Volume XVIII - Issue 9

9 April, 2015

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The Scripps Voice

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Barbara Pierce Bush discusses global health and ngo’s

By Joelle Leib ‘17 Staff Writer

B

arbara Pierce Bush was invited to speak at Garrison Theater on March 24 as part of the Elizabeth Hubert Malott Public Affairs Program, which seeks to bring conservative voices to campus. In her speech entitled “Confronting Today’s Global Health Challenges,” Bush highlighted the success of her international organization Global Health Corps (GHC), which champions global health equity, and encouraged Scripps students and the greater Claremont community to pursue a career in social justice.

Five years ago, the then-28-yearold Bush founded Global Health Corps with the mission that all people deserve access to quality healthcare. To accomplish this, GHC partners with existing organizations in the United States and eastern and southern African countries, identifies where the organizations can improve, and places two talented and creative fellows--one international and one native--to work with each organization for a year. Bush says she hopes that her fellows will not only create significant change while they are in the program, but that also upon their departure they will continue to contribute to the healthcare field from their jobs in a multitude of

Trustee Liza Pohle and Barbara Pierce Bush speak at Garrison Theater. Photo courtsey of Eric Reed for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.

sectors, including business and technology. Thus far, GHC has worked with 450 exceptional fellows and will welcome 150 new fellows, selected from a pool of over five thousand applicants, this July.

During her father’s first term as president, Bush was a student at Yale University interested in math and design who dreamed of becoming an architect after graduation. Her career path took an unexpected turn

in mid-2003, the summer before her senior year, during which Bush was able to take two weeks off from her trendy design job in New York City to visit Uganda, Nigeria and Senegal with her family. At the time, President George W. Bush sought to implement the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to alleviate the tremendous impact of the AIDS epidemic in African nations by administering life-saving drugs for

free to people who would otherwise have no access to them.

“When we landed on that trip, I was struck for a number of reasons,” Bush said. “One reason that I was struck was that there were hundreds of people waiting in line for drugs that if you were born in the United States you would easily have access to.

And I’m sure y’all have seen this and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Launching the LASPA Center

By Taylor Galla ‘18 Staff Writer

T

his past Thursday, April 2, Scripps College had the official launch of the LASPA Center, a brand new center which will provide resources to Scripps women to develop their leadership skills and potential.

The official mission of the LASPA center reads, “The mission of the LASPA Center for Leadership is to develop and support future generations of women leaders, providing them with the necessary attributes, knowledge and skills to succeed in the 21st century.”

The project is more than five years in the making, after a generous $5

Inside This Issue:

million donation from Eileen Shock Laspa ‘67 and Jude Laspa HMC ‘65. After extensive searches for a director and development of the center and its ideals, the center has officially launched and is soon to be up and running.

The launch took place on Scripps’ Alumnae Field and consisted of distinguished female speakers who talked about Leadership, Service, Integrity and Creativity.

Haley Godtfredsen ‘16 attended the event and said, “I’m really excited about this center. I’m excited to see in which direction they take it because there has been a lot of controversy over that. So seeing how it will actually be implemented on campus is interesting. I’m also

Page 3 - Keck Grant

Read about Keck Science’s new $830,000 grant

excited for the speakers tonight and for the launch party.”

The speakers were accomplished and admirable women from all facets of work environments and included Eli Winkelman ‘07 who founded “Challah for Hunger;” Martha Gonzales, an activist feminist music theorist and professor of Chicano/ Latino studies at Scripps; Laurel J. Richie, president of the WNBA; and Lynn Rosenthal, the White House Advisor for Violence Against Women.

All of them exemplified the four pillar words (Leadership, Service, Integrity and Creativity) of the LASPA center and demonstrated to everyone in the audience just what this center is about.

The words “We Act” were displayed

Page 5 - Art Gallery

Check out the Williamson Interns Angels and Demons Exhibit

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

extensively all over the launch as the slogan and mood of the event and of the center in general. It encoures young women to act in many different ways-- for example, to act in the workplace, to act through selfadvocacy in relationships, and to act in the classroom, just to name a few.

The launch consisted of workshops, a strolling reception and a keynote address from Lynn Rosenthal, along with the revealing of the winners of the LASPA Action Grants. The Action Grants’ goals, according to the LASPA Center Grants page on the Scripps portal, are “to provide opportunities for students (1) to transform knowledge, passion and CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Page 6-7 - LASPA

Learn about the new LASPA Center, launched on April 2.

2 • News BARBARA PIERCE BUSH DISCUSSES GLOBAL HEALTH AND NGO’S CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

luckily this isn’t the norm now, but people who are HIV positive who don’t have access to drugs, I mean [if that were you] you would look like a skeleton. You would truly be wasting away, so it was just these very visceral images.”

A self-described idealist, Bush was shocked by the injustices of health care inequity that prevented the people she met, “born at the wrong place at the wrong time,” from receiving medication to treatable illnesses. Her relatively short trip impacted her enormously, and upon returning to Yale, Bush felt compelled to solve this health care crisis that required medication and resources that already existed but were not being allocated fairly. Thus, Bush abandoned her architecture major in favor of a humanities major that would allow her to take as many classes about global health as possible.

After graduation, Bush wanted to work in the field of healthcare, but did not have a clear idea of how she could make an impact without having a degree in medicine. Her twin sister, Jenna, introduced her to two young entrepreneurs she had met at a party who were equally as passionate about health care.

Together they came up with the idea for GHC, which was strongly influenced by the success of the program Teach For America. Now GHC is a critically acclaimed organization, earning accolades for “Best Social Justice Start Up,” amongst others, like Glamour Woman of the Year, that recognize Bush’s strong leadership.

As a female leader and a feminist, Bush is especially interested in women’s health equity and serving a population that generally receives poorer health care than their male counterparts. “I think when you think about feminism it’s about equity,” Bush said. “It’s all based on should we have equal opportunities, should we have equal pay, should we be treated equally, and I agree with all three of those sentiments.” Bush says she strives to operate off of these principles in her work and emphasizes women’s issues — like death from childbirth in particular — because they are preventable but still very prevalent.

Despite her family’s heavy involvement in politics, Bush says she is more interested in changing policies than engaging in politics, particularly policies that generate change for women. “If women aren’t healthy, it’s really hard for them to hold jobs, [and] it has a huge impact on their families,” Bush said. “Health is the backbone to all the other opportunities that we are given. And I don’t think that’s political at all. I think it’s a very human desire for people around you to have opportunity and to remember that when we’re talking about health.”

Bush says she is thankful to have a wonderful team of young women whom she works with who bring a diversity of voices to the table. If you are a young women interested in working in social justice, Bush suggests finding what you are passionate about and pursuing it. “One thing to always remember is that you don’t have to do this work alone,” Bush said. “People are always willing to help you, but usually we’re too shy to ask them for help.”

Although Bush’s legacy strays greatly from that of her family, she cites her family’s dedication to public service as a major influence on her career choice. To Bush, her parents and grandparents sought to serve people through politics; her sister, who is a teacher, through education; and herself through healthcare.

Joins the Scripps Community Journalism Family taylor galla

Rose Conlon

Keely shinners Change Magzine features writers from Scripps College. Photos courtsey of Change Magazine.

By Sydney Sibelius ‘18 Staff Writer

W

hile many students feel that their opinions and beliefs are cast aside, Change Magazine provides college students with the opportunity to have their voices heard.

“Change Magazine is an online, new publication published and run entirely by college students all over the country,” Taylor Galla ‘18 said. “It was started by a student at Harvard with the goal of giving college students the chance to have a voice in national debates.”

The magazine was started a year and half ago and has now spread to 18 colleges across the country.

Each school has its own branch that publishes articles to its online website. While every college has its own editors and writers, the branches can collaborate on writing, editing articles and sharing ideas. Editors and writers from each school share ideas over email and phone exchanges to write an article together that encompasses an issue prevalent at each institution.

As Change Magazine was created to give voice to the opinions of college students, the articles are factbased and opinion-oriented and address issues with a local perspective.

Galla recently brought Change Magazine to Scripps campus. Scripps constitutes one of the first branches on the West Coast, and is one of two women’s colleges involved, along with Wellesley College. Other schools included are Brown University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University and Georgetown University. Galla became involved after seeing an article published by another branch.

“I saw an article on Facebook that a high school friend of mine had written for Change and had

been published online and [I] was immediately intrigued,” Galla said. “I found the president’s email and asked him if I could write for the magazine.”

The magazine will address local issues seen around Scripps, as well as apply larger, national issues to campus.

“The goals of the magazine are to give Scripps a voice in the national discussion and [to] provide our unique perspective in order to diversify the discussion and educate others through this perspective,” Galla said.

Galla also hopes to provide every student here with the opportunity to voice their opinions.

She also hopes that it can become a space for individuals to educate themselves on issues covered in the magazine and to discuss them with peers.

Students are able to write on an issue of their choice, with few limitations on topic. The Scripps branch has recently published articles on contraception accessibility on college campuses, what it is like to go to a women’s college, the California drought, and discrimination at Scripps.

“The magazine covers a wide range of issues; there isn’t really any issue that we can’t cover as long as it has a clear tie to a larger discussion and is beneficial and intriguing to that discussion,” Galla said.

Anyone interested in writing for Change Magazine can contact Taylor Galla at tayaudreyg@gmail.com.

Change is an opportunity for anyone interested in journalism, writing or advocacy. There are also positions available for PR/marketing, brand development and the operating board. To find published articles by Scripps students, visit the branch website online at change-magazine.org/scripps.

9 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Nine

News • 3

Keck gains $830,000 Research Grant The Scripps Voice Staff A

By Erin Matheson ‘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

t Scripps College and the shared W.M. Keck Science Department, the sciences are thriving and opportunities are plentiful. In late January, Biology Professor Patrick Ferree won an $830,000 five-year grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Development Program to continue his research on genome conflict and to strengthen educational outreach to programs such as Scripps’ Articulation Agreement for Transfer that prepares students transferring from community colleges to Scripps College.

Ferree’s grant, “Paternal genome elimination by a selfish B chromosome in the jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis,” funds his continued research into genome “parasites” buried in the DNA of insects in the hymenoptera order, including ants, bees and wasps.

The common conception — that the full genome works together in harmony to create — is upended by individual “selfish” chromosomes that alter and overwrite patterns of inheritance at the molecular level. According to Ferree, “We are interested in understanding how genetic and microbial parasites manipulate the eukaryotic genome. We use the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and several of its sibling species as well as the jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis as model organisms.”

Currently, Ferree teaches Introductory Biology and

Developmental Biology at Keck. Additionally, he works directly with eight undergraduate students in his lab. “I want to stay relevant in the field and it is important for me to have my students work hands-on with a modern, pertinent question that has some real meaning,” said Ferree. “I want our kids to have these opportunities.”

The Career Development Program is regarded as “the most sought-after recognition a new faculty member can receive [from the NSF],” given its intended ability to advance someone as an expert in his or her particular field. The funding will support the hiring of a post-doctoral fellow for the life of the grant and the purchase of some much-needed infrastructure, including a climate-controlled incubator and multiple PCR machines for replicating DNA sequences for study.

The post doc is anticipated to come early next Fall.

“I am not going to have the post-doc be in charge of students,” Ferree said. The person will come and and be another active expert in the lab and get help and more energy in the lab.” The PCR machine and the climate-controlled incubator will be loaned out to the community colleges — such as Pasadena Community College — that have the Articulation Agreement with Scripps College in an effort to strengthen education outreach.

“What interests me is the weird stuff,” Ferree said.

“How is this natural process occurring? What is happening? That’s what fascinates me.” With $830,000 to spend, Professor Ferree will be able to continue his pursuit of knowledge.

Webmaster Jocelyn Gardner 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.

Professor Patrick Ferree won a grant based on the research he had done on “selfish chromosomes” (top right). Photos courtsey of Scripps College.

9 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Nine

4 • News

Athlete profile: MaYA ellis

scripps college ‘18 claremont ultimate frisbee Photo courtsey of Claremont Ultimate Frisbee Team

By Sydney Sibelius ‘18 Staff Writer

Maya Ellis ‘18 has been an integral part of the Claremont Greenshirts Ultimate Frisbee team since her arrival on campus this year. After a brief stint playing Ultimate in her hometown of Boulder, Colorado, she decided to pursue the sport further in college. The team is comprised of students from all five of the Claremont Colleges, with weekly practices and scrimmages. The Greens play many other local schools as well as travel out of state for various tournaments. They recently traveled to Boston, Massachusetts to play schools around the area.

How did you get involved with Ultimate Frisbee?

I got involved with Ultimate Frisbee because I played for a semester in high school with a bunch of my friends, and I thought maybe I’d try it here.

At the club fair I saw them, and one of them threw a disc at me and I threw it back, and they were like “you should join ultimate!” I went to the first practice, and I’ve kept going.

What was your experience with Ultimate in high school?

Honestly, it was just that a bunch of my friends played. I had decided not to run track for my senior year, and they said that I should go to Ultimate practice. It was super informal, but that’s how it started.

What is the team like at the 5Cs? The team here is really awesome; there are a lot of really good players. The awesome people are definitely my favorite part. We always have a lot of fun together. Everybody works really hard, but they are still really awesome and really nice and just fun to be around.

Do you have a favorite aspect of the sport?

The people who play ultimate are just really nice, cool people. It’s a really great community and there is a lot of spirit around the game and around playing. Everybody is really happy to be there.

What is something that most people would not know about Ultimate Frisbee?

A random fact about Ultimate is that there are no referees, so you call all your own fouls. If something happens, like somebody fouls you, you can say that you think that was a foul, and they can contest that or not contest it. It changes how you proceed. But that is a kind of cool thing; it adds to the spirit of the game with being honest and friendly, and calling the calls.

You and the team went to Boston recently to play some games. How did they go?

They were really fun. It was really fun because it was snowing, so that was a different experience for us SoCal kids. We played Tufts B, and we beat them. That was really fun, not the beating them part, but the playing in the snow. It was really cool, and they were really fun to play against. We also played Amherst High School, and they are

the best high school in the nation, so we were a little tentative about that game. They were actually really good, and that was a closer game than Tufts. We also beat them, and that was a fun game. It was fun to play against high schoolers.

But I think the best part was just being in Boston and being in the snow and being in a new place.

What other teams do you play around Claremont?

Our main competition to get to Nationals is Occidental, but we also play UCLA, SDSU, UCSD, and all of the other acronyms. We went to a tournament in Vegas and in Northern California.

We’ve played Carleton, and we’ve played the Canada U23 National Team. They were incredibly good. We scored two points against them, so that was our victory. That was a really fun game, and they were incredibly talented players.

Do you have a favorite memory from being on the team this past year?

It was really fun playing in the snow this weekend. I think everyone was just invigorated by the weather, and it was very different from here.

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

9 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Nine

Sports • 5

Williamson interns host gallery at scripps

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

E

ach year, Scripps College’s Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery’s interns design and curate their own art exhibit, using works from the vast Scripps College art collection.

This year’s exhibit, put on by interns Moor Chen ’16, Mikayla Raymond ’15, Abby Rodriguez ’16 and Maggie Wu ’15, is titled “Angels and Demons,” and runs from March 30 to April 9 in Room 112 of Lang (the art office).

This year’s intern-curated exhibit focuses on notions of good and evil across different religious practices, times and cultures. The show incorporates twenty different pieces illustrating concepts of good and evil. These pieces originated from such countries as the U.S., China, France, Italy, Germany, India and Japan, and include a Warhol screenprint, mosaics, ceramics, etchings, ink on paper and prints.

The Scripps Voice caught up with some of the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery’s interns to discuss how the show was put

together, as well as the concept for the exhibit itself.

TSV: How did you interns come up with the idea for the exhibit?

Raymond: Abby (Rodriguez) and I spent a lot of time beforehand thinking about what types of exhibition themes had the capacity to interest and excite people. Looking at our collection, we noticed that we had a lot of pieces that dealt with religion, but neither of us could really think of any exhibitions during our time at Scripps that had explored these themes. We then got together with the other interns, and decided on highlighting Angels and Demons.

TSV: How did you go about putting the exhibit together?

What were the steps in doing this?

Raymond: We used the gallery website, which has a list of all pieces accessible there. We then looked through different artists, periods, and geographical locations; scouring for religious images. We then took these

ideas, and went down into the collections to actually look at the objects. We narrowed it down from there.

TSV: What are your hopes for the exhibit?

Raymond: We really hope that people...get to appreciate some pieces from the Scripps Collection they otherwise may have never seen.

Chen: To facilitate discussion on ethics and aesthetics.

TSV: What do you hope people take away from the exhibit?

Raymond: I hope people not only start thinking about religions — that is, their differences and similarities in how they represent good and evil — but [also] about Scripps’ collection more globally. We have an expansive collection that is, in my opinion, not seen enough or used enough by students outside of Art, Art History and Art Conservation Majors. Our collection has the capacity, being a teaching collection, to inform many different disciplines.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

Events Calendar April 10 Free Princeton review practice tests and review sessions - RSVP ASAP on ClaremontConnect!

- LSAT: 10am-2pm, Humanities 102 (SCR) - GRE: 10am-2pm, West Hall Mac Lab P04 (PZ) - GMAT: 10am-2:30pm, Linde Activities Center Computer Lab (HMC) Pomona College Junior Recital - Alex Chong, cello @ 8pm Lyman Hall, PO

April 11 Free Princeton review practice tests and review sessions- RSVP ASAP on ClaremontConnect!

- MCAT: 9am-5pm, Steele 229 Computer Lab (SCR) Pomona College Junior/Senior Recital - Molly Cole, piano & Hannah Wayment-Steele, piano @ 8pm Lyman Hall, PO

April 14

Humanities Institute Public Conference: Humans and Selves (Hampton Room) - Libertarianism and the Problem of Flip-flopping @ 9:30-11am, John Martin Fischer - Who Do We Think We Are? @ 11:15am-12:45pm, Andrea Westlund - We Are Not Human Beings @ 2:30-4pm, Derek Parfit - What Do We Need to Know About Human Nature? @ 4:15-5:45, Louise Antony Sustained Dialogues Campus Network Training - Workshop @ 6-9pm Vita Nova 100 - Day 1 of a 2-Day Workshop: tools to facilitate community-building conversations - Participants who have completed the training will then be eligible to apply for paid moderator positions in the fall and lead dialogue groups.

Speaker Louise Antony - Talk @ 4:15-5:45 with Reception to follow

April 18

Salary Negotiation Workshop - Hampton Dining Room @ 5-7pm

April 16 Derek Parfit, world-famous philosopher for the annual Merlan Lecture - Lecture @ 4:15, Balch Auditorium - “Can We Avoid the Repugnant Conclusion? A Problem in the Ethics of Population” - Q&A session and reception to follow

April 17 QueensCare Health Care: Real World Trip in nonprofit management of health care - Join CP&R on this trip @ 8am-2pm - Transportation provided. RSVP ASAP on ClaremontConnect

Sustained Dialogues Campus Network Training - Workshop @ 8am-5pm Vita Nova 100 - Day 2 of a 2-Day Workshop: tools to facilitate community-building conversations, - Participants who have completed the training will then be eligible to apply for paid moderator positions in the fall and lead dialogue groups Meal-packaging event: - The Multifaith Service Council and CLSA will package more than 10,000 meals for areas of extreme hunger around the globe in honor of the life and work of Cesar Chavez - 10am-12pm Linde Activity Center, HMC register at https://eventbrite.comevent/16188511273/.

FMI, email sethr@cuc.claremont.edu

Sports Calendar April 10 Men’s Tennis at Pomona-Pitzer 4 p.m.

Women’s Tennis v. Pomona-Pitzer at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2 p.m.

Softball at Whittier 2 p.m.

Baseball at Redlands 3 p.m.

April 11 Men’s Tennis v. Caltech at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 10 a.m.

Women’s Tennis at Caltech 2 p.m.

Baseball v. Redlands at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 11 a.m.

Women’s Lacrosse v. Whittier at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 7 p.m.

April 15 Women’s Lacrosse v. Pomona-Pitzer at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 7 p.m.

Women’s Water Polo v. Pomona-Pitzer at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 7 p.m.

April 17 Women’s Tennis v. Chapman at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2 p.m.

Women’s Tennis v. Occidental at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 5:30 p.m.

Track & Field at Azusa Pacific all day Baseball v. Whittier at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3 p.m.

9 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Nine

6

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 transform knowledge, passion and ideas into action (2) demonstrate creative and effective problem-solving (3) create partnership(s) in public or private sector and (4) produce outcomes that make a positive impact.”

The recipient of each grant gets $4500 for summer living and any expenses directly related to completing the project. In addition, they may receive up to $1000 for transportation, supplies, etc. The grants included projects surrounding disability justice with Eden Noa Amital ‘17, women in STEM careers with Grace Dahlstrom ‘16, raising awareness of agent orange with Maya Espiritu ’16, work with Crossroads graduates with Alexandra Harder ‘17, sustainability with agriculture and culinary arts with Edith Ortega ‘18 and health education in Humboldt County with Raquel Selcer ‘17. The Action Grant program is exemplary of how the work of the LASPA Center will not only enable women in the community to become leaders, but will also benefit the community as a whole with their work.

Many students, alumnae, faculty and staff attended the launch and expressed their interest in what the launch and the center will have to offer to the community.

“I’m really excited about it [the LASPA Center] because I think it will do a good job of integrating leadership through business, finance, that sort of thing as well as service,” Sarah Berschinski ‘17 said. “One of the initial concerns of it was it being too focused on business or too much on service so I think now they’re doing a good job of implementing the two.”

One extremely influential face in the Center’s creation that many people have yet to meet is its newly hired director, Lisa Watson. With an extensive background in social work with YWCAs and Downtown Women’s Center, she has spent her entire career working at women’s non-profit organizations. She received her Bachelor’s from California State University and then attended University of Judaism, now American Jewish University, for her MBA. When asked what drew her to Scripps, Watson explained “when I found out about Scripps, it was such a good match. One thing is just the belief, the connection that I get and the values of empowerment for women, and the sense of community that’s so strong here.”

Watson said that the goal of the LASPA center is to build on the resources already available at Scripps and create opportunities for rising Scripps women to obtain and successfully work within leadership positions.

“So, as you can see, kind of the tagline for today is ‘We Act,’ and that’s kind

of the action for the whole plan of the LASPA Center: to take innovative approaches to learning leadership, and to create an environment where there’s more opportunity to mend war,” Watson said.

She elaborated on the ideas she has for the Center as well as the goal to get ideas from students and collaborate with them about what the Center should be and what it should provide.

“So for example, internships,” Watson said. “Looking for leadership positions, like board positions, for students to be on. And having visiting scholars that are of interest to the students, to the faculty, to the staff. And having workshops that will give you more practical skills… how to negotiate, for example…. Those are some of the ideas but I’m really looking forward to innovative approaches, and that, I think, will come from my work with the students, and learning from them what they want to see.”

Watson has also expressed a need for a student intern in the LASPA Center, to get in touch with the student body and have that concrete connection to benefit the work being done.

“The first thing is I want to get a student intern that can help me to kind of guide through— because there’s a lot of different activities on campus,” Watson said. “I was being told about the BeHeard Forum, so I want to attend the different events. But one of the first things I want to do is plan what I’m calling ‘Wisdom Holder Meetings,’ where we work together to create the vision. And I want to not only have this, but also utilize the students to do the Wisdom Holder Meetings in the general community and with the alumni. So integrate them with that process, too.”

When asked about her vision for the LASPA Center, Watson explained that she hopes the Center grows to be recognized on a state and national level.

“One of the goals is that we want a nationally recognized women’s leadership institute on the West Coast,” Watson said. “And we want to be very studentdriven by having student conferences here. We want to have women leaders who want to come to Scripps,” said Watson. “But I think that if we look five years from now, I hope that we are recognized not only on the state, but on the national level. Scripps is the third women’s premier college, so this institute should be a premier center. And I don’t see any barriers why that cannot be. And I think having a national model and practicing best practices are really important. That’s why at the Downtown Women’s Center we were a nationally recognized program, because we were using a best practices, and spending a lot of time researching and figuring out what was most effective.

And I think that’s what the LASPA Center wants to do, too.”

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9 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voi

LIGHT

7

Launching the LASPA Center

O

n Thursday, April 2, Scripps Voice (TSV) staff writer Taylor Galla ’18 caught up with new LASPA Director, Lisa Watson, before the launch of the LASPA Center, joined by a writer from The Student Life (TSL). Transcription by Lucy Altman-Newell ‘17.

TSV: Can we hear a little bit about where you’re from, your background, what drew you to this project?

Watson: Okay, so just a little bit of my background: I was a social work undergraduate student and then went on to get my MBA with a specialty in non-profit management. And I worked with the YWCA’s. My latest role has been with the Downtown Women’s Center, so I really spent my work career working at women’s non-profit organizations. So when I found out about Scripps, it was such a good match. One thing is just the belief, the connection that I get and the values of empowerment for women, and the sense of community that’s so strong here. And I was just really impressed by the students and the students’ questions that they asked me in the interview process, and all the faculty and staff.

What do you hope to accomplish with this? Can you give us an idea ome concrete plans in place, some of the goals of the center? son: As you can see, kind of the tag line for today is “We Act,” and that’s of the action for the whole plan of the LASPA Center: to take innovative oaches to learning leadership, and to create an environment where e’s more opportunity to mend war. Well let me back up a little bit and s on the fact that Scripps already has a lot of resources. And it’s y to work within the resources already existing, the resources that already here, but kind of build on them. So for example, internships. ing for leadership positions, like board positions, for students to be And having visiting scholars that are of interest to the students, to the ty, to the staff. And having workshops that will give you more practical . I mean, obviously you’re learning practical skills in your studies, too, you know, how to negotiate, for example. Like—I don’t know if this will ne, but for example, how to negotiate a salary. And doing different s of workshops for the students. Those are some of the ideas. But I’m y looking forward to innovative approaches, and that, I think, will come my work with the students, and learning what they want to see.

: What have you been hearing from students [in regards what they want from LASPA]? son: Well at lunch today, I was having an exciting versation with one of the students, and she’s interested w, and she was saying it would be great to have guest akers of women lawyers who come onto campus that much more geared onto one business, not just a broad ge. So maybe one group that comes and talks about l, one that comes to talk about finance. Or, if I could them—they have small budgets, some of the groups— maybe we could go downtown, maybe have someone t. I know sometimes it’s hard to get some of the women yers to come down to Claremont, but maybe we could a bus and have one of the big law firms host an event e for us. So that was one of the interests. And I think t I’m hearing from the students is they don’t want it to be social justice, but they don’t want it just to be ut business too, which, I mean, I think they’re integrated; oesn’t have to be just one or the other. I think whether re in banking, there’s still environmental sustainability. ean there’re still social justice issues that need to be ressed.

: What vision to you see for the LASPA Center? What d of role do you think it plays in the college? What do think its image will be in the future? What do you hope ontribute to what you see as a goal for the center? son: One of the goals is that we want a nationally ognized women’s leadership institute on the West Coast. we want to be very student-driven by having student ferences here. We want to have women leaders who t to come to Scripps. But we also want to be able to g Scripps students to really great leaders. So in the adest sense, the vision is that that gets done, some of ideas that I gave. But I think that if we look five years m now, I hope that we are recognized not only on the e, but on the national level. Scripps is the third women’s mier college, so this institute should be a premier center.

I don’t see any barriers why that cannot be. And I think ng a national model and practicing best practices are y important. That’s why at the Downtown Women’s ter we were a nationally recognized program, because were using a best practices, and spending a lot of time arching and figuring out what was most effective. And I k that’s what the LASPA Center wants to do, too.

ice • Volume XVIII • Issue Nine

TSV: On campus there’s a lack of a concrete understanding and clarity of what the center is. How are you planning on making yourself and the center clear and accessible, you being a new face on campus and the center being a new resource?

Watson: Well first thing is I want to get a student intern that can help me to kind of guide through—because there’s a lot of different activities on campus. I was being told about the BeHeard Forum, so I want to attend the different events. But one of the first things I want to do is plan what I’m calling “Wisdom Holder Meetings,” where we work together to create the vision. And I want to not only have this, but also utilize the students to do the Wisdom Holder Meetings in the general community and with the alumni. So integrate them with that process, too.

See full interview online TSL: Scripps has been looking for a LASPA director for a while. I think there’s been some concern in the community that the mission statement for the center is unclear, and the directorship as well. How do you feel about these concerns? I feel like it’s concerns like these you need to ease when you get into your role more. How do you feel about that?

Watson: Well, you know honestly I think it’s a great opportunity because it’s not so well-defined. I think the vision needs to be created by the stake-holders. I’m a firm believer that things have to grow organically, and grow from the ground up. I know for some people it was a little hard in the interview because they wanted to be like “Well what exactly are you going to do?” But to me, having visionary sessions at the beginning and creating it is exciting. We want to be innovative and creative. I don’t want to just say, “This is what it’s going to be, this is how it’s defined.” There are some ideas, like I said: the action grants, the research, the visiting scholars. Those are ideas. But I think the more concrete concept has to come from the students and the alumni.

TSL: How did you become this personally involved in social justice work? Did you have any personal reasons that you became interested in community service and helping women in general?

Watson: My grandmother, who’s a very important influence in my life—I had a horrible step-grandpa, and I told her one day—I would come spend the summers with her in California. He was always yelling, and I said one day, “Why did you marry him? Do you even love him?” This was, like, 1940, and she said, “I had five kids and your grandpa had died. I had no money, and his wife had left him, and he had no one to take care of him. So it was a matter of convenience.” So at that moment—I was probably 11 years old—at that moment I knew I never wanted to be that woman. I was going to figure out a way to support myself, and help other women so they wouldn’t have to be in that situation. So that really was the changing moment.

Which seems odd now because I was so young, but it really was that influential. And then once I started working, it has always just felt really right, whether it be in rape crisis, domestic violence, breast cancer, homelessness... And I love being surrounded by smart, educated, really great women. And I’m sure you guys feel that here! It’s hard to leave it.

TSV: In becoming leaders, with the work you’ve already done, what do you see that’s difficult for young women in this sort of skill-building and working in these kinds of frames of mind? Are there any patterns or challenges?

Watson: I think a lot of it has to do with confidence, because I see a ton of young people with a lot of skills. And confidence, or just not the security… Often, young men claim their space in a different way than women do. And I think when you look at—for example, there’re more women graduating with undergraduate degrees since 1988, and yet only 10%-20% of women are on the Board of Directors or in senior leadership positions. If you look at women having a voice, if you look at politics or opinion op-ed pieces, they only represent 15%. So there’s a huge need for women to have more voice and to claim that space. And I think a lot of times that has to do with pushing oneself with the confidence. And creating that space for each other! Because sometimes you’re confident, too, but that space gets taken up by other things, because they’re aren’t as many women in leadership. So I think that’s the great opportunity of the LASPA Center: to prepare so that it doesn’t take so long that that number can be, you know, from 10%-20% leadership positions that we can see, at least women graduating from Scripps. Getting in those leadership positions right away! And I think there’s space for it. I do. And I’ve seen—even with the young women I’ve worked with—a lot of times the skill sets will be the same, but this one’s a lot more confident, and she’s just raised the ranks a lot faster than another person, even though I’m thinking, “she [the second one] probably has more skills. What’s going on?” And I think sometimes we have this idea of what leadership should look like, but that’s not always true. For example, an introverted person could be a great leader. And it’s figuring out how to use your skills to become that leader. So even though you may be introverted or not have as loud a voice as the next person, [you can still be a great leader]… So that’s what I’d like to work with at the LASPA Center, too.

TSL: Are there centers like this or places on other women’s college campuses that are doing the same sort of work that you will draw ideas from or collaborate with in terms of what’s going to be done?

Watson: Yeah! I think this will be more of a national—I mean I’ll be involved in more of a national group of feminists in academia. And if they don’t have leadership, they may have other similar programs. But I think the Athena Center at Barnard is a really great women’s leadership center. And the first part of my being here is researching and seeing what’s being offered. I’ve looked at the different colleges—N.Y.U. and Wesleyan’s programming. They all have their interesting focus, like Wesleyan focuses on the political side, Athena has more of the women-in-film side and social entrepreneurship. So each program has its different core. But we’re the only one on the West Coast, so it’ll be exciting.

8 • Features

deconstructing the professional gender bias Gender bias is defined as unequal treatment in a specific area that emerges from our own thoughts and expectations surrounding what appearances and actions we deem appropriate for males and females. Our beliefs about professionalism and ability are often unique to our own expectations that emerge from internalized ideas of what we feel qualifies as such. Especially in such a highly academic space as the 5Cs, it is easy to critique based on what you feel fits your idealized image of a professional institution. When students already have a clear image of how a professor’s attitude, interactions with others and classroom dynamic should be, based on these gendered expectations, male and female professors are often judged and held to different levels of scrutiny by students.

In our society, we are taught that women should be kind, sensitive, nurturing and conscious of their appearance, while men should be authoritative, funny and assertive. As a result, we start to expect these gender-specific traits and to make these characteristics the norm, regardless of the

By Evelyn Gonzalez ‘18 individual’s actual personality and style.

Feminist Columnist These biases often emerge unconsciously, which is why it is often difficult to see how they s an incoming student, one picks up tricks come to fruition in evaluations. While at first glance from fellow upperclassmen in order to help words like “nurturing” and “authoritative” don’t navigate a successful transition into college. You seem like they carry any negative consequences, know which dining halls serve the best meals on what often occurs is an individual’s placement Tuesdays, which dorms have the best rooms, within a rigid definition that deals out rewards where the best study spots are and how to choose and punishments for adhering or not adhering to your classes based on the professors. their own gendered traits.

If a professor starts to Many online websites have been built to behave in ways contrary to what students expect cater to this idea and have become places where from them based on gender expectations, those students can judge and weigh faculty based on professors tend to receive negative reactions aspects such as helpfulness, easiness and clarity.

These websites, along with word of mouth, have and evaluations. The issue is that when students become an influential space for students to start to evaluate based on gender roles, they are decide who or what they deem professional and much more likely to judge based on what they what traits they deem effective. While we should feel is absent in a professor than based on that keep in mind that there are several conditions that professor’s actual capabilities.

Several studies have examined how gender bias come into play when deciding how to rate the works on the evaluative methods of students on class and the professor — such as what grade the professors.

A quick glance reveals that even the student earned or how much work was assigned language for the professors changed in correlation — we should also keep in mind the role of oftenwith their specific gender. Benjamin M. Schmidt, unconscious biases students hold about what an assistant professor of history at Northeastern male and female professors should be and how University, created a tool that provides data and these thoughts affect our ability to judge them analyzes the differences in word choice used on fairly.

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the academic rating website, Rate My Professor, based on the 14 million reviews it currently has for both male and female professors. In doing so, it illustrates how word choice often directly translates into students’ differing expectations for male and female professors.

According to InsideHigherEd.com, “Many of the most positive words (at least in terms of academic reputation) are much more likely to come up in reviews of men than of women. The words ‘smart’ and ‘intellect’ are more likely to be used in ratings of men than women, and ‘genius’ is more likely to be used to describe male than female professors in all 25 disciplines for which data are available.

Words such as ‘bossy’ are more likely to turn up in reviews of women. The same is true for ‘nurturing.’

Women are also more likely to be called ‘strict’ and ‘demanding.’”

In our society, traits that lean more toward “masculine behaviors” are highly favored, meaning that male professors are more likely to get better evaluations while females who fall below their gender expectations often receive unfavorable reports. These ratings and word choices of course could be contingent on a variety of different issues, but examining them could make us more conscious about the ways that we assess individual professors, regardless of gender.

We must understand the implications and issues that arise as a result of outdated and gendered notions of both professionalism and ability that often do not accurately represent that professor’s ability. Using these methods of evaluation, of who more accurately acts within their gender binary, greatly limits our ability to evaluate professors accurately. Teaching evaluations should be taken seriously, as they are often used to decide promotions, raises or tenure for a school’s faculty members, and have a significant impact on a professor’s career.

While it’s often difficult to remove ourselves from our own biases, the first step is to acknowledge that they are there in order to consciously resist their influence on our expectations. Students need to understand their own biases and learn to evaluate professors based on what they see and not simply on what they expect to see.

the first year experience

navigating the adventures of year one

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SPRING BRE — oh, it’s over.

By Melanie Biles ‘18 Design Editor

My high school headmaster used to make a speech every Spring in which he repeated over and over, “Change is the only constant.” During this speech, he would announce all of the changes that were about to take place in the school, from a new mascot animal and buildings being torn down to teachers who were leaving. The structure and timing of the talk never changed, and the seniors were always able to predict exactly what would be said and exactly how it would be delivered. It always struck me as a little bit ironic. Change wasn’t the only constant. That annoying speech was.

Honestly, though, there are a lot of constants in life. One of them is conflict. I have always referred

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Midterms again?! In Core?!

to March and November as the conflict months. They are just far enough into the semester that the shiny new-ness of everything has worn off, and people are no longer excited to be back with their friends after break. All of the cracks start to show through, and the things you once found entertaining and fun suddenly make you want to bang your head into a wall. This, of course, is how I explain Zayn Malik leaving One Direction. (It’s in my contract to mention that.)

Conflict in college is inevitable.

Especially given the living quarters, it is impossible to avoid disagreements every once in a while. As a first year living with someone who was chosen for you, there will of course be moments or parts of your relationship with your roommate(s) that are difficult and/or annoying. This is not a problem if you are mature and

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So not ready for registration...

confident enough to confront your problems head on and have calm conversations about the things that bother you as they occur, but I have not met many people who are like this. What else possesses these traits? Unicorns? Maybe.

Taylor Swift? Certainly. (It’s not in my contract to mention her. I just love her too much not to.)

So what do you do when you have issues with somebody and you are afraid to confront them?

For starters, try writing out what you have to say before you say it — it’s easier if you go in with a battle plan already in mind. Think of specific things you want out of the conversation. Maybe you are generally annoyed by how loud somebody is late at night (and also a bit confused as to how anybody thinks something like that is okay).

Start with something simple, like “Could you try to avoid slamming

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What even is spring cleaning?

bad blood the door late at night?” Easy changes and specific suggestions make for a smoother resolution.

Conflict is hard. It’s never fun to be upset with anyone or to have anyone be upset with you, but it is an unfortunately constant part of life. However, there are a lot of options for how to handle it. Yes, you can just avoid the person and passive-aggressively listen to Taylor Swift’s “Better Than Revenge” on repeat, thinking about how much it was written for this situation, but the far healthier option is just to confront him or her. As difficult as it may be, it is ultimately worth it in order to live a happier and more balanced life.

Plus, it might even change your situation. And as we all know, change is the (only) constant.

9 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Nine

Features • 9

Recent water restrictions: A band-aid Cure

By Isobel Whitcomb ‘17 Environmental Columnist

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his morning on my way to class, I passed by a steady stream of water trickling down the sidewalk — a common sight at Scripps.

Sprinklers ticked away for the second time that morning. Surrounded by lush greenery and broken sprinklers, it is easy to push the disturbing facts of the California drought to the backs of our minds.

However, most of us Southern Californians are aware that our state is in the midst of the worst drought it has ever faced. This drought has been underway for four consecutive years, but in the past several weeks, California has finally been propelled into panic. Our snowpack for this year officially tallies at six percent of average. Three weeks ago, NASA announced that California officially has only one year of water left. Just last week, the annual measuring of the Sierra Nevada Snowpack in Phillips, California, which normally records five to six feet of snow, took place in a completely parched and snowless field, prompting Governor Jerry Brown to announce plans to impose the first water restrictions in state history. How will these restrictions impact the rate at which the state is running out of water?

Unfortunately, not much.

The problem with Jerry Brown’s restrictions on

water consumption is that they work entirely within the existing system. Like a bandage plastered on a festering wound, they provide the illusion that we are dealing with the crisis, when in reality, little is being done to confront the underlying causes of our water shortage.

The biggest elephant in the room is global warming. While much of California maintains that the current drought could be due to cyclical changes in weather patterns, the majority of scientists agree that it is caused by greenhouse gas emissions. According to NASA, if these emissions continue at the rate at which they are now, the current California drought will extend into a series of decades-long megadroughts. That means that in the next century, we could face up to 40 consecutive years identical to or worse than the last four. Preventing the current crisis from worsening will require huge cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. If California wishes to address the real cause of the drought, it must begin to take a stronger stance on confronting climate change.

Even if we ignore the deepest underlying causes

Photo courtesy of New York Times

of the drought, Governor Jerry Brown’s action is inadequate in addressing the vast majority of California’s water-usage. Brown’s restrictions mandate a 25 percent decrease in water usage by the state’s 400 water agencies. While these restrictions will impact most businesses and households, they will have no effect whatsoever on the guzzler of 80 percent of the state’s water: our agriculture industry.

The massive monoculture farms that dominate California’s economy are exempt from water restrictions. To address water over-consumption, agribusiness needs to be held accountable for its unsustainable practices, which rapidly deplete water supplies. While it would be unfeasible and devastating to completely slash California’s number one industry, the system needs to be restructured. For example, the majority of the

crops cultivated by these farms are not fit to grow in California’s naturally arid climate, even in non-drought years. These crops include almonds (California is the world’s number-one almond producer), grapes and rice (in the U.S., California produces the second-to-largest quantity of rice). All of these crops consume notoriously large amounts of water. [A rice paddy must be periodically flooded. A single grape will consume 0.3 gallons of water by the time it is harvested, and 800 grapes go into one bottle of wine.] The vast majority of these crops are then exported to far reaches of the world, releasing more greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and worsening the problem at hand. For example, California exports huge quantities of alfalfa (another water guzzler) to feed-lots as far away as China. Before civilians and small businesses are required to make huge

sacrifices, California needs to switch to a locally based system of agriculture that can provide food to citizens without using such vast quantities of our dwindling water supply.

It often takes something catastrophic to force people to consider change. I would venture to say that because of the drought, Californians have reached this point (emphasize “consider”).

Now, we have two options. We can settle for the changes that Gov. Brown has imposed and pretend that we have done our best as a state. Our other option is to treat the drought as a lesson. As terrible as this natural disaster is, it is our wake-up call to fight for a system change that can address the root causes of overconsumption. Of the two options, I hope that Jerry Brown, and the rest of California, picks the latter.

9 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Nine

10 • Opinions

unsafe spaces: navigating campus spaces comfortably

By Jocelyn Gardner ‘17 Mental Health Columnist, Webmaster

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ou walk into a new room and look around. What do you feel?

Do you even consider the atmosphere or characteristics of a new place?

Probably not, unless it is remarkably interesting or atrocious.

What if you know there is something potentially dangerous in the room, but you must enter anyway?

Look for the nearest exit; find all the doors.

Where is your escape route? What about the nearest bathroom or private space? How many people are there?

How long must you stay? What if something happens--a panic attack, for example? If you don’t have to ask yourself similar questions, do not take that for granted.

While you comfortably might be able to attend class, someone else in the room may feel that the walls are closing in at the same moment.

Space is political. Space is not harmless.

Space is how I’m referring to the physical environment surrounding groups and individuals. It is more than architecture or a hideous paint color, however. Have you ever walked into a room and immediately felt uncomfortable? It isn’t always the space itself, but it might be an association you have. Perhaps a room reminds you of your first grade classroom or smells like a dentist’s office. Your relationship with the space around you is personal, unique and anything but indifferent, whether you consciously recognize it or not.

Come on. In a place as gorgeous as Scripps’ campus, you can’t say that environment has no effect on you.

Where there are any effects, there is the potential for something to be harmful. This means that while there may be such positive spaces as a room with good Feng Shui or a campus as tranquil and beautiful as Scripps, the room may also turn into

an inescapable trap (for instance, if a person suffering from PTSD is in the room and the exit becomes blocked) and Scripps may become a nightmare (in the case of a triggering conversation in the space, the limited meals available in the dining halls for someone with or recovering from an eating disorder, lecture halls for someone with agoraphobia, long classes without breaks for someone with ADHD, the many potential triggers of party culture, mandatory class participation for someone with extreme social anxiety, etc.) A space includes surroundings—what’s in the room or area is as important as the place itself. And don’t forget that you and other people add to this dynamic.

What is in the place includes what you bring to it.

This assertion that spaces can be beneficial or harmful is very important, because you cannot escape the obligations that lead you into other spaces without sacrificing your freedom and confidence to move across the overlap of different spaces which make up the human habitat. In other words, there’s no avoiding being in potentially harmful spaces without

to make connections with people who might be experiencing similar setbacks.

Focus on the safe feeling you have with this person rather than associations that are making spaces problematic. Remember that sometimes associations are what you are reacting to— a place can remind you of something bad without being similar. Just because a plane crashed doesn’t mean the one you are on will; the connection is in your head, and the chance something bad will happen again is no different because something has happened before. A new place is an opportunity to start fresh and break mental connections.

Space is a very relevant topic considering housing is lurking ominously around the corner. The process of finding housing for the upcoming year is oft compared to the Hunger Games, even amongst those who do not have concerns about spaces. For most, even the thought of housing— the stress, the drama, the uncertainty, the lack of information, the dysfunctional portal, etc.— is enough to increase

for it. For example, most people with claustrophobia probably do not have a history of going to therapy to treat it, though living in a constricting space is beyond unbearable for some. If you are concerned about the interaction between housing and your own mental health, I encourage you to talk to Residential Life or the Dean of Students Office to discuss your options.

Here are some tips I’ve personally used to make my space feel comfortable: If you have roommates, communicate with them. You don’t have to be best friends to live well with someone, but lack of communication can make your room feel like it doesn’t belong to you. The Res Life staff can help you with this if you have trouble. Some other ideas are bringing items from home, decorating your space and transforming the room’s dimensions by hanging décor on the wall or opening the windows.

Lighting makes a huge difference as well— I know this from the contrast between my sinister, dank, humid, cave-like forced triple from last year and my tiny, blindinglybright, inexplicablyf r e e z i n g , whitewashed cell of a room this year.

If there’s one thing you get from this article or this column in general, I hope it is this idea: you deserve to feel safe and comfortable navigating spaces on campus. This, unfor tunately, doesn’t always happen.

Your relationship with space is no reflection on you— being uncomfortable doesn’t make you weak or sensitive. When in doubt about your mental health, don’t feel bad about taking breaks or making yourself feel comfortable.

Remember that a space includes what you take into it; while you might not always be able to control factors like size and location, you have an amazing capacity to adapt and respond in a variety of ways.

Sacred spaces can be created in any environment.

-Christy Turlington suffering from the severe limits that doing so would place upon you.

Some would say that people who feel restricted by certain spaces should just stay away from them. “If you are so challenged, why even bother going to college?” They might ask. That’s ridiculous! You certainly wouldn’t tell women to avoid getting any jobs to prevent sexism in industry. It is up to individuals to know themselves, but as the general public, the least we can do is be understanding and try not to be harmful.

So, how can someone with concerns about spaces navigate them safely? Again, knowing yourself is the first step. Another piece of advice usually thrown around is to tell someone. This might not seem like it would make a difference, but having a friend or trusted person to support you or at least understand can make a world of difference. This person can help you get out if you need to, for example. Talking you down if you get really stressed in a situation is something else a friend can help you with. Reaching out allows you

resting heart rate. Housing is also problematic for those who experience physical setbacks. This brings me to accommodations.

It is really interesting how, despite the mythical nature of unicorns, everyone knows what they are; meanwhile, housing accommodations certainly exist, though the information about them is as lost as the Library of Alexandria or the Fountain of Youth. The information is out there, though you have to first navigate the virtual maze called scrippscollege.edu until you stumble across it. (Maybe if you manage to excavate it, you’ll get an honorary archeology degree?)

On a serious note, not being able to find information about this is problematic. Your room should be a place where you feel at home.

It also concerns me that you can’t really get accommodations for certain circumstances that impact housing greatly. If you can’t get a doctor’s note for it, you can’t get accommodations

9 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Nine

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 https:// scrippsvoicementalhealth. wordpress.com.

Features • 11

Hao and Rachel Vetter Huang’s Encounters with truths in india

By Professors Hao and Rachel Vetter Huang Guest Contributers

This past January 2015, Professors Hao and Rachel Vetter Huang, Scripps professors of Music, were invited to visit the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar in Ahmedabad, Gujarat as visiting artist faculty. Read on to learn about their trip.

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s our tiny car careened around yet another group of cows on the way from Ahmedabad airport to our lodgings at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, we were exhilarated by our first glance of India. Peering through the dusty haze of an early January morning, it was hard to believe that we were approaching the sixth-largest city in India. Few buildings were taller than three stories, and the sprawl of little shops reminded us at first of many anonymous cities in Asia.

But this richly diverse city continually defied our preconceptions. All our reading of Vikram Seth, Salman Rushdie, V.S. Naipaul, Arundhati Roy and others could not prepare us for the unceasing frenzy of a city that spreads horizontally, more than vertically; for the fantastically varied architecture of its Hindhu and Jain temples, Abyssinian mosques, “Persian” Haveli, British colonial edifices, and Gandhi’s austere Sabarmati ashram; or the glowing Chinese sky lanterns launched at dusk on Uttarayan (Kite Festival) Day. And we were awed to be part of academic and cultural exchange in the city where Mohandas Gandhi (also known as Mahatma, or “Great Soul”) chose to live and initiate work towards independence for India.

By invitation of Professor Mona Mehta of the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), who taught in Scripps’s Department of Politics from 2010 to 2012, we became the first musicians to give a Western Classical music concert there. We also lectured on American musics: Jazz and Blues, and art music by American women and minority composers. Prof. Mehta’s invitation was supported by IITGN’s visionary director, Professor Sudhir Jain. IITGN, founded seven years ago, embodies an extraordinary and ambitious project on interdisciplinarity.

Prof. Jain’s progressive model, which integrates the liberal arts into an engineering curriculum, is innovative not only for India, but for higher education worldwide. Highlights include: 1) A five-week Foundation program on creativity, communication, teamwork, ethics, social engagement and physical fitness, which received the 2013 World Education Summit Award; 2) Project-based learning in the classroom and through student internships; 3) An expansive range of humanities and social sciences courses, and compulsory courses in design and the life sciences; 4) Support of internationalization and diversity through student Study Abroad, recruitment of outstanding international faculty, and a vibrant program of visiting faculty, involving some of the

world’s most preeminent scholars.

In IITGN’s guest faculty canteen, we chatted with many of these visiting scholars over meals.

Our attendance at some of their lectures, and theirs at ours, expressed an internationalism based on mutuality. Two especially memorable people whom we thus came to know were Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma and widely- respected author of many books on Indian history, including Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, His People and an Empire; and his remarkable wife, Usha. Mr. Gandhi is Research Professor at the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Our informal encounters with diversity at IITGN aptly manifest Drs. Jain’s and Mehta’s ideal of creating an interdisciplinary, international educational forum.

The most extraordinary aspect of our visit to IITGN was how communication and learning flowed many ways. For example, we not only performed and lectured on American music for Prof. Srinivas Reddy, who specializes in Sanskrit literary traditions and is also a distinguished Indian classical music sitar player, but also Rachel collaborated with him in an improvisation session for the Gandhis. Hao struck up a friendship with Prof. Guo Fei, visiting instructor in Chinese at the IITGN Confucian Institute, and Rachel taught private violin lessons to Tony Thomas, Phd student in Cognitive Science and Laurent Fradet, visiting instructor in conversational French.

Among the presentations we attended were Rajmohan Gandhi’s lectures on Darbar Golpaldas Desai, the Gujarat prince who gave up everything to become a freedom-fighter alongside Mahatma Gandhi, and on Arundhati Roy’s comments about Mahatma Gandhi’s political actions concerning the Dalits, the “Untouchables.”

America is not unique in valuing liberal arts, nor in promoting interdisciplinarity. When Professor Jain took over direction of IITGN, he decided that it should forge new paths: “Given that it is a new IIT, we wanted to revisit some ideas to make it truly innovative.” Innovations are centered around

a curriculum that has a special emphasis on Liberal Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, all with an aim to promote non-linear thinking and an appreciation for other disciplines of knowledge. Prof. Jain has noted, “We became the first institution to offer a compulsory course in design and innovation… Students can also take up electives in languages like Urdu, Sanskrit, French and even Chinese; Anthropology, Archaeology and Indian History through Cinema, to name a few.” To provide further context, we would like to share other aspects of IITGN: -IITGN does not have departments but rather, Disciplines. There are no department heads or Chairs but Discipline coordinators who act as links between the discipline/group and the academic administration. Teaching assignments and courses are handled by the discipline but the disciplines must align with the larger requirements of the Institute. For instance, in addition to elective courses, core courses in Humanities and Social Sciences such as Intro to Philosophy or History survey courses are offered as they are required for the undergraduate curriculum. However, research foci are left to individual faculty who are encouraged and empowered to do cutting-edge scholarship across disciplines.

-IITGN will move to its new campus on the Sabarmati sometime in June-July ‘15. The new IITGN campus provides several opportunities and spaces for various kind of interactions. The academic buildings will not be divided by area of study. Therefore, the spaces outside buildings are being carefully planned to allow gathering spaces to allow for interdisciplinary encounters outside classrooms that may lead to cross-disciplinary collaborations.

- International exposure does not happen in the way it is structured in US universities via Study Abroad programs. Instead, a different sort of exposure happens through specific internships at Universities and research centers abroad.

These were some of the truths that we encountered in India on our exchange visit. It was our privilege to experience them.

9 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Nine

12 • Arts & Entertainment CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

Chen: An understanding of the plurality inherent in the course of morality.

[You can access the collection digitally at web-kiosk. scrippscollege.edu or attend any of Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery’s multiple exhibits. For the calendar of exhibitions, go to rcwg.scrippscollege.edu/ category/exhibitions] TSV: What was your favorite part of the “Angels and Demons” exhibit?

Raymond: My favorite piece is the Warhol piece showing Ingrid Bergman in her role as Sister Mary Benedict in the 1945 film, “The Bells of St. Mary.” This piece is part of Warhol’s larger portfolio on Ingrid Bergman. She is the epitome of holiness and purity, but there is a certain tension in the lines and the background that allude to this chaos behind the façade. That’s what our exhibition is all about: blurring the lines between what we know as good and what we know as evil.

Chen: The notion of it. The Williamson Gallery inviting us to put up an exhibition is by itself the greatest thing. It shows the College’s attempt to lead an excellent art education, and to broaden its students’ experience.

TSV: What’s it like to be an intern? What qualities are needed to be one?

Emma Irvin ‘18

with Jasmine Russell ‘17, Staff Writer See the exhibit in the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery. Photo by Suzette Guzman ‘18

Raymond: Being a conservation intern, I can only really speak to that. But being a conservation intern is great! More often than not, you are given a specific project that lasts most of the internship. The particular project I am working on I have been working on since my sophomore year. It requires patience, attention to detail, and a love of art.

Chen: One gets in touch with many valuable opportunities that would not only enhance one’s

relay for life

Photos by Micky Ferguson ‘17 and Selene Hsu ‘15 Relay for Life is a 24-hour fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, which helps fund cancer research and treatments. On March 2829, Claremont Colleges Against Cancer organized the event with human sized hamster balls, food, a bounce castle, a Cappella, improv performances and more.

experience with fine art objects, but also promote one’s future art career.

For more information, visit the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery’s website at rcwg. scrippscollege.edu or see the gallery in person. The Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery is located next to Lang and Steele, and is open Wednesday through Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. during exhibitions.

Where are you from?

Portland, Oregon.

What is your major?

Undecided, considering Political Science.

What are you involved in on campus?

Mostly just IT [Information Technology] for right now. I love the people I work with and I’ve made so many new friends, including my new BFF, Devon Essick ‘17.

Where is your favorite place on campus?

Turtle Court [in Browning].

Why? My room and a few others in my hall open onto Turtle Court [in Browning], and we have spent the year making it super cute.

It’s really small and cozy with batterypowered fake candles and little succulents on an outdoor table. I love this courtyard because it lets me do homework outside without having to walk more than 30 feet.

Do you have plans for the summer yet?

I am planning to work as a camp counselor for 11 to 14 year old girls at a YMCA camp in Oregon.

How did you land that/come upon that decision?

I have been involved with this camp for going on six years, and it has been one of the most influential experiences of my life. Working with kids in an outdoor environment has brought me a level of self-confidence and creativity that I don’t think I could have found elsewhere.

Who is the most influential person in your life?

The most influential person in my life is Jennifer Kapnek, a Portland artist and friend of my family. Jennifer spent her childhood and young adulthood in New York City and worked as an art therapist in juvenile detention centers out East.

She has a ton of wisdom about life and people; she has taught me so much. You should definitely look her up.

What’s your most memorable experience here so far?

Last semester, I went to a piercing studio in Upland with a few of my friends. We didn’t want to pay for a car back so we walked for close to two hours to get back to school. On the way back, we found a shopping cart, and my friend Cynthia had us push her back to Scripps in it. She rode in this shopping card all the way down Foothill. It was hilarious.

What advice do you have for current and/ or future Scripps students?

Don’t be afraid to make changes that scare you. Complacency can be just as detrimental as taking a risk .

9 April, 2015 • The Scripps Voice • Volume XVIII • Issue Nine