit of her story “Free activities for broke college students.” The name of Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg Kristen A. Shepherd was incorrectly spelled in the story “The art of the selfie.”
General Editor Managing Editor Copy Editor Online Editor Layout Editors Staff Writers & Photographers
Audrey Warne Michala Head Cassie Manz Bailey Tietsworth Charlie Leavengood & Cait Matthews Eileen Calub, Alexandra Conte, Izaya Garrett Miles, Calvin Stumpfhauser
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.
CATALYST
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NEWS PAGE 3
The effects of opioid addiction in Sarasota
BY ALEXANDRA CONTE
The effects of the opioid crisis continue to endure in Sarasota. According to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the leading cause of death in Sarasota among 15-34 year olds is drug abuse. “I think everyone is at risk,” Chief of Campus Police Michael Kessie said. “The stereotypical person who uses drugs has gone out the door. There have been many problems [related to drug use and abuse] in the past couple of years in Sarasota and Manatee Counties.” A report released in early September by the Annals of Internal Medicine revealed that almost 30 percent of opioids prescribed to patients were given without an official medical diagnosis. When doctors stop prescribing opioids to opioid-dependent patients they can turn towards heroin as a substitute.
Intravenous heroin use can lead to the spread of blood-borne diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C through the shared use of tainted needles, as well as cause cardiovascular and respiratory failures which can result in death. The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) estimates that over 115 people die per day from opioid-related overdoses nationally. The Hepatitis C virus is fast-spreading and causes inflammation and damage of the liver resulting in death if untreated. The full treatment can cost up to $90,000, making it unattainable for low-income or uninsured Americans. Turning Points, an organization with locations in Sarasota and Bradenton, is one of the few places in Florida that offers free testing and treatment for Hepatitis C. (Florida Governor Rick Scott is a one million dollar investor in Gilead Sciences, the same group
What is this shift? A brief discussion of the new tutorial forms BY MICHALA HEAD Anyone participating in a tutorial this semester has had to take note of the school’s departure from sponsor initials on contracts. Now, perhaps due to the ongoing Growth Plan-era struggle for standardization, students are required to fill out an additional Tutorial Description Form to be signed by both the sponsor and their advisor for every tutorial. All completed tutorial forms must accompany the contract in order to submit the contract itself. Since this sudden change is fairly minor, it has largely been met with some confusion, but ultimately acceptance from students and faculty. “Some professors have told me that even they didn’t know the switch was happening this semester and it jumped on them as well,” thesis student Cassandra Detrio-Darby said in an email interview. The word that keeps popping up in the speculation of these new forms is “accreditation.” According to World Wide Learn, educational accreditation is “a term used to describe the process that institutions of higher education undergo to confirm they meet the strictest educational standards.” “The switch was made by the registrars because they are trying to get a different (higher) type of academic accreditation for New College,” third-year Ormond Derrick said he heard directly from the Registrar’s Office, in an email interview. “The tutorial description forms allow for NCF to show the auditors, or whoever verifies the accreditation, the forms and thus demonstrate
tutorials, internships or whatever at New College are actual things, since they aren’t listed on the Course Request System.” New College’s Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs, Julie Morris, gave an extensive email interview regarding the tutorial forms. “About 30 percent of the undergraduate instruction at New College is in the form of tutorials, a significant percentage,” Morris said. “Tutorials earn either a full unit or half unit of credit, but, prior to this semester, only the title of the tutorial was specified on the contract with no record of the tutorial objective or criteria for evaluation.” Morris also brought up the fact that course objectives are outlined in their syllabi and that New College already has a form for the Independent Study Project (ISP) to describe its objectives, so the move to more thoroughly account for tutorials was a natural one. According to Morris, the decision to utilize tutorial description forms arose from the process of designing e-contracts, which are being piloted this semester with the plan of rolling them out to everyone in the Spring Semester of 2019. “One of the [e-contract] design questions had to do with tutorials. We decided to include a tutorial wizard with drop-down menus for the objective and the learning outcome/artifact for evaluation,” Morris said. “The paper form for Fall 2018 tutorials mirrors the e-contract tutorial wizard.” Information gathered from worldwidelearn.com.
that charges $90,000 for a full treatment of Hepatitis C. Because there are free clinics to treat Hepatitis C, taxpayer money is going towards the cost of the same treatments that Scott profits from.) My Florida Families claims that Sarasota has the second highest number of child removal cases in Florida, with opioid addiction being the number one cause for removal of children. Sarasota also ranks third in the state for the county with the highest number of babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome, which results in newborns suffering from opiate withdrawal symptoms. “It’s tough to change what you’ve always done, but it’s even tougher to keep everyone in jail when they should be in recovery,” Sarasota Sheriff Tom Knight said in an interview with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Knight explained that his office has launched a Pharma-
ceutical Diversion Investigative Unit in an effort to combat drug abuse in Sarasota. To try and prevent overcrowding in jail for non-violent offenses the Sarasota County Police Department declared in their 2017 annual report that the Criminal Investigation Division is exploring other alternatives to incarceration. Their main initiative is the High Point Drug Market Initiative, intended to shut down drug markets and reduce drug-related violence in the community. Information gathered from this post was taken from the Herald Tribune, FMA General Counsel, My Florida Families, CHIP 4Health, Health News Florida, Center for Disease Control, Annals of Internal Medicine, the Mayo Clinic, The Daytona Beach News-Journal and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Video Renaissance closes after 33 years BY CALVIN STUMPFHAUSER Sarasota’s long-standing independent video store and local gathering place, Video Renaissance, known for its eclectic catalogue and staff expertise, will close shop after 33 years in business. Bill Wooldridge opened up its first incarnation as “Cult Video” in 1985, then located on Siesta Key, with around 200 titles available to rent. It was at one time just a small personal collection, born out of a desire to watch and pass around movies that were otherwise inaccessible—chain stores offered only a small number of foreign films, and rarely carried any films considered too obscure, unconventional or inappropriate to turn a short-term profit. This collection grew along with Video Renaissance’s following, and according to Wooldridge, it eventually peaked at around 50,000 available titles. While I was in the store, Norman, a long-time patron—he had worked next door to the shop on Siesta Key back in 1985—stopped by with some moving boxes and chocolate almonds for Wooldridge. They talked for awhile, and he asked about a few Noir films that Wooldridge had recommended before. When I came up to the counter, Norman greeted me, and I told him I went to New College. They both spoke fondly of New College, which for a few decades had intimate ties to the video store. Throughout the late 1980s and into the early 2000s, students from New College regularly came in to get recommendations from the clerks, and had conversations with other locals that weren’t students. The beginnings of the store marked a younger and more affordable Siesta Key, one that, on occasion, smelled of mar-
ijuana and soon-to-be-prohibited fertilizers. It was a meeting place, where people could come to rent a movie and run into someone they hadn’t seen in a few weeks. Traditionally “high” and “low” forms of art were given little distinction among one another: Vin Diesel could be found to share the same shelf as Tarkovsky, and one could get some laundry done next door to the Bee Ridge location while they looked for a Bulgarian “Titanic.” Many regulars, and even the employees, assumed that the store would be closed by the mid-2000s, as Netflix began to take over the industry with the inception of its streaming services in 2007. Blockbusters and independent video stores alike quickly went under over the years, but Video Renaissance remained a cultural fixture, supported by a loyal customer base. It wasn’t until the end of 2016, and early 2017, that there was a significant drop in business, though Wooldridge remembered an especially crowded Friday night around that time in November, as large groups of people congregated in the store and discussed the recent results of the 2016 election. Some left soon after receiving their rentals, but many stuck around that night to talk amongst themselves. Video Renaissance will shut its doors for good by the end of September. “Talking to and meeting all of the people, seeing how kids were thinking about the world over the years—I’ll miss that,” Wooldridge said. “But it’s time to close.” An outpouring of community support followed news of the store’s
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New faces on campus
Rebecca Black
Assistant Professor of Organic Chemistry “I climbed Mount Fuji and I have two brown Tabby cats (Zoe and Willow).”
Lauren Hansen
Visiting Assistant Professor of German Language and Literature “I can speak some Polish and Russian.”
Hugo Viera-Vargas
Assistant Professor of Caribbean/Latin American Studies and Music
Tania Roy
Assistant Professor of Human Centered Computing “I love Marvel movies and the only video game I play is Stardew Valley.”
Ryan Buyssens
Assistant Professor of Art (Sculpture)
Athena Rycyk
Assistant Professor of Biology and Marine Science “I went to the Galápagos Islands earlier this year.”
Jessica Young
Gerardo Toro-Farmer
Assistant Professor of English
Assistant Professor of Coastal and Marine Sciences
Mark Dancigers
Christopher Noble
Assistant Professor of Digital Media and Music
Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Meet this year’s new faculty members Nicolas Delon Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies “I’m vegan. I like animals and I teach about ethics and moral obligations to animals. One of the main historic reasons why I turned vegetarian was listening to some vegan straight edge punk bands in the nineties.”
Ilaria Giglioli Assistant Professor of Geography and International Studies “In some places you’re inserted into a very structured system. It seemed to me that coming here, if you want to develop a new subject or a new area, they encourage you to go for it.” “I speak 5 languages, I like sailing and I make some of my own clothes.”
Kathleen Casto Assistant Professor of Psychology “I am a competitive Olympic weightlifter (a type of weightlifting, not that I compete at the Olympics or anything crazy like that), I ran cross-country and track in college, generally love sports, I have a twin sister, I’m a super dog-mom and run an Instagram account for my dog Piper (@Piggypiper_pup).”
Mark Paul Assistant Professor of Economics “I was really excited about admission to New College, both as a public institution and also as a way to radically revision how we think about educating students and preparing them to be active members of our democracy. It’s a really fantastic alternative vision of education that I deeply believe in.”
Nick Clarkson Lin Jiang Assistant Professor of Bioorganic Chemistry “I love my last name which is beautiful in my language, but I found it’s much easier to let my students call me “Dr. Lin” in the past few years :)”
Nassima Neggaz Assistant Professor of Religion and Islamic Studies “I just moved here from the UK.” “I’ve lived in 11 countries already, in Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and America.”
Assistant Professor of Gender Studies “I think teaching Gender Studies on a campus this queer is the dream. I’m so happy to be here at New College for this reason.” “I grew up in Indiana and my main area of work is in trans studies.”
Diego Villada Assistant Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies “I love sci-fi films and stories related to time-space. My favorite film is Back to the Future, Part I (1985).”
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FEATURES PAGE 6
Liberation breakfast in Newtown
The Activist Newsletter Giulia Heyward/Catalyst
Throughout this week (9/19–9/26), activists have the opportunity to participate in phone banking, community meetings, political gatherings and a candidate meet and greet! Read on if you want to get involved regarding local and national politics, community building and education.
BY CASSIE MANZ Wed., Sept. 19, Reproductive Rights Phone Bank @ 6 - 8 p.m. Planned Parenthood Sarasota Health Center - 736 Central Ave., Sarasota. Join forces with Planned Parenthood and make calls to their supporters. Contact annie. rosenblum@ppswcf.org for any questions. Wed., Sept. 19, Stonewall Democratic Caucus of Sarasota County @ 6:30 - 8 p.m. Sarasota County Democratic Party Headquarters - 7358 S. Tamiami Trl., Sarasota. Join the Stonewall Democratic Caucus, the official caucus within the Democratic Party that advocates for and supports LGBT+ rights, in their monthly meeting as they discuss political updates and their legislative agenda for 2018. Thurs., Sept. 20, Meet the Manatee County Democratic Candidates @ 7 - 9 p.m. Lakewood Ranch Town Hall 8175 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., Lakewood Ranch.
Every Friday, join in with a local group of Sarasotans as they meet on the sidewalk of the Islamic Society of Sarasota’s Mosque to stand in protection and solidarity with and for the worshipers arriving for Friday prayer. Mon., Sept. 24, Occupy Bradenton - Education Meeting @ 7 - 9 p.m. Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship - 322 15 St. W., Bradenton. In this meeting with Occupy Bradenton, independent political commentator and journalist Norman Solomon will give a talk analyzing the 2016 presidential election, utilizing material from his report “Autopsy: The Democratic Party in Crisis,” as well as discuss ways to democratize the Democratic Party. Tues., Sept. 25, Abortion Stigma Workshop w/ Generation Action @ 6 p.m. New College of Florida HCL 8 5800 Bay Shore Rd., Sarasota.
Join New College’s Generation Action in this oncampus event as they discuss the stigmas that often surround abortion and ways to combat If registered in Manatee them. County, head out to this event Tues., Sept. 25 Manatee hosted by Indivisible East Manatee County and the County School Board Meeting @ 3 p.m. Lakewood Ranch Democrats School District of Manatee to meet the local Democratic candidates on the ballot this County - 215 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton. November. Fri., Sept. 21, Prayer Protection and Solidarity @ 1 - 2:30 p.m. Islamic Society of Sarasota 4350 N. Lockwood Ridge Rd., Sarasota.
Stay up to date with local issues at this School Board Meeting! More details of the agenda can be found at www. manateeschools.net.
Image courtesy of Lola Whitworth
The Liberation Breakfast is held in Newtown on the third Sunday of every month.
BY CHARLIE LEAVENGOOD On the third Saturday of every month, the Liberation Breakfast is held in Newtown by Answer Suncoast and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). Professionals, students, activists and community organizers gather together at the Newtown Estates Park to provide free breakfast and literature by authors of color. The books are provided through donations from the group’s Amazon wishlist and cover topics such as Black empowerment, socialism and ways to organize communities against the violence and oppression caused by current U.S. and global power structures. They can be checked out and then exchanged at each breakfast. “We wanted to get more in touch with the community we’re working with and to have a casual environment to talk,” third-year Lola Whitworth said. Whitworth is an active member of Answer Suncoast and PSL and one of the breakfast’s founders. Most PSL events are protests and speak-outs. However, Ryan Francis, a student from University of Central Florida (UCF) and a member of PSL and Answer Suncoast, added that PSL also hosts public forums to discuss struggles faced by the working class. Another recent PSL event was a speak-out for transgender rights at a Sarasota School Board meeting on Sept. 4. Each month, a new topic is discussed by leaders in the community. Last month, the issue was the school-to-prison pipeline
and the rising number of police in school settings. This past Saturday, on Sept. 15, the topic was the recent American prison strike. Three speakers addressed different aspects of the strike and what it meant for the Party’s own goals. The strike started Aug. 21, 2018 and ended on Sept. 9, 2018. It was the largest strike of its kind in U.S. history. “Inmate protests have been happening for generations, but it is only in the last few years that organizers have had success coordinating from penitentiary to penitentiary and state to state,” the New York Times reported. According to information released by SBS, the U.S. has more correctional facilities than any other country on Earth, housing almost a quarter of the world’s prison population while only containing five percent of the world’s population. The main demands of the inmates were better pay and an improved quality of life. Most inmates get paid only a few cents per hour, wages that some have called “slave labor.” Whitworth, one of the speakers, also listed the other reasons for the strike, including the inhumane treatment of prisoners, the dangers of privatized prisons and the unfair sentencing of people who committed nonviolent crimes. The group discussed the “Lockup Quotas,” of private prisons. These quotas set quantitative goals for the number of prisoners, which can result in the promotion of continued on page 7
CATALYST CPCs CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 emphasize the importance of education and emotional support during and, in some cases, after pregnancy. “I once called a crisis pregnancy center and asked what kind of options they provide for an abortion and who I could call. They said they didn’t know anyone in the area,” Rosenblum said. “They didn’t have any leads for me. They provide misleading information because there are abortion providers in [the Sarasota area] that I could go to.” CPCs exhibit a pattern of targeting underserved communities, specifically women of color. According to a 2013 report put out by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), Care Net launched an Urban Initiative to reach “underserved and over-aborted women.” While the centers can be a useful option for low-income people who wish to carry their pregnancy to term and need support, they often fail to provide unbiased guidance and information for those who may still be considering abortion. “What they [CPCs] provide is judgmental counseling, as opposed to fully informed and honest comprehensive reproductive health care services which places like Planned Parenthood offer,” Rosenblum said. A standard narrative of CPCs, including local centers such as My Choice and Sarasota Medical Pregnancy Center, represents abortion as a panic-driven, initial reaction to unplanned or “crisis” pregnancies. Abortion is also often treated as the result of external pressure from societal norms. “Defaulting to society’s usual choice in an unplanned pregnancy,
SDS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 with SDS,’” Bates said. “And if they’re overwhelmed and understaffed it’s concerning to us. And so they said, ‘We’re working on it,’ essentially.” “The process will be like every other hiring process for Student Affairs,” Williamson said. “We will conduct a national search. The entire campus will be invited to participate in the interview process.” Even before the vacancy left by Hopton, students have been under the impression the department has been understaffed in the past. “There were only three people on this campus who were designated to work [with students with disabilities],” Bates said, referring to Machold, Chaplin and the student Accessibility Representative. “And now there are four. For a campus of what, 800 students, four people is not enough.” The fourth position Bates referred to is the newly created Accessibility Support Teaching Assistant
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especially for a single woman, has become the societal norm,” Sarasota Medical Pregnancy Center said in a press release. The National Organization for Women New York City (NOWNYC) brought up the fact that “a great number contain the word “choice” (e.g., Birthchoice, A Better Choice, etc.) to fool potential clients into thinking it’s a pro-choice clinic.” The choice that these monikers usually signify is the decision to carry a pregnancy to term and, from there, either parent or put the baby up for adoption. “Taking the time to look at your other choices may prevent you from making a decision you will later find hard to live with,” My Choice Pregnancy Center says on their website. “We would like to encourage you to take a look at alternative options to abortion that give your child life and allow you the positive life-satisfying feelings that can come with parenting and adoption.” At My Choice Pregnancy Center, resources offered include a freezer stocked with nutritious foods for mothers and children, a discounted thrift store with a wide range of clothing and diapers and classes that contribute to a rewards system where, after completion, prizes such as a car seat, a play pen or a breast pump can be selected. According to Director of My Choice Pregnancy Center Cheryl G. Huston, the classes offered are guided by Parenting Through Love and Logic. Huston represented My Choice as neutral on the issue of abortion, not affiliated with Care Net and a resource for women in an underprivileged area. “I’m a Christian, so I don’t want to mislead you, I definitely believe in life, I believe in God and I believe in women having a right to making or whatever decision they make it’s between them and God,” Huston said.
“I think that pregnancy centers get a real negative reputation as only places that are anti-this or pressuring that or misleading this way or that way, and I’m sure that happens but it doesn’t happen in our area.” While My Choice may not be involved in any harassment, it certainly happens at the Planned Parenthood in downtown Sarasota. Catalyst General Editor Audrey Warne was once approached by women claiming to be from a nearby CPC while pulling into Planned Parenthood for an appointment; they initially blocked her partner’s car from entering. “[One of the women] started telling me I didn’t need to make this decision and that I had other options,” Warne said in an email interview. “I told her I wasn’t pregnant and that I needed to go and she then started aggressively telling me I was making the wrong decision and I was going to go to hell. I was really shaken up. The whole experience was really overwhelming and frightening.” CPCs can be valuable in allocating funds and supplies to unexpecting parents that have decided to continue the pregnancy. However, the active intervention in the private affairs of individuals by CPCs crosses personal boundaries and does so with financial backing from local and state governments. Clinics that offer access to safe and affordable abortions do not claim abortion as the only choice, but having options and accurate information allows for individuals to make that personal decision. It is important to make accurate medical information accessible, regardless of the stigma surrounding the issue.
(TA), for which Bates helped draft the legislation, confirmed at the Towne Meeting on Sept. 6. The Accessibility Representative will work under the Accessibility Support TA and provide auxiliary support to the department. Four people is especially not enough, Bates clarified, since neither the Representative nor the TA can grant accommodations. Last spring, the department was in the midst of a job search for Assistant Director of SDS. However, according to Bates, the job search ended when Hopton’s contract was not renewed. “With our growth plans, we have allocated positions and funding to have two full-time staff who are able to review documentation and make accommodations in addition to a full-time support staff,” Williamson said when asked if there is any current plan to increase the size of the department. In the meantime, work in the department carries on. “It hasn’t been too rough, it hasn’t been too smooth,” Bates said of the transition since Hopton’s departure. “People bring to the table
extremely varied mindsets [on accessibility and disability], and Elyse’s is absolutely different than Meighen Hopton’s was. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just a change.” Bates stated she has heard good things from students overall about the work SDS continues to do in the midst of the transition, and spoke very highly of both Machold and Chaplin. “Our goal has been to maintain student disability services as seamlessly as possible while we search to fill that position,” Machold said. “Services and policies are being maintained, with the intention of reviewing best practices and striving for continuous improvement in the provision of services to students with disabilities.” For now, there are “tough shoes to fill,” Bates said, as the department searches for Hopton’s replacement. “I feel for anyone who’s having a difficult time with the transition because she meant something to a lot of the students here and we didn’t get to say goodbye,” Bates said. “I’m sure we would’ve thrown her a big party.”
Information gathered from plannedparenthood.org, care-net.org, heartbeatinternational.org and mychoicepregnancycenter.com.
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Liberation breakfast CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 mandatory minimum sentencing in order to increase profits. Members also discussed the stigma around incarcerated individuals and the ways such stigmatization allows for the dehumanizing treatment of imprisoned individuals to go unchecked by most of society. The final note that the speakers left on was the fact that many famous social organizers, “political prisoners,” have been imprisoned, some in solitary, for decades. “We have to stop being afraid of critiquing our own country,” Whitworth said. She hopes to raise awareness of social injustice on campus with the Revolutionary Socialist Club. Her goal is to connect New College students with activist groups outside of campus so they can stay involved after they leave campus. The inmates’ list of demands, as well as ways to help and get involved, can be found on this website: https://incarceratedworkers.org/campaigns/prison-strike-2018. Information gathered from https://www.sbs.com, https:// www.globalresearch.ca, https:// nicic.gov, https://www.theguardian.com, https://www.nytimes. com.
Renaissance Video CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 closure. Two Pine View School alumni, Damien Bythrow and Nathan J. Robinson, started a GoFundMe with the intentions of purchasing much of Bill’s film collection wholesale for donation to various public libraries in Sarasota, including the Jane Bancroft Cook Library, as opposed to the collection being sold in pieces to individuals. Many of the films that the campaign is concerned with would otherwise be lost and inaccessible to the Sarasota public if they were no longer available locally. The GoFundMe is currently nearing a quarter of its fundraising goal.
Information about donating to the GoFundMe can be found at https:// www.gofundme.com/save-video-renaissance-film-archive
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Meet the Fulbright Chinese Teaching Assistant BY EILEEN CALUB
Every year since 2008, New College has hosted a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) to support the burgeoning Chinese Language and Culture program. The prestigious Fulbright program, initiated by Senator J. William Fulbright in 1945 and sponsored by the United States Department of State, awards grants to students and professionals in over 155 countries to foster cultural diplomacy. The FLTA program provides educators an opportunity to spend one academic year teaching a foreign language, developing professional skills and sharing their culture at a college or university in the U.S. For the 20182019 school year, grant awardee Jingou Yang joins New College as an enthusiastic new member of the faculty and community. In the classroom, Yang prefers to be addressed as “Yang Laoshi,” meaning “Teacher Yang” in Chinese, but wishes to be called “Jingou” outside of classes. He hails from Shenyang, a city populated by over eight million people and a center of international business and trade. Shenyang is the capital city of Liaoning Province in northeast China and neighbors Russia and North Korea. “I can see Russia from my backyard,” Yang said jokingly. Yang completed his studies at a “normal” university in China, an institution that trains teachers,
and then proceeded to teach at a university in Shenyang. Expounding on his experience, Yang said, “I have been teaching English at the college level for nine years before coming here.” Since childhood, Yang has always loved languages and travelling. He credits his father, a translator, as inspiration. A professed “international nomad,” Yang enjoys exploring new places and has visited several major cities in the U.S., including New York City, Boston and Washington D.C. “Travel is my religion. I believe life is a journey, not a destination. So enjoy the trip,” Yang said. Yang stated that “taking a gap year” and wanting to “become a cultural ambassador of China” led him to apply for the Fulbright Teaching Assistantship. In preparation for moving to the U.S. as an FLTA, Yang completed an interview and took the required Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to demonstrate fluency. Upon arriving at New College, Yang was surprised that “everything [was] within reach.” He described the campus as “cozy” and “liberal.” Adjusting to life in a new place always comes with difficulties. In particular, Yang expressed dismay at the unreliability of the Sarasota public transportation system. Unaccustomed to rapidly
Eileen Calub/Catalyst FLTA Jingou Yang teaching Chinese.
photo courtesy of Naim Chowdhury The first Chinese Table of the year at the Jane Bancroft Cook Library.
changing Florida weather, Yang remarked, “Shenyang has four clear seasons every year. Sarasota has four clear seasons every day.” As Yang adapts to American customs and life on campus, he admitted to feeling the expected twangs of homesickness. When asked about what he misses from China, Yang replied, “family, friends and food!” Nevertheless, Yang looks forward to a fun and productive school year. “So far I have enjoyed each and every single day of my life here: nice weather, laidback lifestyle and friendly people,” Yang said, having recently marked one month of living in the U.S. since his arrival on Aug. 12. While waiting in the stir-fry line at Hamilton “Ham” Center, Yang enjoys conversations with the cook, Jin, who also speaks Mandarin Chinese. Yang described the Chinese program at New College as “one of the best in the nation.” For all Chinese language learners, Yang advises, “talk to a native speaker like your Fulbrighter.” This school year, Yang plans to facilitate at least two cultural events, including the Mid-Autumn Festival, a historic celebration of the harvest, and the Spring Festival, a celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year. The Mid-Autumn Festival will take place on Sept. 24 at the Bayfront, with further details to be announced. Yang encourages all students to join him at Chinese Table, which is held in the Language Resource
Center (LRC) in the Jane Bancroft Cook Library from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. every Wednesday, with different themes every session. While at New College, Yang hopes to gain insight from the student-centered educational system. When not teaching, Yang takes two courses for personal enjoyment: “Writing about Writing” and “Introduction to American Politics.” A resident of the Global Village Living Learning Community (LLC) in X Residence Hall, Yang can often be seen walking around campus or eating in Ham Center. Say hello!
Eileen Calub/Catalyst FLTA Jingou Yang outside Jane Bancroft Cook Library.