DU Clarion Volume 126 Issue 4

DU Clarion

Top Stories N: Election season is here.

Read about the candidates.

S: Men’s lacrosse captures sixth BIG EAST title.

O: DU While Native Part 2 A&L: New music reviews

May 1, 2019 Volume 126 Issue 4

[www.duclarion.com]

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Meet Denver’s mayoral candidates

Photo courtesy Denver Westword

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Photo courtesy 303 Magazine

Photo courtesy Denver Westword

n May 7th, ballots for the 2019 Denver Elections will be due. The ballot has two ballot initiatives, six mayoral candidates, three clerk and recorder candidates, six Councilmembers At-Large candidates, one candidate for Auditor and one candidate for Councilmember for District 6 (the city district encompassing University of Denver and University Park).

Photo courtesy Denver Post

Photo courtesy Denver Westword

Every four years, Denver residents vote for a mayor. This year, six candidates are on the ballot, with four as write-in candidates. The mayoral race is a non-partisan, and should one candidate not get a majority of the votes, a runoff will occur with the two candidates with the most votes.

Lisa Calderón grew up in poverty in Denver. She received a B.A. from Metro State University, an M.A. from University of Colorado, a law degree from University of Denver, and a PhD

Photo courtesy Denver WaterTap

from CU Denver. She has long been tes in local issues, and create more an advocate for the less fortunate, affordable housing. directing non-profits throughout Stephan “SeKu” Evans (ChaiRColorado, like Safehouse Progres- maN SeKu) was born in Five sive Alliance for Nonviolence (a Points. He has been engaged in shelter for victims of domestic politics, by being a member of the abuse) and Community Reentry Black Panthers while studying at Project (which helped former pris- the University of Denver, being an oners). She is running on a platform avid city council participator, and of what her website calls, “Equity, by running for mayor in the past.

Fairness and Justice.” She want FOR MORE, SEE PAGE 3 to curtail the power of the mayor’s office, give more power to Denveri- Isaiah G. Jakab | News Editor

Everybody’s “Crazy in Love” with Beyoncé Photo courtesy The Time Magazine

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efore her perfectly in-sync and riveting drumline launched into “Run the World (Girls)” at last year’s Coachella music festival, Beyoncé rose from a cloud of smoke at the top of a pyramid to say to the audience, “Coachella, thank you for allowing me to be the first black woman to headline Coachella.” As the cameras switch to the crowd of simultaneously crying and screaming fans, Queen Bey herself proclaims, “This song is dedicated to all the incredible women who opened up the doors for me... thank you so much ladies.

Do we have any strong women out there tonight?”

Her words here encompass the two major themes of Beyoncé’s groundbreaking 2018 Coachella performance: feminism and Black

excellence. As the main subjects of Netflix’s new top trending documentary, Homecoming, the performance clearly lives up to its critical praise as being one of the most historic and radical performances in the history of pop music. Written, directed and produced by Beyoncé herself, the film flawlessly splices together Weekend 1’s yellow and Weekend 2’s pink costume changes and performances.

Intimate behind-the-scenes looks at the eight-month process of rehearsals also play a dynamic role in the film.

If this Coachella show proved anything, it is that Beyoncé truly is the performer of her generation.

Already well known as an electrifying dancer and live singer, her position as the director and creator of this massive show further solidified her status as an icon in music

and business. Beyoncé continually exceeds her standards with each show, but none of her previous statement-making performances in the past have earned their own documentary and Wikipedia page.

Though she was scheduled to headline the festival in Spring 2017, she and husband Jay-Z had an unexpected pregnancy with twins.

Beyoncé’s response? Immediately after their birth, she launched into a year-long process to create the show while exercising multiple times a day, running to and from dance rehearsals and breastfeeding her newborn children. She describes her diet throughout this entire process as, “no bread, no carbs, no sugar, no dairy, no meat, no fish [and] no alcohol.”

Why was this specific performance, this year of Coachella, so important to sacrifice this much

after having two children? She attributes the name, “homecoming,” to symbolize her first return to the stage after giving birth, and “instead of bringing out [her] flower crown, it was more important [she] brought our (Black) culture to Coachella.” When hearing Beyoncé explain it herself through the film’s many voice-overs, her themes of female power and Black culture are recognizable everywhere. Her own motherhood, career and personal experience has been lived through her existence as a black woman.

Her identity is her message; it is the driving force of her Coachella show and her entire 22 year career.

FOR MORE, SEE PAGE 10

Grace Ganz | Contributing Writer

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Supreme Court to hear three major LGBTQ rights cases

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he U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will soon hear three cases in an effort to clarify workplace discrimination protections for the LGBTQ community.

The new conservative majority will determine whether or not the Civil Rights Act of 1964 guarantees protection; according to The New York Times, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission argues that the 1964 law applies, but the current presidential administration and many federal courts believe otherwise, “saying that the landmark legislation that outlawed discrimination based on race, religion, national origin and, notably, sex, cannot fairly be read to apply to discrimination based on sexual orientation or transgender status.”

The court will hear Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda, a New York case involving a skydiving instructor who claims he was fired for being gay. It will be consolidated with Bostock v.

Clayton County, Georgia, in which a child welfare services coordinator claimed the same thing after he was terminated.

For the Zarda case, the majority opinion of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit argued that “sexual orientation discrimination is motivated, at least in part, by sex and is thus a subset of sex discrimination.”

The Georgia decision briefly referenced a 1979 case that called sexuality unprotected.

Separately, the court will examine how the workplace discrimination protection applies to transgender people.

The case, R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, centers around a woman named Aimee Stephens who was fired from a funeral home shortly after coming out as trans and starting to dress in female-branded clothing at work. The owner of the funeral home responded to Stephens’s coming out with the following reason for termi-

ABOUT US

Photo courtesy of Time Magazine

nation: “Well, because he was no longer going to represent himself as a man. He wanted to dress as a woman.”

The court must decide how sexual orientation and gender identity fit into the term “sex” as it is written in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

It furthers the common division within the court and the broader U.S. regarding how older pieces of legislation should be interpreted today.

More news will come in

October when the Supreme Court begins its next term.

Note: The Clarion recognizes that “LGBTQ” is not an all-inclusive acronym for all members of the community but uses it per AP Style guidelines.

Taryn Allen | Editor-in-Chief Emeritus

DU Clarion EDITORIAL STAFF

HANNAH BRANIT, Editor-in-Chief VICTORIA VALENZUELA, Executive Editor TARYN ALLEN, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus GRACE CARSON, Executive Editor Emeritus The Clarion is the official student newspaper of the University of Denver, serving as the “Voice of the Pioneers.” Founded in 1899, it covers campus and local stories with the highest level of journalistic integrity possible. 1000 copies are distributed each Wednesday afternoon (throughout the academic year) across the DU campus, and every article is also published at duclarion. com. The Clarion does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the faculty, staff and/or administration of DU, and the opinions expressed by columnists and contributing writers do not necessarily reflect those of the Clarion.

Reproduction of the Clarion in whole or part in any form written, broadcast or electronic without written permission of the Clarion is prohibited. The opinions expressed by columnists and contributing writers do not necessarily reflect those of the Clarion. The Clarion reserves the right to reject advertising, stories, columns or letters to the editor that it deems graphic, obscene or that discriminate on the basis of race, culture, gender or sexual orientation.

The Clarion welcomes letters to the editor. Those who submit letters must limit them to 500 words. Some letters may not be published because of space limitations, overly-libelous content or similarity to past submissions. Please submit letters to duclarioneditor@gmail.com.

HOW TO JOIN The Clarion is open to contributors of all years and majors at DU, including both undergraduate and graduate students. There’s no application necessary; all you have to do is show up to one of our weekly meetings, which are held every Monday at 6 p.m. (during the academic year) in the Hub. Can’t make it to a meeting? Send an email to duclarioneditor@gmail.com and we’ll do everything we can to get you published.

ISAIAH G. JAKAB, News Editor LAWSON MONTGOMERY, Sports Editor ELIZABETH LOCHHEAD, Opinions Editor NINA PETROVIC, Arts & Life Editor CAITLAN GANNAM, Photo/Video Editor SARA LOUGHRAN, Copy Editor MAYA PINON, Copy Editor CHELSIE FINCHER, Illustrator VISHAL BEEKI, Paper Delivery Person HALEY BIRT, Paper Delivery Person SYDNEY KAPP, Business Manager ANDREW MATRANGA, Faculty Adviser Masthead graphic design: David Fain

CONTRIBUTING STAFF GRACE GANZ

HALEY PAEZ

EMMA COHEN

HALEY BIRT

RACHEL KUNZI

REBECCA SHAGRIN

KIANA MARSAN

MEGAN COONEY

MARSHALL MARRS

DU CLARION

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303 Magazine says that he supports open-carry to prevent crime, urban-camping and redistributing wealth. In an interview with Westword, he said that he intends to decentralize power in Denver politics.

Jamie Giells is from rural Iowa. She two received an M.A. from University of Colorado in public administration. She was the president of the RiNo Art District in 2014, until she stepped down to run for mayor. She is running on a platform decrying the previous administration’s fumbling of affordable housing. She hopes to tackle homelessness and expensive housing by creating cabinet-level positions that would oversee projects by allocating $1 billion for new affordable housing over ten years and by incentivising

NEWS | 3 new innovation for attainable housing. She also has new plans to improve Denver transit, help small-business owners and keep the city green.

Michael Hancock is the incumbent mayor and has lived in Denver since he was young.

Hancock has been engrossed in Colorado politics and public life for decades. He received an M.A. from University of Colorado in public administration, was a city council member and was a part of the Urban League which seeks to support disadvantaged African Americans. As mayor, he oversaw the turn-around of Denver’s floundering economy, improving infrastructure, vastly reducing the unemployment rate and creating more affordable housing. He says that he will maintain the economic success of the city, citing his development plan and a campaign to

make the minimum wage in the city $15 by 2021. He has a long list of supporters including the former governor, former state senators and federal representatives.

Kayln Heffernan is an activist, teacher and emcee in Denver. She is running on a platform of access, both concrete and abstract. As a person who uses a wheelchair, she wants greater access for people with disabilities. She also wants more access to affordable housing, decrying the conditions of Denverites living in poverty. She wants greater accountability for Denver government and desegregated schooling for Denver students.

Penfield Tate III grew up in Boulder and is the son of Boulder’s first black mayor.

He has been a member of the Colorado State Senate and the

Colorado House of Representatives. His website discusses the several things that he wants to do as mayor. He is campaigning to improve Denver infrastructure and development. He wants to combat Denver’s homelessness problem and create for affordable housing units. Tate has stated that he wants Denver to the “greenest” city in the country and be relying completely on renewable energy by 2030. He was been a vocal critical of Hancock, condemning Hancock regarding his sexual misconduct allegations.

Paul Fiorino, Marcus Giavanni, Leatha Scott and Ken Simpson are the write-in candidates.

Taryn Allen | Clarion

Isaiah Jakab | News Editor

USG Weekly Update: 4/23

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he Undergraduate Student Senate attempted to meet on Tuesday Apr. 23, however, Vice President Holden Fitzgerald called the meeting off after it became clear the Senate would not make quorum. Quorum is the minimum number of votes required to be present in order for the Senate to pass legislation, appropriate funds and address student concerns. Quorum requires ⅔ of senators to be present, and this threshold was not met by

the outgoing Senate therefore, business could not be conducted.

This left at least two bills on the table and one student organization without the opportunity to present for funding.

As the old Senate left, next year’s leaders met to begin the Transition process. Outgoing Senior Senator JJ Khan, Chair of the Transitions Committee and outgoing Freshman Senator Kirby Motsinger led the new Senators-Elect in a review of the constitution and bylaws in

order to ensure the new Senate has the tools necessary to succeed in their new roles. This is the result of a year-long push by the entire USG to create and formalize a transitions process between outgoing and incoming judges, secretaries and senators to ensure the smooth continuation of governance between legislative sessions.

business district.

The opening of the G-line, while lauded as a massive accomplishment, has not been without difficulty and hardship. In fact, a ride on the G-line on Friday saw passengers take home foam model train cars upon which yellow lettering reads “G-line Grand Opening - 2016,” a festive giveaway that served as an ironic reminder that the project opened three years after officials promised service.

In addition, passengers looking out the windows of the commuter cars saw crossing guards along the streets crisscrossing the tracks despite guard rails that lower and lights that flash to warn drivers of the oncoming train.

These workers are required by the federal government, who has the power to regulate heavy rail cars and remains unconvinced of the safety of the new guard rails.

Rides along the G-line

Marshall Marrs | Contributing Writer

RTD G-Line finally open

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fter nearly three years of delay, RTD hosted the opening ceremony for the G-Line this past Friday at the new Wheat Ridge & Ward Station located at the intersection of 50th and Ward in Wheat Ridge, Colo. This is the latest expansion of the rail network managed by RTD, the transit authority for the Denver metro area. The ceremony featured local leaders from across the political spectrum and from all along the tracks.

The grand opening was celebrated as the beginning of a transformative period for the communities along the line that runs from Union Station in Downtown Denver to the suburbs of Arvada and Wheat Ridge. Celebrations and festivities happened at each of the seven new stations where RTD officials touted the 27-minute commute time from one end of the line to the other, the speed and capacity of the heavy commuter rail cars and the 2300 additional parking spaces at park-andrides along the tracks.

Olde Town Arvada, the historic town center of the Denver suburb, was particularly vibrant as shopkeepers tried to attract new customers from the rail line that now runs into the center of the

Marshall Marrs | Clarion Marshall Mars | Clarion

are billed with a local fare, meaning commuters will be able to skip out on I-70 traffic and enjoy a speedy 27-minute commute for only $3, hopefully providing a convenient alternative to commuting by car. It is fitting for the G-Line to end at Union Station whose iconic neon sign shares a hopeful message with RTD, encouraging commuters to “Travel by Train.”

Marshall Marrs | Contributing Writer

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Denver Election 2019: Clerk and Recorder

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n May 7, elections will be held for many positions in the City of Denver government, including mayor, councilmembers, auditor and clerk and recorder.

This year, three candidates are looking to take Debra Johnson’s seat as clerk and recorder. She previously said that she will not seek re-election for the role. As clerk and recorder, Johnson oversaw the issuing of marriage licenses, housing foreclosures and auctions and other record keeping duties.

Paul Lopez is a 40-yearold resident of West Villa Park who has more than 10 years of experience in Denver government as a councilmember. In an interview with The Denver Post, Lopez said that he wanted to give more Denver residents power by educating them on foreclosures so they can

properly defend themselves, increasing voter turnout and removing the cost barrier to access city documents. He is wary of issues of campaign finance and wants to hire new administrators to monitor elections to start.

Peg Pearl is 44-year-old, Arizona native but has lived in Denver for nearly 10 years.

She works as a lawyer and an adjunct professor here at DU. As a previous member of the House Elections Commission and the U.S. House Ethics committee, she has an eye for government accountability and wants to bring that expertise to the Denver clerk and recorder by ensuring secure elections and “breaking down barriers” to voting. Her previous expertise is an asset to her when it comes to campaign finance, which she prioritizes.

Sarah O. McCarthy, age 66, has been a resident

of Washington Park since 1980. She has had a myriad of jobs in government which gives her administration experience, an important asset for clerk and ecorder.

She wants to streamline the records process in Denver’s government and make Photo Courtesy of City of Denver

it easier for Denverites to educate themselves on government and its functions.

She wants to increase voter turnout as well, possibly by implementing online voting.

Isaiah Jakab | News Editor

Photo Courtesy of The Denver Post

Photo Courtesy of Denverite

Denver Election 2019: Six at-large councilmember candidates

Photo Courtesy of Denverite

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Photo Courtesy of City of Denver

n May 7, ballots are due, and Denverites will vote for mayor, clerk and recorder, councilmember at-large and on two ballot initiatives. The candidate for auditor and the candidate for councilmember for District 6 (the city district encompassing DU and University Park) are running uncontested.

In roughly a week, two councilmembers at-large will be elected from a group of six candidates. When elected, they will join the 13-member Denver City Council. Eleven of those councilmembers represent specific Denver districts, and the two councilmembers at-large represent the entire city. They share power over the city with the mayor, who will also be decided on May 7. They make Denver laws, allocate the budget and administer investigations into the city.

Debbie Ortega is an experienced city councilmember, with more than two decades

Photo Courtesy of Denverite

of experience. She, like almost every other candidate this year, wants to tackle homelessness and housing affordability. Her platform priorities economic strength with “sound fiscal policies” and strong jobs. She is one of the incumbents.

The other incumbent, Robin Kniech, has spent the last eight years with the City Council trying to help marginalized communities. She has made significant efforts for a higher minimum wage and addressed Trump policies regarding immigration.

She too emphasizes a better economy that helps those with less income. She also prioritises keeping Denver green and sustainable.

Tony Pigford is running on a platform that emphasizes the need of a large, diverse Denver community that has been neglected in favor for a few elite.

He ran in response to the ink!

Coffee scandal. He opposes gentrification and the construction

Photo Courtesy of Denverite

Photo Courtesy of The Denver Post

of new roads that would destroy inhabited neighborhoods. He has many of the same priorities as the other candidates, such as affordable housing and a strong, green economy, but he puts more of an emphasis on the civil rights on black and brown people in Denver.

Jesse Paris has been very active in Denver City Council as a constituent, as a member of Denver Homeless Out Loud. He attends many meetings, lobbying for the rights of the poor and homeless in Denver. He wants to create laws that help the Deverites stricken by poverty, having experienced it himself.

He bemoans the wealth gap of Denver and hopes to change it.

Johnny Hayes is a self-described “civil rights activist, actor, artist, musician, volunteer and advocate for children & the deaf community.” He says that he wants to help give voice to Denverites who have previously been barred from politics.

Lynne Langdon is a res-

Photo Courtesy of The Denver Post

ident of Cherry Creek and has previously worked in real estate. She does not have a specific platform but wants to improve on what she likes about Denver. She opposes safe injection sites and supports the urban camping ban.

Isaiah Jakab | News Editor

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DU CLARION

SPORTS | 5

Women Club Sports shine in tournament season

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U’s women's club sports teams have been making waves this April. Among some of the highlights are women's water polo, women's ultimate frisbee and the DU club gymnastics team.

Women’s water polo accomplished a personal best at the CWPA Rocky Mountain Conference Championship, placing second overall in the conference.

The Pioneers started off the championship with a sweeping 5-0 win over Colorado College. They continued their winning streak against the University of Utah with a final score of 14-3. The final match, held at DU’s El Pomar Natatorium, pitted the Pioneers against Colorado School of Mines. The Pioneers put up a valiant fight but lost in the end with a final score of 7-8.

Women’s Club Gymnastics

also scored major points at the National Association of Intercollegiate Gymnastics clubs’ national championship. The team made it to team finals, a historic first for the the club. They scored a total of 105.95 points, which was enough to land them in fourth place overall.

Rounding out the university's women's club takeover, the ultimate frisbee team, better known

as Hype, accomplished a club best this past this past weekend by tying for fifth place at regionals.The first day of a two-day tournament left the team at a 3-1 wins to losses. A major highlight of the tournament came when Hype scored a win over Colorado State University.

Haley Birt | Contributing Writer

Photo Courtesy of DU Club Gymnastics

No. 11 Pioneers win against Marquette 9-8

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he Pioneers were able to get a big win against Marquette in the final game of the regular season where they also captured their six straight BIG EAST regular season title. The Pioneers used an 8-3 run in the final three quarters to capture the game on Friday Night.

The Pioneers had three top performers on offense. Sophomore Ted Sullivan (Tucson, Ariz.) had two goals and one assist with junior Ethan Walker (Peterborough, Ontario) and senior Austin French (Danville, Calif.) adding two goals to the scoring sheet.

Freshman duo Cole French (Danville, Calif.) and Brett Boos (Parker, Colo.) performed well for the Pioneers. French had another

game in the double-digits for saves, second of his three career games.

Boos continued to show promise at the faceoff dot, going 14-of-20 and scooping eight ground balls.

Marquette started off with an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Pioneers almost tallied a goal behind the effort of freshman Alex Simmons (Smithville, Ontario), but the goal was waved off by the referees after an incorrect dive towards goal. However, the Pioneers were able to get on the score sheet towards the end of the first quarter with a goal from junior Schuyler Blair (Huntington Beach, Calif.). Marquette would pick up two more goals to make it a 5-1 lead going into the second quarter.

Denver was able to get within

striking distance going into halftime as they used a 4-1 run in the second quarter. Senior Quinn McKone (Novato, Calif.) started the scoring for the Pioneers along with junior captain Danny Logan (Upper Arlington, Ohio) scoring on a half field shot during a Marquette 10-man ride. Walker and Sullivan would also tally goals for the Pioneers to make it 6-5 going into the locker room.

The Pioneers would get off to a hot start in the third quarter as they scored three goals with one from Walker and consecutive goals for French to give the Pioneers their first lead in the game at 8-6. Marquette would respond with two quick goals to make it 8-8, but Sullivan got the final

say as he scored the game-winning goal for the Pioneers. The fourth quarter would end up being scoreless.

The Pioneers were able to clinch their sixth consecutive regular season title since joining the BIG EAST Conference. The Pioneers and the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium will be hosting the BIG EAST tournament this week with Semi-Final games on Thursday, May 2 at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. MST and the Championship game on May 4 at 2:30 p.m. MST. Top-seeded Denver will take on No. 4 Villanova as they look to avenge their first-ever regular season loss in the second semi-final game at 7 p.m. MST.

Lawson Montgomery | Sports Editor

Photo Courtesy of Marquette Lacrosse

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DU While Native part two: How DU’s past shapes students’ present

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he DU While Native project is a five part series, explaining the unique situation Indigenous students are in by attending DU, considering the institution’s history in the Sand Creek Massacre; highlighting the struggles these students face on campus and on their journey through higher education; telling stories of their resistance and survival on campus and more. It serves as a space in which Native students at DU can tell their own stories—stories often shared by many Native students around the country. It serves to educate those outside of the community and give insight to the devastating national statistics about the retention of Indigenous students in higher education. Some students have chosen to use pen names to protect their safety on campus. If you have any questions or comments, please send them to duwhilenative@gmail.com.

I still remember the first professional dinner I attended at DU. The dinner was meant to formally introduce first year students to the university community and to our chancellor, Rebecca Chopp, who gave a speech about the legacy and traditions of our university. I remember the dinner for several reasons. For one, I remember feeling insecure about the dress I was wearing. I had bought it specifically for the event.

But my dress was from Goodwill, and everyone around me seemed to me to be wearing something exceedingly fancier.

Beautiful dresses and shoes surrounded me, and I was sure they cost more than anything I or anyone in my family had ever owned. Although I can now say that I’ve experienced this feeling of discomfort and insecurity at almost every major event I’ve attended throughout my years at DU, that was the first time I had really felt concerned that I might be judged based on what I was wearing.

What I was wearing and how I felt may have seared that dinner into my memory, but that evening was also memorable for another reason. It marked the first time I heard about the John Evans Report, which would shape my experience at DU for my next four years.

DU’s role in the Sand Creek Massacre What is the John Evans Report? The report’s history is rooted in the lead-up to the DU’s sesquicentennial, celebrated in the early spring of 2014 at a dinner that looked much like the one I was to attend my freshman year about 18 months later. The event would, of course, recognize John Evans, who was the founder of the university. But Evans had also served as the territorial governor of Colorado and superintendent of Indian Affairs at the time of the Sand Creek Massacre—a massacre in which U.S. soldiers killed over 200 Cheyenne and Arapaho people, most of whom were

women, children and elders.

Both the massacre and the founding of the university happened within days of each other.

And so, in the year before DU’s sesquicentennial celebration, members of DU’s faculty pressed to form a committee to look into the ways that Evans may have been responsible for, or at least culpable in relation to, the Sand

of it.” He said that although the committee got support from DU’s administration, the report was “completely faculty driven and faculty initiated.”

As to the importance of DU’s role in the massacre, Dr. Stratton said, “I think Sand Creek and DU are inextricably linked together, and always will be.”

While the report found

Grace Carson | Clarion

Creek Massacre.

The committee—named the John Evans Study Committee— was comprised of professors from various departments at the university, including political science, history, English and more. After a year-long investigation, the committee released the John Evans Report, which concluded that John Evans was culpable for the Sand Creek Massacre.

One of the professors on the committee was Dr. Billy J. Stratton, who is an associate professor in the English department at DU, as well as the special advisor to the chancellor and provost on Native American Partnerships and Programs. He stated that one of the reasons why the John Evans Study Committee

Evans’s actions to be culpable for the massacre, it found Colonel John Chivington, an original member of DU’s board of directors, to be directly responsible for the event. The report states, “We conclude that John Evans’ pattern of neglect of his treaty-negotiating duties, his leadership failures, and his reckless decision-making in 1864 combine to clearly demonstrate a significant level of culpability for the Sand Creek Massacre. While not of the same character, Evans’ culpability is comparable in degree to that of Colonel John Chivington, the military commander who personally planned and carried out the massacre. Evans’ actions and influence, more than those of any other political official in

Grace Carson | Clarion

was created was because, when he arrived on DU’s campus in 2010, “there seemed very little awareness of the Sand Creek Massacre on campus, and very little awareness of the Cheyenne and Arapaho claims to this land and their previous occupation

Colorado Territory, created the conditions in which the massacre was highly likely.”

This history of DU’s founders, as analyzed by members of DU’s community, put the university’s Native students in a unique situation: they attend

a university whose history is deeply intertwined in a horrific massacre of Native peoples. This history is deeply meaningful for Native peoples, as evidenced in the fact that the Northern Cheyenne, Northern Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Nations—the nations whose land DU occupies—have long participated in an annual Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run to remember and heal from the event. And this history is also deeply meaningful for the Native students attending DU. When I first heard Chancellor Chopp mention the John Evans report and Evans’s role in the Sand Creek Massacre, I remember trying to reconcile how I, as a Native student, could attend a university whose history is rooted in the genocide of Indigenous peoples. I remember asking myself: by attending DU, am I honoring those ancestors, or am I condoning the university’s past by contributing to DU’s institution in its present?

Other students grapple with this, too. Thus in April of 2018, the Native Student Alliance went on a trip to the Sand Creek Massacre site to respect the ancestors who sacrificed their lives.

We left prayer ties—ties filled with tobacco that are crafted as people are praying. Viki Eagle, director of DU’s Native American Community Partnerships and Programs, previous DU undergraduate student, and current graduate student at the Graduate School of Social Work (GSSW), was organizer of the event. She explained, “I wanted to take the students to the site to contextualize their educational experience, and to understand our history at DU. Students here feel like they’re having a hard, miserable time, and Sand Creek contextualizes that. Everything for us starts there. We need to pay respects and realize how privileged we are. For us, it says, yeah, it’s hard, but it has been harder for those who came before us. I think people from Sand Creek would be happy to know that we’re graduating from a school whose history is a part of the massacre. And when I came to DU, I didn’t know about the massacre at all, and I wanted them to know.”

Following the John Evans report, the committee also released a list of recommendations for the university to “illuminate a new path forward… of unity, collaboration, and healing for all communities.” The report lists 22 recommended goals for DU that involve curriculum changes, educational opportunities for Native students, transparency and more.

Native students and faculty have worked since 2014 to ensure the university continues to reach these goals.

The university’s recent past The institution’s recent history relating to Native communities has not been without its problems, either. For 80 years, until the mid-1970’s, DU’s Iliff School of Theology displayed a

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book that was bound in the skin of a Native person. Until 1998, DU’s official mascot was Boone, a mythologized character based on the real-life experiences of Daniel Boone, who was known as a “pioneer” who murdered thousands of Indigenous people in the Shawnee tribe. Even more recent are the experiences of Viki Eagle and Simon MoyaSmith, previous students at DU. Viki Eagle still works at the university, but was an undergraduate student at DU from 2008 to 2012. She said, “When I came here, I had the most shocking first year ever. I just hated it here. I just did not like the student body, and if it wasn’t for programs like ELI (Excelling Leaders Institute), I don’t know how I would have done DU.” She explains that a part of the reason why her four years at DU were difficult was because there was insensitivity towards Native students from other students and groups on campus. Organizations hosted Thanksgiving parties where people dressed up as “pilgrims and Indians,” the homecoming her fourth year was named “How the West was Won” and a fraternity hosted a “Cowboy and Indian” party. At the time, there were around six Native students on DU’s campus, and they worked hard to protest these events and bring awareness about why they were harmful.

Simon Moya-Smith attended DU in the same year as Viki’s fourth year of undergrad, and he also recalls the infamous cowboys and Indians fraternity party that took place on DU’s campus. He said that moment was important to him as a Native student because of how Native students responded. “[The most important time for me as a Native student] was when we called those fuckers out,” he said. “We said, ‘fuck you.’ ‘Cause [it was] right there at DU on the school green, that’s right in front of those frats, so we were like, ‘fuck you, you’re on Indigenous territory and we’re going to remind you of that.’ We erected the teepee and

DU CLARION

OPINIONS | 7 faculty and non-faculty staff members —Eagle and five professors across different departments.

Dr. Chris Nelson, professor at Morgridge College of Education, is one of those faculty members and explained that it’s difficult being one of the only few. She said, “I tried doing searches for Native faculty or anything, and I couldn’t find anything, and so, I don’t feel like there was anyone to give me that Photo courtesy of Viki Eagle insider [information]. And so, when I got here and got to stayed in it for that night and it know Viki, because she joined was freezing. We were cuddling at the same time, I was like, because we had to get close, what the hell did I just join?” and we couldn’t obviously light Dr. Nelson said that while a fire in there. And I think the she feels respected within her next day when they finally apoldepartment, being the only ogized, I think it was an affirmation of our resiliency rather Native faculty in a college can be than their humility. It made it challenging because, at times, into the Denver Post, and Tink she feels hypervisible—as though [Iliff Professor Emeritus “Tink” she’s supposed to be or act in a Tinker] spoke at it, and we had certain way. She explained that a prayer, and it really gathered a some of the microaggressions lot people because we raised a lot she has faced have been from well-intentioned outreach, of people by pushing back.” and that’s hard to navigate.

He continued, “And that Despite the challenges she responsibility for the next genfaces, Dr. Nelson said that being eration is coming. If you sit on a support system for Native your lips when you actually students is valuable for her. should be speaking, you’re kind She recalled times where she of setting them up for some shit was able to directly support and that’s gonna happen. It’s kind comfort students through their of like domestic violence in that time at DU and how those times way, it’s kind of like, you’re not the first person he hit, you marked significant moments probably won’t be the last, and in her career. Likewise, Native if you don’t say something, he’s students have spoken about how gonna keep doing it. You gotta say something. We felt that responsibility to push back and say something.”

The alumni who dealt with DU’s recent past not only worked hard to stand up for their community then, but they mentor Native students on campus now.

These alumni and their experiences are looked up to by current Native students. Students have responded to Simon’s call and have pushed back against events on campus that affect the Native community. They cried foul when the university hosted the Pipeline Leadership Conference, which included companies like Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) —the company responsible for the Dakota Access Pipeline that Grace Carson | Clarion tribes were protesting in Standing Rock at the very same time, meaningful it is to have Indigeand the company whose private nous faculty on campus, even if security detail were paid to harm there are few. the Indigenous water protectors.

How Native students navigate DU’s history, past DU lacks institutional and structure support for Native students DU’s history is an integral As an institution, there is part of Native student’s experilittle support for Native stuence at DU. After I first learned dents. While Viki Eagle’s role about DU’s founders’ roles in exists to help support students, the Sand Creek Massacre at the currently, DU only has six Native

first-year dinner, I brought it up to my freshman seminar professor in front of our class. I asked, “How could the university not have told their students this before we arrived?” A student in my class—a white male—laughed a little, and said, “Who cares?

I don’t really understand how what happened with the Indians is relevant to us, anyway.” A few boys in his corner chuckled with him. The professor said nothing, I said nothing, but my chest felt heavy with sorrow for the ancestors who lost their lives in order for me to be able to learn on the land that belongs to them.

I’m not the only student who didn’t know about DU’s role in the Sand Creek Massacre. Of all the Native students and faculty I have talked to, not one knew about the institution’s connection prior to attending DU. I’m also not the only one who finds it difficult to reconcile coming to a university complicit in genocide of our relatives. But as Viki Eagle said, I can only thank the ancestors who came before me for their sacrifices. I hope that they’d be proud of me for graduating from the institution rooted in their murder and displacement, and I seek to honor them by striving to make the university accountable to being better for Native students and communities.

I also honor the recent experiences of our Indigenous alumni by continuing to do the work they started here at DU: keeping the university and organizations on campus accountable for their actions, standing up for Native issues and creating a safe community for Native students at DU. I rely on the few Indigenous faculty and non-faculty staff members that DU has to support and mentor me through that process.

DU has a deep and complex history with Native communities, and this history affects current Native students, as does the lack of Native faculty at DU. Because

of this DU’s history, past and structure affects the way Native students navigate DU, and thus, their higher education experience. The next piece examines these students’ experiences, barriers and hardships while attending the university.

Grace Carson | Executive Editor Emeritus

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Amazon’s $0 in federal taxes raises moral questions

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espite Amazon’s rise to a $11.2 billion profit in 2018, the corporate giant will not have to pay a dime in federal income taxes. Not only that, but they were essentially paid $128 million by the government via rebates due from the 2017-2018 fiscal year. A combination of factors contributed to this, such as corporate tax rate cuts and stock compensation from the company’s early days. The fact that the company who generates money for the richest man in the world doesn’t pay any federal income tax is absurd. Even politicians on opposite ends of the spectrum seem to agree, as both Senator Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have condemned the lack of taxation on the shipping conglomerate.

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reported

that the absence of Amazon’s tax payments are largely due to the massive corporate tax cuts that Donald Trump’s administration proposed. The hypocrisy behind this situation ought to be upsetting to every American, as those very cuts are expected to make the U.S.’s debt even higher, to the tune of a $3.2 trillion loss in tax revenue over the next ten years. Cutting taxes for the powerful and allowing those who lean on the results of those taxes to flounder should raise moral questions. America obviously has an issue regarding who deserves higher taxation and who deserves exemptions from it.

Though Amazon did pay about $900 million in taxes to state governments and the rest of the world, it didn’t owe anything federally due to “deductions for stock-based compensation and assets that are depreciating in

value,” according to France24.

However, no business valued at almost a trillion dollars should be exempt from payments that would benefit America’s national programs. For Amazon to start paying taxes, American tax law would have to actually be changed, since everything Amazon has done to avoid paying taxes is perfectly legal. The U.S. government hasn’t closed any loopholes, despite it being perfectly feasible to do so, and the money garnered from Amazon’s hypothetical taxation could have benefitted community development, veterans’ programs and more. For the government to allow such a large corporation to continuously get off scot-free is shameful in and of itself, as it lets the already grossly rich become even wealthier while those who need government programs continue to rely on

them. Considering Trump has already taken funding away from programs that millions of low-income families depend upon, this blow is practically insulting to the American people.

Amazon itself is not at fault here, as they did technically pay all of the taxes they were required to pay, but they aren’t the only ones who’ve reported net tax gains instead of losses. Corporations such as Goldman Sachs, Southwest Airlines and General Motors have logged benefits in recent years, as well. Businesses worth as much as around $70 billion should be contributing more to the national programs that they ought to be. It’s time for the reverse-Robin Hood strategy the U.S. government has been operating under to come to a close.

Rachel Kunzi | Contributing Writer

Letter to the Editor: A DU professor’s response to hate incidents on campus

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he front page report in the Clarion for Apr. 17 on racist hatred toward mainly Indigenous, Black and Latina women is startling: “Hate incidents spark testimonies by students of color.” These are crimes as the campus police rightly identify them, not “incidents.” No white students, faculty or staff experience these kinds of assaults at this university; they are not new, though the current era in our national politics gives them new license. It will take resolve and increased effort to make us a community of mutual respect among persons across different conscientious views (no view which physically harms or demeans other people is a part of mutual respect).

DU works to ensure a place that is safe for all who study and work here, as do many students, staff and faculty individually and in groups. But each of us should ask ourselves what we need to do to make this a community and render such crimes against our sister and brother community members a thing of the past.

The first two assaults took place just 10 days ago, against a man and subsequently a woman walking alone in the middle of the evening at the Evans crosswalk.

In a truck, three bigots—very likely students—drove by on Apr. 9, throwing a liquid at one and screaming. On Apr. 10, Taylor Lucero describes a similar crime.

Both are attempted physical and actual psychological assault.

“I contemplated not sharing this,” Taylor wrote on Facebook, “because it is hard to find the right words. But at this point I can’t hold it in anymore. Last night around 10:15 I was walking back from the library to my dorm. Usually when I walk places at night I am well aware of my surroundings. But last night as I was walking back a group of white students drove by, rolled down their window, and threw a liquid substance at me.

Luckily they barely missed me, and they proceeded to laugh and drive off.”

Describing how the assault felt, she says: “I am still shaken up by

it and dealing with the emotions.

Experiencing impostor syndrome while being a minority student on a big university campus is bad enough…I wouldn’t wish this experience on anyone. I have reported this incident and have reached out to many people. I just thought that there wouldn’t come a day where I wouldn’t feel safe on campus.”

As she rightly describes, this cowardly “white supremacist” drive-by—the racists’ attempting to hide their own feelings of shame and inferiority by harming others—is an additional abuse at this mainly white, upper middle-class school, which compounds a feeling she has of “being an impostor.” The latter is a common enough feeling among many students of all ethnic groups. Young people who are still coming into a sense of the joys of learning or finding themselves in something they would want to do sometimes feel this way. But racism makes it far worse. Fortunately, Taylor is fiercely determined to stand up to such bigotry.

Such crimes are linked to what are rightly called today microaggressions, though they threaten something much worse. Some mistakenly think that racist assaults, intimidations and murders are due to “conservative” views. That is false. Conservatives believe in the rule of law and habeas corpus, the principle going back to the Magna Carta in England in 1218 that each person suspected of a crime should have a day in court and not be subjected to torture in jail. Conservatives recognize that governments are too powerful and—without checks and balances—often abuse that power.

Racist assaults—historically culminating in lynchings and right now in murders of two black people at a Kroger’s in Jeffersontown, Ky. or of 11 elderly Jews at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, Pa. or the stealing of children at the Mexican border— are the opposite of a conservative view. Perpetrators of such acts are, instead, racist authoritarians, modeling their views on Hitler and the Ku Klux Klan. Belief

that government is often dangerous and that the rule of law is important has nothing to do with racist authoritarian criminality.

Last Friday, I was teaching W.E.B. Du Bois “Souls of Black Folk,” Du Bois spoke of a double consciousness of people who are subject to systemic bigotry: as an American and as a black person. In “Letter from the Birmingham City Jail,” (1964) Martin Luther King, Jr., too, speaks of how blacks and others have long been “standing on tiptoe” and why it is no longer possible to wait for equality: “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, `Wait.’ But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: ‘Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?’; when you take a cross country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in

the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading ‘white’ and ‘colored’; when your first name becomes ‘nigger,’ your middle name becomes ‘boy’ (however old you are) and your last name becomes ‘John,’ and your wife and mother are never given the respected title ‘Mrs.’; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of ‘nobodiness’—then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.”

Many of us have worked hard at this university and in this country to treat each person as an equal, no one needing to stand on “tiptoe” to place themselves above others. And many young people are now better at this than older ones. In class, we discussed these stories from the Clarion about the wedges that demented drive-by racists attempt to create between us. We resolved that these crimes must be stopped, and a direct process of education initiated so that each person in our community understands how we are all diminished and degraded by such acts and must work, at school and as citizens, to lift up a beloved community.

The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Clarion or of the DU community.

Alan Gilbert Co-signed by the following wfaculty at the Korbel School Haider Ali Khan, Nader Hashemi, Sam Zhao, Aaron Schneider and Tink Tinker, Iliff School of Theology

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Hollywood life is not glamorous for writers

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ast week, The Writers Guild of America (WGA), a labor union that represents the thousands of writers working in the TV, film and entertainment industries, filed a lawsuit against the largest talent agencies in Hollywood for unfair wage practices.

While the lawsuit cites several instances of behavior from these agencies they believe to be illegal, it is a routine known as “packing fees” that has served as the main point of contention between the WGA and The Association of Talent Agents (ATA).

“Packaging is a decades-old practice under which agencies may team writers with other clients from their stables for a given project. With packaging fees, an agent forgoes the usual 10 percent commission fee paid to them by individual clients; in its place, they are paid directly by the studio,” New York Times reporter John Koblin explains.

The WGA has found that the weekly earnings of writers declined 23 percent between 2014 and 2016. A large part of this problem, they believe, can be attributed to packaging since they incentivize agents to work to the advantage of studios.

Lowering a writer’s earnings can increase their own, so packing fees create a conflict of interest.

“This is indefensible,” Meredith Stiehm, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and the creator of the CBS police drama Cold Case said during a press conference. “An agency should

make 10% of what their client makes—not 20, not 50, not like in my case, 94%.”

In addition to filing the lawsuit, the WGA issued a new code of conduct and required all union members to fire agents that could not comply with the condition that barred packaging fees.

Some writers—large names such as Stephen King—have explicitly expressed support for this mass firing. Others, though—like Shalom Auslander—liken it to holding writers “hostage” since networks will only hire members of the WGA to write their shows.

“This PR stunt of forced mass firings is merely that, a stunt, and one that hurts writers,” Auslander wrote in a public termination letter to his representatives. “Not the 800 fabulously well-to-do showrunners who signed their Letter of Support, of course...Having used agents their entire careers to achieve their well-to-do-ness, these folks now insist we fire ours. For our benefit.”

In this respect, Auslander is correct. This removal of agents from the hiring process will no doubt disadvantage writers still in the process of starting up their careers.

But, this does not make WGA’s task of establishing higher pay for writers and more transparency within the industry any less worthwhile. Instead, it makes it more important.

Artists today face a harsh

Photo courtesy of The Washington Post

reality. They are underpaid, undervalued and unseen, despite their contributions.

Everywhere, the belief is put forward that for an artist to be authentic, the creative process must be put above all else. Consumers hold this assumption, so artists are expected to sell their work for free or at cheap prices. Artists fall for this flawed mentality, so money becomes a hush-hush topic in industry circles. No conversations are held about how much writers should be earning, so the artist is taken advantage of by their employers.

This happens time and time again until one of two events occur: the artist is hired by someone that knows their worth and will pay them accordingly or the artist runs out of food to put on the table and has to let their passion fall to the wayside. The world is left worse off.

It’s grim, but it’s the unspoken reality every artist knows to be true the instant they make the choice to pursue passion.

This lawsuit is important because it has the potential to begin to change how writers are treated in Hollywood. If successful, it would be a monumen-

tal step towards recognizing that writers are the backbone of film and TV. The industry as a whole would benefit because when artists have enough means to focus on their art and feel that they have a community that supports them, the results are astounding.

It is wrong that union members had little say in whether they wanted to fire their agents or not—many are now more likely to face unemployment than they were before. But, the WGA took this radical course of action because they needed the publicity this stunt would cause.

Without it, the lawsuit would have gained little to no visibility, and they would have a much harder case to win.

A temporary discomfort is worth enduring if it will lead to tangible change. Tradition and righteousness are not equitable, so these toxic practices should not be accepted on the grounds that it is simply how things have always been done. In cases such as these where the disadvantaged group possesses no leverage, disruption must occur for people’s voices to be heard.

Kiana Marsan | Contributing Writer

Mark Zuckerberg’s Summit Learning causes problems in Kansas

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n December of 2015, Mark Zuckerberg collaborated with his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, to form a new organization called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Through this, they have garnered $99.1 million in funds for a program called Summit Learning. It is a three-year-old platform that encourages self-taught learning by providing personalized, adaptable curriculums to each individual student, and the teachers act as “guides.” Students spend the bulk of their time on these devices. Unsurprisingly, it has run into numerous problems. Kansas students and their parents recently began protesting Summit Learning. It was implemented poorly without enough previous research and has imposed various repercussions on these guinea pig towns. Students are lacking interpersonal relationships, they’re enduring strained eyesight and some students even experience seizures from the excessive screen time. Another crucial question is where this program leaves teachers.

It’s important to grasp a better understanding of what exactly Summit Learning is and how it’s being used. Predominantly reigning in Kansas, public schools opted in, as they presumed Summit would lead to a more personalized learning experience for their students

and that it would help “even the playing field,” especially for underfunded schools. Those were the intentions, but it didn’t play out exactly as intended.

Under Summit, students spend the majority of the school day on their laptops— the program is typically free, but the laptops oftentimes have to be bought separately.

That’s already a red flag—if this software is to be used in lower-income areas, affording a laptop may be difficult for some families. Nonetheless, students’ days are spent taking online quizzes and completing lesson plans at their own pace.

The teachers are there to assist and hold mentoring sessions to act as a “guiding hand.”

Shortly after, students started coming home with headaches and cramps. The full impact of technology has not been researched thoroughly enough for one to know the entire implications of using it for hours on end, every day.

Chances are, we’ll figure out the ramifications once the damage is already done. It’s necessary that we utilize technology carefully.

Rushing into it, i.e. Summit Learning, is foolish because when organizations wish to facilitate major alterations to an educational system, it must be done well.

As technology continues to advance, it leaves the future

role of teachers to be questioned. Will the vast majority of present teachers simply morph into the guidance position, or will they be forced to adapt to online courses? Students will lack interpersonal relationships amongst their teachers and peers as well. School is a social outlet for numerous students and is oftentimes where connections and networks are formed. Teaching solely online is creating an assembly-line process for students.

There must be a balance— something Summit lacks. The implementation of technology into school systems has to be done gradually and intuitively.

There is a better mechanism available. Let’s focus on language classes for the moment.

Some may be familiar and/or have used online textbooks that also have lesson plans, quizzes and assignments built in.

Similar to Summit, it practices self-directed learning but functions better.

For instance, pulling from a commonly used online textbook company, Vista Higher Learning, DU set it up where students are assigned homework Monday through Thursday. Each day it estimates the time required to complete the work, which never exceeds an hour and a half. The program enables students to save and return to their work later, and it is sectioned off so

students can take breaks and finish at their own pace. More importantly, after students complete Monday’s homework, Tuesday they will go to their language class for approximately an hour and the professor will cover the materials in last night’s homework, provide clarification and do practice activities. In this setting, students are capable of working at their own pace and they still experience interpersonal communication with the professor and peers.

Unfortunately, Chan and Zuckerberg have created a platform that places students in school to sit amongst one another, only to be working on a computer the entire day. At that rate, one can’t help but wonder what the point of going to school is. With this system, students might as well stay in bed and complete their work at home.

Zuckerberg and Chan took a big step forward in the realm of education, yet they stumbled.

If technology is to be effectively integrated in education then the future looks like one where schools still exist but their function is more discussion based where students and teachers can flesh out what they’re learning and converse with one another in addition to working with technology.

Megan Cooney | Contributing Writer

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What’s going on with Taylor Swift’s “ME!”?

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aylor Swift launched her new era of music on Apr. 26 by releasing “ME!,” featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! At the Disco.

Before the release, Swift posted cryptic Instagram photos, from chicks in sunglasses to two of her cats, sending her fans into a frenzy to solve what her clues meant about the ushering of her new musical era.

Swift’s fans finally got their answer when “ME!” was released along with the music video, as her Instagram posts were stills from her video. Filled with rainbows, grand dance numbers and of course, cats (Swift is the proud owner of three cats), “ME!” is an explosion of color and vibrancy.

“ME!” may sound like anoth-

er typical pop song, but that’s exactly what Swift wanted to achieve. Swift’s previous lead singles all share common elements, and “ME!” does not stray from that. From a spoken-word interlude (“Hey kids, spelling is fun!”) to a pop melody that is difficult to get out of your head, “ME!” is another example of how Swift’s lead singles are an outlier from the rest of her albums.

“Look What You Made Me Do” from her last album “reputation” contained similar elements as “ME!” Both used spoken-word (“I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now”), inside jokes in the music video that only Swift’s fans would find and a chorus that, at times, can be frustratingly catchy. “Look What You

Made Me Do” led many to be- and how the media portrays her, lieve that “reputation” would but “ME!” is simply about emportray Swift as still vengeful bracing your individuality and over her feud with Kanye West, celebrating it. From lines such as but were surprised when the rest “I promise that you’ll never find of the album contained themes another like me,” Swift wants to of finding yourself, true love and start off her new musical era by admitting that it’s okay to make preaching self-love and accepmistakes. It seems that Swift is tance, rather than focusing on still following the same pattern the past. for her lead singles, and “ME!” is Only time will tell what the just another example. rest of Swift’s upcoming album Swift’s talent for building will sound like. Will it continhype for her new albums comes ue the theme of butterflies and from leaving fans to wonder rainbows? Or is “ME!” a comwhich musical direction she’ll plete outlier from the rest of head towards. While “Look What the album? There are still many You Made Me Do” saw Swift us- things about the album that are ing a darker, edgier aesthetic, currently unknown (the name “ME!” is the complete opposite. of the album has not yet been It’s bright, bubbly and cheerful. released), but it seems that’s ex“Look What You Made Me Do” actly how Swift wants it. was a satire about Swift’s feuds Nina Petrovic | Arts & Life Editor

What to expect from the new vape lounge

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ery strict regulations are in place regarding the marijuana industry and the consumption of marijuana in general.

The Denver Initiative 300 allows businesses to apply for a license for adult marijuana consumption in designated areas. Although I-300, which granted businesses the ability to apply for a license for adult marijuana consumption in designated areas, was approved in 2016, there are few venues to legally consume marijuana in Colorado due to the various complications that come with businesses such as these.

Excitingly, Colorado’s second marijuana use business is located just a short distance from campus. Vape and Play, a legal and licensed place to consume weed, is collaborating with Dean Ween’s Honeypot Lounge to provide people of age with a safe and fun place to smoke weed. Located just over on South Broadway, Dean Ween’s Honeypot Lounge plans to host many events to promote their brand.

This area of Broadway Street has been named “The Green Mile” due to all of the dispensaries and marijuana-related businesses on this strip. The Honeypot Lounge

Chelsie Fincher | Clarion

does not sell cannabis products, but it is a place where you are allowed to actually use it. Because of the convenient location of the lounge, customers can easily purchase their marijuana products and walk right over to the lounge to use their products. All the paraphernalia you need will be provided for you.

Because the Honeypot Lounge has their license to allow customers to consume cannabis, they do not have their alcohol license. You cannot consume both marijuana and alcohol at once at a legally licensed

place, and if you are suspected to be intoxicated, you will not be allowed in. Although alcohol cannot be sold at the Honeypot Lounge, they offer a tasteful menu of non-alcoholic beverages and snacks that will surely satisfy your munchies.

Vape and Play organizes various events and games to entertain their stoned visitors with guests that range from musicians to comedians to speakers.

You will not be bored at a vape lounge, as their entire business revolves around amusing and pleasuring their guests. Cus-

tomer service is one of the biggest highlights of this business.

Vape and Play allows you and your friends to schedule a specific time to attend the lounge in order to ensure an easy cannabis consumption experience for each person.

I predict that this new industry and approach to cannabis consumption will make a serious impact in the marijuana industry. Not only will regular smokers come to use their products, but this venue will open the doors for many people to experiment with marijuana in a safe and regulated place, even if they have never tried it before.

Vape lounges will finally provide people a place to get stoned in a social setting, instead of just hanging out in someone’s home.

Travelers from all over the world come to Colorado to experience the marijuana scene first hand, but where are they supposed to go once they buy their weed?

Vape lounges resolve this issue and are perfect for observers, first-time users and even regular smokers.

Rebecca Shagrin | Contributing Writer

Everybody’s “Crazy in Love” with Beyoncé Continued from page 1 Beyoncé, though being a wildly talented artist and producing a great number of hits, could not be where she is today without her message.

While she is first and foremost a musical artist, she has surpassed that mere title to become an inspirational symbol to marginalized communities.

The show is as much about these co-performers as it is Beyoncé; her entire orchestra and all her dancers are Black. The documentary focuses on the theme of historically Black colleges and universities, from which she recruited dancers

and instrumentalists. “Homecoming” makes sure to highlight their individual stories on and off-stage, and Beyoncé extols them as having “limitless swag.”

Though her music itself displays themes of black excellence, she wanted to present a visual example with over 100 people on stage.

Before singing “Bow Down,” she continually says, “Ladies...

Are we smart? Are we strong?

Have we had enough of the bullsh**?” The screams of the women in the crowd immediately affirm her questions. Her entire show is a testament to female empowerment, sexuality and confidence. At one point in the

show, she even alters her microphone to make her voice sound like that of a man’s, rapping over a hip-hop beat to prove women can do it just as well. Her influence is incredible, and she possesses a gifted skill to appeal to the female pathos.

Late into the performance, the audience hears the famous Malcolm X quote, “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman.” This statement still remains true today, but seeing Beyoncé march up the steps of her Coachella kingdom has a way of inspiring not only Black women but all women to

demand more. Even aside from her targeted audience, any willing viewer will easily get goosebumps for two straight hours while witnessing the spectacle that is “Homecoming.” As DJ Khaled acclaimed it to be, 2018 was “Beychella.” She writes and performs a show as if she’s writing a novel or intricately sculpting marble, but her art takes the form of “Love on Top” at the Coachella Music Festival.

Grace Ganz | Contributing Writer

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“Cuz I Love You” is authentically Lizzo

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izzo is profoundly one-of-a-kind; she’s a rapper, a flutist, an impressive vocalist and an unapologetically body-positive black woman. There is perhaps no other artist who has upended the music scene like her, combining genreless bright music with universal lyrics that nobody can refuse. With Lizzo’s newest album, “Cuz I Love You,” the legend-in-the-making is finally getting the recognition she deserves.

Her third studio release and first full-length album dropped on Apr. 19, and audiences have been nothing but captivated.

It starts out with the title song, immediately putting vocals on display with Lizzo belting out “I’m crying, cuz I love you.” The beat drops with heavy instrumentals, then moves into the clean verses backed mostly by piano and drums that carry an almost blues-like chord progression. It’s an anthem of self-reflection, as Lizzo riffs, “I thought that I didn't care / I thought I was love-impaired / But baby, oh baby / I don't know what I'm gonna do” before bringing back the title lyrics.

From there, Lizzo moves to “Like a Girl,” the track that The Atlantic calls “ad-ready,” given its strong tempo and lyrics that blatantly address working, fighting, throwing and running “like a girl.” The bridge goes, “Look, so if you fight like a girl, cry like a girl / Do your thing, run the whole damn world / If you feel like a girl, then you real like a girl / Do your thing, run

the whole damn world,” and despite the almost over-the-top, in-your-face message of female empowerment Lizzo drops here, “Like a Girl” remains one of the best bops on the album.

Following that is “Juice,” well-known since its single release in early January. This song is one of Lizzo’s best in general, with an ‘80s R&B feel that encourages both dancing and unabashed self-love.

Musically, “Soulmate” could stay or go; Lizzo’s rap talent shines, but it feels overall like a song that’s been done before. The message is important to the album, though, and to Lizzo’s brand. It continues to push messages of independence, self-love and pro-masturbation happiness, and just the fact that an artist created a song called “Soulmate” that isn’t heteronormative is something to note. Lizzo continues to ground herself in universality, and she proudly avoids defined and binary identities; in an interview with Teen Vogue, she stated, “When it comes to sexuality or gender, I personally don’t ascribe to just one thing. I cannot sit here right now and tell you I’m just one thing.”

“Jerome” is definitely one to put on repeat, with a slower 6/8 tempo and a spotlight on gospel vocals and guitar riffs. “Crybaby” channels Lizzo’s Prince inspiration, and the following track “Tempo” brings in Missy Elliott for what Rolling Stone would call a “twerk-core” hit.

“Exactly How I Feel,” with Guc-

ci Mane, was another take-it or leave-it; tune in to hear Lizzo belt the pre-chorus, “Love me or hate me / Ooh, I ain't changing / And I don't give a fuck, no,” but go ahead and skip the rest of her eighth track.

Photo Courtesy of The Cut

The album finishes with “Better In Color,” “Heaven Help Me” and “Lingerie,” and it seems like Lizzo saved the best for last. The first is simple but short and catchy. The second is a definite favorite, with forward-moving lyrics and varying tempos that again highlight Lizzo’s gospel sound. Lastly, “Lingerie” brings “Cuz I Love You” to a close, dropping key, pace and urgency with a laid-back sex ballad that feels perhaps most authentically Lizzo.

And the world needs more authentic Lizzo. On her album cover, Lizzo is nude and easily slouched over, hinting that while her outward brand shows the confident feminist transcending expectations of race, size and the like, “Cuz I Love You” is also an exercise in vulnerability. Lizzo wasn’t always the powerhouse she is now, and she certainly doesn’t see herself as a hero.

She’s just using music however she can to make a difference: “I can’t wake up one day and not be black. I can’t wake up one day and not be a woman. I can’t wake up one day and not be fat.

I always had those three things against me in this world, and because I fight for myself, I have to fight for everyone else.”

Taryn Allen | Editor-in-Chief Emeritus

“ERYS Is Coming” is the start of a new era for Jaden Smith

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n Apr. 19, Jaden Smith released his EP “ERYS Is Coming,” a fitting title for a preview to his full album “ERYS,” reportedly planned for release on May 31.

Pronounced like “iris,” Jaden’s upcoming album is a companion to his 2017 album “SYRE,” which is the name of the “hypebeast” character/alter-ego (also one of his own middle names) who experiences a coming-of-age that the album tells over the course of its 17 songs. “ERYS” is supposed to represent the dual, balanced nature of people, hence the inverse spellings of the album titles.

The small taste—just three songs—we get from “ERYS,” show that Jaden has evolved into a trap sound, which is a rather drastic shift from his more soft, laid-back earlier music; already, we see how “ERYS” is meant to balance out “SYRE” both sonically and thematically.

The first two songs on the EP, “Pass” and “Beautiful Disruption,” are a solid introduction to Jaden’s trap style: heavy bass, voice distortion and hard-hitting beats, though their lyrics are pretty basic. Jaden has achieved a fairly cohesive sound on the

EP, but these first two songs lack lyrical depth compared to the third and final song on the EP, “New Direction.”

It seems that Jaden is able to create some of his more profound songs when he has either solo or co-writing credits, primarily because such songs tend to be his most self-reflective and personal. “New Direction” makes most of its meaning at the very end of the song, “Big drip down in Africa / This year, just how I did in Flint / I tried to tell 'em all, they wasn't listening / I think it worked to my benefit / Only seein' nothin' but the benefits / I just pray to God that somebody get a grip / They yellin' and tellin' me let 'em live / I'm guessing the vision's ahead of 'em.”

Here, Jaden references the positive things he’s done in the recent past, both on a personal and societal level, most notably his contribution to help put an end to Flint’s now five-year-long water crisis. These lyrics about making major transformations, as well as the title itself, call back to Jaden’s goal of presenting a new side of himself as an artist. I’ll look forward to hearing the full album and seeing what Jaden will do next in his career.

Photo Courtesy of GQ

Find out where you can lis- to get the latest updates on the ten to the EP at http://smarturl. full album. it/jadeneic, and you can order Jaden’s merch at MSFTSrep. com and www.erysiscoming. com. Follow Jaden on Twitter Emma Cohen | Contributing Writer