Volume XVIII - Issue 10

24 April, 2015

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Philosopher Derek Parfit visits scripps

By Lucy Altman-Newell ‘17 Editor-in-Chief

O

n Thursday, April 16 and Friday, April 17, world-famous philosopher Derek Parfit came to Scripps College to give the annual Merlan Lecture, established in 1969, and to contribute to the Humanity Institute’s second conference of the semester, “Humans and Selves.”

Parfit — Global Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at New York University; Emeritus Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford University; and Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University — is widely considered the most important and original moral philosopher of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Both of his books, “Reasons and Persons,” published in 1984, and “On What Matters,” published in 2011, are considered the most important books to be written in moral philosophy since Henry Sidgwick’s 1874 work, “The Method of Ethics.”

The Merlan Lecture was given on Thursday, April 16 from 4:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. in Balch Auditorium — which was packed to full capacity with students, faculty and community members — on the Scripps College campus and was followed by a reception just outside of Balch. Before he began speaking, Parfit had handouts distributed to help his audience members follow his complex talk. Also to assist the audience members, Parfit took breaks throughout the talk in which to answer questions for clarification

World-famous philosopher Derek Parfit gave two important talks at Scripps College this April. Photo courtesy of Meeka Meng ‘18

and to dig deeper into the substance of his presentation, entitled “Can We Avoid the Repugnant Conclusion?”

The so-called “Repugnant Conclusion” is one of the most troubling problems in ethics — specifically a branch known as population ethics. (This branch is especially significant in philosophy in that it can contribute to realworld decisions on issues such as climate change policy, health care

prioritization, global catastrophic risks, energy consumption, and population control.) The Repugnant Conclusion was described by Derek Parfit during his talk as follows: “Compared with the existence of many people who would all have some very high quality of life, there is some much larger number of people whose existence would be better, even though these people would have lives that were barely worth

living.” What is repugnant about this conclusion is not, Parfit clarified, that there could be a world in which there would be an enormous number of people whose lives were hardly worth living—for, after all, these lives are still worth living. Rather, he says, “what’s repugnant is the quite different claim that compared with these billions of people with lives as good as human lives can be, it would

Senior Dances send off seniors and faculty

Professor Suchi Branfman and the dancers as a parting gift to Professor Gail Abrams, who is retiring after 29 years of service to the Scripps College Dance Department at the end of this academic year. “Only last week, when interviews from alumnae [reflecting on her impact on their lives] were added to the sound score and the dancers appeared all dressed in Gail’s old dance costumes, was the plot revealed,” the program read. Four dancers emulated the recognizable movements of their professor in their nontraditional dance, and the voiceovers featuring the alumnae played throughout the performance.

The next dance was student-

choreographed Re Bina, which featured a stage set as a lively club or restaurant with warm, neon lighting. The scene began with dancers dressed in fancy clothing acting as patrons and transitioned into an upbeat dance to a strong, percussive beat, then ended in a way similar to the beginning. This piece was choreographed by Pitzer junior Stella Hoft.

The next dance, This is home., was part of a senior thesis. The sound featured interviews in different languages of immigrants to the U.S. According to Scripps senior Michelle Nagler’s project statement, “This is home. is an exploratory

By Jocelyn Gardner ‘17 Mental Health Columnist & Webmaster

O

n April 17 and 18, 2015, families, friends, students and faculty gathered in Garrison Auditorium to see the hard work of students and faculty from Scripps, Pitzer, Pomona and Harvey Mudd in this year’s dance show.

According to the event’s page, “Scripps Dances is the Scripps College Dance Department’s annual spring concert of original danceworks choreographed by students and faculty.” The program

Inside This Issue:

featured students in all roles of production: choreography and concept, dance, sound, music, stage management, props and more.

At the last show, which took place on April 18 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., excitement built as the auditorium lights dimmed and the full audience applauded. The curtain rose to reveal a glowing, blue background and a stage set with cups, and the first dance began.

This is How She... was this opening dance, and an insert in the program revealed that the dance was secretly choreographed by

Page 2 - Sarah Kay

Scripps announced the Class of 2015’s Commencement speaker

Page 4 - Energy Challenge

The city is participating in a nationwide competition to save energy

1030 Columbia Avenue | Claremont, CA 91711 | Box 839 email: scrippsvoice@gmail.com | Volume XVIII | Issue Ten

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Page 12 - 1 in 950

Meet fellow student Abigail Daum ‘17.

2 • News RENOWNED PHILOSOPHER DEREK PARFIT VISITS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

be better to have a world with more creatures [such as ‘contented lizards’] whose lives aren’t as good.” The comparison is what is repugnant, as we would like to believe that the first world would be much better than the second.

Parfit then outlined and promptly rejected several views related to the Repugnant Conclusion that have been tried by several different moral philosophers. These included Diminishing Value Views (“though it would always be in itself better if there existed any extra person whose life would be worth living, the goodness of there being much more people would steadily diminish, and would have some upper limit”) and The Imprecise Lexical View (“Anyone’s existence is in itself good if this person’s life is worth living. Such goodness has non-diminishing value, so if there were more such people, the combined goodness of their existence would have no upper limit. If many people exist who would all have some high quality of life, that would be better than the non-existence of any number of people whose lives, though worth living would be, in certain ways, much less good”).

An important part of Parfit’s talk was his point that all proofs that conclude that there is no way to avoid the Repugnant Conclusion imply precision.

However, he says, there is no perfect way to measure things; “five minutes of ecstasy can’t be measured as a precise truth in regard to ten hours of entertainment.” This is because the reality is imprecise. When there are great qualitative differences, there cannot be any relational truth.

For example, Parfit explained, it makes no sense to compare the genius of scientists with that of composers. But you can say that Einstein was a better scientist than many bad musicians, and that Bach was a better musician than many bad scientists. So, Parfit concludes, while you can’t say that Einstein and Bach are precisely equal, they could, however, be what Parfit importantly calls “imprecisely equal.” Similarly, one might add, while Stephen Hawking and Derek Parfit are not precisely equal, it would not be a stretch by any means to say that they, too, are imprecisely equal.

This imprecision is the key to avoiding the Repugnant Conclusion. For using it to fight assumptions in proofs that attempt to show that the Repugnant Conclusion can’t be avoided leads to conclusions that both deny and are less implausible than the Repugnant Conclusion, or alternative versions of the Repugnant Conclusion.

This means that the Repugnant Conclusion, finally, fails.

For example, continuum arguments for the Repugnant Conclusion assume that “compared with the existence of many people who would all have some quality of life, there are some much large numbers of people whose existence would be better, though these people’s quality of life would all be slightly lower.” However, Parfit argues, we can reject this premise “by claiming [that] such larger worlds would not be better, but would at most be imprecisely equally good.” This way of rejecting the premise is less implausible than the Repugnant Conclusion, so the continuum arguments in support of the Repugnant Conclusion fail. This method holds for many other arguments as well.

The day after giving the Merlan Lecture, Parfit spoke in the Humanity Institute’s conference, “Humans and Selves,” from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Hampton Room above Malott Commons, which was again followed by a reception. In this talk, titled “We Are Not Human Beings,” Parfit defended the Lockean claim that we are persons, not human beings, against that of the Animalists, who reject this distinction. The full paper on which this talk is based can be found in pdf format online by searching the title, “We Are Not Human Beings.”

The Lockean view of who we are that Parfit champions is that psychological continuity from one moment to another of a certain kind is key to the persisting self; we’re an embodied, thinking part of a human animal. This goes against the Animalist view that we are human beings or

human animals which persist as long as the organism lives.

Using extensive science fiction examples and addressing several problems — such as the Too Many Thinkers Problem, the Epistemic Problem, and the Too Many Persons Problem — with his own philosophy which is grounded on intuition and common sense, Parfit seemingly successfully reaches the conclusion that “we are not human beings in the sense that refers to human animals, but are the most important parts of these animals,

the parts that do all the things that are most distinctive of these human animals, as conscious, thinking, rational beings” (43, We Are Not Human Beings). He also puts forward and defends the claim that what matters is not personal identity, but our ideas.

Parfit’s visit to Scripps College can perhaps best be summed up by the words of Rivka Weinberg, Scripps Associate Professor of Philosophy and Department Chair: “we are honored and awed to have him.”

Sarah Kay named Commencement Speaker

Scripps chooses Sarah Kay, poet and educator, as the class of 2015’s Commencement speaker. Photo courtesy of Ted.com

By Melanie Biles ‘18 Design Editor

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ecently, an e-mail went out to the Scripps community announcing that a speaker had been chosen for the class of 2015’s Commencement. The speaker, Sarah Kay, was advertised as “an extraordinary poet and educator who has inspired audiences worldwide.”

In her 2011 TED Talk, Kay performed a poem called “B” as a love letter from herself to her future daughter. The talk, which received two standing ovations, included such lines as, “Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way / to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air” and, “There’s nothing more beautiful than the way / the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, / no matter how many times it’s swept away.” “B” was eventually turned into its own best-selling book, only adding to the list of accomplishments Kay had to her name.

In 2006, at age eighteen, Kay was the youngest poet to compete in the National Poetry Slam.

In the years since, she produced the TED Talk mentioned above (now with almost eight million views online), published her first collection of poetry and worked to take her nonprofit, Project V.O.I.C.E., to all corners of the United States to educate and inspire young adults to express themselves through poetry. She has also written and performed countless poems both at home and abroad, bringing her poetry and her voice to locations as varied as the United Nations, Ghana, India, the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and the 2011 Cannes Lions Creativity Festival in France.

Kay’s next project, however, will bring her to Scripps. The speaker selection process began in 2014 when the junior class representatives, including Mikayla Raymond ‘15, began collecting names and suggestions from the class and came up with a list of possible speakers. One name that seemed to be constantly revisited was Sarah Kay. “Many — myself included — recommended Sarah Kay,” Raymond said. “Sarah is an advocate for women and speaks of her experiences as a

woman of color in her poetry. Her pieces are often about women supporting one another. In that way, we felt she truly exemplified our mission at Scripps and would have a positive message to share with the Class of 2015.”

However, this was not the end of the process.

After forming the initial list of possible speakers, the senior class co-presidents Vaishali Ravi ‘15 and Sarah Owens ‘15 worked with Denise Nelson Nash in the President’s office to prioritize the candidates in late 2014. Once this was done, they wrote personalized invitations to the top candidates and received a positive response from Kay in early 2015.

“We are very excited to have Sarah Kay as our Commencement Speaker,” Owens said.

Her reasons were extensive: not only is Kay considered an advocate for women supporting women, for education and for people using their voices in a positive manner, she has also been performing for over a decade. “Since Sarah is a poet and travels the world speaking, we are confident that the Class of 2015, parents, friends and other Commencement attendees will find her Commencement speech inspiring and entertaining,” Owens continued.

Ravi agreed, adding, “[Kay] is a young, outspoken and passionate individual who pursued a career doing what she loves: spoken word poetry. As we’re about to graduate, we thought Sarah Kay would have a meaningful message about finding our own paths post-grad.”

Currently, the co-presidents are working to schedule a conference call with Kay that will also include the Office of the President and the Senior Class Speaker, who has not yet been selected. This call will be an opportunity for each party to present what they are envisioning for Commencement.

To learn more about Sarah Kay and her work, visit her nonprofit’s website at www.projectvoice. com or search for her poetry on YouTube. Her 2011 TED talk can be found under the name “If I Should Have a Daughter.”

24 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Ten

News • 3

Students discuss divesting from fossil fuels

The Scripps O Voice Staff

By Taylor Galla ‘18 Staff Writer

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.

n Tuesday April 14, Scripps’ BeHeard Forum was joined

by Scripps Climate Justice to discuss their recent campaign for fossil fuel divestment, to spread the word about the work they are doing and to obtain feedback about ways in which their campaign strategies can be improved.

The official demand of Scripps Climate Justice is as follows: “[W]e call on Scripps College to immediately freeze any new investment in the 200 publicly traded fossil-fuel companies with the most reserves, and to Students discuss fossil fuel divestment at recent BeHeard Forum. Photo by Tyra Abraham ‘18. divest within five years from direct ownership and from any commingled funds that the Board of Trustees has to have many conversations include fossil-fuel public equities and corporate bonds. with Scripps’ investment managers and those who We also hope to consider options for reinvestment of manage the endowment and weigh the potential risks.

“We need to remember that when you’re taking your five percent of the endowment in climate solutions, money out of fossil fuel companies, you’re not just including one percent in community investment and taking it out and not doing anything with it,” Jessica Ng four percent in traditional endowment asset classes.”

‘15, SAS Sustainability Chair, said. “You’re re-investing it Fossil fuel divestment is when companies and into something else.

And I think that a lot of decisions institutions remove investment of any sort from on where you’re going to re-invest it is going to influence companies that produce fossil fuels and destroy the what that risk is.” environment in order to make a profit.

Decisions about where Scripps will reinvest that With Pitzer’s recent divestment as well as the money and how its portfolio will look after these major divestment of a number of other institutions, cities changes are not decisions the Board and investment and big corporations like Ben & Jerry’s over the past managers are taking lightly, and the process towards decade, the discussion of divestment is taking place at divestment is lengthened by the complexity of these many universities and colleges such as Scripps. issues.

It is recorded that as of October 2014, over 200 “We don’t have an endowment that can just invest institutions and 50 billion dollars have been divested in the stock market,” Donna Ng, Vice President for from fossil fuels in the U.S. Business Affairs and Board of Trustees Treasurer, “[Fossil fuel divestment] is an attempt to use the said.

“We have asset allocations, which is a strategy power and privileges that we have as college students to diversify, to manage risk and reward and risk and to make changes within our institutions that will return-there’s a real balancing act that has to happen reflect and make larger changes within the political with risk and return.

There’s a lot of discussion atmosphere of the country,” Avery Pheil ‘17, one of the about how to do that without tying the hands of the representatives for Scripps Climate Justice, said. “For investment company.” the most part it’s not about our individual changes; The importance of a well-rounded portfolio with it’s hoping to focus more on the coalitions that have investments spread out over many different industries formed and it’s about using divestment as a tactic for of varying types is important to the success of an climate justice. Climate justice has a lot more to do endowment of an institution like Scripps. with the effects of big industries and institutionalized “Part of it is the way in which you put your portfolio approaches to energy use that really affect frontline together, so you want lots of things from lots of different communities and minority communities and people of types of industries, ” Nia Gillenwater ‘16 said. “So if color around the U.S. in specific ways.” something really terrible happens [to one industry], it’s In order for Scripps to become a part of this larger movement happening all over the country, however, CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Students Voted Staff and Faculty Admitted Students Visit scripps for the weekend Members of the Year

By Sophie Fahey ‘17 Staff Writer

D

uring the last week of March and first week of April, Scripps students voted for the staff and faculty members of the year. Students nominated staff and faculty during SAS elections, and five staff and faculty members were chosen for the next stage of voting.

As part of Spring Fling, SAS hosted a Faculty and Staff Appreciation Party at the Motley. At this party, Mathilde Grandberry and Mary Hatcher-Skeers were awarded Faculty and Staff of the Year, respectively.

Hatcher-Skeers won Professor of the Year. She is a chemistry professor as well as the Sidney J. Weinberg Jr. Chair in Natural Sciences. Hatcher-Skeers is “a biophysical chemist studying the role of local dynamics in Protein-DNA recognition. Her research emphasizes the synthesis of isotopically labeled nucleosides for investigation via high resolution and solid state NMR” (Scripps website).

Grandberry won Staff Member of the Year. She is the building attendant for Frankel and Routt Residence Halls and is loved by many for her hard work, dedication, and friendly attitude.

Last year Piya Chatterjee won Professor of the Year and Dean Sam Haynes won Staff Member of the Year.

By Lucy Altman-Newell ‘17 Editor-in-Chief

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ecently admitted students to the Class of 2019 were welcomed to Scripps on April 11-14, and April 16-18. April 17 was Admitted Students Day. The morning of April 17 began with registration and coffee in the lobby of Garrison, followed by a Welcome from Victoria Romero, VP for Enrollment, and a presentation, “Academic Excellence at Scripps,” by Amy Marcus-Newhall, VP for Academic Affairs.

Four sessions of activities followed. Session One offered presentations on financial aid; social, cultural, and recreational activities at Scripps; Core; pre-health; dance; and math. Session Two provided opportunities to learn more about English and writing, psychology, art and media studies, and study abroad and global education. Tours of Keck Science and of the Scripps College campus were offered. Session Three involved a campus and student life fair at Tiernan Field House, as well as info sessions about environmental majors, music and politics. There were also CMS Athletics and Scripps campus tours. Session Four included a resident halls tour, a “Just for Students” panel, a “Just for Parents” panel, and afternoon tea in Jaqua Quadrangle. Lunch was provided between sessions.

24 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Ten

4 • News

Claremont Energy Challenge

By Sydney Sibelius ‘18 Staff Writer

T

he town of Claremont, California has been accepted to compete in the Georgetown University Energy Prize, a two-year energy-reduction competition. The competition challenges cities across the country to rethink their energy use and implement new strategies to increase efficiency.

“Claremont is competing with 50 other cities across the U.S. to increase awareness of sustainability and energy consumption,” Isabella Levin ‘17, Claremont Energy Challenge (CEC) Event Planner, said.

The community of Claremont is one of two in Southern California participating in the competition, along with Chula Vista. The locations selected went through an extensive application process and are participating in the spirit of friendly competition.

Claremont was selected as one of 50 total semifinalists in the energy challenge, competing until the summer of 2017 to reduce their energy consumption. The local government, residents and utilities are working together to create a long-term efficiency plan that will be judged after two years.

Georgetown will evaluate competitors based on their innovative approaches, educating their communities and highlighting the best practices.

On the evening of March 26, the CEC hosted its launch event for the two-year energy-reduction plan. The challenge attempts to bring together the residents and members of Claremont with the students throughout the Claremont Consortium.

The community in its entirety is attempting to implement energy reducing plans and to spread knowledge of the situation. Interaction between the two groups is crucial for success.

“Under the umbrella of energy efficiency, we want to connect the Claremont community, bringing together neighbors, City Council members, residents, K-12 students, college students, businesses, and

more,” Jenna Perelman ‘16, CEC Student Coordinator, said.

Students have been participating in the challenge by helping plan events, taking pictures, doing community outreach, collecting data and more. The 5Cs conducted their own challenge among the colleges in hopes of raising awareness about energy consumption and ways to conserve their resources.

The CEC has been working with Community Home Energy Retrofit Project (CHERP), Pilgrim Place, Sustainable Claremont and many other organizations to pave the way for the two-year endeavor. Though the colleges are not included in the statistics collected in the competition, their role in the challenge is crucial.

“A huge part of the CEC plan is to retrofit residential homes. A whole-home retrofit can reduce energy consumption by up to 60 percent,” Perelman said. “Another huge goal is education. There are many simple, relatively inexpensive things that people can do if retrofits aren’t an option, like using

plug strips and LED lights.”

The winner of the Georgetown University Energy Prize will receive $5 million to funnel back into longterm sustainability of the community.

“If awarded the five million dollar prize, the Claremont Energy Challenge will give back to the many organizations that supported its ongoing work and will dedicate funds to encouraging other sustainable initiatives in Claremont,” Levin said.

For students interested in aiding the initiative and working with the Claremont Energy Challenge, contact Fiona Bare at fbare17@cmc.edu.

“Students can plan community events, host energy workshops, write press releases and newspaper articles, manage social media networks, represent the CEC at tables and fairs, work with community organizations, design science curriculum for the Claremont Unified School District, connect with Claremont residents who have taken the CEC pledge, perform GIS analysis and data analytics — the list goes on,” Perelman said.

keck Professor Branwen Williams recognized

Prof. Williams was recognized by the Oceanographic Society. Photo courtesy of Scripps College.

Erin Matheson ‘18 Staff Writer

E

arlier this year, Keck Professor of Environmental Science Branwen Williams was recognized for her success by the Oceanographic Society.

Professor Branwen Williams was one of many different women highlighted in the issue, which acknowledged and recognized the minority that is women in STEM. The Oceanographic Society’s volume, “Women in Oceanography: A Decade Later” includes a personally written autobiography highlighting Williams and her accomplishments and successes

before and during her time at Keck Science. The Oceanographic Society asked the women who had been featured in their first issue on women in 2005 to recommend two other women to be included in the 2015 issue. For the 2015 issue, Dr. Adina Paytan at UC Santa Cruz invited Professor Williams to contribute.

Professor Williams has been crucial in her involvement and contribution to the Keck Science Department’s Environmental Analysis (EA) program. The interdisciplinary and still evolving 5C program has courses on Environmental Science, and Professor Williams was the first faculty to offer courses in Oceanography and Global Climate Change in the Department. She is currently coteaching Environmental Science, Policy, and Politics in an effort to bridge the gap between learning about environmental science-- usually the problems that humans are causing, such as deterioration to the environment-- and the policy that aims to address these problems.

“I incorporate students into all my research, giving students the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge, original research that is directly relevant to understanding the impact of humans on the environment,” said Williams. “Undergraduate research was critical in shaping my own career path, and it means a lot to me that I can mentor students now in such a potentially impactful way.”

At the shared W. M. Keck Science Center, Professor Branwen Williams is conducting research this year with ten students from Scripps, Pitzer and Claremont McKenna. The students range from first year students to seniors and are from

a variety of disciplines including environmental science, biology, chemistry, physics and policy.

Williams and her lab were recently funded by the National Geographic Society and the National Science Foundation for projects to understand environmental variability in the Arctic. The scientists use a specific type of algae as a tool.

The algae document changes in the environment around them into their skeleton as they grow.

“We can create records of these environmental changes such as warming temperatures or acidifying oceans by analyzing different properties of the algal skeleton,” said Williams. “These algae are a powerful tool to do this, because they can grow for a long time – hundreds of years – and they grow in very cold temperatures where not a lot of information is already available.” This summer, Williams will go to the Canadian Arctic for the first time to collect algae specimens for this project.

The students helping Williams are doing amazing research. According to Williams, “One Scripps student presented her senior thesis at an international scientific meeting in San Francisco this past December and another Scripps student participated in fieldwork on a boat over spring break in the Channel Islands.”

Williams said, “I am always looking for interested and motivated students to join my lab.” The opportunity to work with nationally recognized faculty on interesting projects is available to Scripps students.

To see William’s full autobiography, visit www.tos. org/oceanography/women_in_oceanography.html

24 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Ten

Sports • 5

athlete profile: hannah huston ‘17

Photo courtesy of Hannah Huston ‘17.

By Sydney Sibelius ‘18 Staff Writer

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meet hannah huston

ecently founded in the fall of 2014 by Sarah Berschinki ‘17 and Ella Bea Kim ‘17, the Claremont Women’s Club Soccer Team has a roster of more than twenty-five skilled soccer players.

The team welcomes players from all five schools interested in playing soccer with a smaller time commitment than the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) Varsity Soccer team. Although the club team is new, it has already seen much success. In a scrimmage against Mount St. Mary’s University on April 10, Claremont won with a score of 9-1.

Amongst other teams in the Southern California area, the women’s soccer team is expected to hold their own. In addition to being one of the top goal scorers on the team, Hannah Huston ‘17 has played a key part in starting the club and promoting it amongst all students.

The Scripps Voice: When did you start playing soccer?

Hannah Huston: Probably when I was about four years old, at the YMCA recreation league. I have played soccer my whole life.

TSV: How have you been involved with soccer at Scripps since you have been here?

HH: Along with a lot of the other girls that have been working towards the club team, none of us were going to play [in college], but we realized that we really missed it. We all really missed playing soccer and got together and decided the club team was a good thing to try out.

TSV: What is one of your favorite parts about the sport?

HH: I really love the team atmosphere. I think the team can really make or break how successful the group will be. If everyone is good and if everyone is friends then we are more likely to be successful because everyone is having fun while playing.

TSV: Tell me about the club team here.

HH: Everyone is extremely committed, which we were not sure how committed people were going to be since it is a new club and it is hard to

year: sophomore hometown: sherwood, or sport: soccer position: center mid & forward

because we are the girls who have really been starting the team. It has been easy to post in the Facebook groups of 2017 classes, but we have been having a harder time getting the word out to other grades. We do have a few juniors and seniors and freshmen, but we are hoping that we can start to expand our grade coverage. We also do not have anyone from Mudd on the team, and we would like to see some Mudders.

Catch the Claremont Women’s Club Soccer Team practicing on Wed. and Fri. nights at Alumni Field. If you are interested in joining the team, contact Hannah, Sarah or Ella.

get the word out. But we have a pretty strong core group of girls that come out to every practice and are really dedicated to getting this off the ground.

TSV: What are requirements for being on the team?

HH: We currently have two practices a week that are just soccer practices, but we also have a Monday morning fitness practice. Along with those, we have so far had two scrimmages with other teams in the league we are hoping to be in next year, and we have another scrimmage scheduled, and we are going to be in a tournament in a few weeks.

TSV: What has been the process of starting a club team?

HH: Sarah Berschinki ‘17 and Ella Bea Kim ‘17 have been probably doing the majority of the work, but there have been a lot of politics. There is an old rule that says you cannot have a club team in the same sport that you have a varsity team, and it is no longer a rule, but it has been hard to convince some people that it is not anymore. One of the things that is unique about the consortium is that there are five schools, but that also makes it more difficult to get a club approved across all five schools.

TSV: How have you been getting the word out about the team?

HH: Well, the majority of the team is sophomores

24 April, 2014 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Ten

Photo courtesy of Hannah Huston.

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“SCORE is an amazing place. It is home to so many students. SCORE’s mission is one that I strongly believe in and SCORE’s physical space is something that I really loved when I visited campus in 2012 and it continues to resonate with me. I love my work and love the programs we produce.”

SPOTL

SCORE

W

“Sc sup soc gen

Un exp

Scripps Communities of Reso

– Victoria Verlezza, Interim Assistant Director of SCORE

“Come by and get to know us! My favorite part of SCORE is definitely the students.”

– Yuka Ogino, Interim Assistant Director of SCORE

Text and photos by Jocelyn Gardner ‘17 Mental Health Columnist & Webmaster

CLORG offices and intern office

Various workshops and programs

What does SCORE offer?

Conference room Kitchen

24 April, 2015 • The Scripps Vo

LIGHT

7

What is SCORE?

cripps Communities of Resources and Empowerment provides organizational pport and resources to student organizations so they may further promote cial and political awareness, specifically with respect to issues of class, ethnicity, nder, race, religion, sexuality and sexual orientation.” (SCORE’s webpage)

nder this year’s theme, “All Oppression is Connected” SCORE continues to plore social justice in an enriching environment.

ources and Empowerment What can we look forward to in SCORE’s future?

--Sustained Dialogue Groups is moving under SCORE’s Leadership next year --SCORE will also be working with LASPA in the future --“We are currently working on building the foundation so we can take off with our collaboration with LASPA. We [SCORE and LASPA] both believe strongly in shared leadership.”

Working with SCORE Internships

Living room with comfy couches & AC

There are ten paid interns at SCORE each year. See the article “SCORE Interns: Crushing Oppression since 2013” in Issue VII of The Scripps Voice for more information.

Office Assistants

There are a number of office assistants at SCORE who greet visitors and carry out all the duties of a typical office assistant while helping create an environment where all students are welcome and appreciated regardless of any differences.

Programming So many events are based out of SCORE on campus.

Some of what SCORE offers includes: • Speakers • Workshops • Ally Month • Conversation Series (e.g. Busting it Open) • Training • Interns’ Programming • Leadership council • CLORGs SCORE’s spaces are available for reservation SCORE exists to help students and is happy to help you with your own program ideas!

Hours Monday – Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

And during programming (which can be outside of normal hours)

For more information AV equipment (TV, DVD player, etc.)

oice • Volume XVIII • Issue Ten

Visit SCORE’s Facebook or website Stop by during open hours Come to office hours Yuka: Wednesday 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Victoria: Monday 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

8 • Features STUDENTS DISCUSS DIVESTING FROM FOSSIL FUELS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

not going to ruin your portfolio. It’s to spread the risk to as many different areas as possible and fossil fuels have the reputation of being a relatively safe investment and they’ve also been a growth industry that has slowed down.”

Investments in fossil fuels over time, however, are proving to be less beneficial and worthwhile, as many industries are choosing to divest.

“I’m also thinking that the value of fossil fuels in the long term is going to decrease in the next couple decades as more resources become available ­— hopefully as we move away from fossil fuels,” Jessica Ng said.

Donna Ng explained that the Board has this issue amongst the many issues they are discussing and that it is in their radar as something that the students care about and have brought to their attention in a multitude of ways.

“I think the Investment Committee takes its role very seriously in that it is responsible for the state of our endowment in terms of balancing the risk and return for today’s students as well as for tomorrow’s students,” Donna Ng said. “There is discussion and the Chair [of the Investment Committee] has agreed to speak with students and I believe that from there the Investment Committee will take it further. They actually have it on their agenda to discuss in May and then we’ll see from there whether or not there’s a statement.

There definitely is dialogue going on.”

Looking beyond the logistical factors of getting the initiative successfully implemented, it is important to note why Scripps has an interest in this issue as well as the effects this type of stance will have on the global community.

“If we’re looking at [fossil fuel divestment] from a more global perspective and things like natural disasters as a result of climate change and conditions— for example, the drought that’s going on in California-- the immediate effects of which are not going to be as visible to us for the most part and are going to be more apparent in minority communities, one could argue that it would be ethical for Scripps as a progressive college to divest from fossil fuel industries that adversely affect the global environment,” Odaris Barrior-Arciga ‘18, member of Scripps Climate Justice said. “And you can also make a feminist standpoint that if we re-invest that money into new technologies, it’s pushing our own feminist representation in those industries. And I guess we would be the first women’s college to divest from fossil fuels, which is something we can claim for ourselves.”

The specific goals of campaigns to divest are also not just about the financial implications of divesting in these big institutions, but also about taking a political stance and hopefully changing attitudes about this issue on a national level.

“It’s also important to note that by divesting, it’s not like we think that taking out our investments from these companies is going to make a huge difference in their profits or anything like that,” Leta Ames ‘18 said. “It’s more of a political stance and getting more institutions to take notice and trying to change an attitude of investing in these companies or participating in what they’re doing to the world.”

There was also discussion around making this issue a priority for all students and establishing connections between students of varying identities to this issue.

“I think talking about it in an intersectional way is really important, too, because it’s a really intersectional issue,” Jessica Ng said. “I think that would help students feel more invested in it. It’s hard to do that in a way that’s not super theoretical, but it would be helpful.”

“I think that would come through clearest in financial aid because the endowment is a very abstract concept to students, but understanding if that means we have more money for financial aid or less money for financial aid is a much more understandable concept and what that would mean for tuition,” Gillenwater said. “Taking those

abstract concepts and discussing them within things that we already understand would be helpful.”

Students as well as Board of Trustee members are having extensive discussions surrounding this issue on campus, as well as across the 5Cs. The progress of the movement is something only time will tell.

There are many ways to get involved with Scripps Climate Justice, as well as other environmental clubs across the 5C campuses.

Claremont Climate Justice is a 5C group with which Scripps Climate Justice collaborates and which is working on an anti-fracking campaign and has formed an environmental coalition that works with local organizations as well.

Films to Stream online What Maisie Knew

Photo courtesy of Imdb.com.

By Elizabeth Lee ‘16 Copy Editor & Film Columnist

A

contemporary remake of the 1897 Henry James novel, What Maisie Knew (2013), tells the story of a six-year-old girl caught between two self-absorbed parents battling for custody during the aftermath of a tempestuous divorce.

Set in contemporary New York, Maisie’s mother, Sussana (Julianne Moore), is a flighty and emotionally volatile rock musician, and her father, Beale (Steve Coogan), is a distant and workfocused British businessman. Maisie is taken care of predominantly by her sweet, loving and young nanny, Margo (Joanna Vanderham), who eventually marries Beale, until one day, hours late, a young man comes to pick Maisie up from school, claiming to be her step-father. Lincoln (Alexander Skarsgard), who Sussana marries in an attempt to appear to be a more reliable guardian, is a young, quiet bartender who falls in love with Maisie.

Maisie’s parents continuously prove themselves to be irresponsible as Sussana takes off for a music tour and Beale moves suddenly back to England permanently, neither aware of how or where their daughter is. As Maisie is passed back and forth between her unreliable mother

and father, it falls to Margo and Lincoln to care for Maisie. Eventually, splitting from each of their spouses, the two begin to form their own family of three with Maisie as their relationship strengthens on the basis of their mutual commitment and ability to love and provide for the little girl who essentially becomes their own daughter.

All the while, six-year-old Maisie, played by the equally young and poised Onata Aprile, stands in the middle of it all with grace and a quiet, knowing look. She becomes an object in everyone else’s turbulent lives— the obsession of each of her parents to beat the other, the compassion and closeness her caretakers lack in their own relationships. Maisie says very little but constantly observes, maintaining a calm but nonetheless powerful presence of her own that does not command the viewer’s attention but draws you into what she seems to know. Very rarely do her parents engage in conversation with her, generally talking about or at her, relieving grievances or taking out frustrations on the other.

Even for Margo and Lincoln, Maisie becomes the means by which they find intimacy in each other.

And Maisie sees it. Though just a child, every adult around her seems in some way reliant on her, her calm and quiet way of loving each of them seeming to indicate that there must be something she understands better than they.

In the end, it is Maisie who comforts Margo when Beale locks her out of her own home and frequently abandons her. It is Maisie who holds Lincoln’s hand and brings him a chocolate cake at work when he has no one else. It is Maisie who sends her father off to England with the fond recollection of a story he once told her about finding coins on the streets, and her mother off on the remainder of her tour with a hug. Without having to explain, she convinces her parents that their actually loving her would mean parting ways and letting her be taken care of by those who better can. She helps Lincoln and Margo find the strength and reliability of kindness. Though it’s so easy for us to forget, Maisie knows what it really means to love someone.

24 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Ten

Features • 9

Hiding in Plain Sight: Emotional Abuse Quietly Harms

By Jocelyn Gardner ‘17 Mental Health Columnist, Webmaster TW: emotional and physical abuse, references mental illnesses

A

ccording to Oltmanns and Emery, “[Emotional abuse] is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression or posttraumatic stress disorder.”

Few people think emotional abuse happens to them but often, people do not know it is happening. Emotional abuse is not as overt as other forms of abuse. As I will explore later, culture and expectations play into emotional abuse as well as control, trauma, power dynamics and negative emotions.

One important disclaimer is that while it may be easy to cast blame upon someone you believe is inflicting emotional abuse, you can’t say this person is completely “bad” or has premeditated harm based on the assumption of what that person has done. As I like to say, nothing is that clear cut. On one hand, it is easy to blame parents, for example, without considering underlying problems such as their own upbringing. A lot of people who commit emotional abuse do not realize it. Do not call this an excuse; explaining something should never

be equated to excusing it.

Even if there is some underlying issue that may help to explain why a person inflicts emotional abuse on another, it is irresponsible and selfish for the abuser to deny the abuse and avoid self awareness.

I find this is especially true in the instance of parents abusing children, which leads to ingrained and inescapable damage. How can you leave someone you depend on by law? Sometimes, laws make it harder to protect yourself, especially as a dependent, adult child.

The persistence of such dangerous familial occurances is one of our nation’s foremost modern tragedies.

Emotional abuse has the potential to harm a person to the very core; it can chip away at someone’s sense of self and worth.

This is not an exaggeration.

“Many [...] victims of abuse live in homes or environments where they have become so accustomed to the situation they consider it normal,” OutOfTheFog.net says. “They do not recognize it even IS abuse sometimes, because there is no physical injury; instead, an ongoing emotional barrage takes place which can be just as damaging.”

Emotional abuse is more than name calling or use of fear.

Interfering with relationships, blaming, acting dependent on the child, overwhelming the child with attention, brainwashing, guilt tripping, infantilizing, patronizing, invalidating and extorting are all examples. Victims often internalize the abuse and/or feel trapped. There is an underlying control dynamic used as a way to manipulate. Some abusers use the victims for some kind of missing fulfillment. This is particularly damaging in parent-child relationships — the reversal of roles in such a situation makes the child feel responsible for the parent, and the parent can use this as a way to guilt or manipulate the child.

For example, blaming a child for the problems of the parent(s) and telling the child he or she is an embarrassment or failure to the

parent(s) is inappropriate. (On a side note, negative reinforcement or punishment is shown to be ineffective and harmful anyway.)

Further, parents who constantly change their minds, especially in regard to large decisions, as a way to mess with the child — depending on the situation — are also abusive.

A parent cannot expect the child to make reparations for every issue. It is also abuse for a parent to threaten to take legal action against an innocent child, to extort the child using money and “favors” (i.e. letting the child do something out of “kindness” or “reasonableness,” then demanding something in return), or to force the child out of the home while refusing to let her leave.

I am focusing on parental emotional abuse out of all the interpersonal relationships because it is often overlooked, misunderstood and incredibly dangerous. As your parents are always your parents, at least by definition, there is no getting around the nature of your relationship.

As I mentioned before, culture plays into the acceptance or even promotion of parental emotional abuse. Conditional “love” based on academic performance is an example. There is a crushing fear of rejection by parents. Perfectionism in a person’s life shouldn’t extend to expectations for others. You might have heard the expression that some parents “live through their kids.” Maybe you’ve heard the story of a dad who pushes his child too hard toward athletic glory to make up for his own unrealized dream. Or the mom who pushes her college dreams onto her daughter and uses this as a form of guilt tripping (“I didn’t have this opportunity; if you don’t appreciate it, you should be ashamed!”).

The worst part is that even if someone gets to the point of realization that their parents are emotionally abusive, there isn’t much that can be done. It is highly difficult on many different levels to get to a safer place by breaking

away from abusive environments.

Uncovering the damage left by years of abuse can be devastating enough even when distanced from the abuse itself. Having this realization between childhood and adulthood is incredibly hard, and all the advice I’ve found is along the lines of “suck it up until you’re financially independent.” This is unacceptable, and would not happen in the case of physical abuse. Some might say this is because safety is not compromised. This is simply not true and is an ignorant assumption based on the myth that matters of the mind are trivial. Emotional abuse can and does lead to serious mental health consequences (e.g. anxiety, depression, eating disorders, PTSD, attachment problems, low selfesteem) and even death.

Sometimes the damage cannot be reversed, especially if the victim is not aware of the abuse. The first step to solving this and feeling safer is to recognize what is happening, and to look critically at the situation.

Next, keep in mind that as with any form of abuse, you are not at fault.

You don’t deserve to be harmed.

And you do have some options, even if it doesn’t feel like you do.

Talk to people you trust and seek out resources; take care of yourself.

Then, if appropriate, talk to the person emotionally abusing you in a mature, calm manner. Only do this if you feel comfortable — often, someone manipulative can play mind games with you and push you into the same destructive patterns.

Sometimes, seeking resolution is not appropriate, and this is where the issue becomes very tricky, as I previously mentioned. Breaking away might be your best option, as hard as it is to deal with the consequences of doing so (e.g. financial ramifications, family conflict, etc.).

The important thing is for you to feel safe. If you do look up resources, be careful because many of them encourage you to remain silent and stay in a negative environment. This is where other people can help you, and when in doubt, trust your gut.

asking for what you need: inequality in sexual encounters Anonymous Sexual Health Columnist

T

here is an unfortunate trend I have noticed in my experience with the hookup culture at the 5Cs and beyond: sexual encounters seem to be completely male centric.

Now, this is not a blanket statement, just me speaking from personal experience and from talking to my friends about their experiences. This is also only addressing heterosexual encounters. I’m bisexual but it’s an aspect of my sexuality that I’m only just starting to explore, so I cannot (yet) speak to these types of encounters.

There seems to be an unspoken rule that as soon as the guy has achieved orgasm, the hookup is over.

There is little to no attention paid to

the woman’s pleasure, at least in the experiences of myself and of people I have talked to. Since it’s rarely addressed, reaching orgasm as a woman is not something I’ve ever expected out of a sexual encounter; I’ve just learned to enjoy myself without it, and I find that this is a problematic trend for a lot of people.

In my experiences, it is very seldom that a guy has paid much attention to my pleasure, and when he does, it’s such a rare gem that I’m so grateful for any little effort he makes. The only sexual partner who has actually gotten me to orgasm was someone I dated for two years; any hookup in college has been very one-sided.

This should not be the typical case for college hook-ups. Why should equal care of a partner’s pleasure be so rare and so surprising when it actually happens? When someone

pays attention to your pleasure, it’s not like they deserve the Nobel Prize; they’re just being fair. Both partners should reach orgasm, if that’s the goal.

However, if a partner ever does try to get me to orgasm, I somehow feel guilty. I feel like they’re spending too much time on me or I worry that I’m boring them. It’s not rude to ask for equality in the bedroom though; female-bodied individuals should not put their pleasure aside. We are just as deserving of achieving orgasm as our male-bodied counterparts.

Asking for what you want can be scary, especially if you aren’t used to it. One suggestion is to start small, by saying things like “can you go down on me for like 10 seconds?”

One time a hookup of mine got me very close to orgasm, but then he stopped and I didn’t say anything or

ask him to keep going. When I later told him, he was disappointed that I hadn’t spoken up and told him. The point is that our partners cannot read our minds, so don’t be afraid to let them know what you want. Put yourself in their shoes — would you be open and receptive if your partner shared their desires with you? Most likely, you’d say yes, so they probably will too. Your wants matter. If you bring a desire up and your partner isn’t interested or doesn’t feel comfortable or ready to do it, that’s okay, and should be respected.

Everybody has comfort levels and limits, but starting a dialogue and at least asking for something you want is important. Having a partner you’re comfortable with is helpful; you can communicate with your partner and have a discussion about your needs and wants.

24 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Ten

10 • Opinions

the first year experience

a space for reflection upon life in the first-year lane

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•

The prospies are coming!

By Melanie Biles ‘18 Staff Writer

L

isten, my children, and you shall hear of the two-weeklong ride of the prospies this year. On the eighteenth of April in 2015: we’re all still alive and we all still remember what happened, but here’s my interpretation of it anyway.

Admitted students weekends began not with a whimper, but with a bang. (We’re reading a lot of old American literature in Core II right now. Can you tell?) Out of nowhere, it seemed, the entire campus was filled with fresh-faced future firstyears (alliteration always, my friends) toting around brand-new Scripps paraphernalia and folders.

I was lucky enough to know one of these young women from my preScripps days and hang out with her as she experienced campus

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Dreaded room selection

for the first time. Every time she stopped to marvel at a garden (“Have you seen these roses?!?”) or appreciate some of the old dorms’ architecture (“You live here? For real? That’s unbelievable!”), I got caught up in reminiscing about the first time I experienced Scripps.

Visiting campus to tour was a blur; my first real memories are from orientation week. For the first few days, we tried to establish ourselves at a school that was ready to welcome us in ways we did not yet understand. I remember going to various socials, trying to meet as many people as possible and always falling back on the same questions. One of those questions was, “So, why did you decide on Scripps?”

For me, this question had both a short answer and a long answer.

The short answer was that at the end of my college app process, it

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Class registration round... 3?

was the school that made the most sense academically, culturally and financially. However, I was so fascinated to hear everybody else’s answers. Some people told me that they had been waiting to go to Scripps since they were ten or that their mothers and aunts and grandmothers had come here.

Some said that Scripps had been a safety or an only choice. For the most part, however, people had made the active decision to come here based on something about the school or campus of which they just could not let go.

Right now, with all of the prospies roaming campus, those kinds of opinions are forming.

High school seniors are looking at our campus and wondering if that could be them next year, tanning on the quad or chatting at the Motley over an iced salted caramel latte and a bagel with vegan cream

• •

The end is in sight!

In the rearview mirror cheese. The people causing extra crowding at Malott could be our classmates, our hallmates, and our best friends in just a few short months. It’s hard to believe how quickly all of this time is passing; a year ago, I did not know where I would be going to college. Now, I can’t imagine myself anywhere else. Scripps students may not have much in common about how we decide to make this our home, but whatever our reasoning, I’m so glad we did.

Senior Dances send off seniors and Faculty CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

abstract dance work that investigates the merging of dance with stories and themes of immigration … the piece unravels layers of complexity.

Recurring movement motifs include the navigation of […] vulnerability, steering through the unknown, […] self-discovery, success or failure in communication, and the presence or absence of support and camaraderie.” The dance--which included very modern moves such as shouting, shaking, rolling and writhing-- was created to be abstract with no explicit message, leaving viewers to interpret the emotions conveyed in the varied movements of the dancers.

Me and My contrasted with the previous dances. Featuring a spotlight and a single dancer, Annie Whitford (PZ ’15), who also choreographed the dance, the piece made use of the way the light cast shadows of the dancer on the wall and left some areas in darkness. The dancer moved in and out of the shadow, up and down stage, completing a wide variety of movements similar to those in the previous dance. The shadow grew larger or smaller, darker and lighter, and was just as much a presence onstage as was Whitford herself. some(body)s was the performance aspect of a senior thesis about “resistance and acceptance within sites of institutionalization, dehumanization and confinement,”

Annie Whitford’s (SC ‘15) thesis piece, some(body)s. Photo courtesy of Ric Feifer.

according to the program. The somber mood and use of contrast between individuals, pairs and groups of austerely-clad dancers, plus the tension in the music, created an intense atmosphere consistent with the themes described by Annie Whitford in her statement.

The lighting and use of chairs and mats added to the aggressive yet fluid and synchronized dance, which ended with the dancers standing on said chairs facing away from the audience.

After a brief intermission, the lighthearted mood of Suit Up lifted the heavy mood set by some(body) s with its mix of light colors, airy costumes and graceful movements.

There was also a mix of dance movements miming a morning routine of applying makeup, changing, stretching and looking

in the mirror. This dance was not merely about aesthetics, however; Scripps senior Christiana Ho poses the following questions in her thesis statement: “What is femininity? Is there innate femininity or is it always culturally proscribed? When does the performance begin and end?

Who is the performance for?”

Box of Sand had a focus on the group dynamic, lighting and sound effects. The dancers were dressed in different costumes of neutral colors and stood in a close group, slowly moving. They touched each other, brushed off their clothing, picked, pulled and grabbed. The dance progressed with the independent yet coordinated movements of the dancers, who would sometimes be standing tall and sometimes writhing on the floor of the stage. The loud, unsettling music and darker

24 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue 10

lighting gave the piece a spooky feel.

This dance was choreographed by Scripps professor Kirsten Johansen.

The next piece, Unaccompanied, was a short solo dance performed

by Christiana Ho ‘17. Again, the spotlight and light colors of the dancer’s costume were quite different from the previous dance.

The light took emphasis away from setting and color, placing the focus on the graceful movement which was coordinated with the feel of the music.

The show ended on a high note with Sorsonet Celebration, choreographed by Scripps Professor Phylise Smith. This piece featured four musicians playing lively percussion onstage. This dance featured the largest group of dancers, who were dressed colorfully to reflect the origin of the dance (an initiation dance of the Baga people of Guinea, West Africa). The music consisted of only percussion, and the groups of people switched frequently as a sun, then moon, projected onto the stage’s backdrop grew brighter and dimmer. The show concluded to vigorous applause.

After the bows, a few dancers came back onstage and invited Gail Abrams onstage, thanking her in front of the entire audience for her 29 years at Scripps College. They also thanked the crew of the show and the other professors. A reception in the lobby of Boone Recital Hall in Garrison Theater followed the show.

Features • 11

THE PROBLEM WITH WHITE FEMINISM

By Evelyn Gonzalez ‘18 Feminist Columnist

W

hile all feminists are important to the cause, not all feminisms are created equal.

Even within positive and empowering spaces specifically designed to create equality, there seems to be a hierarchy and a prioritization of some women’s issues over others. Currently, our society tends to overemphasize the experiences and issues of white, middle-class women without realizing that their realities are not universal.

In order to really engage with feminism, we as a society need to broaden our view of women’s issues in terms of intersectionality in order to properly address the plights of all women.

White, middle-class feminism can take many forms, but the main idea behind this type of feminism is that by putting an emphasis on both

racial and class distinctions, what this term is really getting at is the interlocking systems of power that this group holds and the ways in which it negatively affects those who do not fall within these categories. Those individuals that have race and class privileges need to acknowledge that they are often in positions that rely on domination and subjugation, which tends to render the voices of other groups mute. The issue is that white, middle-class women are not and simply cannot reflect the interests and necessities of a diverse group of women, although historically it has often been made out that way. Often times this type of feminism is alienating and deters women of color from joining the feminist movement because they are often considered sellouts by the members of their own communities.

This term also illustrates that in terms of policies and basic rights, only some of these issues are being addressed and heard. It is not that one issue carries more weight than others, but it is important to realize that often, different groups prioritize different things simply because they have to. Some of the privileges, and I dare say luxuries, afforded to middle-class white women who are fighting for certain rights tend to focus or prioritize those issues that directly affect them. White middle-class feminism is: addressing the wage gap but failing to speak about how it is even more disportionately spread when discussing women of color, trying to stipulate what is oppressive within other cultures without challenging their own, starting body positive campaigns whose main focus is white, able-bodied individuals, campaigning for access to birth control while many minority women cannot achieve legal status and therefore have been disproportionately overlooked within the healthcare systems, and failing to recognize or even outright ignoring those women of color who

have made amazing contributions to the feminist movement.

Feminists need to avoid creating the very same oppressive structures within themselves that they are trying to combat. One way to do this is by creating safe and intersectional spaces where all women feel as though they are being heard. Feminism is never going to be successful if we allow it to continue to mimic only the ideals of current dominant groups. The term “intersectionality,” as coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, “suggests that — and seeks to examine how — various biological, social and cultural categories such as gender, race, class, ability, sexual orientation, religion, caste, species and other axes of identity interact on multiple and often simultaneous levels, contributing to systemic injustice and social inequality. Intersectionality holds that the classical conceptualizations of oppression within society, such as racism, sexism, biphobia, homophobia, transphobia, and belief-based bigotry, do not act independently of one another. Instead, these forms of oppression interrelate, creating a system of oppression that reflects the ‘intersection’ of multiple forms of discrimination”.

By looking at equal pay, for example, we can see how intersectionality can help problematize the ways in which it has been looked at in society.

Like I mentioned, the idea that women make 77 cents fewer than men only takes into account how white women’s earnings measure up without mentioning that Asian, black and Hispanic women make even less than that amount. White middle-class feminism often ignores issues of race, class and other important identities to look at how certain issues affect women differently.

Intersectionality is necessary because it takes all identities and issues into account without the threat of erasure.

landfill alternative: incineration

Landfill. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

By Isobel Whitcomb ‘17 Environmental Columnist

Every year in the United States, 164 million tons of trash get dumped into landfills. These sprawling cities of garbage harm biodiversity by poisoning wildlife and taking up land. They are also incredible eyesores. However, it’s a little-known fact that landfills also inflict damage on the earth by releasing huge quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas which can trap 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide. But without landfills, where would all the garbage go? While reducing, reusing and recycling is always the safest solution to the garbage problem, it shouldn’t be the only one. The United States especially still lags too much in reducing waste and recycling to justify forgoing other ways to reduce our dependence on landfills. There is another solution: burn the trash.

Compared to filling landfills, trash incineration may seem no better as an option for waste disposal.

Afterall, burning anything creates CO2, the most abundant greenhouse gas, as well as ash. Plus, when synthetic materials are burned, they also release carcinogens such as dioxins. However, the carbon dioxide released by the incinerators actually has a less adverse effect on the climate than the massive amounts of methane released by landfills. Plus, modern incinerators contain filters that filter out the majority of carcinogens contained in trash so that the smokestacks of incinerators actually release fewer dioxins and other carcinogens than typical fireplaces. The greatest benefit of trash incinerators, however, is their ability to harvest the energy produced by burning waste, reducing dependence on fossil fuels. For years, European countries have relied on this method of reducing landfill size while simultaneously heating homes and powering cities. The machines are relatively small and very discrete, disguised as pretty buildings to blend in with their surroundings. However, it does not appear that the United States will ever invest in building “waste to energy” plants. Why aren’t we following in Europe’s footsteps?

First, in a country as large and incohesive as the United States, it is difficult to find a place to build an incinerator. As landfills overflow and become dangerous in places such as New York, these large cities have made efforts to make such a change. However, many communities seem wary of having an incinerator built next door. In New York, for example, when the idea was proposed, a community of Hasidic Jews protested, saying that the incinerator would remind them of the Holocaust. Second, as mentioned before, trash incinerators are not perfect solutions.

They facilitate our dependence on energy and encourage consumption of waste-producing goods. In Europe, there is a correlation between trash consumption and use of incinerators. For instance, Denmark, the country with the greatest number of trash incinerators in Europe, also is the greatest producer of waste per capita on the continent.

The trash incinerator may not be the perfect solution to polution. However, if the United States somehow was able to place half as much trash in landfills and burn the other half, that would decrease our enormous production of greenhouse gases, a step in the right direction.

24 April, 2014 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Ten

12 • Arts & Entertainment

Festival Fashion

By Natalie Camrud ‘17 Fashion Columnist

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oachella has come and gone, and our feeds are filled with pictures of happy, smiling people wearing daisy sunglasses and tie dye. Flipping through fashion blogs made it obvious that the 1970’s have returned; I saw bell bottoms and denim jumpers and headbands galore. Have no fear though; just because it’s over doesn’t mean you can’t still look music-festival fabulous! You can dress like you’re going to Coachella any day, even if you’ve never been. Cover yourself with flash tattoos, dip dye the ends of your hair, throw on a neon fanny pack, and you’re good to go. You’ll look just as great and be way less sweaty and dehydrated and covered in desert dust than if you actually went to Coachella.

Abigail Daum ‘17 with Diva Gattani ‘17, Staff Writer

Look 1: Name: Shelby Hayne Year: 1st Outfit: Shelby pairs a flowing patterned skirt with a black crop top and black chunky sandals for a relaxed vibe.

“I’ve been seeing all my friends’ pictures at Coachella, and I wanna feel like I’m at a music festival even though I’m not.”

motlé

Photos by Tyra Abraham ‘18 Whether your order is a simple Americano or a nonfat iced mocha with soy milk and an onion bagel with vegan cream cheese, there is no place on the 5C campuses quite like the Motley. If you need a place to study (so that you can let blaring music guide your essay writing) or just a place to sit a spell and chill, many Scripps students consider the Motley a sort of second home. Here’s to you.

Photos by Natalie Camrud ‘17.

Look 2: Name: Vicky Kim Year: 4th Outfit: Vicky looks ready to rock to Tyler, the Creator with an American Apparel t-shirt and high top sneakers.

“I’ve never been to Coachella, but I want to go so badly. All the artists sound so awesome, but it’s kind of expensive. Maybe one day!”

From: Chicago, IL Intended Major: Psychology and French What activities are you involved in at Scripps?

I take piano lessons, I am in the chamber choir, and I am on the leadership board for the 5C Mental Health Alliance. The Mental Health Alliance is a club designed to challenge and combat the stigma surrounding mental health on campus and within the greater community. We also hope to raise awareness about these issues that affect more of the student body than we may realize. We do this by putting on various events throughout the semester. A lot of events happened in March for Mental Health Alliance Month. Recently we had a student panel discussing eating disorders. Several guest speakers, including faculty members, discussed various myths about mental health. We also had a poetry slam event where students could share their poetry about mental health.

What has been your favorite class at Scripps?

I loved Abnormal Psychology with Judith LeMaster because the class was really in-depth and [she] was very engaging and could provide current examples from her private practice and the media.

What inspired you to choose Scripps?

I think the thing that made me choose Scripps was the student body. When I visited, the current students were so interesting and unique and I hoped to become like them someday. I also loved the feel of the campus and could definitely picture myself here.

What is your favorite Motley drink?

I love getting Tea Au Lait with Masala Chai Tea! What are your plans for this summer?

This summer I will be a camp counselor at a summer camp for children and adults with special needs. I used the Scripps alumnae network to contact clinical psychologists to ask them about their career paths and if they had any suggestions for a summer undergraduate position in the field. One of them recommended this program to me and I am so excited for this opportunity.

What is your most memorable experience here so far?

There have been too many to count. I think just hanging out with friends and going to event on campus together.

Full article can be found online at thescrippsvoice.com 24 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Ten