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Ryan
Blacketter
Emily Pehrson Editor-in-chief
Justin Kirkham Managing Editor
In her newly released book, “Commit to Win,” Heidi Reeder examines what prompts some people to follow through and why other people fall off their goals. According to her book, much of this can be summed up in one word: commitment. “I think people have a misnomer about what commitment means; they over-associate it with being obligated,” Reeder said. “But commit-
ment is something different. It’s an internal drive to stick with something that matters to you.” “Commit to Win” outlines the four factors that statistically predict how likely someone is to be committed and how readers can set themselves up for success. Reeder believes that by identifying and being aware of these factors, one can determine what choices will align with their values long-term. “What if my goal is to be excellent in my career?” Reeder said. “Some goals are really life-long pursuits.
What makes us stick with some things for the long haul versus what makes us let go of something and choose a new path?” Self-help books have a reputation for spouting opinion or resting firmly on cultural stereotypes. Because of this, it was important to Reeder for her book to have a foundation in study and research. “There’s an audience that is craving advice, suggestions, perspectives but ones that are based some real concrete evidence, where they can feel more confident in the expertise,” Reeder said. “I think that’s really my audience.”
Martin Corless-Smith
An adjunct in Boise State’s creative writing program and graduate of Boise State’s MFA program, Christian Winn recently published his first collection of short stories entitled “Naked Me.” The collection is comprised of 15 stories—some pieces ranging from only 200-300 words to a few longer short stories. “Naked Me” is a thin volume that can be read in one sitting— and after you finish you’ll
English professor Ryan Blacketter strives to make each of his fictional characters sympathetic and believable for any reader. His novel, “Down in the River,” published in Jan. 2014, spotlights the uncanny humanity that can be found within his manic character, Lyle. “Down in the River” follows Lyle’s emotional journey after his twin sister dies. His religious extremist brother doesn’t allow any mention of his sister because she committed suicide. Entrenched in grief and disillusionment, Lyle finds himself in several
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bouts of trouble, including a mausoleum heist. “Even though Lyle’s a bit cracked mentally, he’s lost and heartbroken, and his bad actions are sympathetic,” Blacketter said. It took Blacketter five years to fully compose and revise his novel. The first draft took one year to write, and the next four years were spent revising for five hours every day. Blacketter explained that this sort of intensive revision is necessary for compiling a novel with real, believable and human characters. “Once you have your first
draft, then you can say, ‘OK, I’ve got something. I’ve glimpsed this world and its characters. Now I can begin,’” Blacketter said. According to Blacketter, well-rounded characters are essential in creating lasting, quality writing. “How many great doctors are there in the country? Thousands. Doctors are a dime a dozen,” Blacketter said. “But how many great living fiction writers are there? Maybe 50, possibly much fewer. Writing literary prose that endures forever is the most competitive job in the world.” jared lewis/the arbiter
The English-born writer and painter Martin CorlessSmith has housed his considerable talents at Boise State for the last 15 years. He has published five collections of poetry including his most recent work, “English Fragments: A Brief History of the Soul.” His work is classified by many as post-modern, but contains many elements of something beyond that. Corless-Smith is less concerned with how his poems are classified. Rather he focuses on the experience that he gets while creating them—one he hopes will carry over to the reader. “You might start with an
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The work, while fiction, echoes scenes from Winn’s life. The title story, “Naked Me” begins with Winn’s experience with an exhibitionist his friends used to witness while playing cards. “I drew from the college experience,” Winn said. “It’s just such a spectacle, it’s uncomfortable ... it just somehow suited that group of people. It’s good for a fiction writer, I guess. There’s a lot of characters.”
Christian
Heidi Reeder
be happy to hand it off to your roommates so you can chat about it all night. “I feel like we settled in a good place. Putting it together was such a process but it was well worth it,” Winn said. “I believe good writing should not only entertain but instruct.” For students looking for accessible fiction, Winn offers stories with enough familiarity to draw readers in. The stories, however, deal deftly with adult themes.
impulse—it might be the shape of a house if it’s a painting or it could be the coming together of a few words that spark an idea,” Corless-Smith said. “But the idea is to sort of follow it and keep it buoyant.” Those who are easily frightened by the idea of poetry might want to tread lightly. Corless-Smith’s work is not the limericks of childhood. In his poetry, all the things that makes a novice readers cringe are realized. However, grappling with his work is exactly what makes it so rewarding. “Part of what poetry is about is learning by playing, experimenting,” Corless-
Smith said. While reading CorlessSmith’s poetry may seem like a daunting task, there’s plenty of encouragement to accomplish it—including a chance to experience firsthand a poet that may be talked about for generations to come. “Boise State is extremely fortunate to have Martin here,” Carrie Seymour, professor of literature, told The Arbiter during a 2013 interview. “In my opinion, his poetry will be read and taught decades from now when he takes his place among the great poets that subtly resonate throughout his work.”
Winn
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feature info courtesy the intersex society of north america
Gender lies outside social norms
Your Anatomical assignment 1 in 1500 children are born with atypical genetalia that may not dictate specifically male or female
Orientation who you’re attracted to questioning
info courtesy gallup poll
Gay ual bisex asexual pansexual Lesbian
straight
bicurious
Justin Kirkham Managing Editor
When Dianne Piggott was born, doctors told her parents they had a son. In the end, that socially-constructed gender assignment didn’t work out. After trying to live life as a man for several years, Piggott decided to transition and become the woman she knew she was internally, at least, everywhere except for work. Her decision to fully transition in every portion of her life became apparent to her when she had to race home, change her appearance to that of a “man” and hurry back to work. “I had to take off my hair, wash my face and really just change myself,” the junior psychology major said. “I looked in the mirror and started to cry and think, ‘Who is that? That’s not me.’” After years of struggling with her identity, Piggott joined the Add the Words movement. However, despite recent efforts from the group, the bill was defeated again in committee on Jan. 29. This left Piggott and countless others facing potential discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. Many believe a
contributing factor to this continued oppression is a distinct lack of understanding surrounding gender identity. “It’s not necessarily people wanting to be willfully ignorant,” said Christopher Dale, sophomore French major who identifies as gender nonconforming or agender. “It’s more of people not having access to information.” For graduate English student Thomas Meissner, this lack of information has created several uncomfortable situations, including slurs heard through the walls of their student-housing apartment. Meissner identifies as genderqueer and their personal expression, through clothing and mannerisms, occasionally becomes a topic of disdain among peers. “They just need to take me more seriously,” Meissner said. “Otherwise, I just wonder how I’m going to eventually interact with these people.” According to Meissner, ignorance surrounding gender identity and its integral role within a person has created harsh attitudes. Because these mannerisms are so deeply embedded in mainstream culture, they exist in commonplace things, such as binary-focused
male and female choices on Scantron sheets. In some instances, these attitudes manifest in harmful ways. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reported that 41 percent of transgender or gender-nonconforming individuals have attempted suicide. According to the Black Lives Matter’s website the life expectancy of black transgender woman is 35. In every state except California, it is still legal to claim transgender-induced panic as a reasoning for violence toward these individuals. “Everyone has a different gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation,” said Kate Steven, program coordinator at the Women’s Center. “They don’t all match up all the time.” Steven stressed the utilization of preferred pronouns and non-gendered language in order to be more inclusive of all identities. Steven, who identifies as genderqueer, uses they/them/their pronouns and encouraged all people to focus on using pronouns as such until a person shares the pronouns they would like to be called. Steven suggested sharing
pronouns at the beginning of class each semester in order to create a more inviting space and avoid misgendering some students. Landon Browning, one of two gender equity peer educators at the Women’s Center, invited all students to find communities to learn more about gender identity or explore their own identity. As the past president of the Pride Alliance, he explained that all students, whether they are cisgender, transgender or questioning, can find ways to enter this discussion or find support if needed. “Boise in general is just not as diverse as other places,” Browning said. “We can all benefit from being exposed to diversity, changing our perspectives and helping evolve other perspectives.” According to Dale, the best method of becoming informed is listening. They explained this can start by dropping initial assumptions. “The way somebody presents themself is not necessarily how they identify,” Dale said. “You never know somebody’s gender identity until you ask.” Dale explained these assumptions can also translate into uninformed labeling.
Instead of immediately labeling people as male or female, some sections of mainstream media have instead began labeling others as transgender or nonconforming, which, according to Dale, is just as much of a problem. Bruce Jenner has headlined tabloids for weeks, and popular organizations have declared him transgender because of his “feminine” tendencies. These organizations have no insight from Jenner on the topic. Dale explained the only expert source on an individual’s gender identity is that sole individual, something the media has failed to realize in Jenner’s case. “They see his long hair and fingernails and assume, ‘Oh, he must be trans,’” Dale said. “It’s very interesting that non-trans people are claiming authority on someone’s who may or may not be trans’ identity.” Piggott hopes that, through her work with Add the Words and other inclusive efforts within Boise society, Boise State and its surrounding areas can become a more welcoming place for those exploring their gender identity. “We’re not scary and we’re not threatening,” Piggott said. “We’re just people.”
definitions
Cisgender: a person whose self-identity aligns with the gender that corresponds to their biological sex
In 2012, 2.7 percent of Idahoans identified as non heterosexual
Transgender: a person whose gender identity does not align with traditional senses of male and female biological sex Agender: a person having no gender or identifying with a neutral gender Genderqueer: a person who identifies with neither, both or a combonation of male and female genders MTF: short for male or female
design by ted atwell/the arbiter
02/17/2015
theway gender
This can be expressed in appearance or mannerism and is often fluid
you who gender feel identityyou 5% gender dysphoric people cisgendered people
95%
are
This may or may not correlate with sex or might be a combination or absence of existing, socially constructed genders
info courtesy transgender law center
Sex
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Feature
Feature
Monarchs are no longer king in North America Patrick Adcock News Editor
Urban growth has many effects on the planet, but the greatest effect is on the habitats invaded by humanity. The consequences of massive urban expansion are beginning to become apparent, growing concerns about the fate of one of Idaho’s most famous and breathtaking pollinators: the monarch butterfly. Having plummeted in number, from 1 billion to only 60 million in the last 20 years, the monarch butterfly population has taken a massive blow. “Many of us were aware the populations on the wintering areas were declining very significantly in the last two decades, but we really are pretty data deficient in what we know about monarch butterflies,” said Beth Waterbury, biologist with Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
Reasons for decline
Monarch butterflies live off milkweed.
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Monarchs are a well-known example of a migratory insect, traveling hundreds of miles up and down North America each year. “They congregate in these coastal areas on large trees and there are so many humanrelated impacts going on in those over-wintering sites,” Waterbury said. “They generally migrate down to very small acreages in the high elevations of Mexico and those
are under threat from logging and other types of human exploitation.” It’s in these highly congregated wintering areas where monarch populations take the biggest hit, but logging isn’t the only threat to Idaho’s state insect. Monarch caterpillars feed on milkweed to serve as a defense mechanism and this vital food source is also on the decline. “When (monarchs feed on milkweed) they sequester the chemicals in their own tissues, so their bodies actually become lined or include the toxin right in the tissue,” said Ian Robertson, professor of biology at Boise State University. “That way if a bird were to pick it up and try to eat it, it would reject it.” The decline in milkweed is thought to be a significant factor in the loss of monarch butterflies. “The reasons for milkweed declining—while there are numerous possibilities—one is simply habitat loss,” Robertson said. “We’re converting habitats that once had milkweed into other uses.” Robertson explained that an increased use of herbicides are also a contributing factor. Glyphosate—the herbicide causing the most harm—was originally patented by Monsanto in the 1970’s under the name Roundup. “We’re starting to under-
stand the prevalence of using glyphosate. Herbicides in agricultural applications also could be taking a toll on milkweed,” said Dusty Perkins, biology professor at College of Western Idaho. “Glyphosate—or Roundup—herbicides are really inexpensive. They’re really effective and they’re sprayed a lot in agricultural settings where milkweed once predominated in shallow ditch banks or fields. Now it’s pretty easy to target those species and spray them.”
Conservation
Perkins, a Boise State graduate, now works to better understand monarch and milkweed distributions in Idaho and is leading the effort to conserve the populations in the state. Perkins started his conservation efforts in fall of 2014 at Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge in Nampa, and has been working with students and various members of the community to map milkweed distributions. “This is a unique grassroots effort that people are aware of because monarchs are so visible. People uniquely care that monarchs are declining and wish to do something about it,” Perkins said. Perkins and his team have been able to map roughly 500 of the 1000 acres in Deer Flat. The goal of mapping is to determine if there are vi-
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able colonies of milkweed and whether there is any monarch breeding occurring in the protected area. “There are some pretty large clusters I think many of us weren’t aware of. We found thousands upon thousands of plants that are in the refuge boundary,” Perkins said. The mapping Perkins is doing is the first step in being able to address the dramatic loss in the monarch population. “Once we complete that, our effort will focus more squarely on mapping monarch occurrences at the refuge and probably expanding mapping of both monarchs and milkweed occurrences throughout the Treasure Valley,” Perkins said. According to Perkins, it is difficult to know what exactly is causing the dramatic loss in numbers, but all roads seem to point to human impact. “There’s a lot of landscape that’s getting changed and being fragmented and being converted from natural landscapes to suburban areas,” Perkins said. “In keeping with most other species and conservation efforts, habitat destruction and fragmentation seems to be a leading cause.” Because monarchs have such specific habitat requirements, they are extremely sensitive to change. Perkins isn’t worried so much about the direct impact monarch loss brings,
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but rather what this says about humans’ effect on the environment. “The whole ecosystem probably won’t come crashing down if we just remove monarchs, but what monarch populations are showing us the signs of things to come,” Perkins said. What is occurring within monarch populations is really a look into what is happening with our ecosystem as a whole. The loss of these butterflies is a symptom, not the problem itself. “We’re probably losing other pollinators; we’re probably losing other plants,” Perkins said. “This is a bigger issue and we’re just seeing it starting out with monarchs. Here’s yet another case of human interaction and impact on landscapes and ecosystems.” Perkins said the impact humanity has on nature is more extensive than most realize. “Gone are the days of being able to roll back the clock and restore systems to what we would consider completely natural,” Perkins said. “It’s almost unrealistic to go back and undo everything that we’ve done. Conserving what’s left and really trying to curb the human impact (is our only option).” Trying to limit that impact first begins with understanding it in more depth and Perkins said students can help. Students looking to con-
serve monarchs can contact Perkins to help map Idaho for milkweed and monarchs, collect milkweed or just become better informed about the issue. Idaho Department of Fish and Game will be joining Perkins in the fight for monarch preservation this year. “We have been stepping up. It’s been really exciting,” Waterbury said. “Right now we are revising our state wildlife action plan. We’re now looking at all of our at risk species in the state and trying to determine which ones should be on this list of species of greatest conservation need.” The action plan, which is required to be updated every 10 years, is currently being worked on. “We have decided to include monarch butterflies on our list of proposed species of greatest conservation need,” Waterbury said. “Which means they’ll get a lot more conservation attention within the state of Idaho.” While conservation efforts continue to increase, the impact is still rather small. “I think (reducing human impact) is a really hard thing to do because our whole social and economic systems are tied up in that,” Perkins said. “I wish there was a really easy solution. Reducing human impact on the ecosystem is maybe the most simple and the most complicated one.”
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