ncfcatalyst.com | @ncfcatalyst
CATALYST
WALL PREVIEWS
NAT SCI SEMINAR pg.
pg.
10
3
APRIL 22, 2015 VOLUME XXXVV, ISSUE IX
WHAT’S INSIDE
4
TENNIS CLUB
6
T
M
FIL
FES
12 RECORD STORE DAY
Happy Earth Day from the Catalyst!
API takes over New College BY SYDNEY KRULJAC AND JASMINE RESPESS API has been an important part of New College tradition since it was created in 2008. The yearly, weekend-long conference takes place in April and provides students with an opportunity to learn about leftist radical theory, connecting them with organizations across the United States. API exemplifies the creativity of students and community members coming together to implement theory and discuss practices that can be used to further succesful social changes and movements. With it come zines, a communal food table, and This year’s conference welcomed student and non-student lecturers who provided presentations and workshops on various topics such as Direct Action Tree Climbing Basics and dispelling the myths of Black Pantherism. There were also presentations by social groups such as the Uhruru, who advocate for social change. The conference culminated with a march to Payne Park to voice attendees concerns over inequality and other social issues in the Sarasota community. Inspired by the National Conference for Organized Resistance (NCOR), the founding students, James Birmingham (’06), Kotu Bajaj (’06)
Sydney Kruljac/Catalyst
Zines, flyers and shirts available at the API booth.
and Jaqueline Wang (’06), contacted Professor of Sociology Sarah Hernandez and eventually created a tutorial called Conference Organization. They planned for a conference that would educate others about leftist theory and ways to network in the South. Malik Rahim, a former Minister of Defense of the New Orleans Black Panther Party, discussed common misconceptions about Black Panthers. He explained what the Panthers stood for, why they were perceived as a threat and why their example is still relevant
in today’s society in an ongoing battle for environmental peace and justice. “Your condition is far worse than mine when we started the Black Panther Party,” Rahim said. “We have the lowest government I think I have ever seen in American government […] what are you going to do 45 years from now when you get to my age, with your weapons of mass destruction that you’re going to inherit? What are you going to do with all these nuclear plants? How are you
continued on p. 11
Offensive write-in votes generate public concern BY GIULIA HEYWARD Reading absurd write-in votes, such as “Ham food” and “Florida man,” after finding out the results of the New College Student Alliance (NCSA) election, has become a tradition. However, in the last few years, offensive write-in votes meant to target particular students have led some to question whether there is something amiss with the current voting system. Following the results of the recent 2014-2015 NCSA election, supervisor of elections, first-year Sabrina Finn, released two documents containing the recorded write-in votes for this election. One of the documents contained every write-in vote that was submitted, and the other contained “redacted” write-in votes – a list of votes excluded due to offensive language. The decision to publicize the list of abusive write-in votes has received mixed reviews. “I was a candidate who got a fair number of [abusive write-in votes],” first-year Rebecca “Becca” Caccavo said. “I take my job as SAC [Student
photo courtesy of NCSA
The ballot for the 2014-2015 NCSA elections allowed students to either check off a candidate or write in who they thought should receive the position.
Allocations Committee] Representative and CSA [Council of Student Affairs] secretary very seriously. Seeing those write-ins felt not only very petty, but reminiscent of a lot of past instances of
cyberbullying in my life.” The decision to make offensive write-in votes public was not made by the current supervisor of elections, but by Student Court. The Student Court
meeting concerning the procedure for classifying and handling abusive writein votes was held on April 11 in the Old Mail Room. “Some people didn’t want me to post the abusive write-in votes at all because they didn’t like that people could still see them,” Finn said. “But part of what Student Court decided was that they have to be published. So I had to publish both of those. I got some mixed reviews on that. Some people said they liked it, some people asked me not to publish the abusive ones at all.” Another factor concerning the issue of write-in votes is that they do serve a purpose besides voicing political dissent. “Every single [write-in vote] needs to be written down, and this is really important,” thesis student McAlister Grant said. Grant served as Supervisor of Elections from the Fall 2012 semester to this past December. “This is essentially a mechanism for ensuring that the election has been
continued on p. 11