7 May, 2015
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Olivia Buntaine to be grad senior speaker By Sydney Sibelius ‘18 Staff Writer
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ach year, the Scripps senior class selects a fellow graduating student to speak at Commencement. The elected student is able to commemorate the past four years and the experiences had by the graduating class. This year, Olivia Buntaine ‘15 was selected to present her speech after being inspired by previous speakers. “I had had a couple of friends in the past few years who had been commencement speaker,” Buntaine said. “I had always thought of it as a possibility, and I didn’t even expect it to work it out. Like at all.” In creating her speech, Buntaine was compelled to provide a story that represents what happens behind the scenes of the beautiful Scripps campus. “People don’t make room for how hard things can be and how interesting some of those struggles are and the ways in which things aren’t perfect all of the time,” Buntaine said. “That’s kind of what makes it beautiful, and that’s what I really wanted to provide a narrative on. Something that would challenge that aspect of perfection and our messy struggle of trying to figure out who we are and what we want from the world. That is really what’s beautiful about Scripps.” In comparison to those of many
Olivia Buntaine’s speech was selected by her peers to be shared at the 2015 Scripps Graduation. Photo courtesy of Hannah Van Sciver.
other schools, the process to select a student speaker at Scripps is unique in that students are expected to submit their speech for their fellow classmates to read and then vote on. This is meant to ensure that the speech provides an accurate and truthful representation of the students. Buntaine, alongside her
classmates, was inspired by her past four years at Scripps. “It’s really interesting, because I think my speech talks about some of the harder stuff here, like doing sexual violence advocacy on campus, a little bit about Ferguson, a little bit about working for a trans admission policy, and some of
the harder aspects of my time at Scripps,” Buntaine said, describing events that took place during her four years on campus. “And I wanted to find a way to not just brush away the pain that people go through in college to make it seem like it was the best four years of our lives, but
Kimberlé Crenshaw Speaks at Scripps
towards blacks that has manifested in police brutality. “The anger and agony of these deaths [such as the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, and others] has released a powerful discourse of resistance and a dynamic effort to name the particular dynamics of this form of anti-black racism,” Crenshaw said. “Specifically, an issue has been the ways in which anti-black stereotype narratives and social imperatives have been woven together in a manner that enables the continuing drumbeat of death within an ideological framework that renders these killings to be normal, acceptable and even defensible.” Crenshaw explained how the stereotypes and beliefs embodied in this anti-black racism lowers
police accountability in terms of their treatment of all bodies, not just those of African Americans. When police are able to behave in the manner in which they do towards African Americans, she explained, what is stopping them from behaving corruptly and unjustly towards people of all races? Crenshaw compares police violence in this way to the “way that the discourse surrounding welfare shredded the safety net for all poor women.” In other words, an unjust act is targeted at a specific group, it can easily spread to unlawful behavior towards a wider array of groups. She explained that this particular form of racism both targets the targeted groups themselves and
By Taylor Galla ‘18 Staff Writer
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n April 28, Scripps College welcomed Kimberlé Crenshaw, professor of law at UCLA and Columbia Law School, to campus for a lunchtime discussion followed by a lecture later that evening in Garrison Theater. The purpose of both talks was to discuss intersectionality in the political and social discourse surrounding anti-black racism in the United States. The lecture in Garrison began with a brief introduction from Scripps College President Lori BettisonVarga and Wanawake Weusi president Shanisha Coram ‘17, who
Inside This Issue:
gave a more detailed background of who Crenshaw is and her work surrounding racial justice. “My talk tonight speaks to the current in which some widely contradictory impulses are playing out in the social arena,” Crenshaw said. “Most dramatically, this past year has witnessed the rising resistance to police violence and the apparent impunity with which individuals who are clothed with state power have been able to take lives without consequence.” She began by introducing the discourse that recent events surrounding police violence has sparked around racial issues in America-- specifically, the racism
Page 4 - Professor Huynh Meet visiting professor, artist Phung Huynh
Page 9 - Feminism & Film
Explore why tropes of female characters in film are problematic.
1030 Columbia Avenue | Claremont, CA 91711 | Box 839 email: scrippsvoice@gmail.com | Volume XVIII | Issue Eleven
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Page 11 - Last Looks
Get some last advice from the first-year timeline.
2 • News
CCBDC 2014-2015 Season In Review By Elizabeth Lee ‘16 Staff Writer
Celebrating 17 years, the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company (CCBDC) held its annual spring Concert this past weekend, May 2-3, at Pomona’s Bridges Auditorium. This year, entitled “Icons of Music: Legends, Divas, and Superstars,” the performance featured some of the most widely-known and danceable pop music. Highlights included a fierce tango to Cher’s “Welcome to Burlesque,” a sassy all-follow duet-one of the first of its kind in CCBDC’s history-to Madonna’s “4 Minutes,” and an amusing interpretation of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” through a medley of jive, contemporary, a handful of dramatic lifts and some impassioned pantomime. A particularly enthusiastic section of the audience during the Saturday night showing indicated Claremont’s Alumni Weekend had brought together an impressive amount of CCBDC veterans. Members of this ever-expansive community came from all across the country and generations to cheer on its current dancers. Throughout its 2014-2015 season, CCBDC has also developed several new programs. Having recently returned from a semester in London, current President Lazaors Chalkias spearheaded the creation of a scholarship to fund members seeking to continue their dance training while studying abroad. Chalkias was also the first recipient of the scholarship, opting to train with British Nationals Ballroom Vice Champion, Craig Shaw, who during a visit to the U.S. led a series of workshops offered to dancers on campus this past March. CCBDC’s Artist in Residence program was also put into effect this year, bringing in local artists such as U.S. National Smooth Pro Lorena Bravo as well as University of California Riverside Ph.D student and Collegiate Dancesport founding member Denise Machin to work with students, helping to create some of the work that appeared in Concert. When creating these dance pieces, CCBDC makes use of its Director, Paul Roach, and Artists in Residence to choreograph and run training; however, members of the advanced Tour Team also have the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience with newer members of the community by coaching CCBDC’s Campus Team. This year, Julius Kellinghusen (PO ‘16), a three-year member and former Major Events Coordinator, worked with Campus Team members to create a lively quickstep to Lady Gaga’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing [if It Ain’t Got that Swing].” “We are all super supportive of each other, and older dancers love to share their experience and skills [...] and encourage the new dancers to reach their full potential,” says Kellinghusen. “I was one of these new dancers that benefited from the care
Photo courtesy of CCBDC.
and kindness of others, and now I get to do the same for others. [...]There is nothing better than when dancers are invested in their routine and really feel like it belongs to them, and I hope to create that feeling for everyone I work with.” Being the company’s culminating event of the season, the spring Concert requires a great amount of personal investment and team collaboration in preparation. As described by Kellinghusen, “Concert brings together all the dancers in Campus and Tour and sometimes Beginners Teams to one of the biggest productions on the 5Cs. Dancers practice and prepare for most of the semester, many investing 10 hours a week or more.” One of these dedicated dancers was Scripps first year student and Beginners Team member Grace Thieme. One of only two Beginners Team members to participate in Concert, Thieme danced in the Opener piece in addition to acting as Stage Manager. “I think my favorite part of Concert was partially the dress [for Opener]. I looked like a fluorescent toucan or something,” Thieme laughs. “I also really thought it was awesome to be able to see the show come together. Being able to hear everything going on in tech land through the headset really made me appreciate all the stuff that goes into it behind the scenes. It was also fun to see people perform. There’s all this extra energy!” When asked how she became a part Team,
Thieme replied that she knew she wanted to join before arriving on campus. “I totally Youtube stalked [and] was really impressed with the quality of dance...Laz[aros] and Paul did a great job working in an environment where a lot of us had never danced before; however, I was interested in more of a commitment--time and effort wise--than Beginners Team offered, and so I decided that I wanted to compete.” In addition to working with CCBDC, Thieme has also joined a community of over forty other competitive dancers on campus, competing with her partner Tom Lin (PO ‘18) in both International Standard Ballroom and Latin styles at a collegiate level. Although CCBDC is rooted on Pomona’s campus, Thieme is far from being its only Scripps member. Noelle Kimiko (SC ‘15) is a Scripps senior and Computer Science Major on Tour team. A three-year member of CCBDC, Kimiko is part of a long history of Scripps ballroom dancers. “I think many Scripps students are interested in engaging with the consortium as a whole, not just life at Scripps,” said Kimiko. “In the years I’ve been involved, CCBDC seems to be mostly students from Scripps, Pomona and Harvey Mudd, so it is a good way to meet students from other colleges. Also, if there are students with a background in dance, I think they are drawn to Team, because it is one of the most vibrant dance communities at the 5Cs. Scripps students are dedicated and organized, and CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
New Building under construction over the summer
be known as the Georgia B. Ridder Living Room, in appreciation of a $1.1 million dollar pledge made by the Georgia B. Ridder Foundation in the memory of Georgia B. Ridder. NEW Hall will follow the distinctive look of the other residence halls, while being very sustainable and energy efficient. This building will also be pursuing LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) gold certification. “LEED certified buildings save money and resources and have a positive impact on the health of occupants, while promoting renewable, CLEAN ENERGY” (LEED website). NEW Hall will include features such as “low flow water fixtures, high efficiency lighting, Energy Star appliances and drip irrigation” (NEW Hall website). Construction will continue during the summer months and through the next academic year. Construction updates are posted at: inside. scrippscollege.edu/treasurer/constructionnotices You can also visit the NEW Hall website to read more and to see illustrations: www.scrippscollege. edu/newhall
By Sophie Fahey ‘17 Staff Writer
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urrently, the space between Routt, the Sally Tiernan Field House, and Platt is closed off for construction of Scripps’ newest residence hall, currently titled NEW Hall, which is scheduled to open for students in Fall of 2016. In October, College President Lori BettisonVarga announced in an email to the Scripps community that a $10 million gift was made by an anonymous donor to support the construction of the college’s tenth residence hall. NEW Hall will cost around $20 million in all, and money for its construction will continue to be raised through the We Want More Campaign, which was launched last fall. Because the donors have requested to remain anonymous, the residence hall is currently being called NEW Hall. The dorm may receive a more
specific name in the future. The process for building NEW Hall began with the demolition of the old maintenance building at the end of February. The Facilities and Grounds departments were relocated to the basement of Lang. The construction is happening between Frankel/Routt and Platt, and extends to the Field House. A barrier has been put up around this area to reduce the noise for students. The Scripps side of Platt’s sidewalk has also been closed. The construction of NEW Hall will allow the college to continue increasing enrollment. NEW Hall should house around 80-90 students in both rooms and suites. It will also reduce the number of first year triples and the number of students in off-campus housing. Along with the dorm rooms themselves, NEW Hall will include a kitchen, living room, computer room, browsing room and courtyards. The dorm’s living room will
7 May, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Eleven
News • 3
The Scripps Voice Staff Editors-in-Chief Lucy Altman-Newell Elena Pinsker Advisor Sam Haynes Design Editors Melanie Biles Taylor Haas Selene Hsu Copy Editors Rachel Miller-Haughton Ashley Minnis-Lemley Elizabeth Lee Business Manager Lily Comba Webmaster Jocelyn Gardner Multimedia Director Laurel Schwartz Columnists & Staff Writers Melanie Biles Natalie Camrud Sophie Fahey Taylor Galla Jocelyn Gardner Diva Gattani Evelyn Gonzalez Kay James Elizabeth Lee Joelle Leib Erin Matheson Sophia Rosenthal Jasmine Russell Sydney Sibelius Talia Speaker Isobel Whitcomb Photographers Tyra Abraham Suzette Guzman Tianna Sheih Nicole Zwiener
Comments and letters can be sent to Scripps College The Scripps Voice, 1030 Columbia Ave, Box 386, Claremont, CA, 91711. You can also email The Scripps Voice at scrippsvoice@gmail.com or visit our website at www.thescrippsvoice.com The Scripps Voice is a student forum and is not responsible for the opinions expressed in it.
Senior Thesis: The Last hurdle before graduation By Sophia Rosenthal ‘17 Staff Writer
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sk any Scripps student what they think senior year will be like, and you’ll encounter an expression of knowing dread. Sophomores and juniors look warily toward the future in knowing anticipation of what is to come. Even first years have heard enough to know it as something to fear. But seniors must live it: thesis. The very word conjures up dark images of desks piled high with books, long trails of tearful emails to advisers and thesis readers, and boxes of wine as red as the blood-shot eyes of their consumers. Indeed, at Scripps College, thesis is constructed as the pinnacle of both academic stress and academic accomplishment. Robyn Sherman, whose Molecular Biology thesis is titled “The Regulation of Histone H3 Proteolysis by Acetylation in Tetrahymena thermophilia” acknowledged that the research aspect can be intense. “The hardest part of thesis is accomplishing all of the research and then being able to write it all down in a clear, concise way that makes sense to readers who have little to no background in the field of study” Sherman said. Christina Whalen, whose thesis is titled “Is the reception better on a different channel?: Interpersonal communication satisfaction of introverts and extraverts during face-to-face versus instant messenger conversations,” agrees that the initial research is the challenging part. “The hardest part of thesis was getting the source material read” Whalen said. “It’s easy to find titles that look relevant and it’s easy to write commentary on things that you’re reading--it’s the actual note-taking [...] that ends up being the first major hurdle.” But despite the high volume of reading and research required, the rewards of the experience are significant, and not something that is often discussed. “I am going
on to graduate school for a Ph.D. Being able to complete a research project [...] has helped me immensely during the interview process and has allowed me numerous opportunities to present my research at conferences” Sherman said. “I am continuously using the knowledge that I have gained [...] It is very rewarding to know that you are competent in the subject: nobody has more knowledge on the subject than you do!” Thesis is the culmination of a Scripps education, and not simply because it is the last major project before graduation. “The process of writing it can [...] help you tie together everything you have learned over the four years, and really utilize the skills you’ve been gaining” Whalen said. After all, “The knowledge that you gain is invaluable” Sherman said. So what about those of us who still have thesis to look forward to? What approach should we take? “The one piece of advice that I wish I had taken to heart was, ‘Don’t let yourself get intimidated!’ Everyone chalks thesis up as this horribly stressful process, but honestly half or more of that stress starts with the thought... that it’s going to be something horrendously nervewracking,” Whalen said. “If there were a more positive outlook on the thesis process, I think that it would have been [...] much less strenuous and emotionally taxing than it was. [...] Break it into chunks. Make an outline, and take it one step at a time--How many of us have written 10-page papers in the last 36 hours before the due date? Or even the last 24? You can write 30 pages over the course of a semester or two no problem.” As intimidating as senior thesis is built up to be, it seems comparable to applying to college or getting your first tattoo--it can feel overwhelming and painful at times, but you get it done anyway, and it is absolutely worth it.
Prof. Wiley earns Grant By Erin Matheson ‘18 Staff Writer
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ational Science Foundation (NSF) has recently awarded the W.M. Keck Science Department a number of competitive research grants, putting the department among the top in the nation in federal funding. The new grants, along with 11 other awards dating back to 2010, make a total of 17 active federal research grants, totaling $4.3 million, for Keck Science faculty. Associate Professor of Biology Emily Wiley is the lead Principal Investigator on a grant that just recently won a NSF grant. The total award amount, shared between 5 institutions across the country, was $710,000. The amount coming to Keck is a little over $500,000. Professor Wiley typically has about eight students working on projects in her lab exploring the genome of Tetrahymena, a freeliving ciliate protozoa. The students are at all different levels, from firstyear students to senior thesis students. According to Wiley, “This is a grant aimed at getting more undergraduates across the country involved in genome research that is helpful to a lot of people. The funds will allow more students, from here or elsewhere, to work with other researchers across the country at other institutions.”
The funds will go toward training faculty and students to collaborate on a large-scale initiative to understand the function of different pieces of genetic information, specifically genes. This knowledge will advance the research of many investigators at a wide range of institutions around the world. “For me, it will definitely help advance my research on proteins that influence the packaging of the genome and the control of gene expression,” said Wiley. Funds will go toward faculty-student workshops, student research exchanges in other labs, summer student research stipends, development of research modules for existing courses, and supplies for genomics research. When Professor Wiley won the award she was elated. She truly worked her way to the grant because she started this same undergraduate genome research initiative eight years ago under a different award from NSF. “I am a strong believer in the model and its potential impact on undergraduates, providing them with a deeper, richer, more effective science education experience through engaging research,” said Wiley, “By training faculty to incorporate research modules into the courses they teach, this award will allow a broader range of students to experience the exhilarating process of making
Photo courtesy of Scripps College
novel discoveries, and train them to do science, not just learn about it.” The grant competition was strong-only 14% of biology proposals were funded, but Wiley was able to earn the grant. “It was beyond exciting to find that NSF believes our genomics initiative has a lot of promise to accomplish this on a large scale,” she said. Since starting in the Keck Science Department, Wiley has put a lot of effort toward finding ways to more broadly engage students in the scientific discovery process. This grant will allow Wiley and her team to further develop their ideas and try new methods to this end. It will also fund students to learn different research techniques in a variety of labs on other campuses across the country, and provide more funding for summer research.
7 May, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Eleven
4 • News
Meet Visiting Professor, Artist, Phung Huyng By Lucy Altman-Newell ‘17 Editor-in-Chief
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rofessor Phung Huynh, a Los Angelesbased artist, has held the position of Visiting Assistant Professor of Painting at Scripps College this past academic year and during this time has taught Beginning Drawing, Beginning Painting, and Intermediate and Advanced Painting courses. Her extensive studio art (primarily drawing and painting), teaching and life experiences have made her what many of her students here at Scripps have deemed a wonderful and valuable professor and person. Huynh completed undergraduate work at the University of Southern California, earned her Bachelor in Fine Arts in Illustration at the Art Center College of Design, and earned her Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art from New York University. According to her staff profile on the Scripps College website, “Huynh is influenced by 17th century Italian Baroque painters as well as contemporary painters who explore postcolonial, cross-cultural phenomena. Her work is a deliberate exploration of traditional Chinese auspicious imagery, and the ways it is consumed and distorted in American popular culture.” On her website, www.phunghuynh.com, Huynh explains the mission and execution of her work: “Dismantling cultural authenticity, I paint images of Chinese cherubs, lotus, carp and silk textile designs with a ‘pop’ veneer that collide in a complicated composition of delight and horror to challenge the viewer with a westernleaning perspective, as well as the viewer with a nonwestern-leaning perspective. The works are usually of highly illuminated bodies with a lush Baroque palette, set against flat backgrounds and eastern patterns. When the viewer begins to explore the awkward synthesis and visual idiosyncrasy of my projects, notions of cultural representations and stereotypes unravel and challenge how we consume and interpret ethnographic signifiers.” Her art has been displayed in several solo and group exhibitions across the country, and she has also received commissions, including from Rolling Stone Magazine and American Airlines. Over the years, Huynh has appeared in many publications, magazines, journals and newspapers. Professor Huynh has taught at Art Center College of Design, Ribet Academy, East Los Angeles College, and is currently Associate Professor of Art at Los Angeles Valley College. She has proved to be a very influential instructor. “I loved having Phung Huynh as a professor,” Mia Siracusa ’17, a student in Professor Huynh’s Introduction to Painting course here at Scripps, said. “She taught me about light logic and basic techniques of composing a painting that I will use forever. She also pushed me to challenge myself and was very supportive. She was also supportive outside of art and always reminded us [her students] that ‘we are human, not machines,’ meaning it’s okay for us to take a break from the constant workload and pressures we face as students. She also represents Scripps very well, as she is a strong woman who believes in empowering other women and embracing ourselves for who we are. I feel honored to have gotten to take a class with her and wish I could take more. She is a wonderful professor and one of my role models.” Jocelyn Gardner ’15, a student in the same class, said “Prof. Huynh is amazing and we’ll miss her here at the 5Cs. Whether you are an art major or not and regardless of your skill level, she makes you feel welcome in her classes while challenging and supporting you. She always has something positive to say while still giving you feedback.” The Scripps Voice caught up with Professor Huynh for an interview this past week. How did you come to be a visiting professor at
Artwork by Prof. Huynh: “Live Long and Prosper,” oil and acrylic on canvas, 24” x 72”. Photo courtesy of Phung Huynh
Scripps? What brought you here? Before coming to Scripps, I was and currently am tenured at Los Angeles Valley College, a community college located in the San Fernando Valley. Teaching at a community college is aligned with my efforts to use art to contribute to public education and the belief in democratizing higher education. Also, as a visual artist, teaching at a community college broadened my work in placing art as social practice and going beyond the walls of museums and galleries. During the summer of 2014, Scripps was looking for a Visiting Professor in Painting and Drawing, and a fellow artist and friend who teaches at Pitzer College encouraged me to apply. At the time, I was hesitant to leave my students and “home” college for a year, but felt it was also a necessary step in broadening my scope to receive professional development and to be in a different environment where I can grow and develop both as an artist and professor. How has your experience been here at Scripps overall? I absolutely love Scripps and feel that it is a special place for many reasons. My students are wonderful, intelligent, enthusiastic and motivated. Also, growing up in southern California, I became familiar with the art of Scripps faculty and feel honored to have taught with them this year. The Scripps community is a vibrant one where I look forward to coming to work and feel supported. What has been the most unique thing about teaching at Scripps, as opposed to other teaching positions you have held? Teaching at an all-women’s college has been quite unique and special. I attended an all-girls’ high school, and took for granted the sense of empowerment and independence that was nurtured and instilled from the beginning. I went to high school thinking that feminism was almost inherent and that everyone should care about women’s issues. I was perceived and regarded based on my thoughts, ideas and actions rather than the way I looked. My interest in gender, race and class that was informed by a progressive “all-girls’” education completely fell in line with Scripps students and teaching philosophy. It was serendipity! What was the most memorable part of your post here? There are many memorable moments, and it is hard to choose just one. One very special one is when one of the professors in the Art Department was expecting a baby. We, as a department (family) threw her a surprise baby shower with all the frills… diaper cake, cupcakes, sparkling lemonade and many baby jokes. It is nice to have those sorts of moments where we remember that life is important, too, not just the “work” that we do. Scripps also gave me the courage to finally initiate projects I have been wanting to do, or feeling not brave enough to do until now. For example, I have always been interested in prison issues and incarceration as a theme in art. I was not only able to incorporate the subject in art projects for Scripps students, but I was invited to be a guest artist lecturer at the men’s prison in Chino which was a very intense and profound experience. My father is a Cambodian genocide survivor, and for many years, I wanted to make work about it but felt extremely intimidated and hesitant. What was blocking me is the feeling that art could do no justice and not adequately depict genocide.
At Scripps, I came across Professor Nathalie Rachlin and her presentation about Rithy Panh (a Cambodian genocide survivor and internationally recognized film maker). Her presentation was powerful especially in opening up the possibilities of using art to approach the subject of genocide. Inspired by her talk and presentation, I plan on traveling to Cambodia on a more regular basis (my father currently lives there) and initiating my research and project about the Khmer Rouge Genocide and its impact today. What does your foreseeable future hold for you? Where are you off to after Scripps? For my immediate future, I will be returning to Los Angeles Valley College and chair the Art Department in one year. I have gained so much at Scripps and look forward to bringing what I have learned to my students at Valley College. I will also continue my practice as artist and exhibit my work. In the far future, I hope to start a foundation that will promote the work of emerging artists and create an artist-in-residency program in Cambodia. Is there anything you would like to remind your students as they go forward on their art paths? Anything you’d like to say as you go forward on your own? I would like to remind my students to work hard, to have a plan but to also be flexible to change. Never put yourself in the place of “I should have” or “I wish I could have.” I want to thank my students, colleagues and Scripps staff for a very special year. Although I am “leaving,” the friendships and relationships I have formed are still intact! For more information, visit Prof. Huynh’s website, www. phunghuynh. com.
Photo courtesy of Scripps College
OLIVIA BUNTAINE TO BE SENIOR GRAD SPEAKER CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
to turn it into a positive transformational process.” She addresses these harder aspects in a speech that fellow students have said is not like a typical graduation speech. While discussing the challenging process, she compares students’ four year journey at Scripps to the renowned beauty of the campus. “It focuses on juxtaposing the aesthetic beauty of Scripps with a lot of the tumultuous struggle that students are going through,” Buntaine said. “It’s about how beautiful and pristine our campus is and how it distracts from the intense building and pulling apart and the hard work that the students are doing.” With commencement right around the corner, Buntaine is preparing to present her speech in front of her fellow students and other spectators. “Am I nervous? Well, I’m a songwriter and actress, so that helps a little bit,” Buntaine said. “It’s just like a really big responsibility to feel like I am trying to articulate the experience of a bunch of people. I hope that I am, I don’t really know, but I hope I do everybody proud. That’s the goal. So that’s what I’m nervous about, if anything, I want people to feel like that represents their experience.”
7 May, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Eleven
Sports • 5
Athlete profile: Helen thomason
scripps college ‘18 CMS Water polo
By Talia Speaker ‘18 Staff Writer
Thomason takes control of the ball for CMS water polo. Photo courtesy of Helen Thomason
Helen Thomason joined the CMS Water Polo team this year. The Scripps Voice caught up with her to learn all about her experience with the team and the sport. How long have you been playing water polo? I’ve been playing water polo for 5 years now, I started my freshman year of high school but I grew up swimming competitively. Did you always know you wanted to play in college? No, I didn’t know whether I was going to be able to play until I got here but a couple of the girls reached out and encouraged me to play and I am so glad I did! How do you balance water polo with academics? Being on a team in some ways helps my academics; I stay on top of my schoolwork better because it forces me to manage my time. Most of the other first-years on the team are also science majors and we have classes together so it’s really nice because we can all study together. There is an understanding that school comes first, so a lot of the seniors will help us with homework or help pick classes and navigate things but as long as I stay on top of my homework and don’t
procrastinate, I found it easy to balance the two. What is the team dynamic like out of the water, and how does that affect how you compete together? Everyone probably says this, but I love my team. Outside of the water we have a lot of fun getting meals and hanging out. So, that makes practices and games more enjoyable. We respect each other as players, so we can learn a lot from each other, which makes it that much more fun when we compete well together. What is your coach like? Coach Lonzo is great. In the water he values the integrity of the game and coaches us to have good sportsmanship and win fairly, he does not coach us to play dirty which happens in water polo so often since a lot goes unseen under water. He also really values that we are students first, and then athletes. He cares about us as people and makes an effort to get to know each of us. I think this carries into the pool, we have a respect for him and can reach his expectations for us as players. Do you have a pre-game routine? Before every game we always stretch together, do some jumping jacks, and then we all change and huddle in the locker room and do a pre-game
talk. Usually we play some good pump up music in the locker room. Sometimes someone will bring a good quote, or one of the captains will say something but we always do a cheer before we go out on deck. Your team went into the SCIAC tournament this last weekend ranked second in your conference. Can you talk a little bit about how that went, and how you see your team developing in the future? We played our first game on Friday against Cal Lutheran and that went really well. Saturday and Sunday were a little more disappointing. It was not the way any of us had hoped to end our season, but I think going into next year we will use the tournament as motivation and learn from our mistakes. We are a very young team and so I am excited to see where we can go as a team as we learn to play with each other and become more experienced players.
Have a friend on a CMS team? Contact The Scripps Voice and we can include a feature of your favorite athlete in our next issue! scrippsvoice@gmail.com
7 May, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Eleven
SPOTL
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Graduation, HIStory, and Traditions Sydney Sibelius ‘18 Staff Writer
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ave you ever wondered about the significance behind many of the Scripps traditions? Have you ever had any interest in learning about the events that occur at the end of the year? One conversation with Scripps’ own Judy Harvey Sahak will answer all of your questions. Students’ four years at Scripps end with an exciting graduation experience. In one packed day, Scripps is host to the Awards Convocation, the Commencement Ceremony and a dinner and dance afterwards to further the celebration. There are also additional events that occur throughout the weekend, though Saturday is the main day of festivity. “The schedule now compresses everything,” Harvey Sahak said. “For the last four or five years, both the Awards Convocation and the Commencement Ceremony [have been on] on the same day. The schedule has changed, and so Saturday is a busy day.” Though Commencement has not seen many significant changes since the first graduating class in 1931, there are a few noticeable differences. One of the most noticeable differences is the switch in colors of robes that the students wear. “Initially, the robes were black for the first few years,” Harvey Sahak said. “The green robes were initiated in 1947. Over the years, as the classes got larger, robes were added. By the time these new ones replaced the old ones, there was just a hodge podge of robes and colors and styles and it looked pretty awful. One of the graduating classes from the 50s, that was their gift to the college was a new set of robes.” In addition to robes, many students wear stoles and other accessories. While a large amount of students wear flower leis around their necks, this is surprisingly not a tradition specific to Scripps.
“It is someone or parents or friends wanting someone to have flowers,” Harvey Sahak said. “I think it originated with some of the students who lived in Hawaii.” Another major change in Commencement throughout the years has been an increase in the size of the graduating class. “It’s really huge,” Harvey Sahak said. “It’s a little overwhelming when you see it. This year, there are around 230 students graduating. My graduating class way back when was less than 80 students.” This has led to difficulty in creating space for the crowds of family members and supporters there to view their students graduate. It has also required some adjustment on the part of traditions to be able to accommodate the large number of seniors. The program requires several marshals to ensure fluidity. When the graduating students line up to walk down the aisle and out the front doors of Denison, there is little room in the library to line up. They descend onto the lawn to complete their cycle as Scripps students, and they receive flowers to celebrate. “As they walk through the doors [of Denison], the [students] are handed a rose, so everybody has a red rose,” Harvey Sahak said.
Photo courtesy of Scripps College
The Commencement Ceremony has always been a festive celebration and memorable day for the Scripps community. “Commencement is one of the happiest places on Earth — forget Disneyland,” Harvey Sahak said. “Everyone is happy, the parents are proud, and the graduates are happy to be finished with everything. And at least for one or two days, nobody is worried about what they are going to do with their lives, they are just intent on celebrating the past four years.”
Congrats Class of 2015
7 May, 2015 • The Scripps Voic
LIGHT
7
The Graffiti Wall
T
he longest-running tradition at Scripps started with the first graduating class in 1931. Graffiti Wall began as a way for the first four classes of the college to commemorate the beginning of Scripps. However, while the fourth graduating class of 1934 was supposed to be the last class to decorate the wall, the class of 1935 decided to continue the tradition. “The first class, 1931, signed it,” Harvey Sahak said. “Initially, it was only going to be the first four classes because they thought they were the most important. There was a declaration from 1934 that they had completed the decoration on the wall, and 1935 said ‘forget it! We’re going to decorate it, also.’” The wall represents artwork from each class that has graduated from Scripps, with students selecting a design to be painted on the wall and signing their names around it. Due to leaky roofs and a bad quality of paint, some of the paintings have seen decay over time. “In the summer of 2007, a paintings conservator came and restored the wall,” Harvey Sahak said. “It was quite a wonderful overtaking. They did research and used photographs and pieced together the images.” Despite the dwindling availability of space on the wall, this long-standing tradition will not be going anywhere. “The spaces are getting smaller and smaller, and we are running out of space, but I think there might be some solutions to that,” Harvey Sahak said. Graffiti Wall remains one of the most important traditions of Scripps, as it draws together all of the graduating classes and represents the experience of the classes during their time here.
Photos by Tianna Sheih ‘16
Elm Tree Lawn
T
he elm trees on Elm Tree Lawn have always had significance for the Scripps campus. The original elms were planted on the lawn in 1939 and grew to provide a large canopy of shade. However, the elms currently there are no longer the same as the original trees. “Since about 2000 it was known that the trees were becoming unhealthy,” Harvey Sahak said. “They were diseased because at one point they had been poorly pruned and became weakened. In the summer of 2008, all of those trees were removed and new trees that had been in a tree nursery in the Central Valley were planted on the lawn.” As the original elms held great significance to the traditions of the Commencement Ceremony, Scripps designed a table and podium to be made out of the wood of the original trees. Both the table and the podium sit on the stage at Commencement and are more modern-looking than traditional and are in a lighter wood. “Scripps is very forward-looking, but traditions are also very important,” Harvey Sahak said. “The modernity of the style of the table and the podium really nicely incorporate the idea of the older elms being used to make the podium.”
T Photo courtesy of Olivia Buntaine
ce • Volume XVIII • Issue Eleven
Changes
he programs now include names, hometowns, and thesis titles, whereas the original programs only had names of the graduating students. The faculty, trustees, the President, and the speaker now face the crowd, rather than sitting with their backs to the students and spectators. Inviting a student to speak is a more recent addition from the last thirty years.
Photo courtesy of Scripps College
Senior Brunch
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efore the weekend of Commencement, there is a senior champagne brunch. While faculty used to be invited, the event is now just students. The brunch occurs the Saturday before senior week, and remains a mystery to those not invited. According to Harvey Sahak, the best way to find out more about the event is to ask a senior or experience it for yourself. “There is champagne involved, and food involved, and more,” Harvey Sahak said.
8 • Features
stopping the stubble stigma Anonymous Sexual Health Columnist
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ow that the hot summer months have arrived, it’s time to talk about body hair removal. Hair removal can be a high-maintenance and sometimes extremely painful process. Shaving runs the risk of ingrown hairs and waxing can make you bleed. Some studies have even suggested that bacteria and viruses can enter the body through broken skin resulting from hair removal processes, increasing one’s risk of viral STDs. Yet many people — particularly female-bodied individuals — feel pressured into removing their hair, because society seems to have a real issue with female body hair, especially pubic hair. For example,
Petra Collins, a young photographer, had her Instagram account deleted after she posted a photo of herself in a bathing suit in which a small amount of pubic hair was visible. This photo was reported for being “disgusting” and “offensive.” Many people constantly experience this kind of body shaming. I’ve been shaving for a decade. When I was ten, someone told me my arms were hairy and gross like a boy’s and that I should shave off my arm hair. I was hurt and confused by this — boys don’t have to shave their arms, yet I do? When I was at a pool party in ninth grade, a boy pointed out another girl at the party whose pubic hair was showing and started telling people how disgusting “pubes” on girls were so gross. I promptly shaved mine off
KIMBERLÉ CRENSHAW SPEAKS AT SCRIPPS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
also creates a standard by which all other bodies are also made vulnerable. For example, if a law is passed that makes a certain facet of something illegal, the social understanding of that thing can expand this illegality to something larger that affects more people. Crenshaw expanded this concept to the Black Lives Matter movement that signifies the unmattering of black life that has occurred in our society. She states “[O]ne doesn’t have to say things matter that clearly do.” To say black lives matter raises the question of under what circumstances black lives have been made out to not matter. She then began to discuss post-racialism as the state our society is currently in. Post-racialism, said Crenshaw, “might be thought of as a more popular or more palpable vision of color-blindness which in turn denies and minimizes and erases institutional and structural forms of racism.” Post-racialism is an acceptable way of talking about race, according to Crenshaw, who said also that one names race but not racism as one of the causes/consequences of some of these aforementioned issues. We as a society perceive that we’re in a post-racialism age and therefore do not name things as racist, only saying that race plays a role-- not necessarily in a good way or a bad way. We do not admit to our own acts of racism because we perceive that because we’re in this state of racial tolerance compared to various times throughout our history, they are not truly racist. Crenshaw then explained that this issue in particular has been discussed extensively but what has not been discussed are the ways in which patriarchy has made post-racial discourses accessible to a broad array of social justice advocates and people of color. Crenshaw explained that in our society there exists “Intersectional erasure or intersectional failure. That is to say, it reflects on the racist discourse that has failed to take up and to center a critique of patriarchy within it.” She went on to explain that “[I]n today’s era of post-racialism, this intersectional failure has infiltrated what I call a
shotgun wedding between racial justice movements on the one hand and conservatives and liberals on the other hand who are basically interested in racial justice as a measure of crime prevention.” What has made these sorts of movements powerful for those politicians and activists, explained Crenshaw, is the demarginalizing of girls and women of color. Crenshaw calls these women who refuse to have their voices silenced the “daughters of Harriet Tubman” because, “like Harriet Tubman, I hope many of you know, she was a freedom fighter of the highest order. She freed or stole hundreds of slaves out of bondage, never having lost one. [...] She was fierce, she was a warrior, she was successful; yet when it came time for her to collect her pension, like any other soldier, any other freedom fighter, she was denied-- relegated to the position of a mere wife of a soldier-forced to accept a sustenance not as her freedom bounty but as an appendage to a man-- a man we only know now because he was married to Harriet Tubman.” Today’s racial discourse, Crenshaw said, is a very mirrored dynamic. Women and girls are seen as appendages to boys and men and not involved in their own struggles which are very much there. She then began to explain that facts and figures surrounding these issues mean nothing without the proper frames. To illustrate, Crenshaw showed the audience a picture of cows grazing in a field surrounded by smoke and smog from factories. She asked who we would fault for the sick cows, and said that many people would blame the farmer and not feel personally connected to the problem. She then showed another photo zoomed into the smoke and smog from the factories to emphasize the health factor that may have been ignored by viewers in the previous photo, and said that with this photo, people would have a different answer to whether they are connected to or implicated by the problem. Because of the emphasis of the smog which people created, they would see their life habits and their own health to be connected to these cows.
as soon as I got home, feeling a newfound sense of shame about my body hair. It’s something I’ve struggled with every since. I’ve shaved, I’ve tried Nair (it smelled horrible and didn’t even work), and now I’ll occasionally get waxed if I feel like it. I’ll leave it be for a few months and then decide to get it waxed; I enjoy variety. I try not to let others influence my decision to remove my hair, but sometimes I do feel pressured when I see that all my friends have shaved. Body grooming is a personal issue, and even more of a private or sensitive matter when it comes to your pubic hair. It’s completely fine to remove your body hair if that’s your personal choice and if you prefer it that way; however,
“[There is] all this kind of stuff that frames the problem in terms of the individual cows that are there. If we have a broader viewpoint of this sickness, we see that many of the environmental dimensions are not about the individual level of behavior or of the culture of the cows but instead it’s about the environment in which the cows are situated or the environment in which we are situated.” She explained that the intersectional framework grew out of African American women protesting GE Motors who claimed that they were being discriminated against because GE did not hire African American women. The courts did not accept these women’s case because they said that the women could not prove they were being discriminated against. The courts claimed that the company was not engaged in racial discrimination because they hired African American men, and that they were not engaging in gender discrimination because they hired white women. Since both of these things were true and the African American women could not prove that GE was being discriminatory towards ALL of one or the other, they were charged with wanting special treatment and justice was not served. It was all of these policies coming together, Crenshaw explained, that created the instance in which the women were discriminated against. This intersectionality created political consequences because the courts tended to see the whole class of gender or race as those who are dominant within that respective group. This meant that agendas and typical cases were determined by either African Americans who were men and women who were white-if certain things happened to them, it happened to everyone. They were the representatives and no one else was. Crenshaw explained “[T] he point of intersectionality was to draw attention to the ways in which the clarification or the understanding of discrimination typically was based on those who were dominant and that meant that the agendas were theirs.” She explained that even though intersectionality is everywhere and is frequently
it becomes problematic if body hair removal is not something you want to do but you feel shamed or pressured from societal norms into doing so. The point is that it’s your choice and nobody else’s. If a partner ever tries to get you to remove your hair or makes you feel bad for whichever personal choice you make, then they aren’t respecting your right to make decisions regarding your own body and aren’t worth it. If someone has a problem with your body, that is their issue and it does not mean there is anything wrong with you. So as bathing suit season arrives and you decide to shave, wax, sugar, or leave it, do it for yourself. As long as you’re happy with your decision, that’s all that matters.
discussed, there are still significant erasures that take place, particularly surrounding education and the current grassroots vocalization surrounding police violence. In terms of education, she specifically discussed a project called My Brother’s Keeper in which President Obama has worked towards making environments in which children are growing up the healthiest and most beneficial they can be because “children’s issues are women’s issues and women’s issues are children’s issues.” The logic behind this is largely that what the government can do to help children will directly help women, as they tend to be the primary caretakers. When the issues discussed specifically involve families of color, however, women’s issues are nowhere to be seen-- Obama talks about “youths at risk” and those who have been left behind as being the target of this project, but those individuals are boys of color rather than all children of color, according the Crenshaw. When we discuss the school to prison pipeline, punishment, stereotypes, etc., all of these problems have been framed to almost exclusively affect men and boys of color. Crenshaw believes that we’re marginalizing girls of color in terms of falling into the category of “youths at risk” and those who are in need of help. She argues that these girls are “not just fine” even though it may seem this way because their issues are not at the forefront of the discussion. People do not recognize them as having issues that society needs to confront because they have not been talked about. This is a vicious cycle because so little is known about the issues that are not recognized, and are thus not discussed and are not helped. “[I]t leads to a vicious circle of exclusion because when funded programs come online like My Brother’s Keeper, that are designed to bring to scale small-scale programs for people who have been affected, there are no programs or policies that affect girls because we assume that girls have not been affected, which then leads to a re-constitution of the same problem: girls are not facing the same challenges as boys.”
7 May, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Eleven
Features • 9
Half-hearted heroines in modern media
By Evelyn Gonzalez ‘18 Feminist Columnist
W
ith the emergence of franchises like “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent” came a new wave of young female heroines that captured moviegoers’ attention. Katniss Everdeen and Tris Prior seemed like a nice change of pace to the usual films made about young girls and women. Female moviegoers, based off of their earnest interests in these movies, seemed to be tired of the typical portrayals of women and therefore would be open to any type of change that resembled better representation of women. Katniss and Tris became the epitomes of good representation, as their characters showed that women were more than capable of exuding strength and being in charge of their own lives. These female characters are authoritative and unapologetic as they move through the scene with courage and power not only over themselves, but also over others around them. Katniss was the main breadwinner for her family, doing things like hunting and selling on the black market while Tris was put into positions much like Katniss in which she must fight in order
to survive as physical strength and bravery are traits that become highly valued. Female viewers everywhere sighed with relief at not seeing yet another princess who constantly needed to be rescued. However, The “Strong Female” character, as emulated by these two characters, emerged as another problematic attempt at representation of women. These representations became detrimental in that they forced woman into yet another one-dimensional form, encouraging young girls to view their femininity as a sign of weakness. The ways in which women are portrayed in blockbuster films often mirror society’s ingrained perceptions and showcase certain stereotypes as realistic portrayals. These portrayals are predictable in that they continue to pigeonhole traits into neat boxes, forcing viewers to fixate on one specific sort of character. For example, when appearing in films or television women can usually be easily categorized into certain tropes such as: the Femme Fatale (played by Dr. Elsa Schneider in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) or the damsel in distress (played by characters like Princess Peach.) As a result, this “type” becomes the standard, thereby normalizing the idea of an archetype as an accurate depiction of people. Women in film, especially, are compressed into mere husks of themselves and their characteristics are often singled out to create one-dimensional characters. Women are treated as mere stock characters that could be inserted into the film at any time without needing a well thought-out storyline or background. We are, as viewers of these films, not allowed to delve into the rich inner lives of these women because of the strict parameters set around what a female character is and should be. Tropes like these are centered around the idea of stereotypical gendered features as unvarying aspects of a person, which creates a uniform set of characters. These tropes therefore do not treat women as individuals but rather group them together based on the false premise of the similarities between them. In this sense, Katniss and Tris were a positive addition to the silver screen since they did not adhere to the “damsel in distress” trope but rather fulfilled their type as “strong females” by exhibiting traits in a
stereotypically masculine way. According to an article written by Planned Parenthood, “Gender and Gender Identity,” words usually used to describe masculinity are “aggressive, non-emotional, hard and rebellious,” while words commonly used to describe femininity are “emotional, passive, nurturing and weak.” Categorized in this way, the strong female character highlights the discord between society’s perceptions about strength and femaleness. Since even particular characteristics of personalities are assigned a gender, those that fall within the range of masculine are often highly regarded. When viewers picture the “strong female character,” they picture one who is not positioned in situations that highlight society’s ideas of femininity; rather, she is found in those in which she exhibits characteristics associated with masculinity, meaning the idea that females can only be strong if they act in a masculine manner is reinforced. While these characters are a step in the right direction, the reason The Hunger Games and Divergent were so successful is because viewers responded positively to their masculinity. Katniss and Tris are perceived as strong because they don’t adhere to the stereotypical female characteristics.The idea that strong isn’t the typical state for a female forces the feminine to become a characterization of weakness, and as a result discourages young girls from exploring their femininity. Since viewers have been conditioned to only put value on masculine characteristics, this misplaced value has the ability to affect young girls’ perceptions about their own feminineness. To achieve representational female characters in film requires a level of complexity. A female character should not be a great character simply because she matches what viewers want to see in a male character. It’s almost like we should be treating these female characters like real human beings in order to develop towards more realistic portrayals of women in film. Good female representation means allowing young girls to traverse the lines between masculinity and femininity. All genders should be allowed to show a full range of feminine and masculine emotions and traits while avoiding the idea of attaching more value to one over the other.
CCBDC 2014-2015 SEASON IN REVIEW CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
benefitted Team. Many Scripps students have been involved in leadership for CCBDC during my time on Team, and there was a stretch of at least three presidents who were all Scripps students.” As currently one of CCBDC’s longest standing members, Kimiko is among one of many who points to the sense of community as a significant reason for having remained on Team for so long: “Initially the performance opportunities CCBDC provides were my main motivation for participating. I still love performing, but what’s kept me on Team is definitely the other dancers. [...] I personally find the CCBDC community to be very supportive and encouraging. The dancers want to help each other succeed.”
As a graduating senior, Kimiko had the opportunity to perform a solo, and was one of the first dancers on Team to create an all-follow (the traditionally female role in ballroom dancing) duet with friend and fellow Scripps senior Sarah Hiller. Sporting a winning combination of fishnets and tail coats, Kimiko and Hiller successfully faced the challenge of choreographing something unique to the CCBDC scene, melding a contemporary and jazz dance background with latin styling. About graduating from the CCBDC community, Kimiko says “I will miss spending time with my teammates, all of their support, encouragement and patience during 7am rehearsals. I’ll miss the excitement of working on a common goal of improving and preparing for the next show.”
Having spent several years on Team, she reflects on how the company has changed over the years and the challenges it has faced: “In the past year, the CCBDC community has definitely shrunk. We had a lot of graduating seniors and advanced dancers who left for a variety of reasons. I know there were problems with the way that the leadership system is structured for some people also. It was a bit hard to continue with Team when many of my friends had left; it didn’t seem as enjoyable or energized as a space.” Moving forward, however, these dancers have several ideas for how they would like to see the community continue to grow: “Because there are so many dancers on Team, it can be difficult to meet everyone’s needs and desires,” mentions Kellinghusen.
“It would be great to see CCBDC’s resources expand to satisfy the entire community.” Adds Kimiko, “CCBDC bills itself as supporting social dance, performance, and competition, but it’s been primarily performance in my experience.” More specifically, Kimiko mentions that she would like to see CCBDC pursue a goal of being a positive space. “This includes getting costumes in a larger range of styles as well as watching for microaggressions in how dance technique is discussed.” Reflecting on the beginnings of her own experiences with CCBDC, Thieme remarks, “As far as my first semester on Team, I had an awesome experience…[I] totally plan on continuing being part of Team, both as a dancer and a community member.”
7 May, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Eleven
10 • Opinions
questioning science
By Isobel Whitcomb ‘17 Environmental Columnist
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s we begin to acknowledge as a society the damage we have inflicted on our environment, one question stands at the center of our understanding of environmental challenges such as global warming: to what extent must we change in response to these challenges? Responses to this question range from the individual (drive less, use less electricity, be a conscious consumer) to the whole economy (invest in green energy, divest from fossil fuels). However, without deep inquiry into the origins of the way we treat the
environment, these responses are akin to mowing down weeds while leaving their roots in the ground. We need to begin to discuss the ways in which the founding principles of modern Western science contribute to the environmental situation in which we find ourselves today. Environmentalism needs to begin with a critical discussion of science because science shapes not only our understanding of how the natural environment works, but also our understanding of how we, as humans, relate to the natural environment. An inability to question science renders us incapable of changing our attitudes about the natural environment. Inherent in progress is the ability to question our most basic assumptions, and in a society that holds scientific thought as unquestionable and near-sacred, these assumptions include science. But isn’t it science that tells us that global warming exists, that produces green technology, that urges us to change our ways as a society? After all, isn’t science what is going to save us from this mess? Yes and no. I am a scientist, and I believe in the value of a firm understanding of our natural environment as much as the next person. However, many scientists do not have a realistic understanding of the ways in which “western” science (the methods produced in Europe during the Enlightenment) is tied to society and culture. We believe so firmly in the inherent objectivity of our science, that we believe it is possible to completely extricate it from our deep seated values. However, an analysis of the history of Western science reveals that science is inherently tied to values of environmental utilitarianism, human-centrism and patriarchy. Sir Francis Bacon was a 16th century
philosopher and scientist who is widely considered one of the founding fathers of science. Because he was hugely influential among other enlightenment era scientists, his ideas still are at the heart of the way we conduct science today. In one piece of writing connecting modern science to the fall from the Garden of Eden, Bacon argued that the temptation of Eve caused the human race to lose its “dominion over creation.” Only by “digging further and further into the mine of natural knowledge” could man recover his lost dominion over the universe and force its “narrow limits [...] to their promised bounds.” While science has grown more secular over time, the dominant paradigm within modern science maintains that man has the right to exploit any resources available to him in the name of knowledge. Although modern western science has unquestionably granted many benefits to modern western society, its utilitarian approach to nature has also inflicted damage upon society through pollution and depletion of nonrenewable resources. Bacon’s writing reveals that environmental destructivism is at the heart of western science. What do we do with this knowledge about the values inherent western science? I do not advocate simply rejecting the knowledge produced by science or becoming skeptical of such natural phenomenon as global warming or evolution. However, I do suggest asking yourself these questions: What are the founding principles of western science? What are the implications of objectivity within science? Is science culturally “western” and if so, can we build a multicultural science? Critical thought is at the heart of a liberal arts education, and must involve questioning the institution which we question least: science.
gaining closure at the end of the school year
By Jocelyn Gardner ‘17 Mental Health Columnist, Webmaster A letter from the Mental Health Columnist to her readers:
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ear readers, This was my first year writing for The Scripps Voice, and I’m so glad that I did. Referring all the way back to my first article, I said that I write for this column because I genuinely care about this issue of mental health, and I have seen such a diverse range of effects. I wanted to raise awareness
with critical analysis through a social justice and human-centered focus while writing with empathy and compassion. I hope I served my goals. In this year’s 11 issues, I have covered many topics, but I have by no means exhausted the list of possible topics to explore. There is so much more work to be done. To recap, I started off with a piece about the importance of looking at mental health in our 5C environment, then continued with mental health as a social justice issue, information about little-known burnout, self-care, language, eating disorder awareness, race, space and emotional abuse. Next year, I am going to continue this work, and I hope to delve even deeper into topics, especially on the home front of Scripps College. This year has been a year of awareness and change in terms of so many campaigns, issues, protests, etc., and in this spirit, I want to continue questioning seemingly normal but covertly harmful constructs. Yes, we know about stigma and intersectionality, but those are just the tip of the iceberg. How does our environment and our community take part in institutionalized violence? This has been on my mind since I came to Scripps last year, and it is a question that I don’t want to leave unanswered and unaddressed. However, I want to also focus on the positives. So, the school year of 2014-2015… we made it.
Congratulate yourselves! This is worth celebrating. If you don’t allow yourself some moments of pride, you can’t realistically expect to continue without burning out. So stop dwelling on perceived shortcomings or regrets, and think about all the changes and triumphs in the past many months. Some of you finished your first or last year of college or decided to study abroad thousands of miles away. Maybe you declared or changed your major, met your best friend or found a new favorite way to procrastinate. Whatever it is, take a moment to be proud of it. As we move into the summer, I want to encourage you to keep these topics in mind and to keep an eye out for the omnipresent but hidden issues surrounding mental health. The summer is also a time that is quite different from the rest of the year. Some of you are moving on to new things, and others are looking forward to another year at Scripps; regardless of your path, remember to take care of yourself. Times of change and transition are as stressful as they are exciting, and this is a prime time for unexpected or unwanted emotions. Don’t dismiss them; they are normal. In these periods, it is so easy to put yourself last and focus on the task at hand. Like all other portions of time in a life, the hard times pass or at least change,
even if it doesn’t seem like it. I will now close this letter with a reminder that, when it comes to mental health, people are going through more than you know. Reach out to them, and don’t be put off by the “awkwardness” of talking about real things. There are people and resources to support you, always. Have a great and safe summer, and I look forward to writing for you all again in the fall! Good luck to those who are finishing their final year at Scripps, and welcome to those who will be joining us next year.
7 May, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Eleven
For more information and further reflections on dealing with mental health and related challenges at Scripps and in general, check out the Mental Health Column blog, written by mental health columnist Jocelyn Gardner, at scripps voicementalhealth. wordpress.com.
Features • 11
the first year experience
final thoughts from a first-year moving forward
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Goodbye prospies, hello alums
By Melanie Biles ‘18 Design Editor & Staff W
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ell, friends, this is it. The end. The last time I will spout snarky, irrelevant thoughts out onto this page and annoy half of you (but entertain the other half, I hope). Here we go. This year has been a crazy rollercoaster ride with no safety bar and half the track missing. There have been times when I’ve felt like I must be the only person who has no idea what’s going on or how to deal with it and then realized that everyone else is just fantastic at looking like they know what’s going on. I’ve stayed up late to write essays, woken up early to work out (ish), found out what it’s like to share a living space with three other people who aren’t your family (hard, but worth it), and learned how to use an oldfashioned printing press. That last one might be specific to my experience. I really just wanted to brag about it. In the fall, I wrote about ten things I had learned from my first
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Start studying!
semester in college. Though I think I could come up with about a hundred now, they all boil down to the same three rules for conduct in both college and life. What are they, you ask? Work hard. Ask for what you want. Be nice. The first one is pretty self explanatory. Work hard, no matter what it is that you’re doing. Whether you’re writing an unnecessarily sarcastic feature in the newspaper, memorizing the earth’s major wind belts, or marathoning Parks and Rec from season one, dedicate yourself wholeheartedly and don’t stop until you feel finished. Finished and done are two different things, and you can most definitely feel done without ever having finished. If I have been working on something for hours and I don’t want to deal with it anymore, at that point I am done with it, but it may not be finished. If I work on something for hours and am proud of the result, knowing I could not have done more for it, then I am finished. The only way to finish anything is to work hard. Work hard at being a
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Summer is so close
person you can admire, and work hard at every step you take to get there. Work hard to take fewer than two weeks to wash your dishes. Work hard to read more about things that interest you and have no relevance to your life. Work hard to embrace who you are and what you love and insert Taylor Swift into every conversation you have. Work hard. Lesson number two: Ask for what you want. This is probably the most difficult thing for me, because I generally am not good at social interaction. I don’t like asking for what I want out of fear of doing the wrong thing, being rejected or finding out I’m not good enough for whatever it is that I want. Being at Scripps has taught me that I am my own biggest (and often only) advocate. Nobody else is going to fight for what you want, whether that’s a particular class that you didn’t have an early enough registration time to get or closure on a confusing relationship. There are some things for which you can’t work hard. For everything else, there’s asking for what you want.
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Have fun packing...
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Last looks (Get it? That one commercial? Anyone?) The most important, most applicable, and most general lesson is, of course, to be nice. This does not mean to be spineless or effete, which is a new word I just learned and plan to start using regularly. In fact, it just means exactly what it sounds like. Be nice to everyone you meet. You don’t know their story. Be nice to children. Be nice to animals. Be nice to people even if you think they don’t deserve it. Everyone deserves it. Be nice to your friends when they’re having a bad day and be nice to your friends when they’re having a good day. Be nice to people who are mean to you, because they probably need it the most. And, to effectively end this feature in the best way I know how, let me point you to an excellent Taylor Swift quote: “No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is an excellent legacy to leave behind.”
Netflix picks: the graduation edition familiar and reassuring or of what just gives us a good laugh. It’s also the time where the light at the end of the tunnel begins to gradually seem more visible, the time to look forward towards all the things we still want to do and start to seem within reach. I myself have spent weeks binge-watching Gilmore Girls, going home to Lorelai’s witty quips and mountains of junk food for some much-needed laughter, channeling my inner Rory before an interview the next day to convince myself that I too am worthy of that beginning staff writer position. So for our final issue, here are a few of my recommended comfort films as well as some on my watchlist I’m looking forward to tackling this summer, all available on Netflix... By Elizabeth Lee ‘16 Copy Editor & Film Columnist As the academic year winds down, the chaos and sleepless nights of finals week start to really kick, and the time for watching movies diminishes to near extinction--but that doesn’t always stop us. This time of year for us as students is about nearing the finish line of another year, another chapter of our experiences, and, for some of us, the end of our time here. Reaching final crunch time and maximum stress levels, it’s nice to take some time to relax for just a second with a nap in the sun or to take a dance break, to relish in the comforts of what is
Comfort Movies Ever After (1998) The best Cinderella story to ever exist, other than maybe the book version of Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted, featuring a quicktongued, self-driven heroine who can throw a punch and handle a sword all while wearing a dress and whose fairy godmother just happens to be Leonardo da Vinci. Fantasia 2000 (1999) Though it’s not exactly plot driven, I always loved this film as a kid. Featuring some of the world’s most beautiful music from Gershwin to Prokofiev, its music comes to life in the form of equally beautiful animations. The Firebird part holds a
Photo Courtesy of movie-kingdom.biz
special place in my heart and always makes me tear up. Silence of the Lambs (1991) While perhaps comforting is not the appropriate word here, it’ll certainly keep you awake through all those all-nighters. It was definitely Clarice Starling and her dynamic relationship with Hannibal Lector, the enticing cannibal, who convinced me as a kid that I needed to be an FBI agent. Summer Watchlist The Invisible War (2012) A documentary bringing light to the frequent yet under-addressed cases of sexual assault in the U.S. military, The Invisible War was
nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. Double (2013) This one’s a dark comedy based on Dostoevsky’s novella of the same name about a man whose life is taken over by...his other self? Noah (2014) I’ll admit, the cast was a big cause for my initial interest. Russel Crowe, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, and Anthony Hopkins in a huge yet controversial telling of one of the world’s oldest stories? How can you not be at least a little intrigued?
7 May, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Eleven
You can find all movies reviewed here on Netflix
12 • Arts & Entertainment
SUmmer styles
By Natalie Camrud ‘17 Fashion Columnist
It’s the last issue of the semester, and we’re all slammed with finals, but it’s too hot to wear your sweatpants to the library, so we have to settle for Brandy Melville. I like wearing clothes with cutouts during this weather, which provides a nice cross breeze on my sweaty body. It’s so tempting to pretend like it’s Pirate Party and sit in the CMC fountains all day (they’re chlorinated for a reason, people!), but alas, we cannot; our futures depend on it. I’m all about loose clothing during the summer; throw on a chambray shirt and some loose khaki pants and you’ll still look sharp while allowing for some nice ventilation. Good luck with finals, everyone, and hopefully we won’t have to sleep in the Field House because of the heat this time!
Neelufar Franklin ‘18 with Talia Speaker ‘18, Staff Writer
Look 1: Name: Liza Epprecht ‘18 Outfit: Liza looks like a breath of Cape Cod-esque air, with a vintage striped shirt and black shorts. Inspiration: “It’s very hot out lately and I decided I wanted to wear a simple, sleeveless shirt. It’s vintage, or just some hand-medown from my mom I think!”
Inexplicable
Photos by Tyra Abraham ‘18 “Things You Can’t Explain” is the exhibition of Senior thesis projects created by this year’s eight graduating Scripps and Harvey Mudd Art Majors who completed projects. As the title suggests, words do not quite capture the visuals and messages in the projects, so the departments encourage people to experience the art in person. Gallery Hours: W-Sun, 12-5 p.m.
Look 2: Name: Abi MacCumber ‘17 Outfit: Abi channels Mondrian with a white dress and red platform sandals for a pop of color. Favorite Item: Her shoes. “They are plastic and are also scented... I like that they’re platforms because I’m pretty short, and they’re super comfortable. One time my freshmen year I walked a mile to an off-campus Pitzer party in these shoes, so there’s a lot of great memories associated with them.”
What inspired you to choose Scripps? Scripps College is one of 35 partner colleges for Questbridge (an organization that connects low-income students with leading institutions of higher education) and upon becoming a Quest finalist I began looking into smaller, private colleges. After visiting Claremont during a small trip to California, I knew it was the place for me. Scripps turned out to be the gem of the consortium; the all-women’s environment was intimidating at first. However, I learned of how supportive and empowering an atmosphere like Scripps can be and knew that there wasn’t any other school I would rather attend. Tell us about an experience you had at Scripps this year that was particularly meaningful or transformative for you. Every open mic night I’ve been to at Scripps has been a meaningful experience; I have so many friends and am surrounded by so many people who are so brilliant and willing to share parts of themselves with others. I always leave with an immense sense of gratitude and awe for my talented peers. What will you be doing this summer? I’m going to be travelling to Iran with my mom for a month to visit family and explore the beautiful place that my mom calls home. Hopefully while I’m there I’ll be able to volunteer my free time at an organization that helps transform the lives of at-risk girls, as well as take some classes to improve my Farsi reading and writing abilities! Afterwards, I’ll be at home finishing up my yoga teacher training with my wonderful teacher and mentor. Do you have a favorite place on campus? My favorite place on campus is probably Denison’s Holbein room. After having my Core I discussion class in this space I’ve felt really connected to it, especially in the hours of the day when the light shines through the opaque windows and the whole room seems filled with a sort of air that makes me feel full of the potential and wisdom of the many students that have studied in there before me. What’s your favorite Motley drink? A hot matcha chacha with almond milk or the white coconut cream tea. What advice would you give to the incoming class to help them get the most out of their first year on campus? Get involved across the campuses! The people I’ve met in the clubs and organizations have become some of my closest and most special friends. There are so many opportunities to be taken advantage of at these schools, which can be overwhelming at times, but the gain from getting involved is priceless.
7 May, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Eleven