Volume XXII Issue 01 by The Scripps Voice

27 September. 2018

scrippsvoice.com

The Scripps Voice

Photos Courtesy of Scripps Marketing and

LENA WAITHE:

since 1991

On a Legacy Worth More than Two Seconds at the Oscars By Rena Patel ’19 Editor-in-Chief

n Sept. 13, actress, producer, and screenwriter, Lena Waithe, gave a talk about her life, writing process, successes, and future endeavours as a queer, Black, female artist in Hollywood at Garrison Theater. Waithe was invited to speak as part of the Scripps Presents series through the Alexa Fullerton Hampton ’42 Fund. The discussion, moderated by producer and writer Amy Aniobi, was followed by a short Q&A session. Waithe discussed a variety of topics from her childhood in Chicago to her writing process and throughout the talk, she left the audience in awe, with both her comedic wit as well as her honest experiences about moving up through Hollywood as an artist. “Greatness is the third cousin removed of crazy,” Waithe said. Crazy is not only word to describe the events that led to Waithe’s successes. It was a combination of crazy and determination that brought her to where she needed to be in order to tell her stories. “Whenever I give advice to people, it’s like you have to be willing to give so much up. You have to be willing to walk such a long road.” Upon graduating from Columbia College Chicago, Waithe proudly transferred her job at Blockbuster from Chicago to Los Angeles, wanting to be close to the industry in any shape or form. At one point, she was interning from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at a production company and transcribing tapes for Real

Inside This Issue:

World Australia from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. “Something good has got to come out of this shit,” Waithe said, explaining her motivations. Waithe’s writing is phenomenal because it is singularly her. No one can duplicate her stories or her process. Being who she is, unapologetically, is how she continues to create content. As a creative writer myself, I could not help but be amazed by her willingness to embrace everything that came with the process. Acting was not part of her plan initially, but being honest about herself and being available for opportunities that others believed she would excel at led to a reading with Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, and resulted in the role of Denise in the Netflix series “Master of None.” However, Waithe’s greatest achievement is not her acting experience, her Emmy Award winning writing, or her fame: it’s her drive and perspective. “I wanna get out every story, every character, every moment of truth, every piece of hon-

Page 2: Believe Dr. Ford

An op-ed about the importance of believing in survivors.

esty that’s in my soul out before I go,” she said in response to a Scripps student’s question about the financial trappings of the industry. To her core, Waithe remains a storyteller, and one with the understanding that after the flashing lights and the Hollywood glamour fades, her stories are what will hopefully remain. “People remembering your name is ego more than anything else,” Waithe said. “I’m aware that when I die, I’m going to get two seconds. I try to remember why I’m doing it, and it’s not to gather a bunch of awards. It’s not about that. It’s about leaving behind a feeling. I’ve learned that for me personally, my legacy is my fiancée, it’s the children we’ll hopefully have, it’s the memories that we’ll share.” Waithe is building her own legacy, one which includes

Page 3: Mudd Update

A follow-up on the controversies at Harvey Mudd regarding mental health resources.

stories of her America, of her experiences as a queer Black woman that many other writers, both like her and unlike her, will come to revere. And she is building it in such a way that it is irreplaceable and irreplicable. Her commitment and strength to herself within the tumultuous industry of Tinseltown is a quality that everyone, not just those in the movie industry, should strive to emulate. “My memory will last longer in [my fiancée’s] spirit than the two seconds on the Oscar’s thing. So yes, my mission is to be the one of the best that ever fucking did it, because that’s who I’m trying to be.” At the end of the day, Waithe stands by the singular belief that she was put on this earth to write stories that make other people feel, legacy or not.

“” Page 6-7: Creative Expression

A showcase of creative writing works.

2 • News

We Believe Dr. Christine Ford By Claire Dwyer PO ’20 Guest Contributor

CW: sexual assault

t this point, I’m starting to feel numb to all the atrocities the American government is committing against its people. It was not enough to elect a monstrous misogynist with absolutely no sense of normal human decency, who, amongst other things, made fun of a disabled reporter and told Billy Bush he felt he could “grab women by the p****.” He has disrespected so many marginalized communities that I could never do justice to the scope of the wrong; and I’m not going to even try. Somehow, the abuse did not stop with the government gradually attempting to steal all our rights, including our hard-earned healthcare or our right to use the bathroom which aligns with our gender identity. It continued with the government ripping immigrant children from the arms of their parents. It continues with the consistent racism and discriminatory legal policies directed towards communities of color. And yet here I am, in my numbness, fearing for my own safety as a feminist and a queer bisexual ace-spectrum woman, in addition to fearing that my friends of color cannot find any safe spaces in a country which above all else refuses to listen to them or respect them. And I still spray painted a wall in support of a survivor of sexual assault. This is not a fight I wanted, or a fight that I chose. It is a fight that I fell into. I am an introverted medievalist historian. My home is between the walls of Pearsons at Pomona, reading a book about thirteenth century medieval Spanish history, not desperately trying to buy spray paint from a convenience store along with Zachary Friedman (PO ’20), my partner on this project, because no one reached out or stepped up to help us until Cameron Tipton (PO ’20) and Olivia Gulden (SCR ’20) lent a hand with our graffiti word art. I’m also a Pomona Advocate for Survivors of Sexual Assault, with a long and rather exhausting history of work in that field which began with my clerkship in the sexually violent predator unit of the district attorney’s office at the age of sixteen. I’ve seen how the most severe sexual assault cases are handled from the in-

side of the legal system in LA county, and I have a deep respect and appreciation for the people I worked with there. But they need about twice the staff they have, or the system can never function in the way that it is supposed to. The rape kit backlog will continue. Survivors’ stories will go unheard. Justice will live in limbo. We spray painted the wall with the words: “We believe Dr. Christine Ford” first and foremost because we wanted to support her as a survivor. Survivors have been failed by the justice system since its inception. However, in the case of the supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, we cannot go down without a fight. We cannot allow a perpetrator of sexual assault onto the supreme court again, especially when there is so much at stake for women and marginalized communities in this country. I think it is sometimes hard for young people to conceptualize how important institutions like the supreme court are to their personal safety, and how we must hang on to the legal validity of rulings such as Roe v. Wade like our lives depend on it (because they do). We cannot allow the anarchism of our peers to distract us from the fact that right now, it’s the American government which is protecting some of our core rights, such as the right to marry who we love, and the right to bodily autonomy. As much as the government makes us deeply uncomfortable, for all the wrong it has done, we must find the strength in our hearts and minds to scream at the top of our lungs, whether literally or metaphorically, against this supreme court appointment. This story is developing and changing as time marches on. As I write this, two other women have already come forth with allegations of sexual assault against Kavanaugh. We believe them, too. Supporting Dr. Ford has become a partisan issue, with Democrats speaking out in favor of the investigation and Republicans, for the most part, doing everything they can to attack her credibility. It shouldn’t be. Kavanaugh’s appointment is a human issue. A perpetrator of sexual assault or rape can never be redeemed, in my opinion, no matter how pristine and American their perfect family might look, despite the fact that they coach their kids’ sports teams and for all intents and purposes appear like an allAmerican father. We cannot allow an individual who is a perpe-

trator and thus deeply disrespectful of women’s bodily autonomy onto the supreme court, on which he will be able to make decisions which may very well affect women’s bodily autonomy. The Kavanaugh appointment is a defining moment for our country in which our government has a chance to stop more violence from being done to American women, or to show women across the country that cishet white males will always be considered more valuable to the fabric of American society then their most basic rights. I think my project partner Zachary Friedman said it well: “[Republicans] are willing to break all the rules, play all the cards, their hypocrisy knows no bounds…we’ve seen little to none of [Kavanaugh’s] actual record, hardly any of his papers from working in the George W. Bush whitehouse as a public servant for the United States of America, hundreds of thousands of documents of his time under the Bush administration that are completely hidden by the Republican majority…it’s clear he was picked by anti-choice zealots for their number one goal of overturning Roe v Wade which constitutionally protects a woman’s right to choose, and of course he’s going to be hostile to voting rights, to healthcare rights, minority rights, immigrant rights, and furthermore is a proponent of not holding a president accountable until he is out of office, which is clearly the reason he was chosen by this president, a man who is under investigation for colluding with a hostile foreign power to sway our democratically held election…[Trump is] picking his own jury…clearly he wants hand-picked justices on his side…there should be a throughout FBI investigation of all credible allegations of assault against this nominee…” But besides all the political issues, outside the partisan bickering and the high stakes, lies the true center of this investigation — the survivor. Dr. Ford — deserves to be listened to, to be respected, to be believed. She deserves due process in the investigation of her allegations of sexual assault. She deserves a legal system which isn’t failing her, a country which doesn’t feel unsafe to exist in as a woman at the moment. She deserves better; we all do. Dr. Ford, we believe you.

Bringing Scripps’ Dorms to Life with Vibrancy Hours By Aya Burton ‘22 Staff Writer

tarting this year, vibrancy hours will be instated in Scripps’ residential halls in an effort to create more lively and communicative living communities. During these hours, students will be encouraged to emerge from their rooms and join their floor and hall mates in hallways and common areas. By offering a time and space for students to connect with the people they live with, hall vibrancy hours aim to foster inclusive atmospheres that results in greater connections among residents. The activities taking place during vibrancy hours will vary from hall to hall, as community coordinators (CCs) will design them to match the needs and requests of their respective residents. Although vibrancy hours intend to boost dormitories’ sense of community and strengthen relationships among students,

they are not meant to impede on established quiet hours, which begin at 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. It seems as though these newly designated vibrancy hours are more important than ever at Scripps, where students may enjoy the comforts of air-conditioning and personal sinks but, on the whole, feel that dorm community is lacking. “Dorm culture has no culture,” said one Scripps first-year. “I don’t even know some of the people in my hall” since “doors are closed most of the time” – a common observation and even expectation in Scripps’ residential halls. Although RAs and CCs do organize events for students in their respective halls, some students have voiced complaints about the lack of bonding opportunities and limited advertising surrounding such events. In the first couple weeks of classes, Clark held a game night in the rec room and New Hall offered

cookie decorating in the student lounge. “I didn’t know about them until I accidentally showed up, though,” one Scripps student admitted. “Kimberly has no events, ever,” another said. If they fulfill their intended purpose, vibrancy hours should offer the much-needed opportunities to meet and connect with fellow residents. Although it may, as of now, be “hard for hall mates to bond because there’s no common space in the halls” as one Scripps first-year acknowledged, vibrancy hours aim to create those spaces by encouraging students to gather in hallways and lounges during designated hours. Perhaps this year, then, and in the years following, Scripps’ residential halls will feel a bit brighter and more alive. Scripps will always offer places for rest and tranquility, but a little vibrancy and noise in its living spaces every now and then wouldn’t hurt.

27 September, 2018 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXVII • Issue One

News • 3

An Update on Harvey Mudd’s Mental Health Is Harvey Mudd’s administration putting enough emphasis on the mental health of its students? By Sasha Rivera ‘19 Staff Writer

Image courtesy of Harvey Mudd College

ragedy struck on Aug. 31, 2018 when a Harvey Mudd College student was found dead in his dorm room. That same day, Charlotte Johnson, Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students at Scripps College, sent out an email to students expressing her condolences. Johnson supplied a list of mental health services, information about Scripps’ Primary Contact Deans, and upcoming health and wellness events. While Johnson’s email provided information about Scripps and 5C resources to the community, the tragedy at Mudd raises an important question: Is Harvey Mudd’s administration putting enough emphasis on the mental health of its students? The Harvey Mudd College sit-in rally of April 2017 was an event that involved students from all of the Claremont Colleges. The event was sparked by a multitude of events: Qutayba Abdullatif (Dean Q), the Dean of Health and Wellness, had been placed on involuntary paid leave, both a Scripps student and Harvey Mudd student had recently passed away, and the leak of the Wabash report, a 2015 study done by HMC’s Teaching and Learning Committee to document how the college’s intense workload negatively impacted students. The report had only been shared with faculty, not the students, until it was leaked by The Student Life. More than 100 students from the college and allies from the other 5Cs protested in front of the Dean of Student Affairs Office. At the eight-hour sit-in, the students presented the HMC administration with a list of demands that critiqued the college’s current mental health policies and requested specific changes. On this list, students stated that Mudd’s Administration and the Division of Student Affairs (DSA) needed to take measures to bolster mental health resources through better budget allocations, hire more mental health counselors (specifically counselors of color), and to increase its overall transparency. The list especially emphasized the need for the administration to improve its treatment of students of marginalized backgrounds. During the rally, President Maria Klawe addressed the protesters and called an emergency meeting with the Board of Trustees, later presenting a proposal addressing the student demands. HMC Dean of Students, Jon Jacobsen, emailed students with promises of an increased budget of $1,500 for student diversity groups, a release of the DSA’s own budget later in the month, and proposals of increased staff and funding for mental health resources both on and off-campus. Moreover, Klawe added $15,000 to the college’s mental health budget. Now, almost two years later, the question still stands: has mental health at HMC improved? Have the

administration and DSA fulfilled their promises of increased resources and transparency to students? The answer is not a simple one of course, and involves many complications. According to an HMC student representative, the college has met the demands of increasing mental health service funding, allocating non-Associated Students of Harvey Mudd College (ASHMC) funds to the supporting affinity groups on campus, such as Black Lives at Mudd (BLAM), Society of Professional Latinos in STEMS (SPLS), Asian Pacific Islander Sponsor Program at Mudd (APISPAM), Trans Home for Everyone (and You!) That Helps Every Mudder (THEY/THEM), People Respecting Identities and Sexualities at Mudd (PRISM), Feminist Empowerment at Mudd Union (FEMunion), and creating dedicated spaces for these groups in the Linde Activities Center. Moreover, the administration has attempted to help marginalized students more by directly communicating with them,

body. In addition, the problems don’t just lie with the administration, but with DSA and student leaders as well. Rossi said that the DSA budget breakdown was revealed after the sit-in, but the documentation about Dean Q’s termination was not, since the possible reasoning was revealed later; he had been sharing confidential information given to him by students with other students. DSA still has not been investigated by an external committee as was requested in the 2017 list, specifically to address “Dean Jake’s handling of budget distribution and Dean Leslie’s handling of sexual assault cases and other interactions with students,” as stated in Demand Seven. The student representative gave some critiques of the campus climate, from social systems to campus politics. They stated that the dorm culture was divisive and noninclusive, that DSA and student leaders were often not in touch with actual student needs, and that many affinity groups had issues with gatekeeping and not sufficiently supporting the members. The student representative raised some concerns about the transparency and accessibility between the DSA and the general student body. Both students concluded that the situation was complicated. There are several tangible things that HMC had done to improve student’s mental health. Of course, there are more changes that need to be addressed, both within the administration and the campus culture. Rossi and the anonymous student representative both acknowledged the increase in discussion of mental health on the campus as a positive result of the 2017 sit-in. “Overall, there seems to be a more open dialogue about mental health and wellness at Mudd,” Rossi said, “Personally, my mental health has gotten worse, but I was able to access treatment that has since made me a much more functional student in the Mudd environment.” According to the interviewed students, after the recent tragedy the student body has truly come together to grieve. This unity has helped with the healing process and will hopefully improve overall student relations. Whether the administration and campus organizations will take further actions to better mental health resources, transparency, and inclusivity is to be determined.

“Of the students I know that are struggling with mental health at Mudd, around half use services provided by the school, and half see a provider outside of the school” - Cassie Rossi HMC ’21 particularly through Admissions, the Office of Institutional Diversity (OID), and various academic departments. “HMC offers in-house counseling through ARC, and I believe there is still a fund that will cover copays and rides to and from mental-health related services. The division of student affairs will actually call you an Uber if you cannot pay the cost up front to be reimbursed,” Cassie Rossi HMC ‘21 said. “Of the students I know that are struggling with mental health at Mudd, around half use services provided by the school, and half see a provider outside of the school,” Rossi said. “Many students feel supported academically by professors and the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs as they go through a rough time...I truly believe that Mudd is doing much more than other universities as far as providing access to services.” Both Rossi and the anonymous student representative agreed that Rae Chresfield and Michelle Harrison, the Associate and Assistant Deans of Health and Wellness, were good sources of support for students. However, the administration is still lacking in some ways. According to the anonymous student representative, Chresfield and Harrison are still just two people and it is therefore unreasonable to expect them to be able to properly assist the entire student

27 September, 2018 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXVII • Issue One

4 • News

Residence Hall Keypads: Convenient or Cumbersome? Hayley Van Allen ‘20 Queer Columnist

cripps students came back to their residence halls this fall to a new measure of security: each residence hall is now equipped with a keypad to be paired with the previous swipe access. The new keypads come as an effort to keep the residence halls on campus safer. Last Spring, students received an email about a man who broke into Gabriele Jungels-Winkler Hall (GJW) using a Scripps student ID he had found. With keypads, strangers with lost or stolen ID cards would be unable to use them to enter buildings. This new method of security, although well intentioned, in reality does not make much of a difference in the actual safety of the residence halls. As many Scripps students can attest, in halls with automatic

doors, the doors stay open for a very long time. Students are regularly able to enter the residence halls without even needing to pull out their ID card because the door is still open from the last person to enter the building. The automatic doors in residence halls stay open for nearly a minute every time someone taps or swipes their card and punches in their unique 4 digit code. Not only do the doors stay open for long periods of time, but many students will let people standing outside into residence halls without more than a questioning look. On campus, there is an assumption of safety that leads to many students not thinking or feeling comfortable enough to question people they don’t recognize trying to get into a hall. While Scripps administration has sent out a few emails regarding this issue, most students still do not feel as they are in a position to question every person trying to get into a residence hall. Without finding a better way to change this mindset present among students, Scripps’s efforts to increase security will fall flat. It is, of course, important to ensure all spaces on campus, especially residential spaces, are accessible to everyone, and so it is good that the halls have doors that can open automatically. The issue isn’t the fact that the doors can stay open for a period of time, but the fact that they open for every person regardless of need. If anything, the new keypads make access

to the residence halls less accessible. Punching a code in could be anywhere from inconvenient to impossible for people who, for a variety of reasons, suffer from tremors, poor dexterity, weak muscles, or other chronic conditions. By implementing a keypad, residence halls have become less accessible for some people. A more effective solution to security issues would be to change the way automatic doors on campus open. Each automatic door should have an opt-in that is programmed to individual ID cards, in addition to the activation switch used to open doors. It could be as simple as checking a box on one of the many forms sent to students at the beginning of the year. For students whose ability changes midway through the semester, an email to reslife should suffice in getting their ID reprogrammed. If the ID card of every Scripps student was able to be reprogrammed without much hassle, it should in theory be relatively simple to change the IDs in this way as well. Overall, the new keypad system in dorms is well intentioned but ultimately makes dorms less accessible and doesn’t fix the more pressing security issues. It’s understandable that Scripps administrators want to keep their students safe; there are just more effective ways to do so.

Why There’s Basically No Access To Basements Theodora Helgason ‘22 Staff Writer

Photo by Ali Bush ‘19

n my first days as a Scrippsie I was racked with anxiety about where I would make new friends. Scripps is blessed with more picturesque nooks than most colleges have, and because we are blessed with SoCal weather, most of them are outdoors. Perhaps this is a good problem to have: too many shared spaces. Yet, it didn’t feel like there was one place to congregate in my residence hall, Clark. In my fantasies about college I always envisioned staying up late and talking, eating chips, and telling stories in a common room. There is the recreation room, which is conveniently located right next to my own room but unknown and unseen by most of the other first-years in my hall. The living room was spacious and a known space to all Clarke residences, but with medieval lighting and oldalbeit charming furniture, it did not make me feel welcome to laugh loudly with new friends while sharing popcorn and secrets. It felt like a quiet place of study, not the setting for the socializing I craved. My best friend, a student at Lafayette College, told me that the basement was where he had made most of his friends. It was a shared place that everyone had access to and

knew because it was where facilities like the laundry room were located. He would bring his work downstairs and would always find a friendly face waiting, ready to chat about anything and everything. They watched sports games and played foosball during their study breaks, and most importantly, that basement is where they made plans to hang out again. Friendships were formed in the underground space of their shared hall. It was an equalizing place. A place equally convenient for everyone. At Scripps, all residence hall basements have been closed off to students. So, what are the basements here at Scripps being used for? The Voice reached out to the Office of Marketing and Communications to find out. “The basements of the residence halls at Scripps contain areas for building mechanical and electrical systems, storage spaces, and, in some residence halls, laundry facilities,” Interim Executive Director of Marketing and Communications, Carolyn Robles, said. “As part of our ongoing campus assessments, it was determined that restricted access to and use of the basements of the College would enhance the safety and security of the residence halls. As a result of the change, the

basement laundry in Clark was relocated to the first floor so that each residence hall complex has laundry facilities available on the first or second floor.” According to Robles, because the restricted access of Scripps basements has decreased student storage space, student storage is now located in Tiernan Field House. “General access to the basements is now restricted to necessary personnel of the the college,” Robles said. Yet, some residence halls such as Browning still use the basement for laundry, forcing students to use the dark and damp space despite apparent “safety and security” issues. It is up to Scripps students to transform the gathering spaces in the residence halls that we already have into places of laughter and light. “The basements were not used as student gathering spaces [prior to their termination as a student space], which are abundant on Scripps campus,” Robles said.

27 September, 2018 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXVII • Issue I

News • 5

We SCOREd with this One: New Changes to Residential Maritza Arreola, SCORE’s Advisor System New Assistant Dean By Jacqueline Loh ‘22 Staff Writer

By Jeanette Lomeli ‘22 Staff Writer

aritza Arreola is a social justice nerd, a true and dedicated Marvel fan, a lover of big, bold fashion statements (who can forget her amazing earrings), and, among other things, is SCORE’s new Assistant Dean. First and foremost, Arreola always wears awesome earrings. She’s been spotted rocking hoops, dinosaurs, loteria cards, and other interesting and ornate earrings that create unforgettable fashion statements. Additionally, her ombre hair is always styled to perfection. She can match any outfit with soft curls that frame her face or with rulerstraight hair. I certainly still remember what she was wearing for this interview; she matched a radiant sunflower yellow dress with some dangly hollow wooden hoops flecked with yellow, red, and orange. When I asked her about the origin of her love for earrings, she said that it was not something that she really was able to do until her time at Mills College, an all-women’s college in Oakland, California. As a child and young adult, Arreola was not confident in showing any part of her ears because of the hearing aids she wears to accommodate her loss of hearing. Through her experience at Mills working as a social justice peer educator and in nonprofits, she learned to embrace that identity. Accessorizing indirectly allowed her to heal the insecurity she carried with her. She found that being deliberate about speaking up about her disability ensured that she challenged the assumption that everyone in the room is able-bodied and made her peers think more critically about their own assumptions. In that way, she hopes that she can create a transformation of thought among people in order to lighten students’ hardships and make it easier for them to navigate spaces. In her time at Mills, she was able to discover the issues that she cared about: disability justice, educational support systems, claiming space, and challenging

assumptions people make about ablebodyism. Empowering communities of people to stand up for what they believe in and create change has always been a dream of hers. A dream that she has been able to fulfill because of her profession and career in education and social justice. To Arreola, social justice means transforming human suffering into positive change. It’s a core value that powers her drive and passion of helping students with marginalized identities and historically underrepresented students, including firstgeneration college students, students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, students with disabilities, and undocumented students. Drawing from her experiences as a firstgeneration student, woman of color, and a person with a disability, she can connect with students and provide them with assistance. For her, it is possible to work more holistically because she is informed by what she went through in her own educational path and environment. Her education at Mills, where she earned a B.A. in Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies and minored in Ethnic Studies, and her graduate work at UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, led her to the Los Angeles LGBT Center, UCLA, and finally, to Scripps College. Not surprisingly, her favorite place and the place where she feels most comfortable in is SCORE. She hopes to be able to serve and support students in getting them access to the opportunities and resources they need to thrive at Scripps. Outside of her work at Scripps, she keeps up with Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones. She is faithfully and patiently waiting for the return of Grey’s Anatomy (let’s hope that it gets here soon). She is an avid player of Pokemon GO and if she could be a Pokemon, she would choose to be Togepi, a super bubbly and happy Spike-ball Pokemon!

new set of changes have been installed to Scripps College’s Resident Advisor (RA) system for the 20182019 academic year. Changes include downsizing the number of RAs and adding the Community Coordinator (CC) position. These changes come two years after the passing of Scripps RA Tatissa Zunguze and a series of RA strikes the following month. “Some of the feedback we received during the strike was that the former configuration of the RA role was too demanding,” Carolyn Robles, Interim Executive Director of Marketing and Communications, said. The RA role was revised and some of its responsibilities reduced. For example, RAs are now limited to “no more than four [on call] weekends a semester and will be paired with one other RA during the rotation,” according the official RA job description. According to Media and Communications, “many of the former responsibilities of the role [were] removed in order to ensure RAs can balance their role with the demands of their academic schedule.” The Residential Life team set a new goal of fostering community at Scripps. “The changes are also the result of our commitment to a vibrant student residential community in which all students feel connected and engaged,” Media and Communications added. RA duties have been modified as well, now with a greater emphasis on community building. According to Media and Communications, there is an added “mentorship component allowing RAs a more formal role in the mentorship of other student staff in Residential Life.” This is intended to cultivate greater connectivity between RA staff and students. The RA staff was significantly downsized. This year, there are only six RAs, while in previous years each hall had multiple RAs working together. “Unlike previous years, the RA role is limited to juniors and seniors,” Media and Communications stated. Residential Life added the CC position to work in tandem with RAs. According to Media and Communications, CCs and RAs will collaborate to “focus on community engagement and connectedness through programming and social interactions.” The time commitment for the CC role is significantly less than the commitment required by RAs. According to official job descriptions, the time commitment anticipated for the RA and CC job position is 15 hours per week and 15 hours per month respectively. The addition of the CC position allows the College to hire additional student leaders and encourages more students to become engaged in the residential community. “This helps ensure an inclusive and diverse Res Life team,” Media and Communications commented, “Ultimately, the new structure facilitate[s] a thriving residential space where students have many options to find community.” Official policy enforcement will be handled by professional staff of Campus Life. This is intended to assist RAs and CCs when they encounter unfamiliar situations and require additional support. This change is intended to allow “students ... to develop their own community standards and expectations of one another that should ultimately require less assistance from the Campus Life staff,” Media and Communications said. RAs are still required to conduct walkthroughs through halls. This is aimed to increase support for students and strengthen a sense of community. According to Media and Communications, the new residential life structure “[ensures] students have multiple touch points to inquire about resources.” No current RAs were available for comment. The residential life program will be evaluated annually, with adjustments added as needed based on student, staff, and campus partner feedback.

27 September, 2018 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXVII • Issue One

Nyarai Khepra ’22

i taste like tears so bittersweet sometimes bitter no sweet like lemons with sugar stressed out to the max stretched until i crack i sound like a hum constant and comforting but painful like a moan a beautiful stream of notes i know you want to listen to me forever cause i sound like hurt

creative

5 senses and you still don't know who I am you don't my name no keys or coffee shops scars on my heart that you can't see thoughts on my tongue that you can't taste

xpression and you like the pitiful pretty i sound pushing past pain that wants to last forever

i look like joy like a laugh nostalgic memories in your past teeth just bones smiles real long i think you have only seen me smile but it's forced a facial expression constructed for your pleasure sorry my emotions don't measure up

This Sky Is So Goddamn Blue

First, stand outside and look up. Notice. Now you may proceed.

Part I CAUTION! Lukewarm skies no simmer, no rage, no scald, when your skin meets the soft sky skin should it not seethe and curl and blister exposed or freeze into a million tiny crystals despite the salinity (your sweat) don’t you wonder — why? are you not afraid?

Forgetting rage et la sérénité and serenity Or nous ne les cherchons plus et la peinture But we’ve ceased chasing them and that paint Un jour après l’autre et les genoux One day after another and the knees Une heure après l’autre et les gilets One hour after another and the jackets Et nous nous retirons et la neige And we retire and the snow à nos grottes (et toi?) To our caves (and you?) en oubliant ce ciel tiède Forgetting the lukewarm sky ATTENTION! Le temps passe. en oubliant la rage CAUTION! Time passes.

Anna Mitchell ’22

CAUTION! No clouds like house paint that slashes at bare wood like winter coats that billow (bearded knees) cast in the morning snow like thoughts from a cigarette that dissipate Part II Nous faisons de beaux rêves We dream nice dreams

patterns on my brain that you can't touch exhaustion that you can't smell happiness too genuine to hear i heard i feel like dough but i'm not pliable told me i taste like cherries like they've never had me on their tongue look like i been dancing with the devil but i got two left feet say i sound like a symphony my voice cracks often told i smell like home from a stranger

What is Better? CW: eating disorders

Faith McDermott ’19

“

he woman’s hair is the color of Swiss Mix made with whole milk. She wears pantyhose with khaki capris and black pleather ballet flats that are peeling right where her big toe must meet the end of her shoe. She wears glasses that look like licorice, her lips the color of hot pepperoni. Anabelle can picture the woman sifting through the clearance rack at Talbots for poly blend sweater sets in colors like cantaloupe and snap pea green. “When was the last time you weighed yourself?” The woman has opened her legal pad to a new page, her pen ready for Anabelle’s answer. There are wrong answers. This is something Anabelle is very sure of. However, there is no right answer, and if one appears to be trying to be right it would almost be better to be wrong. But almost isn’t enough to be honest. “Maybe last Monday? It could’ve been Tuesday. I’m not really sure.” However, Anabelle is sure. So sure in fact that she knows her weight taken this morning at 7AM and the weight of the chicken breast she ate last night down to the decimal point. After nine months of being hungry one learns that lies look a lot like the truth when served with direct eye contact. So Anabelle stares at the woman’s pupils until she nods, her Swiss Mix bob swaying back and forth as her pen makes contact with paper. More questions are asked, their answers jotted down on lined paper, the woman’s legs crossing and recrossing every few minutes. The sound of control top pantyhose rubbing against cotton chinos reminding her of biting into a piece of rye toast with margarine. “Do you want to get better now, or do you want to get better later?” Anabelle wants to ask what ‘better’ is. Because better may be six letters and fat may be three but when used in this context Anabelle can’t help but think they’re the same. When she pictures better she imagines pink frosted donuts with rainbow sprinkles and cherry cola in glass bottles. She sees her stomach soft like a poached egg, her arms thick like bratwursts. She also thinks this is an unfair question. It is asking her to choose between two options that lead to the same end point, therefore not giving her much of a choice at all. She feels as though she’s seven again and her mother is telling her to make her bed, yet Anabelle has the agency to decide if she wants to do it before or after she flosses. “I want to get better now.” The syllables sounded muddled the way talking with a mouth full of salt water taffy makes it hard to distinguish between I’s and E’s. Anabelle has gotten good at lying however the moment she hears the sound of her own voice she knows this isn’t her finest work. Anabelle does not hear the sound of pen on paper. Instead crispy rye toast meeting impatient molars sounds in her eyes as the woman with hot coco hair uncrosses her legs, stands up from her chair, and says “Same time next week?” Anabelle nods and the woman tells her to check in with the receptionist before she leaves to confirm her insurance provider. On the car ride home her mother is silent, and Anabelle is still trying to figure out what better really means. The radio is playing the laugh network, a station that has snippets of comedy acts sandwiched between Dunkin Donuts ads and public service announcements encouraging the consumption of sugar free beverages. Her mother believes one’s serotonin levels can be altered by a tooth bearing grin and bone rattling cackle, therefore making prescriptions for Prozac and Lexapro not only useless but frivolous as well. “ Well at least you’re not one of those girl who’s making themselves puke.” Her mother says this as if Anabelle should be thankful for her eating disorder the way one would be for a benign mole. “ The stomach acid really wears away at your enamel and before you know it you’ve got a mouthful of cavities. You’ve got such a pretty smile- what a shame it would be if you lost that too.” Anabelle nods and stares at the double yellow line. She runs her tongue against the back of her teeth trying to recall the taste of her own honesty.

27 September, 2018 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXVII • Issue One

7 Maddy Yardumian ’21 This afternoon I took a walk in the rain To remind myself That bleeding is one of the greatest Magic tricks of being alive Sometimes when we cry We feel the old flow Out to make space for the new The despair shifts Appreciation settles in And we are grounded This is how we are gently pushed Into becoming people We might actually like to know Sometimes I feel like concrete in the rain Letting puddles The weight of other people’s footsteps Beat me into a grainy submission Cracking in the empty spaces I collect water like a basin And yet I am filled to the brim With barrenness Sensations run hollow In these moments I remind myself to be more like the earth Taking in what’s given to me And in the thick of the mush I tell myself There are worse things to be Than soft

creative

i feel like silence like the aftermath an aftertaste of pain on a warm sunny day

i smell like patchouli and lavender chapped stick kisses kisses long overdue i been over you i smell like a home cooked meal like spike and spices like peppermint and pills for pain to keep my senses intact

Lessons from walking in the rain

5 senses

SPOTLIGHT

xpression

E 6

So when pouring rain turns to drizzle And I regret the way I felt Because it is no longer worth feeling I look down at my water-stained shoes More brick than flotation device And I remind myself that A natural ebb and flow Does not nullify a natural reaction That pain is both fleeting and real And when we tell ourselves There is no shame In hurting This is how we heal I keep walking I hear the gentle squeak my steps make When they hit the sidewalk And feel the two mold together Feet to pavement Pavement to dirt A little less concrete A little more earth So yes, bouncing back May seem easier on solid ground But that’s because man Made things he could fix So he could claim He is a natural healer But he forgets That nature heals man So today I will resolve To grow with the grass Feel the magic in my bones And let the promise of the sky Leave me cold and wet and Beautiful and free And as tufts of dandelions Poke out from Cracks in my skin I will let life make me:

”

A little less presuming A little more forgiving A little less broken A little more living

8 • Politics these candidates won their primary campaigns. he candidates themselves are very inspiring,” Harper Mills ’19 said of the Democratic candidates in primary races. “Their stories and values really resonated with young people.” This summer, Mills worked on a campaign hyper-focused on increasing participation and turnout for the midterms. Josh Zakim, the candidate for Massachusetts secretary of state, endorsed same-day voting legislation and weekend voting measures. “We have a ridiculously large student population; a lot of them have been disengaged from the political process,” Mills said. lthough Zakim lost his primary to the incumbent secretary of state, Mills plans on canvassing in upcoming general election races near Claremont, citing canvassing as her primary motivation. “Canvassing is where it’s at,” Mills said. “Despite the fact that my work is really stressful and tiring, I just felt I had an optimistic view of the world when I was doing it.” his semester, Mills has continued campaigning for progressive candidates. This weekend Mills, her friends, and other students went to Upland to campaign for city council candidate Irmalinda Osuna. “Students are understanding more that the long journey of getting to a political system and situation in our country that we can believe in is not just about the presidential election,” Mills said., “It’s about the midterms, it’s about the down-ballot races, it’s about super local nitty gritty stuff that people normally don’t think about.”

“T

Claremont College Students are Leading their Candidates to Success in the Midterms Image courtesy of The Wall Street Journal

By Ittai Sopher PZ ’19 Political Correspondent

or Claire Wengrod PZ ’19 the midterm campaign trail is where her expertise is most valued. An outspoken member of Pitzer student senate and a political studies major, Wengrod found herself playing political arena on the national level while working on the Congressional Campaign of Deb Haaland. “When we were making decisions about what our campaign was going to do,” Wengrod said “I had equal voice as a staff member in making those decisions.” f elected in November, Haaland will become the first Native American woman to serve in Congress. This victory would be especially historic for the state of New Mexico, since, according to the

most recent census, more than ten percent of New Mexicans are Native American: “I’m Deb Haaland and Congress has never heard a voice like mine,” is one of her campaign slogans. ccess to campaign staff and candidates that are more representative of the population are a major theme of this year’s Democratic midterms. In April, The New York Times reported that 40 percent of campaign managers for Democratic congressional candidates are women, compared to a 2010 midterm study where those numbers were “too small to be statistically reliable.” On top of that, 66 women ran in House races this year, and more than half of

A T

war games and trade By Simone Henry ‘22 Staff Writer

A Relationship That Could Shift Global Politics

Image courtesy of The Wall Street Journal

he Western world watched on Sept. 11 as Russia began their biggest military exercise since the Cold War. For four days, over 3,000 Chinese troops and 30 Chinese aircrafts joined the 300,000 Russian service members, 36,000 tanks, 1,000 aircrafts, and 80 ships in this display across Siberia. Russia has also began plans for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Vladivostok to expand their energy market away from Europe and towards China and East Asia. A Sino-Russo relationship may be more feasible than previously thought. Although the possibility of this relationship has become close in the past, neither country has ever been able to commit. Regardless of its longevity, a relationship between Russia and China could shift how we think of and act on global politics. During the Cold War, China and Russia were both communist countries with common enemies, but neither country was able to commit to an alliance. Pomona Professor of U.S. Foreign Policy, Mietek Boduszynski, suggests that globalization and more integrated world economies, in addition to pressure from the U.S. and EU, have caused these two countries to move closer together now. Professor Boduszynski added that this is all about power; as the U.S. decreases in power, China and Russia want to step in to fill that space. Russians want to show their strength to the world. But Russia’s power is unusual because their economy is smaller than the state of Texas, yet they are able to make a high impact in the world at a low cost. “It’s more important to be seen as strong” wrote Mark Galeotti from The Atlantic. Russia and China working in military exercises together may not be an immediately aggressive action. If Russia had not invited China, China

would have seen the war games as an act of aggression, as Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, Michael Carpenter, suggested in a BBC interview. It is more the unusual collaboration between the two countries that raises concerns. Europe’s energy sanctions against Russia have caused Russia to pivot its energy market of natural gas towards China and other Eastern-Asian countries. In 2013, Russia was not a major supplier of oil to China and “there is even less cooperation in the area of natural gas,” stated political scientist for The Diplomat, Scott W. Harold. Currently, Russia is planning the $7.5bn Vladivostok LNG Plan to export LNG to China and Pacific Asia. Russia has also agreed to a $400bn deal to export gas to China. This growth shows great cooperation between the two countries. “If the United States pushes too far, [Russia

and China] are going to move closer to each other,” said the chairman of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank, Alexander Gabuev. China is signaling to Washington that Russia isn’t a threat to them right now. The two countries moving closer to each other “should be a concern to the United States” said Michael Kofman, the senior research scientist at CNA, a U.S.-funded research organization. Russia needs China as a powerful military ally and trade with China could potentially greatly grow their economy. China does not need Russia economically, but they benefit from energy, tech, and weapons export. The EU has responded by beefing up defense in Eastern Europe and by closely monitoring the war games. There has been no verbal or written response out of Washington, but the Trump administration has implemented more military in the Pacific since being in power.

27 September, 2018 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXVII • Issue One

Opinion • 9

Speaking in Tongues By Hanna Kim ‘21 POC Columnist

am an extremely fortunate first generation American on one side and second generation on the other. Both my parents speak English. My mother was born in Hartford, Connecticut and raised in La Jolla, California. She was an English Literature major at Barnard College. My father immigrated to the United States from Seoul, South Korea when he was 12. Even though my family still chuckles at his grammar from time to time, he learned English in high school through TV shows and rap music. We live in San Francisco, where, for us, English is the most foundational instrument for conversation and connection. I didn’t really know my grandparents on my father’s side too well. My relationship with them was more like a pen-pal relationship, until they both developed health complications and passed away within the same year. My maternal grandparents actually met in English class in Korea, as they both held aspirations to work in the United States. I am still in awe that my grandpa has no Korean accent when he speaks English. I feel very grateful that it has been so easy to interact with my Korean relatives, but almost too coddled. I haven’t had to stretch myself in a new country and learn a whole new alphabet, vocabulary, and slang under

pressure. I felt almost like a fake Korean, which is a common feeling for many Asian-American people. I adore Korean food, sing Korean songs with my grandpa, and know miscellaneous words, but I don’t know how to form a sentence in Korean. I did not feel a full sense of belonging until this past weekend, when I met Dongbum’s kids for the first time. Dongbum is my dad’s baby brother, who passed away on Christmas day about 20 years ago from lung cancer. When he passed, his children, Kristin and Ryan, were 5 and 3, respectively. Kristin had written on a piece of construction of paper, “I will never get married. They will just leave you and die.” Ryan is the spitting image of his father. Kristin is the spitting image of her mother. Our mothers met on a Korean exchange program. That exchange program is how Ryan and Kristin’s mother was able to introduce my parents. My dad has a second brother, Yongbum. He is caring, hilarious, and kind of anxious. He wants to care for everyone and wants everyone to be comfortable, sometimes at the expense of his own sanity. He is married to Hyeonju, a beautiful woman who used to be a pianist. She is extremely religious, sleeps all day, and always tells me I should model. I tell her that I am way too short to model. I met Hyeonju’s ama at their house when we came for food. She didn’t

speak English, but she was so smiley and dynamic as an elderly woman. By picking up on random words, I was able to understand her and respond. = “Brother” “Handsome” “Mother” My brother became so handsome and looks like my mother. = “Baby” “Beautiful” I saw you last when you were just a baby. You have become so beautiful . “Happy” “Family” “Food” “Delicious” I am so happy our family is all together now. The food looks so delicious! Only then, did I feel a sense of comfort with the Korean language. What was once accumulated shame about not knowing anything about the language my relatives spoke natively became unexpected comfort. I picked up so many words without any sort of maintenance rehearsal or studying. Don’t get me wrong: I have a lot to learn, and hope to take Korean classes in college or after college, but I’m not starting from zero. I’m starting from a vocabulary stemming from my grandparents, Korean restaurants, relatives who saw me as a baby, songs I used to sing with my grandfather, names my mom would call my dad, words that grandma felt important that I should remember. And I think that’s a little more than nothing.

Photo courtesy of thenewsmarket

27, September 2018 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXVII • Issue One

10 • Opinion

On Being Bi Enough Hayley Van Allen ‘20 Queer Columnist

i Visibility Day has been held on Sept. 23 since 1999 to increase awareness and acceptance of the bi+ community. The annual event is almost as old as many students at the 5Cs, and even older than some, yet, stereotypes and harmful attitudes still follow those who identify as bisexual. As a result, members of the bi+ community are ostracized by both the LGBT* and straight communities by heterosexist society. When conversations about identity and the LGBT* community arise, it is all too common to hear those who are bi or pan express concern that they’re not gay enough to be a part of the community. This is especially true for those in a relationship with someone considered to be the “opposite” gender by heteronormative society. This mindset is directly caused by biexclusionists within the LGBT* community, which contradicts the entire purpose and even acronym of the community. For as long as there

has been a visible queer justice movement, there have been those that have tried to gate-keep and exclude certain members. The #droptheb movement — an effort to change the acronym to just LGT — is just one of the ways that bisexuals have been pushed from the LGBT* community. Much of the discrimination towards bisexuals from members of the LGBT* community comes from an insistence that those who identify as bi have certain privileges that other members do not. The main instance of these accused privileges is “straight passing privilege,” called such because bisexuals can supposedly pass as straight. Using just a bit of common sense this is debunked, because anyone can be straight passing if they hide enough of themself. Although bisexuals make up the majority of the LGBT* community, the Pew Research Center conducted a study showing that only 28 percent of bisexual people in the U.S. said that all or most of the important people in their lives are aware that they are LGBT. This could partly be why bisexual youth “experience higher rates of

askLue Q A

Dear Lue, I want to switch from the pill to the birth control implant Nexplanon. What are the pros and cons of the arm implant? It sounds almost too good to be true... is it? Anonymous Hey Anonymous, The arm implant is a small piece of hormone-infused plastic that rests under the skin of your arm for 3-4 years. The implant, like all forms of birth control, has some pros and cons. Choosing birth control is extremely subjective and really depends on choosing a method that can fit your current lifestyle. For example, I would not recommend the pill for a person who cannot stick to a schedule extremely regularly. Some of the pros of the implant include continuous protection against pregnancy for 3-4 years; there’s nothing to remember to take so if you struggle with taking medicine on a schedule, this would be a good option. Additionally, there is an easy insertion/removal process, so it can be easily reversible if there are any unwanted side effects. Speaking of side effects, some of the cons of the implant include some common ones associated with a hormonal method: persistent irregular bleeding, acne, mood fluctuation, and increased appetite. As with all side effects, it is important to note that not every person who gets the implant will experience them: One person may have absolutely none at all and another may have three of them. The important thing is to experiment and find the method that best works with your body and your life. If the pill is not fitting your standards and you are curious about other methods of contraception, my advice is to talk to a physician and go ahead and try what feels right! Lue

suicidality, substance use, bullying and sexual violence compared to their gay, lesbian and straight peers,” according to Bihealthmonth.org. Bi people often internalize what is being accused of them. This is what leads to bisexuals staying closeted more often than their gay counterparts. It’s what leads to more mental health issues. It’s what leads to feeling shame for being bi, but still not feeling gay enough to be a member of the LGBT* community and take advantage of resources designed for them. Whether they want to be active members of the LGBT* community or not, every bisxeual person deserves love and support when navigating their identity. There are many unique challenges to being bisexual that are too often overlooked by members of the LGBT* community and heterosexist society. Whether you’re a member of the LGBT* community or just an ally, if you’re not supporting and raising up your bi siblings, what are you even doing? Visibility is important. Acceptance is important. Don’t forget that after Sept. 23 has passed.

Luena Maillard is a junior at Scripps who is passionate about holistic health and education. In high school, she was employed by Planned Parenthood as a Peer Health Educator to teach sex ed classes to high school health classes. She is currently working as a PHE here on campus, and you can find her during her office hours at Tiernan Field House for one-on-one conversations!

Q A

Dear Lue, Recently my hook-up and I have been seeing each other more often and I have been really in my head about having clumsy or awkward sex. Any advice for how to deal? Anonymous Hey Anonymous, The truth is, clumsy or awkward sex is really common and happens a lot more than we’ve been made to think. We tend to think of it as bad because we have been told that it’s not how sex is supposed to go, but it can be intimate and passionate while simultaneous being clumsy or messy or maybe even awkward. Being able to laugh together at a position you are not nailing or a funny noise one of you has made when you are lying with another person can be extremely intimate. Clumsy or awkward sex is rarely as bad as it’s been made out to be, and it happens with hookups and long-term partners alike. Sex is experimental; it’s not a show, and there’s no one you are performing this for. Sometimes it takes experimenting to figure out what feels good for the people involved. Naturally, there’s going to be some clumsiness involved; it’s all just a part of sex, and to be honest, it’s a large part of the fun. Lue

27 September, 2018 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXVII • Issue One

Arts & Entertainment • 11

Greil Marcus Talks Failing, Rock and Roll, and Being Human Ali Bush ‘19 Music Columnist

ailing isn’t a topic that Americans want to think about, admit, or forsee in our futures. We strive and strive and succeed, forever moving forward, never admitting defeat, and beating ourselves up when something goes wrong. It’s a situation that Rolling Stone editor and author Greil Marcus shed light on last Thursday at the inaugural Pomona Humanities Studio lecture “Fail Better.” Marcus was one of the first contributors to Rolling Stone magazine, and wrote about rock music’s metamorphoses throughout his life, witnessing his fair share of failure along the way, be it his personal experience or the so called failure of rock and roll in general. His book “Mystery Train” is a classic of music criticism, as he was one of the first to analyze the birth of rock and its role in American culture. Throughout the lecture, Marcus regaled a small crowd with tales of “failure” in music, art, and literature. In particular, Marcus focused on the story of The Band, a Canadian folk rock group that was hugely popular in the 70s and known for their harmonies and sense of comradery in their songs like “The Weight.” As time went on and they reached massive success, many band members fell victim to drug addiction and the group’s harmony deteriorated. They lost their original vitality, and eventually The Band disbanded. Marcus noted that, at this point, the members that didn’t accept the “failure” of The Band insisted upon touring the country, playing small, unknown clubs, without the same kind of heart and harmony they worked so hard

to cultivate. The outcome was perhaps more embarrassing than retiring quietly: drunk locals demanding “Freebird” from one of the best rock bands of the seventies. For Marcus, this clinging to something artificial and nostalgic, was perhaps the biggest failure of The Band. It became clear to me throughout the lecture of his message: being an artist takes a kind of pure and honest effort that requires bravery and humanity. Failing makes us human and allows us to grow into honest, productive humans. That is what artists like The Band are remembered for. The insincerity in their later years was their real downfall. More importantly, it is not the ending or failure of a career that is remembered, but the music that moves us and shapes history. Perhaps, the most memorable part of the lecture was a long forgotten piano ballad that Marcus played by Charlie Rich. As Rich sang “I tried and I failed… / and I feel like going home,” the silence in the room felt heavy. I noticed that no one for the entire threeand-a-half minute song looked at their phones, and I myself was moved and even comforted by Rich’s surrender to failure. How could a song so resigned to failure move a crowd to a reverent silence? That is success.

“...being an artist takes a kind of pure and honest effort that requires bravery and humanity.”

27 September, 2018 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXVII • Issue I

12 • Feature

WHAT I LEARNED IN CLASS

Welcome back to school, Scrippsies! It’s been a month back in the city of trees and PhDs and class is definitely in session. We asked you for the most interesting things you’ve learned in class so far and you answered.

“In my class Music and Healing in the African Diaspora, we’ve been reading a book called “Of Water and The Spirit.” I would say the most interesting part is that the village in this book is really in touch with spirituality...I’ve never really been super in touch with [spirituality]. So it’s just nice to read how life is, living that way. And even I’m getting to that point in the book where I believe it more and more.”

“I really liked my CORE 2 last semester, [which was] Walls, Borders, Fences with Lara Deeb. It made me question a lot of preexisting sources of power, borders, and how they function and why they’re there and who they’re made by. When things claim to exist for one reason, but actually exist for another reason. A lot about how power functions. A lot about confinement. When you think of Walls, Borders, Fences you think of, borders between nations, but we talked about the educational system and how that confines people. How high schools can be almost like a state of incarceration sometimes.”

Esi Igyan ’22

Sofia Ahmed f ’21

“Pretty much everything I’ve ever learned here has been one of the most interesting things I’ve learned. But I would say, my second semester freshman year I took a French class called Language and Power in the French World. I learned about how the French language developed as a result of political power structures, and social pressures and norms, as well as French history. And that was super interesting, because I always thought of language as developing naturally, but it develops as a result of the society it’s spoken in.”

Kati Tuemmler ’21 “I think our discussion [in CORE] today was pretty interesting. We had a little group of three. We were talking about the lecture last week with Professor Sanii, relating chemistry to human communities, [and] how, in a sense, we crave community. I guess that was exemplified through the carbon atoms. I don’t know though, I think the most interesting thing I’ve learned is [how to] connect different fields of study to one another and how everything relates.”

Maya Chavez ’22

“In Calculus 3 today, my math teacher, Dr. Towse, brought pringles to class to demonstrate the 3D view that’s related to Calc 3! It’s a hyperbola in one direction and parabola in the other direction. [A pringle] is concave up one way and concave down the other way: like a saddle!!”

Melody Chang ’22

“ I read an interesting article in my Writing 50 class the other day blaming[Politically Correct] culture for the election. [It claims that PC culture] creates this phoniness, where people say, “I believe in stopping racism and you’re wrong for being racist and I’m just gonna completely discount your opinion [for that reason].”

Molly Lazarus ’22

Content and Photos by Jamie Jiang ’22 and Aditi Garg ’22

27 September, 2018 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXVII • Issue One