The Chronicle, November 26, 2018

PAGE 3: Parental leave policies create conflict for faculty members

PAGE 8: Members of the queer community express themselves with their hair

PAGE 7: Local theater company receives Emerging Theatre Award PAGE 14: Activists call on McDonald’s to source sustainable meat Volume 54, Issue 12

November 26, 2018

Chicago lawsuit targets nicotine sales to minors SEE PAGE 15

» PHOTO ILLUSTRATION SAMANTHA CONRAD, ORLANDO PINDER, HALIE PARKINSON/CHRONICLE

ColumbiaChronicle.com

editor’s note

Betsy DeVos proposes changes to Title IX regulations » ARIANA PORTALATIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

S

ecretary of Education Betsy DeVos has proposed several changes to Title IX regulations introduced under the Obama administration, and she is receiving support from those in favor of clearer guidelines and backlash from advocates who say the changes reduce protections for sexual assault survivors.

According to an early draft of the proposal published Nov. 16, the department finds flaws in current regulations, especially with a perceived lack of guidance on how to respond to incidents of sexual harassment.

The changes spell out the legal obligations of schools, including what conduct is actionable as sexual harassment under Title IX, the conditions that activate a mandatory response by the schools and particular requirements that responses must meet to protect the rights of students, according to the proposal document.

The modifications may seem beneficial, however, opponents argue that new measures would create hurdles for accusers and fail to hold schools accountable.

Human Rights Campaign Legal Director Sarah Warbelow said in a Nov. 16 press release that a new rule that would not require religiously-affiliated schools to request or provide notice of Title IX exemptions to their institutional policies will allow schools to sweep incidents under the rug.

“This is a blatant disregard for the justice of survivors of sexual violence by letting schools off the hook for Title IX obligations and denying survivors, including LGBTQ survivors, their civil right to equal access to education,” Warbelow said in the press release.

“The only safe place created for schools with this proposed rule is one for perpetrators. These changes are unacceptable and must be rejected.”

One goal of the proposed amendments ensures accused students due process. DeVos met with several organizations in July 2017 to discuss these rights, including the National Coalition for Men, whose president once defended a football player caught assaulting his then-girlfriend on camera by saying “If she hadn’t aggravated 2 THE CHRONICLE NOVEMBER 26, 2018

MANAGEMENT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MANAGING EDITORS

Ariana Portalatin Molly Walsh Blaise Mesa Samantha Conrad Micha Thurston

CREATIVE DIRECTOR AD & BUSINESS MANAGER

REPORTERS NEWS EDITOR REPORTERS

Tessa Brubaker Olivia Deloian Jermaine Nolen Katherine Savage Kaci Watt Alexandra Yetter

COPY

COPY CHIEF

him, she wouldn’t have been hit.”

COPY EDITORS According to a Nov. 16 Vox article, the group has also posted photographs and names of accusers.

While it is important for DeVos to SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER ` is dangerGRAPHIC DESIGNERS hear all sides of an issue, it ous to give organizations such as the

NCFM a platform for their views.

One of the most alarming differences between DeVos and Obama

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS regulations is the narrow definition of sexual harassment. If implemented,

the definition of sexual harassment will change from “unwanted conduct of sexual nature” to “unwelcome conduct MULTIMEDIA EDITOR on the basis of sex that is so severe,

MULTIMEDIA REPORTERS pervasive and objectively offensive that it denies a person access to the school’s education program or activity.”

Schools would only be required to have actual knowledge of incidents in order to be held accountable for

MEDIA SALES REPS failing to take action on a claim.

BRAND MANAGER Currently, schools like Columbia list certain employees, including faculty,

as required to report incidents if made aware of them. Under the WEBMASTER proposed changes, telling a professor or resident advisor would not be enough to require action, and the student would instead need to file an official complaint.

FACULTY ADVISERS

Schools would also only be responsi GENERAL MANAGER

ble for responding to on-campus and school-sponsored incidents.

The proposed amendments are dangerous for survivors and advocates who have worked to make their voices heard and increase school accountability.

Schools should be held responsible for their students’ safety, but these changes would instead put students at risk and undo the progress that has been made and must continue. @c cchronicle

aportalatin@columbiachronicle.com

@c cchronicle

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campus

Faculty Senate discusses C-Fac, transfer student credit requirements » ColumbiaChronicle.com

Minimal parental leave policies lead Columbia faculty to drastic measures » ALEXANDRA YETTER STAFF REPORTER

“As one part of that review, President Kim has asked Human Resources to take steps to make our parental leave benefits more responsive to the needs of our diverse faculty and staff,” read a Nov. 1 email statement from Laurent Pernot, chief of staff, to The Chronicle. “We look forward to continued dialogue on this topic.”

The college’s News Office denied The Chronicle an interview with Pernot.

Andrews said one of the reasons parental leave policies isn’t a bigger issue for Columbia faculty is because many of the faculty are already past the time they would be having children.

One in four women nationwide return to work within two weeks of giving birth,

according to a 2015 study by Abt Associates for the U.S. Department of Labor. Returning to work too early can pose mental and physical risks to both parents and children, especially mothers who are still recovering from childbirth, Sartor said.

Not only does bonding between parents and a newborn become more difficult as parents are not around as often, but mothers may also suffer with postpartum depression, Sartor said.

“It’s ironic, given that teachers are instructed to educate the youth of this country, yet are not able to care for their own family,” Sartor said. ayetter@columbiachronicle.com

» GR

COLUMBIA FACULTY WHO are parents have few options for parental or family leave.

Sean Andrews, associate professor in the History, Humanities and Social Sciences Department and Faculty Senate president, never could make it work.

His first child was born during the summer of 2010, and he did not need to take time off, he said. His second child was stillborn, and the school where he was a fellow at the time allowed him to take paid time off, a luxury he said Columbia would not have permitted.

For his third child, he and his wife decided to induce labor a week early so he could spend time with his daughter before he had to return to work at Columbia for the start of the Fall 2014 Semester.

Columbia’s parental leave policies, including maternity and spousal or paternity leave, comply with the minimum requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act. This law requires up to 12 weeks unpaid time off with the promise that an employer will preserve the job of an employee who uses that time to be with a new child.

Many companies, most notably in Silicon Valley, have expanded parental leave policies for their employees. For instance, non-unionized Netflix employees are able to take a year off with full pay, and Amazon allows non-unionized employees to share up to six weeks pay with his or her

A PH IC S G R AC E SE NIOR / CH RON ICL E

partner who is not paid during parental leave at their workplace, according to Amazon.

Along with tech and hospital industries, higher education institutions tend to have large numbers of employees, according to Annie Sartor, workplace program director at Paid Leave for the U.S. Yet, colleges are falling behind in the expansion of their voluntary parental leave benefits, she said.

“Some universities are realizing this is a problem and they have to provide [extended] benefits,” Sartor said.

Higher education institutions such as the University of Colorado, the University of Pennsylvania and Virginia Tech have increased parental leave benefits beyond FMLA regulations, Sartor said. DePaul University joined these schools, offering 100 percent paid maternity leave of up to 10 weeks, according to the DePaul Human Resources office. “[FMLA] is an insane policy at the national level, to have people who are caring for a newborn child [expected] to be productive at work,” Andrews said. “It’s mentally taxing; you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re trying to get your head around this whole new way of life. It would be better if you gave people more time to get themselves into that new [mind] space, and then be ready to come back to work.”

In her work with Paid Leave for the U.S., Sartor said she has encountered many teachers who try to schedule their pregnancies so they will give birth over the summer and not have to take unpaid time off during the school year.

The solution is as simple as the college following suit with other institutions across the nation by expanding parental leave benefits to include paid or reduced pay leave, or at least a semester of paid leave, Andrews said.

Following an October faculty survey that revealed wide dissatisfaction with parental leave policies among the full-time faculty at the college, the administration is looking at ways of improving its compensation package, which could possibly include improved parental leave benefits, Andrews said.

NOVEMBER 26, 2018 THE CHRONICLE 3

campus

Kim talks provost search, student center » KATHERINE SAVAGE STAFF REPORTER

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Andy Dutil, director of the student center, said there will be a board made up of staff and students to address these issues.

“This is a student center first, so student activities and programming come first,” Dutil said.

“We are going to come up with ways to prioritize that space and to come up with programming holes and different ways we could accommodate everybody.”

Some students were concerned with the lack of job fairs held

by the college. The Career Center will host an internship fair in February and a job fair in April, according to Erik Friedman, associate dean of career development and industry relations. In 2017, the center held a job and internship fair in April, but none so far this year. The fairs are typically held in the spring semester at the request of companies, Friedman said. ksavage@columbiachronicle.com » MIKE RUNDLE/CHRONICLE

DURING A RECENT Let’s Chat with Dr. Kim event, senior fine arts and animation double major Megan McGowan said the biggest problem for Columbia is a lack of communication between the college and students.

“I try to come to a lot of these to stay informed, and that’s [what] my question was about,” McGowan said, adding that it is best to get information directly from a source such as Dr. Kim. The Student Government Association-hosted event provided students with this opportunity. During the event, Kim addressed topics such as the communication gap, the new provost search, updates on the student center, and complaints of limited Career Center opportunities for students.

The annual fall event was held Nov. 13 at Stage Two in the 618 S. Michigan Ave. building. Kim was accompanied by his cabinet members, including Interim Senior Vice President and Provost Suzanne Blum Malley.

Kim explained the job of the provost is to oversee the college’s academic affairs, such as evaluation and promotion of faculty members and curriculum changes. He said he wants to find someone who agrees with Columbia’s values. “This is both an incredibly exciting and a very vibrant place, but it is also a very difficult place.”

An internal search committee of 19 members includes SGA President and junior cinema art and science major Jazmin Bryant. Kim said the committee is specifically looking for a woman to be the next provost to increase diversity on campus.

“A woman may bring a very different understanding of the world and a different modality of communication,” Kim said. “It’s also an important validation to our own community that we’re constantly seeking to diversify the leadership team.”

Kim also addressed two construction delays of the student center due to underground problems caused by CTA tracks.

Despite the delay, the student center is expected to be completed in early summer, Kim said.

The student center will provide space for clubs and organizations, a fitness center, study space and an interfaith room. The fifth floor will be an event space that could seat about 750 people and 1,200 to 1,300 people for standing roomonly events, Kim said.

McGowan said she is concerned about the comfort of the study and lounge areas in the building. According to Kim, the design was thoughtfully chosen to accommodate comfort and style. He said he sat in every piece of furniture.

President and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim addressed student concerns regarding the search for a new provost, the student center and communication on campus.

The Music Center at Columbia College Chicago 1014 S. Michigan Avenue

M u s i c

D e p a r t m e n t

E v e n t s

Monday November 26 Groove Band in Concert

7:00 pm

Tuesday November 27 Kavyesh Kaviraj Senior Recital

7:00 pm

Wednesday November 28 Wednesday Noon Guitar Concert Series at the Conaway Guitar Ensemble in Concert Thursday November 29 Student Piano & String Recital #6 & #7 At the Sherwood Friday November 30 Morganne Melcher Senior Recital

12:00 pm 12:00 pm 7:00 pm

7:00 pm

campus

President and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim’s contract extended despite C-Fac allegations » OLIVIA DELOIAN STAFF REPORTER IN A UNANIMOUS decision, the Board of Trustees extended President and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim’s contract to the end of the 20232024 academic year, more than a

year earlier than expected and a week after C-Fac and OurColumbia called for his resignation.

Kim’s previous contract was scheduled to expire in 2020, as reported Oct. 25 by The Chronicle.

Kim said the extension of his contract is exciting, and he is » FILE PHOTO

President and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim’s contract has been extended through the 20232024 school year, more than a year earlier than expected.

happy the Board of Trustees has faith in his ability to continue to run the institution.

He is looking forward to continuing his presidency and implementing the Strategic Plan, tackling new technology at Columbia and expanding the college’s work in diversity, equity and inclusion, Kim said.

“The advantage to having this long time frame ahead of me now is [that] I can keep thinking longer-term without worrying about an interruption,” Kim said.

Board of Trustees Chairman Bill Wolf said the decision to renew Kim’s contract came from needing a new senior vice president and provost, and the need to familiarize that person with leadership at the college.

“Stan Wearden is leaving, and we’re in the market now to hire a new provost,” Wolf said. “The

board said, as we considered the potential that we were going to be in the market for a new provost, ‘We really need to have our president on board for some period of time that would be long enough that the provost who comes here is going to be comfortable that he or she is not going to have a change in presidents.’”

The contract extension came shortly after C-Fac held a press conference Oct. 17 calling for Kim’s removal, alleging Kim and his administration were cultivating racism and sexism on campus, as reported Oct. 22 by The Chronicle.

Prexy Nesbitt, adjunct professor in the Humanities, History and Social Sciences Department and C-Fac’s director of diversity, declined to comment on the contract renewal.

Kim said there is no legitimate allegation against him, therefore it is not a valid claim.

“There’s people saying things and there’s posters with words plastered over my face,” Kim said.

“An allegation is a claim made

on the basis of something, so I’ve never seen any basis for anything, and I think it’s a tactic to rile people up.”

Matt Coyle, Student Athletic Association president and senior live performing arts management and live and installed sound double major, said he supports the contract extension.

“I feel pretty great about Dr. Kim’s contract being extended,” Coyle said. “I know I’m in the minority when it comes to students and Dr. Kim, but I’ve had nothing but respect and admiration and kindness from his staff and his cabinet.”

Wolf said he believes Kim is a good fit for Columbia and will continue to do great things at the college now that his term has been extended.

“He’s done a wonderful job in helping the school move itself into the next level, to advance the cause of what we want this school to be, and he’s halfway through his effort,” Wolf said. odeloian@columbiachronicle.com

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6 THE CHRONICLE NOVEMBER 26, 2018

arts culture

Actor discusses “The Book of Mormon” in Chicago » ColumbiaChronicle.com

Emerging theater company’s priceless performances take the spotlight

» PHOTOS BY HALIE PARKINSON

Broken Nose Artistic Director Elise Davis said the pay-what-you-can ticketing model is part of what makes the company inclusive and unique.

The Broken Nose Theatre company was recently awarded the 2018 Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theatre Award. The company creates performances highlighting diversity and accessibility. » MOLLY WALSH DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR

a price on a great performance—especially with the Broken Nose Theatre company.

The company was recently awarded the 2018 Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theatre Award for its pay-what-you-can ticketing model, which is designed to make performances more accessible to all audiences, regardless of their ability to pay, according to Director of Programming Spenser Davis.

The Emerging Theatre Award was created by Broadway in Chicago in 2007 to support local and newer companies with potential, according to Executive Director of Marketing for BIC Ashlee Harris.

YOU CAN’T PUT

“[Recipient theaters] have to be less than 10 years old and more than three years old,” Harris said. “[They must] have demonstrated artistic excellence, fiscal responsibility, community leadership and the potential for growth in the future.”

Broken Nose Artistic Director Elise Marie Davis said winning the award was a great recognition because it was voted on by peers.

“One of the things I felt was positive about us being the ones receiving the award was a continued push towards economic accessibility,” Elise said. “One big thing the community at large is continuing to talk about is inclusion on a socioeconomic sector. It’s something that is really hard to balance. You need money coming in to produce the work going out.”

Spenser is also the playwright and co-director of the first show of the current season, “Plainclothes.” The show is a workplace comedy focusing on a retail store during the holidays and the commercialism in society. It runs through Dec. 15 at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. “What does a pay-what-you-can organization say about presenting a story about folks who can’t afford things during the holidays?” Spenser asked. “Where are the ironies going to be between those two, and what are folks going to be thinking about as they leave the theater?”

Elise will also be performing in the show as Syd, a new member to the fictitious company’s security team who desperately wants to become a police officer. Although mostly a comedy, “Plainclothes” discusses

inclusivity and diversity by showing racial profiling and stereotypes throughout the play’s plot, she added.

As the recipient of the award, Broken Nose Theatre receives $5,000, an advertising package to help promote the company and a meeting with BIC’s marketing team to discuss goals and plans for the future of the theater company, Harris said.

“We never wanted a ticket price to be the barrier that would keep somebody from seeing one of our shows,” Spenser said. “An audience is taking a risk every time they buy a ticket to a show they’ve never heard of.

They don’t know what they’re in for. [This pricing method] is our way of rewarding them for taking that risk.” mwalsh@columbichronicle.edu

NOVEMBER 26, 2018 THE CHRONICLE 7

feature

feature

“UNDERCUTS, MULLETS AND PIXIES, OH MY!”:

COLOR ME IN & and Tag Us @CCChronicle

queer hair is self-expression STORY BY MIRANDA MANIER

“M

y hair actually clocked me as queer before I knew I was queer.”

Jackie Young, a barber at Barbara & Barbara, 2925 W. Diversey Ave., laughed at the realization. Before they started working at the queer-inclusive salon, Young experimented with increasingly short hairstyles. When they finally took a leap and shaved off the sides, they said, “That’s when queer people started noticing me, and I started noticing them. I was like, ‘What’s happening here?’”

This kind of ‘queer coding’ is something not only Young has experienced. According to an Aug. 9 InStyle article, certain hairstyles act like a ‘beacon’ within the queer community.

Shaving the side of one’s head can silently communicate to other queer people they are among friends.

“I notice all the time when I’m walking down the street [if] someone has a nontraditional haircut for what their gender presentation is,” Young said. “We do the head nod, like, ‘Hey, I see you.’ It’s a way of being visible within the community.”

Mainstream cisgender and heterosexual society places certain expectations on hair.

Longer hairstyles typically belong to women, and shorter hairstyles typically belong to men.

This has been true for centuries, with historical references to the tradition in ancient Greek texts and the Bible.

That tradition has been increasingly challenged for decades, especially by the LGBTQ community in recent years.

According to Kim Fountain, CEO of Center on Halsted, an LGBTQ community center located at 3656 N. Halsted St., the relationship

8 THE CHRONICLE NOVEMBER 26, 2018

between queer people and their hair is often one of self-expression. When queer businesses discuss professional standards, for instance, they may allow colors or styles typically frowned upon by mainstream organizations.

“It comes down to authenticity,” Fountain said. “For a lot of queer folks, it is a matter of being able to be comfortable in our bodies and to express comfort in ways that make sense to us as individuals.”

Fountain said she expresses her gender nonconformity with her short hair and masculine style. However, a masculine presentation may look different for others; for example, her partner grows her curly hair out because it feels more low-maintenance.

The queer community rejects any singular definition for how ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ people should look. This kind of middle-ground is what Fountain said makes people outside the LGBTQ community uncomfortable.

“There’s [a] certain script we go through in the world that makes it easy for us to navigate it,” she said. “For a lot of heteronormative, cisgender culture [in the U.S.], women have longer hair, so it’s easy to not think about [someone’s gender] as you’re scanning a crowd or meeting somebody new. But if you have really short hair and you’re femme-presenting, people think, ‘feminist,’ ‘radical,’ ‘activist.’ And any of those things threaten the normative structures [our society has in place].”

Cari Beecham-Bautista, adjunct professor in the Humanities, History and Social Sciences Department, cites gender polarization as an explanation for cisgender and straight people’s discomfort.

“[Gender polarization] is this idea that we expect all of maleness and masculinity to be in one box and all of [femaleness] and femininity to be in another box, and we don’t expect them to overlap,” Beecham-Bautista said.

Hair is a prominent physical trait that can be seen from far away. Beecham-Bautista explained that the breaking of expectations—such as women having longer hair and men having shorter hair—can result in discomfort.

“We don’t want [people] to be ambiguous,” she said.

“We want to [be able to] know where everyone stands.”

This prejudice can manifest in institutional roadblocks. For example, many people seeking nontraditional haircuts are met with pushback.

When Fountain lived in Vermont, she went to a barbershop where only one employee would cut her hair to the short, close-cropped style she wanted. If Fountain came in for a cut and that employee was not there, she was out of luck.

In Chicago, queer people have a few more options; for instance, salons such as Barbara & Barbara. Young said some of their clients have shared stories about other barbershops where stylists have refused to give them a haircut that does not agree with the stylist’s assumptions about that person’s gender.

“People automatically assume people’s genders and gender iden-

DESIGN BY JOCELYN MORENO

tities, so they try to place what they think the other person’s gender identity is in a haircut,” Young said. “A lot of barbers are afraid to cut queer women’s hair, or nonbinary [or] trans people’s hair, because they’re afraid of doing it wrong and not actually understanding what the person wants.”

Young also wishes salons and barbershops would stop gendering their pricing. They said this causes stylists to assume a client’s gender as soon as they walk in the door, something they have learned not to do as part of the queer community.

Gendered pricing in salons also typically means that a “woman’s” haircut costs more than a “man’s” haircut. For instance, Sine Qua Non, a local salon chain with locations in Lakeview, West Town and Andersonville, offers “men’s” haircuts for at least $40 less than “women’s” haircuts.

Young hopes their peers will start asking clients more specific questions about their desired cut, their name and their pronouns. That would open the door to a conversation, rather than stylists misgendering clients, using the wrong name, or trying to talk clients out of certain haircuts because of their own uncertainty or fear.

“It’s a really weird feeling to sit in a chair, ask for what you want and have somebody be like, ‘Are you sure? It doesn’t seem like you actually want that,’” Young said.

Zacy Hickey, an online student at the University of Calgary, faces plenty of reactions and obstacles for her hair, though she does not have any need for a barbershop.

When she started losing her hair, she decided to shave it off completely, inspired by people like model Amber Rose. However, she finds higher expectations are placed on her

“performance” of femininity compared to cisgender women like Rose.

“People usually concentrate on how I look versus anything I say or what I think,” she said.

“Whether someone says, ‘I like your shaved head,’ or ‘I don’t like your shaved head,’ to me it’s the same thing. They’re more interested in how I look than anything I say. And that bothers me.”

Fountain finds she also faces a greater pressure to own her masculine hairstyle.

“When my hair grows out, I become incredibly uncomfortable, because if I’m going to have this short hair and wear it correctly, it has to look good,” she said. “It’s not that when I look at men, if their hair’s a bit longer, I [think], ‘You’re not masculine.’ I would never think that. But for me, because I am not male identified in any way, I feel like I have got to do it right.”

Lavannya Pulluveetil Barrera, a Brighton Park resident, faces the other edge of that sword. While her mid-length hair and more traditionally feminine presentation does not necessarily defy societal expectations, she deals with backlash within the queer community.

“My queer card has been questioned a lot,” Pulluveetil Barrera said. “I really like keeping my hair somewhat long, [but] oftentimes I feel like there’s this perception that if you don’t have a buzzcut or a pixie cut, it’s not a clear marker of your queerness.

That’s definitely been frustrating because I feel like me having somewhat long hair now contributes to the erasure of my queerness.”

Pulluveetil Barrera said she has had a mixed bag of reactions in queer spaces, from some people not believing she was queer to others taking on a challenge to “turn her” fully gay.

Pulluveetil Barrera also struggled with the intersection of her hair and her sexuality growing up as half-Indian and half-Mexican. Both sides of her family valued long hair in women, prompting her to grow out her hair as a child and develop a negative relationship with it.

When she recently visited her family in India for the first time since cutting her hair, she was met with a lot of disappointment.

To have the queer community be almost as judgmental of her hairstyle as her family prompted Pulluveetil Barrera to hope that queer spaces can open their arms wider.

“If someone is in a queer space, regardless of whether or not they openly say they’re queer, just accept people for what they present to you,” she said.

For Hickey, being able to accept others is a secondary solution. She thinks the real work starts within.

“A lot of investment is put into advertising that [is] saying; ‘Accept everyone as they are.

But we should focus more on, ‘Accept you as you are, and it shouldn’t matter what people think,’” she said. “It is about self-acceptance.

Look in mirrors more. Take more pictures of yourself. Write about how you feel, and maybe you’ll be able to accept parts of yourself you didn’t like before, such as your hair. Or my hair.” mmanier@columbiachronicle.com

NOVEMBER 26, 2018 THE CHRONICLE 9

feature

“UNDERCUTS AND PIXIES

COLOR ME IN & and Tag Us @CCChronicle

queer hair is se STORY BY MIRANDA MANIER

“M

y hair actually clocked me as queer before I knew I was queer.”

Jackie Young, a barber at Barbara & Barbara, 2925 W. Diversey Ave., laughed at the realization. Before they started working at the queer-inclusive salon, Young experimented with increasingly short hairstyles. When they finally took a leap and shaved off the sides, they said, “That’s when queer people started noticing me, and I started noticing them. I was like, ‘What’s happening here?’”

This kind of ‘queer coding’ is something not only Young has experienced. According to an Aug. 9 InStyle article, certain hairstyles act like a ‘beacon’ within the queer community.

Shaving the side of one’s head can silently communicate to other queer people they are among friends.

“I notice all the time when I’m walking down the street [if] someone has a nontraditional haircut for what their gender presentation is,” Young said. “We do the head nod, like, ‘Hey, I see you.’ It’s a way of being visible within the community.”

Mainstream cisgender and heterosexual society places certain expectations on hair.

Longer hairstyles typically belong to women, and shorter hairstyles typically belong to men.

This has been true for centuries, with historical references to the tradition in ancient Greek texts and the Bible.

That tradition has been increasingly challenged for decades, especially by the LGBTQ community in recent years.

According to Kim Fountain, CEO of Center on Halsted, an LGBTQ community center located at 3656 N. Halsted St., the relationship

8 THE CHRONICLE NOVEMBER 26, 2018

between queer people and their hair is often one of self-expression. When queer businesses discuss professional standards, for instance, they may allow colors or styles typically frowned upon by mainstream organizations.

“It comes down to authenticity,” Fountain said. “For a lot of queer folks, it is a matter of being able to be comfortable in our bodies and to express comfort in ways that make sense to us as individuals.”

Fountain said she expresses her gender nonconformity with her short hair and masculine style. However, a masculine presentation may look different for others; for example, her partner grows her curly hair out because it feels more low-maintenance.

The queer community rejects any singular definition for how ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ people should look. This kind of middle-ground is what Fountain said makes people outside the LGBTQ community uncomfortable.

“There’s [a] certain script we go through in the world that makes it easy for us to navigate it,” she said. “For a lot of heteronormative, cisgender culture [in the U.S.], women have longer hair, so it’s easy to not think about [someone’s gender] as you’re scanning a crowd or meeting somebody new. But if you have really short hair and you’re femme-presenting, people think, ‘feminist,’ ‘radical,’ ‘activist.’ And any of those things threaten the normative structures [our society has in place].”

Cari Beecham-Bautista, adjunct professor in the Humanities, History and Social Sciences Department, cites gender polarization as an explanation for cisgender and straight people’s discomfort.

“[Gender polarization] is this idea that we expect all of maleness and masculinity to be in one box and all of [femaleness] and femininity to be in another box, and we don’t expect them to overlap,” Beecham-Bautista said.

Hair is a prominent physical trait that can be seen from far away. Beecham-Bautista explained that the breaking of expectations—such as women having longer hair and men having shorter hair—can result in discomfort.

“We don’t want [people] to be ambiguous,” she said.

“We want to [be able to] know where everyone stands.”

This prejudice can manifest in institutional roadblocks. For example, many people seeking nontraditional haircuts are met with pushback.

When Fountain lived in Vermont, she went to a barbershop where only one employee would cut her hair to the short, close-cropped style she wanted. If Fountain came in for a cut and that employee was not there, she was out of luck.

In Chicago, queer people have a few more options; for instance, salons such as Barbara & Barbara. Young said some of their clients have shared stories about other barbershops where stylists have refused to give them a haircut that does not agree with the stylist’s assumptions about that person’s gender.

“People automatically assume people’s genders and gender iden-

feature

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tities, so they try to place what they think the other person’s gender identity is in a haircut,” Young said. “A lot of barbers are afraid to cut queer women’s hair, or nonbinary [or] trans people’s hair, because they’re afraid of doing it wrong and not actually understanding what the person wants.”

Young also wishes salons and barbershops would stop gendering their pricing. They said this causes stylists to assume a client’s gender as soon as they walk in the door, something they have learned not to do as part of the queer community.

Gendered pricing in salons also typically means that a “woman’s” haircut costs more than a “man’s” haircut. For instance, Sine Qua Non, a local salon chain with locations in Lakeview, West Town and Andersonville, offers “men’s” haircuts for at least $40 less than “women’s” haircuts.

Young hopes their peers will start asking clients more specific questions about their desired cut, their name and their pronouns. That would open the door to a conversation, rather than stylists misgendering clients, using the wrong name, or trying to talk clients out of certain haircuts because of their own uncertainty or fear.

“It’s a really weird feeling to sit in a chair, ask for what you want and have somebody be like, ‘Are you sure? It doesn’t seem like you actually want that,’” Young said.

Zacy Hickey, an online student at the University of Calgary, faces plenty of reactions and obstacles for her hair, though she does not have any need for a barbershop.

When she started losing her hair, she decided to shave it off completely, inspired by people like model Amber Rose. However, she finds higher expectations are placed on her

“performance” of femininity compared to cisgender women like Rose.

“People usually concentrate on how I look versus anything I say or what I think,” she said.

“Whether someone says, ‘I like your shaved head,’ or ‘I don’t like your shaved head,’ to me it’s the same thing. They’re more interested in how I look than anything I say. And that bothers me.”

Fountain finds she also faces a greater pressure to own her masculine hairstyle.

“When my hair grows out, I become incredibly uncomfortable, because if I’m going to have this short hair and wear it correctly, it has to look good,” she said. “It’s not that when I look at men, if their hair’s a bit longer, I [think], ‘You’re not masculine.’ I would never think that. But for me, because I am not male identified in any way, I feel like I have got to do it right.”

Lavannya Pulluveetil Barrera, a Brighton Park resident, faces the other edge of that sword. While her mid-length hair and more traditionally feminine presentation does not necessarily defy societal expectations, she deals with backlash within the queer community.

“My queer card has been questioned a lot,” Pulluveetil Barrera said. “I really like keeping my hair somewhat long, [but] oftentimes I feel like there’s this perception that if you don’t have a buzzcut or a pixie cut, it’s not a clear marker of your queerness.

That’s definitely been frustrating because I feel like me having somewhat long hair now contributes to the erasure of my queerness.”

Pulluveetil Barrera said she has had a mixed bag of reactions in queer spaces, from some people not believing she was queer to others taking on a challenge to “turn her” fully gay.

Pulluveetil Barrera also struggled with the intersection of her hair and her sexuality growing up as half-Indian and half-Mexican. Both sides of her family valued long hair in women, prompting her to grow out her hair as a child and develop a negative relationship with it.

When she recently visited her family in India for the first time since cutting her hair, she was met with a lot of disappointment.

To have the queer community be almost as judgmental of her hairstyle as her family prompted Pulluveetil Barrera to hope that queer spaces can open their arms wider.

“If someone is in a queer space, regardless of whether or not they openly say they’re queer, just accept people for what they present to you,” she said.

For Hickey, being able to accept others is a secondary solution. She thinks the real work starts within.

“A lot of investment is put into advertising that [is] saying; ‘Accept everyone as they are.

But we should focus more on, ‘Accept you as you are, and it shouldn’t matter what people think,’” she said. “It is about self-acceptance.

Look in mirrors more. Take more pictures of yourself. Write about how you feel, and maybe you’ll be able to accept parts of yourself you didn’t like before, such as your hair. Or my hair.” mmanier@columbiachronicle.com

NOVEMBER 26, 2018 THE CHRONICLE 9

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Chronicle staff talks to a Hawaiian barefoot dancer » ColumbiaChronicle.com/Multimedia

Disasters can happen, don’t forget your pet

Famous women owe us nothing » KACI WATT STAFF REPORTER

O

n Nov. 7, E! News reported that 24-year-old artist Halsey and 41-year-old John Mayer appeared to be in a budding romance based on Instagram comments and posts shared between the two.

Some organizations, such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare, make it their mission to provide resources, emergency relief and care to animals left behind. During Hurricane Matthew in 2016, the IFAW Disaster Response team conducted an animal search for pets that families were not able to retrieve, according to its website. During Hurricane Harvey in 2017, a Texas animal shelter saved more than 100 dogs and cats from the flood.

“People really think of getting themselves and their children out—which they should—and pets are kind of an afterthought,” Michelle Ingram, director of Zeus’ Rescues, told The Independent. “There’s always these pets that are left behind.”

More recently, volunteers from PAWS Chicago went to Florida in October to rescue 11 dogs and 24 cats after Hurricane Michael hit the state, according to CBS Chicago.

Families should ensure their animals stay safe during a disaster. If you live in an Halsey responded to these reports on Nov. 7 by tweeting “I just had a ground-breaking idea. What if...we let female artists...have friends...without assuming that they are sleeping together?

I know I know. It’s like, completely ambitious but like, imagine if we like, tried?” The tweet soon created buzz and generated another article from E! News.

Halsey took to Twitter again Nov. 8, this time to directly call out E!, stating “ur platform literally put out the article this tweet is about..... am I being punk’d rn????????!!!!!!”

This situation is the epitome of the ridiculous standards and stigmas society holds for female artists. Instead of writing in a way in which both individuals were equal, E! News targeted and villainized Halsey because she recently left a relationship. Bringing up past relationships is not a valid argument to shame women.

The article reports that “the two have known each other for awhile” as a justification for alleging there must be something romantic going on between them. Just because a woman knows and is friends with a man for a long time does not mean the two are involved romantically. Yet, it is always the assumption.

This situation adds more evidence to the idea that men are allowed to do whatever they please in relationships, while women are continuously scrutinized and shamed for their actions. Titling the article “Don’t Tell G-Eazy, But Halsey and John Mayer Are Hard-Core Flirting” placed unnecessary blame on Halsey for living her life as she pleases. This reaction is archaic and unnecessary.

Women are not to blame for existing as they want and choosing to explore relationships in their personal lives, which are none of our business. We must realize that what women in the public eye choose

tbrubaker@columbiachronicle.com » GRACE SENIOR/CHRONICLE

T

hree major wildfires have devastated several parts of California, one of the worst wildfire outbreaks in the state’s history. According to CBS News, thousands of people evacuated and thousands of homes have been destroyed. There have been a reported 63 deaths from the fires as of Nov. 16, with the death toll expected to increase continually over the coming days. More than 600 people have also been reported missing during this horrible disaster.

Whenever a disaster hits, whether it’s a fire, hurricane or flood, animals get left behind. According to a Sept. 8, 2017, article from The Independent, an estimated 600,000 pets died or were left without shelter during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Animals are forgotten during these horrible disasters because they are dependent on human care and don’t know how to survive on their own. Rescue efforts after the disaster try to collect abandoned animals, but many get lost.

area that is frequently hit with disasters such as fires, hurricanes or floods, come up with a plan before disaster strikes to ensure everyone in the family, including pets, can evacuate safely. Have bags packed and ready to go in case of emergency. If you cannot take full responsibility for your pet, you should not own one.

Own an animal that you are able to physically, as well as financially, move in an emergency. Plan ahead and find petfriendly hotels to stay at until the danger is over. During natural disasters, all hotels should be accommodating animals.

Natural disasters bring unpredictability.

People have little time to prepare during a mandatory evacuation. We shouldn’t rule out the possibility that sometimes there really isn’t anything you can do but leave your animals behind. This is often the situation with larger pets, such as horses.

You should still do everything you can to make sure these animals are safe. Putting a sticker on the window of your home is a great way to inform rescue teams that there is an animal on the property that needs help. You can also drop your animal off at the nearest shelter, where they may have more resources, rather than just leaving them in your home.

EDITORIAL We are our pets’ entire world. We should do everything we can to protect and save them, too.

COMMENTARY to share with us is all we get. We are not entitled to know anything about them, and we do not have the right to hastily make assumptions based on trivialities.

There is also serious disconnect between the way women treat one another. We should actively lift each other up instead of tearing each other down. In a world where Halsey is targeted for speaking to Mayer and subtly “slut-shamed” by a news organization as big as E! News simply because she is fresh out of a relationship, we must do better to protect our fellow women.

Women in the music industry are brave for telling stories about their personal lives through their art to millions of people. Shaming them for doing so is not acceptable. Women need to be allies for all women. Otherwise, we have no right to preach feminism. kwatt@columbiachronicle.com

Editorial Board Members Tessa Brubaker News Editor Blaise Mesa Managing Editor Kaci Watt Staff Reporter Katherine Savage Staff Reporter Alexandra Yetter Staff Reporter

Olivia Deloian Staff Reporter Micha Thurston Ad & Business Manager Dennis Percevecz Media Sales Rep Jocelyn Moreno Senior Graphic Designer Patrick Casey Graphic Designer

10 THE CHRONICLE NOVEMBER 26, 2018

Did you catch a mistake, think we could have covered a story better or have strong beliefs about an issue that faces all of us here at Columbia?

Why not write a letter to the editor? At the bottom of Page 2, you’ll find a set of guidelines on how to do this. Let us hear from you. —The Columbia Chronicle Editorial Board

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COMMENTARY: If media outlets spent less time on high school and middle school sports and more time on professional female athletes, women in sports would have a larger fanbase, says Blaise Mesa.

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Chicagoans celebrate annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony » ColumbiaChronicle.com/Multimedia

Chicago, environmental activists not McLovin’ McDonald’s eco practices » STEVEN NUNEZ/CHRONICLE

» ALEXANDRA YETTER STAFF REPORTER

CONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL rights activists and local restaurants want people to think twice before picking up their next Big Mac. During a Nov. 14 Rally for Clean Water, global environmental organization Mighty Earth’s McWholeFoods campaign announced more than 1,800 petitions demanding that McDonald’s franchises stop purchasing meat from some of the worst polluters, such as Tyson and Cargill, according to a Nov. 14 Mighty Earth press release.

The rally was hosted by a coalition of Chicago chefs, businesses, farmers and community members, in front of McDonald’s Hamburger University, 110 N. Carpenter St. “We cannot continue to accept the polluting practices of the meat industry as ‘business as usual.’ [It’s] a fundamental threat to our drinking water and a simultaneous threat to human health,” said Phoebe Chatfield, field organizer for Mighty Earth Chicago, during the rally.

The coalition is comprised of more than 50 local businesses, including Sweet Mandy

B’s Bakery, The Budlong, Cornerstone Café and 1Body1Life.

“From the people who grow our food in Illinois to the restaurants that sell it on the streets of Chicago, the Chicago community wants to see concrete action from our corporate neighbor, McDonald’s,” said Victoria Higgins, a field organizer. “The Chicago community is watching; environmental advocates and farms across the state are watching.”

McDonald’s, the largest beef purchaser in the world, received an F on its U.S. Public Interest Research Group report card despite pledging since 2003 to improve antibiotic use practices by urging suppliers to use less chemicals with animals. Illinois PIRG is part of the coalition that hosted this event.

In a letter to McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook, petitioners asked McDonald’s to boycott leading meat suppliers Tyson and Cargill until the suppliers take concrete steps to end deforestation and pollution.

“McDonald’s sustainable sourcing initiatives include conserving forests, beef sustainability and achieving our verified greenhouse gas reduction target,” read a Nov. 15 McDonald’s email to The Chronicle.

“We are consistently engaging with our suppliers to communicate our expectations,

as well as collaborating to accomplish these goals.”

Jody Osmund, farmer and founder of Cedar Valley Sustainable Farms, said McDonald’s needs to require suppliers to use more sustainable, environmental and animal-friendly practices to combat the destruction of the global environment and crops. According to Chatfield, both Tyson and Cargill have claimed to be working on improving company practices after public pressure, but have failed to commit.

“We’re making progress. We’re committed to leading industry efforts to collaborate with farmers on environmentally responsible crop production,” read a Nov. 15 email from Tyson to The Chronicle. “Earlier this year we committed to support improved environmental practices on 2 million acres of [land] by the end of 2020. This is the largest-ever land stewardship commitment by a U.S. protein company.”

During the 1980s, McDonald’s began using more recyclable packaging at public request. Ray Dybzinski, assistant professor of ecology at the Institute of Environmental Sustainability at Loyola University Chicago, urged McDonald’s during the rally to change again for the betterment of the environment.

Despite decades of criticism for its food and environmental policies, McDonald’s has the opportunity to become a leader for other fast food chains and meat buyers, Mighty Earth and U.S. PIRG players said.

“We’ve got big problems with industrial agriculture, but McDonald’s has a huge opportunity because it’s such a big buyer,” Dybzinski said.”If they make a change toward more sustainable food systems, that can have a huge impact.”

As a supporter of U.S. PIRG’s efforts to eliminate harmful antibiotics used in cattle, which may pose significant public health risks, Illinois State Sen. Daniel Biss introduced legislation in February in the Illinois Senate to restrict the use of antibiotics only for animals in need of them, as prescribed by a licensed veterinarian.

“By definition, something that is unsustainable, like McDonald’s industrial food system, will come to an end. That’s just what it means to be unsustainable,” Dybzinski said. “Sooner or later, by design or by catastrophe, McDonald’s food system will become sustainable. It’s inevitable.

McDonald’s, do the right thing and make it sustainable now to avoid catastrophe.” ayetter@columbiachronicle.com

NOVEMBER 26, 2018 THE CHRONICLE 13

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Cook County voters want legal marijuana revenue to fund schools » JERMAINE NOLEN STAFF REPORTER

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BEFORE THE MIDTERM election, Governor-elect J.B. Pritzker campaigned on his support of marijuana legalization in Illinois, suggesting that this legislation could reduce opioid overdoses, help reform the criminal justice system and bring in nearly $700 billion in revenue.

While he has not specified what the revenue would support, 88 percent of Cook County voters said on their ballots Nov. 8 that it shou ld be used to f und Chicago Public Schools and mental health services.

Pritzker told Fox32 News Nov. 7 that legalizing marijuana is something that can be worked on nearly right away. Pritzker has not provided a timeline for this legislation but has said he wants to consider legislation from other states.

“One of the advantages of not being one of the first states in the United States to do it is that we can look and see what worked in other states and bring the [ideas]

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14 THE CHRONICLE NOVEMBER 26, 2018

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that worked to Illinois,” he said.

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said Pritzker is not alone in having campaigned on a platform for the legalization and regulation of the adult use of marijuana. “ We k n o w, through statewide polling and national polling that a majority of the American electorate believe marijuana use, by adults, ought to be legal, it ought to be regulated and sales involving marijuana ought to be taxed,” Armentano said.

Ten states have legalized marijuana, including Colorado, Washington, Michigan and Vermont. Colorado uses marijuana revenue to benefit schools.

According to the Colorado Department of Revenue, the first $40 million of the state’s Retail Marijuana Excise Tax revenue in 2016 and 2017 was distributed to the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Fund administered by the state’s education department.

Cicero, Illinois, resident Liz Villagran said she went to high school at J. Sterling Morton East High School and transferred to Frederich Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center her senior year. While at J. Sterling Morton East, Villagran said t h e t ea cher t o s t udent rat io w a s not optimal because of a lack of funding.

“I’m totally behind the [legal] marijuana movement,” Villagran said. “Dispensaries are going to start popping up. They are going to tax it anyway, so they might as well put that to good use.”

Villagran’s stance was echoed

by Summit, Illinois, resident Mateo McNeil. McNeil attended Argo Community High School and said the funding for art-related clubs was small.

“Specifically in Illinois, a lot of high schools, CPS schools primarily, are being shut down,” McNeil said. “If [Marijuana is] being legalized, and the funding is going [toward] CPS schools, that’s brilliant.”

Reavis Elementary Math & Science Specialty School teacher Kesha Parker said she has a limited amount of supplies allotted for each student because of funding.

“I am not in [agreement] with marijuana being legalized, but I am in [agreement] with anything that helps public schools,” Parker said.

“If they hire more people to help inside the classroom that would be great. More supplies, books or extracurricular activities for the kids would be great. If that’s what they are going to use the funds for, then I am in agreement with that.” jnolen@columbiachronicle.com

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LAWSUIT, FROM FRONT » JERMAINE NOLEN STAFF REPORTER THE ONGOING BATTLE between Chicago and big tobacco companies and e-cigarette distributors has intensified after a Nov. 12 announcement of a lawsuit against multiple retailers.

City attorneys filed a lawsuit Nov. 13 in Cook County Circuit Court against eight online retailers of vaping liquids that can be used in e-cigarette devices, Corporate Counsel Ed Siskel said.

The lawsuit alleges that ELiquid Depot, Kandypens Inc., Major League Vaping, Mig Vapor, Sea100, Sex Vapor, Suorin USA and Vista Vapors sold vaping products that contain nicotine to underage individuals working with the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, in clear violation of city ordinances.

Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Commissioner Rosa Escareno said her agency observed tobacco sales earlier this summer and launched a sting operation

in October targeting companies marketing and selling to minors with Chicago’s Tobacco Sales to Minors law enforcement team.

“We found out how easy it is for youth to get their hands on e-cigarettes and vaping materials like flavored cigarettes. This is being done both online and in our brick and mortar stores,” Escareno said.

She said the operation involved working with a minor using a Visa gift card, and found that of the 40 online e-cigarette retailers, eight processed an order for e-cigarettes, accepted payment and delivered the product but never checked the age of the buyer.

The deliveries from these eight websites were sent to a city office and received by BACP staff at the

enforcement headquarters.

Junior fashion business and fashion journalism double major Kanwal Memon said she started smoking e-cigarettes occasionally because her friends did but purchased her own in May 2018.

“I wouldn’t say [e-cigarettes are] attractive, but the thing that drew me to it was honestly just the idea of smoking. It helped ease my mind a lot,” Memon said.

During a Nov. 12 press conference, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Julie Morita said most people who use tobacco began using these products when they were young, which is when they are more likely to become addicted to nicotine.

“Chicago has become a national leader in the fight against big

tobacco,” Morita said. “We extended the city’s clean indoor air ordinance to include e-cigarettes.

We banned the sale of flavored tobacco, including menthol near high schools. We banned chewing tobacco from our ballparks and our stadiums. We raised the age of tobacco purchase to 21.”

Cinema art and science major Chelsea Gill said she has been using e-cigarettes on occasion since high school. “[Marketing] is targeted toward the younger audience [because] cigarettes don’t carry flavors, so the vaporizers offer fun-sounding alternatives to make it sound like you’re not really smoking cigarettes,” Gill said.

Garrett Sherbet said he now uses e-cigarettes a s a way to

Now, people are using it for contests and to look cool, but [there are] people out there using it [to try] to quit [smoking].

GARRETT SHERBET

help him quit smok ing regular cigarettes, but that wa s not always the case.

“When I was in high school, I would get the vape from somebody older, and then I would try the flavors that I knew, like pink Starburst. I never caught myself smoking anything like the menthol or regular tobacco flavor,” Sherbet said. “Now, people are using it for contests and to look cool, but [there are] people out there using it [to try] to quit [smoking].”

Also during the Nov. 12 press conference, Mayor Ra hm Emanuel said past rhetoric from e-cigarette companies claimed vaping was an alternative to smoking or about quitting smoking.

“You do not name products after Froot Loops. You do not name products after Jolly Rancher.

You do not give the products all these names if your intention is to actually quit smoking,” Emanuel said. “This has nothing to do with quitting and everything to do with addiction.” jnolen@columbiachronicle.com

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