The Chronicle, May 6, 2019

PAGE 4: Delayed crime alert emails are a concern for students

PAGE 7: Take an audio-guided American history tour at “Hamilton: The Exhibition”

PAGE 12: EDITORIAL: Twitter must curb white nationalism on its platform PAGE 14: Kratom health benefits debated nationwide Volume 54, Issue 29

May 6, 2019

ColumbiaChronicle.com

Columbia’s Student Center: A first glance inside the $50 million infrastructure SEE STUDENT CENTER, PAGE 3

» IGNACIO CALDERON/CHRONICLE

editor’s note

You never know where one decision will take you » ARIANA PORTALATIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

I

had no idea where my job would lead when I joined The Chronicle in August 2016. I wasn’t looking ahead because I was far too excited to be where I was. I came to Columbia solely to work for The Chronicle, so to go from being a reader to reporter was thrilling. Looking back, my first day seems so long ago. At the same time, I’m wondering how time flew by so fast.

I learned more in my first semester than I did in any of my journalism classes.

From then on, it only got better. I worked my way up from campus reporter to campus editor and then to managing editor, and each position gave me new skills that will take me far into my career.

That’s not to say I didn’t have my share of challenges along the way. What makes The Chronicle such a great learning experience is that it mirrors the journalism industry and all its challenges. I dealt with angry sources, hard deadlines, many late nights and early mornings, disagreements with coworkers and, of course, the general difficulties that come with being a student juggling a job and classes. Despite being difficult, none of these challenges compared to what I faced my last year.

As a reporter in 2016, I never imagined I would eventually end up leading the newsroom. When I became editor-in-chief in May 2018, I had a list of improvements I wanted to make and accomplishments I wanted to see. The Chronicle had always been great, but I knew the goal should always be to continue getting better. I loved The Chronicle and wanted nothing but to see it grow.

However, things took a turn when The Chronicle’s management team found out our general manager of 20 years was leaving. I was one of the first people to find out, and I was immediately terrified at what that would mean for the upcoming year.

The months we went without a GM proved to be the most difficult of my time at The Chronicle. However, I knew this didn’t mean the work could stop, and I always kept in mind the goals we set. It got easier as time went on, and I’m proud to say many goals were accomplished with a few additions. We celebrated our 45th anniversary, redesigned our website and print edition, started the transition into daily content, increased our digital 2 THE CHRONICLE MAY 6, 2019

MANAGEMENT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MANAGING EDITORS

Ariana Portalatin Blaise Mesa Molly Walsh Zack Jackson Micha Thurston

CREATIVE DIRECTOR AD & BUSINESS MANAGER

REPORTERS

NEWS EDITOR REPORTERS

OPINIONS EDITOR

presence, fostered partnerships with

on-campus organizations and got feaCOPY CHIEF tured at the Newseum, just to name a few.

COPY EDITORS We also won more awards, most importantly being named best in state for the fourth consecutive year.

This year had more curveballs than I

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER can count, but I could not have survived

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS without my management team. Working

at this place isn’t easy, but they are tough, talented and know how to get things done.

Molly and Blaise, thank you for always when it felt SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR being my right and left hands

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS like I might lose my head. I’m handing this

place off to you guys with no doubt you’ll do a great job next year and continue to lead The Chronicle forward. Zack, you’re one of the most talented people I know, and I’m so grateful to have worked with

VIDEOGRAPHERS you. Nothing made me happier than to bring you onto the team as creative director, and you’ve been nothing short of amazing at it. Micha, I don’t know what I would’ve done this year without you. You

MEDIA SALES REPS have one of the hardest jobs on staff, and I couldn’t be more thankful for you being

BRAND MANAGER by my side through everything.

Travis and Curtis, thank you for your constant

mentorship and advice as general manager and adviser. The Chronicle is lucky WEBMASTER to have you, and although you’re both new, you’ve caught on quickly, and I’m so glad you guys care as much about this place as I do.

GENERAL MANAGER My time at The Chronicle has come to FACULTY ADVISER an end, and as sad as that is, I know it’s in good hands. Through all the ups and downs I experienced while working here, it’s all led to me being a better version of myself than I ever could have imagined. I didn’t know what this place had in store for me in 2016, but it was all worth it. In the end, I would do it all over again. @ aportalatin@columbiachronicle.com

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campus Student Center ready to open its doors to students Fall 2019 Columbia student releases new music under AEMMP record label » ColumbiaChronicle.com

» IGNACIO CALDERON/CHRONICLE

Columbia students will soon be able to utilize a variety of spaces inside the new Student Center. “Really, nothing was planned until students gave input,” said Director of the Student Center Andy Dutil. » KNOX KERANEN STAFF REPORTER ALTHOUGH NAILS ARE still strewn across

the concrete floors and wooden frames are temporary placeholders for walls, Columbia students will be able to relax, study, create and collaborate in the Student Center on the first day of the Fall 2019 semester.

Pepper Construction workers wearing hardhats buzzed about the nearly-completed Student Center as a recent tour of the 114,000-square foot, five-story building allowed Chronicle reporters to see inside the expansive building, located at 754 S. Wabash Ave. The structure is vast but designed minimally, constructed mainly with bare materials, such as concrete columns, floors and stairwells, steel beams and a lot of glass, said Director of the Student Center Andy Dutil.

“That was designed as an intention, so that the students and the student work in the building really shines,” Dutil said.

Student employees at a welcome desk will be the first people students see when they enter through the main entrance, rather than the security guards as in other Columbia buildings, Dutil said. The center will employ 25 to 30 students total.

Sophomore music major Tatiana Johnson said she attended a May 1 Student Center employment information session.

“One of [student center management’s] biggest things is making the building student-run, so they want to have a lot of students work there,” Johnson said.

During the information session, two positions were described to students: a technical AV position and a general crew position, Johnson said.

Assistant Director of Student Employment Eric Wordlow said a total of 47 students showed up for two information sessions.

Applications for Student Center employment will likely be posted to Handshake within the next week, he said.

The remainder of the Student Center’s first floor will include a coffee shop and a food court, featuring a pizzeria, deli and an eatery that will rotate vendors.

The second floor will house a space like The Loft and will also include meeting rooms for student organizations and the Board of Trustees; a new workroom called the “maker space;” a dining lounge and offices for Student Life and the Student Center Director.

The third f loor will feature the relocated Career Center and Student Communications offices, soundproof music practice rooms with recording capabilities, film screening rooms and additional meeting spaces.

Wordlow’s office in Student Employment

is housed within the Career Center, so he will also be moving in.

“I’m ready to get into that space,” Wordlow said. “This will be the first time I am working on a college campus where there is a student center.”

The fourth floor—dubbed the “wellness floor” by Dutil— will feature a 5,000 squarefoot fitness center with WiFi-enabled exercise machines and three classrooms for yoga and spin classes, among other fitness classes. Also on the floor is an interfaith room for prayer and meditation, meeting spaces and one of two of the building’s vast murals.

Student input dictated the purpose of many spaces in the building, including the interfaith room, Dutil said.

“Really, nothing was planned until students gave input,” Dutil said.

On the fifth floor, a grand event space is expected to seat about 750 people and fit 1,200 to 1,300 for standing room-only events, as reported Nov. 17, 2018, by the Chronicle.

The event space can be divided by a drop down partition wall. The top floor will also feature two terraces and a gallery space, Dutil said.

Each floor will have at least one gender-neutral restroom with eight gender-neutral restrooms total in the building.

Seeing that the multi-purpose building is used effectively by students is the only

concern Johnson said she has.

“In the beginning, it’s going to be new, so there’s going to be a lot of people there,” Johnson said. “But as the months go on, is it still going to be useful? Are the students going to find it important?”

An initial major construction delay was caused by some underground supports for CTA tracks protruding onto the Student Center’s property, which forced Pepper Construction to redesign the building’s foundation. More recent delays stemmed from the past winter’s extremely cold temperatures, in conjunction with a lapse in receiving the building’s specially-designed glass windows, which caused the structure to remain unsealed to the harsh conditions, making it too cold to work.

Despite the delays, the center’s construction expenses did not significantly increase from the initial $50 million price tag, and the school has not had to delve into tuition dollars to pay for them, Dutil said, adding that he expects daily operational costs will not exceed the planned budget.

“It’s going to be a real culture shift for students here on campus to have a central hub and have somewhere they’re welcome anytime to come and hang out, and create and collaborate—all those good things we as a school value,” Dutil said. kkeranan@columbiachronicle.com

MAY 6, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 3

campus

Crime advisories not effective, students say » ALEXANDRA YETTER STAFF REPORTER

and whether there is an ongoing threat present. For example, no alert was sent out after an April 26 shooting on Ida B. Wells Drive because it occurred outside the geographic parameters of the alert system and there was no ongoing threat, Sodini said.

The 1990 Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act mandates that institutions give timely warnings of crimes that may threaten the college. According to the Clery Center, timely warnings can include: incidents that occur in the geographic area, reports to campus security or local police agencies and serious or continuing threats to students and employees.

The Clery Center is a nonprofit organization that provides information on effec-

tive safety strategies at colleges and universities.

“We don’t want to inundate the college with news that is not of a continuing threat,” Sodini said.

“When we’re sending [students] something, it is valuable information that may be of importance to their immediate safety.”

Visit ColumbiaChronicle.com for additional reporting. ayetter@columbiachronicle.com » PATRICK CASEY/CHRONICLE

AFTER REBECCA CASEY, a senior communication major, had someone attempt to steal her purse on campus Feb. 13, she immediately went to security guards in the 33 E. Ida B. Wells Drive Building to report the incident.

It was not until approximately five or six hours later that a Crime Advisory about the incident was sent out, which Casey said was disheartening.

Although her purse was not stolen, other students could have benefited from knowing there was a potential threat in the hours immediately after the incident, she said.

“This is definitely a student complaint that goes on. We don’t think the campus security alerts come out as effectively as they

should,” Casey said. “It’s a whole messy system.”

And while theft is a concern, other students say they are more concerned about violent crimes even if they occur outside of official school boundaries, especially in a city known nationally for its gun violence. Instead of receiving delayed Crime Advisories from the Safety and Security Office, including alerts about stolen cellphones, some students say they would rather know about incidents that occur on commuter routes, such as on CTA lines or near Metra stations.

“It always seems to be a female student walking alone [who] gets [her] phone stolen at 3 a.m.,” sophomore radio major Jake Eisendrath said. “In a commuter-based school, more alerts for things happening ... near the Red Line or [at] nearby train stops

would be more beneficial to the students.”

When a serious threat occurs, such as an active shooter on campus, the college’s security team utilizes collegewide text, phone call, social media and email alerts to immediately notify everyone, according to Associate Vice President of Safety and Security Ron Sodini. Students can manage the medium of these messages through their OASIS accounts.

Sodini said for incidents that are not immediately threatening, such as a robbery, crime advisories written by the Campus Safety and Security Office, in conjunction with the News Office, are emailed collegewide through a LISTSERV email system.

Sodini added that the security team’s primary objective when sending out alerts is to provide quick, accurate information and to provide aid to the victim. He said email alerts are sent out collegewide simultaneously.

According to Sodini, alerts are sent out based on the geographic location of the incident

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

M u s i c

4 THE CHRONICLE MAY 6, 2019

D e p a r t m e n t

E v e n t s

Monday May 6 Styles Survey Ensembles in Concert Performance Survey Ensembles in Concert Singer’s Showcase

2:00 pm 3:30 pm 7:00 pm

Tuesday May 7 R&B Ensemble: Showcase in Concert

7:00 pm

Wednesday May 8 Styles Survey Ensembles in Concert Performance Survey Ensembles in Concert Recording & Performance Ensembles in Concert Composition II Recital at the Sherwood

2:00 pm 3:30 pm 7:00 pm 7:00 pm

Thursday May 9 Songwriting Recital Studio Composition IV Recital at the Sherwood Charlie Curtis-Beard Senior Recital

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

100 year anniversary of race riots to be commemorated with public art » KATHERINE SAVAGE STAFF REPORTER

“I’m not a metal worker or an artist. I’m a historian,” Cole said, adding he was open to ideas on exactly how the commemoration should be done. “What I’m going to do is bring in other people who have other skills and the passion for the project.”

Another initiative, Chicago 1919: Confronting the Race Riots, backed by city institutions including the DuSable Museum, the Newberry Library and the Chicago Urban League, among others, has been sponsoring events throughout the year.

A public launch of Cole’s initiative will be held at the Illinois Institute of Technology, 10 W. 35th St., July 27 and will feature live speakers and possibly a tour of some of the spots which will be marked.

Cole’s Columbia visit was hosted by Assistant Professor in the Humanities, History and

Social Sciences Department Melanie Chambliss with the help of the college’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Office.

“It’s an important part of anyone’s college education to not just take in what’s being taught within the classroom, but what they can learn more broadly from the area in which they live,” Chambliss said.

One of Chambliss’ students, junior graphic design major Jazmine Thompson, did not know about the riots prior to the event.

Thompson said it would be interesting to have murals accompany the plaques to increase awareness.

“Get it out on social media,” Thompson said. “[There could be] a mural­—[like] I’ve seen around Chicago—have them sporadically on the buildings. That would bring more interest about it.”

Visit ColumbiaChronicle.com for additional reporting. ksavage@columbiachronicle.com » STEVEN NUNEZ/CHRONICLE

ON JULY 27, 1919, a 17-year-old black teen named Eugene Williams drowned in Lake Michigan when his raft crossed an invisible but deadly dividing line separating the black and white sections of the beach. A group of white people threw stones at him causing him to slip into the water and drown. Chicago erupted into a week of violence known as the Chicago Race Riots, leaving 38 dead and more than 500 injured.

The Chicago Race Riots were part of the Red Summer of 1919 which included “anti-black” riots in 25 cities across the country, according to the Montgomery, Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative. Other cities where riots occurred include East St. Louis, Illinois; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Houston.

History Professor at Western Illinois University Peter Cole said the city has never had an official commemoration of the riots.

Ten years ago, a group of students from York High School in Elmhurst curated a small plaque that was placed along the lakeshore near where Williams was killed, Cole said. Now, he wants to expand on that and educate the city about the riots.

Cole founded the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project and visited Columbia at 1104 S. Wabash Ave. April 29 to discuss his art proposal. He wants to pay tribute to those who lost their lives by creating small stone plaques in the ground around the city where each of the 38 people were killed in the riots. These plaques were inspired by ones used throughout Germany to commemorate Holocaust victims.

campus

Western Illinois University Professor Peter Cole founded the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project to pay tribute to the victims of the 1919 riots.

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6 THE CHRONICLE MAY 6, 2019

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Q&A with writer and comedian Adrienne Truscott »ColumbiaChronicle.com

‘Who lives, who dies, who tells your story’: Hamilton exhibit opens in Chicago » ORLANDO PINDER/CHRONICLE

Lin-Manuel Miranda and the exhibit’s creative director, David Korins, attended a press conference and opening ceremony for “Hamilton: The Exhibition” April 26. » KACI WATT STAFF REPORTER TODAY, MORE PEOPLE have seen the musi-

cal “Hamilton” in Chicago than in New York City, and a new exhibit brings the Windy City even deeper into Alexander Hamilton’s story.

“Hamilton: The Exhibition,” staged at 1535 S. Linn White Drive on Northerly Island, is an audio-guided history tour that follows the narrative of Hamilton’s life against the backdrop of the American Revolution, according to Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of “Hamilton” and artistic adviser to the exhibit.

“Of course we were going to bring the exhibition to Chicago and premiere it here,” Miranda said during the April 26 opening. “It felt like a thank you to greeting us with such open arms, to give Chicago something that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world—at least not yet.”

Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot— a “rabid” fan of the musical according to the exhibit’s producer Jeffrey Seller— was asked to help launch the exhibit.

“I truly believe that ‘Hamilton’ is an amazing way to make history interesting, not just for children but for all people

of every age and every demographic,” Lightfoot told the opening night audience.

The tickets are based on a timed entry system, where ticket holders must select the time they plan to visit at purchase; it costs $39.50 for adults, $32.50 for military members and seniors and $25 for youth ages 4–14. The exhibit is also offering free group admission to all Chicago Public School students in fourth grade and above.

Before entering the exhibit, guests are provided a headset and handheld device that accompanies them through the exhibit and plays audio as they enter each room. There are sensors located throughout the rooms where attendees can scan their devices to hear additional information.

The audio components are narrated

by Miranda, with help from the exhibit’s Historical Advisor and Yale University Professor Joanna B. Freeman, as well as Phillipa Soo and Christopher Jackson, who played Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and George Washington, respectively, in the original Broadway production of the show.

Accompanying the audio guide, each section of the exhibition has symphonic versions of the songs from the musical playing in the background.

Chicago is the first stop for “Hamilton: The Exhibition.” It is located at 1535 S. Linn White Drive.

The audio-guided tour follows Alexander Hamilton’s life from childhood through his last breath.

“It’s also really interesting because we go through Hamilton’s life in order at the exhibition. [But attendees] get to hear [the song] ‘Hurricane,’ for instance—which existed deep in the second act of our show —much, much earlier,” the exhibition’s Creative Director David Korins said.

Because of this, fans get to experience the score in a different order than they do during the show.

According to Korins, the idea for the exhibit began small with a museum partnership in mind. However, upon taking a step back, they realized it was possible to create a unique space and experience.

“We wanted to be able to sculpt each one of the very important story points of Hamilton’s life as realistically rendered and detailed as we could possibly do it,” Korins said. “This really [was] a substantial effort.”

While Chicago is currently home to the exhibit, it was designed to be transported to other cities. There are currently no concrete plans of when or where the exhibit will be traveling next, Korins said. kwatt@columbiachronicle.com

MAY 6, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 7

arts & culture

» KENDALL POLIDORI STAFF REPORTER

I

THE CHRONICLE: How and why did you guys form the band?

HOOK: We all have been friends since the fourth grade, so we kind of grew up together.

The band started because we grew up in a suburban town, like a lot of people do, and [we had] to make our own fun. One summer, we decided we wanted to each learn how to play an instrument, so the band was born out of our collective exploration into music.

Now we are a little bit more relaxed, and a 4 1/2 minute song is not the end of the world, whereas when we were 21, it had to be two minutes. We have really enjoyed that evolution of coming full circle and feeling more like a rock band than when we first started.

How is your current tour going?

The current tour has been a lot of fun, and we have been looking forward to Chicago because it’s been sold out for a while now.

[For this tour], we have been trying to play smaller clubs ... just to get back to the sweaty rock club vibe that we all really like.

What makes you different from other bands?

Not in an arrogant way, but we are still here. I have had a lot of friends in other bands [that] have disbanded or had things go wrong, and I always took for granted that [we] could have a long career. Now that I look back on it,

it is kind of nuts that 13 years in, we are still able to do it, and we are all able to live off of it ... which is unheard of for a lot of my friends.

How is touring different now after years of playing together?

We know what works for us; it is simple band-and-trailer tours and hitting markets that have always been there for us. Chicago is one of them. We are fortunately in a position where we can go play shows to people who care, and that is big. kpolidori@columbiachronicle.com »STEVEN NUNEZ/CHRONICLE

ndie rock band Tokyo Police Club’s favorite way to pass the time while on tour is to play board games. Their current favorite is “Code Names.”

“Our favorite thing, as friends on the road, is f-----g with [each other] ... and then screwing [each other] over in a game,” said guitarist Josh Hook.

After a career of recording many albums in separate pieces, the four-member band— vocalist and bassist David Monks, keyboardist Graham Wright, drummer Greg Alsop and Hook— came together to create their latest album TPC in one place.

Hook sat down with The Chronicle in the basement of The Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave., before the band’s April 26 show to reflect on how it has changed since its 2005 debut and to discuss its most recent album.

Tokyo Police Club on their ‘full circle’ career

What was the writing process like for your most recent album?

Our writing process before was more sporadic ... because Dave lived in Brooklyn, Greg lived in L.A. and Graham and I were both in Toronto. That worked for the time, but it wasn’t our favorite way to do it. We wanted to go back to the good times when we used to write [together].

How has the band evolved from your first performance?

We are just a lot more comfortable. For a good number of years, [we were] not really comfortable in how to perform songs. Our earlier stuff ... felt very disjointed.

Tokyo Police Club (L to R): Josh Hook, David Monks and Graham Wright. (Not pictured: Greg Alsop)

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REVIEW: Taylor Swift’s ‘ME!’ is the comeback she deserves » LAUREN CARLTON BRAND MANAGER

then cuts to a short scene between Swift and Urie acting out a heated argument between a couple. The song begins, and Swift switches into performance mode.

The video features an array of colors, flashy outfits and a choreographed dance break between the two singers. Swift holds most of the vocals on this track, but Urie gets his solo in the second verse and during the bridge when the two playfully sing, “You can’t spell awesome without me!”

Throughout the song, the

singers sport a number of elaborate outfits from Swift’s yellow suit, to her and Urie’s matching marching band attire before ending with animated rain falling from the sky to create Swift’s dress.

People have criticized the song by calling it repetitive or cheesy, however, none of Swift’s lead singles have ever matched the album perfectly.

For example, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” the lead single from her album “Red,” was surface-level pop and made for radio plays. It did not represent the album as a whole. Lead singles are usually made to get stuck in your head, and “ME!” does just that.

While Swift has not announced the album title or even when the next single will be released, fans are happily bopping along to this new song in the meantime.

Taylor Swift fans or not, this upbeat pop song easily gets stuck in people’s heads, but is anyone really complaining?

» FERNANDA WEISSBUCH/CHRONICLE

THE 13 DAYS between April 13 and 26 were some of the most stressful in years for Taylor Swift fans.

Rumors began to fly after Swift added a cryptic countdown to her Instagram story, which was set to end April 26.

As the days went on, billboards emblazoned with the “4.26” countdown began popping up worldwide, and all the while, Swift uploaded one mysterious post after another to Instagram. People began speculating whether Swift was releasing a new song, an album or even a clothing line.

Celebrity drop culture is nothing new. Beyoncé released her visual album “Lemonade” and Jay-Z did a similar promotion with his “4:44” album.

Swift remained silent until the morning of April 25, when she paid

a visit to Nashville and revealed just 24 hours. As of press time, it a mural she commissioned as pro- has been viewed approximately motion for the new single.

132 million times.

She then announced she would The song is a catchy, self-love be doing an interview on ABC, anthem with lyrics like, “I where she then revealed “ME!” promise that you’ll never was the name of the single and find another like me.” The added that Brendon Urie of video, co-directed by Swift, Panic! At The Disco would be matches the energetic song. featured on the track.

It opens with an iridescent “‘ME!’ is a song about snake that explodes embracing individuinto a swarm of butality and celebrating terf lies, signifying it and owning it,” how the days of Swift said during the “bad reputation” interview. have ended. The The song and its corvideo responding video premiered via YouTube livestream and set a Vevo world record by acquiring more than 65.2 million views in

arts & culture

lcarlton@columbiachronicle.com

MAY 6, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 9

arts & culture » STEVEN NUNEZ & PATRICK REPONSE/CHRONICLE

Rapper Boogie stopped at Reggies Chicago, 2105 S. State St., April 25 to promote his most recent album in front of a fired-up crowd. Everything’s For Sale is the musician’s debut studio album released Jan. 25 and features tracks “Rainy Days,” “Silent Ride” and “Soho.”

10 THE CHRONICLE MAY 6, 2019

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opinions

Twitter must cut down homegrown hatred

T

witter has been successful in eliminating accounts affiliated with the terrorist group ISIS, using an algorithm to delete and ban at least 360,000 accounts, according to an Aug. 18, 2016, post to the platform’s public blog. Despite the success of silencing ISIS’s presence, Twitter is unlikely to take similar steps to ban white nationalism, according to an April 25 article by Motherboard, the tech-focused branch of Vice. The article was based on a Twitter all-hands meeting held in March in which employees were able to ask questions of executives.

When a site uses an algorithm to flag hateful content, there is always a possibility that accounts that are not explicitly malicious will be taken down. In the case of banning ISIS, some of the algorithm’s casualties were reporters and hacking activist group Anonymous, who opposed ISIS but may have used some of the same keywords targeted by the algorithm. If

Freedom of expression is not a form of oppression

H

alima Aden is the first hijab-wearing model to be featured in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition. The Muslim community has been torn between praising a hijabi for representing us and saying the magazine is too controversial for a Muslim woman.

While many expressed their negative opinions of the magazine cover via social media, I personally thought it was exceptional to see a Muslim woman on the cover of a magazine which caters mostly to non-Muslim people. Not only is Aden a Muslim woman, she is also a woman of color on the front cover of a well-known magazine. This does not happen often.

When Nike released its active hijab line in December 2017, many people were against it because they saw it as a sign of supporting the oppression of women. When will people stop calling one of the largest religions in the world oppressive for its teachings? If women choose to wear a nun’s habit or tichels, nobody thinks anything of it, but when Muslim women wear loose clothing and scarves on their heads, internet trolls come out of their caves to let those women know their derogatory opinions.

The modeling industry has recently started to include models wearing hijabs as part of what they see as cultural acceptance. However, it seems the

Editorial Board Members Jay Berghuis Opinions Editor Micha Thurston Ad & Business Manager Kendall Polidori Staff Reporter Katherine Savage Staff Reporter Kaci Watt Staff Reporter

12 THE CHRONICLE MAY 6, 2019

Yasmeen Sheikah Staff Reporter Kristen Nichols Copy Chief Margaret Smith Copy Editor Ignacio Calderon Staff Photographer Ethan Sandock Videographer

» SHANE TOLENTINO/CHRONICLE

industry is not looking at the hijab as a symbol of modesty, but rather a trend or a phase. As a Muslim woman, I am more than a girl who looks good in a scarf.

The modeling industry should promote modesty as another form of body positivity, just as it has supported nudity.

As a Muslim woman, I was never told to dress a certain way, and the hijab was never forced upon me. I can wear whatever I want, and I choose to wear the hijab, not only as a symbol of my religion but as a symbol of who I am.

Many Muslim women do not wear the hijab but still dress modestly as it is preached in Islam. The way a woman dresses and acts is not the only thing to know about her, yet in the modern day, it is almost a shock to see a Muslim woman in the media at all.

We live in a day and age when body positivity and acceptance are trending—as they should be—but we forget that accepting differences also includes accepting different cultural and religious practices.

Muslim women are still women. Many

chronicle@colum.edu

COMMENTARY people don’t equate us the way they should because they are afraid of change. People hide behind their computer screens and continuously put Muslim women down for the way they dress, and it is disgusting.

We talk about making a change, but there are not enough people trying to implement it. Equality, diversity and acceptance are not bad words. I hope people will not only begin to use these terms, but will actually begin to mean what they say. ysheikah@columbiachronicle.com

» SHANE TOLENTINO/CHRONICLE

» YASMEEN SHEIKAH STAFF REPORTER

Twitter took a similar approach with white nationalism, some of the unintentionally affected accounts would belong to Republican politicians, according to the Motherboard article.

This is not a good argument against banning white nationalism. In fact, it is all the more reason to implement aggressive action; when those in power have taken up dangerous ideologies, we must take a stand. White supremacy and nationalism have taken such a strong hold in mainstream politics, and that must not be allowed to continue. Private organizations like Twitter should not profit off of hateful, violent mindsets.

It may not be the best business decision to tell thousands of users their accounts will be suspended or banned if they post or retweet

racist content, but ultimately this is not a matter of creating new policies. It is a matter of equally enforcing the policies in place. Hate speech, targeted harassment and threats already violate Twitter’s terms of use, but poor enforcement has led to these problems flourishing on the platform. All hate groups must be equally condemned; it should not depend on the skin color of the perpetrators.

EDITORIAL Hate and violence by white people here at home should be taken just as seriously as hate and violence by groups abroad.

White nationalism—and more broadly white supremacy—is a home-grown and pervasive kind of terrorism. It thrives on fear mongering, oppressive rhetoric and ideas aimed at division. The concept of white supremacy sits at the root of many American political stances, from border walls to police authority. The U.S. is built on slavery and class struggles which have generationally benefited white people. Some of those who have succeeded under this system of oppression and racism want to perpetuate it.

Twitter’s lack of action against white nationalists condones their views, statements and actions. If a political leader tweets something which sparks harassment or violence, they deserve to have their account suspended or deleted. In a democracy, elected leaders are not exempt from justice. If anybody is treated as if they are above the law, the law means nothing.

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

opinions

GRAD COLUMN

One job quickly turned into a second family » ZACK JACKSON CREATIVE DIRECTOR

T

he last year and a half, The Chronicle has become my second home and, more importantly, my second family. One of the major reasons I am about to walk across the stage as a Columbia graduate is because The Chronicle has given me a sense of what it

really means to learn, grow and become a professional in my field.

Before The Chronicle, I had a horrible experience at Columbia. Then one day during my junior year, I got a call from The Chronicle’s former General Manager Chris Richert, after having sent my application in for the past three consecutive semesters. I want to thank Zoë Haworth and Zoë Eitel for taking a chance on some kid from the cornfields of Indiana who just wanted to show his work to the Columbia community.

As a late arrival to The Chronicle, I expected to go unnoticed and unappreciated. The exact opposite happened.

People I didn’t even directly work with came up to me and introduced themselves, quickly welcoming me into The Chronicle family. One of those people was another goofy kid, Blaise.

Blaise and I quickly became close because he was one of the only people in the office who could comprehend sports. We now regularly attend Cubs games, bicker like Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute of “The Office” and treat each other like brothers.

Another person I’ve become close with is Lauren, who used to bother

me about fact-checking my graphics.

Since then, she has reluctantly joined Blaise and me on our shenanigans and become one of my best friends.

Our graphics team blows me away each week. Shane and Fernanda, you are some of the most talented graphic designers I have ever met. Patrick, I’ve worked with you my entire time at The Chronicle, and you never fail to impress me. Grace, thank you for being my right-hand woman and helping me in any way you can. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for you next year as you take over as Creative Director.

Halie, Ignacio, Orlando, Patrick and Steven: Thank you for being a wonderful photo team. Each week you continue to push out some of the best photos we’ve ever had. Mike, thank you for all you do, not only for the entire photo team but also for me. As photo editor, you continuously plan and execute great projects each week and have been an unbelievable help to our creative team.

Alex and Ethan, you have both been great additions to our staff and bring a strong storytelling aspect to our multimedia desk. I am blown away with the stories you tell through video.

Ariana, Molly, Micha and Blaise: You have all been like family to me.

You put in countless hours for the betterment of The Chronicle each week. I cannot thank you enough for the support you’ve given me along with the other staff members. Blaise, Molly and Micha, I can’t wait to see what you guys do next year to make The Chronicle greater than it already is. Ariana, thank you for taking me on as your creative director this semester and for dealing with my nonsense every week. I’m sorry I scared you when I decided to remote access my computer and print something at 11:30 p.m. when you were the only one in the office.

Travis and Curtis, you are both very new to The Chronicle and I appreciate your hard work because I know it isn’t easy. I appreciate your lessons, advice and mentorship.

The Chronicle has helped me grow as a person and a professional and will always serve as a cornerstone to my college career. Now is the time when I am supposed to cry, but since I am The Chronicle’s emotionless being, I will not partake in the crying session.

so much from this job that now I’m more confident with myself and my work. Now that it’s time for me to step through some more doors in my life, I can’t thank The Chronicle staff enough for being so caring to me, even in times when I was not very interactive. It’s moments like these that make a difference in someone’s

life; just taking a leap of faith to experience something you’d never expect.

What’s next for me now? I honestly don’t know, but I hope it’s good; I think it will be. There were times I thought of being a graphic designer, advertising for big companies or being

a concept artist for an animation studio, creating amazing worlds and characters that have a story to tell. But nevertheless, it all started here at The Chronicle, and that’s unforgettable.

There comes a time to leave the past behind you—and you can still look back at it—but for now, it’s time to move forward. It’s going to be awesome.

See ya around!

zjackson@columbiachronicle.com

pcasey@columbiachronicle.com

GRAD COLUMN

See ya around! » PATRICK CASEY GRAPHIC DESIGNER

D

uring summer 2017, I needed to start looking for a job.

Without help from the college, I wouldn’t have stepped foot into The Chronicle—my first graphic design job. I thought, “Me working for the newspaper? Of all places.”

I felt so lucky to be part of something extremely exciting. I’ve gotten to learn

» PATRICK CASEY/CHRONICL E

MAY 6, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 13

metro Kratom supplement still in use despite questions, concerns City Colleges of Chicago staff strike on May Day » ColumbiaChronicle.com

» BRIDGET EKIS

STAFF REPORTER COLLEGE STUDENTS NATIONWIDE have been known to misuse Adderall, a medication used to help symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, to focus on school work and cram for finals. Junior musical theatre major Erica Blanco said she used to be one of those students.

Blanco has not taken Adderall since fall 2018. She now uses kratom, also known as mitragyna speciosa, a substance retrieved from trees in Southeast Asia that can be used in pill or powder form.

Two to three times a week, Blanco mixes kratom powder with pineapple or orange juice, which she said eases the bitter taste.

“It actually proved to be one of the best energy supplements I’ve ever used,” Blanco said.

The supplement may have other benefits, according to a Dec. 10, 2018, press release from the the University of Florida, which received a $3.5 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to bolster its research on kratom as a potential therapy to wean addicts off of prescription opioids

and heroin. An estimated 2–4 million people in the U.S. use kratom, although there is still much that is unknown about the drug and its effects, the university’s release stated.

The drug is banned in six states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin, as well as the District of Columbia, according to a December 2017 report in Stateline, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trust. In Illinois, the drug can only be sold to adults throughout the state, although two cities —Alton and Jerseyville—have banned the drug outright.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns Americans against using kratom.

“There are no FDA-approved uses for kratom, and the agency has received concerning reports about the safety of kratom,” according to the agency’s website.

In an April 12 report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed kratom-related deaths by assessing data from the State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System.

From July 2016 to December 2017, it was found in the report that kratom was related to 91 deaths. However, in most cases, other

substances were also present in the system along with kratom, causing some to doubt whether kratom had an impact on the deaths.

Of the kratom-positive deaths in the CDC analysis report, roughly 80% of the decedents had a history of substance misuse including: fentanyl, heroin, benzodiazepines, prescription opioids and cocaine.

Former Illinois State Representative and current Addison Township Supervisor Dennis Reboletti opposes the use of kratom.

Reboletti sponsored a bill in February 2014 to try to ban the substance across the state.

While Reboletti was not able to ban the substance, he did create the Kratom Control Act. The act, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2015, prohibits the sale and possession of kratom to minors under 18 in Illinois.

“It definitely merits review by the Illinois General Assembly as well as the United States Congress and the FDA to do something more than what is being done right now,” Reboletti said.

Similarly, State Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Collinsville) introduced a bill in fall 2017 to ban the supplement in Illinois, but the bill was never voted on in the House.

Even with concerns of the FDA and other

government agencies, Chicagoans can purchase the supplement at stores, such as CBD Kratom, which has three locations throughout the city.

Matthew Warren, training manager at the Bucktown location, 2048 N. Damen Ave., has been working at the business for three years and said kratom is still popular despite the stigma that surrounds the supplement.

“It helps people, and anything that helps someone is worth looking into,” Warren said.

Warren said kratom is not a “true” opioid, but instead more like an analog, meaning the molecules that compose kratom could have the same structure of an opioid, but would not necessarily have the same action.

There are regulars at the store who have told Warren they are former opioid addicts who now use the supplement as a way to help them recover, he said. His regulars also told him that without kratom they would resort to old habits.

The future for kratom is unclear, but a commonality within the science community and government agencies is that more testing needs to be done. bekis@columbiachronicle.com » BRIDGET EKIS/CHRONICLE

Matthew Warren, training manager at the CBD Kratom Bucktown location, said Kratom is popular despite the stigma around it.

14 THE CHRONICLE MAY 6, 2019

Kratom can be used in powder form. CBD Kratom sells spoons to measure the supplement.

metro

STAFF REPORTER FOR A CONCRETE jungle like Chicago, gardens can be hard to come by. However, LaManda Joy, CEO and founder of City Grange, an organic gardening store, has made it her mission to educate the public on horticulture and to help grow not only gardens but also a sense of community.

Joy opened the first City Grange location, 5500 N. Western Ave., April 19. The second location is set to open in Evanston in 2020.

Joy spoke with The Chronicle about opening City Grange, the importance of gardening and the large number of career opportunities available in horticulture through the organization’s education initiative.

THE CHRONICLE: Why did you start City Grange?

NEIGHBORHOOD: Lincoln Square

JOY: I’ve always been passionate

I strongly believe the world would be a better place with more gardeners in it and that anyone can learn to garden. Helping remove every barrier to gardening is my goal, and that’s why we offer free classes. Soon we’ll offer online classes, too.

about gardening. My dad taught me how when I was young, and it stuck.

Ten years ago, I started Peterson Garden Project, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “recruit, educate and inspire everyone to grow their own food.” Based on the success of PGP, I saw an opportunity for a for-profit enterprise to continue to build organic gardening momentum beyond community gardening. That is how City Grange was born.

How do you create jobs?

The United We Blossom job training program is meant to create more garden leaders and educators within the Independent Garden Center framework. Thirty-nine percent of horticultural jobs in Illinois went unfilled in 2018. That represents lost revenue and productivity. Our idea for United We Blossom was to train for those jobs and create the next generation of garden leaders in the process.

Why is gardening important in Chicago?

OCCUPATION: Founder and CEO » COURTESY PETERSON GARDEN PROJECT

» KACI WATT

L AMANDA JOY

Gardening has more benefits than almost any other leisure activity.

It can serve as light to moderate exercise, it can brighten your mood [and] it helps build friendships and community. It [also] helps LaManda Joy opened City Grange, 5500 N. Western Ave., to create a space for the environment in so many ways. community gathering and horticulture education with the goal of filling jobs. attracting beneficial insects and birds, keeping the air clean [and] How does City Grange participate our collective work raises the probeautification. It provides a sense in community outreach? file of locally grown food. Our motto, of fulfillment and accomplishment We have like-minded partners in addition to the name of our job from growing your own plants, that we support, such as Peterson training program, is “United We especially your own edible plants, Garden Project, but also other Blossom,” and we believe it to be like herbs, vegetables and fruits, food and community-based orga- true with our community partnernot to mention [it helps] with food nizations. We do this by providing ships as well. access and reducing a person’s space, resources and dollars, but kwatt@columbiachronicle.com carbon footprint. also, hopefully, a coalition, so

MAY 6, 2019 THE CHRONICLE 15

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