5 March 2020
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After Protests, Scripps Commits to Carbon Neutrality
Photo Courtesy of SEEDS By Maggie Thompson '20 Staff Writer
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n Jan. 30, students returning to campus for the spring semester found their email inboxes filled with updates—yet one email, from Dean Charlotte Johnson, carried more weight than the rest. Johnson began the email notifying students of coronavirus, following with an update on campus sustainability: President Tiedens had declared Scripps would begin working with Second Nature
to develop a climate action plan; in effect, officially committing to carbon neutrality. Until January 30th, all Claremont Colleges besides Scripps had a carbon commitment. CMC’s dates back to 2007 and Harvey Mudd has committed to reducing emissions for over 10 years. The road to Scripps’ carbon commitment did not come with ease. This movement began in the spring of 2018 when the student group, Sustainable Empower-
ment, Education & Development at Scripps (SEEDS), decided to mobilize around institutional change, first seeking to make Scripps a carbon-neutral campus. SEEDS members concluded the organization Second Nature, a national nonprofit which assists institutions of higher education with achieving carbon neutrality, would provide the most robust resources for staff and administration. Notably, a Second Nature membership also promotes transparency and accountability throughout the emissions reductions process. At the beginning of the process, SEEDS members discussed the possibility of signing onto the Second Nature Carbon Commitment with Scripps’ then sustainability coordinator Tiffany Ortamond, but when the position became empty that year, students pursued the issue on their own. Over the course of the next year, meetings with higher level administration officials left the issue unmoved on both the carbon commitment and on the hiring process for a sustainability coordinator. Through the process, students reported the path forward became increasingly convoluted. “Every administrator we met with pointed us in a different direction,” said Julia Beckwith ‘21, co-president of SEEDS. Confu-
sion about the proper channels to institutionalize this commitment was a continual barrier through the students' process. “We were trying our best to work with the administration, but that became difficult when there was no clear path in doing so," said Sophie Perry '22, Garden Coordinator for the Scripps Student Garden. Only by the end of the spring 2019 semester were students directed to the budget process’ central role in the commitment. Organizers mobilized the Scripps and 5C community to create pressure on the administration and expand the priorities of the college. Students began organizing alumnae and student support for a year before the movement culminated in a full protest that integrated art-making with marching through Balch. Environmental activists including the Scripps Student Garden, the ReGen Coalition, the Sunrise movement, and SAS, organized as a coalition, together presenting the carbon commitment demands to the president’s office on Nov. 15, 2019. In the aftermath, SEEDS members employed an email campaign requesting Tiedens sign on to Second Nature. CARBON continued on pg. 2
International Students may lose I-Place as a Resource By Amani Khan '23 Staff Writer
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he Claremont Colleges are involved in a conversation about whether International Place (I-Place), the 5C resource for international students, will continue as a shared resource. This discussion comes shortly after Harvey Mudd College and Claremont Graduate University withdrew from I-Place in the spring and summer of 2019, reallocating resources to their respective campuses. Changes could potentially cause I-Place to cease to exist. I-Place services include New International Student and Scholar Information (NISSO) as well as other events to support the international community, including navigating a new culture, instructional tax workshops, and subsidized trips during breaks, during which many international students are unable to travel home. I-Place also functions as a second home and place of comfort for international students; many Scripps students describe the resource as integral to their college experience. Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Charlotte Johnson discussed the ongoing conversations regarding Scripps and I-Place’s relationship. “The current discussions are focused on whether I-Place will continue as a shared service at the consortium. If I-Place continues to exist as a consortium service, Scripps will continue to participate as a consortial
partner,” Johnson said. “Withdrawing would not be beneficial, and Scripps is not intending to withdraw.” Currently, the remaining colleges are holding focus groups to discuss the matter. At Scripps, there were two focus groups with Dean Wells and Johnson on Jan. 29 and Feb. 26. for students to discuss their experiences as international students at Scripps and the Claremont Colleges. International student and Scripps International Community (SIC) cohead Shringi Vikram ’20 explained I-Place’s role in helping her adjust to Claremont from Bangalore, India. “I-Place gave me the confidence to be ok with where I came from, who I was and the experiences that I’ve had,” Vikram said. “Its presence made me feel like I had something to fall back on and somebody who understood my experience specifically.” NISSO specifically allows international students to arrive on campus and move into their dorms early, along with complimentary airport pickups, events to help students get accustomed to Claremont and living in the United States including getting a sim card, opening a bank account, shopping trips, and workshops on understanding their visas. Anushe Engineer SCR ’22 relied on NISSO’s resources during her transition to college life. “As a first-year, I was the only Pakistani at Scripps. Having NISSO and the international community to interact with is super helpful to feel connected,” Engineer said. For Vikram, NISSO was a crucial
part of her college experience, “It puts you in touch with the rest of the Claremont community. [Adjusting to college and the United States] is quite difficult to go through without NISSO and without having that familiarity, programming and comfort that NISSO gives you,” Vikram said. When asked about an alternative to NISSO if I-Place is no longer viable, Johnson stated that international students will still have resources available to them. “If I-Place closes, Scripps will partner with several of the other colleges to provide an orientation experience focused on the needs of international students, based on feedback the students are providing,” Johnson said. Based on the ongoing discussions taking place at Scripps, students have voiced frustration with the lack of communication between the administration with students, I-Place, and other 5C affiliated organizations. Airi Sugihara ’22 spoke out about the lack of transparency in the school’s process, describing that several students were explicitly told to keep the discussions under the radar. “I think they know that international students have a hard time speaking up because we’re not from places where it's normal to protest, or stand up to rules,” Sugihara said. “For some people that’s a very new concept. They don’t take into consideration that sometimes international students aren’t used to this model and they don’t feel comfortable expressing things against administration.”
Students are especially concerned about Scripps’ lack of preparedness and resources for international students in the event that I-Place dissolves as a shared resource. “My biggest concern is that we are lacking support for international students in general. We don’t have a dean who is well-equipped with knowledge to support international students...If I-Place pulls out, there’s not a lot of space for international students at Scripps” Sugihara said. “I don’t feel very comfortable going to the Deans at Scripps to talk about the hardships I’ve had as an international student.” Many international students have expressed that there is no one at Scripps knowledgeable about the needs of international students, both administratively, and emotionally. They are concerned that without IPlace, Scripps, unlike other colleges in the consortium, currently lacks the resources to support their international students, and that the administration hasn’t communicated any concrete ideas about resources at Scripps to overcome the possibility of I-Place dissolving. “The Scripps International community feels very close to I-Place partly because Scripps does no programming of its own internally and Scripps is also the least prepared of all the colleges to leave I-Place,” Vikram said. Scripps staff said they remain committed to providing support for the needs of international students at Scripps.
1030 Columbia Avenue | Claremont, CA 91711 | Box 839 | scrippsvoice@gmail.com | Volume XXIX | Issue Seven
2 • News CARBON continued from pg. 1 These actions sent a clear message: the Scripps community demands climate action. President Tieden’s dedication to Second Nature should be embraced with pride as the first step in the right direction, as it symbolizes a major victory in student organizing, and a foot in the door with regard to well-institutionalized sustainability.
Yet, this step should also be regarded with a healthy amount of skepticism, acknowledging the movement does not end with setting a timeline for carbon neutrality. Without an official declaration from the board of trustees regarding the amount of financial investment dedicated to the commitment, there is still much to be said regarding the robust nature of Scripps’ dedication to sustainability. At present, the Second Nature carbon commitment gives Scripps two months to both designate an implementation liason for the commitment and create an institutional structure to guide the development and implementation of the carbon commitment. Scripps then has a full year to complete an initial greenhouse gas emissions survey to acquire baseline data and two years to declare an official carbon reduction goal, including the official target date for achieving neutrality. Scripps signing onto Second Nature is a direct result of student efforts, yet organizers have been transparent about the danger in having a commitment that does not execute a robust neutrality goal. Having a goal that is both ambitious and realizable is a must. That requires funding resources behind said goal
and having a sustainability coordinator on staff. Though Harvey Mudd has had a carbon commitment for over a decade, the school has struggled to monitor and report data. Many companies and institutions nobly commit to carbon neutrality on the face of it but real leaders include those who set and meet their ambitious goals. Acting on sustainability means more than just commiting to the environment through student turnover, it means both acknowledging our role in a broader system of environmental injustice and climate change, as well as taking responsibility for that role. As a leader in higher education, it is imperative Scripps recognizes our position in shaping a sustainable society. Signing onto a climate action plan is the first step in that process, and we can take pride in this first step, thanks to the organizing efforts taken by students, faculty, staff, and community members that supported this movement. As we wait and watch for the Presidential Budget Committee’s response to this commitment, the message from the community remains clear: we must act on climate and we will stand together strong now and in the future demanding robust climate action. --For those interested in celebrating this commitment to neutrality, organizers will be holding a public celebration in the student garden behind Browning from 8pm-10pm on Friday March 6th. See you there!
Correction TSV would like to issue a correction to the article titled “Rats Take Refuge in Denison During Keck Renovation,” released in the Feb. 12 issue. We’d like to clarify that the animals involved with Keck lab research are mice, not rats. As such, we have updated the website headline to read “Mice Relocated to Denison During Keck Renovation.” Additionally, the article misspelled Biology Professor Jenna Monroy’s name as “Jenna Monray.” This has also been corrected on the website. We take full responsibility for these inaccuracies and any misrepresentation of Keck research perpetuated by mistaken association between the lab animals currently in Denison and the dead rat found outside Denison. These errors do not reflect the journalistic standard of The Voice and we apologize.
Chinese New Year Gala postponed due to Coronavirus Concerns By Jackie Loh Staff Writer he Annual Chinese New Year Gala was postponed from February 7th to February 29th due to concerns about Coronavirus. On Feb. 5, the Chinese Student Association sent an email announcing the postponement and explaining how this decision was made. “Before making this decision, we have reached out to several authorities including the Health Center, Oldenburg faculties, and other professors for their opinions regarding the hosting of the event,” CSA said “After consulting with the Health Center, Dr. Clark suggests that according to CDC’s notice, there is no need to cancel the activity at this point. In addition, several faculty members and performers expressed their willingness to attend the event as usual.” The email addressed potential concerns about the virus. “After carefully considering, evaluating, and consulting with multiple authorities, our team had several meetings before making this final decision: although the possibility of contracting Coronavirus is relatively low, no one can fully predict the direction that this is heading,” CSA said. A few students personally reached out Chinese Student Association (CSA) president Angel Li PZ ’22, regarding the event. Students asked if the event would be canceled, postponed or even broadcast over a livestream. Most of the students who raised these concerns were of Chinese descent. “Things started to get very serious back in China,” Li said. “We had several meetings to talk about what we should do.” Other colleges in the United States have taken similar efforts to minimize large gatherings in public spaces due to fears of the coronavirus. The Confucius Institute at Columbia University canceled their Chinese New Year Showcase in January once the World Health Organization declared it a global emergency (Columbia Missourian). “Several other colleges [did] an online broad-
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casting of their Chinese New Year celebration,” Li said. CSA reached out to multiple authorities to get their opinion on the situation. CSA spoke to Student Health Services (SHS), Oldenborg faculty and other professors. Dr. Eric Clark, director of (SHS) stated there was no concern of the coronavirus “up until this point” as of January 30th. Dr. Clark also noted that SHS and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) was closely monitoring the situation. SHS released an email on January 23 updating students on the nation’s situation. “The first case in the United States was announced on January 21, 2020. No students, faculty or staff have reported symptoms or have been treated for the coronavirus at The Claremont Colleges,” SHS said. Student health staff have emphasized that students should not be concerned about the virus spreading on campus. “They were more concerned about the flu going on here than the virus,” Li added. Amber Zhou PZ ’22, Director of the Chinese New Year Gala, described how CSA spoke to Oldenborg also regarding the situation. Faculty members of Oldbernborg expressed their supports regarding any decision CSA made on the matter and would provide any help they can. “They were not that concerned about the virus as much as they were [worried] about the Chinese student body,” Li said. “I think the Chinese student body, like people who came back from China and saw the beginning of [the outbreak] happen were worried.” They planned a new timeline of the event postponement off of the timeline of the virus. The virus has a 14 day incubation period, therefore CSA decided to wait 14 days after the original date for the new date of the event to wait and see if any new cases of the virus would be reported in California. “We got information from other schools as well, so we had to investigate the situation in China and what other CSA groups at other schools decided to do,” Zhou said. CSA reached out to other Chinese student
body groups UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis and Columbia on whether events would be postponed, online broadcastor canceled. “We reached out like daily, and they were [changing their decision] a lot… so that’s why we couldn’t make a decision immediately,” Zhou said. In addition to seeking external resources, CSA released a poll on WeChat asking if students, parents and any prospective attendants if they would prefer the event to continue, be postponed or canceled. 60% of respondents said they would like the event to be postponed. “If we had held it on the original date, students would be afraid of the health condition, and they probably would not have shown up,” Li said. Ultimately CSA decided to postpone the event to stay safe while also making sure the show goes on. “Chinese New Year is like Christmas for us… it’s a big event, it’s a chance to get everyone in the 5C’s together,” Zhou said. “We decided if 2 weeks or 1 week before they find the Coronavirus to be too bad for us to do it, then we would cancel it… we made a plan B and plan C to see how things go.” The new event was free of charge, largely due to how dinner was not provided. In the past, traditional Chinese dinner would be provided. However, to minimize exposure to germs, it was ultimately decided to only provide individual, prepackaged snacks. Hand sanitizers and wet wipes were planned to be available at the event. “One thing that’s good about this postponement is that we have more time to prepare, so we have even better shows and everyone is even more prepared,” Li said. CSA has been preparing since the middle of December and even winter break to ensure the event goes smoothly. “We want to emphasize that the coronavirus is very serious back in China, but we don’t want people to associate Chinese student body with the virus,” Li said. “We just want everyone to be safe.”
5 March 2020 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue Seven
Politics • 3
Dr. Vanessa Tyson: From Scripps to State Assembly By Alexandra Rivasplata ’22 Staff Writer
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any Claremont College students have been lucky to know or be taught by Dr. Vanessa Tyson, a politics and policy professor known for her classes such as “Women and Public Policy” and “Black Americans and the Political System.” Having been featured in US News and World Report, the Sacramento Bee, NPR, and The Huffington Post, Tyson has made a name for herself both on- and off-campus. Adding to her diverse portfolio, this past year Tyson conducted an Advanced Study regarding politics and policies surrounding sexual violence against women and children. Now, Professor Tyson is taking on a new challenge by applying her knowledge of the political sphere to a knew realm - the campaign trail. Tyson is running for State Assembly in her home of Whittier, California (57th District), a seat currently held by democrat Ian Calderon who is not seeking reelection. Tyson’s campaign website concisely outlays her platform regarding education, housing, and the environment. She is a first-generation college graduate and credits her mother with stressing the importance of education throughout her childhood. This is value is reflected in Tyson’s emphasis on educational investment: she states that the primary and secondary educational systems within California need more attention to grant K-12 students the necessary resources to increase their intellectual growth. Tyson also emphasizes the importance of making public universities such as the UC and CSU campuses more financially accessible. Within her housing plans, Tyson aims to address the lack of affordable housing, rapidly rising homelessness rates, and a declining middle class. As a longtime
environmentalist, Tyson also plans on passing legislation that protects the Whittier Hills and resources for CALFIRE as well as supporting a green economy. In fact, Sunrise Claremont Colleges, an environmentalist action group on campus, has also recently endorsed Tyson’s campaign. The largest hurdle in her campaign has been fundraising, because “campaigns cost A LOT, and putting together a strong campaign team is tougher than it looks,” according to Tyson. Despite this, Tyson is very excited to be running for office because she will be “meeting so many people/constituents in the district,” Tyson said. “It’s a great excuse to get out and meet people through canvassing. I really love meeting new
Photo Courtesy of Vanessa Tyson for Assembly
people and talking about education, environmental issues, and affordable housing in Southern California,” says Tyson. If students across the 7Cs wish to get involved, the campaign always “needs lots of volunteers who are willing to come to the Assembly District to canvass on weekends and phonebank from Claremont throughout the week,” according to Tyson. “[Students] can sign up to volunteer on my website!” Despite the challenges of campaigning, Tyson remains optimistic. As she said in her interview with Ms Magazine, “Every step along the way, I’ve been beating the odds.”
Scripps Alum Rep. Giffords’ Husband Vies for Arizona Senate Seat By Riley Harmon ’22 Staff Writer
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he two Senate seats held by Arizona lawmakers stretch across the partisan aisle, with one occupied by Senator Krysten Sinema, a Democrat, and the other held by Senator Martha McSally, a Republican, appointed to the Senate seat in Jan. 2019. There is a special election in Arizona in Nov. 2020 which may change this partisan dynamic: Captain Mark Kelly, a Democrat, is campaigning for McSally’s seat. A win for Kelly would chip away at the narrow majority of Senate Republicans, making Arizona a completely blue state in the Senate for the first time since 1953. Kelly, a former Nasa astronaut, Captain in the United States Navy, and engineer, is mounting a robust campaign. However, Kelly wouldn’t be the first in his family to become an elected official - he is husband to former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, a member of the House of Representatives for Arizona’s 8th Congressional district for five years. In 2011, she was the victim of a mass shooting. Though surviving a shot to the head and making an impressive recovery, she resigned from Congress a year later. Fittingly, gun control is a pillar of Kelly’s campaign. Since the attack on Rep. Giffords, both Giffords and Kelly have become avid gun control advocates. They founded the organization “Americans for Responsible Solutions” following the Sandy Hook shooting, which, after being merged with the “Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence” in 2016, became a gun control organization now known as “The Giffords.” Along with gun control, Kelly’s main campaign platforms include improving healthcare, supporting veterans, helping people achieve the American dream, bettering the education system, securing the border, fixing the immigration system, protecting Medicare and social security, maintaining national security, advancing women’s rights, and addressing climate change. Alison Jue ’20, a politics and legal studies dual major from Arizona who worked in the Senate this past
Photo Courtesy of Parade
summer, recognized that there may be a difficult road ahead for Kelly because Sinema is the first Democrat to serve in the Senate for Arizona since 1988. “Democrats have consistently wanted [Sinema] to be more vocal about her opposition to Trump and conservative policies, while Republicans say she is far too liberal,” Jue said. “Because constituents are feeling a little resentful about her actions in the Senate, I cannot help but wonder if Arizonans will take those feelings out on [Kelly] just because he is a Democrat.” However, as of January, according to Public Policy Polling, Kelly is polling four points ahead of McSally. Fernando Barceló POM ’20 is also from Arizona. “Having [Kelly] as [Sen. McSally’s] opponent I think is very appealing to people in the center,” Barceló said. To counter Kelly’s support from moderates, McSally tied him to Senator Bernie Sanders in a new campaign ad; meanwhile, the Kelly campaign continues to promote Kelly as a moderate.
“Senator Sinema was elected to the Senate due to her ability to capture the vote of more moderate Arizona voters and Kelly seems to be running on that same strategy,” Jue said. “Kelly frequently talks about how he would work across the aisle and combat partisanship, which are very similar to the talking points that come out of Senator Sinema’s office.” Kelly announced his campaign in Feb. 2019 by releasing a video featuring him and his wife, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Scripps Class of 1993. The video titled “My Next Mission” discusses his time serving in the United States navy, his missions into space, and what he has learned from Giffords. In addition to helping him announce his campaign, Giffords’ influence is ever-present in the campaign. Kelly is using a democratic strategist for his campaign that Giffords also used in her first races. “What I learned from my wife is how you use policy to improve people’s lives,” Kelly said.
5 March, 2020 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue Seven
4 • News
Datamatch participants at the 5Cs increases by almost 15% By Hana Ahmed ’23 Staff Writer
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n its second year at the Claremont Colleges, the mysterious matchmaking algorithm Datamatch has solidified its role as a 5C Valentine’s Day tradition. Datamatch was created for Harvard students in 1994 by the Harvard Computing Society. Since then it has been introduced to over 25 other college campuses around the U.S., and debuted in Claremont in 2019 through collaboration between Harvard’s Datamatch team and The Golden Antlers. Over 1600 students from the 5Cs and Claremont Graduate University took part in the 2019 survey. In 2020, the number of participants surpassed 2000. “I don’t really know of any Valentine’s Day traditions at the 5Cs that existed before [Datamatch],” said current Editor-In-Chief of The Golden Antlers Julia Foodman ’21. “We definitely weren’t expecting as many people to take it last year. But this year we knew, Datamatch is a whole Claremont thing. We got maybe one in every three people [at the 5Cs] to take it.” Although the algorithm responsible for matching students is confidential to the Harvard Computing Society, Datamatch surveys are unique to each participating campus. Survey questions are meant to be humorous and reflect trademarks of the campus culture. The Golden Antlers staff collaborate on Datamatch during fall semester and winter break, generating questions and answer choices relevant to the 5Cs. Some of this year’s questions included: “Which liberal arts buzz word is your favorite?,” “Which campus building best personifies your sex life?,” and “Which piece of campus art best encapsulates your being?” On Valentine’s Day, students who had filled out the survey received their five top matches, who could be any student from the 5Cs with similar answers. Upon further examination of the Datamatch results, clear trends emerged
among 5C matches. For each of the 5Cs, there was a clear majority of matches with another one of the 5Cs. CMC participants, for instance, matched with other CMC students more frequently than with students from other 5Cs. This was the case in both 2019 and 2020, with approximately 63 percent of CMC students matching with each other this year, and 42 percent matching last year. The remaining colleges - Pitzer, Pomona, Scripps, and HMC - all matched most frequently with Pomona students. About 45 percent of Pitzer students, 37 percent of Pomona students, 42 percent of Scripps students, and 42 percent of Mudd students matched a Pomona student. The matches were similar in 2019 with the exception of Harvey Mudd, which matched most with Scripps students than any other school.
Looking forward, The Golden Antlers hopes to increase participation in Datamatch, particularly within the HMC student body. “We really struggle with Mudders,” Foodman said. “We never had great traction there, in general. That’s something that we’ve been working on.” As of fall 2019, The Golden Antlers has writers from all five colleges after getting its first Harvey Mudd student on staff, according to Foodman, which will likely increase the representation of Mudd jokes in their publications. “So much of your understanding of the world is based on humor, and how you relate to things,” Foodman said. “If someone has a similar sense of humor as you, went through [the survey] and picked all the same answers as you… the odds of that are insane. You’re probably gonna have something to talk about. There’s gotta be a connection there, at least somewhat.”
Responding to Student Requests, CP&R Revives 2020 Resume Book By Priya Canzius ’20 Co-Editor in Chief “Why doesn’t TSV just make the Resume Book?” Scripps College Class of 2020 received an email from Scripps Career Planning and Resources (CP&R) on Feb 7. stating the cancellation of Scripps’ Resume Book, which is one of the most publicized ways for current Scripps seniors and recent Scripps graduates to be introduced to the extended Scripps community. The network is comprised of alums, families, and recruiters. According to Rachael Acello, Director of CP&R, “it has also served as a vehicle to engage recruiters with Scripps College, encouraging them to post internship/job opportunities, and participate in on-campus recruitment activities.” Thus, The Scripps Voice (TSV) began its new mission: continuing CP&R’s eight year tradition of publishing the book of resumes for job-seeking Scripps seniors. The initiative began with a post to Scripps College Class of 2020 Facebook Group, published on Feb. 13, an excerpt of which can be found below: The Scripps Voice is offering to create the 2020 resume book. We will then give it to CP&R to ensure it is sent to the same recruiters as originally planned. We deserve a resume book and TSV is determined to step in and use our
resources to make it happen. This initiative was short-lived: within the end of the business day, CP&R confirmed that they would send out a Resume Book without the involvement of TSV, despite the fact that “[CP&R] is currently operating at approximately half of our normal staffing levels, [and was initially] faced with the difficult choice to reprioritize spring activities,” according to Acello. Prior to receiving this student feedback, CP&R faced two distinct challenges: maintaining Scripps student privacy due to safe email-forwarding concerns and the decision to prioritize “one-on-one career counseling, facilitating internship grant funding for students, and continuing our employer programming are fundamentals that cannot be postponed,” according to Acello. Why and how is CP&R reprioritizing the creation of the Resume Book? “Despite substantial staffing limitations and technological/privacy challenges, when students voiced their concerns, CP&R redoubled their efforts to find a safe email forwarding alternative and support for the project,” Acello said. “With the onboarding of a temporary administrative employee who can now provide energy toward the project (without compromising student counseling, internship grant processing, or on campus programming).
As seniors, the stress of finding a job on top of traditional academic responsibilities can be difficult. However, job-seeking seniors should still plan to utilize other resources, both Scripps affiliated and not, to help find employment for the upcoming year. While the Resume Book is sent to over 8,000 people in the Scripps network annually, it has not historically been “the primary vehicle by which Scripps seniors secure job opportunities,” according to Acello. Moreover, although the Scripps network is consistently impressed with the resumes that they receive, the success of the Resume Book is more ambiguous on the Scripps-student end. “[A]lthough each year CP&R asks all resume book participants to let us know if they are contacted/offered an opportunity as a result of the resume book, historically feedback has been sparse,” Acello said. Yet, by individually reaching out to CP&R and with the onset of TSV’s initiative, the Class of 2020 has demonstrated the importance of the Resume Book to the Scripps student body. “CP&R is a team of counselors who are committed to listening and supporting students, and we heard you,” Acello said. “... We are positioned to recommit some of our limited resources to publishing the resume book by [the] end of March.”
5 March 2020 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue Seven
Features • 5
5C Roller Derby Club
teaches students how to “fall, smile, and get back up” By Eloise Magoncelli ’22 Staff Writer
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nown for their bright metallic clothing, fishnet tights, amusing nicknames and ever-present bruises, around 25 players make up the 5C Club Roller Derby team. The team is the first and only collegiate roller derby team on the West Coast, but manages to set up competitions, known as boutts, with local non-collegiate teams as well as against the Arizona State University Derby Devils. Various boundaries such as gendered stigmas on athletic aggression and violence as well as league regulations and expenses have limited the growth of collegiate Roller Derby, but Claremont skaters have managed to overcome these obstacles to create the tight-knit team that students can occasionally see skating around campus on team skates, or just going to class. Roller Derby is a multi-faceted sport. The game is comprised of unexpectedly violent elements combined with creative plays and the equally creative nicknames that every player comes up with to extend their personality into the game. “Derby itself is football and hockey, but in a circle, and the ball is a person, and everyone is on wheels,”said Toni Anderson ’22, also known as “Sweet Tea” on the court. Each hour-long boutt is made up of a series of shorter scrimmages, known as jams, which last about two minutes each. Five players participate in each jam, during which one is designated by an starred-helmet as the “jammer” and the other four are cast as “blockers”. The goal of the jammer is to score points by lapping the opposing team’s blockers, while their own prevents the other team’s jammer through a series of aggressive and often violent defensive moves. A constant combination of defense and
Want to know more? Find the team on Instagram: 5crollerderby Or contact them via email: 5crollerderby@gmail.com offense adds to the violence and aggression that characterizes roller derby. According to Anderson, the team is a perfect place to express “controlled violence” where “we as a team beat each other up more than other teams beat us up.” The court, rink, or track has been, and continues to be, female dominated. Roller Derby has become “women’s chance to go and be powerful and assert ourselves,” Anderson said. While historically Roller Derby has been femaleonly, the 5C team is working to open the sport by accepting only womxn and other marginalized genders, while allowing all genders to participate
as referees and officials. According to Anderson, the team has had an overarching influence on her experience in Claremont. The team is attributed with helping her “realize how it feels to be a badass.” The process of learning to skate “taught me about how to be confident in myself, be confident in my teammates and not give a fuck about what other people think”, Anderson said. “Roller Derby teaches you how to “fall, smile and get back up.” Interested in pushing and elbow-jabbing while on skates? The 5C Roller Derby Club is an accepting space that encourages fun through a controlled, yet violent way. Practices are on Wednesdays, from 8:00-9:30 p.m. and Thursdays from 7:00-8:30 p.m. at the Harvey Mudd basketball courts. Tryouts occur on a rolling basis throughout the season and the team is always happy to have fresh faces on the court!
Celebrating 100 Years of the 19th Amendment By Sydney Lee ’22 Staff Writer
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his year marks the 100th Anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which was ratified on Aug. 18, 1920. The 19th Amendment formally declares that “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on the account of sex,” and its ratification was the culmination of a movement that started in the mid 19th Century. In 1869, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association with the intent to push for national legislation that would give women the right to vote. Eventually, the NWSA joined forces with Lucy Stone’s organization, the American Woman Suffrage Association, to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1890. Under Carrie Chapman Catt’s leadership at the beginning of the 20th Century, the NAWSA successfully aided in women’s enfranchisement in 15 states by the end of World War I. In the progression of women’s rights, World War I was considered a tipping point because of the active involvement of women in war efforts (History. com). President Woodrow Wilson attempted to pass an amendment for women’s suffrage in 1918 following the end of World War I, but it lost in the Senate. It was not until 1920
that Tennessee tipped the scales in favor of ratification and gave the 19th Amendment the two-thirds majority vote. Even though the names Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone and Carrie Chapman Catt are names typically associated with the women’s suffrage movement, another group of female activists was fighting for equality. Mary Church Terrell, Sojourner Truth, Jovita Idar, Ida B. Wells and Wilhelmina Kekelaokalaninui Widemann Dowsett were some of the many activist leaders of color during the women’s suffrage movement. During the fight for women’s suffrage, racial discrimination divided activists and the events following the ratification of the 19th Amendment reflected this divide. The obstacles that men of color faced following the passage 15th Amendment, which allowed citizens the right to vote regardless of “race, color or previous condition of servitude,” lingered at the start of the Women’s Suffrage Movement and the prejudices and racism persisted through the passage of the 19th Amendment. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 formally allowed black women to exercise their 19th Amendment right without any restrictions but Latinx, Asian and Native American women were still denied their unrestricted right to vote until the passage of the voting rights amendments in 1975 (Teenvogue.com). Ever since the passage of the voting rights
amendments in 1975, women have continued to exceed the number of men who have voted in every presidential election, and the disparity between the two groups has grown with every election. Another trend to emerge after the ratification of the 19th Amendment is the gender voting gap. The gender voting gap refers to the disparity between the proportions of women and men who support a certain candidate in an election and there are gender gaps in presidential and congressional elections. In the 2016 presidential election, 52 percent of Donald Trump’s voters were men and 48 percent were women. In the 2014 and 2010 congressional midterm elections, more women voted for Democratic candidates than men, and more men voted for Republican candidates than women (Cawp.rutgers.edu). Even though the explanation for the differences between the party preferences is multi-faceted, one explanation for the phenomenon is that democratic policies are aligned with women’s priorities. An example is the democratic policies that seek to expand social welfare. Since women are statistically more likely to live below the poverty threshold, they are more likely to support the democratic policy for expanded welfare (Theatlantic.com). As America celebrates the 19th Amendment, it is important to acknowledge the conditions that initially accompanied the legislation and the reality of the women’s suffrage movement.
5 March 2020 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue Seven
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Lunch Rush: How to Emerge from By Kendall Lowery ‘22 Food Columnist/Copy Editor It’s that time of year. Your professors are conspiring against you to coordinate all of your midterms, you have approximately 800 pages of reading to do by Thursday, and you’ve been telling that acquaintance from geology that “we should really get a meal” since mid-February. Long gone are the days when lunchtime signaled a debaucherous midday break spent with friends. That’s right, it’s officially salad bar season. However, when you’re ready to interrupt the cycle of pushing your way through lunch lines only to haphazardly slap some spinach on your plate and call it a day, I’ve compiled some tips on how to grab a tasty and time-efficient meal at each of our seven dining halls during peak lunch rush hour.
Hoch-Shanahan When in doubt, turn left. Decades of consumer handed population tends to navigate spaces in a c on display in the Hoch. The rightmost station, als you want to get through the line and to your meal i station (Chef’s Corner) is a reliable choice, and it pushed through the queue with maximum peer-pres Mudd’s extensive ever-uncrowded spice bar if you a dash of truffle salt to a plate of fries for a distinc
Frary Opting for a grain bowl at Frary not only saves you time, but offers a template for creative exploration. The line for the dish is normally nonexistent, and you can incorporate toppings such as proteins, veggies, and spices from stations throughout the dining hall. And, if you’re feeling something a little more flavorful, curry usually isn’t too far from the grain station
Frank Frank’s far-flung location and relatively admirable line dispersal make it the least tumultuous lunchtime environment at the colleges, but the lengthy trek to and from the dining hall still requires an expeditious lunch strategy. Despite this article’s anti-salad rhetoric, I’ll admit that Frank’s pre-prepared salads are a consistent hit. If you find yourself in deep south Pomona, they are a quick and tasty option (I see you Apple Spinach Cranberry Salad).
Malott Notorious for the most chaotic lunch lines at peak at approximately 12:17 pm, and any movem salmon swimming upstream. However, if you’re u 12:45 pm, there are still a few stations worth the Oftentimes, a line will form at the Grill station whe an Impossible burger or some fresh chips. Hit a q courage to push your way through the throngs o desired foodstuffs. Feeling even more daring? Ap the deli line and snatch a bowl of soup!
5 March 2020 • The Scripps Voi
LIGHT
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m from 5C Dining Halls Unscathed
r research has proven that our dominantly right clockwise fashion, and this inclination is blatantly so known as Creations, is never the way to go if in less than 15 minutes. Conversely, the leftmost ts self serve lines ensure that each lunchgoer is ssure-induced efficiency. Furthermore, it neighbors u want to jazz up your meal (I recommend adding ct sense of pizzazz).
the 5Cs, Malott’s haphazard energy reaches its ment within the main servery becomes akin to a unable to avoid the dining hall between 12:00 and e elbow jab or two that it takes to access them. en people are waiting on a specific item, such as quick power pose before you swipe in, muster the of students to the front of the line, and snag your pologetically squeeze your way into the middle of
ice • Volume XXIX • Issue Seven
McConnell The person swiping in before you is flexing their entire extended family into the dining hall, The Farm Bowl line is already out the door, and you have 15 minutes before your next class. I have two words for you: panini press. The Pitzer deli station is always well stocked, but the press is usually lost in the shuffle. Push through the other lines to the center island between the bagels and the salad bar, and you might just find the perfect way to turn your chilly, disheartening sandwich into a warm, crispy inspiration that will get you through that upcoming Ochem midterm.
Collins Can’t pass up that express bowl? Maximize your line time by snagging a plate of hummus and carrots from the center station to munch on while en route to your meal. The expo line is usually manageable, and Collin’s lack of compost and trash differentiation allows you to make up for lost time you spent in line. Don’t forget to grab a cookie (and/or dole whip) on your way out.
Oldenborg Honestly, choose the longest line in order to minimize the time you spend feigning discussion at your Spanish conversation table.
8 • Opinion Leave of Absence Tuition Refund Policy Places Financial Burden on Students
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By Sara Michael ’23 Design Editor
n 2019, the National College Health Assessment (NCHA), a nationally funded research survey, published a study showing that 54.9 percent of undergraduate students reported that they didn’t believe that they were in good health during the school year. The transition to college can often spark a explosion of mental health issues. 46.2 percent of students reported that they felt so depressed that it was difficult to function anytime within the past 12 months. Scripps College continually expresses and emphasizes their support of student health. Detailed under the Student Services portion of the college’s website, it states that “Scripps College believes in a comprehensive, holistic approach to promoting the emotional, physical, and mental wellbeing of its students.” The Field House has implemented “Be Well Fridays” and “Fresh Check Day,” in an effort to bolster mental health awareness and support. These are great initiatives to invest in, and they are undoubtedly important in spreading understanding about wellness, but there are certain messages in the student guidebook that contradict the school’s own mission about wellbeing. Whether it is voluntary or involuntary, there are many reasons why a student takes a leave of absence. Taking a break from college might have great potential value because it can potentially serve as more time with a sick family member or time to focus on recovery and self care. Unfor tunately, Scripps’s policy deters students from taking leaves of absence because of the refunding process. According to
the Scripps Directory, “Tuition 100% refunded except for $500.00 up until the first 10 days of classes. Tuition 50% refunded from the 11th day of classes up until the 30th class day. Tuition 0% refunded after the 30th class day. There is no refund for the room.” The cost of rooming amounts to $9,584. Students who can’t afford to have the huge financial burden of withdrawing or taking a leave of absence are at risk of jeopardizing their health. Emergencies are often out of our control. Taking a leave of absence is already a huge temporal and emotional commitment, and the added financial pressure can exacerbate a student’s stress. Samantha Quach ’23 had a moderate concussion with symptoms of numbness, fatigue, headaches, nausea and more. As a result, Quach missed classes for two weeks. She considered taking a leave of absence for a while, but ultimately decided against it. “I have had a more difficult time with getting through to administration,” Quach said. “After discovering [the refund] policy, I concluded that taking a medical leave was no longer a viable option since I could not afford to lose that much tuition money at an already extremely costly school.” While the administrative protocol and rules for withdrawals and leave of absences don’t align with the school’s stated mission to promote health and well being, Quach said that there are resources at the Claremont Colleges, such as Student Health Services, that have been incredibly helpful in her recovery. “SHS was integral in helping me navigate my concussion and its effects on my academic performance and overall well being,” Quach said. “I am going back next week for my fourth
Drawing by Jasmine Sloan ‘23
checkup with an SHS nurse practitioner since the incident. Each appointment has been extremely helpful and at no cost to me.” It’s important that Scripps matches their policies to their public statements about their stance on self care and well-being. One of the ways to do this is to be more forgiving with the refund process for leaves, which Pomona College demonstrates well. Their handbook states, “The forfeiture of the fees deposit does not apply to students who take a Health Leave of Absence or a student placed on an involuntary leave of absence.” Removing Scripps’s policy will potentially remove the stigma around leaves of absence for mental health reasons because it reinforces the idea that nobody should be punished for prioritizing their health and wellbeing.
Funny or Mean? : The Ethics of Memes I
By Amelie Lee ’23 Copy Editor
f you’ve ever tried to explain memes to an adult, you’ve probably realized the complexity of this cultural phenomenon. No matter how hard you try, it’s nearly impossible to encapsulate why a blurry photograph with a singular misspelled word is more entertaining to many members of Gen Z than comedy television. However, the absurdity of millenial and Gen Z humor has blurred the line between what is offensive and what is a humorous representation of a cultural movement. It’s no secret that young people use humor to deal with trauma. After nearly every major current event or crisis, the internet community responds instantaneously with online humor. There are many online forums, for example, that exist as places to share memes about abusive or repressive childhoods. There are seemingly infinite memes about 9/11. Hours after the the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleiman, memes about WWIII ran rampant on Reddit and Twitter. Older generations are usually quick to dismiss a conversation about this type of humor. For many, there’s a preconception that such serious subjects shouldn’t be joked about, or that comedy equals tragedy plus time. Yet, as a younger generation forms an entire culture around being able to laugh at themselves through relating to both positive and negative situations, I believe that joking about serious issues is okay—we just need to be conscious of who we’re laughing at. While it’s difficult to discern what exactly makes a meme “ethical,” I think that taking a
closer look at exactly who you’re laughing at can help you distinguish whether or not a line has been crossed. To some extent, many people are willing to laugh at themselves and commodify their own trauma through humorous relatability with others. There’s nothing wrong with groups who are able to post memes about their own damaging childhoods or making fun of outdated ideas on sexism or racism. However, the issue gets confusing when we look at when the focus of memes is no longer oneself, as memes tend to commodify other people’s trauma, making fun of the past or present plight of certain groups of people in a satirical or humorous way. For those with a history of trauma, offensive memes can act as microaggressions to already oppressive societal constructs. After discussing an offensive joke with a history teacher last semester, I came to this conclusion: my personal metric for humor relies on who is being made fun of. If the basis of a joke is undermining a victim or reinforcing damaging ideals, it’s crossed an ethical line. If the basis of a joke is making fun of a perpetrator or offender, then the basis of its humor is more satirical rather than offensive. For example, if someone tells a police brutality joke that is making fun of an abused person or reinforcing stereotypes in the black community, that is absolutely unacceptable. However, a meme making fun of the police officer that committed the act of assault can come along with guilt free laughter. Recently, with widespread fear about the coronavirus, there’s no doubt that xenophobic and blatantly racist memes about the Chinese and cultural eating habits or livestyles have crossed this line of social acceptability. Similar
online activity was a problem with the 20142016 Ebola outbreaks, with racial stereotypes being used to make fun of those affected by the illness. In cases like these, it’s clear that further undermining victims and basing humor on racism is unacceptable. Obviously, it’s impossible to stop your brain or body from finding something funny. There have been times that I’ve laughed at memes that contradict my own rules about ethics. The subreddit r/ImGoingToHellForThis, a community of people who enjoy memes that push the lines of what is socially acceptable to laugh at, encapsulates this well, often featuring offensive jokes about police brutality, rape or the LGBT community. Some of these are truly disgusting, making fun of those affected by racism, transphobia or violence. Yet others seem to simply acknowledge entrenched power structures, laughing at stereotypes themselves rather than victims. When observing this type of humor, I’ve learned to take a critical perspective—I never want to accidentally hurt someone by posting or engaging with content that is harmful to victims. Memes are complicated, as well as satire and human perception of humor. In fact, Scripps College Core 2 offers a class on memes, diving into what they mean about the modern perception of art and humor. As Professor Adam Novy says, “Jokes can let off steam and build community. But every in-group has an out-group. Try not to punch down in a meme, by which I mean, don’t pick on someone with less power than you.”
5 March 2020 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue Seven
Opinion • 9
@ America’s Primary System: Do Better By Amelie Lee ‘23 Copy Editor
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owa. New Hampshire. South Carolina. What do these states have in common—other than being America’s first look at who might be the nominee for the most important job in the country? Well for one, they’re all on the bottom half of a list collected by FiveThirtyEight ordering states in the order that best represents the ethnic demographic of the Democratic party. Most people are relatively aware about the drawbacks of the electoral college. In fact, a couple of the Democratic presidential candidates are running on a platform that includes abolishing the electoral system altogether. Yet, another aspect of the election process, nearly just as influential, often lacks the same sort of widespread critique and attention: America’s primary system. Vox Media recently released a video titled “America’s presidential primaries, explained,” drawing insight on why our system works the way it does—and some of the criticisms it’s faced. After doing a bit of research and learning about the history of our primary system, I came to a conclusion: nothing about it makes any sense. When adopting the system during the Vietnam War, the Democratic Party was trying to accomplish two things. Firstly, they wanted to allow voters to choose the nominee, instead of the delegates of the party directly voting for their preferred candidate. Secondly, they wanted to slowly strain out a large batch of candidates, petering them out by a series of caucuses and primaries before the DNC, preventing candidates with the most name recognition or funding from winning before giving underdogs a chance. While this all sounded reasonable,
the actual choices of which states would go first was based purely on the technological limitations of the time, with Iowa claiming it took them a long time to collect votes. There was no strategy involved in arranging the rest of the states, with New Hampshire and Nevada eventually fitted in the next two most influential primary dates.
It’s time to figure out a primary system that actually makes sense given modern voter demographics. Equally as confusing is the lack of nationwide ranked choice voting. While only four states currently use ranked choice voting in the presidential primaries, few recent candidates have brought it up, with only former candidate Andrew Yang making it a key point of his campaign. The most obvious benefit of ranked choice voting is creating a more nuanced perspective of voter opinion, allowing less partisan infighting, as well as higher statistics of voter turnout. When it comes to election years like this one, the influx of candidates dropping out is also a strong argument for ranked-choice voting; it seems absurd that Pete Buttigieg’s delegates are not legally bound to vote for any candidate—a problem that could be fixed with a more involved ballot. While most news sources release an editorial or two about this subject every election season, the lack of attention to these integral aspects of our presidential election seems ridiculous. When it comes to the peculiar system of caucuses and primaries, Iowa has a 90 percent caucasian population, while New Hampshire somehow surpasses this with a 93 percent caucasion population (World Population
Review). Even within the Democratic party in Iowa, 86 percent of its members identify as white (Pew Forum). This blinding white stands in stark contrast to America as a whole (40 percent of people of color) and the Democratic party (60 percent people of color). It’s absurd that these states—that hold their primary weeks before any other— have such an influential role in the presidential nominee. For years, people have looked to the Iowa Caucus as a representation of American voters and values— after all, since 1976, seven out of nine Iowa winners have gone on to take the Democratic nomination later that year. Presidential candidates spend an absurd number of weeks campaigning in those specific areas, ignoring the swaths of territory whose voices don’t get heard until Super Tuesday. So what’s the solution? It’s time to figure out a primary system that actually makes sense given modern voter demographics. In 2016, NPR compiled a list of states that best represent America as a whole, in terms of ethnicity, education, age, income, and religion. Not only that, but multiple news sites have done this, including FiveThirtyEight’s 2019 list that bears similar results. Both lists tell us that Illinois would be a far more accurate portrait of what American voters believe, and Iowa and New Hampshire are not an accurate racial fit by any means. In a rare case of American politics, the solution has been given to us— in a neatly compiled list by credible news sources— we’re just lacking discussion and motivation to enforce it. While presidential candidates are busy campaigning and manipulating the primary system we’ve been handed, they need to look at whether the game they’re playing is one with rules that make sense.
THANK YOU, I LOVE YOU: TO CLAREMONT, UPON GRADUATION By Claire Dwyer PO ‘20 Staff Writer
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hank you and I love you Claremont. It has been a wonderful few years and I’ve been proud to know you. I couldn’t imagine a better place to have felt at home.There are many things you’ve done for me but the most important is that you’ve made me feel loved more than I ever have before in my life. Imagine a child who acted like a scholar at the age of eleven and you will understand why I had difficulties feeling accepted during my childhood. I’ve been waiting for college since then. I grew up young and spent my childhood dreaming, creating, trying my hand at academic research and feeling frustrated by the barriers against further study put on me because of my age. And now that I have reached the academic future I’ve always dreamed of, it has far exceeded my expectations. Claremont life, and especially Pomona life, isn’t for everyone. There are so many varying levels of experience with Claremont--and I too have had my fair share of difficulties and frustrations that come with being a committed activist in this space. However, I really want to honor my truth, which is that life here has made me a much happier person. Yo u s e e , d u r i n g m y c h i l d h o o d , I w a s ostracized. I was once a thirteen year old girl unable to remove her eyes from the beckoning pages of 900 page books on history. I was elusive, somewhat hard to bond with because I was so much in love with my studies. My friends
were special people who saw me for who I was--though my greatest love was learning, I am no misanthrope. I love people and I bond with them deeply. As a child, however, that was much harder for other people to see, as I was so intense and so different from most of my peers. I was more interested in studying than having a social life. I still am, though anyone who knows me now understands that my social aptitude has much improved.
So when I arrived in Claremont, it was the first time in my life that I encountered people who were just like me. I was loved and supported in being exactly who I wanted to be. So when I arrived in Claremont, it was the first time in my life that I encountered people who were just like me. I was loved and supported in being exactly who I wanted to be. Here, everyone loves me for the medieval historian I am. Here, no one shames me for furiously studying. Here, I am loved for who I am and no one is telling me there is something wrong with me because I am happiest with my nose in a book. Here, it doesn’t matter that I don’t like parties and that I am not “traditionally” social. I have more friends than I have ever had in my life, and I feel so loved by the people around me. I am loved on the basis of my kindness alone, though I do think most folks who know me find my undying passion for medieval history to be one of my best qualities. That being said, I
know that I am loved for who I am as opposed to for what I do. Ironically, this amount of support has led me to feel so happy that I actually talk a lot more. I enjoy “putting myself out there,” talking about medieval studies, being as engaged in our academic community as I can. Claremont “worked” for me, because I found my passion, my raison d’etre. I am the kind of person for whom the little liberal arts college is built. The wide-eyed scholar for whom “traditional education” was never really a home. The lover of history who upon arrival discovered that she could be a historian and immediately began to devote herself to that, entirely. I love how my life has turned out, and I can’t be upset. I get to go to grad school for medieval history after graduation. What an immense privilege to be able to do what I love for my career! What a beautiful journey this has been for a scholar! University life, I quickly discovered upon arrival here, was my happy place. For a number of my friends, I knew it was not. There are a select few for whom a life in academia is where they are the happiest, and I lucked out that this was me. Most people will find their passions elsewhere. For me, my passion was medieval history but also university life. I know without a doubt I have chosen the right career path. Thank you and I love you Claremont. I love all of those who have supported me along the way. I love that I am loved, and I love that I can be that person for other people as well, the person who makes them feel a bit more at home.
5 March 2020 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue Seven
Opinion• 10
The 12 Days of Co-Star: Can the Stars Really Predict our Lives? by Julia Cox ‘23 Webmaster
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o-Star: the app used by many to predict their day. Using your birth time and date to predict your sun, moon, and ascendant horoscope signs, Co-Star is either a great way to predict your day or a fun thing to look at every once in a while, depending on the extent of your belief in horoscopes. But how accurate is it, really? If you check it when you get a notification with your daily advice, usually around noon, to what extent does it influence how you perceive your day? For this article, over a 12-day period I compared my daily advice and predictions in self, sex & love, thinking & creativity, social life, and work to how my day actually went. By using a point system, I calculated a general accuracy rate of every day. An applicable piece of advice gets one point, while a spot-on prediction gets a point and an inaccurate prediction gets none. Will Co-Star turn out to be as predictive as it claims? Continue reading to see! February 9: 50% accurate Advice: Start at the beginning. Power in: Work, love Pressure in: Creativity, social life Trouble with: Self How did this line up? Today seems to be fairly accurate. Though no exciting power in love, I felt particularly productive today. As it was my friend’s birthday, I definitely felt pressure to help her celebrate, and I had to be creative while writing an Italian assignment. However, I felt no trouble with self today, as I called my parents just to catch up and not to cry. February 10: 67% accurate Advice: Be ready to lose an argument. Power in: Work Pressure in: Creativity, social life Trouble with: Love, self How did this line up? Almost spot-on! I got close to starting an argument while calling someone out for saying things in poor taste and I also got ahead on my homework. Though I felt no particular pressure in creativity, a dramatic situation erupted at my high school which required a lot of talking to friends. I felt fine with myself, though indeed a little disappointed with love. February 11: 33% accurate Advice: The response to someone sharing something with you can be as simple as: “Thank you.” Power in: Work, self Pressure in: Creativity, social life Trouble with: Love How did this line up? This is not accurate at all! “Thank you” would not have been an appropriate response to anything people shared with me today, and I felt very distracted while trying to do my homework. Pressure in self would be the most accurate description, and I would even say trouble with love was inaccurate as well.
Advice: You don’t have to be sugar and spice and everything nice. Power in: Work Pressure in: Creativity, social life Trouble with: Love, self How did this line up? Slightly accurate... the advice was a little dangerous, as I was a bit grumpy today (hence the trouble with self). I didn’t really have power in work, though I definitely had pressure in creativity with a solo opportunity in jazz band. I felt pressure to spend time with friends today, though I ended up being too busy. However, it was a good day for love! February 14: 50% accurate Advice: Let down your guard. Power in: Work, self Pressure in: Creativity Trouble with: Social life, love How did this line up? Fairly accurate. Don’t know where the advice came from, but I definitely had power in work and self as I had a nice afternoon lounging on the lawn sunbathing and doing homework, feeling both content and productive. I had a nice Valentine’s Day lunch with friends which I don’t think constitutes trouble with social life, though trouble with love does seem spot-on. February 15: 50% accurate Advice: You’re the one who has to answer the questions that the universe sends you. Power in: Work, love, self Pressure in: Creativity, social life Trouble with: Nothing! How did this line up? If the universe is my parents on this wonderful first day of Family Weekend, then yes, this is completely accurate. No power in work as I was with family all day, and only mild power in love and self. I didn’t feel much pressure in creativity, though definitely some in social life while trying to have a successful night out. February 16: 33% accurate
Advice: Be easy on people, even the smartest ones will have trouble turning the wild orbit of their thoughts into words. Power in: Work Pressure in: Creativity, social life Trouble with: Love, self How did this line up? Slightly accurate. I think it’s always good to be easy on people, and I definitely had power in work today. I felt some creative pressure to prepare a solo for jazz band tomorrow, but no pressure with social life and no particular trouble with love or self.
Advice: Write them a note. Power in: Work, love Pressure in: Creativity, social life Trouble with: Self How did this line up? Decently accurately. I actually was considering sending a text to an old high school friend before receiving my advice notification, though I didn’t end up sending anything. I wasn’t productive today, as it was family weekend, and there was also no power in love. I felt some pressure in creativity, as I had to make decisions for my family on where to go and what to do, but unfortunately I didn’t see my friends today so there wasn’t much social life to have pressure in. No trouble with self, though I did get a bit emo saying goodbye to my dad.
February 13: 50% accurate
February 17: 67% accurate
February 12: 33% accurate
Advice: Your secrets can block other people’s ability to really see you. Power in: Work Pressure in: Creativity, social life Trouble with: Self, love How did this line up? Pretty accurately! The advice didn’t make sense, though I did feel pressure in social life today as I was really busy and didn’t get to see friends as much as I normally would have. I didn’t get much done today and was stressed as a result, therefore nixing the predicted power in work but confirming the trouble with self. February 18: 67% accurate Advice: Trees keep the old stumps of cut-down friends alive for hundreds of years by feeding them a sugar solution through their roots. Power in: Love, work Pressure in: Social life, creativity Trouble with: Self How did this line up? Besides the completely random advice, pretty accurately. I did more work than I expected and felt pressure in my social life as I had been busy lately. However, I was also stressed today. February 19: 17% accurate Advice: Your relationships don’t define you. Power in: Love Pressure in: Creativity Trouble with: Work, social life, self How did this line up? Not very accurate. I think the advice is good in general but not especially applicable today, and I felt no power in love. There was some pressure in creativity, as I had to write an essay, but definitely no trouble with work as I got a lot done. Social life felt pretty normal, and I’d say I had power in self as I treated myself to some In-N-Out as a reward for finishing my essay early. February 20: 50% accurate Advice: Oxytocin is a powerful drug. Power in: Love Pressure in: Social life Trouble with: Work, creativity, self How did this line up? This day would be perfect if it in fact followed the prediction for a powerful day in love, but alas, that was not the case. There was a bit of pressure in social life trying to figure out plans for the weekend, and definite trouble with work and creativity as I didn’t get much homework done and chickened out during my solo in jazz band. However, I had power in self, as I treated myself to watching a movie I’ve been excited to see (which contributed to the trouble with work). Over these twelve days, while weighing the advice and five consistent specific predictions equally, Co-Star was about 47.25 percent accurate. This is pretty good, considering the random algorithm the app most likely works under (not to discredit the predictive abilities of the stars).
5 March 2020 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue Seven
Entertainment • 11
Tame Impala’s “The Slow Rush”: The Work of a Paralyzed Perfectionist By Mirabella Miller ’23 Music Columnist
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evin Parker, the man behind the psychedelic rock project Tame Impala, released his long-awaited album “The Slow Rush” on Feb. 14. An explanation for the five year gap between Parker’s previous album “Currents” and “The Slow Rush” can be found in what we know about Parker’s editing process: his tendency to tinker if given time and his hesitancy to slap a “finished” label on any of his songs. It was reported that Parker wanted to release the album before headlining Coachella last spring but felt it was not quite ready. The first single released to tease “The Slow Rush,” titled “Patience,” did not end up making it onto the album. The second single, “Borderline,” was trimmed in length and sonically boosted in the version that appears on the album. Parker is extremely disciplined with his work and never quite seems satisfied. But clues to another more compelling explanation for the wait are found in the thematic and lyrical patterns on the album, which reveal Parker’s anxiety about the passage of time. Song titles can be easily used to track this motif. He dwells on the past (“Lost in Yesterday”) while still trying to be present (“Breathe Deeper”) and craft a path forward (“It Might Be Time”). Opening with the track “One More Year” and closing with one titled “One More Hour” bolsters this recurring theme and shows his bargaining process with time as he struggles to negotiate the passing of it. Beyond being generally anxious about time passing, Parker almost seems paralyzed by it. While Parker may feel confined by time, one of the reasons that “The Slow Rush” is so sonically impressive is that Parker has never felt confined to genre. With his vast knowledge of techniques and tools, he merges a variety of styles and unites them with his personal touch. This album is full of funk and disco influences that give an air of nostalgia. The infectious “Breathe Deeper” has notes of funk and R&B that jump out at the listener from the
start. But Parker marries those influences with his trademark stoner-rock mantras like “Let it Happen” and “The Less I Know The Better,” the breakout tracks of his previous album. On “Breathe Deeper”, he sings “Breathe a little deeper if you need to come undone / Let those colors run / now you’re having fun.” Deceptively simple lyrics and such a rich sound make “Breathe Deeper” one of the best songs on the album. Psychedelic rock tends to be so sonically overwhelming that the lyrics are obscured, and Tame Impala is no exception. But unearthing the lyrics of songs on “The Slow Rush” reveal a sharp pivot from “Currents,” and the listener finds Parker gazing more intensely inward than he was previously. Songs on “Currents” detailed reactions to events that took place as Parker disentangled
thematic and lyrical “ The patterns on the album... reveal Parker’s anxiety about the passage of time.
himself from a relationship gone haywire, while “The Slow Rush” is chock-full of contemplative meditations on the abstract things that keep Parker up at night. And while the emotional elements on “The Slow
Rush” are harder to discern at times, they are still present and powerful. The standout song “Posthumous Forgiveness” finds Parker grieving his estranged father, who passed away in 2009 before he and Parker could reconcile. “And you could store an ocean in the holes / In any of the explanations that you gave,” he sings on one of the opening verses, followed by “Did you think I’d never know?” The heart-wrenching final verse is Parker’s lamentation that by the time he was ready to forgive, it was too late, and how he wishes he could have shared more of his life with his father and let him see where he is now. But while the sonic influences vary on the album, the highs do not feel quite as high as they could be. Where songs on “Currents” soared, songs on “The Slow Rush” occasionally plateau and feel just a bit uninventive. A prime example of this is the song “Instant Destiny,” in which both the soundscape and the vocals seem to hit the same note over and over. However, this sense of stability and equilibrium could also be viewed as Parker settling deeper into his personal sound, committing himself to growing with it and playing with it. Stability and maturity are often connotatively linked, the idea that as one grows up, they settle deeper into patterns and achieve a sense of constancy and permanence that allows them to take a deep breath and be reassured. This is Parker’s deep breath, a sign of his maturity, as he allows his album to become a testament to the very thing that he seems to be so afraid of: the passage of time. On the final track “One More Hour”, Parker leaves us with the repeated refrain “Just a minute weather up before you go out there / All your voices said you wouldn’t last a minute there,” seeming to say that while the storm of time is undoubtedly anxiety-inducing, if one can “weather up” before stepping into it, everything should be fine.
5 March 2020 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue Seven
Spring Spotlight • 12
I wish for you blooming flowers covering your bruises not to mask them but to remind you that they make you beautiful I wish for you to chase the stars that streak across the sky not to long to be apart of them but to know that to others you already hang there I wish for you joy and the taste of sea air when standing by the beach of champagne bubbles and good books of hands tracing you gently and of hope I wish for you all good things in the universe because, darling, on this black earth you are a lightning strike you are what we found in the ruins of Pompeii, legend made life
you are soft and good and worthy by Abby Sorkin '20
she’s all wit and wildness, all brilliance and beauty she’s the type of kindness I want to be because she smiles during rainstorms and screams at the stars and her laughter is the sound that makes flower bloom and her rage, oh, it’s the thing that burns empires because she stands up and never keeps quiet and she’s always there to hold my hand when things get terrifying she’s the sunrise after the winter solstice the thing that looks gone but just comes back even stronger and she sometimes doesn’t realize that there’s no limits on her power she is fireworks gleaming overhead, bursting and crackling in chaos
invincible, that’s what she is by Abby Sorkin '20
5 March 2020 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XXIX • Issue Seven