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After 23 years of operation, Four Winds Cafe closes for Spring term BY NOAH BASLAW For the first time since it was created in 1996, the Four Winds Café has closed for the spring term of 2019, resulting in troubling effects for Four Winds staff and management as well as the greater campus community. Kaelyn Hartley, thesis student and assistant manager of the Four Winds Café, said that the closure was abrupt and at an inopportune time during the year. “I work this job because I like it, but also because I have to,” Hartley said. “I currently have two jobs, and I have another when I go back home to Jacksonville. It is really pivotal for me to work at the Four Winds because it is how I pay my rent, bills and buy groceries.” Despite working two jobs, Hartley depended on the New College food pantry from month to month. “So when I found out that the Four Winds closure was something that was actually happening, not just a rumor—
photo courtesy of Four Winds
Four Winds employees Lili Benitez, Amaranth Grace, Sydney Clingo, Andreina Carrasquero, Devin Johnson Hogan, Lorraine Cruz, Rebecca Caccavo, Briana Baumgarten, Angel Reyes, Ben Cook, Hanah Chaudhry, Alba Abrams and Elizabeth White (left to right) posed at a staff meeting.
that we were all out of a job within a week and we [the managers] had to inform our staff—it was a big blow,” Hartley said. “I had some money saved up, but I had just been traveling for thesis research.” The timing of this loss of employ-
ment was poor for anyone, let alone a thesising student. “My parents are also not in a place to help me out with expenses, so it’s really worrisome,” Hartley said. “I have been having many conversations with my mom
have to pay the Contra fee, in addition to the Administrative Overhead fee, with the reserve funds, which are already depleted at $62,000. According to Ernst, the reserves are never supposed to dip under $100,000 but the current administration inherited an already depleted reserve fund from the previous administration. According to Ernst, the budget the current administration inherited was $249,490.19, but the actual amount of money was closer to $170,000. Due to these budget strains, with less funding and more fees, Ernst began instating caps on the budget at the beginning of the school year and was able to bring the budget down to $178,057.84. One of these budget restrictions was the $9,000 allotted for food at commencement. Ernst thought there may be a way the NCSA would not have to pay that anymore. However, when she brought it up to Vice President for Finance and Administration John Martin, he suggested the NCSA cut Graduation PCP and put that money toward the $9,000 and the school would cover the rest. According to Ernst, Martin assumed few students actually attended Gradua-
tion PCP. Ernst, who felt cancelling the end-of-the-year party would be a bad decision, sent out a poll to students in November in hopes that she could show Martin and President Donal O’Shea how students felt. One question in the poll asked students if they had attended a Graduation PCP. Out of 118 students who answered the question, 78 percent indicated yes. A second question asked students if they had attended a graduation ceremony at New College before. Out of 118 responses, 72.9 percent indicated yes. “I was like, ‘Well, it’s the students’ money and the students’ event, so I’m going to ask them and then I’m going to go to [Martin] and show him what their opinion was,” Ernst said. After sending out the poll, Ernst met with O’Shea to discuss the issue. According to Ernst, O’Shea “mentioned that he does want Graduation PCP to happen, and he doesn’t want the food to be at the cost of PCP.” When asked in an email interview what his response was when Ernst approached him about the funding issue, O’Shea wrote, “I thought this was a Hobbesian choice and there had to be another
asking, ‘Will I have to take the semester off and graduate late because of this?’” Hartley mentioned that she was not the only one in such a tight spot, now that the Four Winds was no longer employing anyone. The managerial positions held by Hartley, third-year Briana Baumgarten and head manager of the Four Winds Lorraine Cruz (‘14) all earned a large part of their income from the Café and needed it to pay their regular bills. Many other staff members also sourced most of their income from the Four Winds, according to the assistant managers. On top of being a thesis student, the manager positions are tough because among other duties, they take up the slack where and when needed. “Finals week comes along and staff request time off, no one takes up the shift and the managers have to fill in,” Hartley recalled.
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Graduation PCP funding issue resolved BY CASSIE MANZ
https://doc-0k-18-docs. googleusercontent.com/ docs/securesc/s7jurnmk912se8sp3mgg3hd8llrh0uos/obdpo7fpcdn719co01n4qb7
In November, it looked as if students were tasked with the choice of funding the Graduation Palm Court Party (PCP) or food at this year’s commencement ceremony. However, according to Vice President of Relations and Financial Affairs (VPRFA) Eva Ernst, the issue has been resolved. “They’re both going to happen,” Ernst said. The issues the New College Student Alliance (NCSA) budget has been facing stemmed from unexpected low enrollment this academic year. As previously reported by the Catalyst, this year’s class size of 222 students was the lowest in eight years. Enrollment is directly related to the NCSA budget, as 7.4 percent of students’ tuition per credit hour, for Florida residents, goes to the Activity and Service (A&S) fee, which helps fund the NCSA budget. With less students enrolled, there is less tuition being paid, and therefore less A&S fees being collected. In addition, the college recently started charging the student government with a Contra fee, which essentially accounts for the money the school loses when it waives tuition. The NCSA will
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way of resolving the funding dilemma.” When asked if he agreed with Ernst’s comment that he wanted Graduation PCP to happen, and did not want food to be at the expense of the PCP, O’Shea responded that food after the ceremony is important to graduates and their families and other students. He noted that some graduates go out with family after commencement and others “hang around for one last night on campus before leaving.” “All this said, I think that student fees should be used in a way that benefits the maximum number of students, so if I had to choose between the events, I would go with the food after graduation (because virtually every student who attends graduation uses it) over the COUP (which serves a relatively small subset of the students who attend graduation),” O’Shea said. According to Ernst, O’Shea “absolutely was very clear that he wanted it to happen” in their meeting before winter break. With administrative support, the only roadblock was finding a
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 www.ncfcatalyst.com | @ncfcatalyst
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Concert ‘Exploring the African Diaspora’ for Sur La this year’s Black History Month Bay shows off unique beats briefs by Michala head
“We were interested in giving us more of a worldview of Blackness, rather than, [our usual] focus on America for Black History Month,” thesis student and Black History Month (BHM) committee member Andre Ayers said. “The African Diaspora is a global phenomena. We decided that it would be best to try to include a bunch of different perspectives. They complicate the narratives and the way we understand each other, but ultimately that’s for the better.” New College’s fourth Black History Month celebration is a combined effort of the BHM Committee and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). According to Professor of Sociology Queen Zabriskie, the President of Manasota ASALH and President Donal O’Shea had been in touch about getting ASALH involved. Students from New College and local middle and high schools attended a golf tournament fundraiser that ASALH hosted for scholarships and from there, conversation began about this year’s programming.
“Most of the folks from ASALH were from the U.S. while most of the students in the room either were from the Caribbean or Latin America or were second-generation folks, so we just decided this was what we wanted to do,” Zabriskie said. “The theme, “Dimensions of Blackness,” came out of that conversation.” Zabriskie explained that ASALH member Lonneta Gaines came up with the exact title of “Dimensions of Blackness: Exploring the African Diaspora.” New College’s BHM programming was started by Zabriskie and a dedicated group of students in 2015 who identified the need for this celebration and acknowledgement of Black experiences on campus. “And then saying, ‘Hey, this is a great campus and here is how we want to contribute to the community so that we feel a sense of belonging on campus and that we are able to share some of the rich history and culture of Africans with the larger community,’” Zabriskie said, of the inspiration behind creating BHM programming on campus.
Professor of History and BHM committee member Brendan Goff decided to get involved when he saw all of the effort that Zabriskie and Nasib McIntosh (‘12) were putting into these events. “It has become one of the most meaningful investments of time and effort I’ve made while at NCF,” Goff said in an email interview. “Please come out and come to events and if people want to get involved contact any of us and we will be happy to plug you into the planning process once it gets started,” Zabriskie said. Zabriskie asked that students look into attending the “Language of Racism and Intolerance” panel discussion on Feb. 21. Students can reserve seats on NovoConnect. Two of the panelists will also present at the Feminist Friday on Feb. 22. To view the Black History Month calendar, visit news.ncf.edu. Any photos from a BHM event can be sent to mlebron@ncf. edu to be featured in a gallery on the website at the end of the month.
Taller de Bomba Balancé sways students
became a Puerto Rican institution in the 20th century. The Puerto Rican government named Cepeda “The Patriarch of the Bomba and Plena.” With this and other historical context, workshop attendees were asked to close their eyes and listen to different rhythms. Upon reopening their eyes, they were asked how the different sounds made them feel. Responses ranged from excitement to homesickness. Next, Reyes instructed attendees in practicing basic Bomba drumming photo courtesy of Liz Lebron rhythm on the floor of the music room. This group photo was taken after the Bomba workshop in the music room. Once they got a feel for it, six people at a time went up to practice on the The Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba distinct identities in Puerto Rico. drums. After everyone got a chance on Dance Workshop kicked off this year’s “I really like that he took the time the drums, Reyes had them form lines Black History Month programming to teach people about the culture and to practice Bomba dance steps across the on Feb. 1 in the music room of College explain to people what they were doing, room. The workshop concluded when Hall. Students, professors and communi- where the instrueveryone formed a ty members spent a few hours learning ments came from,” “It’s so beautiful to large circle around from experts and trying their hands at Liz Lebron, associate the room. Everyone Bomba rhythms and beats. director of the Office see people willing to took a turn dancing Angel Luis “Balancé” Reyes, of the of Communications engage with a part of in the center to Taller group Taller de Bomba Balancé, led the and Marketing, said. de Bomba Balancé’s workshop. To begin the workshop, ReyReyes studied your culture that is drumming. Reyes ines discussed the three different cultural Bomba under “The not in the forefront...” formed attendees that identities behind Bomba: African, Euro- Patriarch of the Bomdancers do not follow pean and Indigenous. At great length, he ba and Plena,” Rafael Cepeda Atiles. Ac- the drummers, but it was in fact drumdiscussed the history leading to the cul- cording to Kentake Page, the group Ce- mers who were supposed to follow the tural and musical mingling of these three peda formed, Grupo Folklorico Trapiche, dancers. © 2019 the Catalyst. All rights reserved. “The Catalyst is a pro-weed publication.” 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 Audrey Warne Managing Editor Jacob Wentz Copy Editor Cassie Manz Assistant Copy Editor Eileen Calub Online Editor Bailey Tietsworth Advertising Manager Michala Head Social Media Editor Katrina Carlin Staff Writers Noah Baslaw, Haley Bryan, & Photographer & Izaya Garrett Miles Layout + Design Team
Harrison Angsten & Cait Matthews
On the first Saturday evening of Black History Month, folks gathered by the New College Bayfront to listen to music from numerous bands including Taller de Bomba Balancé, Enso-Stranger, SDotBraddy and Guisando Caliente Afro-Latin/Cuban Jazz Quintet. Taller de Bomba Balancé was the first to play, returning to campus after holding a workshop the night before. As performers, rather than instructors, their mastery of Bomba drumming was on full display. Enso-Stranger, a musician from Central Florida, moved the audience with their takes on hiphop and rap. Students gathered at the foot of the stairs of College Hall to sway along to the music and enjoy the atmosphere among friends. “It was cool that it was a single rapper but with a band in the background,” thesis student Jordi Gonzalez said of Enso-Stranger. “The combination of the band with the rapping individual in the front was pretty cool.” SDotBraddy returned to New College for a second time, having previously played at a Palm Court Party (PCP). As a performer, SDotBraddy made use of his space by staying in motion with his flows and regularly engaging the audience. Finally, Guisando Caliente Afro-Latin/Cuban Jazz Quintet rounded off the evening by getting everyone dancing. All seats were abandoned in favor of swaying to their Caribbean Jazz music, which among other twists, meshed drumming and trumpet playing seamlessly. The quintet set the perfect backdrop for finishing off an evening of good music and camaraderie. “It’s so beautiful to see people willing to engage with a part of your culture that is not in the forefront very much,” Lebron said. “I was really touched by that, that so many people came out.” 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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Yellow Vest protests continue to impact France BY JACOB WENTZ After 12 weekends of protest, the “Gilet Jaune” (Yellow Vest) movement continues to impact France. The protests initially developed in response to President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to raise fuel taxes, but have since evolved into a broader revolt against the government. Over 65,000 demonstrators continue to take to the streets every Saturday. There is no end in sight When protests first started in November, over 282,000 demonstrators participated. Though participation has substantially decreased, particularly around the holidays, the movement continues to have a strong presence, both in person and online. “The amount of protesters decreased over time, which seems logical as anger decreases as well, but there seems to be no change in media coverage or in actual protest’s impact on daily life,” Charley Zaragoza, a multimedia journalism student at Ecole de Journalisme Bordeaux, said in an email interview. “Every Saturday, clashes erupt and city centers are on lockdown. The movement is also very strong online, and some Facebook pages and groups dedicated to the gilet jaune movement have upwards of a million members.” An Odoxa survey conducted for Le Figaro and Franceinfo in December showed that 77 percent of French people find their demonstrations legitimate. “It’s hard to tell whether the movement is losing or gaining strength, because there seems to be a silent base of people who don’t necessarily protest, but give strength and hype to those who do,” Zaragoza said. According to Zaragoza, the French public has become more accustomed to the demonstrations. While the first weekends of protest cleared out towns,
Jacob Wentz/Catalyst
Even in the small city of Pau, the movement attracts a decent number of supporters.
shut down stores and blocked streets, the more recent ones have not been as disruptive. Though the public has adapted, the protests still have a significant impact on French life, especially in larger cities like Paris. “It’s present in every town in France and the movement has an impact on everyone’s life one way or another,” Julien Bonin, a rope access technician in Paris, said in an email interview. “Everyone is concerned, even if they try to chose not to be. It’s impossible to be living in France right now and not have the movement impact your life.” More people are injured On the 12th weekend of protests, participants in Paris carried a large banner showing photographs of people injured in previous clashes with police. Around 1,700 demonstrators and 1,000 police officers have been injured since the protests began. According to Libération, of the 1,700 injuries, around 144 are severe. Of those 144, approximately 92 were inflicted by police rubber-ball launchers. The rubber-ball launchers have been linked
to injuries including lost eyes, maimed hands and broken limbs. France’s top administrative court recently ruled that police could continue using these weapons, officially called Defence Ball Launchers (LBDs), against protesters. “I feel like it is the right decision,” Zaragoza said. “I would argue that in any other country, police forces would not have been so lenient with protesters, and the latter should already be satisfied with the fact that protesting is lawful and a right protected by the government. Plus, a power balance between police and protesters has to be established, and these rubber-ball launchers are the safest way to do so in my opinion.” The court decision, however, has caused more controversy and division within the country. “The most serious part is that the police aim at the head, which is forbidden,” Nicolas Sigé, environmental expert for Total S.A. in Pau, said. A press statement by the court said that the judge found that “many of the protests since November were frequently the occasion for acts of violence and destruction.”
“The impossibility of excluding the reproduction of such incidents during future demonstrations makes it necessary to allow the police to use these weapons, which remain particularly appropriate for dealing with this type of situation, subject to strict compliance with the conditions of use,” the statement continued. The government announced that every police officer equipped with an LBD would be required to carry a bodycam. “Getting pepper sprayed by the police is a common occurrence during these protests, too, especially if you’re around people throwing bombs,” Bonin said.
Unclear motives create divisions One of the reasons the movement has gained so much support is because it is not tied to any specific political outlook. It grew to a general disapproval of Macron—an anti-establishment movement. This general outlook attracted demonstrators of different political affiliation, social class and profession. Recently, however, the lack of defined interests has led to fractures within the movement. “It did start with the tax problem, but it has grown into a movement that is extremely fractured and held together only by their discontent with the state and the president,” Bonin said. A new “red scarf ” protest of about 10,000 supporters marched through Paris to protest the acts of violence and vandalism by the Yellow Vests. Like the Yellow Vests, the red scarves have a strong online presence. In an interview with regional newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré, John Christophe Werner said he had created the red scarf Facebook group because French
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Governor Desantis reveals new state budget BY IZAYA MILES Gov. Ron DeSantis released the largest proposed budget in Florida’s history in a move that highlights some of the subtle breaks between him and the Republicans in the state House of Representatives. DeSantis released his budget proposal, calling it his ‘Bold Vision For A Brighter Future,’ on Feb. 1, which included a $2 billion increase over the previous year’s budget. Major increases center around the environment, schools, universities and costs related to Hurricane Michael disaster relief. The most relevant change for New College of Florida is the increase to the budget for performance funding by $30 million. Additionally, the Board of Governors (BOG) eliminated the ‘bottom three’ penalty that denied performance-based funding to the schools that scored the lowest on the BOG’s metrics, a policy that was a perpetual vexation to New College. “We would be seeing more money,” President Donal O’Shea said. “Everything is dependent on who gets to allocate that extra bit. If it is allocated by the Board of Governors, we would see
more money. Not a lot and not as much as we ask, but we would see more.” K-12 education has also seen an increase in funding under this proposed budget. Almost $700 million has been added to the budget, an increase of $224 per student. The majority of this money will go to hiring more teachers or offering bonuses to high-performing teachers. School safety programs, including the Guardian program which seeks to increase the number of armed personnel on schools and school mental health programs, have been dedicated $212 million. The environment is also a major focus for DeSantis. DeSantis plans to allocate $625 million for water quality projects and the restoration of the Everglades. “What we’re doing in the budget is historic,” DeSantis told the Tampa Bay Times. “It will have a very big impact on the quality of life for Floridians.” His environmental programs have yielded him praise from some of the same groups that often denounced former Gov. Rick Scott’s administration’s stance on the same issues. “The health of all Floridians is dependent on our access to clean water and
ample natural areas,” Jonathan Webber, deputy director of Florida Conservation Voters, told the Orlando Sentinel. “The commitment from Governor DeSantis to support the Florida Forever land conservation program shows that he is listening to the people of our state who are demanding action for our environment.” Another departure from traditional Republican stances in DeSantis’s budget proposal is the full dedication of the affordable housing fund, known as the “Sadowski Fund,” for explicit use of affordable housing. The Sadowski Fund, comprised of a portion of revenue from real estate taxes, had only been fully used for affordable housing for nine of its 26 years of existence. Because of these breaks with conservative orthodoxy, even some Democrats have praised DeSantis’s proposed budget. “I am encouraged to see the governor’s commitment to priorities Democrats have long embraced, especially the clean-up of our water, and increased funding for public education,” Senate Democratic Leader Audrey Gibson of Jacksonville said in a public statement. But the lack of serious tax reduc-
tions has garnered DeSantis’s program some criticism from the Governor’s own party. The most major tax cut is applying the roll back rate to property taxes, which would save homeowners approximately $290 million. Additionally, DeSantis seeks two sales-tax holidays, one for back-to-school shopping and the other for disaster readiness. Many members of the House GOP were looking to go further in decreasing the per-capita tax burden and DeSantis’s proposals come across as lackluster. “The Constitution requires a balanced budget, but we have an additional responsibility to respect Florida’s taxpayers by spending each dollar wisely,” House Speaker Jose Oliva, a Republican representing Miami-Lakes, said in a statement. “To meet this goal, the House will craft a budget that reduces per capita spending. I am confident Florida’s economic success will continue under Governor DeSantis as long as we keep taxes low and spending in check.” Information for this article was gathered from orlandosentinel.com, tampabay.com, gainsville.com, miamiherald.com and boldvisionforabrighterfuture.com.
‘Twilight’ explores the role of the artist in contemporary politics BY AUDREY WARNE
In a shot from Coco Fusco’s 2012 video project La Plaza Vacia, minimalistic outlines of Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos frame a massive slab of concrete. A golden halo of light encircles the faces of the two Cuban revolutionaries as the sun sets over the deserted plaza. As the sky turns a darker and darker shade of blue, their golden outlines become the dominant feature of the landscape. In the background, a narrator discusses the historical shift in the Plaza’s purpose and significance. Once the place where thousands of Cubans gathered to celebrate the promise of a better socialist future, Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución is now home to just a smattering of tourists and the occasional government-sanctioned event. La Plaza Vacia is one of four videos currently on display in the Ringling Museum’s Monda Gallery for Contemporary Art. Part of Twilight, a mixed-media exhibition of Fusco’s work, the videos explore Cuba’s post-revolutionary artistic and cultural legacy. Fusco, a Cuban-American artist and writer, was invited to show her work at the Ringling after winning the 2016 Greenfield Prize, a $30,000 commission awarded by The Hermitage Artist Retreat to promote the creation of new work that would connect the Sarasota community with a culturally-relevant contemporary artist. The work Fusco created, entitled Vivir en junio con la lengua afuera and completed in 2018, features the contemporary Cuban poet Amaury Pacheco and actors Lynn Cruz and Iris Ruíz reciting the poem “Introduction to the Symbol of Faith” by the mid-century Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas. The video’s setting, the amphitheater at Lenin Park in Havana, is significant for both its reference to the Cuban Revolution’s communist roots and its history
as the place where Arenas hid after he sponding to things going on right now escaped from prison. A vocal critic of the in Cuba,” Chris Jones, the Ringling’s cupost-revolutionary regime and an openly rator of photography and media art, said. gay man, Arenas was incarcerated by the “It’s a really moving piece both in terms Cuban government in the 1970s for his of its use of the medium and its focus writings and was later forced into exile, on seeing these artists respond to a poet escaping to the United States as part of from a previous generation and reflect on the 1980 Mariel boatlift. As they sit on his relevancy today.” Poetry is a recurring theme in Fusthe Romanesque limestone bleachers of Lenin Park, Pacheco, Cruz and Ruíz co’s videos. Three of the four videos on fluctuate between confidently reciting the display in Twilight focus on the lives of poem from memory and stumbling over poets who were prosecuted by the Cuban the lines as they read from a crumpled government for their public critique of piece of computer paper. At a couple of the post-revolutionary regime. “The story of the revolution is told moments in the 24-minute film, all three recite the poem together in perfect uni- most eloquently and often tragically through poetry,” Fusty. Their voices com“The show is about the co added in an email bine into a hypnotic interview. wave of sound that role of artists in In the 2015 film fills the gallery. It is in civic spaces, the role La confesiòn, Fusco these moments that presents the story the video achieves its of artists who speak of poet and journalpurpose, transformout and who state ist Heberto Padilla ing Arenas’ poetry Lorenzo, who was into the revolutionary their dissent.” imprisoned, brutalchant of a generation of artists who have dedicated their lives ized and forced to make a public confesto challenging the Cuban government’s sion of government betrayal—setting the precedent for how the Cuban governattempts to control artistic production. Pacheco, Cruz and Ruíz have all ment would deal with future dissenters. experienced detainment by the Cuban In La botella al mar de María Elena, also government in the past year due to their created in 2015, poet and activist María outspoken criticism of Decree 349, legis- Elena Cruz Varela discusses her involvelation passed by the Cuban government ment with Criterio Alternativo, a group in April 2018 which granted the govern- of independent Cuban intellectuals, and ment additional authority over artists and her subsequent two-year imprisonment performers. The Decree, which went into for treason. “Fusco is focusing on these artists effect in December 2018, prevents all artists from operating in private or public who are trying to find a voice in the pospaces without prior approval by Cuba’s litical sphere in Cuba, and who are ofMinistry of Culture. Individuals or busi- ten shut down if they are critical in any nesses that hire artists without prior au- way of the revolutionary project or of thorization can be sanctioned, and artists post-revolutionary life,” Jones said. “She that create work without prior approval has been looking at what’s going on in can have their materials confiscated or be Cuba now—as the government has transitioned from the Castro regime into substantially fined. “Vivir en junio con la lengua afuera something new—where artists are still is incredibly powerful because it’s re- facing repercussions for voicing their dis-
sent.” The last work included in Twilight is neither a video installation nor a reflection on Cuban politics. Tin Man of the Twenty-First Century, created by Fusco in collaboration with sculptor Chico MacMurtrie, explores the role of the artist in American politics in the form of a monumental aluminum, steel and nickel-plated resin sculpture of President Donald Trump. “I think we can all agree that the atmosphere of politics in the U.S. has certainly changed since Donald Trump was elected,” Jones said. “Coco wanted to use the platform of the exhibition to also respond to politics in the U.S., so she proposed creating Tin Man of the Twenty-First Century.” The sculpture includes an interactive component. “At certain times in the run of the exhibition the public was allowed to come up and squirt oil on the tin man’s joints,” Jones added. “Coco had made these oil cans with the Gazprom logo—that’s the logo of the Russian state oil company.” Twilight closes on Sunday, Feb. 17. As part of the show’s closing, the Ringling is hosting a panel discussion on the role of museums as civic spaces Sunday, Feb. 17 at 1 p.m. This panel discussion will include Ola Wlusek, Keith D. and Linda L. Monda curator of modern and contemporary art, Chris Jones, curator of photography and new media and Sarah Howard, curator of public art and social practice at USF CAM. As with all exhibitions at the Ringling, admission to Twilight is free to all students and faculty with the presentation of a valid New College I.D. Information for this article was gathered from ringling.org, hermitageartistretreat. org, cocofusco.com and amnesty.org.
Coco Fusco, Cuban-American, b. 1960, Vivir en junio con la lengua afuera (To Live in June with your tongue hanging out), 2018, 30 minute single channel digital film, Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York, © Coco Fusco/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
all photos courtesy of the Ringling
Coco Fusco, Cuban-American, b. 1960, La Plaza Vacia (The Empty Plaza), 2012, 11 minute single channel digital film, Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York, © Coco Fusco/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Coco Fusco in collaboration with Chico MacMurtrie, Tin Man of the Twenty-first Century, 2018, Aluminium, steel, and nickel-plated resin, Courtesy of the artist and Alexander Gray Associates, New York © Coco Fusco/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Coco Fusco, Cuban-American, b. 1960, La Botella Al Mar de Maria Elena, 2015, 44 minute single channel digital film, Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York, © Coco Fusco/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Coco Fusco, Cuban-American, b. 1960, La Confesión (The Confession), 2015, 30 minute single channel digital film, Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York, © Coco Fusco/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
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Photo courtesy of The Party for Socialism and Liberation-Florida
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Publish or perish: Undergraduate publications at NCF BY KATRINA CARLIN
The Activist Newsletter Throughout this week (2/13–2/20), activists have the opportunity to participate in public lectures, panel discussions and community meetings. Read on if you want to get involved in the community regarding race relations, gun control and environmental protection.
BY EILEEN CALUB
Wed., Feb. 13, Conversation on Race and Ethnicity with Dr. Jorge Giovannetti-Torres @ 6 - 9 p.m. Jane Bancroft Cook Library - 5800 Bay Shore Rd., Sarasota.
fugitive dust and environmental justice. This meeting is free and open to the public.
Mon., Feb. 18, American Racism: Yours, Mine, and Ours - VICA 2019 The presentation by Dr. Winter Series @ 7 p.m. Giovannetti-Torres will focus on Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 790 S his book Black British Migrants in Tamiami Trail, Venice. Cuba: Race, Labor, and Empire in the Twentieth- Century Caribbean, The Venice Interfaith 1898 – 1948, published in 2018 Community Association (VICA) by Cambridge University Press. presents “Racial Healing: An Introduction by Dr. Hugo Viera- Inner and Outer Journey” with Dr. Vargas, Professor of Caribbean and Catherine Meeks, professor emeritus Latin American Studies and Music at of Wesleyan College and director of New College of Florida. This event is the Absalom Jones Center for Racial free and open to the public. Healing. Through this event, VICA hopes to bring understanding and Thurs., Feb. 14, foster respect and cooperation in the Film Screening & Discussion: community by bringing together a I Am Not Your Negro @ 2 - 4 p.m. panel of locally and nationally known West Coast Black Theatre - 1012 N. speakers who will address the difficult Orange Ave., Sarasota. issues around systemic racism and race relations in our community and A free screening of the the country as a whole. This event is documentary, produced and directed free and open to the public. by Raoul Peck. James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America Tue., Feb. 19, Parkland One Year in the words of his unfinished novel, Later: Gun Control and School Remember This House, read by Safety—How Are We Doing? @ Samuel L. Jackson. The film includes 6:30 a.m. clips from interviews and appearances Fogartyville Community Media and by Baldwin. Best Documentary, Los Arts Center - 525 Kumquat Ct., Angeles Film Critics Association. The Sarasota. 93-minute film will be followed by a 30-minute discussion. The screenings Join the Protect Our Public are free with general seating, but Schools (POPS) Forum for a panel reservations are required. General presentation and discussion on where seating reservations may be made the community stands on developing online at westcoastblacktheatre.org. safer schools in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting tragedy. This is an Thurs., Feb. 14, Manatee Sarasota especially important discussion in Sierra Club Meeting @ 7 - 9 p.m. light of the recently released Marjory Sarasota Garden Club - 1131 Stoneman Douglas High School Boulevard of the Arts, Sarasota. Public Safety Commission report which recommends the arming of The Manatee Sarasota Sierra teaching staff. Panelists include Curt Club Meeting seeks to protect the S. Lavarello, executive director of the natural places in our community, teach School Safety Advocacy Council, others to understand and respect the and Carol Rescigno, president of the fragile environment in which we live Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun and promote the responsible use of Violence. This event is free and open Florida’s ecosystems and resources. to the public. There will be a speaker who will discuss
“Publish or perish” goes the academic adage. In recent years, undergraduate students at New College have chosen the former. The adage comes from the idea that academic scholars in all fields are often expected to submit articles based on novel research to peer-reviewed academic journals. From The International Journal of Fuzzy Systems to Idealistic Studies, journals across all disciplines utilize the peer-review process to screen and select articles for publication. Several New College undergraduates have submitted articles for publication, and a few have even been accepted. Peer-review is the process by which other prominent scholars in the field read and request revisions to journal articles. Submitting to a peer-reviewed journal is no easy task. Besides completing the research and writing the paper, submitters must make the revisions suggested by their peer-reviewer if they want the journal to accept the paper. This can mean doing further research, changing their methodologies or even re-examining some of the conclusions. “It’s interesting being peer-reviewed,” thesis student Erika Riffe said. “It’s anonymous, so you don’t know who they are,” Riffe said of their reviewers. Riffe published a paper with Pro-
fessor of Chemistry Steven Shipman and collaborators from Coker College in The Journal of Physical Chemistry A. Riffe illuminated that before the publication of their paper on the rotational spectrum of the molecule eugenol, the reviewers noticed that the computational modeling they had performed for their paper did not include all possible molecular conformers of eugenol. “We had to revisit that, and then explain more deeply in our paper and to our reviewers why we had made that mistake, and why we were sure that the conformer we were claiming to see was the correct conformer,” Riffe said. This paper was born out of Riffe’s first independent study project (ISP). It is not uncommon to find that papers published by New College students were often born out of another project. Hunter Osking (’14) submitted work he did for his thesis to a computer-human interaction journal. “I had the data in a messy format in my thesis, but I formatted it into a research paper over the course of last semester, and it was like an eight-page paper at the end,” Osking said. Like Riffe, Osking also had to deal
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Past music of NCF SUBMITTED BY JENNA COURTADE Now that spring semester is in full swing, it is time to bring out those playlists that really get me in a productive mood for the semester. I know what I like to listen to, but have you ever wondered what the past students of New College listened to? What really got them dancing in the middle of Palm Court at 10 p.m. on a Thursday? Well, wonder no more! Or at least a little less, because for my independent study project (ISP) I digitized over 200 New College Radio set lists from 1979, 1980, 1997 and 1998. What does digitizing these setlists entail? Great question! First, I scanned all of the setlists in the New College Student Alliance (NCSA) Archives and stored them in the NCSA’s digital Archives. Next, I made the scanned setlists into actual playlists on YouTube. Each playlist included multiple songs, artists, albums and even record labels! From this information I searched for the song, and once it was found, I added it to a dated playlist on YouTube. This way anyone who is interested in listening to DJ Lou’s radio show from Jan. 26, 1980 can listen to that playlist specifically! Unfortunately, not all of the songs from each setlist could be found on YouTube. This is mostly due to the popularity of a song; the less popular the song, the less likely I was to find it on a mainstream platform like YouTube. However, missing one or two songs from a playlist will not ruin the overall experience.
To find the playlists on YouTube, search “New College Radio Playlists,” or use the Google Drive link that I will be sharing on the Forum and Students List. From the link you will be able to see a list of the playlists, arranged by date. I could have arranged them by genre, however, I thought it would be more interesting to randomly explore the music of past New College based solely on the date and time. The playlists range from mainstream music to folk music to classical music. There’s even an 80s throwback playlist from 1998! Listening to any random playlist may truly take you back to the 80s or late 90s. What may be even more interesting than listening to the playlist is looking at the scribbles on the written setlists! To view the actual setlists, you can make an appointment to visit the NCSA Archives, which are located in the Old Mail Room (OMR), by emailing me at jenna. courtade17@ncf.edu. My personal favorite setlists to read over are the ones from the radio show “Hours of Power” from 1998. Those setlists have cute designs and some funny self-reflective banter. I highly suggest you check them out! I hope from my ISP others may get a feel for some of the music of past New College, and perhaps even stumble across something else interesting in the NCSA Archives. Good luck in this upcoming semester, and happy listening!
CATALYST Four Winds CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Regardless of staffing pressures during academic crunch times, Four Winds employees are dedicated to operating the Café. “When we were telling our staff about the Four Winds closure, it was really hard to know, as managers, that there was nothing we could do,” Hartley said. With such an abrupt closure, a lot of the frustration within the Four Winds employees and managerial circles centers around lack of prior communication regarding the Four Winds’ operational sustainability. “Recently we started hearing things about how Four Winds may shut down but no one directly said anything thing to us,” Baumgarten said. “And then all of a sudden in November and December it started becoming a really serious possibility.” Baumgarten began working for Four Winds last year. She thinks that the administration’s lack of transparency to the New College Student Alliance (NCSA) during the summer and fall regarding the Four Winds closure was the reason why the Four Winds staff and management had not received any meaningful correspondence with the NCSA. She and the Four Winds staff reconciled over this misunderstanding with their peers in student government, because they understand the tough position the NCSA members were in. “The way that [the administration] has been trying to compensate for the Four Winds closure has been inviting us to ‘Handshake,’ the CEO’s thing to get us a job, which is so unhelpful,” Baumgarten said. “We were telling them in November, ‘Hey, if we are not going to have a job in January, tell us now, because we need to know,’ but the administration held that it was still uncertain at that time.” The Four Winds managers and staff are devastated by the closure because running the student-run Café is hard.
“The Four Winds is very difficult to run,” Baumgarten said. “Switching over management every year is not healthy for any business.” Moreover, Baumgarten is unsure how student workers would be able to implement permanent changes in the short time that they remain enrolled at New College. “We are all trying to think about that, but if no one is going to be here in a year or two then how can we truly plan for such long term success?” Baumgarten asked. Baumgarten also believes the lack of help or training from any New College staff or hired service is a significant factor in the success of the Four Winds. “How are we supposed to know how to do everything—especially financially?” Baumgarten asked. “We don’t know how to run a business, we are just trying to do the best we can.” What the Four Winds staff and management may lack in formal business training they make up for in the time and care they put into operating and improving the Café. “We made a lot of improvements on the Four Winds and to see that we are now closing in the spring when we’re making positive change is tough,” Baumgarten said. “The improvements were seen by the student body! We were writing down recipes in order to standardize meals, making more things in bulk, improving cleanliness, and sourcing stuff from our school garden.” She thinks it is unfortunate that while the closure of Four Winds revolves around its finances, most of the positive changes within Four Winds come solely from student worker initiative, time and effort. Baumgarten mentioned she is most sorry for the greater student body. “There are people who rely on Four Winds for healthy food, or people with food allergies that cannot eat at [the cafeteria in Hamilton “Ham” Center] because of mislabeling and cross contam-
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and included five first-year students, were able to gather enough data for them to be co-authors on the paper that they plan to submit to the Journal of North AmeriCONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 can Herpetology. When asked if she was with reviewer comments when he was re- first author, a role usually reserved for the jected from the first journal he submitted person who has done the majority of the to. data analysis and writing, Doan hastily “They sent back revisions, they said denied it. “No, I’m the last author,” Doan the research was novel and interesting,” Osking said, “but the methodology [was said. “Whenever I publish with students, flawed]. I want to redo the same test and I usually give them the option. A lot of add more questions, with a little bit of a times it’s too much for them, so I end up being the first author. But they were willdifferent scope.” Some professors at New College ing to, so they did the ISP and then four are eager to get undergraduates involved of them continued as a tutorial the next in publishable research. Professor of Bi- semester to actually get it into publicaology Tiffany Doan published as an un- tion format and everything.” Publication by undergraduates dergraduate and seeks to provide opportunities for students at New College to can vary depending on the discipline in which the independent work is done. do so as well. “When I do ISPs or theses, I tell my “In general other than undergrad students that I expect it to be publish- focused journals, most peer-reviewed able,” Doan said. “It’s not always going to journals in the Humanities don’t accept undergraduate work—or even Master’s be, but that’s the idea.” In the group ISP Doan sponsored level work,” Humanities Chair and Prolast year, six students obtained publish- fessor of English Miriam Wallace said able data that they are finishing to submit in an email interview. “Some colleges do for publication. The groups were tasked run journals or magazines that seek unwith writing a journal article based on their research. This group, that studied full article available on lizard malaria’s effect on white blood cells NCFCatalyst.com
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solution. Ernst had been brainstorming alternatives to providing food at graduation, such as a voucher system for a local restaurant. However, when Ernst introduced the voucher idea to Martin’s office on Wednesday, Feb. 6, she was told the issue was no longer the NCSA’s responsibility. “John mentioned that he still wants to have food [at commencement] but told me not to worry about it and that he would figure out how to get the funding from within the college’s budget, probably through the same budget that he was telling me about with the [Sarasota Classic] Car Museum rent and the vending machine funding,” Ernst said. “So he told me that the NCSA doesn’t have to worry about paying for food at graduation, but there will be some food there, probably less than usual.” The funding Martin is referring to
Gilet Jaunes CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
“citizens are being penalised every day by the Yellow Vests’ methods.” Though the group is not as present as the Yellow Vests, it has facilitated new discourse and has weakened the support for the Yellow Vest movement. “I think the red scarves were just a one-time thing, just a way to represent the people who speak up against the Yellow Vests,” Zaragoza said. “I think it’s as unproductive and even more divisive to add another group of protesters.” The movement could result in strong political disruption With European parliamentary elections taking place in May, the movement has started to take different positions on electoral involvement. Already, five separate groups have emerged with plans to oppose upcoming elections. One recent poll suggests that a single group could cause a disruption of up to 13 percent of French votes for the European elections. These votes would mainly draw support away from the farright and far-left parties of Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “We know we can’t stay on the roundabouts forever,” Come Dunis, a candidate with a newly formed party, the Citizens Initiative Rally, told the BBC.
www.tripplakecamp.com is the money New College collects from rent on the Classic Car Museum and the vending machines around campus. In this case, they could use that money to pay for the food. With the food funding taken care of, the budget’s allotment for Graduation PCP remains intact. However, with conflicting interviews from Ernst and O’Shea, it is unclear how much administrative support there actually is for Graduation PCP, or PCPs in general. “I think that is up to students,” O’Shea said, when asked if he were a proponent of Graduation PCP happening as usual. “I believe that students should look at the Graduation COUP and determine if it is the best use of student fees to allow graduates and other students to share some time together on their last day on campus. Actually, the same comment applies to other COUPs—many students dislike them—they’re expensive and an increasing proportion of students have been electing not to attend.”
“We’ll show that unemployed people and forklift truck operators can sit alongside technocrats and bureaucrats in Brussels.” In addition, Macron is reportedly considering to hold France’s first referendum in 14 years in an effort to quell the protests. Yellow Vest demonstrators argue that referendums held on major policy decisions would introduce a new, broader-based form of democracy. “A referendum is an essential part of democracy,” Zaragoza said. “However, I feel like a referendum needs to have the majority of the population advocating for it. It [is] a very serious procedure, not to be taken lightly.” The referendum would be held on the same day as the European Parliament elections and would ask voters if they want to reduce the number of Members of Parliament (MPs), as well as limit the number of terms that they can serve. “A referendum would maybe depict a good picture of what French citizens really want in terms of policies from the government, but I can already say that not enough people are concerned with the Yellow Vest movement,” Zaragoza said. “It’s a minority, just so vocal that it sounds like a majority.” Macron has met certain demands In an effort to appease protesters, Macron has launched a grand débat na-
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SRQ Band Lemón royale debuts at ringling underground
BY BAILEY TIETSWORTH
A confusingly temperate February evening marked the beginning of the first Ringling Underground of 2019. Those who awaited the monthly art-centric event entered the sprawling courtyard in droves, and whoever arrived within the first hour was greeted by the music of Lemón Royale. A popular local band, Lemón Royale features young, talented artists whose determination and passion for creating music led them to open the Ringling Underground series on Thursday, Feb. 8. One of the members, vocalist and New College alumna Briana Tyler Lutzi (‘14), expressed the significance of this performance in an interview with the Catalyst. “This is our first official public show,” Lutzi said. “We had a soft debut at the Gator Club when we first became a band. It wasn’t a paid gig, it was just us saying, ‘Hello world, we’re a band, try and pay attention to us.’” Lutzi celebrated this debut as a significant progression in her personal aspirations, aside from just the successes of the band. Originally from Miami, Lutzi spent her time studying art and working as a museum curator. However, she felt concerned that the people she interacted with on a daily basis were not being genuine about who they were, so she
transferred to New College to continue her studies. While at New College, she met friends who encouraged her to examine how her artistic ambitions were affecting her mental health. Set off on an introspective journey through the pursuit of music, Lutzi discovered a newfound sense of purpose that carried her forward through stagnant months of open mics. “When you’re working towards something that you’re meant to be doing, feeling hungry doesn’t feel as bad,” Lutzi said. “You don’t need as much food to get full. You don’t need enough sleep to be rested, because you get to wake up and be like, ‘I’ve got this thing and this thing feeds me.’” About eight months ago, Lutzi was approached by Nick “Gamby” Gambardella, who expressed interest in wanting to collaborate with her. Gambardella introduced his friend and keyboardist John Hetherington, and Lutzi brought in her friend Liam Kaiser, a guitarist she knew from high school. Together the four musicians realized how well they worked together as they started writing and creating music. “We have over 20 songs that we wrote in a month-long period,” Lutzi said. “The only reason we haven’t written more is because we need to record the ones we have.” After drawing nouns and adjec-
tives out of a hat during one band meeting, the group came up with the name Lemón Royale. This simple method of letting chance decide reflects on how the group feels about the philosophy of band names. “Band names don’t matter unless the band matters,” Lutzi said. Lemón Royale worked to broadcast their name by holding small gigs in the Sarasota area, one of which occurred last semester at the Four Winds Cafe. Thesis student Becca Caccavo worked with Lemón Royale to organize the pop-up show. In an email interview, Caccavo lauded the group for their work ethic and overall pleasantness. “They are definitely easy to work with as a band, and also are individually fantastic musicians who vibe together cohesively and magically,” Caccavo said. Caccavo also expressed the importance of New College students’ relationship to local bands. “If we want to have quality live music at New College it’s important to build strong relationships with bands,” Caccavo said. “Beyond that, individuals students should step up and book as many shows as possible!” Thanks to Lutzi’s connections with Shannon Fortner, who runs the Ringling Underground, Lemón Royale went from pop-up shows to a set underneath
a colorfully-lit Michelangelo’s David. The courtyard stage also holds nostalgic value for Lutzi, who was enthralled by bands who played at past Ringling Undergrounds. “They make it look so freakin’ cool, the stage and the lights and everything, and I’m like, ‘My band’s gonna be up there … my band,’” Lutzi said. “I’m just like a little kid right now.” Lemón Royale does not want to limit themselves to just this one show; their future plans include finding more events and festivals to connect with people through their music. Lutzi is especially focused on the connection between the band and the fans, saying that monetary support helps, but encouraging words can reaffirm and nourish Lemón Royale’s music-making passion. “You make music, and you make music, and you make music, and yeah, it’s for you, but having someone say, ‘Hey, I hear your heart and I like it,’ that’s cool,” Lutzi said. “People just saying that what you’re doing is valid and that [they] think you’re great. Remind us that it matters. Remind us that it’s worth it.” Lemón Royale can be found on Instagram and Soundcloud. Information for this article was gathered from sarasotamagazine.com. all photos Bailey Tietsworth/Catalyst
Although separated from the audience by an empty moat, Lemón Royale’s palpable chemistry and engaging performance closed the gap between listeners and musicians.
Lemón Royale’s debut as the opening act for the Ringling Underground marks the beginning of a hopeful start for the fledgling band.
The event’s production quality helped elevate Lemón Royale’s performance.