Phoenix October 12th, 2017

Today in OPINIONS: Sydney Covitz on the benefits of Spongebob A5, Laura Wagner on the role of PubSafe

PHOENIX

THE

Athlete of the week: Mehra den Braven

VOL. 144, NO. 5

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Board game night at Kitao

OCTOBER 12, 2017

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The independent campus newspaper of Swarthmore College since 1881

Updated Clery data sheds light on crime trends

by Kat Capossela News Writer According to the 2017 Annual Fire Safety and Security Report, last year resulted in the highest reported Violence Against Women Act offences since 2012, 19, and the first act of arson since 2012. Oppositely, larceny is the lowest since 2012, 36, as is burglary, 2.

The report, which Public Safety released on Sept. 29, details campus safety policies and crime statistics for the previous year, as required by the 1990 Clery Act. The act requires all colleges that participate in federal aid

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programs to publicly report such information annually.

The total reported VAWA offenses is largely due to the incidents of reported dating violence rising from six in 2015 to 15 in 2016, the highest number since 2012. Several administration members spoke about what work should be done going forward.

“I don’t think we will rest until the number is zero in these reports and until we have a college campus where everyone can thrive and live without harm,” Women’s Resource Center Supervisor Shá Duncan Smith said.

Interim Title IX Coordinator Michelle D. Ray added that the

Title IX office will continue to work diligently to support the Swarthmore community to stop, remedy, and prevent sexual harassment and sexual violence.

“Our policies are reviewed every year based on student, faculty, and staff feedback, and of course we also look very closely at what is shared with us by those who are most d ​ irectly impacted,” she said in an email.

Neither commented on the spike in dating violence or mentioned potential policy changes in response to the numbers.

“We often see Swarthmore as an exception to a lot of these negative trends,” Lamia Makkar

Copyright © 2017 The Phoenix

Michael Hill outlined the liquor law arrest policy on campus.

“If someone calls for a friend and PubSafe determines the student is in need of medical evaluation and/or assistance, typically an ambulance will transport them to the hospital,” he said. “If the transported student is under the legal age of consumption, they can receive an underage drinking citation.”

According to Hill, after two court visits and several hours of community service and drug and alcohol education, first time offenders can erase the citation continued on page A2

Garnet Weekend brings alumni, family, and friends to campus

Shelby Dolch / The Phoenix

2017 Garnet Homecoming and Family Weekend brought students and Swarthmore community members together for activities including panel discussions, arboretum tours, and athletic events.

by Shreya Chattopadhyay and Ganesh Setty News Editor, Managing Editor This past Monday around noon, the Swarthmore Indigenous Students Association, along with other students, gathered in Parrish Parlors for a moment of silence to acknowledge the plight of Indigenous peoples and protest the federally recognized holiday of Columbus Day. The demonstration overlapped with a previously scheduled event at the time, a performance of the “Lunch Hour Concert Series” hosted by the college’s music department. Because of this overlap, tensions rose between demonstrators and administration. In particular, while Karen Avila ’20 was speaking as part of the event, a professor from the music department started raising her voice with the other students in attendance. A few minutes into the speech, Dean of the Sophomore Class and Director of the Intercultural Center Jason Rivera stepped in to admonish SISA for using the space in Parrish Parlors without reserving it prior.

The students participating in the lunch hour concert were not involved in the conflict, and chose not to comment on the event.

Dean Rivera also chose not to specifically comment about the events that transpired at the moment of silence, though he stressed his commitment to Indigenous students in an email.

“It is clear to me that our Indigenous students are committed to building a campus community that acknowledges the pain and experiences of Indigenous peoples and in creating greater representation of Indigenous peoples and of their experiences. As the Director of the Intercultural Center, I stand continued on page A3

Community members attend Safe Climate PA conference

by Reuben Gelley Newman News Writer

On Saturday, Oct. 7, Swarthmore students and administrators attended a Safe Climate PA conference in Harrisburg. The conference serves as “an opportunity to learn about carbon pricing policies and how to effectively engage with elected officials, the media, and our

campus communities to advocate for climate solutions,” according to its website.

Director of Sustainability Aurora Winslade, sustainability program manager Melissa Tier, Nathan Graf ’16, a climate action senior fellow in the office of sustainability, and Aaron Metheney ’18 helped organize the conference.

Twelve Swarthmore students

attended, as well as students and representatives from many universities in Pennsylvania, including Temple, Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, and Villanova.

The conference began with an opening address delivered

by Winslade, who discussed the potential of carbon pricing and the importance of student voices on climate issues. It also included workshops on meeting with

elected officials, media engagement, campus engagement and endorsements, local government endorsements, carbon pricing policy, and storytelling around issues of climate change.

Graf facilitated the carbon pricing policy workshop and presented on climate change and carbon pricing, while Metheney facilitated the local government endorsements workshop.

Carbon pricing, which can take various forms, is a tax on carbon pollution to encourage polluters to reduce their emissions. Graf described it as the most feasible way to keep the world from warming more than 2 degrees Celsius from its current temperature, at which, according to many climate scientists, the negative continued on page A7

Taking a closer look at the CO-OP

by Trina Paul News Writer

CONTENTS Campus news A1-A2 Arts news A3-A4 Opinions A5-A6 Sports A7-A8 Read more at swarthmorephoenix.com

’21 said. “Obviously these numbers aren’t to the same degree as a lot of other colleges, but this trend should be known and more actions should be taken.”

The decreased number of larceny and thefts, Hill said, can be attributed to a variety of things, such as students and community members reporting suspicious activity, securing personal valuables, and the implementation of technology tools on campus.

The college also reported 24 liquor law arrests — 18 of which were in residential facilities — and 33 alcohol violations. As a partial explanation for the numbers, Director of Public Safety

Tensions rise at moment of silence for Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Shelby Dolch / The Phoenix

The Swarthmore CO-OP has been a part of the Swarthmore community for over 80 years, and its status as the only grocery store in the ville makes it popular among both residents of the borough and students. The college’s relationship with the CO-OP changed in 2016 when students were able to utilize their OneCard and Swat Points there, but the relationship between the CO-OP and college students has a long history.

The CO-OP is a food cooperative that first opened its doors in 1932. Food cooperatives are distinctive from other grocery stores because they have investors where decisions regarding the production and distribution of its food are chosen by its members.

The CO-OP is the third oldest food cooperative in the country.

According to digital market-

ing intern at the CO-OP Isabel Paynter, the CO-OP’s investors typically purchase 60 shares of the company for $5 each. These investors who have at least $300 of equity in the company have the ability to influence the products carried at the CO-OP. Many of the items the CO-OP carries are considered speciality or local.

“We [the CO-OP] have over 110 local vendors, which means the products we carry are not the type you can buy at Giant or Target. We carry brands that are organic or fit our brand and sometimes that’s why our prices are more expensive,” Paynter said.

For some students, the higher prices at the CO-OP can be a deterrent from buying products there. Leisa Liao ’18, who is on the PPR meal plan that offers $700 in Swat Points, noted that while she likes to use her Swat Points at the CO-OP, she still finds some of the prices expen-

sive.

“This year I’m trying to shop more at the CO-OP because I don’t like eating out as much and I want to learn how to cook.

The other week I hosted a dinner party for eight of my friends, and after doing some grocery shopping in Media and at the CO-OP, it ended up being about $200.”

Liao said.

Liao also shops at other nearby grocery stores and compares prices to find which products are better to purchase at the CO-OP. She primarily shops at the CO-OP due to its accessibility with the OneCard.

“I only started shopping at the CO-OP once it was on the OneCard. I’ll shop at the CO-OP until I run out of points because you’re using points that you’ve already paid for with your room and board. I wish the OneCard would expand to other grocery continued on page A2

THE PHOENIX NEWS

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OCTOBER 12, 2017

President’s sustainability research fellowship expanded, refined Bayliss Wagner News Writer

Amos Frye ’18, a fellow of the President’s Sustainability Research Fellowship program, worked first as a landscaper and farmhand in high school, then as a volunteer for the Student Conservation Association, working on trails in Hopewell Furnace, Pa., and Kenai Fjords, Alaska. Over the last two summers, he has worked for two different Conservation Corps, one based in Salida, Colo., and one based in Cedar City, Utah. He has spent most of his working time pulling weeds, digging holes for water retention (biotension) basins, removing invasive plant species, and managing trails — until his PSRF project allowed him to direct a sustainability effort in his own community at Swarthmore.

“I’ve worked in conservation a lot, but I’ve never been the person who manages the project; I’ve just been the grunt who does the work,” Frye said. “It’s interesting to get on the other side and see what goes into those issues of restoration and conservation [and] what work goes into the planning process.”

The PSRF program, which is a hybrid of a two-credit, yearlong course and an internship, assigns projects and staff and faculty mentors to a select group of students. There are 17 PSRF fellows this year, seven more than there were during the program’s pilot year in 2016 - 2017. Departments can request PSRF projects, but they are funded outside of the academic departments.

“All the things that would have been done, there’s just no one around to do them — that’s essentially all PSRF projects,” Frye said. “[Administrators, staff and faculty] saw the potential for improvement, but they don’t have the time or the resources. Since we’re paid outside of each department [and] we’re not paid much, that allows for that work.”

This year, the PSRF program has expanded and evolved to include the Alumni Sages, a group of alumni with careers in sustainability who provide resources and insider knowledge as well

as new planning mechanisms, new work spaces, and changes to the yearlong timeline of the class. Projects this year focus on improving environmental friendliness all over and surrounding the campus, from Sharples to the Athletics Department to the office building at 101 S. Chester.

Frye currently works on the Crum Woods Stewardship and Engagement project, which Gabi Mallory ’17 and Brittany Weiderhold ’18 began during the last academic year. His project includes four distinct subprojects: preventing erosion by restoring native plants at Morganwood Slope, a retirement community near Mary Lyon residence hall; evaluating and managing peak flow and erosion at the Lang Swale, a ditch behind Lang Concert Hall that absorbs around 99 percent of stormwater from the academic quad; working on a comprehensive restoration plan for the Crum Woods; and planning engagement events with the office of sustainability’s community outreach coordinator.

The PSRF project directed by Natasha Markov-Riss ’20, which aims to incorporate environmentally-friendly practices at Office of Student Engagement events, has led to an interesting discovery.

“It seems like one big area where we need to get better with sustainability is the red Solo cup issue,” Markov-Riss said. “They’re #6 [plastic], so they’re not recyclable. At every party, we’re using two to three bags of them, upwards of 200, and those are all being thrown away.”

But when Markov-Riss began researching alternatives for red Solo cup usage, she discovered that students were reluctant to give them up.

“There’s more of a connection to and love of red Solo cups than we originally anticipated,” she said. “They are super entrenched in [the] culture of American drinking, they’re regulation for different drinking games, and people aren’t super willing to move away from them.”

Markov-Riss instead decided to search for recycling programs that would recycle the cups for

free.

“So that way, instead of going upstream, we may try and tackle that problem downstream just because the goal is to create sustainable solutions that are in themselves sustainable, and we want people to be on board with them,” she said. “One of the goals of this project is not just to force sustainability solutions in students.”

Markov-Riss plans to create a strategic sustainability plan for the OSE that will include recommendations for the next one to two years. She also hopes to hold a launch event for students and to implement one or two of her recommendations before the year is over.

“Right now I’m doing a really thorough baseline analysis of where the campus is at right now in terms of sustainability,” Markov-Riss said. “I’m interviewing all the different people involved in all the different programs under the OSE, and that’s more people than you would expect: van coordinators, everyone who runs Paces, everyone who’s in charge of any event on campus — so that’s PubNite, [Delta Upsilon], Phi Psi, [Mary Lyon] breakfast, [and] Swat Team.”

In contrast, much of Frye’s work involves hydrology, the study of how water moves over land on campus. Peak flow rate is an important metric for this study because it gives an idea of how a 25-year or 50-year storm event (storms that have a 4 or 2 percent chance of occurring each year) would affect the campus.

Biotension basins, which are large ditches filled with hardy plants, are one of the ways the college decreases peak flow rate by increasing surface area over which water can slowly percolate into the soil.

“There’s a lot of interesting stuff on campus that they’re doing with stormwater now,” Frye said. “It’s sort of the biggest modern issue when it comes to civil engineering for big buildings, because there’s been recently a lot of laws passed and you can’t have peak flow rates any higher at a construction project than they were before for a 50-year storm.

Swarthmore does better than that because I think [it’s] going for a silver or gold star.”

The College aims to earn a gold star from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Bridget Scott is an office of sustainability intern and Teaching Assistant for the PSRF class. Her PSRF project last year involved helping to creating a STARS report, which contains 63 different credits of sustainability, for the college. Last year, the college received a STAR rating of silver, which lasts for three years.

“Silver rating is really, really exciting because it means we’re doing well, but we can definitely do better,” Scott said.

The student engagement component of Frye’s project involves the Crum Woods tree planting event. The event was traditionally a mandatory activity during orientation, but it has been since made optional and moved to the spring. Frye also feels that the goal of PSRF engagement activities is to balance attendance with healthy student interest.

“It’s kind of hard to get people excited if they’re forced to go,” Frye said. “The idea is you want to get people who are actually interested or at least adjacently interested first, because if you force someone out into the woods and they don’t want to be there, you generally don’t engender positive feelings.”

Holding engagement events such as the Crum Woods tree planting involves a lot of planning time, as does every aspect of the PSRF projects. Last year, students began the class by studying why sustainability is necessary on college campuses and learning other environmental science concepts, but this year, co-instructors Aurora Winslade and Carr Everbach switched the order of the class in order to incorporate time for fellows to plan projects and anticipate setbacks before they occurred. “[Last year] we kind of developed our projects in the fall and carried them out more in the spring, but this year the fellows started and they just went off running,” Scott said. “Last year we didn’t really give ourselves

enough time to plan our projects out for the totality of the year, so this way, the fellows came in with a much more clear sense of what the purpose of their project was.”

This fall, the co-instructors of the course have taught methods of planning and executing projects instead of beginning with studying applied environmental science concepts.

“The first part of the class focuses a lot on project management, because they want everyone to get the projects off the ground,” Markov-Riss said.

According to Scott — whose job includes taking feedback and handling difficulties that PSRF fellows bring to her — one of the most common problems is communication with project mentors as well as faculty and staff in the department connected to the project. Though the project board is a very helpful tool for facilitating this communication, she says, the amount of people involved can complicate planning.

“One of my favorite parts of the PSRF projects is that for each student, they have a faculty mentor [or] a staff mentor, but then they also have their project board … That’s the approval board that moves your project forward for each stage of the game,” Scott said. “[But] in communicating with all those different people, information is really likely to get lost.”

According to Markov-Riss, the changes made to the program this year have improved the ability of students to communicate with their approval board and to carry out their projects effectively.

“We’re sending out weekly updates to our project board. The project feels very well mechanized and very well [systematized], so you definitely feel like you have a direction and you feel like there are support systems in place, so I’ve definitely learned a lot about project management.

I think they refined the whole class.”

Many of the changes to the program were made in response to student feedback from last year, which Scott compiled during her internship this summer. One

concern from students was the amount of work they put into the project. Eight paid hours per week and 10-12 academic hours are built into the program, but some students last year would go over the allotted amount of hours.

According to Scott, changes are also being made by the class’s co-instructors as well as Eugene M. Lang Professor Denise Crossen to clarify the difference between work hours and academic hours.

“A difference this year is that — this is actually great, this is one of the most exciting parts — is that the Innovation Lab in the Lang Center [for Civic and Social Responsibility], the Social Innovation Lab, has become a space for PSRF,” Scott said. “Last year we would do our work hours whenever we wanted to, but this year it models more of a job system, which is nice.”

For all of these projects, fellows will create a handbook or plan containing the best practices in their project area at Swarthmore in the future.

“Institutional memory [is] a huge part of the program,” Scott said.

The program’s dual nature is meant to both give students experience and to provide a way for sustainability improvements to occur all over campus without relying only on departmental resources.

“That’s one of the main purposes of the PSRF program: to give students the power and the resources to carry out these projects and to get that real life experience [with] sustainability in their own communities,” Scott said. “But it’s also really to create these structures at Swarthmore that will last and really push sustainable change.”

PSRF fellows will present their findings — including baseline analyses, effectiveness of changes already implemented, and plans for the future — to the Swarthmore community in a public meeting in April.

local law enforcement,” he said.

Both Hill and alcohol and other drugs counselor and educator Joshua Ellow called for a change in the school’s culture regarding alcohol.

“Going out with the intention of getting wrecked can contribute to these numbers, but more importantly [it can] put community members at risk,” Ellow said.

“Accidents do happen, but risk is directly related to the strength of our drinks (i.e., hard alcohol vs. light beer) and the pace at which we consume.”

Hill stressed that safety is our shared responsibility, and the college will continue to hold conversations to educate and raise awareness about alcohol

and drug-related issues.

“W​ithin a small segment of our community, ​alcohol abuse is tolerated, and there is a lack of accountability to one another and for each other’s safety and actions,” he said. “In many instances by the time Public Safety is called, an individual is already in physical distress. There needs to be a larger conversation about the culture of AOD use and abuse.”

Several administration members said students are getting more comfortable with reaching out to Public Safety for help, although they did not attribute that fact to the high number of liquor law arrests or dating violence incidents.

“I think that our medical amnesty policy has led to more students calling for assistance when AOD problems arise. I see this as a result of our policy and the goal of getting students help in an emergency or risky situation,” Ellow said.

Hill added that although it would be better if individuals drank responsibly to begin with, he is impressed with the increasing number of students who have been willing to call in for help for a friend or even themselves for earlier intervention.

Ray said that’s what she had wished.

“We hope that students have felt more empowered to speak up, that systems of reporting have

become clearer, and additional trained personnel have helped make s​ tudents feel freer to report.”

Although the numbers reported in the Clery Act are important to look over, they don’t always tell the complete story, according to Jonny Guider ’21. For example, he said, the stats could be a result of community members reporting more openly or a recent change in policy.

“The overall trends signify more than individual numbers,” he said.

Clery Act, continued from A1 from their record.

Several community members see the policy as problematic.

Class Senator Akshay Srinivasan ’21 said the potential of getting a friend getting arrested could act as a deterrent to bystanders.

“Students would be less likely to report their friend being drunk because they would think their friend might be charged, but I don’t see a legal way out of it,” he said.

Vitor Dos Anjos ’21 said the problem isn’t with the school, but with the law.

“I think the problem is that the city of Swarthmore has the policy of immediately getting the police involved as soon as

an ambulance is called,” he said.

“If the ambulance is called and the person needs help, then the ambulance automatically breaks that person’s privacy rights by getting the police involved.”

Other schools had a dramatically discrepancies between alcohol arrests and violations: Williams reported four arrests and 343 violations; Middlebury one and 597, respectively. Hill did not comment directly on the comparison except for that every college is unique and has its own dynamics.

“It is difficult to address another institution’s statistics without knowledge of their institutional culture, policies, procedures, and the response and protocols from

Co-op, continued from A1 stores, like Target or Trader Joe’s, that offer cheaper prices on products,” Liao said.

Though the CO-OP is OneCardaccessible this school year, this summer, rumors erupted about the CO-OP losing its OneCard status. However, these rumors were quelled shortly before students returned to campus.

According to Paynter, the terms and agreements with the college had expired and renegotiations were made. Some of these renegotiations included the elimination of the 5 percent discount off all products for Swarthmore students. Yet Paynter believes

that the CO-OP’s new online engagement is more beneficial to students. Raffles, email subscription lists, and contests all give students the opportunity to score new coupons or discounts at the CO-OP. “I think [having the CO-OP on the OneCard] is a good way for college kids to be a part of the Swarthmore community. Students can benefit from a lot of things that the CO-OP offers that they don’t know about,” Paynter said.

Thomas Dailak ’21, a regular customer at the CO-OP, likes to shop at the CO-OP because of its vicinity to the college.

Students attend Equality Forum in Philly “I shop at the CO-OP because I like to cook and I need to buy ingredients somewhere. There [is] very limited supply of places where I can do that. For me, coming from New York, the prices [at the CO-OP] are pretty much what I’m used to,” Dailak said.

However, Dailak does believe that easier access to other grocery stores would lower costs for students.

“They [the CO-OP] know they’ve cornered the market on groceries, so I think that the prices would probably adjust as well if more students had other options for [grocery] shopping,” he said.

Though the school offers shuttle service to stores like Target, Giant, and Trader Joe’s, these stores are often less convenient due to the CO-OP’s close proximity to campus and its OneCard accessibility.

While criticisms of the CO-OP’s pricing persist, the CO-OP continues to play a significant role in both the borough and on campus.

Ryan Stanton / The Phoenix

Evangela Shread News Editor Robert Connor ’20 and Maya Henry ’20 introduced activist Malcolm Lazin at the 25th anniversary celebration of the Equality Forum, a nonprofit organization that seeks to advance LGBT civil rights and to educate people on issues concerning identity and

community. The event included an awards presentation and appearances by several notable activists. Lazin, who is the founder and executive director of the Equality Forum, believed that having students introduce the speakers was reflective of the project’s vision. “This project really was started in order to help to better inform … students, and

so to have students recognize those icons was very meaningful for everyone in the room,” he said. Lazin also expressed his confidence in the students’ generation. “I believe … that it’s your generation that will help to achieve equality and dignity for LGBTQ people, not only in our country but around the world,” he said.

ARTS

OCTOBER 12, 2017 PAGE A3

Through sound and shape: Alonzo King LINES Ballet performance Jessica Yang Arts Writer

Celebrated contemporary ballet company, Alonzo King LINES seeks to explore the possibilities of movement and instill new meanings to traditional ballet. The company was founded in 1982 and is guided by the unique artistic vision of Alonzo King. It performs pieces that combine contemporary ballet with cultural elements outside of dance. Renowned for his artistic visions as a choreographer and his skills as a teacher, King creates works that dazzle with their originality and transform the art ofballet and the performers alike.

On Thursday evening, the company performed “Biophony” in Lang Performing Arts Center. The piece was created in 2015 through collaboration with natural soundscape artist Bernie Krause and composer Richard Blackford. Called “riveting” by the San Francisco Chronicle, “Biophony” brought

to the Swarthmore audience a unique acoustic and visual experience. On stage, the dancers enacted strings of movements to a wildlife accompaniment, which ranged from crickets from the American Southwest to elephants from the Central African Republic.

While the music’s absence of clear rhythm imparted a fluid and amorphous effect on the movements, the form of classical ballet was obvious from the dancers’ articulation of each movement. The music’s defiance of conventions and ballet’s traditional emphasis on technique collided into a contemporary piece that both satisfied and defied expectations.

Louisa Carman ’21 attended the ballet and was enthralled.

“I particularly loved a duet that was set to elephant noises; it was interesting how some of the movement had the heavy, grounded quality of elephants, even while one of the dancers was being lifted into the

air. But at times I found the choreography to be somewhat static, where there was neither structure nor climax to the piece,” said Carman.

In “Biophony”, King’s artistic vision is conveyed both by the individual dancers’ energy and by the overall effect generated by the company. Changing their hand gestures and spinning their head with clear intention, the soloists attended to the most minute details and thereby vividly imitated the animals. By accentuating and combining each individual member’s artistic voice, the ensemble as a whole enacted the harmonic coexistence of various creatures. Dancers added their distinct flair to the same set of choreography; their dance in unison, although in which the movements were not perfectly synchronized, resulted in an organic harmony composed of each dancer’s personality. Rather than following a narrative sequence of rising action, climax, and resolu-

tion, “Biophony” mirrors the non-human voices that have informed, as the group explains on its website: “All of our music, our language, our sonic cultural expression”, and thereby celebrates the evolution of dance.”

Although dancers are the basic units of expression in “Biophony”, the choreographer’s intention and vision is palpable throughout the piece.

Meredith Webster, the current Ballet Master of LINES, strives to evoke every individual dancer’s inner light as she fulfills King’s artistic vision through rehearsals and performances.

“Qualities that make compelling artists are the same as the ones that make a fully realized person, and so I believe a dancer should pursue awareness, bravery, articulation, and generosity, on and off the dance floor,” Webster explained as she reflected back on her experience as a performer, a faculty member, and a choreographer at LINES.

Webster’s instructing approach in her Master Class on Thursday afternoon reflected her training philosophy. Not only did she push student dancers technically when they were learning the phrase work, but she also compelled them to divorce judgment of a movement from doing it. Using verbal cues to guide students, Webster encouraged them to let their inner voices inform their movements.

“Webster challenges her students to seek authenticity and bravery, to ask themselves ‘how can I do this movement’ and to willingly move from the inside out,” observed Olivia Sabee, assistant professor of dance.

The company’s second piece, “The Propelled Heart”, contrasts with “Biophony” in that its subject is one more intimate and familiar to the audience.

Accompanied by the resplendent voice of Grammy-winning vocalist Lisa Fischer, the sentimental ballet explored the expansions and constrictions

of hearts as humans venture in search for truth and growth.

The dancers expressed their own interpretation of the dance through variation in quality of their movements, and furthermore, established connectivity with each other through movements in canon and unison.

“I like it especially because I find the interactions between partners to be very touching.

The dancers really established a connection on stage, and the piece was a dialogue instead of a story,” commented Sophie Song ’20.

Both pieces dealt with evolution: the first with the culture of the human race, the second with the history of the human mind. But they are also an evolution for the performers in that they endeavor to unveil the internal initiation of movements by transcending the external form of ballet.

And thus, they led the audience on an exploratory journey and revealed new possibilities for ballet.

Board game night is a winner at Kitao Joe Mariani Arts Editor Kitao organized a board game night Friday for the frisky few who felt like having fun.

The appointed time came and then the people did, the repurposed fraternity illuminated with soft but sufficient lighting, its walls reverberating with the sounds of a Motown playlist curated by Amal Sagal ’19. Students played Mousetrap until they realized their set was missing several critical parts. Others tried to figure out the rules to a card game with cards that were just identical drawings of cats. Several rounds of competitive team charades were presided over by charades master Dan Bidikov ’19. A match of Mafia was also conducted, presided over by mafia god Nick Barton ’19 .

Kitao board member Celine Anderson ’19 explained that the event was a new idea for KItao that emerged out of a larger effort to use their space to facilitate events that build community on campus through the diverse - though not always interconnected - arts community.

“Lots of different students are involved in the arts on campus, though they do not necessarily know each other.

With board games you can’t act like you’re too cool; you need to embrace the situation en-

thusiastically,” said Anderson.

Anderson also noted that the hot chocolate and fancy cookies Kitao provided to guests drew people to the happening and pointed out that the art from first-year student showcase was still tastefully displayed in a gallery now also filled with chairs, both the metal and bean-bag kinds.

Board member of Kitao Maral Gaeeni ’18 talked to our reporter while she tried to finagle the mousetrap set together before finally relenting.

“I think this went really well.

I was really happy with the turnout,” she said.

Indeed, one of the most notable aspects of the event was the rate at which people unfamiliar with each other introduced themselves and mingled with others in the ongoing activity. Groups of friends and even solo individuals arrived, usually with smiles on their faces, and began participating in whatever was going on or else conversing with the other people around them. As friends separated from each other to go to other engagements that evening, it became clear that no one was very familiar with each other but everyone was acting genuinely friendly.

Scribbling furiously, Bobby Pileggi ’21 had his nose deep in a spiral bound notebook, with his ballpoint in hand, sitting on the floor of kitao. Pileggi had

Sci by the by

by Andi Cheng

never previously attended an event at Kitao, and while not particularly participating in the board games, he gave our reporter the below poem he wrote in the creatively conducive environment that was the night of the board games.

“He thought he was destined to be an honest and a great man, not an artist (not because artists are not great, but because they’re not honest), though possessing artistic abilities, optimistic, cheerful and brave and powerfully intelligent, extraordinarily nice and gentle in all domicile-based interactions, purely motivated, loyal in friendship, abiding in love and possessing qualities especially endearing to little children and old women.”

Pileggi’s poem along with the thriving events that have been happening at Kitao indicates the improved engagement on the part of creative swarthmore students with the larger campus arts community.

The participatory events Kitao has been holding, first the tote bag decorating celebration and now this creative genius of a participatory arts event, it seems like many happy events will continue to grace the gallery of Kitao this semester and beyond.

Joe Mariani/ The Phoenix

Indigenous students, continued from A1 committed to supporting their efforts and advocating for their needs,” he said. “As a person who has experienced marginalization and excision from academic spaces, I know how painful it can be to have your entire existence invalidated. Thus, ​I support and appreciate the recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day as part of the overall celebration of Latinx Heritage Month.”

Rivera later stated that he apologized to SISA about how the event unfolded, and reiterated his commitment to Indigenous students at the college.

Representatives of SISA also gave their perspective on the events surrounding the moment of silence in a statement to the

Phoenix.

“When administration was presented with a situation where they had to choose between giving limited platform to a weekly routine of pervasive white culture or a one-time, 15-minute long opportunity of recognition to Indigenous and Latinx students, administrators chose the side of whiteness, and continued the erasure and silencing of Indigenous peoples,” said the group.

“We feel less and less comfortable at this school every time these things happen. We felt particularly hurt that such senseless and hurtful remarks came from the person who is supposed to be our advocate. We felt unsurprised that he was put in this position by

other white administrators. But we are resilient.”

SISA later released a post on Facebook the next day with a list of demands for administration to better serve the needs of Indigenous students on campus.

The demands included a commitment to recruit and admit more Indigenous students, hire an Indigenous IC staff member, create an Indigenous studies special major, remove the US flag from Parrish, actively encourage classes on Indigenous students in all departments, and fund flights to and from home.

The full post that further elaborates on each demand can be found on SISA’s Facebook page.

THE PHOENIX ARTS

PAGE A4

Art as a force of change

By Abraham Lyon Arts Writer

On Thursday, Oct. 5, the environmental studies program, the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility and the arts department co-hosted an event called “Imagine!

Art, Environment and Social Change.” The interdisciplinary panel presentation and discussion featured three women who work at the intersection of art, the environment and justice.

The three panelists were Ciara Williams ’16, environmental educator at Mural Arts Philadelphia, Syd Carpenter, professor of art, and Cinder Hypki, community artist and organizer in Baltimore. Each speaker brought insight into the multifaceted idea of change through art.

While Mural Arts Philadelphia works on a diverse set of projects, one of their main goals is to connect artists and community members in order to create collaborative murals.

Ciara Williams works with communities to engage members in the process of reimagining environmental and social issues through art. Murals with distinct environmental imagery can affect how communities view problems such as trash and litter.

“I believe in order to undergo transformation of the city and ourselves we have to first understand what structures influence the way we experience our environment. It goes beyond individual action and

inaction. We must ask ourselves whose communities are most at risk and who is in a position to benefit from the risk imposed upon others. This is where my background as an environmental activist and educator comes into play,” Williams said.

For Williams and Mural Arts Philadelphia, public art is about challenging preconceptions and igniting change. The concepts of the city and the people are inseparable. Public art helps bridge the conceptual disconnect between physical structures and community. Art allows people to better connect with the environment and understand that the environment is far closer than it appears.

Carpenter reimagines the environment through her artwork. Working with forms she witnesses around her, she transforms them into sculpture, challenging our conceptions of shape and identity.

“This is a series that came out of looking at leaves and I thought, ‘what if you blew into a leaf and it expanded and became a three-dimensional form?’. That leaf then kind of becomes like an animal or a beast. I get these different kinds of shapes and forms out of looking at [a] two-dimensional, flat thing that moves,” said Carpenter.

The idea of reimagining an object’s form forces us to reconsider, in this case, what a leaf is and how its form relates to its meaning. Through the process of engaging with Carpenter’s art, we can begin to

see the scope and vastness of the concept “leaf”. By breathing life into her artforms, Carpenter gives social and political power to material objects.

“I’m interested in movement because in the garden, everything is moving. Even when you don’t think it is, it’s moving. I want my pieces to reflect that sense of constant change. It’s very seductive to me and reflects my thinking about how these forms move and live...there’s this kind of silence around them, but it’s this cacophony of form that is really attractive to me,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter employed her method to explore the topic of black farmers in the present day. After visiting and meeting with many farming families, Carpenter constructed a series of ceramic and steel sculptures that portray and rethink the history and present condition of black farmers in the South.

Her exhibition “More Places of Our Own” was displayed at the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

Hypki works a community artist. She sees her medium as the people she works with and last Thursday, the audience was her palette. She asked each of us to find someone we didn’t know and tell them about a time we made a difference, in the broadest sense. The room burst into noise as members of the audience paired up to discuss through example what it means to make a difference.

Hypki challenged us to open up

and consider change through the art of human connection.

“There isn’t hope for the future unless we forge a collective vision together and we can’t forge a vision together unless we connect with other people, including other people that we don’t know, including other people that make us uncomfortable because they might be different from us...Connection is really difficult unless we are coming from a place of creative self-expression, unless we are in touch with our gut, unless we understand our spiritual grounding, unless we know where we are and where we are headed,” Hypki said.

Giovanna Di Chiro, environmental studies professor, organized the event in order to bridge the gap between the arts and social and environmental justice. The panelists, through their discussion, worked to portray the power of an interdisciplinary approach in the ‘real world’ outside of Swarthmore.

“I thought immediately of the famous quote (usually attributed to Brecht) that ‘Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.’ Each of the panelists engages with their art as a way to imagine and shape a more just and sustainable world through creative media, whether it’s studio art, community or citizen arts, or art as environmental education,” Di Chiro said.

The idea of art as an active agent and not as a passive object was at the thematic center

OCTOBER 12, 2017

of the discussion. Art, deftly wielded, can shape more than individual consciousness. It can hammer at the collective. This idea allows art to step outside of its own discipline and become a catalyst for social and environmental justice.

“I think the title of Cinder Hypki’s presentation conveys this well: ‘No Justice Without Creativity, Connection, Collective Vision, Hope for the Future.’ I think that blending art and environment studies is an exciting way to create synergies between the arts, humanities, and the natural sciences, something that is essential to the mission of the liberal arts and is more necessary than ever as the world faces greater social and environmental challenges requiring greater leaps of imagination,” said Di Chiro.

Katie Price, assistant director for co-curricular programming and outreach at the Lang Center, teaches a class called Materials that Matter: Environmental Literature in the Anthropocene that studies the intersection of art and environment.

“In thinking about the intersection of art and environment in particular, art is particularly important in that it helps us to see what is not naturally visible and to contemplate what cannot be communicated.

The three artists at the event showed us how art moves in different ways: Syd Carpenter’s work positions black farms at eye-level, Cinder Hypki’s work places community hopes visibly

within cities, Ciara Williams’ work postures public spaces as sites for environmental justice,” Price said.

Art can give a voice to environments that often seem voiceless: leaves, black farms, impoverished communities, and urban public spaces are just examples. We can think about this sort of art as a collaboration between environment and human where neither is the sole creator. It’s not only humans giving voice to an environment through art but also that environment speaking through the art.

“I agree with political scientist Jane Bennett, who writes in Vibrant Matter that humans have ‘the ethical task [...] to cultivate the ability to discern nonhuman vitality, to become perpetually open to it’. To study the intersection of art and environment is to pay attention to the ‘nonhuman vitality’ of the materials around us.

How might we act differently after art moves our attention to the strength of a sculpture, the robustness of a rock, or the intensity of an incinerator? Art has a vibrant materiality that moves us to change,” said Price.

Art can inspire conversation and help us reimagine the way we see the world. It forces us to confront the proximity of the environment and to see objects around us as more than lifeless matter. Art can be a real sociopolitical actant that inspires significant change.

Dashing into trouble: a memorable DJ show at the Olde Club Cristopher Alvarado Arts Writer

On Friday night, the reverberating hip-hop bass and flurry of freestyling bars escaping from the southeast side of campus called to everyone looking to have a good time.

About an hour into the DJ Show at the Olde Club, no one would have speculated that a chill night for the Swat students, looking to drink and dance the stress of midterms away with friends, would have gone so awry. Working my first shift as part of the school’s Swat Team, I was one of the “bouncers” being vigilant for the night, scanning IDs at the entrance and later on guarding the back entrance in my neon yellow T-shirt. It was the type of event that should’ve gone on without a hitch, blaring bass consuming those present in a frenzy of adrenaline. The hype built gradually but persistently by the Swarthmore performers, Azikiwea Green ’18 and Tiyé Pulley ’19.

As my second time attending an event at the Olde Club (the first being the electrifying performance by Diet Cig), my expectations for this next event were set decently high. Having arrived early for my shift, I witnessed the slow trickle of students enter the space. Azikiwea Green held down the front during this time with his signature mumble rapping, stepping into his own element despite the small crowd. However, it wasn’t until half an hour into the event that the energy really began gaining momentum. Tiye Pulley’s great song curations had the crowd letting loose and jumping for more. As intimate of a space as Olde Club can be, there was so much going in the moment.

Elsher Abraham ’18 who was featured in an impromptu rendition of “25&8”, a campus favorite amongst his friends who were well represented in the crowd describe the reasons for his own fondness for Olde Club.

“It was a lot of fun. Good to see the student body enjoying themselves in an alternate setting, enjoying music and all that,” said Abraham.

Throughout the night many students were gathered outside olde club dancing in the grass and making each other laugh.

Once such student, Sahir Nambiar ’18 explained the appeal of the outdoors part of old-club to

students attending shows.

“I spent most of the night in the courtyard rather than indoors. That’s what ends up happening a lot of the time when I go to Olde Club. I think the outdoor area is a particular strength of the venue. You can take a break from the heat and crowd inside, but you can still hear the music, and the atmosphere is social and well-populated without feeling overly sweaty,” said Nambiar.

The main performer for the night, Quay Dash, a transgender rapper from New York City, had not arrived at the venue by her call time, 11:00 p.m. I was informed that I should keep a lookout and let Quay Dash and her companions up into the balcony to set up as soon as they arrived. Those on the dance floor were feeling the music, but after about half an

hour, there was still no new artist on stage and lots of students had begun to lose interest.

Finally, 45 minutes after her initial call time, I heard a knock behind me. After opening the back door entrance, the main organizer led Quay Dash and her companion, possibly her manager, up the balcony to prepare for her set. By then, about half of the crowd, if not more, had had their fair share of partying and had left elsewhere on campus. When Quay Dash appeared on stage, it seemed as if everyone but her was ready to get started.

After announcing that she didn’t really want to be at the venue, she went straight into her performance. The lively, eccentric beats booming through the speakers behind her, Dash accompanied it with her aggressive, no-BS flow and

delivery seemed to re-energize the crowd. Nonetheless, in between songs, she would suddenly rant, declaring the place as “dry as f***” and adamantly demanding some hard booze like vodka. At some point during her performance, she was handed a beer and she still seemed unsatisfied. By the end of the fourth song, she declared that she “wasn’t really feeling it” and would end her set early.

In unfortunate fashion, in the middle of this song, the sound accidentally cut off. Quay Dash announced “That’s it” and walked off the stage and out of the front entrance. She never re-entered the building.

The behavior that was exhibited throughout the entire performance was not only downright shocking, but made me lose a little respect for her as an artist. To publicly trash her

audience and the institution we have all worked tremendously hard to attend was humiliating and clearly marked her priorities as someone who performs for her own monetary gain, not for enjoyment of her audience.

The fact that she couldn’t acknowledge that someone in the crowd very well may have been looking forward to her performance was disappointing on all accounts.

Jesediah, another co-headliner for the show, was ready to perform just a couple minutes behind schedule, given Quay Dash’s short set. Nonetheless, his appreciation for the few that had remained despite the spoiled mood reflected humility that deserved much more than the crowd he had listening to his sweet, mellow auto-tuned voice that night. Exhausted, I chose to wait outside with

a couple other Swat team members after the events that had unfolded. The evening was complete and over a hundred students had attended the DJ show. At 1:00 a.m. I was ready to head back to my dorm, having had a good time considering I was getting paid but there was simply no shaking Quay Dash’s performance from my mind.

Dina Ginzburg, a student musician on campus, stated with brevity and lucidity the contradictions that lay at the heart of my ambiguous feelings.

“The music was good! And quay dash was a little mean,” Ginzberg said.

Perhaps we can remember in this busy midterm week that even professional artists have off-days.

Joe Mariani/ The Phoenix

OPINIONS

OCTOBER 12, 2017 PAGE A5

On the role of PubSafe As the first half of the semester has gone by, returning students have noticed changes in the way that Public Safety has been interacting with students, from specific changes like PubSafe’s official Building Patrol Notice as well as general shifts in campus drinking

LAURA WAGNER WORDS BY WAGNER culture that are attributed to stricter enforcement of drinking policies by Public Safety.

These changes inspire reflection on what kind of campus students want to have, and whether it is attainable in the fact of campus policies and state laws. Public Safety’s job, first and foremost, is to keep students safe, and I am incredibly grateful that I feel like I can walk alone at night around campus and have someone to call if I was in an emergency.

However, recent shifts feel like they have crossed a line from keeping students safe to keep-

causes. I personally make sure to lock my door whenever my roommate and I aren’t in our building. It’s more secure to keep doors locked, and prevents all of the valuables I keep in my room, which include textbooks, old t-shirts from high school cross country, and several bottles of nail polish, safe. Students should have the right to decide whether or not they value the convenience of having their room unlocked more than the added safety.

Swarthmore is supposed to be a close-knit community, and dorm residents should be able to determine for themselves if they trust their dorm-mates enough to leave their door unlocked while they go to do laundry or even out for a jog.

Public Safety should find a way to promote door locking and not leaving items unattended without going into dorms and locking doors and taking students items. If a student leaves their laptop on the main floor of McCabe while they walk to

Shelby Dolch/ The Phoenix

ing them in line.

The Building Patrol Notice has the best of intentions: get students to stop leaving their expensive items around campus and make them lock their doors. These are noble

another floor to use the restroom, they shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not it will be there when it gets back.

I certainly didn’t until it became official policy for PubSafe to take it if they choose; I trust

my peers to both not take my stuff and to notice if someone who wasn’t a student tried to walk off with it. Swarthmore students are adults, and when I visited Swarthmore as a junior in high school, it seemed like I would be treated as such.

At that time, unbeknownst to me, the culture of drinking on campus was beginning to change. The DJ fund had been phased out, and the College was no longer funding PubNite either. Today, in my second year, I find the drinking culture here chilling. For many students, the average drinking options are the large parties thrown by the frats or whatever campus group is hosting in Paces, or drinking in their dorms. Public Safety has also been cracking down on drinking in academic buildings, which would make it impossible for even a small group of students to go to Trotter on a Saturday and drink wine while playing cards or another casual and non-disruptive game. The requirement for parties of 10 attendees and over to be registered means that a student who wants to get together with nine friends would not only have to register the party, but take on the legal responsibility for whether or not attendees under 21 consume alcohol. Because the hosts of registered parties are legally responsible for attendees of their parties, smaller parties are harder to host despite being much safer than a party at DU. If PubSafe came to a small registered party without being called and an attendee under 21 was drinking, it is much easier for the College to prove that the host knowingly allowed that person to drink illegally, which would have massive ramifications for that person. Conversely, there is a lot of plausible deniability for the hosts of all-campus par-

PHOENIX

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ties because of the size of the parties and the fact that they are open to campus. Everyone knows that people under twenty-one are being served beer at open parties, yet a host of a small party takes on a higher degree of risk despite the much lower risk involved in a small, casual get-together compared to a packed frat party. The focus for Public Safety and the College should be on mitigating risk. Making it difficult for small parties to happen when they are safe outlets for students to drink does a disservice to students on this campus.

Carding students and confiscating alcohol from dorms also goes against the idea of mitigating risk and keeping students safe, but if students fear Public Safety, they will not go to them when they actually need help.

The national drinking age and state laws also are incredibly problematic in keeping students safe. The drinking age was raised to 21 because of lobbying by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to prevent drunk driving deaths.

Pennsylvania does not provide medical amnesty for students who are ill due to the effects of alcohol. The enforcement of the drinking age on Swarthmore’s campus is of course, the law, but ignores the intent of the law. Students at Swarthmore’s campus don’t drive for the most part. About ten percent of students have cars, and approximately zero percent of students need a car to get from their dorm to Paces on a Saturday night. The drinking age has been effective in preventing drunk driving, according to the NIH, and that has absolutely saved lives and is good for society. However, walking under the influence of Angry Orchard has not harmed anyone, and as someone who

Lauren Knudson Ganesh Setty Kwate Quartey Bobby Zipp

Editor-In-Chief Managing Editor Managing Editor Editor Emeritus

NEWS Shreya Chattopadhyay Editor Evangela Shread Editor

SYDNEY COVITZ COLUMNIST We are six weeks into the semester, and an aggregate of stress can be found formulating in the basement of Cornell Library. Sleep-deprived Swatties dragging their feet to 8 a.m. classes and running on three hours of sleep frequent the pathways between Kohlberg and Sci, and mumblings of various assignments fly across the long wooden tables at Sharples.

It doesn’t help that we are well into midterms season with tests, papers, and presentations flying at us faster than that yellow sponge on the screen spits out nonsensical phrases while

flipping Krabby Patties.

I got here last year, and honestly didn’t know what to expect. When classes started, I worked a little too hard for a pass-fail freshman, trying to balance soccer, school, and the whirlwind that is living on your own for the first time. On the bus ride back from one of our first away games, in true student-athlete fashion, my teammates and I pulled out our backpacks, turned on our phone flashlights, and prepared to power through a few hours of homework. Five minutes into the ride, someone put SpongeBob on the TV; the reading ground to a halt. As the textbooks and laptops closed, laughter ensued.

We watched more episodes than I can count on that bus ride, the blaring noises characteristic of Nickelodeon shows mingling with the suppressed

giggles of the team. Did I get any reading done? No. Was it a productive experience? Absolutely.

Productivity, defined by Swatties and economists, is measured by the effectiveness of productive effort, especially in industry, as measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input. But there is another critical factor that should be included into this equation. Work can be fun — in fact, Swatties can often find the joy in intellectualism — but the mind-numbing ignorance that is SpongeBob makes you smile in a purely uncomplicated fashion. That feeling is often underestimated and far more powerful than most people believe.

In high school, I would plan my time largely around school and soccer; I don’t think I ever considered adding an hour of

A dive into the archives “Student Council endorses Black studies major, supports revival of ad hoc committee” February 29, 1972

“Islamic cultural studies program lags” April 24, 2003 “Student Council to explore course requirements” March 25, 1975

EDITORIAL In light of recent events on campus, the editorial board figured it would be worth digging into past issues of the Phoenix printed decades ago to see what students back then had been writing about the college. Surprisingly, some of the headlines were just as fitting then as they are now. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, change has come to Swarthmore much slower than previously thought.

“Freeze thaws for tuition; Bookstore sets price hike” September 21, 1971 “Social Committee plans fall calendar; administration quashes concert ideas” October 1, 1971

“SAGA food service proposes new design to reduce overcrowding” September 25, 1981 “Bike thefts reported” October 16, 1981 “The time to divest is now” February 26, 1982 “Racial slur found carved into table” March 20, 2003 “Students in dire need of space, events” September 24, 1999 “Comm members, Student Council, activists charge inertia of student input” February 20, 1973

pure relaxation — in any form — to my schedule. Ironically, it took coming to college for me to learn the importance of making time to “chill out.”

Coming into Swat, I had seen a few episodes of SpongeBob and had basically branded it as a ridiculous show that probably lowered the IQ of the watcher.

When a girl on our team pulled out a DVD of SpongeBob on the bus ride, I was a little confused.

Did intellectual, highbrow Swatties engage in such childish, rudimentary forms of entertainment? I quickly learned that some of the best ones do.

Honestly, the world and Swat could use a little more SpongeBob. Not all the time — ignoring that which is real and critically important is not something for which I would ever advocate. That said, taking a break, when possible, is absolutely necessary.

PHOTOGRAPHY Grace Zhang Editor Shelby Dolch Editor LAYOUT Emma Giordano Editor

ARTS NEWS Joe Mariani Editor

COPY Gina Goosby Chief Editor

CAMPUS JOURNAL Jasmine Rashid Editor Emma Walker Editor

BUSINESS Ryan Kennedy Manager DIGITAL OPERATIONS Ellen Liu Editor Matt Parker Editor

OPINIONS Ryan Stanton Editor

is old enough to vote, join the military, and buy fireworks, I think I should be able to have a freaking hard cider without the full force of the law interrupting my fun. [Author’s note: I promise to neither vote or use fireworks under the influence.] The college should only devote resources to enforcing the drinking age if it keeps students safe, and as it stands, enforcing the drinking age incentivizing unsafe drinking practices.

Students pregame hard in their dorms with hard liquor and then go out because of stricter enforcement. Pregaming is dangerous, because it mainly features hard alcohol and students attempt to drink quickly so they can go out and actually experience the party. Strict enforcement of the drinking age pushes students into hiding in secrecy, and fear of citation makes them not want to call for help if they need it. The current amnesty policy, that the caller gets am-

Sometimes, Swatties could use a little SpongeBob.

I’ll admit that Swat and SpongeBob, although alliterative, are not at all synonymous.

Though maybe, in some ways, they should be.

SPORTS Ping Promrat Editor Jack Corkery Editor

It doesn’t have to be SpongeBob. If pineapples under the sea don’t do it for you, then listen to music, go for a walk or a jog or a run in the Crum.

Do something with your time that isn’t related to academics, some extracurricular activity you joined, or an internship you are trying to get — something that stimulates zero percent of your brain and possesses no intellectual value.

Personally, I like SpongeBob because sometimes it’s nice to spend a few minutes looking at something so ridiculously laughable you cannot help but grin and giggle.

I’m not sure if anyone actually reads this column, but if you do, please use it as a reminder to take care of yourself. No matter how much is on your plate, you deserve to treat yourself, to engage with something that leaves you unequivo-

nesty, means nothing because students are still hesitant to cause their friend to get cited if it turns out the situation was not as serious as they thought.

Public Safety and the State of Pennsylvania should make students feel like it’s better to be safe than sorry when calling for help.

As I go through my twentieth year of life, I increasingly find it frustrating that the College, Public Safety, and the government do not think I’m old enough to decide for myself whether or not I can drink an alcoholic beverage, and that Public Safety believes that taking students items in the name of protecting them from theft would do anything besides increase tensions between the student body and Public Safety.

At least they gave us promotional fidget spinners!

cally happy.

The best time to share a striped sweater is all the time.

Random? For sure. Pointless?

Not at all.

w

Letters and Op-Ed Policy Letters and opinion pieces represent the views of their writers and not those of the Phoenix staff or Editorial Board. The Phoenix reserves the right to edit all pieces submitted for print publication for length clarity, and factual accuracy. The Phoenix does not edit op-ed or letter submissions for content. The Phoenix also reserves the right to withhold any letters or op-eds from publication.

The Phoenix does not accept anonymous submissions of letters or op-eds. The senior editors may choose to publish submissions without the writer’s name in exceptional circumstances. In no case will the Phoenix publish the name of anyone submitting a letter or op-ed with a request for anonymous publication. Letters may be signed by a maximum of five individuals. Op-eds may be signed by a maximum of two individuals. The Phoenix will not accept pieces exclusively attributed to groups, although individual writers may request that their group affiliation be included.

Please submit letters and report corrections to: editor@swarthmorephoenix.com or The Phoenix Swarthmore College 500 College Avenue Swarthmore, PA 19081

THE PHOENIX OPINIONS

PAGE A6

OCTOBER 12, 2017

W course for int’l students has promise

Several weeks ago, I received an e-mail inviting all international students to meet with Dr. Natalie Mera Ford, who currently serves as a Swarthmore’s Multilingual Writing Specialist.

As an international student, I was interested in how collegelevel writing in the US differ from that in other countries, especially here at Swarthmore where every student must take at least three writing courses in two distinct disciplines in order to graduate. Moreover, because most of my professors had yet assigned any major essay (an indication that they soon would), I believed it would be useful to

PEEM LERDPUTTIPONGPORN COLUMNIST know beforehand the challenges international students often face while attuning their writing skills to the level expected at Swarthmore. Therefore, I attended the session and was surprised: some international students did not have trouble with their writing skill or their writing fluency as much as with the academic writing norms to which they have no prior exposure.

Before addressing anything further, I would like to define two terms pertinent to our discussion: writing skill and writing fluency. This article defines writing skill as the ability to formulate a grammatically correct sentence.

The greater one’s writing skill is, the fewer grammatical mistakes one makes while conveying an idea. Standardized English exams evaluate students primarily on this area. On the other hand, writing fluency refers to how natural one feels while crafting sentences with appropriate syntax and word choice. Indeed, all fluent writers make minor grammatical mistakes once in awhile, but we would still call those writers fluent if those grammatical mistakes do not significantly

interfere with the message they wish to convey. Hence, writing skill does not correlate with writing fluency. With these definitions established, I will explain why writing skill and writing fluency do not trouble international students at Swarthmore as much as some may assume.

First, because the admission process at Swarthmore is extremely selective, it is highly unlikely that non-proficient English users could enter the institution. To elaborate, Swarthmore tests its applicants’ English proficiency on several instances before offering them an acceptance letter. Numerically, applicants demonstrate their English skill through their GPA and their standardized test scores (e.g.

SAT, ACT, TOEFL, and so on).

Pragmatically, they demonstrate how fluent they are as an English writer through their personal essays via Common Application.

On top of that, some applicants may be interviewed by Swarthmore admission in English. These rigorous admission process applies to all students at Swarthmore, domestic or international.

Therefore, we could assume that international students have an English proficiency equivalent to that level of native English speakers.

Second, the learning environment at Swarthmore is conducive to the development of English skill. At the most superficial level, all classes except foreign language are conducted in English at Swarthmore. Every day, students read texts in English, listen to lectures in English, and complete the homework their professors assigned in English.

At the more meaningful level, we analyze, criticize, and synthesize every claim we come across as we embrace the spirit of liberal arts education, all in English. In other words, because the amount of reading, listening, and speaking in English required in this institution is tremendous, every

Shelby Dolch/ The Phoenix

Swarthmore student develops their writing skill, their writing fluency, and other areas of English proficiency as a result.

Thus, even if you do not buy into the argument set forth in the previous paragraph and still believe international students are somewhat less proficient than native English users, the gap between the former and the latter will eventually diminish thanks to Swarthmore education.

However, based on the conversation I had with my international friends, Dr. Mera Ford, and people who worked closely with international students, the consensus is that even though a significant number of international students believe they are proficient in English, they do not feel confident in their writing ability as much as they should. As mentioned earlier, such lack of confidence arises because some of the international students do not know how Swarthmore professors expect them to write.

Although this problem applies to other student populations as it affects international students in particular: the latter may internalize the blame, believing they struggle because of their inferior writing ability even though such explanation is untrue. Culture significantly affects how one writes. This article will now provide several examples to support the claim and put forth some possible solutions.

To begin, the first major problem is that, whereas the writing at Swarthmore emphasizes content and clarity, the writing style with which some international students are familiar focuses on the beauty of the language. My experience in Thai education system warrants this claim. In Thailand, students learn Thai as their first language. By the age of six, the age they presumably have a solid foundation in Thai language, they will start studying English. English, therefore, is not a first language for the majority of Thai students. To determine how knowledgeable each student is in English and reduce the potential gap in knowledge, Thai teachers focus upon the language usage in an essay rather than the content. Thai education, in essence, values big words over small words, indirect over direct communication, and rhetorical beauty over logical clarity. In contrast, to write well in American settings, one must be as clear and concise as possible. I, along with many international students I know, struggle tremendously while transitioning from the former writing style to the latter. In essence, such difference in writ-

Shelby Dolch/ The Phoenix

ing culture between the United States and other countries cause some international students to focus more on the language and less on the content, which is contrary to what Swarthmore professors prefer.

Another major problem regarding the expected norm of writing is citation. In some countries, citation is not expected. Rarely are students in those countries penalized for failing to cite properly. The opposite applies to the United States: one could face a serious academic probation from failing to cite oneself, let alone other authors. One of my international friends once told me that she felt awkward every time she cited because citation is not “a thing” in her country. To exacerbate this issue, because there exist so many citation formats (e.g. MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.), chances are students unfamiliar to the citation culture forget to cite or fail to cite properly. Indeed, neither forgetting to cite nor failing to cite properly indicates how skillful or fluent one’s writing proficiency is. Rather, they reflect how cultural difference could potentially impact international students’ ability to write.

Lastly, the last problem pertains to the extent to which Swarthmore students use the writing resources Swarthmore offers. To answer this question, I created a survey with several questions regarding each student’s writing experience from “How confident are you in your writing skills?” to “What are your writing background prior to entering Swarthmore?” To make pertinent to our discussion, only

the data gathered from surveys international students complete will be reported in this article.

One of the survey questions asks students to describe how content they feel towards the writing resources Swarthmore offers on the scale of 1 to 5 (1 = Not at all, 5 = Nothing to complain). Another asks how often they use those resources through similar scale (1 = Never use them, 5 = Use them whenever I could). Interestingly, eleven responses to the first question fall between 3 to 5, which means they believe Swarthmore, at the very least, provides sufficient resources on writing. However, when asked how often they use those resources, six responses fall either into 1 or 2, indicating that half of the surveyed students barely, if never at all, utilize those resources. Some justification include: “I procrastinate to the last minute, so I don’t have enough time to visit any WAs”; “I feel no need to use it”; “I am simply too busy.” Even more interestingly, for students who have taken or are taking a writing class, more than half believe the taking writing course does not help improve their writing skill as much as they had initially expected. Few even argue the non-writing courses they have taken improve their writing skill and fluency more than the Waccredited courses. Also, whereas two-thirds struggle with expressing ideas clearly and citing properly, virtually every student has problem with spending too much time on writing.

Overall, even though this survey by no means represents the general consensus among

international students because of its small sample size, we still learn that some students know the writing resources exist but do not use them for several reasons. Common struggles among international students include spending too much time on writing, expressing ideas clearly, and citing properly, with the last two pertaining specifically to international students. How should we solve these problems?qqq First, every class should make explicit what style of writing the class expects every of its students to adopt: if students worry less about how to write, they could devote more time into thinking what to write. Second, Swarthmore should provide sessions on citation, plagiarism, and basic writing processes, and so forth to all students who are interested. Indeed, because not every student who struggles with writing could take the Transition to College writing class, it is essential that these sessions be provided early so that the struggling students could fix whatever problems they may have with writing before taking more advanced, writing-heavy courses.

Lastly, students and Writing Center should reach out to one another more. Perhaps, if the Writing Center has more flexible operating hours, students will be encouraged to use the center more. Writing is difficult. Addressing these issues will make writing way easier.

Group of indigenous students speaks on protests of injustice ANONYMOUS

Swarthmore is often referred to as a bubble, separate from the outside world, but for many marginalized groups this campus is simply an incubator. Swarthmore is not immune to issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, colonialism and the preference of funds over people’s wellbeing. This institution mirrors America in this regard.

Indigenous students at this college wish to demonstrate that we do in fact have a presence on this campus, and that our voices, indigenous voices, need to be recognized. Our existence is meaningful and our pain did not stop in 1776 with the ousting of the british, colonization did not end in 1825 when the Western hemisphere was freed from ‘colonial’ rule, our suffering did not end with the trail of tears, our oppression did not end when we were made citizens.

Settler-colonialism itself has no end. After 525 years we still feel the pain of Columbus and we still feel the weight of America on our backs. So we burn the flag.

Let us quickly outline the fact that this was not the first chosen route to have our needs met. Swarthmore College has

unfortunately time and again invalidated our existence and without apology, upheld settlercolonialism. The student group associated with indigeneity on campus was granted a student space after long negotiations with members of administration. We met opposition in that administrators said they did not want to give a space to a group that is not consistently active.

In fact they’re right, Indigenous students on this campus have never been consistently active as an identity group and seem to have not existed on this campus until the 1990s. The irony of this, of course, is that we have been historically barred from opportunities that give one access to Swarthmore and Swarthmore has historically chosen not to recruit and admit Native American and more broadly indigenous students. In fact, we have almost always made up less one percent of each incoming class. Is this because Native students simply do not apply? Maybe, but blatant racism, stereotyping and prejudice in the admissions office has also been demonstrated.We have not forgotten that in November of 2014 - less than three years ago - Swarthmore’s Director of

Admissions JT Duck said that Native high school students are “not academically qualified for Swarthmore”.

Indigenous students at Swarthmore also considered the fact that many Native students may not want to apply to the college because the institution makes no effort to ensure that we have a place here, as Admissions so freely admitted a few years ago. Within the past few weeks the space that we fought to have was vandalized, and the bias incident report never resolved. Then on Columbus Day, an administrator accused us, the indigenous students, of stealing space in the same way land and life was taken from us.

Anyone would be enraged by one of these events, in combination we remain resolved in our protest of this country, this system, and this institution. There is a clear trend of this institution neglecting Indigenous students, and it is up to Swarthmore College to change it.

One aspect of this is having an advocate of our own. In Spring of 2016 Native students met with President Valerie Smith asking, once again, to prioritize hiring a Native American staff or faculty

member. We also asked that admissions pay more attention to recruiting and admitting Native students. The freshman class of 2021 has only one Indigenous identifying student and there have been no efforts made to hire a single culturally indigenous faculty or staff member that we have been made aware of. Our voices, yet again, have been left for the wind.

In the greater world, indigenous folks regularly work exponentially harder than those in power for our voices to be heard.

We often represent a small portion of national populations, but it is important to remember that these numbers that many use to deem us as insignificant are the result of a genocide, that the systems that count us for their census were built on top of our lands, and in opposition to our existence. Burning a nation’s flag is a demonstration born out of frustration. When respectability politics do not allow your voice to be heard, you must take action to ensure that your voice is heard. Historically when people of color make our voices heard, we are seen as aggressive. So be it. We hope that our actions will be met largely with understand-

ing, but when they are met with discomfort, our hope is then that you will think critically about what established values told you to be uncomfortable with this type of protest, and why we would oppose them. Ruminate on the gap between our lived experiences.

For many indigenous people the first step is recognition in any regard. We need to be recognized as human beings, as cultures that still exist, that we are a vast array of people and histories and we are also in solidarity with each other. We want our history to be recognized, our history that is separate from any US history.

Our history is many histories, they are indigenous stories of trial and turmoil and beauty and success. We face genocide and yet we survive. The US history is a colonial history, a history of slavery and racism, it’s a history of genocide and a history of propaganda. The legitimacy of the United States is not a given, Manifest Destiny is not real, and the American Flag can be burned.

We burn the American flag not just for ourselves, but for our ancestors who died because of that flag. We burn it for our indigenous siblings across the globe

and for all of the people across the globe exploited by the United States and other Western imperialist states, caught in between their wars. We burn the flag for our kinfolk here on these lands we love, the other marginalized groups we are offering our solidarity to, hoping they offer it in return. We burn this flag because we want you to know it’s not just you who is angry and fighting against this broader oppressive apparatus: we are too.

We hope if nothing else, that this act will help you question your country, your school, your identity, and the hegemony we all live under. We hope you will examine how your life may contribute to the colonization of these lands. And we remind you that any group that wishes to take a position of neutrality on indigenous people, anyone who is not recognizing our existence, or not including us in your conversations or on your syllabi those groups are complicit in an on-going genocide. A genocide we stand against, a genocide that is led by the state represented by the United States flag.

HAVE SOMETHING ON YOUR MIND?

The Phoenix is always accepting Op-Ed submissions.

Send your 800-1200 word piece to: editor@swarthmorephoenix.com

SPORTS

OCTOBER 12, 2017 PAGE A7

Athletes send prayers for Vegas

Maeve Juday Sports Writer

Though a few calls for political action have been sprinkled throughout the array of tweets, Facebook posts, and statements about the tragic shooting that occurred in Las Vegas recently, the responses have overwhelmingly just been voicings of solidarity, sadness, and support. Countless celebrities have spoken out and expressed their cares and prayers for the victims of the mass shooting. Included among these, of course, are professional athletes. Professional athletes have always occupied a space of revered celebrity in our culture, and thus had a platform to release statements and opinions. However, perhaps

now more than ever, with many more pro players contributing to political dialogue and performing social demonstration, we turn to them to hear their takes on current events.

While many other types of celebrities have to be at least a little cautious about political opinions and tones they adopt when discussing tense, emotionally-charged issues like the Vegas shooting, professional athletes aren’t required to have as much concern for this problem. Ultimately, though fame is certainly a by-product of their profession, their professional success doesn’t completely or even mostly hinge on their public likeability and branding - although those things certainly have their place in the

world of pro sports. This allows athletes to speak more candidly and personally, especially when addressing tragedies and messy situations like the shooting in Vegas.

We see this in Philidelphia Eagles’ own quarterback, Carson Wentz, who offered up prayers for everyone affected by the shooting, claiming on Twitter that “[t]he World needs Jesus in a bad way.”

His teammates, Rodney McLeod, Rick Lovato, Torrey Smith, and Zach Ertz also took to Twitter to express their mourning and support for the victims through prayers. But the Eagles aren’t the only ones setting this trend.

“Pray for Vegas!! … My prayers sent to the heavens above for

all the families,” was tweeted

by LeBron James on the morning of Oct. 2, the day after the shooting took place. Many of his peers, for instance Bryce Harper, Chris Paul, and Mike Timlin, the latter of whom was at the concert where the gunman attacked, echoed these prayers and sentiments, invoking God in their statements on the Vegas shooting.

On a larger scale, whole professional sports teams are also honoring the victims of the Vegas massacre. The Raiders, who plan to move to Vegas in two years, played with helmet decals that read “Vegas Strong.”

The NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights have indicated that their plans for Tuesday night’s games would be focused on a special tribute to

those killed in the shooting.

“We have to do our part to help this city past this whole ordeal,” said Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland, who predicted a very emotional response from the city at the game. The team’s Twitter announced that rather than ads, messages of support and the words #VegasStrong would play during the game. “[Tuesday] night is not about us. It’s about honoring and remembering the victims, supporting their families, and recognizing the first responders who did tremendous work,” explained George McPhee, the team’s general manager. Gerard Gallant, a Golden Knights coach, agreed that the night was about something much bigger than

hockey or the team.

“It’s bigger than hockey — a lot bigger,” said McPhee.

Professional athletes will continue to be notable celebrities and public figures and, though they are often cautious of their image as brand spokespeople and role models, often what we see of them, especially in tense and trying times such as the Vegas massacre, is authenticity and true concern. So many of us have idolized athletes from childhood on, and there is something so comforting about seeing that your hero feels the same way you do about a nationwide tragedy, and it is comforting to see them offer the support to those who need it.

of Jerry Taylor, Jacqui Patterson, and Peterson Tuscano. Taylor, a conservative commentator who was originally skeptical about the effects of climate change, discussed how he changed his views and how to make a case for carbon pricing that appeals to conservatives.

Patterson, the director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program, talked about the disproportionate impact of climate change on communities of color and poor communities, both through the proximity of toxic facilities and susceptibility to natural disasters, and advocated an aggressive approach to carbon pricing to make it more equitable.

Tuscano, a comic storyteller, who has worked on LGBTQ issues, social justice, and faith, discussed in a humorous speech how he became aware of climate change, how we can engage nonenvironmentalists like himself in climate action by appealing to their interests and identities, and how climate change is homophobic. The video footage Estes took of their speeches and other parts

of the event can be found on Safe Climate PA’s Facebook page.

Jeremy Seitz-Brown ’18 represented Swarthmore’s Sunrise hub at the conference. He shared information about Sunrise’s mission to mobilize people and pressure elected officials about climate action.

“I was really excited by the chance to learn more about what other Swarthmore students and other students across the state were doing,” he said.

Seitz-Brown took away two major things around climate change and advocacy work.

“We need more cooperation in Swarthmore, and more cooperation beyond Swarthmore,” he said.

This involves more engagement with other schools and more student education about the college’s carbon pricing initiatives. He also wants to encourage Sunrise to work with other groups on campus.

“I think we’re all doing very necessary work, whether it’s on campus policy or student organizing,” Seitz-Brown said. “I’ll be working to [help] Sunrise support

the sustainability fellows and other students.”

Graf echoed the need to work with people both inside and outside of the Swarthmore community.

“To get strong climate policy in the US, it’s vital to engage grassroots and mid-level people and organizations, which is very much the goal of Safe Climate PA, and much of the other carbon pricing work we’re doing on campus,” they said.

Graf intends to reconvene the Swarthmore delegation to Safe Climate PA the week after fall break to build on the work of the conference. ”Some great ideas were brought up in the session about ways that Swarthmore students could continue this work,” they said.

The office of sustainability interns, the conference attendees, and others will work to implement those ideas and educate the community over the coming year.

NEWS

Climate conference, continued from A1 effects of climate change would become irreversible.

Ideally, according to Graf, a carbon tax would make it unprofitable to burn more than the 565 gigatons of carbon necessary to stay under that limit, raising the price of fossil fuels to more than the price of renewable energy sources. Because the fee would be assessed when carbon enters the economy, however, the cost would be passed on to consumers and could have a disproportionate effect on low-income people.

A possible solution could be using the revenue from the price to create a universal basic income, which would offset the costs, although there are many other possible uses of the revenue.

“It is an unfortunate reality that while a price on carbon makes for very good policy, it won’t happen when few people know or care about it,” said Graf.

“The need to change that is a central driver for Safe Climate PA.” The college already has an internal carbon pricing program, which involves a 1.25 percent charge on each department’s

budget. The money goes to the college’s Carbon Change Fund, which invests in profitable, energy-efficient businesses and organizations and funds other work relating to climate change and education. Nick DiMaio ’19, a president’s sustainability research fellow, will work this year to educate the community about carbon pricing, and community members have also worked to support carbon pricing beyond the college.

Metheney got President Smith’s signature on a carbon pricing petition this spring, and President Smith wrote an open letter in the “Philadelphia Inquirer” on Aug. 8 in support of carbon pricing. Smith has also reached out to other campus presidents to encourage them to sign. Metheney is also working to get the Borough of Swarthmore to institute carbon pricing.

Two interns in the office of sustainability, Lamia-Emilie Makkar ’21 and Nusaybah Estes ’21, also helped organize the event. Makkar researched the political background of the districts from which conference

attendees came and the environmental stances of their elected officials — hoping to gain insight on priorities for each district — and created resource sheets for the conference workshops. Estes organized communications prior to the conference, introduced workshops, filmed the event, and helped with logistics. Makkar will continue developing educational resources and working on implementation of action plans developed at the conference, while Estes will continue networking.

“It was great to see so many [people] share energy and excitement about paving a future for the larger use of carbon charges and look forward to the actions the different groups will be taking,” Makkar said in an email.

Estes was similarly excited about implementing students’ action plans and emphasized the diverse set of perspectives speakers brought to the conference.

“I think the speakers were incredibly knowledgeable in their fields and brought interesting views on climate change to the table,” Estes said in an email.

She pointed to the speeches

Weekly Crossword Created by Alex Robey Solve online: http://www.cruciverbalex.com/36/

Across 1.

“Let me think…”

4.

Apply gently, as cream 7.

Scholarship, for ex ample 10. Barley mixture 14. Sheepish cry?

15. Chicken ____ king 16. Reggae forerunner

17.

18.

Paradise outcast Keep away game…or a

hit to what’s hidden in 31-, 45-, 56- and 72-Across 22. Undercover, informally 23. One way to finish second?

24. Welles who starred in

“Citizen Kane” 25. Homeric outburst?

26. Muscat native 29. “Cheerio, old boy!”

31. Rubbish receptacle 37.

The munchies, say 38. Neighbor of Myanmar 39. Indigenous Oklahoman 40. Emphatic assent, in Spain 42. Hot Tex-Mex concoc tion 44. Like some granola bars 45. Technique for approxi

mating definite inte

grals with quadrilater als

Bread sometimes ac companying vindaloo 50. Bit of bad judgment 51. H H H 52. Approximation: Abbr.

53. Clues in, with “off” 54. It’s water under the bridge 56. Classic 1939 novel

depicting rural Oklaho

ma during the Great Depression 62. Trailblazer Parks 63. Big bettor at the casino 64. “That hits the spot” 66. Arthritis prefix 69. Defense group founded

in Bogota 70. Daredevil’s attribute 72. Bestselling 1948

novel about a large

family later adapted

into a 2000s movie with

Steve Martin 77.

7-Across for the stumped 78. Me for Monet 79. Couple’s pronoun 80. D.C. major leaguer 81. Shows decisiveness 82. Booster-seat user 83. Grade-sch. Supporter 84. ____-Caps (cinema candy)

46.

DOWN 1.

How to watch “Game of Thrones” on your phone 2.

La ____ (region of cen

tral Spain) 3.

Great white shark kin 4.

Night’s successor 5.

Aladdin’s alias 6.

Split fruit?

7.

Messy, as a hearth 8.

‘50s chief exec.

9.

Beaver’s barrier 10. Plaid-pattern fabric 11. Tosses into the mix 12. Grammy winner Schi frin 13. Dodgers’ pursuers

18. Western leader?

19. Indulgence for a diva 20. Journey 21. Merest traces 27.

“Family Guy” girl voiced by Mila Kunis 28. Word found in each of the clues referenced in 72-Across 29. Sing-song syllables 30. Bubbling away 32. Singing sensation Boyle 33. Skip, as a syllable 34. Outback cutie 35. Kitchen add-ons?

36. What an 82-Across may play with 40. Hidden collection 41. Piqued 42. Dense patch of bushes 43. Starts of many emails 44. “I’m ____ here” 46. Howe who had people in stitches?

47.

Guitarist Frank of the “Mothers of Invention”

Subject to whiplash, perhaps 49. Income after expenses 53. Brownie group 54. Deg. for a designer 55. Hedwig, e.g.

57.

Legendary performers 58. Bend in the breeze 59. “C’mon, quit it!”

60. Jungle hero who be friended many a 28-Across 61. Can’t help but 65. Chicken coop resident 66. Dos + seis 67.

Clipper or liner 68. Pitcher’s place?

69. It contains a few last

words?

71. Ages and ages 73. Defib user 74. Pooh’s little pal 75. Primitive abode 78. Chapter in history, perhaps

48.

Answer to last week’s puzzle

THE PHOENIX SPORTS

OCTOBER 12, 2017

The kneeling saga Joe Barile Sports Writer

To kneel or not to kneel. That is the question. As the 2017 football season plows on, seemingly everybody has an opinion about players who have decided to kneel instead of stand during the pre-game playing of the national anthem. In recent weeks, this issue has captured national attention, so much so that before every major sporting event, people wait with bated breath to see who will kneel and who will stand during the anthem. There are many sides to this controversial topic, one being that players should be allowed to kneel and practice free speech that condemns institutional racism in the United States. Another side states that kneeling during the anthem is extremely disrespectful and should be prohibited. Opinions aside, there is no disputing the prominence of this issue in America.

Most players who kneel during the anthem before games are doing so in protest. It is important to note where and when this protest originated.

Colin Kaepernick, former NFL quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, first sat down (as opposed to kneeling) during the anthem before a preseason game on Aug. 26, 2016. His reasoning was, “I’m going to

stand with the people that are being oppressed … When there’s a significant change, and I feel that flag represents what it’s supposed to represent and this country is representing the people it’s supposed to, I’ll stand.”

Kaepernick stated that he wasn’t kneeling for himself, but those who are “dying in vain because this country isn’t holding up their end of the bargain of giving freedom and justice, liberty to everybody.” Kaepernick also said that he has “great respect for the men and women that have fought for this country,” and that these people “fight for freedom” and “for the people.” In fact, Kaepernick changed his protest from sitting to kneeling after talking with former veteran and NFL long snapper Nate Boyer. They believed that this would “not take away from the military” but “still keep focus on what the issues really are.”

Kaepernick’s protest and the words that followed set off a tidal wave of events in the year that followed. Many NFL players began kneeling during the anthem. Some raised fists.

Some athletes not associated with the NFL, like Megan Rapinoe of the U.S. Women’s Soccer team, knelt. Several other groups of players in different sports knelt as well, including some high school athletes.

However, the issue rose to national attention during Week Three of the 2017 NFL season.

In a rally for a Senate candidate in Alabama, President Donald Trump exclaimed that NFL owners should fire players who “disrespected the flag.”

However, Trump used a rather obscene word in place of players that many athletes took great offense to. In fact, over 100 more NFL players knelt the following week. Many players who didn’t kneel demonstrated support by placing hands on kneeling players shoulders or by locking arms. Some NFL teams like the Titans, Seahawks, and Steelers planned team protests that had players remain in the locker room.

Other teams, like the Ravens, all knelt together before the anthem, enduring boos from their own fans.

During this slew of events, one thing has remained unchanged: Colin Kaepernick is still a free agent. He has not been signed by any NFL team since being released by the 49ers on March 3, 2017, a couple months after his original protest. Many people say this is due to him being the “leader” of the anthem protests. Others attribute his unemployment to the animosity that many NFL owners may feel towards him, particularly as an AfricanAmerican male. They say that

a league of all-white owners are afraid of a minority who is outspoken on issues such as institutional racism. Some claim that owners are hesitant to sign a player with such a controversial reputation. However, other people say Kaepernick’s unemployment is simply due to his mediocrity as a quarterback.

This is a yet another subject of dispute in this nationwide issue.

Countless veterans and families of those who have served in the military have spoken out on this issue. Some condemn the protests, some support them.

Recently, a player who served in the military for four years, Alejandro Villanueva, was the only person to come out of the Steelers locker room for the anthem. He stood. Afterwards, Villanueva spoke out about the situation: “People die for the flag. There’s no other way to put it. I wish I could stay at home. I wish we could all play ‘Call of Duty’ and not go to war … When I see the flag on the mission on the shoulder of a soldier, that reminds me that guy’s with me. That’s what the flag means to me, that’s what the flag means to a lot of veterans. I think my teammates respected this thoroughly; it was just not communicated and the plan did not allow them the chance to go out and support me.” The last statement is a

PAGE A8

reference to how Villanueva did not plan to make his “team look bad” by being the only person to stand outside the locker room during the anthem.

The way the situation panned out, it happened that Villanueva was the only Steeler present for the playing of the anthem.

Despite his entire team staying in the locker room, Villanueva stated that he still respects their right to protest: “I can’t tell you I know what my teammates have gone through, so I’m not going to pretend like I have the righteous sort of voice to tell you that you should stand up for the national anthem. It’s protected by our constitution and our country.

It’s the freedom of speech.”

Opinions vary across all platforms. Players kneel or don’t kneel for different reasons. Some interpret the act of kneeling during the anthem as direct disrespect for the armed forces, and some interpret the act as a way to raise awareness about systemic racism and police brutality in the United States.

Recently, Vice President Mike Pence left a Colts game after players knelt during the anthem. There were murmurings that this was simply a political stunt, but it is also possible that Vice President Pence was genuinely upset. Mike Pence has been a Colts fan for much

PGA Tour begins yet another grueling season

Max Katz-Balmes Sports Writer

The new golf season is already upon us. Only two weeks following the conclusion of the 2016-17 season-ending Tour Championship, won by 23-yearold Xander Schauffele, the PGA Tour kicked off its 2017-18 season this past week at the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif.

The “wraparound season,” as the Tour calls it, was established in 2013 in an attempt to revitalize the Tour’s failing Fall Series. The Fall Series was a group of events that awarded 95 of the 125 full PGA Tour cards for the following season (the other 30 were given to the participants of the Tour Championship). However, as the best golfers usually locked up their PGA cards by the conclusion of the regular season, they tended not to participate in the Fall Series events because they of-

fered small purses, few FedEx Cup points, and little respite from the grind of competing every weekend.

In 2013, the Tour began to award full FedEx Cup points for the events in the fall, effectively eliminating the offseason.

The Tour hoped this change would increase the strength of the fields, which in turn would hopefully increase attendance, sponsorship money, and the value of TV contracts. And while the change has given Tour rookies and journeymen the opportunity to gain experience and establish themselves early in the FedEx Cup standings, big-name players still tend to sit out until January.

They don’t feel the pressure average players do to play or risk falling behind in the FedEx Cup points race.

Boo Weekley, a three-time winner on Tour, but someone who feels pressured to play in

the fall in order to keep his job, discussed his sentiments about the wraparound season.

“It’s just golf after golf after golf. Ain’t no time for hunting and fishing, man.”

Regardless of how players feel about it, the new season is upon us. The schedule this year features 49 tournaments, up from 47 in 2016-17. New this year are THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES at Jeju Island and the Corales Punta Cana Resort & Club Championship, Korea’s and the Dominican Republic’s first ever Tour events, respectively.

With new events, new faces, and a young core of stars, the 2017-18 PGA Tour season is bound to be exciting. Here are five burning questions I have heading into the new season.

1. In 2016-17, young stars Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas, and Schauffele won 13 events com-

bined, while Schauffele also took home the Tour Championship, and Thomas captured the FedEx Cup. In total, 19 players in their 20s won 28 times last season. Will these young guns continue to dominate, or will 2017-18 be a year for the veterans?

2. Will former world number ones Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, and Adam Scott rediscover their winning ways after disappointing 2016-17 campaigns?

3. Will either McIlroy or Spieth complete the career grand slam, with McIlroy requiring only a Masters victory to accomplish the feat and Spieth needing to win the PGA Championship?

4. Will the exciting new class of PGA rookies, featuring former college stars Aaron Wise, Beau Hossler (for technical reasons Hossler is not officially considered a rookie), and Peter Uihlein make their mark

on Tour like Schauffele and the rest of the 2016-17 class?

5. Is this the year Tiger Woods makes his comeback (he recently posted a video of himself taking full swings)? Will he ever win again on Tour? Or are his glory days behind him?

I also have a few early predictions for the 2017-18 season Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year: Player of the Year: Rory McIlroy. After a down year full of injury and personal milestones (he married Erica Stoll in April), Rory will be able to focus all of his attention on golf this season and will reestablish himself as one of the world’s top players.

Rookie of the Year: Peter Uihlein. A former U.S. Amateur (the most prestigious amateur event in the world) and European Tour winner, expect the established 28-year-old to take the Tour by storm and win at

of his life, and attended this game to honor legendary quarterback Peyton Manning’s induction into the Colts Hall of Fame.

However, he quickly departed after about twenty players knelt during the anthem, and said afterwards in a tweet: “I left today’s Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem …While everyone is entitled to their own opinions, I don’t think it’s too much to ask NFL players to respect the Flag and our National Anthem.” The White House spoke on the ordeal as well. According to the White House, Pence’s attendance at the game was long planned, but the walk-out was not.

Obviously, a person’s background and experiences impact their opinion on whether or not kneeling during the anthem is an acceptable form of protest.

So to speak, there is no “right answer,” simply because this issue is so much more complicated than one that is either “right” or “wrong.” One thing it seems most people can agree on is that kneeling is a peaceful act. Either way, it is certain that kneeling will be in the spotlight of the sports world for weeks, maybe months, to come.

least one event.

However these questions and predictions are resolved throughout the season, the 2017-2018 PGA Tour season is bound to be exciting. The Tour is as deep and as strong as ever and no tournament will have an out and out favorite.

Be prepared for competitive tournaments, battles between the world’s best, and plenty of first-time winners.

One tournament that will provide a lot of excitement is the PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club outside of St. Louis. Bellerive has only hosted one tournament since 1992 (in 2008), so only a handful of players have seen the course before. Because the course is a relatively unknown quantity, expect experienced players and rookies alike to be competitive in the tournament that features the strongest field in golf.

Athlete of the Week: Mehra den Braven Ping Promrat: What is your intended major, and what motivated you to pursue it?

Mehra de Braven: I don’t know my intended major for sure, as I’m still trying to find my niche. Right now, it looks like it will be political science and economics, and maybe sociology or peace and conflict studies mixed in there.

PP: What got you into volleyball as a kid? How did you find out about volleyball at Swat?

MdB: My parents forced me to go these club tryouts.

I got on the best team because I was tall, not because I was good! However, that’s really where I fell in love with the game, as I was surrounded by players who were much better than me. I was recruited by Swat over a two-year process, as I met Cecily Scavicchio [the old assistant coach] at an academic camp. As I got to know her and Harleigh Chwastyk [the head coach] is when I started to fall in love with Swarthmore Photo by Shelby Dolch

Volleyball standout Mehra den Braven ’20 has thrived so far in her second year on the team. An outside hitter hailing from Santa Clara, Calif., den Braven has captured All-Tournament honors for the second straight weekend, as the Garnet have extended their record to 13-5 overall and remain undefeated at home. Den Braven has 218 points recorded throughout the season so far, with highs of 27 digs against Stockton University and 17 kills against Eastern University. The Garnet return to action Oct. 12 with an away match against Rowan University, and again on Oct. 14 in a rematch of last season’s Centennial Conference Championship at Johns Hopkins.

PP: What is your favorite part of being a student athlete?

MdB: My favorite part is the connections you make as a team. It made the transition to college for me so much easier, as I had many friends who struggled with that. I can always text anyone to meet up for lunch, and all the girls on the team make life so much more enjoyable!

PP: You were named to the All-Tournament Team at the Garnet Quad Tournament last weekend for the second weekend in a row. What is it like to have that type of personal success as a sophomore?

MdB: I always want to be better, so the ideal would be MVP of the tournament! However, I never expect any awards or anything, so I just focus on playing my game. At the same time, it is a balance between appreciating where you are and wanting to get better.

PP: Have you been participating in the kneeling protest during the national anthem? If so, what inspires you to take part in it?

MdB: I have been participating in the kneeling protest and showing solidarity. I’ve been so inspired by Lelosa [Aimufua ‘20] and Emma [Morgan-Bennett ‘20]’s motivation and strength in pursuing this, and how they’ve really thought about why they’re doing what they’re doing. However, it is really complicated still even within the team. Some people see the kneeling as disrespectful to our military, but for others, the kneeling is not meant to have that effect at all. I just hope people understand that at the end of the day, it is a peaceful protest that is focused on bringing attention to certain issues in our country that have been neglected.

PP: What are your athletic goals for the team, and yourself for the rest of the season?

MdB: The broadest goal for us would be winning the Conference Championships, especially after coming so close against Johns Hopkins last year. I want us to show a little more strength, swagger, and fierceness, and if we can keep building towards that, the success will continue to come.