Relevant Issues Today
in this issue NEWS Transgender Rights
A4E’s Fall Festival A&E MCGs Welcome RBG
So Many Monsters OPINIONS A Lake by Any Other Name Cornhuskin’ Results Midterm Election Results
Migrant Workers: The True Cost of Farm Labor in the U.S. By Megan Evans and Kim Schuh, Contributing Writers
As the crisp, cool air of autumn rolls in, the scent of pumpkinspiced lattes, candles, and soap make their brief, annual appearance. The question arises, just where exactly do pumpkins come from? And not only pumpkins, but where exactly does all of our food come from? Migrant workers continue to work diligently to harvest crops so that we may continue to enjoy the simple pleasures that autumn brings. Migrant workers’ efforts must not go unnoticed, and as consumers, it is important to have a basic understanding of who harvests our food. It is no surprise that farmworkers’ jobs include cultivating and harvesting agriculture; however, what may come as a surprise to many are the various conditions that they endure, including working extremely long hours in hazardous labor conditions for relatively low pay in an unfamiliar environment. While there are some farms that uphold suitable working and living conditions, it is also important to note that majority of the working and living conditions are similar to the ones explained in this article. According to a book called The Human Cost of Food, a significantly higher amount of work-related injuries have been reported in the agricultural industry than any other industry due to the relentless and pressing physical demands of agricultural labor, including operating heavy machinery, performing backbreaking tasks, and carrying overweight loads in 100 degree heat. Migrant workers endure these challenges while only being allotted two fifteen-minute water breaks and a thirty minute lunch break on a ten to twelve hour shift and while being exposed to pesticides and other harmful substances, which have both short-term and
THE M E R E D I T H
HERALD
@meredithherald @meredith_herald #harktheherald November 7, 2018
Phenomenal Women
By Jenna Curia, Staff Writer This semester, the School of Arts and Humanities is exploring a Woman Warriors series that focuses on the idea of who a woman warrior is, what she aspires to do, and how she sees the world. After discussing the theme of woman warriors with several faculty members and students, an obvious favorite came to mind: Dr. Kelly Morris Roberts, associate professor of English. When asked about the influential women warriors in her life, she accolades Meredith’s own Dr. Betty Webb. “I had several mentors all the way throughout my childhood and young adulthood who always developed the best in me. Another was my mother, who taught me to value each and every human being and to pursue service to something far greater than yourself.” Women warriors, according to Roberts, inspire us to “embrace every opportunity that we’ve been given and value every person and experience in life.” Roberts specializes in autobiographical reflection because of her passion for helping students value their lived experiences through writing. Coincidentally—or maybe not—another faculty member credits a long line of Meredith women warriors as key to the understanding of how this series has played out in her own life. Dr. Jo Allen is a graduate of Meredith and a woman
warrior, whose accomplishments qualified her long before she came back to Meredith as its first alumna president. Allen attributes her strength to the competent women coming from a line of her own vital mentors. Allen states that “many think you can only have one mentor, but it really does take a village of different people in different areas at different times to establish leaders.” She credits the same professor, Dr. Betty Webb, while recalling a moment during her freshman year at Meredith when Webb, her faculty advisor, proclaimed that her young student had a real flare for writing. “That moment changed everything,” according to Allen, and she earned a bachelor’s degree in English to prove it. Allen shares that her mentors have woven in and out of her life at different times, but she knows she
Dr. Kelly Roberts Photo courtesy of herself
Dr. Betty Webb Photo courtesy of Dr. Kelly Roberts
long-term effects on workers’ health. The exposure of pesticides and other harmful chemicals yields immediate reactions including nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headaches, rashes, and burns, as well as long-term reactions including cancer, sterility, reproductive risks and potential birth defects for the babies of pregnant women. The lack of knowledge and awareness of the dangers from the workplace serve as contributing factors to such health and safety risks. The US Environmental Protection Agency enacted the Worker Protection Standards of 1992 to protect farmworkers from potentially dangerous exposure via training and provide workers with information regarding the dangers. But oftentimes, most farmworkers receive little or no training. Child labor also raises ethical concerns. According to the article “Protecting Children from Pesticides: Information for Parents,” pesticide exposure among children remains
can always pick up the phone and call them. “Those are the relationships that I hope students find at Meredith, because in my opinion, it’s going to be women who change the world.” She defines woman warriors as people who “do not confuse strength with meanness a growing concern and provides a greater risk for children because their internal organs are still developing and maturing. Oftentimes, children work alongside in the fields with their parents or play in the fields while their parents are at work because proper childcare is not affordable. Children as young as 12 years old are legally permitted to work in agriculture outside of school hours with parental consent. It is common for children to typically work between 10 to 12 hours per day while also attending school full time. Many children work during the summer, before and after school hours, and on the weekends to make money to help financially support their families. These poor working conditions and risk of poor hygiene serve as a breeding ground for the spread of copious diseases among workers. While growers are required to provide housing for migrant workers, housing is subpar and overcrowded, thus also contributing to the spread
or hardness. I want to be stronger without becoming hard, cruel, or heartless… and I have to maintain my sense of humor. When people get hurt or embarrassed, it’s easy to feel like it’s a big deal in the moment. But being a woman warrior means knowing what to apologize for, what to remedy, and what to learn from and just let go. Women warriors not only know their strengths, but they work their strengths, and we have to be able to make mistakes without dragging ourselves under. Resilience is key to being a warrior.” Dr. Sarah Roth, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities explains that “Everyone has her own ideas about what it means to be a woman warrior. This year, we are exploring the topic of women warriors from multiple angles - visual art, performing arts, humanities, and social sciences. We’re encouraging students to join in the conversation around campus by sharing their own thoughts on women warriors through expression boards in the library, an essay contest, and participation in the many events that the Arts & Humanities departments will be hosting throughout the year.” Additionally, Roberts recommends these memoirs, fiction, and biographies that provide a great deal of thought behind the essence of a “woman warrior.” Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover Unbowed: A Memoir by Wangari Maathai Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Finding the Game by Gwen Oxenham of diseases. Farms are located in rural areas, often physically isolating workers. Workers often have limited or no means of transportation except when their employers drive them to the store or laundry mat. According to The Human Cost of Food, when migrant workers do get injured or sick, they do not seek care until it is absolutely necessary and by then it is too late because of fear of missing work and not getting paid and/or not receiving health care coverage. In addition to working long hours and being exposed to hazardous conditions, migrant laborers receive relatively low pay with no overtime due to the fluctuation of demand time for workers based on weather conditions. When Hurricane Florence hit North Carolina earlier this month, farm laborers worked endless hours to prepare for the hurricane by gathering the crops that were deemed adequate enough Continued on page 4
News
The Trump Administration’s Transgender Memo: The Future of Trans Civil Rights Within the United States and Abroad By Micah Clark, Cartoonist
The future of transgender civil rights were made uncertain this week in a memo released by the Trump administration that expressed the intent to legally redefine gender by a person’s as sex assigned at birth. The administration is also seeking to take their “redefinition” rhetoric abroad where United States representatives are seeking to change “vague and politically correct” language about gender at the United Nations’ Third Committee, according to Julian Borger of The Guardian. These motions were met with protests across the country, including one here in Raleigh organized by The Transgender Initiative, a partner program with the LGBT Center of Raleigh. One thing is certain: 1.4 million transgender Americans are scared for their future, as they may very well be legally written out of existence. In the groundbreaking article “‘Transgender’ Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration” by The New York Times, reporters Erica L. Green, Katie Benner and Robert Pear expand upon the contents of the memo they obtained, detailing that the reach of the Trump administration’s plans is further than once thought: “The agency’s proposed definition would define sex as male or female, unchangeable, and determined by genitals a person is born with, according to a draft reviewed by The Times.” According to the Times, civil rights groups are hoping that the most extreme measures of genetic testing to ascertain a person’s sex will be removed. However, compromise on the memo’s initial wording is unlikely seeing that the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) as well as the Department of Justice (DOJ) began moving to immediately restrict the rights of transgender Americans. In response to this the Kris Hiyashi of the Transgender Law Center (TLC) made a statement with a clear message: “Nothing this administration can do will undermine the scores of federal courts that have recognized our [trans people’s] humanity and hundreds of state and local legal protections
we’ve already won.” The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) spoke out with additional support for the trans community in an open letter opposing the Trump memo. “Many courageous transgender people are already in court, fighting to maintain these essential civil rights protections. They’ll continue to do so, and we’ll be by their sides, as long as it takes to maintain their basic rights,” said James Esseks, Director of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & HIV Project. The threat of protections are not just in legal definition, it has become a threat to the very health and safety of trans Americans. Within days of the release of the memo, the DHHS removed all language about gender from its website’s civil rights page before the Times article’s initial release, according to Amanda Michelle Gomez at ThinkProgress. The DHHS being the primary battleground for redefining gender puts trans Americans who qualify for public assistance at risk of losing benefits such as food stamps and health care coverage. Additionally, the DOJ has affirmed that businesses are allowed to discriminate against transgender employees. “In a brief to the Supreme Court, the DOJ wrote that federal civil rights law banning sex discrimination in the workplace does not extend to transgender people,” Emily Birnbaum of The Hill writes. In an effort to protest the erasure of trans Americans from policy language, Attorney General Jeff Sessions was interrupted during an address to the Federalist Society in Boston. Mateo Emanuel Alejandro Cox, a disabled transgender activist, was one of those who spoke out in protest against Sessions before being removed by police force. Cox, photographed holding a trans pride flag over his head with “Not Erased” written on it, has much to say about those who seek to erase trans people or reduce them to a debatable topic. “It [being transgender] is not an ‘ideology’ or ‘lifestyle’ people can agree or disagree on. When people reduce us [transgender people] to some intellectual exercise as if we are abstract and not your fellow
Americans who deserve equal rights, our humanity is being erased. We need our allies more than ever and those not directly affected to realize that this is a civil rights issue,” Cox said when asked about the impacts of the memo. Though it may be easier to combat regressive policy within the nation’s borders, it is more difficult to address the safety of transgender people worldwide. United States representatives at the United Nations are attempting to change language around gender that representatives deem “vague and politically correct.” Some alterations would replace the word “gender” with “women” instead. These suggested changes come at the UN’s Third Committee which, according to The Guardian’s Julian Borger, deals with “social, humanitarian, and cultural rights.” This effort for the changing of language may lead to the United States allying with more conservative nations including Russia which may put them at odds with their European allies, Borger reports. This not only threatens the liberties of transgender people across the globe, but also may put diplomatic tensions between allies at the UN. The threats to transgender rights are not entirely new to residents of North Carolina, home of House Bill 2, also known at the Transgender Bathroom Bill. North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell just recently helped remove coverage for gender affirmative health care procedures within the state in the name of reducing statewide medical costs. The treasurer referred to gender affirmative care as “elective, and nonemergency,” according to Joe Killian at NC Policy Watch. Despite a national and statewide effort to erase transgender people from social and legal protections, transgender activists are fighting back in the form of protests and marches across the country with the hashtag #WontBeErased, according to Sarah Mervosh and Christine Hauser of The New York Times. Kris Cone is the Program Manager of the Transgender Initiative, a program of the LGBT Center of Raleigh. The Center organized a march to the
capitol building defending trans rights just one day after news of the memo broke. When asked about how the planned policy changes would impact trans Americans, Cone replied, “This policy change, along with all of the other hateful bigotry the current administration has spewed, has emboldened transphobic people to speak out, and I believe it will embolden some of them to commit physical acts of violence. Being erased legally and having protections taken away from us feels like an attempt to erase us completely.” Many transgender people have expressed fears for their safety as well as their futures within the United States, and Cone is no different. When asked how this policy will affect him personally, Cone replied, “Being openly transgender in the current climate is terrifying, but the LGBT Center of Raleigh is standing up for and with the trans community. We are going to continue to march and protest and ensure that our voices are heard, but most importantly we are going to continue to offer a safe space for people who often feel unsafe.” Despite the immense stress many transgender Americans have expressed feeling since news of the memo broke, there are accessible resources available to those needing support. Trans people within the area may reach out to the LGBT Center of Raleigh for information about medical, legal and social resources within the region. Additionally, The Trans Lifeline is a transgender suicide and resource hotline for those needing support and may be reached at (877) 565-8860. It is no surprise that transgender Americans are frightened for their safety, but given support and solidarity, there is hope that the community and their allies may come together to resist this administration’s most recent attack. For now, many civil rights groups such as the ACLU and Lambda Legal, an LGBT legal advocacy group, will be working hard to represent the interests of transgender Americans and protect their rights as new changes to policy arise.
Celebrate Nature the Angel Way By Olivia Slack, Staff Writer On Thursday, Nov. 15 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., the Angels for the Environment (or A4E) Club will host its annual Fall Festival. Held in the Dickson Foundation Community Garden, A4E will provide food, music, and a bonfire with s’mores and hot drinks. The Fall Festival promotes an appreciation of both nature and Meredith’s own garden. Formerly known as the Three Sisters Community Garden, the newly renamed garden is located behind Weatherspoon. The Dickson Foundation Community Garden is going to be
the subject of several renovations in the coming years thanks to a donation from the sponsor for which it is named. The garden, which is open as a resource for both students and the broader community, is home to a wide variety of vegetables and fruits and also serves as a valuable space for students conducting research and learning about plant cultivation. To get a closer look at the garden and see all that it has to offer and enjoy some good old-fashioned fun at a bonfire, visit the Angels for the Environment Club’s Fall Festival.
Think this ad is ugly? Copy-edit our issues every week? Have a red pen tucked away just for us? Do something about it! Join the staff of The Herald. Inquire at herald@email.meredith.edu
Arts & Entertainment
MCGs Welcome R.B.G.
By Mimi Mays, Associate Editor
On Oct. 18, the receipt of an “undergrad_all” email about the next Lillian Parker Wallace Lecture drew gasps from students and faculty alike—or at least from anyone who had heard of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. On Sept. 23 of 2019, Ginsburg will visit Meredith College as the eighth Wallace series lecturer, and the first since 2013. The Lillian Parker Wallace Fund was endowed by the classes of 1971 and 1973 and is now supported by the Wallace family and other donors. Since the fund’s founding, its mission has been to “[expose] generations of students to prominent leaders,” according to the Meredith College website; the fund has brought former British prime minister Sir Harold Wilson, former president and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (NPPL) Jimmy Carter, former Supreme Court Justice
Sandra Day O’Connor, Holocaust survivor and NPPL Elie Wiesel, Iranian judge and NPPL Shirin Ebadi, Greenbelt Movement founder and NPPL Wangari Maathai and human rights activist and NPPL Jody Williams. According to two-year Wallace Lecture Committee member and dance department head Carol Finley, over a year’s worth of planning has gone into next year’s lecture. Especially with a speaker as distinguished as R.B.G., “there are many layers between an invitee and an inviter,” so it’s not as easy as just sending an invitation. In addition to her lecture, the committee will continue to work with Ginsburg’s staff to establish how much additional time can be provided, for, for example, a meet-and-greet with students or faculty or a private Q&A session.
Part of the planning process for the Wallace Lecture is selecting and confirming a lecturer. For extremely sought-after figures such as Ginsburg, the guest must not only be available but must really want to come to Meredith. Finley explains that Meredith is lucky that both of those things worked out. “Not only does it feel wonderful to have her come as a speaker but wonderful that she wants to,” she says. Finley, like other members of the committee and, it can be assumed, much of the student body, is looking forward to seeing Ginsburg make it to Meredith. “She’s accomplished so much that requires strength and courage and persistence,” Finley explains, “and I’m really excited to see what that looks like in human form, live.” Finley laughs: “She could say almost anything, and I would be rapt be-
cause I’m so impressed by her.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the second woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court (the first, O’Connor, was a Wallace Lecturer at Meredith in 1991). Since her swearing-in in 1993, Ginsburg has authored many notable majority opinions and become a famously forceful and righteous dissenter. In addition to her J.D. from Columbia University, Ginsburg has received honorary Doctor of Law degrees from Willamette, Princeton and Harvard Universities. Now a prominent pop culture icon, Ginsburg’s life, service and fight for gender equality have inspired books, movies, an opera, merchandise, costumes, comedic portrayals and even the naming of a species of praying mantis.
So Many Monsters: A Preview of She Kills Monsters By Sarah Kiser, Editor-in-Chief Think M. C. Escher’s “Relativity” or the endless staircases set of the 1986 film The Labyrinth, and that is almost the set of Meredith College Theatre’s production of She Kills Monsters, an adventure-comedy stage play by Qui Nguyen. The play focuses on the relationship of two sisters, Agnes and Tilly, who were not very close. Seperated in age as well as interests, Agnes, the older of the two, wishes at her college graduation that her life were less boring. Suddenly, her family passes away in a car crash. Two years later, Tilly would have been a senior in high school, and Agnes is packing up her family’s house. She finds Tilly’s notebook which contains plans for a “module” or plot of gameplay in the popular role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons. With the help of one of Tilly’s friends, Chuck, a dungeon master, Agnes becomes a player in the world her sister created. Allie Sullivan, ‘19, plays the mysterious Tilly. Sullivan explained that “through playing it, Agnes gets to know her sister more because her sister is still a character in the game.” In fact, she promises “lots of twists and turns, and lots to learn about Tilly.” Set in the long long long ago of 1995, the play mostly takes place in Newlandia while occasionally shifting to the magical land of Ohio. Sullivan said, “Most of the play takes place in the world of the game. There are a few scenes that take place in the ‘real world,’ with air quotes around that because the lines are very blurred.” She Kills Monsters is definitely a fantasy-style show, but with a twist. Emileigh Eiden, ‘19, head of wardrobe and head dresser, described the style of the costumes as, “if a high elf walked out of a Sears catalogue in 1995.”
Tilly and her party battle three big bosses of Newlandia to slay the Tiamat that has stolen Tilly’s soul. The Tiamat is a fearsome, five-headed dragon on which each head represents a chromatic dragon. One for each element—lightning, earth, air, fire, water. Each of the five lead roles also represents one of the elements. “We had to keep that in mind,” when designing costumes, Eiden said, “Orkus, for example, is wind, then we have the cape that [Sarah McCabe] is working on for Steve, who is water.”
Photo courtesy of meredith.edu.
Just as lines between realms are blurred, so are distinctions between costume and technical aspects. “We had to dance the fine line between what is puppet and what is costume and what is set,” Eiden said. The creatures they have created are “out of this worldlooking,” according to Sullivan. There are bug bears, a giant eye, litches. She showed off the intricately painted dragons, saying “it’s all quite fantastical.” A surprising fairy who’s “a handful” played by Christiana Groob, ‘22, appears. As do characters
in the game world who are based off of characters in Tilly’s life, such as Agnes’ boyfriend, Miles, and her best friend, Vera. Avoiding all spoilers, let’s just say these characters might appear in unexpected ways. She Kills Monsters is intense all-around according to Sullivan: “We’ve had to build puppets, very large, life-size puppets that people can interact with and fight.” Actors like Laura Austin, ‘21, who plays the narrator, double as puppeteers. “Oh,” Sullivan said with excitement, “and there’s also a lot of
stage combat! We’ve never done stage combat here really. And so it’s been a huge change for a lot of us, especially me.” Tara Williams, certified in stage combat choreography, taught the cast to wield broadswords, German longswords and knives. Tilly, as a starter character, wields a German longsword that Sullivan demonstrated. Her magic, however, is stronger. “It has a lot more to do with her heart,” while her sword is better for swinging and messing up enemies. Tilly’s kind of a “badass leader,” said her portrayer.
In total, there are five members of Tilly’s party. Tilly’s friends are Calliope Darkwalker and Lillith Morningstar. “She is joined unexpectedly by Orkus, the Overlord of the Underworld. And there’s Agnes,” Sullivan explained. Tina Porch, ‘21, who plays Lilith, described her character as “kick-ass.” Lilith has a “strong front of confidence and arrogance,” but her real world counterpart, Lily, is disparate from the ax-wielding hero who more often appears on stage. As for Orkus, “he’s in there.” Come see the show, Sullivan suggests, to know why he’s there. Tilly’s friends appear in the real world, but “you’ll be surprised at who they are,” she hinted. “It’s shocking, some ways good, some ways sad.” The plot is “emotionally tumultuous” Sullivan continued. It’s still a comedy though. “There are some really great jokes that Qui Nguyen has written.” His writing style, Sullivan said, “is so much of a mixture. He’ll get you with a oneliner and the next scene will be a completely raw emotional pit of sadness, and you don’t know really how to react.” Discussion amongst the cast as they sew horns to wigs and fabric to hats illuminates what She Kills Monsters can mean to people. Laura Austin said, “it’s definitely a show for anyone who feels different.” Porch added that if audience members “have ever loved anything outside of the cultural norm, they will definitely love this show.” Performances are Nov. 7-10 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 10-11 at 2 p.m. in studio theatre of Jones Hall. Reservations and donations are encouraged. Contact 919-7602840 or boxoffice@meredith.edu for reservations. For the full story, visit meredithherald.wordpress.com
Opinion
A Lake by Any Other Name… By Rebecca Dowdy, Opinion Editor As the semester hazily drags further into November, a student might find herself escaping to one of the pockets of calming greenery scattered around campus. She might pause and consider sitting on one of the benches outside of SMB, or investigate grounds outside the Chapel. But ultimately, her feet might take her to the perimeter of the amphitheater in the hopes of claiming a quiet seat in the gazebo or in one of swinging chairs. But at the top of the stairs, she stops and stares. In the center of her view is the Meredith Lake, or, more accurately, the remnants of a lake. The water has waned, leaving an untamed bog in its place. It’s beautiful, but in the way abandoned houses are--surrendered to and consumed by nature. Although renovations are in the works, now it seems like, in the lake’s dilapidated
state, an opportune time to reflect on our traditions and our memories. It’s Meredith’s little body of water: what both a place of quiet contemplation it was; what it is and what it will be. as well as the only place able to The Meredith Lake was contain the chaos of Corn. originally built in the 1960’s, but, Meredith’s body of water according is certainly a to Dr. Allen, unique fixture. President It’s sized like a of Meredith pond, but built College, many and managed were “opposed like a manto building” made lake, the lake in complete with the first place walking paths and thought and seating the land and areas. Photo by Inaya Rivera, Staff Photographer Unfortunately, money could be used in it has fallen into other ways. And today many of us disrepair over the years. Faulty piping are asking those same questions: from the pond’s original construction is it worth renovating? Could we caused it to drain “like a bathtub,” do something else with the land? as Allen puts it. The small island But. Allen concludes, “most of have has been inaccessible for the past sentimental attachment to the lake.” few years because of the dangerous It’s a part of Meredith now-- it’s apart conditions of the bridge. Many trees
have fallen around the pond, making it hard and somewhat dangerous to navigate its circumference. But Allen estimates that the initial repairs could be completed as soon as next summer, in 2019. Meredith has plans to rework the plumbing to bring the lake back to its original depth and clear out some of the trees for a more “cleaner look.” Allen hopes to eventually repair the bridge to the small island, and restore the lake to its original state. But if there is one lesson to learn here, it is that places change. It ultimately doesn’t matter to what extent Meredith repairs the lake-- or bog or pond-- as long as the space remains. The lake will change as the students change and bring with them new meaning to the land. So to renovate the lake is to hope that it will continue to affect those who see it in the future.
Continued from page 1 to harvest early, and the ones that were not ready to be picked were destroyed. These limitations serve as a main cause of overtime exemption among farmworkers, and they have no means of income when they cannot work due to extreme weather conditions. Furthermore, competition for jobs keep wages relatively low. Many migrant workers do not complain out of fear of being replaced and losing their jobs. Migrant workers from other countries oftentimes pay hiring fees and high interest rates to labor recruiters who help them find jobs. Migrant workers are often in debt from fees and traveling expenses before they even start working. According to the article “Close to Slavery,” under U.S. laws, employers are obligated to reimburse workers for their traveling expenses and visa fees, but employers rarely follow through because these laws are not heavily enforced. According to the article “Facts about North Carolina Farmworkers,” the national average annual income for farmworkers is $11,000; individuals on the East Coast earn approximately 35% less than the national average. The article continues by stating that “farmworkers are paid nearly 50% less per week than other wage and salary workers.” As a result, they often struggle to make ends meet due to low pay and dependency on weather conditions. The typical 8 hour day that the average American works is nothing compared to the workday of a farmworker. Not only do farmworkers have to battle the strenuous weather conditions, but they have to
haul armfulls of crops, plant endless bags of seedlings, and spray harmful pesticides for 10-12 hours a day, with some days starting as early as 4 a.m. “Close to Slavery” states that “the average farmworker works between 8 and 12 hours a day… they often work six full days a week and average well over 40 hours.” These long hours leave little time for farmworkers to attend to their own needs such as cooking meals, doing laundry, etc. All of these things end up taking majority of their free time due to the sharing of washers, dryers, stoves and all other houseware. Furthermore, working such strenuous hours takes a toll on farmworkers’ bodies and leaves them exhausted while tending to their own basic needs. Leaving behind everything you know to come into a new coun-
Latinos Dread Going to the Doctor,” most farmworkers prefer traditional alternatives such as “curing colds with orange juice and echinacea pills and digestive issues with papaya.” Many migrant workers prefer to use their traditional methods than have to take American medication. Alongside this gray area, migrant workers do not go to the doctor because most can’t afford health insurance, don’t qualify for health insurance, or are undocumented workers and risk being exposed by giving their information to the clinic. So remember that the pumpkin-spiced latte with a double shot of espresso, which costs you $4.45, costs the farmworkers hours away from their families working minimum wage in a place they are trying to call their new home.
Brief Cornhuskin’ Results
try and work for people who may not even speak the same language as you is an experience migrant workers struggle to go through. Undocumented workers illegally working in the U.S. feel uneasy and stressed while trying to stay under the radar and make money for their families. According to the Department of Labor, 46% of all farmworkers in the U.S. are here working undocumented. This percentage is so high because there are not enough domestic workers or documented migrant workers to do the bottom of the barrel jobs no one else wants to do. Culture takes on a significant dynamic change for foreign workers who enter the U.S. Healthcare is one of these dynamics that farmworkers rare skeptical about. According to The Atlantic article “Why Many
Midterm Election Results
At the time of this printing, several North Carolina elections had been decided. What follows are the results as of 9:55 p.m. EST.
US House
1st: Seniors
District 1: Butterfield (D) District 3: Jones (R) District 4: Price (D) District 6: Walker (R) District 7: Rouzer (R) District 10: McHenry (R) District 11: Meadows (R) District 12: Adams (D)
2nd: Juniors 3rd: Sophomores 4th: Freshmen
Spirit Stick: Seniors
Amendments
Penny Barrels: Juniors Attendance: Sophomores
Judicial Vacancy: Against Legislative Appointments: Against
NC Senate
District 12: Burgin (R) District 15: Chaudhuri (D) District 20: McKissick (D) District 23: Foushee (D) District 25: McInnis (R)
NC House
District 30: Morey (D) District 31: Forde-Hawkins (D) District 38: Holley (D) District 49: Ball (D)
STAFF
Sarah Kiser, Editor-in-Chief. Mimi Mays, Associate Editor. Abby Ojeda, News Editor. Caroline Garrett, A&E Editor. Rebecca Dowdy, Opinion Editor. Micah Clark, Cartoonist. Cro Owens, Social Media Coordinator. Nikki Wertz, Layout Designer. Staff Writers: Carolina Brust, Rachel Crawford, Jenna Curia, Kathleen Daly, Hannah Flood, Emma Fry, Huma Hashmi, Olivia Slack.