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Volume 21 Issue 9 October 20, 2014

For 20 years The Synthesis’ goal has remained to provide a forum for entertainment, music, humor, community awareness, opinions, and change.

Publisher/Managing Editor Amy Olson amy@synthesis.net

Columns

This Week...

Terrible Things

PAGE 8

Letter From the Editor

by Amy Olson

amy@synthesis.net

Creative Director Tanner Ulsh graphics@synthesis.net

PAGE 4

Productivity Wasted

by Eli Schwartz

Entertainment Editor Alex Light Alex@synthesis.net SynthesisWeekly.com/submit-yourevent/

pwasted@synthesis.net

PAGE 5

Immaculate Infection

Designers

by Bob Howard

Liz Watters, Mike Valdez graphics@synthesis.net

Madbob@madbob.com

PAGE 16

Deliveries

Joey Murphy, Jennifer Foti

Supertime!

Contributing Writers

by Logan Kruidenier

Zooey Mae, Bob Howard, Howl, Koz McKev, Tommy Diestel, Eli Schwartz, Mona Treme, Emiliano GarciaSarnoff, Jon Williams, Crown, Alex O’Brien

Photography Jessica Sid Vincent Latham

Nerd

Dain Sandoval dain@synthesis.net

Accounting

logankruidenier.tumblr.com

PAGE 20

Kozmik Debris

How am I Supposed to Feel After a Catcall?

by Koz McKev

kozmckev@sunset.net

PAGE 10

PAGE 21

From The Edge

by Anthony Peyton Porter

Ben Kirby

Director of Operations

PAGE 22

Karen Potter

Owner

Bill Fishkin bill@synthesis.net The Synthesis is both owned and published

by Apartment 8 Productions. All things published in these pages are the property of Apartment 8 Productions and may not be reproduced, copied or used in any other way, shape or form without the written consent of Apartment 8 Productions. One copy (maybe two) of the Synthesis is available free to residents in Butte, Tehama and Shasta counties. Anyone caught removing papers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. All opinions expressed throughout the Synthesis are those of the author and are not necessarily the same opinions as Apartment 8 Productions and the Synthesis.

The Synthesis welcomes, wants, and will even desperately beg for letters because we care what you think. We can be reached via snail mail at the Synthesis, 210 W. 6th St., Chico, California, 95928. Email letters@ synthesis.net. Please sign all of your letters with your real name, address and preferably a phone number. We may also edit your submission for content and space.

210 West 6th Street Chico Ca 95928 530.899.7708 editorial@synthesis.net

COVER ART Ellsworth Ulsh

Women’s Health Resources

PAGE 17

Yes Means Yes

PAGE 18

Crisis Resource List

PAGE 19 FACEBOOK.COM/SYNTHESISCHICO 3

PET OF THE WEEK

Women (amirite?), a Fond Farewell, and a Warm Welcome

Rosie Rosie is sweet, loving, and beautiful kitty! Rosie is ready to go to a home where she can sit and purr in your lap all day!

2580 Fair Street Chico, CA 95928 (530) 343-7917 • buttehumane.org

Now Hear This SYNTHESIS WEEKLY PLAYLIST

Welcome to what may be the most serious and close-to-my-heart issue we’ve ever put together. The suffering of sexual assault, the struggle to maintain dignity when faced with harassment, and the difficulty of navigating the minefield of women’s health resources are all things that have touched the lives of so many women I know and love—a shocking amount of them, really.

We have this tendency, maybe it’s an instinct we’ve evolved through so many generations of abuse, to absorb the fallout when these bombs explode. We make excuses for the aggressors, hide the truth from our loved ones, we make martyrs of ourselves because the emotional world inside of us seems like a safer battlefield than the outside world. Until it happens to someone we know, then we want action, then we want change. Our hope with this issue is to add tinder to that fire, shed light in those dark places, and maybe help just one person to realize they’re not alone.

This week is also the last of an era. For the past eight months, we’ve been blessed with the talents of Entertainment Editor Alex Light.

He’s been a driving force in bringing Synthesis back to our music-oriented roots, and I’m incredibly grateful for all the work he’s put in.

Run the Jewels

Tanner Run the Jewels - “Close Your Eyes (and Count to Fuck)”

Liz Phantogram - “Voices” Becca Alt-J - “Breezeblocks” Alie Avicii - “Wake Me Up” Dinah Failure Machine - “Just a Little Bit” Andrea Hot Chip - “Shake a Fist” 4

SYNTHESISWEEKLY.COM OCTOBER 20 2014

Entertainment editing is more than the sum of its parts. I don’t mean that there’s a mystical quality to it, I mean that it’s a job that sounds a lot simpler than it really winds up being. Between researching the calendar, fielding the barrage of emails, organizing all that information, deciding what to cover, contacting bands, and promoters, and venues, and writers, and writing Best Bets, and dealing with all the people who feel snubbed, and co-editing copy, and learning Indesign, and Wordpress, and maintaining enough of a life to stay connected to the scene… After a while it can become crazy stressful trying to keep it all in order. I know it all too well, that job chewed me up like secondhand gum.

Long story short, Alex has decided that all this runaround is for the birds, so he’s simplifying his role here and going back to just being a writer again—and I have to say I’m genuinely happy for him. Happy and a little jealous, but most of all glad he’s going to continue doing what he loves and sharing his talents with the world. Thanks for everything, Alex; you did a great job!

Which means some change is coming, yet again. Don’t be scared though, change is what really makes Synthesis what it is, the way we shift influences and perspectives, shift balance and connection to the world around us. This next phase will be different in unpredictable, if subtle ways, but we’ll always be obnoxious.

After some consideration, I’ve decided that burning out another Entertainment Editor with a tangled mess of a job description doesn’t make a lot of sense, and it’s time to switch things up. So, the big exciting news is that we’re bringing more voices into the room, more energy and stimulation and protection against bad ideas, and hopefully it will all go really smoothly and I won’t freak out because this is all happening three weeks before the wedding. (!)

Starting next week, our new Entertainment Editor will be the indomitable and vivacious Arielle Mullen, and rounding out our team as Associate Editor, we’ll be bringing in the funny and brilliant Emiliano Garcia-Sarnoff.

Wish them luck.

Letter From the Editor

by Amy Olson

amy@synthesis.net

Alien: Isolation EXPERT YET EXCESSIVE TERROR Another AAA movie franchise has recently released a title that has turned heads. Alien: Isolation plays heavily on the ideas, aesthetic, and even some of the story of the classic ‘79 film that inspired waves of successors and slapped new life into the monster movie.

In this, you play Ripley, but rather than Ellen, you play her daughter Amanda. She investigates a space station that claims to have recovered the black box of Ellen Ripley’s fateful voyage, and is determined to figure out what happened to her mother. This plot is quickly derailed when, of course, the station has gone dark, and investigating on foot leads to Amanda’s new priority: get the hell out of dodge.

The game gives the player weapons and gadgets, but in spare supply, and the enemies are dangerous and numerous. Amanda, while creative, is no space marine. Stealth is the primary mechanic, and the layouts encourage it by means of ventilation shafts and low tables. The game also gives Amanda the series’ trademark motion tracker, which, although meant to hunt down enemies, is proven to be useful for both avoiding them and reminding the player of the proximity of their impending doom.

The game provides three different groups of enemies: Humans are observant, armed, and numerous, but are disorganized, easily distracted, and all too vulnerable to the other dangers on the station. The “Working Joe” androids, whose rumpled, plastic skin and burning red eyes are made only creepier by their calm admonitions and concerned questions, are highly observant but extremely predictable, and can only attack at melee.

Last, and most importantly, is the Alien, the one and only aboard the station, who is unobservant, easily distracted, and fickle.

It is also blindingly fast, instantly lethal, completely invulnerable, and perhaps the

most devastating trait for any enemy in a stealth game: tirelessly tenacious.

The Alien is undoubtedly the selling point of the game, and it deserves every inch of its hype. The creature is huge, and being spotted by it is as good as any death sentence. The death scenes ignore petty gore in favor of a tightly first-person display of powerlessness and primal fear. Few games have ever discouraged death so easily. The creature is also highly randomized and unscripted, so its actions are very hard to predict. Occasionally, this means that it will randomly trap you in a corner before you can find cover, which is frustrating, but often the layout of the levels stops this issue and the unpredictability of the beast only adds to its fear factor.

Serious credit needs to be given to the artists and animators of the game, as well. Not only do the electronics and design of the station help evoke the late ‘70s sci-fi of the film, but the Alien is exceptionally well designed.

Its leggy form and graceful, horribly alive movement help capture the alluring squick of Geiger’s original design.

Ultimately, I have one big criticism of Isolation, and it’s a strange one: It’s too long. The game drags on and on forever, and Ripley’s journey is entirely one of two steps forward, one step back. The game is brilliant in what it does, but after a while, outmaneuvering the Alien on a space station becomes repetitive, and when the game does end, my sigh of relief should be for the stressful affair being over, not for finally escaping doing the same thing over and over again.

Productivity Wasted

by Eli Schwartz

FACEBOOK.COM/SYNTHESISCHICO 5

Nerd.

Hipster.

Feminist.

Letters from Desmond

by Zooey Mae

zooey@synthesis.net

Ahh, words. What else could have the potential to emotionally destroy a person in one moment, then raise them up to feel invincible in the next? Well, meth. Probably meth. But words too! Words are so fascinating to me, especially the evolution of them. The way we humans bring them into our lexicon at their inception, and through a process of use, reuse and misuse, their meaning can change dramatically. The implications a word can have, simply based on their most common usage, instills in me the belief that we humans, we users of language, have a responsibility to the words themselves.

Although the bank of total words available to us is quite large, the number of them we actually use is, by comparison, depressingly small. Certainly the advent of the Internet has not helped this, with social media largely running off user generated content that’s been categorized and made searchable based on (largely) overused buzzwords. When words are overused in this way, with people stretching and bending them to fit their desired definitions (or even the definitions they wrongly believe are correct), the meanings of these words become… debatable. When you can ask twenty different people for their definition of a word and you get twenty different definitions, you begin to have an interesting problem.

6

SYNTHESISWEEKLY.COM

OCTOBER 20 2014

The scenario described above has surely happened countless times before, but the most recent and notable words I’ve seen this happen with have been “nerd,” “hipster,” and of course, “feminist.” I myself have been called all three of these things many times, in utterances meant as mere observations, compliments, and insults. Personally, I feel that when a word is appropriated then overused over and over, it starts to lose meaning. I suppose I wouldn’t mind if “nerd” and “hipster” were to disappear, and the rumbling skirmish over what exactly the definition of these are doesn’t really bother, or even affect me much. But the stretching and changing of the meaning of the word “feminist” has been difficult for me to watch. The image of a feminist as a man-hating female who’s bent on ultimately raising women up to be the gender overlords is not one I’m comfortable with. A study done

by HuffPost/YouGov found that only 20% of Americans identify as feminists, although 82% believe that “men and women should be social, political, and economic equals.”

It seems what the word “feminism” has is a branding problem. And certainly one that’s difficult to combat, with most people getting their “news” in 140-character blips on Twitter, or simply by word of mouth. By now we’ve all seen Women Against Feminism, the nauseainducing Tumblr campaign of ill-informed women who have unfortunately succumbed to the false illustration of feminism that I detailed

above. (If you haven’t yet seen this campaign, visit womenagainstfeminism.tumblr.com and prepare yourself for anger and sadness.)

It’s depressing really, because nearly all the messages on those self-made signs have to do with the sign holder not “needing” feminism because they believe in equality for both sexes, not just women, which is the entire goddamn point of the feminist movement in the first place. And even the fact that these idiots are allowed to broadcast their baseless, asinine beliefs as women is due in no small part to… yep. Feminism.

Part of me questions whether the feminist movement should simply abandon the word, make efforts to distance themselves from the false connotations and try to think up a new title for a fresh start. But I know that’s not a great solution, because you can’t really ever totally control who gets to take the reins in deciding how the meaning of a title will develop. And besides, all it would take is one bozo from Fox News, or one activism neophyte from Women Against Feminism to derail the whole goddamn train. I take comfort in knowing that words which stay in use—and certainly one which is heavily used—can continue to evolve and develop. I can only hope that in the future, feminists will manage to wrestle the word back from the ill-informed and under-educated masses. I’m cautiously optimistic.

PHOTOS BY JESSICA SID

On The Town

FACEBOOK.COM/SYNTHESISCHICO 7

ONE WOMAN’S STORY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT Sexual assault has slowly been making its way around the edge of political conversation for a few years now. But although it’s a topic that has slowly been gaining traction in the public arena recently, it’s something that’s staggeringly underreported, with an estimated 60% of sexual assaults never even reported to police. Attacks on college women have an even higher rate, with less than 5% ever reported to law enforcement.

conversation about…”

It’s been suggested that a reason for this poor rate may have something to do with the fact that in 80-90% of cases (as asserted by the National Institute of Justice), the victim and assailant know each other, and the more intimate the relationship, the more likely it is for a rape to be completed. Further muddying the proverbial waters, only about onethird of schools are fully compliant with the federal Clery Act, which requires schools to report oncampus crime statistics to federal education officials. As stated by Kim Edmonds of Women’s Health Specialists in this issue, “Rape, and sexual assault and sexual violence in general, is one of the biggest issues you could ever try to have a

How long ago did this take place, where did it occur, and did you know your attacker?

8

Whatever you attribute the cause of our high rate of sexual assaults to in this country, we believe it’s important to make an effort to bring some attention to the issue in order to at least begin a dialogue about it. This week we interviewed a woman (who requested to remain anonymous), who was sexually assaulted, and has agreed to share her story with us.

I was 15 (nearly 20 years ago, which is weird to think about), when the first thing happened. I still blame myself, even though I know better.

I should’ve seen the position I was putting myself in, protected myself, fought back harder, screamed louder, told everyone… but that’s not how it went.

He was my best friend’s guy-nextdoor crush, and through our last year in junior high we had hung out with him a few times. He was out of our league, popular, a little older. At some point he started calling me,

SYNTHESISWEEKLY.COM OCTOBER 20 2014

and I felt so special. Whenever we talked, it somehow led back to sex, and why I was a virgin. I was coming out of being really religious, and was considering new ideas like maybe waiting until I was really in love rather than waiting for marriage.

He listened, wooed me, built me up with compliments, read me his poetry. He had a girlfriend, and that made me feel even safer. I came to think of him as my secret best friend.

If you would, please walk me through what happened.

One afternoon he invited me over to swim. His parents were gone, and he had the keys to his sister’s car. As we drove, he told me he was thinking of asking his girlfriend to marry him, but that he had feelings for me. He thought about being my first. It was such a weird thing to say, and immediately I felt a shift in the atmosphere; my stomach was full of butterflies. He asked me what I thought about that, to which I mumbled something along the lines of “Wow, I don’t know... Maybe?”

I didn’t think he meant right now, today. I thought he was saying someday, me instead of her. That

answer haunts me.

At his house, he guided me to his bedroom so I could change, but then we sat down on his bed. I remember the sun was coming in through the blinds. They were crooked, damaged on one end. He leaned over like he was going to kiss me, but then he stopped and looked down at my body, and put his hand under my shirt. For a second I froze like a deer in headlights. I’d never been in anything near this situation.

I’d only had my first kiss a few months before. I giggled, squirmed away like it was a joke, but his face had this determined expression. He pushed me back onto the bed, not hard, but I felt this shock of fear. I remember I was wearing a skirt, one I’d had since fifth grade that still fit me, I felt exposed. So quickly he was unbuckling his pants. I propped up on my elbows and said “wait,” but he was already reaching under my skirt to pull my panties down while I tightly clenched my legs. I pleaded with him, “I… don’t want to get pregnant,” as though I needed to make a case, as though I needed a more reasonable explanation for resisting than being terrified.

He didn’t say anything. It was like he didn’t hear me, and my heart was pounding so loud I could barely hear myself. I felt him prodding, pushing so hard against me. I started begging, over and over, “Please stop! Please, no, I can’t!” It was like he was punching me in the crotch, a broad, sharp pain followed by dull aching followed by sharp pain again. I started to cry, and prayed out loud for God to help me, to stop this. But nobody stopped it, no one was listening. I tried to leave my body, to disconnect from it. Finally, the weight of his sweaty shoulder pressed down against my face. The sun through the blinds. My broken heart. My breath shuddering.

He got up and started changing into fresh clothes; I cradled my knees to my chest and cried. He glanced over at me, and said, “Sorry.”

What happened afterwards?

He dropped me off at home, and I went straight into the bathroom and threw up, then I took a shower.

Then I called my friend, and told her I needed to get out of my house.

I couldn’t come to terms with what had just happened, it was

“I PUNCHED A WALL UNTIL MY KNUCKLES BLED. I STARTED SCRATCHING AT MY SKIN WITH SAFETY PINS, STARTED GIVING MYSELF ALL KINDS OF PIERCINGS.” too much. She was hanging out with some guys who had alcohol.

I wasn’t a drinker, at least not before then, and I immediately got wasted. It was obvious something was wrong, but I lied to deflect the questions: told them I had gone too far with someone and was scared of pregnancy (apparently my go-to for relatable teenage fear). And I wanted that to be true, I wanted it to have been my choice, I wanted the emotional wrecking ball swinging inside me to be a simple “yes or no” type of fear that could go away with a negative test.

Did you report the incident?

A couple days later I told my friend—confessed it. She yelled at me and called me a fucking liar, and warned me never to say that to anyone again. Then she called him and asked if it was true, and then called me back to say he said I was a liar. It was the worst possible thing that could’ve happened. I couldn’t take it, that feeling of being in this glaring, judging light. It was like it had become even more inescapably real by vocalizing it, and the worst reaction I could imagine was coming at me. I decided it was better to just absorb it, deal with it internally. Plus

I thought that if I told my family one of them might kill him, and I didn’t want them to get in trouble because I’d made this “stupid mistake.”

Within minutes of that phone call, I suddenly had this deep urge to hurt myself, to control my own pain by causing it. I punched a wall until my knuckles bled. I started scratching at my skin with safety pins, started giving myself all kinds of piercings.

From then on I was drinking heavily, sneaking out of the house all the time. I was like a runaway train.

Then it happened again. I slept over at this guy’s house after a party, so drunk I couldn’t stand or keep the room from spinning. After everyone left, he just climbed in next to me and pulled my pants down, telling me “It’s OK, it’s just me,” when I mumbled “don’t.” When I woke up I felt disgusting, like my body was just this thing. My whole life was quickly spiraling out. I couldn’t connect with anyone, I resented my family (illogically) for not preparing me or protecting me. I started compulsively putting myself in bad situations—going to frat parties and getting crazy wasted, staying late, letting the creepiest guys (the ones who like obvious teenagers) come

onto me.

I wasn’t thinking about why at the time, but in retrospect I think I wanted to control this fucked up sexual tragedy I had experienced— the same way I had hurt myself physically to control the pain, I was trying to be in control of who used me, because someone was just going to no matter what. I’d say no, resist, give in, hate them, hate myself. I don’t know how to explain what I was thinking, why my instinct was so self destructive and why my brain didn’t override it when it was clearly awful in so many ways. I guess it was partly because I wasn’t talking to anybody about what had happened, and I didn’t have words for any of it; I was acting it out like a pageant so maybe somebody would see and stop me.

Did you tell your friends and/or family about the attack?

I finally did have a breakdown, when I was maybe 17 or 18, and talked to a friend’s mom. She just held me, for so long. After that I started opening up to more people, talking to friends, writing poetry, speaking at Take Back The Night. It was incredibly cathartic, and coincided

with the beginning of several sequentially better relationships. I never could tell my family though. I guess I still want to protect them.

Have you seen your attacker since the incident?

I did. Maybe a year later, before the second incident, he called me and asked if I wanted to come over. It was the strangest thing, like nothing had ever happened, and something in me just snapped. He and I were the only people in the world who knew the truth, and here he was acting like I didn’t know that. I rode my bike to his house, and when he opened the door I told him I wanted him to apologize to me, right now.

He actually had the gall to ask “What for?” I looked him square in the eye and said, “You KNOW what for.” He got sort of sheepish, and said “Yeah, sorry about that,” and I left, feeling all triumphant for some reason. Honestly, I don’t know if he was admitting what I wanted him to admit to me, but in that moment of rage I felt like I had accomplished some big win for truth.

If you could speak directly to your attacker, what would you say?

If I could see him now… Well, I’d want to ask him how he could’ve enjoyed that, what kind of sick person he must be to enjoy raping a crying little girl.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I wish I had gone right in and told my parents, not washed away the evidence, called the police, gotten counselling. Maybe it would’ve come to nothing, but at least I would know I tried and saved myself from stumbling through it alone. I wish I knew for sure that he hadn’t done that to anyone else after me, and gotten away with it because I was too scared. I carry a lot of guilt worrying about that.

Sexual violence is a common occurrence. If you or someone you know has been assaulted, there are resources available to assist you.

Please refer to the list included in this issue. Additionally, if you have a personal account of a sexual assault or reaction to this piece that you would like to share with Synthesis in a Letters To The Editor section, please email them to zooeymae@synthesis. net.

FACEBOOK.COM/SYNTHESISCHICO 9

How am I Supposed to Feel After a Catcall?

BY EMILY MOLINE I am slightly embarrassed by how easily I can be affected by another person’s words. Last Friday night, one of my closest friends and I were walking to Target to do some shopping.

We had walked at most 100 yards from campus when someone honked at us and yelled profanities from their open car window.

Although it was jarring and uncomfortable, it was a situation I was all too familiar with. We continued on our way and remained unhindered in our mission to acquire goods— after all, who could ever keep me from my precious Target? Without really reflecting on the event, I simply pushed it aside and moved on with my life.

The next day at dinner time, I passed a friend of mine in the campus dining hall. He looked at me and then said, out loud, “shawty got a fat ass.” I was shocked, embarrassed, and filled with shame. I looked around to our mutual friends for support, but everyone remained still and then turned away as if nothing had happened.

Regardless of their intention, I felt exposed, embarrassed, and I wanted to retreat from the world. These small events had snowballed to morph a confident, driven, fiery feminist into an insecure and scared young woman.

I believe that it isn’t the specific words spoken that have the greatest affect on me, but the overarching message that I am an object of pleasure to these strangers. They have assumed the right to objectify me and assert their power from their moving vehicle.

These small events add up over time and can take a huge toll on the way a woman views herself in relation to men and the greater society at large. Being constantly caught in 10

SYNTHESISWEEKLY.COM OCTOBER 20 2014

this power struggle can be destructive to selfesteem and could cause lasting damage.

How should we make sense of these events?

When catcalling first became a regular event in my life, I thought that it was my fault for dressing particularly provocatively or revealing too much skin. However, I began to notice that it did not make a difference whether I was bundled head to toe for a Spokane winter, or in a California summer sundress. I have heard many people blame young women for the actions of men and it never fails to infuriate me. My winter coat and boots amply cover 97% of my body, yet I was still becoming an object of men’s critiques as I crossed the street. Obviously, covering up any particularly sexual body parts does not ward off unwanted attention.

regardless of my destination, could mean trouble for me. I have experienced very unsafe situations in my own life and have heard many stories of other young women becoming victims to violence at night. I believe that the daytime catcalling phenomenon is an extension of this street dominance. It is crazy to me that not only should I avoid walking alone at night, but that I cannot walk alone in the daytime without the possibility of feeling unsafe.

But how is this remedied? It comes down to a necessary cultural shift. With discussion of the negative effects of catcalling and how it really feels from a female perspective, there lies the possibility of understanding the implications of the catcall. What may seem like a harmless compliment could be just another remark by a strange man that causes discomfort and adds to the list of street grievances. Women speaking out and telling their stories will help people grasp what needs to change in our street culture.

I thought that it was my fault

If it isn’t my fault, then whose fault is it?

Yes, each perpetrator makes an individual decision whether to call out to the woman on the street. However, the issue is bigger than just one or two jerks. If catcalling is a widespread phenomenon, then the issue must be altogether widespread. We must examine the culture at large. What about our current cultural state makes men feel the need to assert dominance over women they do not even know?

For whatever reason, many men have claimed the streets as their own. They can walk safely, knowing that the majority of their time they will go unbothered. I know that as a young woman, to be out late at night,

If you are a man who has engaged in this behavior, please know that what you might perceive as complimentary could be just the opposite. One remark that turns a woman into an object for your pleasure could change the entire trajectory of her day, week, or month. There is no way to know how many people in her life are also failing to recognize her as a person with thoughts, feelings, and fears. Please consider this. Huffington Post contributor Mike Reynolds clearly outlines the impact of catcalling from a male perspective in his article “Calling Out the Catcallers.” If you are having a hard time really grasping what catcalling is and why it is considered

harassment, take a look-see.

If you are a woman who has experienced some of these cruel words, please know that you are not weak for letting these things get you down. Please don’t trap these feelings inside. I have struggled with feeling helpless, insecure, angry, downtrodden, pathetic, and confused as to why strangers could have such a great effect on me. I believe that it is natural to get stuck in a mindset that you have no control in the situation and that “these things just happen...men are pigs...boys will be boys.” However, I challenge you to have conversations about your experiences with the people around you. Encourage your male friends to rise above what is culturally acceptable, perhaps leading them to intervene when they witness inappropriate behavior in the future. I believe that this is an appropriate way to fight the catcall. Instead of shouting back at the stranger in the car and reacting in some reassertion of power, go home and write a blog post (what I did) or mention to a friend how it made you feel, and work through the emotional effects in order to minimize the damage that might be incurred.

Above all, recognize that your value is not contingent on how you are seen by strangers on the street. Your body and spirit are yours alone and deserve to be respected by those around you. No one has the right to take your safety and self-respect away, and I hope that in the future, we can all find strength in these situations and truly make a difference in our world. reprinted with permission from shescharming. com

NO ON A YES ON B Hey, you.

Wanna tell someone what’s what?

Wanna tell everyone what’s what?

We’re accepting submissions of 500 words for Unsolicited Advice.

editorial@synthesis.net

This issue is about more than people saying it smells bad or that people are profiting off of it. It’s about my well-being and being denied access to my medicine. I need this medicine to make the oils that keep me alive and fighting the cancer. I get my medicine by growing on someone else’s property, and my friends that grow there also have cancer. When you deny us access to growing medical marijuana, you deny us life. Larry Wahl and the Board of Supervisors are not thinking about us. They say we can buy our medicine, but that would cost hundreds of dollars a week, many thousands of dollars a year, which I cannot afford; and a long drive to purchase it, which many cannot manage. Stop believing the rhetoric, I beg you. They are taking from myself and others the right to fight for our lives. They want to limit each parcel to a 10’ by 10’ grow space, and allow anyone to complain, even if they’re not neighbors. That’s what A is all about. Please vote on my behalf and others, “No on A, and Yes on B,” and keep it the same as it always was.

Thank you, Cancer survivor

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GAMES HERE WATCH THE GAMES HERE 344 west 8th St | chico, ca | 530-343-2790

Food & Drink MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY FRIDAY

Closed.

We need to drink, too!

Closed

Mon-Fri Happy Hour 12-4PM $3 Sierra & Domestic Pints 6PM - close $1 Off Pitchers $5 Sailor Jerry DBLs All Day Every Day

Daily Happy Hour from 4-7PM PBR $2.25 Everyday!

Open Mic Comedy Night Every Other Week!

Happy Hour 2-6pm M-F $1.00 off Sierra and Dom Pitchers $1.00 off PBR & Olympia Pool Rates Cut in 1/2!

$6.99 Pulled pork sand w/ fries or salad 25 cent wings from halftime 'til they're gone!

MONSTER MONDAY SPECIALS 6PM-CLOSE BEER $3.50/4.50/5.50/6.50 FREE Pool after 10PM

Come see our beautiful Patio! Happy Hour 4-6: Menu cocktails $1 off. Sierra Nevada Draft $3

Closed

$2.50 TUESDAY: Tacos, Corn Dogs, French Fries or Tots, Chips & Salsa and Motzerells sticks only $2.50 ALL Day!

Daily Happy Hour from 4-7PM PBR $2.25 Everyday!

Two Dollar Tuesdays! $2 PBRs $2 Tacos!

Happy Hour 2-6pm M-F $1.00 off Sierra and Dom Pitchers $1.00 off PBR and Olympia Cans Pool Rates Cut in 1/2!

Chicken Strip Sand only $6.99 before 6 PM TWO BUCK TUESDAY 6-11pm $2 Rolling Rock, Olympia & Single Wells $2.50 PBR, Coors and Double wells

WING WEDNESDAY! $2 for 3 Wings 8PM-Close $2.50 Fire Eater Shots $5.50 DBL Bacardi Cocktails $5 Sailor Jerry DBLs All Day Every Day

Daily Happy Hour from 4-7PM

Chicken Waffle Wed.!

8 ball Tourney 6pm sign-up Happy Hour 2-6pm M-F $1.00 off Sierra and Dom Pitchers $1.00 off PBR and Olympia Pool Rates Cut in 1/2!

Reuben Sand w/ fries or salad $6.99

Mon-Fri Happy Hour 12-4PM $3 Sierra & Domestic Pints $3.50 Soccer moms $6 Dbl Roaring Vodka

Daily Happy Hour from 4-7PM PBR $2.25 Everyday!

Chico Jazz Collective 8-midnight Happy Hour 2-6pm M-F $1.00 off Sierra & Dom Pitchers $1.00 off PBR and Olympia Pool Rates Cut in 1/2!

Baby Back Ribs $11.99 Philly Cheesesteak $7.99

Daily Happy Hour from 4-7PM

Rock Out at The DL! Enjoy Live Music, Great Grub, and 10 9' foot tables Open @11am All ages untill 10pm

10 oz. Tri-Tip Steak w/ Fries or Salad & Garlic Bread $8.99 8pm-Close $4 J채ger $5.50 DBL Vodka Red Bull $2.50 Kamikaze shots FREE Pool after 10PM

$3 Sierra and Dom Pints $ 3.50 Kamis ALL DAY! Come see our beautiful Patio! Happy Hour 4-6: Menu cocktails $1 off. Sierra Nevada Draft $3 Live music 8-10

Closed

Come see our beautiful Patio! Happy Hour 4-6: Wander Food Truck on the Patio 6pm

Open 9PM Bartender Specials $3 14oz. Slushies $4 20oz. Slushies

$5 Sailor Jerry DBLs All Day Every Day Join us for Beers on our Patio Bar! Happy Hour from 4-6.

We open at 12:00pm.

SATURDAY SUNDAY

Tacotruck.biz and Beers on the Patio!

JIM BEAM PROMO 9-Close

Weekend Blast Off!!

8-close $5 Blasters

Open 9PM Bartender Specials $3 14oz. Slushies $4 20oz. Slushies

Open at 11AM $4.50 Bloody Mary $5.50 Absolut Peppar Bloody Marys Noon - 6PM $8 / $9 SN Dom Pitchers $5.50 DBL Bacardi Cocktails

Daily Happy Hour from 4-7PM Full Bar in Back Room Weds, Fri & Sat Nights!

PBR $2.25 Everyday!

Rock Out at The DL! Enjoy Live Music, Great Grub, and 10 9' foot tables Open @11am All ages untill 10pm

Baby Back Ribs w/Salad, Fries & garlic bread $11.99 8pm-Close $4 Single/$6 Double Jack or Captain $3 Sierra Nevada Pints FREE Pool after 10PM

10AM -2PM $5 Bottles of Champagne with entree $4.50 Bloody Mary $5.50 Absolut Peppar Bloody Marys

Daily Happy Hour from 4-7PM PBR $2.25 Everyday!

Free Pool with Purchase!

1.00 off Sierra and Dom Pitchers $1.00 off PBR and Olympia Cans

$5.49 Grad/Garden/ Turkey Burger w/fries or salad Bloodies $3 Well, $4 Call, $5 Top, $6 Goose Mimosas $2/flute, $5/pint $6 CHEAP Beer Pitchers FREE Pool after 10PM

CLOSED

PINHEAD, TROX & the terribles, her tragic mistake 337 Main St. Responsibly 530-343-1745 Please Drink

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SYNTHESISWEEKLY.COM OCTOBER 20 2014

6pm-Close $4.50 Grad teas $3.50 All beer pints FREE Pool after 10PM

Mon-Fri Happy Hour 12-4PM $3 Sierra & Domestic Pints

PELIGROSO PROMO 10-Midnight WE OPEN AT 12:00PM MIMOSAS WITH FRESH SQUEEZED OJ FOR $5 UNTIL 5PM.

8pm-Close Pitcher Specials $6.50/$9.50/$13 FREE Pool after 10PM

Open 9PM Bartender Specials $3 14oz. Slushies $4 20oz. Slushies

HALLOWEEN OCTOBER 31 9pm FRIDAY JIM BEAM 9-CLOSE SATURDAY PELIGROSO 10-CLOSE

Full Bar in Back Room Weds, Fri & Sat Nights!

PBR $2.25 Everyday!

Please Drink Responsibly

HAPPY HOUR 4-7PM Beer Week Guinness cocktail specials Beer coozie giveaway at back bar

F r i d ay 4 - 7 p m

HAP Y HOUR!

THE PUB SCOUTS

WATCH THE WORLD SERIES ALL WEEK!

Closed

Go DownLo

BEAR-E-OKE BURGER MADNESS! Bear Burger with fries or salad for $5.49.

11am-10pm.

Happy Hour 11-6PM select bottles & drafts $3

CLOSED

2 FOR 1 BURGERS ALL DAY !!

MINORS WELCOME!

CLOSED

CLOSED

VS.

LATE NIGHT EATS! kitchen open until 1 AM Closed

Go DownLo

BEAR WEAR! 1/2 off while wearing Bear Wear.

MUG CLUB 4-10PM

$2.50 Select Sierra Nevada or Dom Drafts $2 Kamis -any flavor All Day

$3.50 Tea of the Day Bartender Specials Happy Hour 4-8pm

Happy Hour 4 - 7pm

Progressive Night:

$1.50 sliders and other cheap eats!

8 - 10pm $1 Dom, Wells & Sierra Nevada Pale Ale 10pm - Close: Up $0.25 per hour til closing

LATE NIGHT EATS! kitchen open until 1 AM

WACKY WEDNESDAYS ( 8 - cl ) DJ Party 4 different DJ’s $1 wells $2 calls $2 domestic bottles $6 pitchers of well drinks

Go DownLo

Happy Hour 4 - 8pm Ladies Night!

88 pm - CLOSE $5 Pabst pitchers $2 shot board $4 Moscow Mules $3 Jamo and Ginger Buck Hour 10:30 - 11:30

Early Bird Special 9-10PM 1/2 off wells

Happy Hour 4 - 8pm

Early Bird Special 9-10PM 1/2 off wells

FIREBALL FRIDAYS!!!

8PM - Close $3 Fireball Shots $4 Big Teas $3 Coronas Opening at 8pm for 80's NIGHT!!

8 pm - CLOSE $4 Sauza Margaritas $3 Kamis $3 Shocktop & VIP pint

KARAOKE "INDUSTRY NIGHT" 8 PM - CLOSE HALF OFF ALMOST EVERYTHING!(Except Red Bull and Premium Liquors) Specials All Day!

TRIKE RACES! Post time @ 10pm.

Win T-shirts and Bear Bucks.

MUG CLUB 4-10PM

All 16 oz Teas or AMF $3 All Day

$3.50 Skyyy Vodka Cocktails $3.50 Tea of the Day Bartender Specials Happy Hour 4-8pm

1/2 OFF EVERYTHING!!!

9pm - Close $2 12oz Teas $3 20oz Teas $2 Well, Dom Bottles & bartender Specials $5 Vodka Red Bull

Happy Hour 4 - 7pm

$3.50 Tea of the Day Bartender Specials Happy Hour 4-8pm

Happy Hour- 4-7pm $5 Fridays 4-8pm Most food items and pitchers of beer are $5

LATE NIGHT EATS! kitchen open until 1 AM

1/2 OFF COVER before 10PM

BURGER MADNESS! Bear Burger with fries or salad for $5.49.

11am-10pm.

MUG CLUB from 4-10PM

LATE NIGHT EATS! kitchen open until 1 AM

Happy Hour 11-6PM $3 select bottles & drafts $2.50 16oz Wells All Day

Select Pints $3

LIVE MUSIC 1/2 OFF COVER before 10PM Early Bird Special 9-10PM 1/2 off wells

JIM BEAM PROMO 9-Close

Go DownLo

4-6PM $1 Dom Drafts $2 SN Drafts & Wells $5 DBL Captain Buck Night 8-Close $1 wells, SN Pale Ale, Rolling Rock, Dom Draft $3 Black Butte $4 Vodka Redbull

Closed

4-6PM $1 Dom Drafts $2 SN Drafts & Wells $5 DBL Captain 8pm - Close $4 151 Party punch 22oz.

8 - 9pm $1 Pale Ale & Dom.Draft Up $0.25/ hr until close

Closed

Power Hour 8 - 9pm 1/2 Off Liquor & Drafts (excludes pitchers) 9PM - Close $3 Pale Ale Drafts $9.75 Pitchers

Open at 9PM

NO COVER LATE NIGHT EATS! kitchen open until 1 AM

LIVE MUSIC 1/2 OFF COVER before 10PM Call To Rent For Private Party

$1.50 sliders and other cheap eats!!

BURGER MADNESS! Bear Burger with fries or salad for $5.49.

11am-10pm.

LATE NIGHT EATS! kitchen open until 1 AM

$4 Sex On The Beach $4 Sierra Nevada Knightro ON TAP $1 Jello Shots 7-10PM $3 Fireball

$4 World Famous Bloody Joe $5 Premium bloodys your choice of vodka

$3.50 Tea of the Day Bartender Specials Happy Hour 4-8pm

Hot "Dawgs" ALL DAY!

PELIGROSO PROMO 10-Midnight

Champagne Brunch 11am - 2pm $4 Champagne with entree

Champagne Brunch and SPORTS!

Closed

Mon. - Sat. 4PM - 6PM $1 Dom. draft, $2 SN Draft and Wells Power Hour 8 - 9PM $3 Pale Ale Drafts $9.75 Pitchers

tuesday WORLD SERIES GAME 1 $2.50 TUESDAY ALL DAY

FRIDAY WORLD SERIES GAME 3 $3.00 SIERRA & DOMESTIC PINTS

134 Broadway St, Chico, CA | 530.893.5253

BOTTLE SERVICE Now Available!

Call for reservation 898-9898 Large selection of wines, sangrias and Martinis.

BOTTLE SERVICE Now Available!

Call for reservation 898-9898

NO COVER

Open at 9PM Large selection of wines, sangrias and Martinis.

CLOSED

CLOSED

Open ‘til 1AM

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SICILIAN CAFÉ Monday, October 20th

Warm Up The Winter at Sicilian Cafe!

DEVENDRA BANHART EL REY THEATER

FOCUS FILM FESTIVAL COLUSA HALL CSUC

Farm.

Fresh.

Italian.

Friday, October 24th

Saturday, October 25th

1020 Main Street Chico 530.345.2233 14

Friday-Sunday October 24th -26th

SYNTHESISWEEKLY.COM OCTOBER 20 2014

Um, what? This feels like a very happy, slightly magical accident: Devendra Banhart playing El Rey. Indie-pop, experimental, psychedelic, acoustic; all these labels and more help point inward at the strange creature that is Devendra. 2014 sees Devendra cleaning up his physical appearance slightly, going for the politely hilarious nerd instead of the intensely tripping hippy songwriter we’re used to. His voice is still strange and beautiful, as are his songs. Also featuring Andy Cabic. $24 in advance, 7pm, ages 18 and over.

MERCY TIES MONSTROS PIZZA

Giant panthers in armor, demolishing peasants in the field. The love child of Converge, Blood Brothers, and marijuana. What busking musicians would sound like on Hell’s downtown strip. These are some of the ways in which I like to describe the loose, free, pounding heaviness that is Mercy Ties, from Seattle. Also featuring Teeph, Divider, and Gorilla X Monsoon. $5, 8pm

EAT. DRINK. PLAY. Find Out How you Can Play Pool for Only $1/Day!

Three days, 29 effing films. A full day of films is $15, Saturday and Sunday together are $25, and individual films are $5 each. Art, outdoor sports, Oscar winning and Oscar nominated shorts, real life heroes encountering disease, and entrepreneurs in Rwanda encompass just a few of the profound films being shown at Colusa Hall on campus, this Saturday and Sunday. The weekend starts Friday at the Big Room at 6:30pm with the story of Bobby McMullen: a world class mountain bike racer who’s BLIND.

Z-ROCK PUMPKINHEAD CONTEST CITY PLAZA

Z-Rock presents the 18th annual Pumpkinhead contest. Contestants compete from 8am until only one man is left standing, for a prize of $1000. The challenge?

They must wear a self-carved pumpkin on their heads for hella long while everyone listens to live music in the City Plaza. There’s more to it than just standing there, of course, and it’s pretty fun to watch. Live music begins at 12pm, see next page for a list of the bands.

LESSONS, LEAGUES AND TOURNAMENTS! GREAT FOOD! LIVE MUSIC! 319 Main Street (530) 892-2473

New & Exciting:

Ongoing Events:

20 Monday

El Rey: Devendra Banhart, Andy Cabic. $24 adv., 7pm, 18+ Sierra Nevada Big Room: The Greencards. $22, 7:30pm

Maltese: Quasimofos. $5, 9pm Monstros: Teeph, Mercy Ties, Divider, Gorilla X Monsoon. $5, 8pm Tackle Box: Northern Heat. $3

20 Monday

21 Tuesday

25 Saturday

Madison Bear Garden: Open Jam ft. performance

by The Mercantiles. Free, 9pm

22 Wednesday

El Rey: Trampled By Turtles, Goodnight Texas. $25 adv., 8pm Maltese: American Horror Story and pumpkin carving.

Bring a pumpkin to carve and get a $1 drink. 9pm

23 Thursday

Blue Room: “Seminar” by Theresa Rebeck. $12 adv., $15 door. 7:30pm Chico Theatre Company: Legally Blonde, The Musical. $20 adults, $12 children, 7:30pm Lost On Main: Afrolicious, Soul Union. 9pm Sierra Nevada Big Room: 10th Annual FOCUS Film Festival Day 1. $5-$25, 6:30pm

24 Friday

B Blue Room: “Seminar” by Theresa Rebeck. $12 adv., $15 door. 7:30pm Cafe Coda: Wander food truck full course haunted dinner, costumes encouraged, ft. Bogg. $25, 6-9pm Chico Theatre Company: Legally Blonde, The Musical. $20 adults, $12 children, 7:30pm Chico Womens Club: Ebony & Ivory season finale ft.

Robert Bowman. $30, Dinner 5pm, performance 7:30pm Colusa Hall CSUC: FOCUS Film Festival Day 2. $5-$25, 9am-9pm Lost On Main: Lyrics Born CD Release Party, ft. Galaxe, Himp C, Big Slim. $15, $12 students, 9pm

1078 Gallery: Big Mo & The Full Moon Band, Antique Naked Soul, Lisa Valentine & The Unloveables. $8-$12, 7:30pm Avenue 9 Gallery: Open Studio w. Demos: collage, oil, porcelain. 10-5pm Blue Room: “Seminar” by Theresa Rebeck. $12 adv., $15 door. 7:30pm Chico Theatre Company: Legally Blonde, The Musical. $20 adults, $12 children, 7:30pm City Plaza: Z-Rock Pumpkinhead 18. Bandmaster Ruckus, Aberrance, Lisa Valentine, The LoLos, Sofa King. 12pm Colusa Hall CSUC: FOCUS Film Festival Day 3. $5-$25, 9am-7pm Crossfit Chico: Wodtoberfest. Beginners to Intermediate. 9am-4pm Harlen Adams Theatre CSUC: Jazz X-Press. $15, $6 students, 7:30pm Idea Fab Labs: monca Maker Pop-Up showcase. $5, 12-6pm Lost On Main: Scott Pemberton Trio, Big Sticky Mess.

9pm Maltese: The LoLos, Remember Adam Domnie, Travis Hayes, Liam Kyle Cahill. $5, 9pm Tackle Box: Black Fong zombie party. $2 Yoga Center Of Chico: Open Heart Dances. $5-$10, 7-9pm, 18+

26 Sunday

Avenue 9 Gallery: Open Studio w. Demos: collage, oil, porcelain. 10-5pm Chico Theatre Company: Legally Blonde, The Musical. $20 adults, $12 kids, 2pm

The Bear: Bear-E-oke! 9pm Chico Art Center: Open Studios Art Tour.

10am-4pm Chico Art School & Gallery: “Explorations In Paint.” 12-5pm Chico Womens Club: Prenatal Yoga. 5:306:30pm DownLo: Pool League. 3 player teams, signup with bartender. 7pm. All ages until 10pm Empire Coffee: Portrait Drawing Group art show. 7am-7pm Maltese: Open Mic Comedy or Music, alternates every week. Signups at 8pm, starts at 9pm. Mug Night 7-11:30pm The Tackle Box: Latin Dance Classes. Free, 7-9pm University Bar: Free Pool 6-8pm Yoga Center Of Chico: Sound Healing w. Emiliano. Breathwork, Meditation, Healing.

21 Tuesday

100th Monkey: Fusion Belly Dance mixed-level class, with BellySutra. $8/ class or $32/month. 6pm The Bear: Open Jam Night, bring instruments, 9pm-1:30am Chico Art Center: Open Studios Art Tour.

10am-4pm Chico Art School & Gallery: “Explorations In Paint.” 12-5pm Chico Women’s Club: Yoga. 9-10am. Afro Carribean Dance. $10/class or $35/mo.

5:50-7pm.

Crazy Horse Saloon: All Request Karaoke.

21+ DownLo: Game night. All ages until 10pm Empire Coffee: Portrait Drawing Group art show. 7am-7pm Holiday Inn Bar: Salsa Lessons, 7-10pm LaSalles: ’90s night. 21+ Panama Bar: Tropical Tuesdays ft. Mack Morris & DJ2K. 10pm Studio Inn Lounge: Karaoke. 8:30pm1am The Tackle Box: Karaoke, 9pm University Bar: Free Pool 6-8pm Woodstocks: Trivia Challenge. Call at 4pm to reserve a table. Starts 6:30pm

22 Wednesday

The Bear: Trike Races. Post time 10pm Chico Art Center: Open Studios Art Tour.

10am-4pm Chico Art School & Gallery: “Explorations In Paint.” 12-5pm

Chico Women’s Club: Afro Brazilian Dance. 5:30-7pm DownLo: Wednesday night jazz. 8 Ball Tournament, signups 6pm, starts 7pm Duffys: Dance Night! DJ Spenny and Jeff Howse. $1, 9pm Empire Coffee: Portrait Drawing Group art show. 7am-7pm The Graduate: Free Pool after 10pm James Snidle Fine Arts: Paula Busch-”Japan.” 9am-5pm The Maltese: Friends With Vinyl! Bring your vinyl and share up to 3 songs/12 minutes on the turntable. 9pm-1am The Tackle Box: Line Dance classes. Free, 5:30-7:30pm. Swing Dance classes. Free, 7:30-9:30pm University Bar: Free Pool 6-8pm Woodstocks: Trivia Night plus Happy Hour. call at 4pm to reserve a table.

Starts at 8pm

23 Thursday

The Beach: Live DJ, no cover, 9pm Chico Art Center: Open Studios Art Tour.

10am-4pm Chico Art School & Gallery: “Explorations In Paint.” 12-5pm DownLo: Live Jazz. 8-11pm. All ages until 10pm Empire Coffee: Portrait Drawing Group art show. 7am-7pm The Graduate: Free Pool after 10pm Has Beans Downtown: Open Mic Night.

7-10pm. Signups start at 6pm Holiday Inn Bar: Karaoke. 8pm-midnight James Snidle Fine Arts: Paula Busch-”Japan.” 9am-5pm LaSalles: Free live music on the patio.

6-9pm Maltese: Karaoke. 9pm-close Panama Bar: Buck night and DJ Eclectic & guests on the patio. 9pm Quackers: Karaoke night with Andy.

9pm-1am University Bar: Free Pool 6-8pm Woodstocks: Open Mic Night Yoga Center Of Chico: Ecstatic Dance with Clay Olson. 7:30-9:30pm

24 Friday

The Beach: Live DJ, 9pm Cafe Coda: Friday Morning Jazz with Bogg, happy hour. 10am-2pm Chico Art Center: Open Studios Art Tour.

10am-4pm Chico Art School & Gallery: “Explorations In Paint.” 12-5pm DownLo: ½ off pool. All ages until 10pm.

Live Music, 8pm

Duffys: Pub Scouts - Happy Hour. 4-7pm Empire Coffee: Portrait Drawing Group art show. 7am-7pm The Graduate: Free Pool after 10pm Holiday Inn Bar: DJ Dance Party. 8pmmidnight James Snidle Fine Arts: Paula Busch”Japan.” 9am-5pm LaSalles: Open Mic night on the patio.

6-9pm Maltese: Happy hour with live jazz by Bogg. 5-7pm. LGBTQ+ Dance Party. 9pm Panama Bar: Jigga Julee, DJ Mah on the patio. 9pm Peeking: BassMint. Weekly electronic dance party. $1-$5. 9:30pm Quackers: Live DJ. 9pm Sultan’s Bistro: Bellydance Performance.

6:30-7:30pm University Bar: Free Pool 6-8pm

25 Saturday

The Beach: Live DJ, 9pm Chico Art Center: Open Studios Art Tour.

10am-4pm Chico Art School & Gallery: “Explorations In Paint.” 10am-12pm DownLo: 9 Ball tournament. Signups at noon, starts at 1pm. All ages until 10pm Empire Coffee: Portrait Drawing Group art show. 7am-7pm The Graduate: Free Pool after 10pm Holiday Inn Bar: DJ Dancing. 70s and 80s music. The Molly Gunn’s Revival!

8pm-midnight James Snidle Fine Arts: Paula Busch-”Japan.” 9am-5pm LaSalles: 80’s Night. 8pm-close Panama Bar: DJ Eclectic on the patio.

9pm University Bar: Free Pool 6-8pm

26 Sunday

Chico Art Center: Open Studios Art Tour.

10am-4pm Dorothy Johnson Center: Soul Shake Dance Church. Free-style dance wave, $8-$15 sliding scale. 10am-12:30pm DownLo: Free Pool, 1 hour with every $8 purchase. All ages until 10pm Empire Coffee: Portrait Drawing Group art show. 7am-7pm LaSalles: Karaoke. 9pm Maltese: Live Jazz 4-7pm. Trivia 8pm Tackle Box: Karaoke, 8pm

FACEBOOK.COM/SYNTHESISCHICO 15

Lost Frequencies – Old and Busted THE AUTHOR CONTEMPLATES HIS OLD AND BUSTEDNESS, LIVE MUSIC IS SALVATION, AND FINGERS SURE HAVE A WAY OF GETTING STICKY IN OCTOBER Immaculate Infection

by Bob Howard

Madbob@madbob.com

Everything is green after a brief overnight rain shower. Wispy white clouds soar by quickly, far overhead. The evergreens in front of the drive are pushing up bright yellow new growth. The coffee is good and strong.

Is My Brain an Asshole?

I’m getting cranky in my middle-age. I know this. My brain is slowly coming around to the reality staring back at me from the mirror.

No longer svelte and youthful—my belly is extending, my face is cris-crossed with lines and emerging wrinkles. The brain has a funny way of hiding reality. My brain still tries to tell me I am pretty and young, but I’m finally starting to see that my brain lies.

My brain tells me I can do things that I can no longer actually do. I used to be a pretty decent athlete, so my brain still thinks I am.

Or at least my brain tries to convince me that I am. Sometimes my brain tricks me into trying things I really shouldn’t be trying. I’m undecided as to whether or not my brain is just pathologically optimistic, or if my brain is in fact an asshole that takes pleasure in causing my body embarrassment and pain.

The other day I tried to hit rocks with a stick—

16

SYNTHESISWEEKLY.COM OCTOBER 20 2014

like a baseball player might. I softly lobbed the rocks into the air and swung the stick. I must have pitched myself thirty rocks. I think I made contact with two. To top it off, the next day my right arm felt like it was on fire, and my left felt like it was going to fall off.

Salvation through Music I forgot myself for a while by attending a show at Monstro’s. The out of town acts didn’t do much for me, but I was truly thrilled to catch Trox and the Terribles. Their brand of highenergy rock and roll is infectious and driving.

If you haven’t seen them yet they are on the bill for the Halloween show happening at Duffy’s later this month. That always proves to be a party.

I stayed for most of the show and also enjoyed Severance Package’s set of high-octane partpunk-part-rock-all-fun tunes. Robin and Josh Indar’s dueling vocals push the band over the top and Mike Erpino is one of the best drummers around. Incidentally Erpino is the man responsible for my own migration to Chico. He and I played together years ago in Los Angeles, and at his encouragement our band came to Chico, where I met the Trish, my

then future and now present wife. Good God, was that really fifteen years ago?

I left the show with elevated spirits and ringing ears and made my way up the straight stretch of road that leads from Chico to the farm.

A few days of work in Concow have left me with sticky fingers and a heavier wallet, and the ringing in my ears is finally starting to subside. I left a few more frequencies behind, I suppose.

Women’s Health Specialists As a sexually active woman living in Chico, I was surprised by the high number of health clinics available (see our handy list of resources in this issue). Fake abortion clinics have been springing up all over the country, now outnumbering real health clinics 5-1.

These fake clinics (called Crisis Pregnancy Centers), target women who believe they might be pregnant, or have recently discovered that they’re pregnant. Designed to look like comprehensive health clinics, CPCs are often unregulated and unlicensed, and most use tactics that mislead women about the facts of pregnancy (like “abortion causes cancer,” or that “birth control pills cause abortion”). It absolutely floored me to learn that within Butte County alone, there are four CPCs. Care Net Pregnancy Center in Paradise, Caring for Women Pregnancy Resource Center, Birthright in Chico, and the Women’s Resource Clinic, also in Chico. With the overwhelming number of these CPC’s across the nation (and the unsavory tactics many are using to conceal their intentions), finding reliable and trustworthy locations can prove daunting. One place that’s actually doing some good is Women’s Health Specialists, which offers services like birth control, HIV testing, abortion options, and emergency contraception, to name a few. I recently sat down with Kim Edmonds, manager of the Chico clinic to discuss the direction women’s rights are headed, and fake abortion clinics.

How is WHS different than Planned Parenthood?

I’ve never been to a Planned Parenthood here in Chico, but we do provide a lot of the same resources focused on reproductive health.

The difference is that Planned Parenthood gets federal funding; they’re functioning as a much bigger organization. We only have four

main clinics; we have one here in Chico, one in Redding, Sacramento and Santa Rosa and we do satellite clinics.

If someone comes in to see you and they have insurance that’s not great, or no insurance at all, what is pricing like?

We take most insurances; we take Covered California, Medi-Cal, and we can sign you up for the Family Pact Program which is the green card that a lot of people use at Planned Parenthood. For pricing we also go based off of a sliding scale. So if you don’t have any insurance and you can’t qualify for Family Pact, we will give you a quote based off of your income.

I was shocked to learn that we actually have one of those fake abortion clinics here in Chico. Can you talk a little bit about the Women’s Resource Clinic?

Yeah, those [fake abortion places] are really common, which is really scary to me. They’re called CPCs, or Crisis Pregnancy Centers, and basically what their goal is, is to talk to women who think they’re pregnant or are in that moment of crisis where they are trying to find resources to make an informed decision about what to do with the pregnancy, or looking for abortion resources. The majority of resource centers for women are these CPCs across the nation. I’ve never been in there [the Chico location] personally, but I’ve had friends go in just to check it out, or friends that have gone to them looking for resources, and been pretty traumatized by their experience there.

As far as I’ve heard, they’re pretty aggressive with their information. They provide pregnancy tests, but—there’s a wide range of these centers—while some have doctors,

some don’t actually have any doctors. They provide some resources for those women who do plan on continuing the pregnancy—like free baby clothes or that kind of thing—but if you’re not looking to continue the pregnancy, and those resources are being pushed on you, it’s a much different experience, and it’s not something that’s helpful.

State, and it never stops. So even though we weren’t a crisis center, we ended up doing a lot of crisis intervention, because that’s what people ended up needing. So I think it’s imperative that the state and federal government and legislation make a stand and make a strong stance about what is OK and what is not OK, and being explicit about that.

Do they offer birth control?

What’s something you wish women in the 18-30 age range knew?

They do not. Their only goal is to talk to the women who are trying to make a decision about their pregnancy.

That’s so insidious.

Yeah, they have little knit baby hats and baby booties up all over their office.

Are you optimistic about the direction women’s rights are heading?

Yes. [laughs] And it’s hard to be optimistic sometimes, especially with abortion laws and how rampant rape and sexual assault seems to continue to be, I am optimistic because of the movement of legislation that is happening. And my everyday work here, and the people I get to work with; I don’t believe we’re going to turn around and go backwards anytime soon.

How do you feel about the recent Yes Means Yes law that was passed?

Rape, and sexual assault and sexual violence in general, is one of the biggest issues you could ever try to have a conversation about, and particularly on college campuses. I worked at the Womens Center in the GSEC (Gender & Sexuality Equity Center) for quite a few years when I went to school at Chico

One thing I’ve learned living in Chico is that there are a lot of resources out there. It’s not easy to fix culture, it’s not easy to change societal opinions or views or actions, but there is help out there for you. And it can be hard to find sometimes, but Chico in particular is an incredible place. And even when terrible things happen there are resources, and support available to help get you through whatever you need.

Best day on the job, worst day on the job?

Well… (laughs) I don’t know that I can give you a worst day, just because of the nature of this job. There are definitely hard days.

But working at a clinic sometimes you have easy days. Where everyone is here getting something they need, and everything goes smoothly. And there are hard days when people are in really tough situations. But regardless of all that, I get to be here, and I get to talk to women, provide them with information, and provide the services that they need. And that’s something that’s really important to me; it’s something I love doing.

There you have it! For more information about Women’s Health Specialists, visit their website at womenshealthspecialists.org, or call their Chico office at (530) 891-1911.

FACEBOOK.COM/SYNTHESISCHICO 17

Yes Means Yes On September 28th, the so-called Yes Means Yes bill (SB 967) was signed into law here in California. Many have argued that it sets forth an unreasonable expectation, a burden that would at best ruin sex, and at worst lead to mass accusations of rape against guys who were just being guys. I saw it as a great attempt at strengthening victim’s rights and reshaping the culture that encourages men to be sexually dominant and judges women by the defense they put up against it. This added layer of communication could simplify things and make sex a better experience for everyone, clarifying the foggier areas of hookups.

While rare, false accusations are always going to be a possibility when it’s a crime that generally happens in private and leaves little physical evidence, but at the very least, if consent were asked for and given it could strengthen the case for the defendant.

So what is it?

For better or for worse, Yes Means Yes is not a change to the penal code, and does not apply to everyone. What is it then? In order to qualify for state funds for student financial assistance, California colleges and universities are now required to adopt “certain policies concerning sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.”

If you are a student, member of faculty, or staff of one of these schools, you’re now expected to establish “affirmative consent” before sex. Each person is responsible for requesting consent from the other—you have to get a yes, or a head nod, or some other affirmative confirmation. If the subject of your advances is silent, not protesting but also not affirming, you should assume they don’t want it and stop. You must keep communicating to establish consent as things progress (for example, consenting to getting naked or to oral sex isn’t consent to penetration) through words or gestures. You still need to do this even if you’re dating, or have had sex before. It also outlines things that are not an 18

SYNTHESISWEEKLY.COM OCTOBER 20 2014

allowable defense for a person accused of sexual assault—for example, it doesn’t count as affirmative consent to claim the victim was acting sexual beforehand, or that it seemed like they wanted to despite not having actually asked them.

This affirmative consent requirement is also applied to other parts of existing state law regarding consent: it can’t be coerced, and isn’t valid if the person is inebriated, unconscious, or mentally impaired in some way where they couldn’t fully understand what they were consenting to. The law also outlines the resources a school needs to provide and procedures it needs to follow in response to a report and mandates outreach and informational programs, including

assault is a HUGE problem among the college population—according to a report by the National Institute of Justice, the percentage of completed or attempted rape victimization among women may be between 20%–25% over the course of a college career—and we definitely need to do something to change that.

Increasing outreach and making the rules clearer and stronger—aligning them with the understanding of victim’s advocates about the difficulty victims sometimes have in communicating dissent when they’re in shock—is at the very least attempting to address the issue.

“Would you like it if I did X right now?”

But, is it going to have the desired effect? Will the type of person who ignores non-verbal resistance care that the grey area of consent just went fully black? Will victims be more empowered, more willing to report assault, or will they continue to internalize their suffering in vast numbers? (The Justice Department estimates that less than 5% of completed and attempted rapes of college women are ever reported to law enforcement.) Only time will tell.

If you are a student, member of faculty, or staff of one of these schools, you’re now expected to establish “affirmative consent” before sex. promises of privacy and immunity for other infractions admitted to by victims or witnesses.

So what is the state law regarding rape?

Essentially: If schools want state money, they have to have this policy set regarding what consent means and what is required to establish it. They have to inform people, and they have to abide by these policies when investigating assaults and deciding on academic punishment.

California Penal Code 263.

Do we need Yes Means Yes?

There are lists of particular circumstances and infractions outlined—pages of them, with amendments stemming all the way back

Maybe. On the one hand, it’s clear that sexual

from 1872 to the present day—but the above passage is the essence of the law: if a person feels raped, they were raped. There is no affirmative consent requirement, but violating the right to conscious and voluntary consent to sexual contact is the heart of the issue

“The essential guilt of rape consists in the outrage to the person and feelings of the victim of the rape. Any sexual penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime.”

nonetheless.

Whether we’re talking about the penal code or school policies, No still means No—and so does awkward avoidance, confusion, hesitation, shocked silence, snoring, crying, stumbling, big scared eyes, clenched knees, drunken babbling, slurring, telling you they have a headache or that they want a cab or that they need to find their shoes…

To ensure you have “affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity,” it’s a good idea to just start asking each other (seductively, one would hope), “Would you like it if I did X right now?” and then listen to the answer. If talking is just too embarrassing for you, you and your partner could develop a system of gestures, nods, and smiles—it’s really not that complicated and makes sex a lot more interactive and rewarding.

If you ignore all that and prefer to push through resistance to satisfy your own desires, not caring about theirs, ignoring their right to decide what enters their body, don’t be surprised if the other person wakes up the next morning feeling just as used and violated as if you’d pinned them down and held a knife to their throat. Don’t be surprised if they feel raped, and if they feel that way, the law says that that’s what happened.

SO WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU’RE ASSAULTED? According to csuchico.edu :

obligated to call the police. However, If you do not want to file a police report, that is your choice. If you change your mind, you can file a report later.

Get to a safe place.

Notify the appropriate police agency. If you don’t know who to call, call 9-1-1 and you will be directed to the appropriate agency.

If the assault took place on University property, the University Police will respond to the call. If the assault took place elsewhere, then it falls under the jurisdiction of the police in that area. When the police arrive, they will address your medical needs first to assess whether you need to go to the hospital immediately. The police are specially trained to handle sexual assault cases, and will see to it that the situation is handled in a sensitive, caring manner.

The police will then begin to interview you about what happened. This can be a very difficult task, but it is absolutely necessary if a police report is to be completed. The police will then get as much information as possible on the alleged assailant and investigate the case further. The sooner the assault is reported, the sooner the investigation can begin. Further investigation could lead to an arrest.

Seek medical attention. even if you have not been seriously physically injured.

It is important to seek medical attention, even if you do not plan to report the sexual assault to the police. A medical examination is important to check for sexually transmitted diseases, other infections, injuries, and pregnancy. If you go to the hospital, medical personnel will conduct a physical examination. They will also conduct an evidentiary examination in case you decide to go through the court system.

Going to the hospital is not an easy process for anyone. You may want to take along a good friend or family member for support. It is important to know that if you go straight to the hospital, the hospital will call the police. It is important to recognize that sexual assault is a violent crime, and that hospitals are

CRISIS RESOURCES

Help preserve evidence. Physical evidence is crucial in helping to prosecute assailants. Evidence generally must be collected within 72 hours of the assault, and only by a certified medical facility upon the request of a law enforcement agency. To preserve evidence after an attack, you should not change your clothes, bathe, shower, or take any other personal hygiene action before contacting police. If it becomes absolutely necessary that you change your clothes, each item should be packaged separately in a paper bag. If oral contact took place, do not brush your teeth, use mouthwash, or smoke. Do not “straighten up” the crime scene.

Consider Counseling. Help is available in the form of support services, crisis lines, support groups, and counseling.

Additionally, a survivor may request a change in academic and/or living arrangements after a sexual attack, if the changes are reasonably available.

Contact the Director of University Housing and Food Services at (530) 8986325 and the Vice President for Student Affairs at (530) 898-6131 for additional information.

In the event that filing a police report is not an option for you, there are many other options to choose from to help yourself or a friend in need.

You have the right to individual or group counseling for support. No one should have to deal with a sexual assault alone. Getting support for this traumatic event is very important. All counseling is held in a very supportive and confidential environment.

Reporting The Sexual Assault. Sexual assaults may be reported to any of the following agencies, which provide a variety of support options and resources.

Reports may be made anonymously.

Butte County Behavioral Health

Student Health Services

(530) 898-5241

Info (530) 891-2810

Adult (530) 891-2810

Youth (530) 891-2794

Butte County Sheriff’s Department

(530) 538-7321

Student Psychological Counseling

(530) 898-6345

Chico Police Department

(530) 897-4911

University Police Department

(530) 898-5555

Faculty and Staff Assistance

(530) 898-4645

Crisis Line

(530) 342-7273

Office of Student Judicial Affairs

(530) 898-6897

Gender and Sexual Equity Center

(530) 898-5724

Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs

(530) 898-6131

Rape Crisis Intervention

(530) 891-1331

FACEBOOK.COM/SYNTHESISCHICO 19

by logan kruidenier logankruidenier.tumblr.com

On The Town 20

SYNTHESISWEEKLY.COM OCTOBER 20 2014

OCTOBER 20, 2014

BY KOZ MCKEV

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

A shift takes place this week where we move from partnership to transformation. In order to be in a relationship, one needs to let go of their power as a merging of two powers come together. The new moon solar eclipse is about letting go. Imagination and intuition become more important. Sexual obsessions become more evident.

Jealousy and personal inadequacies become magnified.

Spiritual renewal is a way out of the pain. You’ll need to rely more on your leadership qualities as Mars enters your midheaven on Sunday.

Efforts deserve compensation, even if they’re just romantic efforts. There is a power in honoring the things you enjoy. After giving begins the living. The sun and Venus are moving into your seventh house on Thursday, giving you a focus on relationships and ways of working with others. The new moon solar eclipse that day helps make you more attractive to others. Mercury going direct can help restore you to good health and improve conditions at work. Mars moving into your ninth house gives you a renewed sense of adventure.

By living in your heart you’ve been able to overcome many of your fears. Uncertainty can bring out the best in you.

You have learned to be spontaneous and innovative in a variety of situations. Mercury going direct on Saturday will bring back some sense of routine and grace. Mars moves into your eighth house on Sunday, reviving ego issues, tickling the libido, and working yourself up about death, birth, and occult studies. The new moon urges you to take better care of yourself and to honor your health. Charitable causes will be seeking your help.

Parked cars collecting dust can be turned into art. Unused rail roads can be made into bicycle paths. Your imagination is going to get a chance to express itself this week. Be in your heart.

Become more familiar with the people and things that you cherish in this life. The new moon solar eclipse rules playfulness, creative fires, children and love affairs. Plan on having a very good Thursday through most of Saturday. Being patient with loved ones as they try to reach their goals may be a challenge.

People who have problems with you will be more open about them.

We go moving from the basics to deeper stuff. We start by being responsible for our own happiness, yet at some point we find our parents, our housemates, and our ancestors deeply connected to our present set of circumstances.

The new moon eclipse emphasizes your comfort zones, your history, and your given set of karma. Get in touch with the people you consider to be part of your tribe. Mars moves into your sixth house on Sunday, prompting more exercise and more energy toward work. Be grateful for the help that you have received.

A more poetic approach to living is in order these days.

Beyond your own boundaries involving personal values, you merge into a place of curiosity and experimentation. Communication issues begin to be resolved as Mercury goes direct Saturday morning, offering you better information and a chance to recover from your losses. Monday features a moon in Virgo. Be ready to put your best foot forward and be alright with accepting new challenges. The weekend looks good for being with family and friends. Mars entering into your fifth house brings more energy for play.

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

Monday through Wednesday mark the last three days of Libra. The new moon solar eclipse will be in your second house of food, values, and money. Venus also enters your second house making it a better time for singing and making music. Mars makes its entrance into your fourth house on Sunday, making family issues somewhat of a priority while you may feel more isolated at home.

Tastes will be more sensational, smells will seem more exotic, and sounds will be more pleasing. The weekend looks perfect for exploring the local environment.

Enter into consciousness. The last few days of the sun being in your third house should teach you how to meditate. At least reflect on what worked and what didn’t work over the last year. The new moon solar eclipse in Scorpio heralds a chance for you to put on a new face and to enter into full awareness. You are now the flavor of the month with all the colors that go with it. Mars entering your third house puts an emphasis on information, communication, close friends and siblings. Venus entering your first house makes you more attractive to others.

Party days appear to be numbered. The new moon solar eclipse illuminates your twelfth house of karma, past lives, your subconscious, and places where you feel isolated. Perhaps you can feel the spiritual depth of Scorpio better than most people?

Jupiter in your ninth house continues to teach you to take the high road. By the end of the weekend Mars moves into your second house, while Mercury returns to its direct motion. Finances will begin to improve. The moon goes into Sagittarius Saturday night.

Get ready for an inspirational finish to the weekend.

You’ll back off a little from some of your responsibilities and engage more with others. Now is the time to meet helpful friends. Mars goes into Capricorn on Sunday giving you the drive and direction you were so lacking during the last couple of months. The new moon solar eclipse will bring a new social circle into your proximity.

Venus moving into your eleventh house brings light hearted flirtations and fun parties.

Make sure you have your work agenda straight. Take time to appreciated those who help move your life forward.

Her gift was a positive attitude. It didn’t matter that she was near eighty years old and had to walk with a walker. She was always good humored and could offer a smile. Simple things like this make one the guru, the leader, perhaps even the master. You move from deep learning to mastery. Some pressure is on as you are in the public eye. Saturday night and Sunday are good for a social gathering.

The new moon eclipse encourages you to add art and creativity to your career approach. Tuesday and Wednesday are best for travel and raising the vibration.

The hard lessons of the past several weeks begin to ease up. You grow in understanding and in knowledge. You begin to anticipate good things are about to happen. The new moon solar eclipse brings excitement and adventure. This could be a symbol of good luck, and that your fortune has changed for the better.

Mars moving into your eleventh house will create a rather intensified social life. With every rain comes the chance of mushrooms. The weekend looks good for travel and adventure. Try something that you’ve never tried before.

Koz McKev is on YouTube, on cable 11 BCTV and is heard on 90.1FM KZFR Chico. Also available by appointment for personal horoscopes call (530)891-5147 or e-mail kozmickev@sunset.net FACEBOOK.COM/SYNTHESISCHICO 21

Jail I saw my first jail in the early fifties with Cub Scout Troop 3588. Mr. McDowell—who it turned out had a daughter too fine to shit— took us. I don’t remember much except the dim gloom and the astonishing thickness of the bars. It was just the lockup at our local police station at 93rd and Cottage Grove, but for eight and nine-year-olds, it was San Quentin.

I next saw the inside of a jail nearly twenty years later with Pudgy Thompson in Chicago on a tour of the Cook County Jail. It was huge, grimy, dark, and loud. Pudgy knew Winston Moore, the notorious warden who took us around, and we got a good look at whatever he wanted us to see. The bars didn’t seem as thick as they had when I was nine, though plenty thick enough to contain any human. It once again occurred to me that whatever else I might do in life, one of the main things I wanted to do was stay the hell out of jail, and I consider that one of my major accomplishments to date.

I recently got a look at the Butte County Jail on a tour with the Butte County Behavioral Health Advisory Board. I was surprised. First, there ain’t any gloom in the Butte County Jail, other than the occasional attitude, I suppose.

It’s bright everywhere. All of the walls and ceilings are light-colored and everything is brightly, fluorescently lit, and spotless.

The decor and spaces are Institutional Bland, which is understandable and unimaginative. I wonder what, say, Frank Gehry might do for a jail. Meanwhile, I’ve got to say that the Butte County Jail seems to be doing a reasonable job, given what the job is. Of course, everybody had known for a month which hour that Wednesday we would be there, so there wasn’t gonna be any blood on the walls.

Lately I had been thinking that locking people up is mostly a racket fed by biased prosecutors and judges and seen to mostly by bullies, goons, sadists, and now corporations.

Now I’m not so sure. I thought there was a better way to deal with human transgression, and I daresay there might be, but I don’t know what that is.

22

SYNTHESISWEEKLY.COM OCTOBER 20 2014

We didn’t know what anybody had done to be there, although we did learn the code that determines what color clothing an inmate wears, fashionably orange more often than not. We saw a lot of inmates in various stages of their stays, intake and assessment and solitary and the protected populations alone and together.

I’m hardly ever afraid of anything or anybody, but when I saw one inmate in a little cell with his face at the glass and got close enough to look in his eyes, I was immensely grateful that he was on the other side of a serious steel door. He might be a genius or a budding saint, fine, just don’t let him out just yet. I’m real sorry he’s in that little room. That couldn’t be helping him much, except maybe keeping him from being hurt or killed by somebody who saw him coming and was in a position to do something definitive about it, but meanwhile please keep him behind that door, thank you.

Don’t hurt him and don’t let him out.

We can’t know what it’s like for inmates with various mental illnesses. We heard mostly how things are set up and how the process works. It all made sense, of course, the way they explained it. We had several professional whatnots, a few lieutenants, a captain, and the sheriff his own self, and they all know how to explain. We even got a few words from the guy who owns California Forensic Medical Group, the company we—and twenty-six other counties—pay to handle mental health issues at the county jail. He’s got at least twentyseven contracts and gets to Oroville about once a quarter.

I’m sure the Butte County Jail could be better and worse for people who’d do better as mental patients than inmates, and I think that’s more people than we know. I hope the Board can help institutional evolution along and get people with a mental illness what makes sense for them, courtesy of Butte County. Did you know that Medi-Cal stops when you go to jail?

From The Edge

by Anthony Peyton Porter A@anthonypeytonporter.com

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