5 December 2019
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DROP SODEXO EFFORTS CONTINUE By Eve Kaufman ’20 Staff Writer
icture Malott, a notorious dining hall P destination. It has not always been such a contested space — in fact, until
recently, it was not common knowledge that Sodexo, the catering company responsible for Malott’s food, also operates private prisons across the world. After Sodexo’s investments and practices came to light, many Claremont students found it difficult to remain silent. “At Scripps we are taught about the prison-industrial complex (PIC)... When it comes to aligning our mission statement to our practice, it’s deeply uncomfortable,” said Sophie Peters ’20, one of the current organizers of Drop Sodexo, the movement to end 5C dining halls’ contracts with Sodexo. The movement initially began at Pomona College, a former Sodexo client. It took organizing power from all five campuses to successfully pressure the administration to oust Sodexo as a contractor. Sodexo's long-running contract with Scripps is up for renewal in 2020, which presents an opportunity for Drop Sodexo. “Drop Sodexo is very much focused on actually trying to accomplish the goal of ending the contract with Sodexo,” said Niyati Narang ’20, SAS President and Drop Sodexo organizer. “Scripps students have put the energy toward and indicated this to be a priority for Scripps students.” If the movement succeeds, Scripps would be the second 5C campus to sever ties with Sodexo. Each effort is a highly strategized and intensive campaign, requiring support from all 5Cs in order to target one campus at a time. Organizers hope that after Scripps, other campuses such as Harvey Mudd might be able to address their own support for Sodexo. “A win will certainly bolster more
action,” Peters said, suggesting other campuses would receive the full support of committed Scripps students. As for taking on another project in this moment, “We don’t do anything ceremoniously” Narang stated, noting that organized action at Mudd would work only as a performative action. Though a specific date has yet to be announced, within the coming two weeks Scripps will interview new catering companies and has reportedly committed to place a special emphasis on candidates’ ethics, worker treatment and investments. Sodexo is known for its particular lack of consideration when it comes to any of these issues, but it is not the only major multinational corporation that profits from private prison management—plenty of other large domestic corporations employ prison labor or otherwise invest in private prisons. In fact, many dining hall providers in the US hold such affiliations. Investing in prisons is typical practice, as prisons provide sources of cheap labor, and tend to have lucrative payouts for private companies who benefit from the exploitation of the US justice system. “[Drop Sodexo is a] way to help people realize the implications of the PIC don’t just live in prisons, its on college campuses… it’s all around us,” Peters said. That is not to say Malott itself is responsible. Scripps College employs most of Malott’s staff, who will not be affected by a new supplier, according to Peters. For Narang and Peters, maintaining space in the conversation for Malott staff is a priority. According to the organizers, based on discussions held with staff they have found support for the movement, and various actions. “Drop Sodexo really supports [the staff], and they support us,” Peters said. The recognition of Sodexo’s practices is strong between the groups and now the main concern is getting Scripps administrators to follow through on
Visiting Former Nuclear Weapons Designer
Discusses Rocky Ties Between India and Pakistan By Theresa Aronson ’20 Staff Writer
n Nov. 5, CMC’s International PoO litical Journalism class hosted Blake Woods, a former physicist and
nuclear weapons designer at Los Alamos National Laboratory, as a guest speaker for its international conflicts unit covering nuclear weapons. According to Woods, a recent series of military clashes along India and Pakistan’s border last week is raising serious concern. On Oct. 29, a cross-border exchange occurred along what is known as the Line of Control (LoC), a highly militarized frontier where the two countries frequently exchange arms and other artillery. India and Pakistan blame one another for the cross-border shelling in the Kashmir region that killed and injured soldiers and civilians— including
women and children — on both sides. The foreign affairs ministry reported that six military personnel were killed and several others were seriously hurt in areas near the LoC. News channel Al Jazeera described this as one of the deadliest days since India revoked Kashmir’s special status in August. Indian defense spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia characterized this incident as an unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistan. “Our troops retaliated strongly, causing heavy damage and casualties to the enemy,” Kalia said to a New Delhi reporter with Al Jazeera. According to Kalia, his troops used larger-round artillery fire to hit “terrorist camps.” Pakistan has rejected India’s accusation that they antagonized the matter, maintaining that India’s attack in Jura, Shahkot and Nowshera sectors on Nov. 7 were indiscriminate and unprovoked,
the request of multiple generations of students and workers from across the 5Cs. This push to Drop Sodexo began in in 2017, following revelations that a Sodexo-contracted company had used domestic prison labor to build furniture that was then acquired and distributed throughout Scripps’ campus. This led to a particularly large protest, motivating Peters to become involved. Peters joined the Malott boycott and became inspired by the overwhelming support and crowd. At a pivotal moment, she chose to stay on board and continue organizing. Narang became involved after taking a Scripps course on politics and organizing at Scripps. Sharing the class with the upperclassmen leading the movement at the time, Peters soon found herself swept up in activism. Narang and Peters have carried the organization with the guidance of alums and the support of incoming classes. They even studied abroad in opposite semesters to maintain a presence on campus. Understanding and learning from the roadblocks previous Drop Sodexo efforts faced, Narang ran for SAS President to gain a direct channel to the Scripps administration. She now has a standing meeting every week with President Lara Tiedens and can navigate inter-grade dynamics with ease. Part of Narang’s job is introducing firstyears to campus, and she makes sure to include an in-depth history of the politics on campus and the current political climate: Drop Sodexo is both an immediate and frequent topic of discussion. Drop Sodexo has remained powerful throughout its iterations because it engages all class levels on campus. Narang listens to and represents these different years through her position. Narang's conscientiousness has united student generations, those of which have already graduated to our new first
years and transfer students. Current organizers even continue the dialogue with graduated organizers through FaceTime. This continued connection, along with the passion of the organizers and the support of students and faculty alike, have bolstered support for the movement prior to the upcoming announcement of the dining company finalists this month. Last semester, Drop Sodexo garnered over 1000 signatures on a petition to drop Sodexo, and in recent months hundreds of emails were sent to Scripps administration as an additional effort. More recently, Drop Sodexo has ensured that a comprehensive list of questions be asked of the prospective dining hall companies in review. The list is substantial, and concerns not only ties to prison labor, but also other things such as workers’ pay and healthcare as well as sustainability practices. “Once the companies are announced, we will be doing a lot of research into them to see if they align with Scripps’ standards,” Narang said. With the new companies up for consideration, this coming year might mark the end of the movement; the moment Scripps drops Sodexo. “This has been built on the backs of so many organizers,” Narang said. “And this is the final push.” So what can the collective community do now? “Show up,” Peters and Narang said. The following weeks will be crucial to the history of Scripps, and now is the moment students will decide its future. Following the announcement in the next two weeks, Drop Sodexo organizers will release information regarding potential new contractors as they receive it. Staying educated and up-todate on this rapidly growing movement will impact how the student body enters the next semester, and empower them to vocalize and support the best choice come the final days of Sodexo’s contract in Spring 2020.
as they deliberately targeted civilians. Major General Asif Ghafoor, a spokesman for the Pakistani Armed Forces, told the Al Jazeera reporter that they responded “effectively” in killing nine Indian soldiers and destroying two bunkers. With continued violence in the Kashmir region and a surge of activity by Pakistani-based militant groups and the Indian Army, concerns over a military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbors remain ominous. India currently has in its possession a nuclear triad, and claims to be developing thermonuclear weapons under the ‘Cold Start’ initiative, according to Dr. Woods. The Indian Army’s ‘Cold Start’ doctrine is a military defensive doctrine that allows India to undertake limited retaliatory attacks on its neighbor without crossing Pakistan’s nuclear threshold. Similarly, Dr. Woods sees Pakistan’s development of “shortrange, forward based, battlefield nuclear weapons,” as a defense against the Indian Army’s Cold Start doctrine. Cold Start is a doctrine geared toward swift offensive operations designed to seize Pakistan without, in theory, risking a nuclear conflict. “Even though the United States and Russia hold the vast majority of the world’s nuclear weapons, countries with smaller nuclear arsenals, such as India and Pakistan, that are actively engaged in regional conflicts, are considered to be ‘nuclear hotspots,’ because of the high risk for a nuclear conflict breaking out over the ongoing war in Kashmir,” said Woods when asked which countries currently hold the greatest nuclear threat.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed media at the 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) last week, accusing India of human rights atrocities in Kashmir and asking for international intervention to help de-escalate the conflict between the two nuclear nations. While speaking Al Jazeera, Khan stated that there is a possibility for a war with India that could “go beyond the subcontinent. “That’s why we have approached the United Nations, we are approaching every international forum, that they must act right now,” Khan said. According to Khan, he “absolutely” believes war with India could be possible. “If the world does nothing to stop the Indian assault on Kashmir and its people, there will be consequences for the whole world as two nuclear-armed states get ever closer to a direct military confrontation,” Khan said to Al Jazeera. Khan’s comment comes after India’s defense minister issued a not-so-covert nuclear threat to Pakistan, saying that the future of India’s “first use” policy of nuclear weapons “depends on circumstance.” Indian officials still have not indicated when they plan to lift the security restrictions or release the thousands of people who have been jailed. Until such time, negotiations concerning Kashmir have been tabled. In his open-letter published in the New York Times, Khan writes: “When two nuclear armed countries fight, if they fight a conventional war, there is every possibility that it is going to end up into nuclear war.”
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