OneWorld Spring 2016

Dear readers, Spring 2016 Volume 10 Issue 2 Editor-in-Chief Taylor Jackson Executive Editor Paulina Menichiello Section Editors Andrew Smith Sam Wilson Copy and Content Editor Kate Berman Creative Director Stella Jeong Designers Justin Seaton Harrison Parker Davis Photographers Christina Vivit Harrison Parker Davis Event Coordinator Jenna Norman Event Assistant Yesenia Sanchez Finance Director Tommy English Promotion Director Kat Heckman Web Manager Valerie Guempel

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When we sat down to plan our theme for this semester, our Executive Board members began to discuss issues of injustice they had learned about in just the past few months: members told stories of the dangers of factory farming on the planet, the harmful effects of advertising on young girls and public health crises locally and globally. We quickly realized that each of these topics merged into one common theme--consumption. From that, we created this semester’s theme: “Be An Informed Consumer.” In what ways do our various forms of consumption--whether of food, media, medicine, etc.--affect our health and the health of the world?

In addition to celebrating our theme this semester, OneWorld is also proud to announce that this year marks our 10 year anniversary as an organization. For the past 10 years, we have been publishing thought-provoking articles on various social justice topics, informing students on SLU’s campus of pertinent issues and inspiring conversations about possible solutions. As Editor-in-Chief and Executive Editor, we could not be more thrilled about OneWorld’s role on-campus and its progress in recent years: we have grown and developed, producing one of the most beautiful magazines in OneWorld’s history, which you now hold in your hands. We could not have done this without the work of our Executive Board and our writers; to you all, we are deeply grateful.

We express our gratitude to our sponsors from Generation Progress, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Center for Global Citizenship, the Division of Student Development, and the Center for Service and Community Engagement. We would like to specifically thank Bobby Wassel and Bryan Sokol for their continued support throughout the years. Without the collective efforts of these individuals, departments and organizations, OneWorld would not be possible.

We hope that this edition inspires thought and action, as OneWorld has done for 10 years. Thank you for your continued readership. We look forward to creating many more publications. liveOneWorld, Taylor Jackson, Editor-in-Chief Paulina Menichiello, Executive Editor

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Christian Munzner International Business, Economics Sam Shreve Public Health, International Studies

Everything that we consume or purchase is a product of a global marketplace and we, as the consumers, comprise part of the global economy. However, one product in particular has a lot of stamps on its passport: the iPhone. Apple Inc. is an American company that manufactures its products in China, designs them in Silicon Valley and sources the materials from all over the world.

A key component to the iPhone is

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cobalt, a rare earth metal necessary for touch screen devices.

Unfortunately, cobalt is hard to access in many parts of the world, and the nation with the largest deposit of cobalt is the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The DRC has been ravaged for decades by civil war, insurgencies and economic hardships, and its richness in natural resources such as cobalt has only served to exacerbate the problems facing the country.

Resources that contribute to a country’s social and political problems are known as conflict minerals. Through the sale of these minerals, nefarious groups are able to finance their activities. The groups prospering from the sale of conflict minerals are primarily in the southeast region of the DRC. This area is effectively

stateless, and it is in this vacuum of power that anti-government forces are able to operate these mines. As one may imagine, the extraction of these minerals under the supervision of armed groups is often incredibly dangerous and in violation of humane working conditions. Children are often employed as workers in the mines that produce the minerals in iPhones, tablets and computers.

Apple admitted to the discovery of child labor but claimed ignorance.

“Of more than 1.6 million workers covered in 633 audits in 2014, our auditors uncovered 16 cases of underage labor and all were successfully addressed.”

New Apple policies, in cooperation with the DRC government, have reduced the claims of child labor against the company through expansion of authorized mining zones and enforcement of safety regulations.

It is often difficult for large corporations like Apple to ensure the legitimacy of companies from which it buys, especially in the process of outsourcing to companies in underdeveloped nations. After heavy criticism, Apple began to implement policies to combat the ambiguity of its sources. They have allowed a third party of auditors to research their supply chain and find areas where child labor might be used. However, despite these new policies, child labor still continues, and the materials sourced from these labors still find their way into American products. Thus, the question remains: what are the best ways to combat these issues?

The connection of certain companies with child labor is often veiled due to the long list of subsidiaries and supply chain participants. For instance, a myriad of sources and organizations provide materials for the hundreds of different pieces that comprise an iPhone. The seemingly endless and dizzying list of companies, employees and contractors can hide the reality of the manner in which these materials are gathered.

Dr. Ik Won Kwon of Saint Louis University’s Supply Chain Management Program states that some solutions to these issues begin with auditors who monitor the inner workings of a company and the processes by which they receive materials.

Education on the issue is another important method to prevent companies from being unknowingly complicit in child labor.

Educating consumers about where products originate can influence which companies are supported, and, by extension, lessen the use of child labor. Dr. Kwon is adamant about the use of “social responsibility,” which suggests that an organization has the obligation to act for society at large.

Apart from Apple, several other technology giants have been under recent scrutiny for failing to comply with company regulations prohibiting child labor for their products.

Amnesty International and Afrewatch have recently conducted investigations on major companies linked to child labor in the DRC. Companies such as Samsung, Sony and Volkswagen have claimed that they have a zero tolerance policy for child labor and deny the use of it. Volkswagen even claimed that the cobalt for their car batteries does not originate from DRC, which many find unrealistic considering the country’s high volume of cobalt. The DRC produced 56,000 metric-tons (MT) of cobalt in 2014, while the next closest producer was China with barely 7,000 MT.

The problem largely derives from a lack of supply chain auditor checks to ensure that no child labor is being used. Mark Dummett of Amnesty International comments that “tracing of the mined minerals is difficult due to suppliers’ nondisclosure of information and the complexity of the supply chains,” but complications such as this offer no justification to children suffering daily exploitation. In today’s interconnected

world, especially with companies based entirely around communicative technology, it should be expected that substantial correspondence is used to achieve the zero tolerance of child labor claimed in their laws and regulations.

Criticism, while largely leveled against big name companies, has also been aimed at smaller operators within the DRC. Afrewatch recently uncovered 16 multinational consumer electronics companies that acquire cobalt from a Chinese firm known to source from child labor in the DRC.

While these companies have the responsibility to monitor the manner by which they obtain their materials, consumers must have the responsibility to be knowledgeable about the companies from which they purchase. Having an idea of where a company is located and where the goods come from should give you an idea of whether you would support buying their products or not. Being a conscious consumer is an important way to indirectly reduce the incidences of child labor abroad.

Refusal to buy one product from a company linked with child labor will likely not eradicate child labor worldwide, but it will help to grow awareness of the issue.

Dr. Kwon advises companies that “you can not police everything,” and instead advocates for a social media regulation, explaining that “[it] is the best weapon you have to put pressure on consumers.” As Dr. Kwon points out, there are circulating laws and regulations which monitor supply chain processes to prevent child labor, but the most impactful solution is being an informed consumer. He explains that consumers share the blame for the continuation of child labor because we support the companies involved in it, such as Starbucks, Purina and Nike. Although “[the] ultimate responsibility has to be managerial,” it is important that the consumers know the specifics of what they buy. Being an informed consumer and protesting companies with suspicious sources is perhaps the best way we as individuals can combat this issue. With the world growing technologically and communicatively, it is appropriate to stand behind Dr. Kwon’s words--“I am hopeful”--and pursue a more just and humane commercial system.

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Courtney Crubaugh Health Management

On February 13, a tweet that read, “I hate @MartinShkreli with all of my heart. That man is pure evil” was retweeted by the businessman himself. With the public persona of Shkreli larger than life, the former CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals was thrown into the spotlight over the abrupt increase of the price of Daraprim, a drug that made the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines required for a basic health system.

Daraprim prevents malaria and treats parasitic infections, primarily toxoplasmosis, an infection with the Toxoplasma gondii parasite that causes flu-like symptoms. However, for individuals with compromised immune systems, like patients with HIV or AIDS, Daraprim can be a literal lifesaver.

Toxoplasmosis is a relatively common condition, but in HIV patients, it becomes an opportunistic infection. This lifesaver has also been the whistleblower that has put the American pharmaceutical industry in the spotlight. At the end of 2015, Shkreli and Turing Pharmaceuticals came under fire for increasing the cost of Daraprim by a staggering 5000 percent. Although the country was outraged at Shkreli and Turing’s choice, the price hike was not illegal. The Daraprim story is a red flag and an unprecedented opportunity to change the pharmaceutical industry.

As no generic version of Daraprim is approved by the FDA, Turing Pharmaceuticals has a monopoly on the drug.

When the price of a single pill was raised from $20 to $750 overnight, there were no alternatives to which suffering patients and their doctors could turn. Industry experts criticized Shkreli’s decision, and those directly affected were dumbfounded. Opportunistic infections are common causes of mortality for patients with autoimmune diseases and preventing them is costly. According to the Center of Disease Control, the average cost to treat a patient with HIV is $367,134 over the course of his or her life. Rising costs of pharmaceuticals is debilitating to families and puts the necessary therapies even farther out of reach for many. The high cost of healthcare has caused many to question the viability of accessibility.

While the media has sparked outrage, journalist Kelefa Sanneh elucidates how everyone is missing the real point. She asserts that Martin Shkreli is not the villain; the system from which he operated is. This system is not necessarily the government, the pharmaceutical industry or even regulatory agencies; rather, it is the combination of the three. Pharmaceutical companies raise the prices of drugs every day without notice--often to amounts that are absurd and unaffordable. The world only noticed Martin Shkreli’s decision because it breaks the pattern of covert price hikes. Because Turing acted alone, it did not break any anti-trust laws. Rather than slowly increasing the prices without the daily consumer noticing, he increased the price 3750 percent over night. The most striking part: Shkreli’s price hikes were completely legal.

There is a theatrical nature to Shkreli and his public persona. A Wu Tang Clan obsession, comedic congressional hearings and biting tweets create a larger than life persona that ironically parallels the overinflated pharmaceutical prices he has

initiated. If Shkreli was really concerned with earning as much money as he could as efficiently as possible, he would have flown under the radar:

“One of the strangest things about the anti-Shkreli argument is that it asks us to be shocked that a medical executive is motivated by profit. And one of the strangest things about Shkreli himself is that he doesn’t seem to be motivated by profit—at least, not entirely,” Sanneh said.

Shkreli’s actions push not only him but the entire pharmaceutical industry into the spotlight. The public needs to ponder with whom to be angry: Shkreli or the system that allowed him to dramatically raise profits. Derek Lowe, who is a chemist, blogger for Science and employee of various pharmaceutical companies, previously criticized Shkreli’s plan.

“[His plan poses] a serious risk of bringing the entire pricing structure of the industry under much heavier scrutiny and regulation,” he said.

Lowe’s quote elucidates the ridiculousness of the pharmaceutical industry. The industry itself is an oxymoron.

It is a highly regulated industry from a biological perspective, but there is little control against pricing and monopolies. While Lowe does not want heavier scrutiny, that may be exactly what is necessary. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has an important but limited role in the pharmaceutical industry.

The approving process for generic drugs is rigorous and often delays generic drugs from making it onto the market. Patients still purchase drugs like Daraprim because there are no available alternatives.

The real issue is the pharmaceutical industry and its lack of regulation from a business perspective. The FDA has absolutely no ability to influence or regulate drug prices because of its defined legal roles. FDA cultivates safer drugs, but it needs to have its power expanded to address the changing sphere of pharmaceuticals.

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Ellen Cook Communication Sciences and Disorders

What do you think of when you hear the word minority? Perhaps you think race or ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. However, do you think of individuals with disabilities? To most, the answer is no. Yet, according to both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations, around 15 percent of the world’s population--an estimated one billion people--live with disabilities. They are our largest minority, and these numbers are only increasing. Still, how many people are aware of this?

Chances are, you know someone with a disability--perhaps a neighbor, friend, family member or coworker. Despite the large presence of people with disabilities, they are a population with which many feel discomfort-perhaps from ignorance, fear, misunderstanding, or lack of exposure or interaction. The effects of these reactions manifest in the form of a microaggression, or unconscious biases and invalidations, most commonly seen in the language we choose to use.

As we enter into an era in search of greater inclusion, the question remains: how does one use language appropriately? The recommended manner is known as “Person First” language. Simply stated, this means that the person is emphasized first, and the disability second. Through Person First language,

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the disability is no longer the identifier. Instead of using phrases that reduce a person to their disability such as, “the disabled,” “handicapped,” or even a more antiquated term “retarded,” Person First language promotes affirmative phrases such as “persons or people with a disability.”

The reality is that language is powerful.

Words affect the way people think. The language that we use has the power to perpetuate outdated stereotypes or, when used appropriately, can encourage respect through accurate, non-judgmental descriptions. However, more often than not, such instances of inappropriate language are unintentional. In most cases, individuals that use such examples of derogatory language are unaware that their words are offensive and further contribute to societal limitations against this population. Thus emerges the need for a greater awareness of how to be an informed “consumer” of language.

Dr. Karen Myers is an associate professor within the Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education at SLU. She is also founder and director of The Ability Institute, an association that strives for further awareness and inclusion for people with disabilities. Her most recent work addresses the reality of micro-aggressions, often in the form of language, that appear frequently against students with disabilities. In the context of language, one of the biggest instances of micro-aggression is seen in the denial of personal identity, specifically known as ableism, where “a person is identified only

As we enter into an era in search of greater inclusion, the question remains: how does one use language appropriately?

in terms of disabilities and any other aspects of identity are ignored.” As Dr. Myers identifies, the language that we choose to use has the power to perpetuate ableism, where certain language choices privilege people without disabilities while negatively portraying disability. Historically, people with disabilities have been regarded as incapable, helpless and to be pitied or even feared. They are commonly portrayed in the media as one of three things: charity cases, heroes overcoming great adversity or repulsive and helpless victims.

“It is our role to shift our thinking and provide the same consideration of disability that would apply to other aspects of social identity,” Dr. Myers said. The wheelchair bound woman is in fact a mother, a lawyer, a person and a sister. The autistic child is also a brother, a student, a soccer player and a friend.

According to Dr. Myers and a majority of organizations working towards advocacy, Person First language is recommended. However, like all issues, there are differing opinions, known within this context as “Identity First” language. Identity First language belongs to a population of people that, in direct contrast to Person First, choose to identity themselves with their disability. Seen most commonly within the autistic community, many believe that not self-identifying with their disability sends the wrong message, so instead they choose to embrace it. A person using Identity First language prefers the language of “autistic child” rather than a “child with autism.” The question for us then remains how to appropriately navigate between Identity First and Person First language.

Dr. Myers stated that, generally speaking, Person First language is preferred in most public and professional settings, as it is seen as more inclusive and recognized as a universally designed language, which avoids labeling. However, if a certain person identifies their preference for Identity First, that is also appropriate. When in doubt, Person First is safest.

Navigating appropriate language usage can be frustrating and, more often than not, confusing. For many, it seems that society is becoming too sensitive in regards to language.

However, language sensitivity remains one of the simplest ways to enter into an era of further inclusivity because allowing people to choose their identifiers opens us to a more creative space.

For example, as a college student, you are not simply a Beta, or a soccer player or simply an engineering student or the guy who struggles with math. In short, those aspects are not all of your identity; they are only a part of it. In the same way, for people with disabilities, the disability is just one part of their own identity and is not definitive of their whole person. Our generation is entering into an age where everyone has opportunities to maximize their potential. Through the use of appropriate, Person First language, societal vocabulary will move from being a series of microaggressions to a universal design, where language with and without a disability will encompass the whole human being.

For more information on the ability institute and how to become more involved, visit www.slu.edu/theabilityexhibit or contact Dr. Meyers at kmeyers11@slu.edu.

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Maddie Baumgart International Studies

Two-time Pulitzer prize winner Nicholas Kristof ’s first scathing condemnation of the Cambodian sex trade appeared in his weekly New York Times column on December 12, 2006.

Nearly ten years later, despite the south Asian country’s relative success in decreasing the number of victims, sex trafficking in Cambodia remains one of the most highly publicized and dramatized issues in the nonprofit sector. How did the sex trade in a distant nation manage to pierce the public consciousness and roost in the minds of so many Americans?

Kristof himself holds much of the credit for illuminating the travesty. Over four years, he graphically depicted the plights of several trafficked Cambodian girls he met through his travels, some of which he rescued from abusive pimps and enslavement in brothels. These sensational stories captured the sympathy of celebrities ranging from Meg Ryan to Oprah Winfrey to Hillary Clinton, who used their fame to garner public support for the crisis.

When Kristof allied with Somaly Mam to bolster her foundation dedicated to aiding girls who had escaped from brothels, the issue ballooned in the media.

Mam, a former victim herself, became an international spectacle. Soon after, Kristof co-authored Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide and launched a PBS series that featured the unfathomable stories of many of the girls helped by the foundation.

In its wake, countless documentaries—“The Storm Makers,” “Every Day in Cambodia” and “Confessions of Sex Tourist,” to name a few—furthered public investment in the issue. According to Charity Navigator, an online watchdog of charitable giving, 200 new international nonprofits arose to aid trafficked Cambodian children and young women.

With her telegenic personality and stories of shocking injustices, Mam seemed the perfect megaphone to command the attention of the media. She played the part--until an investigative Newsweek article exposed several mistruths embedded in both her account and the testimonies of the girls she helped.

Despite her former claims, she actually never personally experienced sex trafficking, and the ensuing investigation revealed that she traded desperate girls a place to stay in exchange for providing false testimonies.

Robin Pendoley, former Co-Director at Opportunity Collaboration, a global poverty conference for leaders of the nonprofit sector, said that a friend in San Francisco who took up activism to fight Cambodian sex trafficking was devastated to find that the leader of the largest organization in the world was a phony. She had been fundraising and holding events in an effort to fight brothels and sex slavery but was disheartened to read the article exposing Mam.

“Her belief in the issue and its importance wasn’t the result of first hand experience, but of a well-built communications effort by journalists and organizations who wanted the

public to know about this particular issue,” Pendoley said. “In some ways, this is exactly what we want journalists and civil society to do–-shed light on injustices and muster the general public to create change. But who is qualified to determine the legitimacy and relative priority of social justice issues? If we assume that there is only so much bandwidth that the general public and media have available to learn about and pay attention to social justice issues, who should decide how much of the bandwidth is given to each issue?”

Though the Somaly Mam incident is often cited as a cautionary tale regarding foreign aid, perhaps it better illuminates the potential problems in the way Americans consume information on international issues. After all, sex trafficking remains a critical issue in Cambodia. The fact that Mam felt the need to fabricate stories to capture Western attention supports the precedent that graphic, dramatized descriptions--instead of simple appeals to a shared humanity--serve as the only means with which to penetrate the minds of the masses.

“Most international crises occupy the limelight for a brief moment, then fade,” Dr. David Borgmeyer, director of International Studies at SLU, said. “For a while, many people were convinced the U.S. should launch nothing short of a full humanitarian intervention to rescue the 300 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram.

The ‘Invisible Children’ movement is another perfect example. When’s the last time we’ve heard someone talking about either? How do the voices of those in other countries find a platform in the U.S. and sustain it?”

Haunting depictions of children are often considered an effective approach to ensure international attention, as Mam displayed. Sébastien Marot, Executive Director of Friends International, an NGO that educates at-risk Cambodian children, posted a response to the Mam controversy on the organization’s website.

“A large number of organizations get sucked into using children to raise funds: making them talk about the abuse they survived in front of a camera, having their picture in a pitiful situation published for everyone to see. In worst cases, the truth is distorted or the stories invented to attract more compassion and money.”

Though images of children tug at heartstrings, they can also help to paint the world in rigid black and white hues. This enables an overly simplistic perpetrator-victim perception that both neglects more seemingly complex issues as well as overlooks the web of factors contributing to the situation.

For example, while international attention and a renewed police force has exterminated many of the standard-image brothels, prevailing cultural notions that sex with a virgin results in longer lives and vitality still propels a booming trade in young women. Often times, mothers or close family members of these girls—crippled with debt or medical bills—will sell their daughters’ virginities to local influential men or encourage them to pursue job opportunities in distant cities where abuse and exploitation abound. According to Californian native and Agape

A large number of organizations get sucked into using children to raise funds... in worst cases, the truth is distorted or the stories invented to attract more compassion and money

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to pursue job opportunities in distant cities where abuse and exploitation abound. According to Californian native and Agape International Missions founder Don Brewster, in areas such as Svay Pak the majority of post-pubescent girls have endured such an ordeal.

Few reports of such occurrences navigate traditional media routes to land at the feet of news consumers, and those that do tend to resemble mere lamentations of foreign tragedies rather than rousing calls to action. The lack of a “simple” solution promising immediate, tangible results could account for the media’s--and subsequently, nonprofits’--gravitation toward sensational brothel raids over trial-and-error efforts to reconstruct the circumstances that currently poise parents to choose between their child’s dignity and their family’s survival.

Such efforts--pursuits to modify cultural and economic norms--openly exhibit the web of factors that perpetuate the sex trade that Western media sources often overlook. While this approach boasts of none of the victim and evil actor simplicity that both captures minds and defers responsibility, it proves most effective for targeting the underlying causes that form and sustain such exploitation. At what point should Americans

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discuss the lack of land rights for rural farmers and the role of exploitative middlemen in agricultural markets that bar families from ever accruing enough wealth to repay debts? Or perhaps we should examine the United States’ own role in this poverty, through carpet bombing large portions of the country during the Vietnam War, an act Global Research dubs one of the “most brutal and notorious war crimes of the post-WWII era.” When do aid organizations address the fact that women in Cambodia earn a mere 27 cents per every dollar a man makes, rendering them exceptionally vulnerable to exploitation?

Pendoley believes that confronting issues in their full complexity serves not to paralyze agents of change, but rather presents a multitude of avenues for that energy. “If we allow the conversation about the human slave trade to focus entirely on the actions of those most immediately involved,” Pendoley said, “don’t we risk missing the broader context that makes this and other injustices possible?”

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Paul Heinemann, Billikens for Clean Water Psychology

Billikens for Clean Water travelled to Flint during spring break to experience the effects of the water crisis first-hand. This is a reflection by one of their members, Paul.

From the moment we set foot in Flint, I could tell that the water crisis there was all-consuming. The people of Flint compared parts-per-million readings of the levels of lead in their water in casual conversation; volunteers shared strategies for how they brush their teeth without using a whole bottle of water; signs on restaurants advertised, “No Flint water used here”; and lines of cars formed at churches and fire stations as parents picked up cases of bottled water to bathe their children.

I came to the city on a spring break trip with a group of students hoping to learn more about the situation there, and while in Flint, I finally understood why it is called a “crisis” rather than just a “problem” or an “incident.” It is a crisis because of its inescapable nature. No one in Flint can take a day off from being affected by the water crisis; to do so would be to drink, bathe in or cook with potentially poisonous water. The city’s water situation consumes every aspect of one’s life because water itself is so all-important.

The six other members of my group and I came to Flint with a desire to learn and spread the stories of Flint residents and to show the people of Flint that those on the outside care about what happened there. We had the opportunity to interact with hundreds of Flint residents while volunteering to hand out cases of water at water distribution sites each day, and we had dozens more conversations with people around the city in our time there as well.

We learned about the great lengths people must go to in order to get water each day, sometimes driving across town to multiple sites to pick up water bottles. We heard from people who mistrusted their government and wanted their governor thrown in jail. Most of all, though, we learned that people in Flint are extremely proud of their city and that, despite hardship, the crisis has brought people together. These proclamations of pride for Flint were far different from the rhetoric I was used to hearing about the dangerous and impoverished the city. Still, the vast poverty in Flint, which has the second highest poverty rate among U.S. cities at 40 percent, was hard to ignore as we drove around town and saw the vacant properties and guard dogs.

As I worked, I tried to imagine all of this happening in the predominantly white, upper middle class neighborhood where I was raised, but I could not. The idea that there was more behind the crisis than merely a string of water safety mistakes became more and more clear to me. The forces that left Flint with poisonous water were in action long before the city switched its water source in 2014.

Analysts are calling the Flint water crisis one of the most blatant examples of “environmental racism” in recent U.S. history. Environmental racism is the idea that racial minority groups are often subjected to worse environmental conditions at the hands of corporations or governments due to negligence in the areas in which they live. In this case, the people were subjected to worse conditions by the very people obligated to protect them.

Since the trip, I have been grappling with what our country needs to do to prevent crises like this in the future.

Although analyzing the infrastructure in our aging cities to ensure that cities’ water supplies are not susceptible to lead in the future, I think there was much more at play in Flint than just contaminated water. There was and is systematic oppression of Flint’s residents at the hands of their government, which reveals some of the ways we as Americans treat our poorest communities.

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The government’s response to hardships in Flint has been criticized for years, as many believe the government should have been more supportive of residents after the closing of the GM plants in Flint in the 1980s. Many assert that the city has had unethical policing and inadequate social services for decades. This has pushed Flint further into poverty and crime, which, in turn, creates more need for government intervention.

It is a dangerous cycle that has left many in Flint feeling disrespected by those in power and outsiders afraid of the city.

Many people, including presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, who focused on the crisis during their debate in Flint, have argued that the water crisis is just another instance of the government neglecting poor communities. The fact that the water source was switched as a budgetary, cost-cutting measure by an appointed emergency manager further shows evidence of a broken system of governance over poor communities. The people of Michigan did not elect those who made such a monumental and ill-advised decision.

More than anything, I think the lesson we need to learn from the situation in Flint is that the systems of power in our country do not treat all of American communities equitably.

Whether implicit or explicit, a combination of bias and negligence worked against the people of Flint, as it also does against those in other impoverished urban areas, manifesting itself in inequitable housing policies and poor education systems.

When I reflect back on the trip, though, I think most about the spirit of Flint we found in the people affected by the crisis. They are understandably angry and saddened by the deception and pain brought by the crisis. Yet, they are putting that energy into coming together to help one another through the crisis, creating signs and T-shirts that say, “Flint Lives Matter,” and looking out for neighbors who need extra water. Not only did I fail to understand the gravity of the crisis in Flint until I arrived there, but I also did not understand how Flint could move forward until I experienced the community there. Seeing the resilience and the pride of Flint’s people gave me hope for city despite its hardships.

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Liz Vestal, Free to [be] Theological Studies

In November 2015, two organizations--Elle UK and the Fawcett Society--partnered to create “This Is What a Feminist Looks Like” shirts and, in the process, created an international campaign to support women’s issues. This international campaign soon became a controversial, international crisis when an investigative report revealed that the women who were making these shirts earned less than $1 per hour in a sweatshop in the Republic of Mauritius, an island nation off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.

Widespread public opinion holds that sweatshops breach basic human rights. Sweatshops are places of manual labor where workers are paid very low wages for long hours and work in poor conditions. In essence, sweatshops violate every tenet of what feminism stands for--the equality of all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, ability, class or sexual orientation. Additionally, the Feminist Majority Foundation reported that 85 percent of people working in sweatshops around the world are women ages 15-25. Consequently, becoming an informed global citizen and an informed consumer is an issue of feminism, and it is imperative that feminists make this connection if feminism as a movement will continue to make social change. If you consider yourself a feminist, then you ought to look into the way your purchasing choices affect the equality of all people.

Primarily, the example of the shirts made in sweatshops speaks to the main critique of White Feminism, a term used to refer to mainstream feminism today, and speaks to a way of practicing feminism “that allows for the exclusion of issues that specifically affect women of color,” as mentioned in the blog Everyday Feminism. The critique stems from the fact that the “feminist agenda” is often centered around the concerns of cisgendered, white, upper middle class women. Issues such as equal pay, sexual assault and hate crimes ought to be discussed but not without discussing the ways in which these issues disproportionately affect people of color and queer folks. This explores the concept of intersectional feminism--the way that our multiple social identities, such as race, class, gender, ability and sexual orientation--interact with one another. They shape who we are, our stories and how we experience the world.

The distinction must be made between being a White Feminist and being white and a feminist. The way to reconcile these identities is to deeply engage with intersectionality, even when it may not seem pertinent to your life.

“It is important and vital is to keep that education for critical consciousness around intersectionalities, so that people are able to not focus on one thing and blame one group, but be able to look holistically at the way intersectionality informs all of us: whiteness, gender, sexual preferences, etc.,” feminist bell hoods said. “Only then can we have a

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renowned author and feminist bell hooks said. “Only then can we have a realistic handle on the political and cultural world we live within.”

If you are reading and happen to be white and a feminist, this does not necessarily mean that you support the White Feminist construct; however, it does mean you must work to make your feminism intersectional if it is ever going to be productive.

Students focused specifically on bringing fair trade clothes to campus have formed a group called Clothed in(justice). It is their goal as a student movement to change the vendors of Saint Louis University’s apparel to sustainable, fair trade organizations.

Theresa Schafer, a senior at SLU who has been involved with these efforts, spoke to the reason why fair trade clothing is important.

“We may not often think about it, but we wear our political and ethical convictions on our sleeves, literally. As social justice-oriented individuals, we cannot let our awareness of injustice stop at the big, political issues. We are also called to examine our smallest, daily actions, and ask ourselves, ‘How does this decision impact others?’ In the case of living-wage, fair trade clothing, making the decision to support only companies that promote the well-being and human dignity of their workers speaks to the conviction that we are interconnected and interdependent as a human family, and that those of us in a place of privilege must use that to the benefit of the oppressed. The beauty of living-wage clothing is that it encourages simplicity and intentionality in clothing choices, discourages easy consumerism and promotes ethical business relationships in place of corrupt systems.”

Being an informed consumer is about more than just knowing who makes your clothes. It is about working to dismantle the systems and structures in place that keep people in unjust living and working conditions, and it is ultimately deeply connected with the struggle for feminism. Emma Watson has popularized feminism with the creation of HeForShe, a campaign to invite men into the conversation about gender equality. The fact of the matter is that no one needs an invitation to be a feminist; if you believe in creating equity for all people, then find ways to embrace people regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender identity, class, ability or sexual orientation. This is no easy feat, so I invite you to find and surround yourself with people who can hold you accountable to uphold the ideals of feminism for all individuals.

If you are looking for people to help further the conversation on campus, check out Free to [be], a movement to explore intersectional feminism at SLU.

Spring 2016

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Swamps and DesertS How America is Plagued by Malnutrition Trevor Rogan Political Science

When Americans think about “world hunger,” they usually think about hunger in countries struggling with political strife and economic upheaval. However, malnutrition is not limited to communities outside of the United States.

When associating poor standards of nutrition solely with the developing world, Americans fail to recognize malnutrition within domestic communities.

Communities whose members suffer from malnutrition often live in either a “food desert” or a “food swamp.”

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines food deserts as parts of the country devoid of fresh fruit, vegetables and other healthy, whole foods, and these deserts are usually found in impoverished areas. Residents living in food deserts often lack sufficient transportation to areas with supermarkets or other food stores, limiting their healthy food options and their ability to carry heavier goods such as apples, a gallon of milk or a melon.

Food swamps exist under similar economic circumstances but emphasize an abundance of unhealthy foods compared to healthy options. This nuance distinguishes food swamps as places where healthy food is available, but it gets buried by the great number of unhealthy options; while in food deserts, food is simply unavailable.

People living in food deserts often live below the poverty line or just above it, and their economic status shapes their health. Every year from 1986 through 2002, body mass index (BMI) was higher among adults in the lowest income and least educated groups.Between 2003 and 2007 obesity rates increased by 10 percent for all U.S. children ages 10 to 17. However, this rate increased by 23 percent for low-income children of the same age range.

A 2008 study by the California Center for Public

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Health Advocacy found a strong and direct correlation between the number of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores in an area and the likelihood of those living there being obese or having diabetes. In areas with more fast-food or convenience store options people had higher incidences of obesity or type 2 diabetes compared with areas with more supermarkets or fresh produce vendors.

These preventable chronic diseases cost the country billions of dollars in medical expenses. Medicaid, the tax-financed health care program which provides healthcare for low-income families, uses the money of healthy individuals as well. Both state and federal taxes feed into Medicaid, and in the 2013 fiscal year, according to the Center on Budget Policy Priorities (CBPP), each level of government spent a collective $438 billion on Medicaid services. The cost of Medicaid affects Americans from every level of income; yet, this cost could be significantly diminished through an improvement in community infrastructure and an increase in nutrition advocacy, driving eventually toward the reduction of preventable, chronic diseases.

St. Louis, which could benefit from these efforts, contains many food deserts concentrated in low-income areas. Although healthy options are not always completely out of reach, advertisements for unhealthy food, as well as a lack of education on which foods to buy and how to prepare them, can lead to a continuation of unhealthy habits.

When areas remain void of healthy options for long enough, healthy foods slip out of the public-consciousness of the community, virtually ceasing to exist as mainstream options for individuals and families.

Dr. Mildred Mattfeldt-Beman, Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at Saint Louis University, explained how unhealthy eating has become the norm in food deserts and food swamps.

how to cook. You don’t particularly like to cook.

Food swamps are places where healthy food is available, but it gets buried by the great number of unhealthy options; while in food deserts, food is simply unavailable.

Food deserts in the United States of America

“So, you’re a single mom,” Mattfeldt-Beman said.

“You’ve got to feed your kids. You never learned how to cook.

You don’t particularly like to cook. There’s a Taco Bell down the road. Moms no longer know how to cook. Kids no longer recognize any of those kind of foods [fruits and vegetables] and don’t know those kind of foods exist.”

Mattfeldt-Beman went on to discuss how food deserts and swamps can be conquered by bringing culinary skills back into communities while working with St. Louis nutritional food cooperative HOSCO Foods.

“They’re [HOSCO Foods] going to be working with us to develop products, train local neighbors, develop products using what’s growing in urban gardens and local farms, to support a local economy and begin to create jobs and social enterprise in those neighborhoods,” Mattfeldt-Beman said. “So our goal is not to bring something into them, but to assist them in developing something that would stay, creating jobs and engaging people with urban agriculture.”

Jeremy Goss, co-founder of St. Louis MetroMarket, a nonprofit mobile farmers’ market that sells fresh produce in St. Louis food deserts, has also worked to increase the prevalence of healthy food in communities. Goss’s ultimate goal for his nonprofit is to, as he believes every nonprofit should, “go out of business.” By advocating healthy eating and bringing fruits and vegetables back into communities, Goss hopes his mobile

market will increase community demand for grocery stores and produce vendors, encouraging these businesses to establish themselves and eventually outcompete his mobile market.

“Ultimately, when the communities no longer need the MetroMarket because grocers come back and invest in it, that’s a great indication that we’re not needed anymore,” Goss said.

SLU’s campus resides within or at least on the border of a food desert. Students at SLU have the capacity to help reduce shortages of healthy foods in their community and can do so without starting ambitious organizations or studying these issues to a great extent.

Mattfeldt-Beman described how her students in the Nutrition and Dietetics program help with establishing community gardens, emphasizing that this is not just work for which students in this program are qualified.

“Just your hands are a fabulous support. There’s community gardens; there’s community businesses. Helping people just get that leg out, get over the hump. Just knowing you’re willing to help.”

To learn more about efforts to combat food deserts and swamps in St. Louis and how to get involved, visit www.stlmetromarket.com.

Spring 2016

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Malavika Prakasan Investigative and Medical Sciences

The lure of treasure and easy money has always been appealing to our society. While thousands migrated to the west in the 1800s for the gold rush, today we would scoff at the idea of upending our lives to pursue the mere possibility of the existence of gold. Yet millions of Americans take a chance on the lottery even when odds are as slim as 1 in 175 million. The question remains: does spending on the lottery actually contribute to economic gains, both personal and societal?

The lottery has its roots in the 1600s, a time when gambling was a way to pass time and earn money.

The Continental Congress during the American Revolution employed lotteries to aid in the war effort while avoiding the touchy issue of taxation. Nowadays, the lottery is a critical source of a state’s budget and helps subsidize a variety of government programs.

The problem lies in the implicit desires the lottery sells to the public. The lottery perverts the ideal of the American

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dream and preys on vulnerable populations with the ideas of luck and hope. Forty-three states currently have lotteries and spend a total of half a billion dollars on extremely seductive commercials every year in order to entice the public to contribute to this major moneymaker. According to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, Americans in the 43 states where lotteries are legal spent $70 billion on lotto games in the last year. That is, on average, $300 per adult. To a low-income, blue collar worker, the idea of upward social mobility may be so far out of reach that he or she is willing to take that 1 in 175 million chance.

The lottery can be harmless--a means to test your luck the day the state decides you are old enough to do so. However, to many, gambling can be the response to other problems in their lives, and it can be a form of escape. Over the course of the last two decades, studies, such as the one done by Carnegie Mellon, have found that lower-income households spend a higher percentage of their money on lottery tickets. In this study, published in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, the researchers found that participants who had lower perceptions of their wealth bought nearly twice

Lottery corporations are enablers, feeding into gambling disorder

as many lottery tickets as the comparison group that was made to feel subjectively affluent. Additionally, lower socioeconomic populations are much more vulnerable to gambling debt. As their discretionary income is considerably smaller than families of higher socioeconomic status, it only takes a slight risk to compromise their financial situation. The low-cost of lottery tickets make them accessible to those with limited money to spend, but ignoring the impossible odds and “going big” has its drawbacks.

“I’m supposed to go to the store and buy food, and I come home with no food and no money. As soon as I walk in the door, he knows, and then we don’t have any food,” a woman from Illinois said of her gambling addiction.

Companies are not oblivious to the addictive quality of lotteries. Gambling disorder is an addiction, and corporations are guilty of exploiting this weakness.

Dr. Jeremiah Weinstock, Associate Professor at Saint Louis University with expertise in pathological gambling, expanded on this connection.

“Recently Powerball realized, a year or two ago that if a jackpot got huge, they would see a huge increase in play--in the sheer volume of ticket purchases. They realized if they were to set the game up to have these huge jackpots, then we’ll [Powerball] make more money. About a year ago they increased the price of the tickets to two dollars, and the odds have changed as well to about 1 in 220 million. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen these huge jackpots, which is exactly what they want.”

Lottery corporations are enablers, feeding into gambling disorder, which is a recognized addiction in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Despite this, lotteries

are marketed as charitable foundations that benefit education systems. Advertisements for lotteries target not only our natural, human greed but also appeal to our philanthropic tendency. The Missouri lottery reports over $1.1 billion in sales for the fiscal year 2013, with over $288 million--about 25 percent of the total profit--going towards education. It would be selfish to not play the lottery, right?

In reality, little factual evidence supports the claim that lotteries are a significant boost to education funding. The percentage of state spending on education is down or flat in 21 of states that have lotteries from coast to coast. Lotteries provided no additional funding for education in 21 out of 44 states. In fact, money in state budgets tends to move around quite a bit. According to an article by the Washington Post, the money that lotteries contribute to education is not added to already existing school funding--it replaces it. When lottery money flows in, other money tends to flow out. Lottery revenue is used to substitute corporate tax money and that money gets placed elsewhere. Much like the other claims about the lottery, this one is also false advertising to cover a grim reality.

Forty two states, the US virgin Islands and the District of Columbia participate in the lottery. Many people stricken by poverty look to the lottery as a means to improve their lives and escape poverty. Corporations have marketed the lottery as an attainable means to money that exploits the desires of individuals in lower socioeconomic strata. This begs the question: is the lottery simply too profitable for states to address as the serious issue it is?

The money that lotteries contribute to education is not added to already existing school funding-it replaces it

Spring 2016

20

Opinion Raquel Dominguez Anthropology, Political Science

It goes without saying that abortion and con-

traceptives are controversial topics in the United States.

States that oppose abortion also oppose, often deleteriously, the expansion of sex education beyond “abstinence-only” methods. While individuals and governing bodies cite religious and moral reasons for their opposition, there is significant evidence suggesting that poor women, as well as American women in every socioeconomic group, would benefit dramatically if access to sex education was expanded. There is significant evidence that suggests that the expansion of non-abstinence-only sex education would have a positive impact on sexual health and awareness in the U.S.

There is potential for more comprehensive sex education under the Obama Administration.

“Everyone is still on-message that abstinence should be the core message of any federally funded program, but comprehensive sex education is about to get a boost from the federal government,” National Radio’s Brenda Wilson said.

Progressives, outnumbered by conservatives in almost all levels of government, have recently begun working to make sex education as comprehensive as possible, even though the main message is still absti-

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nence. This ironically more “age-appropriate,” non-abstinence-only approach begins instruction on sexuality when children are less likely to have already become sexually and/or romantically active. Because of their lack of experience, they are more likely to be receptive to cautionary advice. An important part of the program is that it can apply to many different types of communities across racial, age-related and socioeconomic boundaries.

Such progress within the constraints of the traditionally-minded representatives and senators of the U.S. shows great effort on the part of the current administration.

Despite the existence of evidence demonstrating the benefits of expanded comprehensive sex education and contraceptives, politicians oppose measures to address the lack of knowledge of American citizens--both young and old. Politicians in many states have moral and religious reasons for opposing contraceptives. However, providing women, especially those of low socioeconomic status, with the knowledge to make educated and informed choices about their sexual activity and childbearing readiness will allow them to address unwanted pregnancy before it occurs.

In addition, there are additional societal and individual benefits of improving sex education for those without means or resources to support a child. The

without means or resources to support a child. Children of single mothers are one of the most statistically vulnerable populations. According to the Center for Disease Control, the rate of unmarried women who have given birth has risen by 26 percent; unmarried women made up almost 40 percent of total births in 2007.

Dr. Argys and Averett point out in “The Link Between Nonmarital Births and Poverty” that unmarried mothers are “often less educated, are less likely to marry, receive limited support from the fathers of their children, and rely heavily on public assistance, [and] they face challenges in providing adequate support for their children.”

Children of unmarried mothers, although not always poor or young, have lower test scores and less healthy habits (such as infrequent doctor visits), making them more likely to give birth as teenagers and perpetuate the cycle.

“Single mothers are more likely to have lower educational attainment which translates into lower lifetime earnings which, in turn, sets a less positive life trajectory for the children,” Shannon Cotsoradis, President of the

“...expansion of non-abstinence-only sex education would have a positive impact on sexual health and awareness in the U.S.”

nonprofit Kansas Action for Children, said. “...children growing up in low-income households tend to also have low educational attainment and lower lifetime earnings.

In short, it is a cycle that often repeats itself, from single parent to child.”

Children in a single-parent family are five times more likely to live below the federal poverty line than children in two-parent families, and there is meaningful evidence suggesting that widespread access to contraceptives and sex education would directly and dramatically affect the rate of teen pregnancy.

Additionally, the stress that single mothers experience could affect their children’s behavioral and cognitive development.

“Apart from the economics of being a single parent, the stress single parents experience is higher,” Cotsoradis said. “This means children growing up in single parent households are more likely to be exposed to toxic levels of stress which negatively impacts the child’s development. Part of this is about the stress of poverty, but part of this is simply about the stress of parenting alone.”

Despite opposition, providing comprehensive sex education is a compelling initiative that has been increasingly researched and accepted in society in order to help mothers, particularly those parenting alone and without sufficient funds or resources, and their children survive and thrive.

“Despite the fact that a great deal of research suggests that abstinence-only education has been largely ineffective in reducing teen sexual activity and childbearing, it is only very recently that the federal government has eliminated the mandate for abstinence-only education as the answer to dismal teen childbearing statistics,” Drs. Averett and Argys said.

Spring 2016

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Tommy English Public Health

Milk and yogurt commercials often display a single,

beautiful cow in the middle of an idyllic green pasture, but do the cows providing you with beef and dairy products really live this way? A recent estimate found that 78 percent of cattle in the United States are raised in factory farms and do not live in idyllic green pastures. Why is this a big deal? Factory farming of cattle has terrible effects on animals, labor rights, human health and the environment. Factory farming is a massive and multifaceted social injustice that is intentionally hidden by the animal agricultural industry and desperately needs to be addressed.

Factory farming is a system of rearing livestock using intensive methods, by which poultry, pigs or cattle are confined indoors under strictly controlled conditions. Factory farms keep high concentrations of animals caged indoors, where they are fed diets that cause them to mature and grow rapidly. The goal of factory farming is to grow as many animals as possible, as quickly as possible, in the smallest possible space and time.

Even with a basic understanding of factory farming, it is not hard to understand why factory farms are an unhealthy place for animals. Unfortunately, most cows don’t live like those depicted in commercials. Dairy cows are continuously impregnated in order to allow them to maintain the ability to produce milk, which, on average, reduces their lifespan to five years rather than the normal 20 years. In addition, beef cows are fed an unnatural diet that causes them to reach a weight of 12,000 pounds in just six months, which causes severe growth defects and mobile impairments.

Factory farms are dangerous places not only for animals, but also for the people that work in them. Factory farm workers are exposed to high levels of inhalable particulate matter and toxic gases by working in urine and manure filled buildings, putting their future health at risk. They also suffer from a work injury rate that is 30 times higher than the national average. In addition, workers face many labor rights violations, which are perpetuated by the undocumented immigrant status of most factory farm employees: factory farm workers face high rates of sexual assault, are paid poverty wages and are often forced to defecate on themselves because they are refused breaks.

Even though most people do not come in direct contact with factory farms, as workers do, consuming the products produced by these farms is still harmful. Saturated fats, which are primarily found in meat and dairy products, are the main sources of America’s obesity and heart disease epidemics. Recently, numerous research studies prompted the World Health Organization to label beef as a carcinogen because of its links to cancer, largely due to the growth hormones given to cows.

In addition to growth hormones, cows are given over a striking 70 percent of the antibiotics produced in the U.S. These antibiotics not only increase their growth rate and protect them from the many dangerous bacteria that exist in the unsanitary factory conditions, but they also contribute to the formation of antibiotic resistant bacteria that pose a significant health risk to humans. The unsanitary conditions in factory farms also lead to bacterial outbreaks of E. coli and provide the perfect conditions for zoonotic diseases like H1N1 to become pandemics.

In addition to being dangerous to human health, factory farms and the mass production of beef and dairy products are harmful to the environment. It is conservatively estimated that it takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce every pound of beef, which means you could save more water by cutting a handful of cheeseburgers out of your diet than you would by not showering for a whole year. The manure that animals on factory farms produce releases large amounts of methane gas which is estimated to have 86 times the global warming potential of

carbon dioxide. Most estimates show that animal agriculture produces more greenhouse gases than the entire transportation industry. Finally, the United Nations estimates that 70 percent of lost Amazon Rainforest is being used to graze cattle. Therefore, although meat-eating seems to be a benign activity, each hamburger consumed contributes to an industry that is depleting the earth of its already scarce resources. With recent data supporting the imminent reality of climate change, the animal agriculture industry is one whose impact must be scrutinized.

Factory farming of cattle negatively affects animals, labor rights, human health and the environment and is clearly a social injustice that needs to be addressed immediately. With the extremely high demand for meat in the U.S., factory farms have become a grim necessity: only the mass production of meat can satisfy these high consumer demands. In order to protect animals, humans and the environment, we need to facilitate a large shift away from meat in the American diet, prompting reform with the factory farm industry and reducing the negative impact that meat-eating has. This will obviously require high-level policy decisions, but it also requires the actions of individuals to change the culture around meat, which everyone is capable of doing.

Hannah Vestal, a SLU student who has a long history of advocating for environmental issues, just recently learned about the dangers of factory farms.

“I realized that I can’t be an advocate for the environment and also eat meat. How could I, when animal agriculture is the number one cause of environmental destruction? It is a small sacrifice I can make for something so much bigger than myself,” Vestal said.

Becoming a vegetarian and promoting that lifestyle to others is an action that everyone can take to help close factory farms, but is becoming a vegetarian really a feasible option?

Kara Murray, a senior at SLU involved in environmental advocacy, has some perspectives to offer:

“Being a vegetarian doesn’t mean you have to become a hardcore animal advocate and eat lettuce all day. Honestly, I’m not even much of an animal person, and I can’t remember the last time I ordered a salad for dinner. It just means you don’t eat meat. I’ve been a vegetarian for two years and can tell you that it is really not as hard as you think it is. There are so many alternative options nowadays that make it even easier. Plus the vegetarian options are always cheaper, so, as a college student, it financially makes sense!”

What actions will you take to end factory farming?

Going vegetarian or vegan is undoubtedly the best individual action you can take to close factory farms, but it is not the only one. Reducing your meat intake by any amount will have a large positive impact on the environment and so will buying products from local producers at farmers markets or through a food cooperative. So if vegetarianism or veganism is not an option, you can still have an impact by eliminating meat for certain days of the week and by purchasing products from local sources. It is also important to work on developing a general awareness of how your food comes to be and encouraging others to do the same.

So, what actions will you take to end factory farming and be a better consumer?

For more information, visit www.cowspiracy.com and www. farmsanctuary.org.

Spring 2016

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Jason Maddox, Lions Club Public Health, Psychology Laura Silverstein Psychology Elena Burke Public Health

On the streets of St. Louis City live a group of people who have nowhere to turn and nowhere to call home. The city of St. Louis has a large population of homeless individuals who are often forgotten or even ignored. Contrary to popular opinion, homelessness is not a one-dimensional issue. People who struggle with homelessness often struggle with a wide variety of complex health issues.

Winter census data collected by the Missouri State Government identified 1,328 individuals who were homeless last year. Of that population, 112 were considered “chronically homeless,” meaning that they have either a physical or mental disability or have been homeless for a year or more. It should be noted, however, that those are just the individuals that could be contacted; a huge challenge in collecting reliable data on homelessness is the fact that homeless individuals are extremely difficult to track down.

Fortunately, the local government and nonprofit organizations have taken steps to offer shelter to these individuals.

The Department of Human Services’ “2014 Winter Point-InTime (PIT) Homeless Census Summary” reports that 95 percent of the homeless population has access to some sort of shelter (emergency shelter, transitional housing, safe havens, etc.).

Compared to other large cities, St. Louis City

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has recently taken extensive steps to care for its homeless population, especially through a high density of shelters within city boundaries.

However, being homeless comes with a collection of additional obstacles besides the need for a shelter. The day-today life of those without a place to call home includes challenges such as the search for food and lack of employment, safety and security. Moreover, there remains an issue that many do not consider when working with the homeless or advocating on their behalf. For many of those who are homeless, health care services remain difficult to access, especially eye care. While many nonprofits focus on collecting clothes, shoes, and food, organizations rarely take the time to consider collecting glasses or offering eye care to their target populations.

In order to address this disparity, the volunteers of Lions Club International strive to provide eye care and sight to those who do not have the means to do so themselves. Through methods such as philanthropy and volunteering efforts at shelters, Lions Clubs across the nation advocate for the homeless by providing basic eye care. In particular, the Saint Louis University Lions Club works to do its part by helping with vision screenings. Operated by the Bridge Outreach Shelter, stu-

dent volunteers conduct vision screenings. Gateway 180 and The Bridge Outreach, which will close in June 2016, bring in student volunteers to conduct vision screenings in which clients are screened for vision impairments using eye charts. If an individual is identified as having a “less than acceptable” vision ability, they are referred to Crown Vision, a partner in vision screening efforts. From there, they are provided glasses, and the bill is sent to the SLU Lions Club.

Since its conception four years ago, the vision screenings conducted by Saint Louis University have provided over 50 St. Louis City community members with eyeglasses. While this is not necessarily a large number in the grand scheme of the issue, it is a step in the right direction. Not only is access to vision necessary for these individuals to gain employment, it also increases their self-esteem and daily functioning. Many of those referred by our program return to us with news of recent employment or an improved overall quality of life. Client Steven Jamison said that receiving glasses would make him feel better about himself.

“[It’s a] great thing you all [Lions Club] is here,” he said.

However, the gratitude of one individual does not mean that the work is done. With the closure of The Bridge, now more than ever, our community must step up to the plate. Until everyone has access to vision, the work of SLU Lions Club and all other

What is it like to be homeless?

Spring 2016

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Johanna Reedy Public Health

In a world where feminist movements and voices for equality are at the forefront of media activity, it comes as a surprise that companies advertise fast food with images of half-naked women. Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. advertisements, intended to convince women to eat despite society’s negative association of women and food, sexualize and objectify women in a way that a has a profound effect upon their audience. Dr. Ina Seethaler, a Women’s and Gender Studies professor at Saint Louis University, speaks to the sexualization of food.

“There is a lot of sexualization through objectification and fragmentation. We only see women’s chest[s] or we only see through their legs,” she said. “They are just becoming body parts which is hugely important because that means that we don’t look at women as human beings anymore, but as objects that serve the purpose that we want them to serve.”

Sex appeal is a large part of advertising that affects our purchasing decisions as well as our worldview. Researchers at the University of Rhode Island found that in eight leading magazines, 20 percent of advertisements use some sort of sex appeal. Another study conducted by the University of Buffalo on a collection of Rolling Stone magazines from 1967 to 2009 exposed the increase of sex appeal in magazines throughout the years. Rolling Stone is a popular, long-standing pop culture magazine that was chosen for the study because it does not explicitly focus on sex or relationships but rather current events and pop culture. In the 1960s, 11 percent of men and 44 percent of women were sexualized in magazines. In the 2000s, however, 17 percent of men and a whopping 83 percent of women were sexualized.

Advertisements constantly objectify and sexualize the human body and can manipulate how consumers think about themselves in ways that are not always apparent. Sex appeal is used in the media to target both men and women.

The goal of sexualizing women in ads is to make men want what they see while simultaneously making women want to be what/who they see in these advertisements. Similarly, in ads that sexualize men, women want what they see and men want to be what they see. Sex sells in ways that other advertising tactics do not. Through objectification and fragmentation, we reduce an individual to his/her physical appearance and how it can serve others. If we begin to see

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people as objects, we fail to recognize their individuality and potential as well as intellect. Dr. Ina Seethaler focuses predominantly on pop culture in relation to the portrayal of women.

“Women are fragmented, which means that we’re really dehumanizing them,” she said. “Women are told that their worth is in their bodies. What really matters is not so much their intellect or whether they’re funny or strong or great at something; it’s really about their bodies. Showing those kinds of images teaches women they need to invest a lot of time, money and energy into trying to look like that.

That, of course, keeps them from investing a lot of time, money and energy into changing the status quo or fighting for social justice or equality.”

With this advertising strategy, the media fosters a lifestyle of perfectionism through objectification that gives society merit to treat people as discardable objects. “Lifestyle branding” comes in various forms from yoga companies that solicit a carefree, mind-centered lifestyle to burger joints that sell food through attractive women in their advertisements. Essentially, with the help of a product, or more specifically, a brand, companies play into our desire for popularity, luxury, adventure and attractiveness, among a vast expanse of other characteristics. Advertisements that use sex appeal target not only our looks, but also our sexuality, our style and our aura, among other aspects of our personality.

“Because lifestyle brands compete for a share of a consumer’s identity, this competition is not bound by product categories,” Alexander Chernev, a professor of Marketing with a PhD in Psychology from Northwestern University, said. “They compete with virtually any self-expressive activity, such as ordering one’s favorite coffee, listening to one’s favorite band, or social networking.”

Lifestyle advertisements, specifically those that sexualize people, have a deeply negative impact on teens and adolescents. According to the Journal of American Dietetic Association, over 50 percent of nine and ten yearold girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet of some kind, despite the fact that only 18 percent of this demographic are actually overweight. A startling statistic enforces the extreme pressure placed on women. Over 50 percent of females between the ages of 18-25 would prefer to be run over by a truck than be fat, and over 65 percent

of those surveyed would rather be mean or stupid, which enforces the idea that the female is more a “body� than a person.

Be careful before you buy a product; your purchase makes a definite statement. Advertisements do not sell us products alone, but rather a facet of our self-expression and personal taste that we are told can be embodied by a single, finite item. They aim to present an idea, a product or a service to us in a way that appeals to the consumer’s personal taste and entire lifestyle. When the media begins to infiltrate our self-concept, our entire lives are shifted so that we see ourselves and others through a lens that modern media has constructed. Essentially, when we are confronted with lifestyles that differ or may even contradict our own, we begin to believe that there is something wrong with the way we are living or the way we are. The media encourages the relentless pursuit of beauty, perfection and pure sex appeal, and we do too when we buy into it.

Spring 2016

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Corey Minor English, Creative Writing I wanted anything so I stole from the mouth of a dispenser a paper catalogue. It was feathered and grey and I opened it carefully, all the time eating the cut pomegranate of my breakfast. I wanted something to put out the stars.

I searched for the words in their correct order: Put out, and following, The stars, but it wasn’t right.

The machine in the catalogue was dark, and clumsy, and had all the wrong buttons.

Its description was stupid.

I was angry and I shredded it. I heard the.

Snap.of the stapled spine and finished the pomegranate with a carton of Horizon.

The stars were stupid and colorless and hung crooked off of moons.

I called them “idiot,” one time on a beach and resolved to kill them.

I felt the need at times, sometimes strongly, others weakly, to kill them.

Late at night I ate the remains of the morning, and looked out at the stars over my balcony, and felt okay. The stars were okay. If they stayed, who would know.

Not many would

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and I often felt that I wouldn’t either.

It was only when I tossed in bed and dreamt in black that I saw the machine and stars and the beach and again wanted the stars gone. “want” ached in my breast like sweet, simple vacancy. I flipped the thing on in my sleep and watched them leave.

After another meal I asked the online retailer.

Its name was Diana and I typed into its column the correct search terms.

It offered me colored and digital photos of the device but was vague when I wanted to purchase. I typed to it, in the text bar: “Diana.” it told me no and to subscribe.

In cold, white boxes I typed the relevant information; my name and my whereabouts in small black typeface. I offered the numbers of my accounts to Diana and it accepted everything greedily.

“Diana.” I typed again.

It said yes and that the machine would be sent to me in installments of black boxes. I would wait for a year’s time and on a morning like this one I would have everything I asked for. So I logged off.

I received the boxes and opened them at once on the kitchen table.

With each piece Diana left a message,taped sweetly to the legs and the arms of every part. Diana wished me luck. I removed the notes from the parts and assembled the machine.

Complete it was sleek and cyan and quiet, like I wanted. It had buttons and I pressed every one, singing to myself about the stars and how they would soon be so dead, and so gone I waited for night before I stepped onto the balcony, which was not by the beach but was somewhat sandy, and hot and sad like it.

I thanked Diana and wheeled the device onto the deck.

It whirred and it worked and I frowned after the stars died.

Not knowing where to put the machine away, I left it on the deck, by the railing under the sky.

Tired, I warmed a glass of milk and dressed for bed.

Spring 2016

30