state press magazine VOLUME 18 | ISSUE 1
SEPTEMBER 13, 2017
WOM E N– OVATION BREAKING GLASS BEAKERS PG. 16
All the things.
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from the editor
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When I first joined SPM my sophomore year, I never imagined I’d one day end up being its editor-in-chief! I was a shy, inexperienced reporter who just wanted to write a weekly column writing about my experiences as an introvert in college. But, over the past two years, I fell in love with this magazine and the thrill of reporting on things that matter to me. I’m so excited to share this first issue of the school year and the first issue that I’ve been at the helm of with you. I wrote the cover story for this issue in hopes of bringing awareness to a substantial gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers. As anyone who knows me can tell you, women’s issues are extremely important to me and I want to bring more of that coverage to the table this year. Apart from the cover story, we have some great back-to-school content in this issue. We have a new bunch of reporters this year who exceeded every expectation I had. I hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as I enjoyed working on it.
EXECUTIVE E DITOR SYDN EY MAKI E DITOR-I N-CH I E F SAVANAH YAG HSE Z IAN MANAG I NG E DITOR OWE N BALDN E R DIG ITAL PRODUCE R N ICOLE G I M PL PHOTO E DITORS CE LISSE JON ES DE LIA JOH NSON LEAD DE S IG N E R ALEX CZAJA LEAD R E PORTE R
With Love, Savanah Yaghsezian
MADISON STATE N R E PORTE RS COR EY HAWK KAITLI N KOLLASCH E M I LY TAYLOR LAU R E N HART ASH LE E THOMASON THALIA ESPAÑA RANJANI VENKATAKRISHNAN ALYSSA R U I Z KATE LYN FI N EGAN DOM I N IQU E Z I EG LE R PHOTOG RAPH E RS E LE NA PE LKEY-LAN DES CE LISSE JON ES CH R IS PLOOG PAG E DE S IG N E R DEVON AU LE R ICH COVE R MODE L B R I DAVIS
FROM LE FT TO R IG HT: OWE N BALDN E R, N ICOLE G I M PL, SAVANAH YAG HSE Z IAN, SYDN EY MAKI, ALEX CZAJA PHOTO BY ALEX CZAJA
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SPM ED I TOR S ’
P ICKS OF TH E SUMMER OWE N BALDNE R : MANAGING EDIT OR BLO C KBU ST ER BO NA NZA
SAVA N A H YA G H S E Z I A N : ED I T O R- I N - C H I E F B E S T S U MM E R M US IC For the first part of the summer, I was coming to terms with the end of a two-year long relationship. It was hard, but it would have been harder without my two new best friends: Dua Lipa and Lorde. Breakup albums are often tricky to get right. It’s difficult to capture every single emotion on the ferris wheel of a relationship that’s just never going to be right. However, Lorde’s smoking gun of a sophomore album, “Melodrama,” and Dua Lipa’s empowering self-titled debut album both managed to line up every type of bad boyfriend imaginable and hold them accountable for their crimes. Breakup playlist tip: Start with Lorde’s “Hard Feelings/Loveless,” mix in some classic Taylor Swift songs and finish out with Dua Lipa’s “New Rules.”
Of all the amazing things summer brings, none can compare to the excitement of knowing that once the bell strikes May, the blockbusters will come rolling in. Between superheroes, high-speed theft and apes on a mission, this year’s line-up had a little bit of everything. Of all the film’s I loved, here are my top three picks for the summer: 1. “Wonder Woman”–Brave, beautiful, brilliant and unfailingly kind, Princess Diana came into the summer guns blazing. Between the incredible cast, its recording breaking success, having the female superhero standing tall after 75 years waiting for her big screen debut, this film had everything a blockbuster could need. It was definitely worth watching again and again. 2. “Baby Driver”–Easily my favorite movie of the summer, “Baby Driver” raced onto the screen with equal parts pulse pounding action and heart. The musical
genius that is this film is also not to be ignored. Want a movie to blow you away? You’ve come to the right place. 3. “War for the Planet of the Apes”– My surprise hit of the summer, “War” closes a brilliant trilogy in a way that is fresh and new. It is rare to see a franchise get better as it progresses, but this film does just that. It was sweet, endearing and makes all its characters relatable, however, if you asked me who I was rooting for, I’m team Caesar all the way.
NICOLE GIMPL: DIGITAL PR ODUCER BEST SU MMER SHO W S
1. Handmaid’s Tale - If you never watched this show, I’ll try not to spoil it for you. Basically, infertility is a world-wide epidemic and women in what was once the United States are forced to be handmaidens to the men in power. For me, the
show had very eerie parallels to what is happening in our society today and that made the show both a lot more interesting and a whole lot scarier. But amazing. 2. Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later I absolutely loved Wet Hot American Summer and I was so excited when the first re-boot came out on Netflix. And then 10 Years Later was finally released! My favorite thing about this re-boot was that Adam Scott replaced Bradley Cooper as Ben - a fact that is HILARIOUS if you’ve seen Parks and Recreation because that is also Adam Scott’s character’s name. Oh and Amy Poehler is amazing in 10 Years Later - just like she is in Parks and Recreation.
CONTE NTS volume 18 | issue 1 10
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FI RST-YEAR SUCESS CE NTE R
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DOR M SWE ET DOR M
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STU DYI NG I N STYLE
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ASU ARCH EOLOG ISTS DIG DE E P
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WOM E N-OVATION
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culture 22
SU M M E R I N YOSE M ITE
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E M B RACI NG MY B I N DI
26 last look
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CALE N DE R OF EVE NTS
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b u i l d i ng c o nn e c ti o ns
a t t he f i r s t - y e a r s u c c e s s c e n te r b y M a d i s o n S t a te n
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n the mist of dorm decorating, class schedules and welcome activities, it’s easy for a freshmen’s to-do list to quickly spiral out of control. Arizona State University recognizes the struggles first year students face when transitioning to college life and, in turn, founded the FirstYear Success Center in 2012 to help new Sun Devils make personal connections on campus. The center connects upperclassmen coaches with new students to find where they best fit into the university. Jenna Dubinoff, a current coach at the First-Year Success Center and senior education studies major at ASU, understands that the transition between high school and college can be difficult. “I truly enjoy getting to know all my students, but one of my students was struggling with her major choice and was concerned about her future,” Dubinoff says. “I could relate because I went through something similar and was able to share my experiences and the steps I took. This interaction built trust and helped assure her future decisions.” Building connections among the student population is one of the core principles of the First-Year Success Center, as each coach strives to relate to students on a personal level. Last semester, the center took more than 8,000 ASU students under its wing with coaches communicate through in-person appointments, Google Hangouts, email and phone calls. Darby Vance, a recent ASU graduate and coach at the First-Year Success Center last year, dedicated his time to helping students with a variety of needs. “I love getting to know my students through one-onone appointments and helping them succeed through their semester,” Vance says. “I see so many students, some like to
come in and chat to check in on things, where others come in who are going through a lot of things and really are looking for guidance and a listening ear. It feels good to know I can help relieve any stress the student may be feeling.” Coaches at the First-Year Success Center go through a rigorous application process. Applicants need at least a 3.0 GPA and a passion for helping others. The unique student coaching interactions have made the First-Year Success Center a rewarding experience for Vance. “The most rewarding part of being a coach is knowing I have made an impact on my students and that I have helped them,” Vance says. Elizabeth Rosenkrantz, First-Year Success Center assistant director, believes that ASU’s coaching program helps boost student confidence and decreases stress. “Some of the top takeaways students get from meeting with their coach are personalized information on beneficial resources at ASU, how to achieve goals, skills to decrease stress, and a boost in confidence,” Rosenkrantz says. While ASU might be the largest secondary education institution in the country, the staggering attendance numbers don’t translate to a disconnect between the students and the university. The meaningful experiences both coaches and underclassmen students gain through the First-Year Success Center increases student camaraderie among peers, and helps ensure students prosper within the university. “Some of the biggest benefits are knowing you are not alone and you have someone here that will cheer you along, support you, and help you achieve your goals.,” Rosenkrantz says. “The First-Year Success Center offers holistic support on various topics from a fellow peer who has gone through what you are experiencing now.”
find the first-year success center on your campus: – tempe: interdisciplinary B, room – downtown phoenix: UCENT 102 – polytechnic: admin 180B – west: fletcher library
hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., monday through friday
STU DE NT LI FE
THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU TOSS b y L a u re n Hart p h o to b y E l e n a Pe l k e y-Lan d e s
The same situation occurs every “Everybody has a role to play.” year., a college freshman buys a hefty According to the ASU website, amount of cleaning supplies for his 51,869 students were enrolled in the or her dorm room and come May, Tempe campus alone in 2016. ASU’s those supplies are left completely large size gives it, a unique opportuuntouched. Arizona State University nity to rethink how universities deal is working to make sure these items with their waste. are not simply thrown away and Buzzwords like “circular econowasted. my” are being used Ditch the more frequently to Dumpster is an inspire more innoevent held at vative ways to reuse, We’re residence halls repair and recycle trying to throughout all four items on the ASU extend of the campuses campuses. during fall move-in Ditch the the life of and spring moveDumpster began materials out. The idea is for in 2008 in just one at ASU. students to donate residence hall on Everybody their gently used the Tempe campus. items to organizaThe program is now has a role to tions surrounding at all of the campusplay. the ASU campuses es and residence to help the commuhalls. Over the nity. years, the program - Alana “We’re trying has seen an increase Levine to extend the life of in participation materials at ASU,” from students. says Alana Levine, director of faciliCreating a circular economy reties, development and management. quires participation from everyone
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at ASU. That’s why Kelsey Gaude, the program manager who oversaw Ditch the Dumpster in spring of 2017, says the event would like to better inform the students about where the items go after they are donated. The individuals who worked on Ditch the Dumpster received many thank-you messages from people who were thrilled to receive the donations. “The organizations that received donations relayed how excited people were to be getting items that are living necessities, for free,” Gaude says. This year, The Centers for Habilitation (THC) received items from Ditch the Dumpster. TCH serves over 700 individuals annually with developmental and physical disabilities annually with group homes, day programs, home based services and employment programs. “TCH started as a group of parents who didn’t want to institutionalize their children back in the
‘60s,” Dawn Hocking, the Director of Development, says “They took care of each other’s kids. We started there, and we’ve grown to what we are today.” Hocking explained how the organization benefits from receiving supplies from Ditch the Dumpster. “We’re funded primarily by the state of Arizona, but they only fund programs at 70 percent, so we operate with having to make up that 30 percent,” Hocking said. This lack of funding is why donations from Ditch the Dumpster and other organizations are essential. Hocking explained how items like laundry detergent and cleaning supplies are so helpful even if they are half-used because those items would have come out of their budget. The staff, supervisors, and individuals at TCH were thrilled about
receiving the donations. Lisa, a member of in TCH’s day program, was so excited about the lotion and shampoo she received from the donations. “If a client wants something very specific, they have to purchase it themselves,” Hocking said. “A lot of the individuals we serve don’t have very much money because of how funding is set up.” It’s easy to forget how a simple living essential like shampoo could mean so much to someone who may not be able to afford it on their own. Stories like these are what make the difference between throwing an item in the trash, never to be used again, or taking the extra step and donating it. In 2016, Tempe Dollars for Scholars, a local organization that helps provide scholarships to under-
served populations, partnered with Ditch the Dumpster. They provided scholarships based on how many donations were collected. “It’s a good story of students donating these goods to organizations and those organizations in turn are donating scholarships to future students,” Gaude says. Ditch the Dumpster is a giant leap in the right direction when it comes to creating more of a circular economy, but it’s only the first step. Levine explained that there is still much to do when it comes to prolonging the life of materials in the community. “One of the big things we have to work on is the reuse or the service based part of our economy and how ASU can push that boundary,” Levine says.
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dorm
SWEET
dorm
b y E m i l y Ta y l o r p h o to s co u r te s y o f R o o m i fy
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here is a three-shelved dresser in one corner, a twin bed in another, and a shared bathroom opposite of the wall. Knowing students shared this space before, and that others will for years after you, can make it difficult to feel like your own. It is important to realize, however, that the space lying between these four quaint walls is all yours for the next 30 weeks of your life. It is where sleep, study, procrastination, celebration and everything in between happens. It is the place you will learn to call home. The dorm plays an invaluable role in the college experience of many Arizona State University students. With nearly 37 percent of undergraduate students being non-residents and 11 percent being international, as provided by ASU’s Facts at a Glance 2016, the dorms are a home away from home. “Without the dorms, I wouldn’t have made as
many friends as I have now,” says Alayna O’Keefe, a sophomore journalism and mass communication student from Swampscott, Massachusetts. “It made me feel welcome and comfortable going into school and helped me get adjusted to this new lifestyle.” Although O’Keefe enjoys the dorms of Downtown ASU’s Taylor Place, she expressed the underwhelming feeling the room initially provides. At first sight, dorm life may not seem glamorous. Walking into such a small space, the truth quickly sets in: How will everything fit? Between the clothes, textbooks, strict limitations and not to mention, possible damage fees lingering above your head, turning this “box” into a home appears impossible. Fear not, students and experts found tricks to cheat the system and turn a mundane room into an
step 1 - storage is key With dorm room space comes limitations. Storage bins, shoe racks and stackable drawers are the epitome of the college dorm. Although they are not the most aesthetically pleasing décor on the market, nothing works better when transporting your life from one place to the next. Keeping your belongings hidden in drawers and out of sight helps decrease unnecessary clutter. Staying organized also opens up your room, allowing you to take advantage of all available space. “I raised my bed so I could put laundry and storage bins underneath it where I couldn’t see them. The room feels bigger, I have more space to work with, and people have room to sit and hang out,” says Aly Perkins, a sophomore public service and public policy major from Orange County, California.
step 2 - it’s the little things in life Now that you have the essentials, you can move on to the most exciting step – decorating. When you first arrive, the walls are barren, the floor is cold and the ambience is far from home-y. This is your opportunity to make the place yours by putting splashes of your personality here and there. It is possible to channel your inner interior designer on a college budget no matter what vibe you want to achieve. For those seeking an urban look, clothes racks, hanging shelves and wall grids may be of interest. Not only are these pieces trendy, but they are useful day-to-day.
If you are more of a minimalist, sticking with a light and cohesive color scheme goes a long way, allowing even the simplest décor to bring a room to life. Decoration ideas include a hat wall, yarn art and plants. Items like these give a room a three-dimensional element and add texture in a subtle way. For the bohemian boy or girl, having a balance of color and simplicity is essential. Tribal or paisley printed bedspreads and tapestries are a necessity. Twinkly lights are another option that both light up a room and mirror the image of stars, turning your room into a night sky. Many are also turning to over-bed canopies as they painlessly hang from the ceiling and are often the focal point of a room. Regardless of the category your dream room falls in, there are a number of ways to personalize it. Keeping a Pinterest board for your dorm allows you to stay inspired throughout the year if you decide to switch things up. Exploring flea and vintage markets and turning to DIYs ensure you will have a room unlike any other as well.
step 3 - home is where the heart is In order to make your room feel like home, adorn it in objects that remind you of home. Whether that be a state flag, a homemade blanket or photos of your best friends, having something to physically hold or look at when homesickness sets in creates a sense of comfort and familiarity. “Both your dorm and your home are a
part of who you are and your experience. If you think about it, you have two homes,” Perkins says. “It’s nice to have bits of who you are and your memories. I brought my own art, hung up lights…little things like that.” Rachel Morrison, a customer service agent at Roomify, a company that specializes in dorm décor and essentials, believes pictures not only spice up your walls, but are a remedy for homesickness. “I put up pictures,” Morrison says. “I may have put up too many. Just to see your friends and family and knowing they are there and supporting you is kind of cool.” Helping college students is Roomify’s principal goal. One of the ways it achieves this is by hiring student employees who know what the target audience is looking for firsthand. They understand that college is a huge transition and want to take away unnecessary stress. No matter how you decorate your room, there are three items Morrison says you cannot go without: throw pillows, a tapestry and a rug. “A rug is literally a life-saver,” Morrison says. “When you get out of bed and your feet hit the floor, it’s a must…a little shag rug goes a long way.” Inspiration is everywhere. Whether you are a do-it-yourself connoisseur or are seeking guidance from a company like Roomify, there are resources available to make your dorm all you want and more. Stay creative, decorate with your heart, and you will be saying “dorm sweet dorm” in no time.
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s t ud y i n g F
rom demand to reality, many students’ wishes have come true this fall as the Herberger Institute For Design and The Arts implements its brand new Fashion BA program. After years of planning, the new fashion program at ASU is in full force headed by Dennita Sewell, ASU professor of practice and the Curator of Fashion at the Phoenix Art Museum, Jacquie Dorrance Curator of Fashion. “It came from within the school,” says Sewell. “On campus, there was so much demand that the dean’s office and Herberger listened and they said, ‘OK, we really need to establish a program.’” Although ASU already offered fashion classes to “satisfy immediate desires,” this program is different in that it will be formatted as its own major, including but not limited to having its own major map, involving more professors, developing new classes and more. “Now that I’m teaching at ASU, it becomes an even closer connection,” Sewell says.
“I have an ability to be a little more spontaneous and a little more involved with the opportunities. For me, you really feel the energy when you’re on campus and you feel the real wide range for possibilities.” Sewell hopes the program will fully prepare students as the fashion industry moves forward. “There is so much research and exploration going on and a real desire for collaboration,” Sewell says. “When you think about the diversity that is in the fashion industry, it’s really perfectly suited to be connected with a lot of those resources. It gives us real industry related ways to distinguish our students that will be valuable across the industry.” Admissions and Enrollment Assistant Dean, Sunny Kuo, says a significant aspect of having a fashion program at ASU is in its enviornment. The program is set-up to provide a greater depth of education in multiple areas of the fashion industry, Kuo says, stating there is a need for a diverse range of knowledgeable
fashion professionals to continue advancing the industry. Kuo says having the program in a university-based setting allows for a range of opportunities in and outside of the Herberger Instiute. “One crucial advantage is the idea of the opportunity to collaborate on interdisciplinary projects with other research disciplines,” Kuo says. “You can have a fashion major collaborate on a project with an English major, a film major, or a bio design major. This is the kind of unique opportunity that you may not have in a fashion design specific school.” Kuo believes creative minds have similar goals. She says she can see how fashion has the power to bring people together, as it advances through a sharing of ideas. “There’s an increasing demand in the community,” Kuo says. “It’s a natural progression for us to be able to continue to educate this group of creative minds.” As the head of the program, Sewell brings an extensive range of knowledge and experience, serving as an essential asset to planning.
b y Th al i a M . E s p a ñ a p h o t o s b y Th a l i a M . E s p a ñ a
in st yle Before landing at the Phoenix Art Museum in 2000, Sewell was the collections manager at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. She also received her MFA in Design at the Yale School of Drama. Through her experience and professional relationships, Sewell made it a mission to recruit teachers who respect each other, are good collaborators and have real industry connections. She says she made sure that all professors coming into the program had experience in the industry to be able to serve as liaisons for students going on into the working world. Her involvement with ASU, she says, formed over time as she earned her position through attending meetings, providing advice and reaching out to the local, educational fashion community. As the program develops, Sewell says it is important to bring different perspectives into deciding what is next as specialties come together. “It was really important to me that we get all of our teachers together, putting all the tal-
ented minds together around the idea of different perspectives of what we’ll develop next,” Sewell says. “The fashion industry is in a real state of transition right now. Each person has their eye on a different part of the industry … so it’s really important to have different voices giving input about the industry, how it’s changing and how this program will reflect the new fashion industry, not the old fashion industry.” Sewell says the program is formatted so that students will have a set of core fashion classes, that serve as a foundation of things to know no matter what part of the industry they will go into. The core classes include fashion illustration, survey of fashion, apparel construction, textiles and social aspects of fashion that will serve to train students’ eyes and fundamental skills. Faculty associate Ann Morton teaches the textiles class at ASU and says the class content is essential to educating those who hope to be involved in the fashion industry. “You can’t have fashion without textiles,” Morton says. “Having a sense of the history of textiles can definitely inform your design.” Morton says although fashion is not her personal main focus, she hopes it serves as a start to becoming aware of the textiles industry. She says the class starts out technical as the students learn about weaves and weave structures with hands on experience presented through historic and ethnic background information. It then moves on to looking at the controversies and social issues that come along with the textiles industry. “There is so much to know and learn in a fashion degree,” Morton says. “This is just one piece to the puzzle.” Advanced classes are a work in progress, but after the first two years of the program, students hopefully can choose a specific track to pursue. Sewell says tracks include merchandising, business, design, costume and sustainability. As the program’s major map was still a work in progress, some classes were also available for some students to get an early start.
Fashion senior, designer and founder of Marauders World Wide, Vara Ayanna says she began the program before it became official. Ayanna says one of her favorite classes was a two-day fashion branding session, which helped her organize her thoughts and her plans. Among her favorites was also a fashion history class. Ayanna says the class taught her a lot about aspects many people do not think went into fashion production in the past. “It’s been a good experience overall,” Ayanna says. “The program is good. They’re still working on it. They have a lot to learn about the students and what they want…they’re going to get it done. For me, having such a variety of things to learn about has helped.” As a designer, Ayanna hopes that someday she will be able to work on her brand and her projects as she gathers all her fashion aspects to make it full time. “My goals as a fashion student would be to just learn as much as I can from the program, from what I’ve been given and take that out into the real world,” Ayanna says. A majority of the fashion classes will be held in the newly renovated Tempe Center, containing materials like industrial sewing machines, which were delivered this past month. Sewell says she hopes students will develop a core set of skills explore what doors may open for them. “I hope it helps people here find a pathway to their dreams,” Sewell says. “To jobs, to careers that they really want to be in.”
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ASU ARCHEOLOGISTS DIG DEEP
b y A s h l e e Th o m a s o n p h o to co u r te s y o f Bre n d a Ba k e r
“Bones and cats,” Brenda Baker says holding out her coffee mug decorated with a drawing of a skull made of felines. “These are two of my favorite things.” Baker is an Associate Professor at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change (SHESC) and specializes in bioarchaeology, human osteology and paleopathology. She is also the co-editor-in-chief of Bioarchaeology International and recently returned from working on dig sites in Sudan. While she gathers her data and research from her sites after visiting Sudan, Baker continues her research with several ASU graduate and post graduate students. In Sudan, Baker examined the remains of ancient ancestors through their bone structures at different geographical sites. She and her students study her findings and record them in the school’s lab. “I always wanted to get to work in Nubia and started working in earnest and got to Sudan for the first time in 2006,” Baker says. “I went there for a call for help to salvage material from the fourth cataract region because they were
building a massive dam. This was going to submerge a huge area and was virtually unknown archaeologically. I got involved with those that needed help particularly in cemetery sites.” Each piece of bioarchaeology Baker researches in Sudan is part of a giant puzzle as if ancient ancestors had left a story for her research team to piece together. Baker’s research team has recorded and located about 200 sites throughout the course of working in Sudan. Some are a part of Baker’s project titled, Bioarchaeology of Nubia Expedition (BONE) in which different team members use their skills to solve the mystery of each site. ASU post graduate student from the University of Toronto, Aleksandra Ksiezak is a member of the expedition provides her expertise on studying pottery. “Based on the fragments I study and all the ceramic material the field team recovers from the site, I also try to establish the date of when the [ceramic material] was made,” Ksiezak says. “This helps everyone else to assign the proper date of the burial. I am able to establish framework or brack-
ets of each context. I analyze the shape, decoration and manufacture technology.” Ksiezak solved a part of a puzzle when she figured out one of the women on the site was an immigrant potter. “[The woman] was an immigrant from the east desert because of the different pottery culture which was never made in the area the field team was studying,” Ksiezak says. Ksiezak says the way the woman made those pots proved that she grew up somewhere else and arrived in that specific site. With the help of Baker and her research team, countless stories of ancient ancestors unraveled. Baker described the feeling of seeing these discoveries as being full of “intense emotional swings that hit you” during the excavation. “You have these mixed emotions in that you’re really excited but you know something like that could happen today very easily,” she says. “You get choked up with these intense emotional swings while excavating the site. These things happen in those villages today with no real health care.” Of the many stories and ancestors discovered, Baker says finding a skeleton of a mother who experienced a breeched birth. The head of her baby was still in her pelvis. “You have intense emotional swings when you’re excavating something like that,” Baker says. ASU Postdoctoral Research Associate Katelyn Bolhofner worked with Dr. Baker on her Sudanese skeletal collection excavated from the Ginefab School Site. Both worked on publishing papers on dental avulsion, or the process of teeth wearing down, within those individuals on the site.
photos by C h ris Plo o g
“Brenda is the queen of puns,” Bolhofner says. “She works incredibly hard, long hours in the field, but maintains a sense of humor throughout. She is careful and thorough in her research and writing and is an excellent teacher.” Bolhofner also worked with Baker in Cyprus, where they discovered the earliest known case of leprosy on the island. “I owe much of my knowledge of osteology and paleopathology to Dr. Baker,” she says. “She gave me many professional opportunities. I am grateful to have had her as a mentor throughout graduate school.” Baker’s research while working in Sudan was accompanied with learning more about the present culture and surrounding communities as well. “A lot of people have a misconception in Sudan in that it’s a horrible place and unsafe,” Baker says. “I am located in the northern rural part of Sudan which recently got electricity. People (in Sudan) are so friendly and helpful. We reciprocate help if we saw a vehicle stuck in the sand. We make connections with farther away communities. If you get stranded someone will take you in. It amazes international team members the attitude towards helping people and not just driving by them.” Baker says creating Bioarcheology International was daunting, but worth it. “It’s so different to be able to hold the hard copy,” Baker says. “Just developing a new journal is an awful lot of work. Seeing it being published with other people’s excitement is very rewarding.”
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b y S a v a n a h Ya g h s e z i a n
WOM EN— O VA TION
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FROM TH E COVE R
b y S a v a n a h Ya g h s e z i a n photos by Celisse Jones
The glass doors of Arizona State University’s Changemaker Central office open easily as I search the room for one student changemaker in particular: Diana Chen. Chen is waiting for me at one of the long wooden tables toward the west entrance to the building. She’s dressed casually and looks just like any other student preparing for the upcoming semester. No one would guess at first glance that she had the opportunity to work as a software engineering intern for Google this past summer. Chen was still interning for the company when a controversial internal memo was released. James Damore, a software engineer for Google, claimed the gender gap in software engineering is not “socially constructed,” but is due to biological differences between men and women. “I was kind of an outsider to (the memo) because my department was really awesome,” Chen says. “Everyone was super nice, but you’re at a big company and there are going to be people like that. Just knowing those people are present it’s still hard to read those things and (have) people question why you’re there... it’s not like they said it to my face, but those things exist and bother you no matter what.” However, Chen says she’s never personally felt discouraged or like she doesn’t belong in the field she’s chosen. “For me, it’s not really a question if I would go into STEM (science, math, engineering and technology). Since middle school I’ve always really loved math and science,” Chen says. “...My senior year of high school I took my first computer science class and then I was like,
THE WOMEN OF STEM ‘Okay this is what I want to do.’” Chen is a junior computer science major whose passion for coding has led her to become part of the thousands of women who choose STEM majors at ASU. According to a study released by the university in February 2016, 17,495 undergraduate students enrolled themselves in a STEM field major in 2014. f those 5,708 (32 percent) were women. To put things into perspective, those who chose a STEM major in 2014 would be graduating this May. According to the same study, 1,049 undergraduate women completed their degree program in 2014, but ASU expects those numbers to increase. Although this study demonstrated less than half of STEM majors at ASU are composed of women, the numbers have grown exponentially in the last decade. During the 2002-2003 school year, only 447 undergraduate women obtained a STEM degree. However, after graduation, finding (and keeping) a career in a STEM field may prove difficult for women like Chen who want to enter a white, male-dominated field.
THE S T EM GEN DER GAP Million Women Mentors (MWM) is a national mentorship program that aims to keep young women “interested and confident” in STEM. The organization has nearly 2 million female mentees and nearly 850,000 completed mentorings across the country, according to its website. Across the broad spectrum of STEM,
only 26 percent of workers are female. Women compose over 20 percent of engineering graduates, but only 11 percent of practicing engineers are women, according to MWM. In terms of the wage gap, however, jobs in STEM fields are actually beneficial for closing the difference between men and women’s salaries. Typically the difference between white women versus white men’s wages is about 77 cents to the dollar, but in STEM it’s about 92 cents to the dollar, according to MWM. Janell Wiseton, the National Senior Advisor-STEM Connector for Million Women Mentors says it’s important to educate young women on the many different career paths they can take with a STEM degree. Indeed, there’s been speculation in recent years that the “STEM pipeline,” the phenomenon of large numbers of women dropping out of the STEM career path at a certain point, is no longer true, but instead it’s a lack of education and encouragement that keeps women from entering into STEM in the first place. “We’re not clearly articulating to girls how these (STEM) careers can help people,” Wiseton says. “...the number one reason all kids, girls or boys, do not follow a STEM career path is because they don’t know about them.” In 2014, ASU partnered with the Million Women Mentors program to encourage and assist female STEM majors at the university in completing their degrees. The partnership hoped to attract professionals from within the local community to join the Million Women Mentors’ mission, according to an ASU Now article published three years ago.
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While Wiseton says the program still maintains friendly ties with ASU, it lost its biggest supporter, the former vice provost and dean of the College of Technology and Innovation, Mitzi Montoya after she left the university in 2015. However, female STEM students are still taking advantage of other resources available to them at the university.
B R E A K IN G T HE GL ASS C E IL IN G Circling back to Chen, she brightens as she continues to talk about her experiences at Google and the university itself. She lists off several technical coding terms and I have to stop and ask her to define them for me. There’s no doubt that Chen is one of the top contenders in her field here at ASU: She knows her stuff. Over the summer, Chen and a team of other software engineers created an app called Technical Interview Exercises or TIE that helps prepare future software engineers for technical interviews in which employers ask interviewees to solve a problem using programming language. “Pretty much everyone has to go through a technical interview process,” Chen says. “It’s pretty unique to the industry. This (program) is to help better prepare minority students or women who want to join the field...because they don’t always have those types of things available to them.” Now that she’s back at ASU, Chen says
she’s still involved with programs on and off campus that help educate women and minorities on the possibilities of STEM careers. Off campus, Chen is working closely with the Million Dollar Teaching Project to increase education opportunities for people interested in coding. “I’m working with (the founder of Million Dollar Teaching Project) to build a computer science curriculum for the Phoenix Coding Academy so we can help teach minorities and get more people involved in computer science in a fun, project-based way,” Chen says. It’s clear educating the local communities on the possibilities of coding is important to Chen. She’s also working on a separate project from within the university to bring more technology to classrooms. “...If you don’t have a computer science class at your school, you’re not really going to get exposed to it and you might not think it’s for you,” Chen says. “So you just might never try it and never know.” On campus, Chen has participated in both the Women in Computer Science and Women in STEM clubs. Last year, she served as the co-president of the Women in STEM Club. A few weeks prior to meeting with Chen, I sat down with Phoebe Newell and Farizah Ali, Women in STEM’s current president and Chen’s former co-president, respectively. Newell is a junior studying molecular biosciences and biotechnologies. Ali is also a junior studying biochemistry and global health. They both joined Women in STEM to meet young women within the other fields of STEM. After a period of inactivity, the club was reinstated in the fall of 2015 with a new executive board and meets every Monday in the Memori-
al Union. As a part of the club’s main education initiative, Ali says the club goes to a local middle school about every other week to do a hands-on activity related to different STEM fields. “One week we might do programming activities online to teach them how to code,” Ali says. “We’ve done chemistry experiments and we’ve done math like geometry for Pi Day.” Newell mentioned that although her classes as a life sciences major are split fairly evenly between male and female students, she’s still experienced brushes of sexism within her time as a female STEM student. Newell was once asked if her future career path would affect the amount of time she’d have to raise a family. “It just struck me as funny because no one would ever ask a guy that,” Newell says. “So I think there’s kind of those subtle pressures (in society).” In order to combat those societal pressures, Newell also added the club is very focused on young girls interested in STEM to see members of the club as role models because they believe representation is correlated to retention rates in STEM fields.
WHY REPRESE N TATION IN S T EM M ATTE R S As evidenced by the statistics above, the majority of people making discoveries and creating new technologies are doing so from a
STEM IN NUMBERS
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WOMEN
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COMPLETING STEM DEGREE PROGRAMS:
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WHITE WOMEN’S VS. WHITE MENS’S SALARIES:
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white, male perspective. There’s evidence some “solutions” in today’s world don’t work for everyone,. A video recently surfaced on Twitter of two men unable to use a motion activated paper towel dispenser because their skin is too dark for the machine to see them. In a 2014 TEDx Talk medical sociologist Liberty Barnes discusses solutions to male infertility that are overlooked because reproduction is a “woman’s problem.” Car crashes are the leading cause of fetal death because traditional car seats do not properly protect pregnant women. The list of problems and solutions that could greatly benefit from racial and gender diversity goes on and on. At ASU, the main solution to this problem seems to be encouraging students and faculty members to go out into the community and encourage young girls and minorities to become and stay interested in STEM fields. Much like the programs Chen worked on and the Women in STEM club, ASU has another program partially funded by the National Science Foundation: The Center for Gender Equity in Science in Technology (CGEST). “Really the idea was helping girls get into the STEM field and create awareness of possibilities in the STEM field,” Laila Sarah, the assistant director for CGEST says. From CGEST stems a program called CompuGirls which focuses on teaching middle and high school aged girls how to code and create their own computer programs. This past year, about 200 girls in Arizona, Colorado and New Jersey participated in the program alongside student mentors and guest speakers from ASU. Sarah says the primary mission of CompuGirls is to tackle social justice issues using technology. Girls who participated worked on extensive, advanced projects like programming robots to help combat sex trafficking or designing virtual worlds to help promote body positivity. Sarah says it’s important to have diversity in STEM because that’s where the future of the entire world is heading. “Girls (and) women of color bring in an incredibly unique perspective that...isn’t heard or isn’t seen,” Sarah says. “When we’re talking about sustainable communities or when we’re talking about anything it’s always good to have a diverse perspectives and we believe women and girls bring that.”
information by Million Women Mentors and ASU infographic by Alex Czaja
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Summer in Yosemite by Core y H awk photos by Core y H aw k
Between its iconic granite towers which prehistorically graced this Earth as magma, Yosemite’s rivers flow at once violently and coolly in breath-taking waterfalls, meandering streams, and turbulent whitewater deathtraps. Just shy of Rhode Island’s square mileage, everything about this National Park signifies constant change. Snow-capped mountains slowly bald during the summer, quenching the park’s insatiable thirst, until the water falls no more to the chagrin of many a late tourist. Wildfires chew up acres of forest providing fertile soil for future plant life. Food and hospitality companies employ and house transient college students while making their own mark on what had once been complete wilderness. Before even hearing the rivers, an approaching hiker can feel the air chill into a brisk breeze. This may be the only similarity between Arizona and Yosemite, besides some of the college students.
Darby Moran, an Arizona State University senior studying biology, sits with her sticker-plastered water bottle in Phoenix’s arid heat with a slight smile, offering few hints she had just returned from California’s temperate paradise. “Even if I wasn’t taking advances in my career, it was the best summer I’ve ever had,” says Moran, donning a blank tank top with the words ‘I only know beastmode’ written across the chest. Moran worked in Yosemite Valley for two months before quitting to hike the John Muir Trail, a 210-mile grind through California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. She says both experiences enriched her life, mostly due to the employee community. “I was only there for two-and-a-half, three months, and I met some people that I’m closer with than people I’ve known for years,” Moran says. But, just as
Yosemite is in constant flow, so too are its inhabitants. “I was dreading coming back (to ASU),” Moran says. “I thought it would be so hard to get used to school again… so the drive home I was super bummed, but once school started...seeing my friends that I hadn’t seen in three months, things have been pretty good. And I think part of that has been the positive attitude that I gained this summer. So far so good.” Moran says she has gained more than just a positive attitude from her adventures in Yosemite. “It probably did open me up a lot,” Moran says. “I’m
more open to tagging along with people I don’t know and going on a hike. It just puts you in a happy mood that people are so open there. I’m just trying to bring that other places.” Emily Pawlik, who graduated from ASU last May with a degree in sustainable tourism and management, frantically answers ringing telephones in a slightly cramped corner of Yosemite’s Majestic Hotel. “Going to Yosemite was a really cool experience in and of itself, but also working at the front desk of a hotel was a really cool experience too because it’s totally related to my major,” says Pawlik, her wide blue eyes reflecting the spreadsheet on her computer screen in crescent glints. “I think it definitely made me more excited to be here, knowing that I was going to be working in something having to do with my major.” Yet, the work isn’t what originally promptWhitehead says. “It’s crazy.” ed Pawlik to live in Yosemite. Yosemite employee housing is a verita“I was probably more excited for Yosemble tent village, the largest of which is called ite just from being in the Outdoors Club at HUFF — Housing Under Firefall. The tents school,” Pawlik says. house three people each and consist of white Pawlik, who eventually became the vice tarp, a sparse wooden skeleton and heater. The president of ASU’s Outdoors Club, says she doors often swing open for seemingly no reafirst became enamored with Yosemite’s gushson and all food must be stored in bear boxes, ing waterfalls and sleek rock walls when she locked metal containers kept outside each visited with the club during her sophomore tent in order to dissuade animals from visiting year. During her time in the park, she has conthe housing. tinued pursuing the activities that first brought Even then, racher to the park, includcoons mingle with ing rock climbing, human life every swimming, outdoor T h e c o n f i d e n ce night, often scoryoga and hiking. ing half-eaten can“I have definiteand skill you dy, unfinished beer ly learned a lot more n e e d t o h a v e fo r and whatever other about myself from bec e r t a in o u t d o o r scraps the denizens of ing here,” Pawlik says. HUFF leave about. a c t iv i t ie s re a l ly “The confidence and There are only six skill you need to have t r a n s la t e s in t o refrigerators in the for certain outdoor acp e r s o n a l g ro w th entirety of the village. tivities really translates a n d p e r s o n a l The internet is even into personal growth more limited. and personal strength.” s t re n g t h . “It’s taught me a Levi Whitehead, lot of patience trying a Grand Canyon Unito write an essay on versity student study- Emily Pawlik the slowest wifi in the ing advertising and world,” says Whitemarketing, also says he head, who took an online course over the has personally developed in Yosemite, but for summer. different reasons. Whitehead says the social environment “I’ve learned a lot about how to be selfthere is unlike any he had ever experienced. less living in crazy close environments with “I thought it would be scary being a people, and sharing groceries and supplies,”
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Christian in a community of hippies,” Whitehead says. “But I’ve gotten to meet people who believe so many different things and so many things that I would think are so obscure. Honestly, it’s been pretty healthy for me being able to get out of my little box of religion and see that there are so many other world beliefs out there and to coexist.” Whitehead takes a moment to reflect on his quickly ending summer before one of his friends asks us to hurry up with the interview. There is going to be a meteor shower tonight. He seems excited, mature but still with an essence of childlike wonder. Although he says this summer has forced him to become an adult in dealing with his finances and work, he does not feel as though he has been acting like one. “I’ve also just been able to be a kid again out here,” Whitehead says. “I’ve gotten to experience life again, not really start over, but live on a fresh whim.” Nothing in Yosemite stands as firmly as its glassy granite structures, reaching as far as the eye can see. The park’s constant metamorphosis is even reflected in the name of one of its giant sequoia groves — Mariposa, which means butterfly. Nobody, Whitehead included, can escape its grasp. “I haven’t grown strong as a Christian here, but I have grown stronger as an open-minded human being,” says Whitehead before leaving to see the meteor shower, not unlike God taking a box of matches and striking them against the black, star-studded atmosphere.
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BREAKING CULTURAL BARRIERS: EMBRACING MY BINDI b y R a n j a n i Ve n k a t a k r i s h n a n
T
he little red dot you see Hindu women wear is meant to control the concentration of energy at the chakra point in the center of our forehead. To me, it was part of my identity. Back in my Texas elementary school days, it also made me a target. The bindi on my forehead, a symbol of my Hindu religion, was constantly mistaken for blood. “Why do you wear it?” I was asked, yet I was too young to know the significance to be able to explain it. “It’s just something part of my religion,” I would answer, but I eventually stopped wearing bindis to school, no matter how much my parents scolded me for it. Sometimes I would wear the bindi at home and then discard it as soon as I arrived to school. In February of second grade, I moved from Cleveland, Ohio, to Plano, Texas, and enrolled in a new school. I had previously never faced difficulties making friends, but in this new
school, I was suddenly strange and alien. The black hair that covered my arms and legs were visible against my brown skin, as opposed to the fine blonde hair on my classmates’ fair skins. I was ridiculed for it. I was constantly alone during recess and lunch. I never felt like I had real friends in that school. The food I ate with my hands was made fun of. “Why don’t you use silverware?” I was asked. The day my mom gave me idli, or a steamed ball of dough with curd for lunch, I was asked to get a plastic fork to eat it with. Getting a napkin or going to the bathroom to wash my hands would have sufficed. If my classmates could eat their finger food – pizzas and tacos and sloppy joes – why couldn’t I? And then came the days when my class started talking about “Bloody Mary” and scared the living day lights out of me. My classmates told me the story of Bloody Mary and that if I don’t believe in Jesus or Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary would kill me in the middle of the night and the walls will be red and
oozing with blood. moved to India in May, 2008, it was bittersweet. While I was It traumatized me. sad to leave the US, where I had spent the majority of my I silently prayed, “I believe in you, Jesus and Bloody childhood, I was glad I would finally no longer be a target of Mary, but please forgive me if I don’t pray to you. I will pray bullying in school. to Ganapathi and my gods.” “I’ll finally have friends,” I thought to myself. “If you don’t believe in Jesus, you’ll go to hell.” A quesWhen one thinks of racial and cultural groups facing tion they hounded me with ratha hard time in society, one hardly ever er frequently. thinks about prejudice towards Indians. I’d say, “Just because I don’t Ridiculing a person just because he or believe in Jesus shouldn’t mean she is different is not okay. Making fun I stro n g ly I’m going to hell. I believe in my of another person’s religion is not okay. be lie ve th at gods, and you believe in yours.” Attempting to convert them, or make a s lo n g as w e Once a year, my school had them feel bad for believing in the gods e ac h f o c u s o n a multicultural night. The week they do believe in, is not okay. leading up to that night, the I strongly believe that as long as b e i ng g o o d , an d trophy cases in the halls would we each focus on being good, and dod o in g g o o d in be filled with artifacts from difing good in the world, our religion and t h e w o rld , o u r ferent people’s religion. I was backgrounds should not matter. relig io n an d always proud of India’s section My experiences didn’t deter me in the trophy cases. I’d proudly from wanting to return to the US for b ac kg ro u n d s stare at it whenever I passed by it college. While I was initially hesitant s h o u ld n o t in the halls that week. and worried I might relive my old nightmatte r. But my classmates ridimares again, discovering that the uniculed my gods. They looked at versity I chose to join had such a strong the little gold statue of Lord Gamulticultural community brought me - R an jan i nesha and said, “Ew, why isn’t he relief beyond words. Ve n katakrish n an wearing any clothes? Why is his Today, I am glad that at Arizohead an elephant? Why is he so na State University I can wear Indian fat?” clothes to class if I want to switch it up I would try to explain that Ganapathi is wearing a dhoti, on a random day, and almost no one would bat an eye. In and the male gods are seldom depicted wearing shirts. They fact, if anything, people might compliment me on my kurti might wear armor or silk shawls, but never shirts. or chudidhar. I tried to explain the origin story of Ganesha and why he I bring my packed Indian food from home to college has an elephant head. and sometimes eat it in the downtown Barrett suite between I could not explain why Ganesha is fat, but I tried to say classes, and no one complains. that not all the gods of my religion are like that. I wear a bindi if I want and nobody asks about it. My classmates never understood. And when my family
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LAST LOOK
C A L E N DE R OF E VE N TS sep t e mb e r
o c to b er
14
25
Chocolate and Art Show
BANKS
The Shins
16
26
04
Rock the Guac
Imagine Dragons
Drag Bingo
19
27
Father John Misty
U-2
Paramore
07
20
28
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in Concert
Drag Bingo
Phoenix Poetry Slam
Natalia Lafourcade
The MonOrchid, Phoenix
Camby Hotel, Phoenix
University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale
Desoto Public Market, Phoenix
The Van Buren, Phoenix
Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix
Comerica Theatre, Phoenix
Megaphone PHX, Phoenix
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SZA
Misterwives
Marquee Theatre, Tempe
24 Beach House, Fleet Foxes Comerica Theatre, Phoenix
The Van Buren, Phoenix
03
Comerica Theatre, Phoenix
Desoto Public Market, Phoenix
Orpheum Theatre, Phoenix
The Phoenix Symphony, Phoenix
ASU Gammage, Tempe
12 Portugal. The Man The Van Buren, Phoenix
D O N’ T W E AR A DR E S S O N T HE M E T R O b y M i a A r m s tro n g
Don’t wear a dress on the Metro, they said. Looking at my calves, my knees, where the flowing white fabric gently brushed my thigh.
Your ass, now cradled by fingers, fingers that you don’t know, but that are warm nonetheless. Warm and serpentine-like, they slowly snake themselves around the landscape of your body, the landscape of your femininity.
The Feminist inside me recoiled; the Shy Girl outside me nodded politely and said thank you.
It takes a while for you to realize (or, perhaps, to come to terms with) the fact that the newest patron to the landscape of your femininity had not paid his ticket.
In the Metro it is easy to feel trapped, smashed like sardines (cliché). Armpits in faces, faces in cell phones, cell phones one moment in your pocket, and the next in someone else’s hand. Someone else’s hand moves gently across your lower back, moves slowly downward, wrapping itself nicely around the cheek of your ass. Your ass, your beautiful ass. The ass you stared at for hours in the mirror, you sculpted for hours on the stairmaster, just because your ex-boyfriend once told you that he was an Ass Man, and your tits were no good anyway.
And once you realize this, you freeze.
A search for words is pointless because the words you’ve been taught are yes and please and sorry and excuse me ...and... in your arsenal of letters smashed together there is nothing strong enough to repel the fingers of a man touching something that he already believes is his. Besides even if you could call for help probably no one would ...Come... And anyway, He already had.
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