FEBRUARY, 2007 • VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 4 ~ FSU’S COMMUNITY NEWSMAGAZINE
The Yeti Collective: Brett Ader Alisha Buckman Ed Caddell Danny Clifton Parker Dority Anne Dunlop Jocelyn Giancoli R. R. Jenkins James N. McKay Amanda Plummer Sarah Stinard-Kiel Taj Taylor Felix Velazquez Danielle Way
Contributors: Mike Como Advisor: Paul Rutkovsky Cover Art: Danny Clifton
Contents Second Class Citizens on the Road :: 3 Advertising, Identity, and Americentrism: :: 4
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A Response to the FSView :: 5 Domestication and Rationalization :: 7 The Academy and the War :: 10 The Yeti needs you to...
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| The Yeti ~ Vol. 3 #4 ~ February, 2007
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Second Class Citizens on the Road by james n. mckay
During the first week of the semester, the police ran a half-page article in the FSView entitled “Know the Rules.” Of course cyclists must know the law and courteous biking practices, but the article ignored several much more important issues.
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irst and foremost, motorists need to know the rules. I cannot ride the mile from my apartment to class, following the rules, without a driver honking or physically threatening me, due to their ignorance of the law. As I approached a light on Tennessee, a couple of young guys passed within one foot of me and shouted “GET OFF THE ROAD!” I pulled up next to him and told him in the most civil tone I could muster, “I could protect myself from people like you by riding on the sidewalk, but that would be illegal. You’re the one breaking the law by passing like that. If I can reach out and touch your vehicle, you are too close to pass.” They were unable to make a comeback, stunned into silence for the fifteen remaining seconds that we sat there. Americans lack a basic understanding and appreciation of cycling as a lifestyle, which is one of many factors Europeans cite when claiming to have more civilized societies than ours. If you consider the lower rates of traffic fatalities and cleaner air that they enjoy as a result of both policy and awareness, it is hard to form an argument against them. When I tell people that I don’t want a car (although I happen to enjoy driving), that I prefer exercise, and also the proximity with and respect for the earth that cycling creates, some of them look at me as if I told them that I am a leper, or a “terrorist.” Even more important to a cyclist than knowing the rules is knowing your rights.
At different times, I have had police command me both to ride on the street and on the sidewalk. You have a right to ride on every public, non-interstate road in America, as well as sidewalks in most cities. You have the right to press charges like assault and battery or vehicular manslaughter against anyone who willfully threatens your well-being while cycling. If I consistently exercised this right, there would be dozens of Tallahassee motorists with extra points on their licenses today. You also have the right to use drive-thru windows at stores. If you are refused service, contact the store manager and explain your legal rights to be treated the same as any roadworthy vehicle. In my experience, this results in a grandiose apology and a free meal. Of course motorists should know their rights too, but that doesn’t concern us as cyclists. Although many motorists dislike cyclists because of the unpredictable manoevers some riders make, it would be rare indeed for a cyclist to seriously infringe on the rights of a motorist. How many motorists are injured by cyclists each year? My guess is zero, unless we count those who get beat down in an out-ofvehicle altercation. Most of all, motorists need to realize the fact that their vehicle is an enormous deadly weapon, and that using it carelessly is no different than closing your eyes and spraying bullets all over town. Ever mindful of this hostile climate and the lack of proper cycling infrastructure, the biker of Tallahassee must frequently put personal safety before compliance with traffic regulations. Often I am using common sense in places where the traffic conditions are so unsafe for a bike that following the rule would certainly put me in greater danger. Much needs to be done by city and FSU transportation authorities to improve cycling conditions. A little research
uncovered many places where campus roads and pathways were constructed in direct violation of FDOT regulations and guidelines. A good example is the place where the bike path ends without merging onto Ocala. Turning left to access the bike path from the road, the cyclist must clear a ten inch curb, or else he/she will get t-boned by the traffic approaching the Tennessee intersection. While at Indiana University, a cycling grad student in my department was killed on campus in an accident involving both a careless motorist and a pedestrian. I wonder if FSU is waiting for a similar tragedy before taking on the simple task of designating bike lanes on campus pathways. I have a dream that one day I can leave my apartment, get my bike out of the (now non-existent) bike rack, and hop on without adopting a rogue-warrior mentality in order to avoid serious injury or death. From that day on, I will dutifully obey all the rules. Until then, I do what all second-class citizens must do: adopt survival tactics regardless of what police or a patronizing society claim they should do.
Advertising, Identity, and Americentrism: Considering What Lies Beneath by Jim N. McKay
y exposure to ads is limited to the pictures of voluptuous women who are supposedly just a mouse click away, and that hideous rotting toenail on the sidebar of my Hotmail inbox. I routinely swat these pests away from my consciousness like so many cyberspace gnats. The fact that I do not read newspapers, watch TV, or listen to commercial
bowl games. Generally this ritual viewing of TV ads feels like an exercise in voyeurism, because advertisers are preaching to a choir to which I do not belong. The culture of consumerism is so extensively interwoven into mainstream American culture that this rare exposure illuminates the fact that to be a nonparticipant in consumerism is to be, in an unfortunately significant sense, a non-participant in society. After returning to the states after five years in Asia, I found that so much of conversation among young people revolves around or includes references to a pop culture which is increasingly determined and characterized by consumerism. Inevitably people would mention some technology that I had never heard of, such as Netflix, TiVo, blogs, or iPods. Due to this cultural disconnect,
radio further protects me from the onslaught of commercialism which undoubtedly affects you more than me. As a cyclist, my survival on the road is hinged on my attention to traffic, and so I lack the free time that motorists and passengers have to view billboards and other roadside advertising. My thirty year-old TV set only functions as a monitor for my video game consoles and DVD player, until New Year’s Day rolls around, and I tune it to several
a lot of the underlying assumptions which American advertising is based on would not hold true for me, even if I had more exposure to ads or use for their products. Once you have spent sufficient time outside of the American cultural bubble, even the shows and ads designed to be comical lack their intended effects on you. Usually I find nothing funny at all about the supposedly humorous ads, even those hyping the comedies of the upcoming television season. In fact, most ads which attempt
As one who considers himself a non-consumer (I probably spend about $400 per year on things other than food, rent, tuition, and other necessities) in the most consumptioncrazed country on earth, I seldom pay any attention to advertising.
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to employ levity in their appeal to the consumer come off not merely as ridiculous and juvenile, but as an insult to my intelligence-a tactic which backfires and actually prejudices me against their product. Beer commercials seem to be the worst in this respect, as they all seem to espouse the same underlying philosophy: that men need to vegetate in their free time, watching sports and drinking together, in order to have a collective identity as “the guys.� They attempt to elevate this mindless, ritualistic behavior to a sacred status. In addition to the sales pitch emphasizing passive group activity based on the TV lifestyle, the ads try to convince us that drinking is sexy, that women will actually be attracted to you based on the brand of beer or soda you drink. I have never seen a beer commercial which depicts people drinking as I do; around a fire or a park bench conversing with friends, or alone, enjoying a beer with quiet time or music on my porch, perhaps writing a letter to a distant friend. Again, I guess this just indicates that I march to a different drummer than most. And yet I wonder if the average American considers such advertising as demeaning and insulting to their individuality and ability to think for themselves, the way it comes off to me. I confess that this is doubtful-most people probably never analyze the way products are being marketed to them. One ad in particular shocked and enraged me with its blatant see ADVERTISING on 6
A Response to the FSView On “Deport all current illegal immigrants” BY R. R. JENKINS
The FSView & Florida Flambeau newspaper has an unfortunate prohibition on syndicating their articles. I fear that my rebuttal will lose some of its force without the original article reprinted adjacent for reference. But without further lamentation, I will now launch into a refutation of the most offensive and poorly written piece of “journalism” I have ever read.
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n Thursday, January 25th, the FSView ran an opinion piece by Justin de la Cruz entitled, “Deport all current illegal immigrants.” (Above it ran a piece about flu symptoms, which I eschewed for what I thought would be an actual “Viewpoint”.) Instead I found a grossly offensive and poorly reasoned jingoistic vitriol, a fascist masturbatory fantasy. I will proceed with my objections from the beginning of the article. For my first, I look no further than the opening paragraph. De la Cruz reasons – and I use the verb loosely – that, because immigrants have chosen to break our “sacred” laws, that our laws no longer apply to them. He suggests, then, holding immigrants without formal charges, with the end of summary deportation. But this is a trademark
fallacy: the “you too” fallacy. The fact that illegal immigrants have broken the law is no sanction for our waiving of those very same laws, laws that were written to guide the prosecution of criminals. Here’s another example to see why this is a terrible travesty of logic. Let’s use de la Cruz’s reasoning and examine its implications. If those who ‘break America’s laws’ have forgone their right to trial, representation, etc., then that should be the case with all criminals. It should render the court system obsolete. In fact, it should make pointless the Sixth and Seventh Amendments altogether, those that guarantee an attorney and a speedy trial by one’s peers. Why would the Founders, if they “had it right in the beginning,” go to such lengths to enumerate the rights of the accused if, by breaking the law, they simply remove themselves from the legal system? Let’s hope de la Cruz himself is never accused of a crime, for, by his own logic, he would have lost his right to an attorney or to contest his detainment. ‘Hold criminals without formal charges because they broke the law,’ please! Besides deportation or indefinite imprisonment in an implicit Gulag, de la Cruz offers a third path, a ‘path to citizenship.’ What does it entail? Front line military service, a period of residence, competency of American government, American history, and English. Why should immigrants be
subject to such high demands when some hundreds of millions of other people had the simple luck to be born within arbitrary imaginary lines and be granted citizenship automatically? Why is one prerequisite for citizenship based entirely on chance, while another is highly demanding? I’m not arguing that it should be
I’m sure that after fleeing Britain’s “intolerable laws” that the colonists didn’t aspire to institute the same oppression they had recently fled! as easy as snapping your fingers to become a citizen, but it seems unfair to hold others to such astronomical demands because they were born on the outside. I’d bet that few current citizensby-birth would be able to gain citizenship if they were required to pass the same tests. De la Cruz goes on to venerate the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were some of the most draconian and unconstitutional pieces of legislation to ever pass in this country. So much were they an
• There are an estimated 7 to 20 million illegal immigrants in the United States. 57% of them come from Mexico. • Three percent of immigrants have college degrees versus 28% of citizens.
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embarrassment to the principles of America – those of free speech, freedom of the press, right to petition the government for a redress of grievances, etc. – that Congress has repeatedly apologized to and compensated those who were affected by them in the late 18th century. I reddened with lividity, then, when de la Cruz said that “more beautiful words [than the Alien and Sedition Acts] were never written.” In all of recorded history, the most beautiful words de la Cruz could find were a set of implements of oppression? Not words of Martin Luther King, Ghandi, or Robert Frost? Not “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”?
Not “We have nothing to fear by fear itself ”? Not “Liberty, once lost, is lost forever”? Woops, that last one was President Adams, who signed the Alien and Sedition Acts. How ironic! As for “why these practices can’t be upheld today,” the answer is a simple appeal to human rights and the most basic moral fortitude. One of the grievances that the colonists had with George III was “depriving [citizens] of the benefit of Trial by Jury,” as the Declaration of Independence notes. I’m sure that after fleeing Britain’s “intolerable laws” that the colonists didn’t aspire to institute the same oppression they had recently fled!
De la Cruz’s article, as inflammatory as it is fallacious, is a miserable excuse for an argument. It suffers from a poor understanding of the original principles of America as outlined in the Bill of Rights. (If you don’t believe in speech you hate, you don’t believe in free speech at all.) But more than that, the article is a picture of Amerocentric arrogance, nationalism for the sake of nationalism. With all his talk of “purging” the homeland of foreigners, denial of habeus corpus, suppression of the press, and indefinite imprisonment, de la Cruz would perhaps find his El Dorado in Nazi Germany.
Advertising from 4 racism. How far have we really come towards respect and tolerance for diverse cultures since the days when a coal-faced Sambo gobbling up watermelons like some kind of animal was an acceptable depiction of black people? No progress at all is measurable, if what I saw in this commercial any indication of advertising in general in 2007. It starts with a white family in their suburban home, the father explaining that they didn’t have enough air mileage awards to earn a free trip to the destination of their choice, presumably some other American suburb where they have extended family. He tells them that they will have to settle for a visit to “more distant relations.” The camera cuts to the family standing at the threshold of a village of thatched huts which could be somewhere in the South Pacific or Latin America. A severe, fierce looking chieftain stands in front of his loin clothed, spear-wielding tribesmen, barking something in his language at | The Yeti ~ Vol. 3 #4 ~ February, 2007
the arriving family. The father can’t give an answer that the tribesman can understand, of course, mumbling something about being tourists. The villagers promptly truss him to a pole and march him off to roast him over a bonfire. The father lamely hollers something to his family about how they should have used some other credit card or airline mileage plan, then the company’s logo and web address come up, and the commercial is over. Not only does the premise of the ad make no sense, since a trip abroad would inevitably cost more money or air miles than a domestic flight, but it perpetuates the stereotype that indigenous cultures are primitive, cruel, and aggressive. Therefore, people of the developing world are inferior to us of the Global North. It also sends the message so common in post-9/11 American commercial media, that the world outside the 50 states is a hostile and dangerous place that we need to fear and avoid all contact with. This
pervasive culture of fear is a very noticeable trend to those like me who are new or recently returned to the USA, and constantly encounter Americans who believe that it took incredible courage to travel extensively outside of the “safe” Western world. These comments didn’t cease to surprise me until I witnessed the lengths to which so many films, pop songs, TV shows, news media, and of course the U.S. government go in order to terrify Americans of all things foreign. These scare tactics are inextricably linked to presumptions that American culture is more advanced than any other, which becomes the rationale both for explaining why so many people try to emigrate here, and for justifying the conviction that the U.S. must be better than their home countries in every imaginable way. While nationalism and cultural imperialism abound throughout the world, no other country in my experience (aside from North Korea) combines such widespread self-congratulatory rhetoric with a prevailing attitude towards the entire outside world that only ranges from apathy and disinterest to hatred. The fact that a national culture I call “Americentrism” only seems comparable to one of the world’s most impoverished and undemocratic nations should be cause for alarm, an indication of a deep-seated problem. Americentrism is a perversion of our collective orientation to the world that has been shaped in a large part by the tremendous influence of advertising and mass media. This phenomenon has also been reinforced by the consistent disregard for principals of consensus and international law by American political leaders (e.g. Clinton’s non-acceptance of the Kyoto protocols, the illegal and universally condemned invasion of Iraq, non-compliance with the
land mine ban treaty of Montreal, the international treatise on the rights of the child, and virtually every other environmental and human rights agreement signed by the vast majority of sovereign states). I would argue that part of the purpose of encouraging rampant consumerism through advertising is to draw attention away from these key issues. Your average newspaper has more space filled with ads than actual international news in the “world” section. This tells us that what happens to the other 95% of humans isn’t nearly as important as buying things, and the message has been internalized through Americentrism. Politics aside, we need to be critical about what we consume and how it is pitched to us. If nothing else, I urge you to consider the messages that underlie the billboards, popups, and TV commercials that
typically try to sell you goods not based on the merits of the product itself, but rather on the popular, sexy, person endowed with lots of expensive material possessions that they think you need to be.
Then ask yourself if you think that you should define yourself according to those implicit standards. Perhaps you will find that your identity is more than just the sum of your physical assets, that who you are is not defined by what products you decide will make you more beautiful or more popular, but rather by your heritage, your experiences, your views, and your feelings.
Domestication and Rationalization Why the West is Best in Sid Meier’s Civilization III by R. R. Jenkins
The video game industry boasts a combination of profitability, interactivity, and singular appeal to a typically young audience. Because of such an appeal, video games lend themselves to analysis and critical reading as predictors of the future and mirrors of the present.
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ne of the most popular games in its genre, Sid Meier’s Civilization III Complete is a particularly worthy subject. However, the cultural representations within are anything but reassuring. Instead, the game is rife with ethnocentricity, legitimizing the expansionist myths of the West. Civilization III falls into the category of an ‘empire building simulation,’ as well as being a continued on next The Yeti ~ Vol. 2 #4 ~ February, 2007 |
‘turn-based strategy’ game. Each player is tasked with directing a ‘civilization’ by settling and managing cities. The player has several ways to win the game that range from becoming presidentelect of the United Nations to launching a colonizing mission to Alpha Centauri. However, winning, as we will see, demands that the player advance along a predetermined and ethnocentric ‘technology tree’ until their civilization, regardless of starting conditions, resembles Sid Meier’s fantasy of the West. Upon starting a new game, the player has one unit: a Settler in the year 4000 BC. His civilization, he is told, “consists of a band of wandering homesteaders.” The player is instructed to establish a city on one of the isometric tiles representing land. The user can see only a limited distance on the map — the rest is ‘unexplored darkness’ — so he is encouraged to investigate his surroundings. Thus the game establishes its “expansionist narrative” early, for winning necessarily involves settling many cities or conquering other civilizations. In addition to the other computer players’ civilizations, the user may encounter cartoonish huts that represent ‘minor tribes.’ The manual does not mince words, warning the user that the village may be populated by “hostile barbarians.” Such tribes will likely be the player’s first encounter with the Other. If the user should encounter a ‘minor tribe,’ he could spur a barbarian uprising. These military units, “whose destiny is to emerge from nowhere and attack blindly,” are easily defeated and, after such a conflict, the land is again clear for settling. (This occurrence of utter eradication of “the other” recounts what Kaplan calls the impossibility of incorporating the foreign into the domestic.) Whereas the playable | The Yeti ~ Vol. 3 #4 ~ February, 2007
civilizations are distinguished with real-world names like America, Aztecs, Iroquois, etc., each civilization is also bestowed with two or three signifiers: e.g. America is “industrious and expansionist,” the Celts are “agricultural and religious.”1 The barbarian tribes are unique in that they are nameless, unplayable, and unremarkable in terms of civilization. They are not simply the Other in that they are a competing civilization, they are the Nobody: they exist in a Purgatory without any identity. Wholly below the level of other cultures, the barbarians are better described as obstacles for true civilization. The representation these villages receive in the manual is belied by the facts of game play, however. As Douglas notes, the manual’s description “of such minor tribes as being ‘too isolated, not organized enough, or too
The barbarians (read: Native Americans) can only be defeated by our domesticating and civilizing influence: it is our duty to do just that. migratory to develop…’ must be discounted… [because] no village is any more ‘isolated’ at the start of the game than the [user] is; the tribes are not ‘migratory’ because they remain fixed…; and since such tribes can offer the occasional technological advance, they obviously are not too ‘unorganized’ to develop…” This arbitrary act of Othering
on the part of the programmers is one attempt among many to dehumanize and demote the status of these minor tribes in the mind of the player. They are, as the manual says, inferior civilizations. Douglas notes that this paradox parallels the American narrative of the virgin continent manifestly Ours versus the truth of complex indigenous societies already present on Our soil. After all, it is okay to take over these minor, not-evencivilized peoples: it is a necessity (and our right) to expand. The barbarians represent merely an obstacle: a test for your civilization to prove itself powerful, as the Indians were for the American colonists. In reference to this, Carr invokes terra nullis, the idea that the new world was ‘legally vacant’ upon European arrival, and this idea has more than face-value truth in Civilization. For example: attacking these lone villages has no serious repercussions, nothing like the challenging response a ‘legitimate’ civilization would muster. No, the user would not incur any admonition for recklessly trampling across barbarian villages: the barbarians have no culture, they have no humanity. They are simply nonpersons. The villages, in online forums where players gather, are known as “goody huts” because of the advances and technologies they can sometimes give the player when conquered. Such a characterization furthers the representation of the tribes as mere means to the player’s end, simultaneously describing their living quarters and their contributions in a diminutive manner. Meyers points out other uses for the minor tribes: “improving the expertise of your units by sparring with” them, or allowing them “to fester in unexplored areas to serve as
a temporary impedance” to competing civilizations (italics mine). Again, the barbarians are on a level wholly below that of other cultures, not respected as ends in themselves. The “dynamic inevitability,” as Douglas puts it, of necessary expansion versus barbarian confrontation ‘takes place on the frontier,’ or, as Frederick Jackson Turner fittingly called it, “the meeting point between savagery and civilization.” Therefore, the best defense against the barbarian natives is to push outward, civilizing as you go. The barbarian presence will ‘magically disappear’ into the ‘familiar landscape’ of Our culture once the land has been domesticated. Only then is Our civilizing mission complete: Land under the user’s cultural influence is devoid of barbarians because, as the manual says, “the entire area has become more or less civilized by your urban presence.” The barbarians (read: Native Americans) can only be defeated by our domesticating and civilizing influence: it is our duty to do just that. As the user’s civilization progresses, it discovers new technologies at a speed proportional to the amount of money he appropriates for scientific research. The discoveries progress along a predetermined “technology tree.” For example, a civilization must research “Mathematics” and “Ironworking” to unlock “Construction”; and in order to establish a republican government, they must first research “Philosophy” and “Code of Laws.” Sid Meier, the chief programmer and eponymous creator of the game, admitted that the tree is the sole product of his imagination, remaining largely unchanged from its original design: I just kind of tossed it together with the idea that someday we’d
go back and fix this thing… I just kind of thought off the top of my head to come up with fifty or sixty important developments and linked them together… [that] was essentially the tech tree we ended up with. The path each civilization takes is unchangeable: to modernize towards the Western model of civilization is inevitable.
Despite the fact that the game has improved notably over its fifteen-plus year run, it still has a long way to go until it becomes a or realistic representation of history. Keeping in mind that the original game was released in 1991 and that one of its direct predecessors was Empire, a derivative “of Cold War military software,” the celebration of Western values is understandable. Poblocki also notes that, among the choices of government for the player, democracy gives him the best advantage, being the happiest, most peaceful, and most productive system available in the game. Democracy is the user’s only real choice if he wishes to win: the winning scenarios demand these clear advantages. The technologies are also portrayed in a Western light in the in-game encyclopedia, regardless of their historical origin: “...philosophy – which is a major discovery that leads to the two most advanced economic
systems… was invented in Greece… alphabet advancement is represented by an icon with Roman letters… Medicine… is ascribed to the Greek philosophy and Hippocrates… [Quoting the encyclopedia:] ‘Musketeers and Cannon (…) ended recurring invasions of barbarians from Asia.” It is hard for the critical student of cultural representation to believe that the programmers would have let such a blatant characterization of Western superiority as that slip into the game’s manual. Civilization III falls victim to Kaplan’s criticism of the representation of America as “universal progress.” Indeed, in the game, America’s historical progress is universalized to be simultaneously the only and best route. Poblocki snidely remarks that in the game every civilization has an equal chance to become the United States. Civilization III “proves that the history of the West is the only logical development of humankind,” he adds. The game’s technology tree ends in the “Modern” era which, in Weber’s thesis, is epitomized by distinctly Western values. Those and only those values can represent the peak of mankind’s achievements. Anything else would be illogical. Near the end of her essay, Carr enumerates Civilization’s mischaracterizations in rapidfire: ‘history is linear, nations are culturally homogeneous, technological progress coupled with democracy leads to happy and productive civilian populations…’ (This is not to mention the cultural degradation of ‘minor tribes’ or the insistence upon the inevitability of Westernness.) Many of these transgressions are understandable:
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a video game is not afforded the space of a thousand-page treatise on the subtle intricacies of culture. Poblocki quotes Meier implicitly defending his stereotypes and compressions of meaning by insisting that he had to make the ideas “clear” in the game: there would be no subtlety and no beating around the bush. Despite the fact that the game has improved notably over its fifteenplus year run and is no longer a bastion of blatant Cold War ideology, it still has a long way to go until it becomes a pluralistic (or realistic) representation of history and the cultural forces at work in real-life “civilization.” Civilization III makes natural the Western myths of the inevitability of expansion, conquest and genocide. Though the player can choose among
many superficial societies to play as, the narrative is the same: expand and conquer, research and follow the methods of the West, or be labeled inferior and ultimately destroyed. Domesticate and rationalize, or perish. Because of the game’s rules this is inevitable; what remains contentious is the inevitability of such a narrative in the real world. 1.
2.
3.
Works Cited
Aspyr Media, Inc., et al.
“Civlization III Complete Manual”.
Fighting Indians, Playing Games,
Forming Disciplines”. Postmodern 4.
Civilization” Draft. Chapter from
Kaplan, Amy. The Anarchy of
Empire: In the Making of U.S.
Culture. “Manifest Domesticity”.
Harvard University Press, 2005. pp. 5.
23-50.
Meyers, David. “Bombs,
Barbarians, And Backstories:
Meaning-Making Within Sid 6.
7.
Game user manual. 2001.
Carr, Diane. “The Trouble with
Culture 13, 2002.
8.
Meier’s Civilization”. Forthcoming. Pautz, Johann. “Otherness”.
PowerPoint presentation. Retrieved 11/29/06.
—. “Theories of Development”.
PowerPoint presentation. Retrieved 11/29/06.
Poblocki, Kacper. “Becoming-state:
Videogame, Player, Text. Revised
The bio-cultural imperialism of
Press. Forthcoming, 2006.
European Journal of Anthropology
11/7/2005. Manchester University
Sid Meier’s Civilization”. Focaal -
Douglas, Christopher. “‘You Have
no. 39, 2002: pp. 163-177.
Unleashed a Horde of Barbarians!’:
The Academy and the War by Mike como
During WWII, all Americans were encouraged to “do their part” in fighting fascism around the world.
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omen left their homes to work in factories, despite having disproportionate duties as “home makers” with little access to child-care. American academics also began employing their special skills for any range of activities commissioned by the US government. In the so-called global war on terror, American academics are still crucial parts in furthering the agenda of the US government by utilizing their knowledge to fight terrorism. One example is that of Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz’s interpretation of 10 | The Yeti ~ Vol. 3 #4 ~ February, 2007
domestic and international law that “validates” pre-emptive military actions against suspect nations. However, it is imperative to ask to what extent may academic or medical professionals participate in military or intelligence gathering operations without jeopardizing their commitments to the ethical standards of their respective practices. In this article, I will provide an example of an academic association that consciously evaluates its role in geopolitics and also has taken it upon itself to make concrete statements regarding its position on the war in Iraq and torture. I will also discuss some things that the government has done to court those in academic professions. In November of 2006 I
had an opportunity to attend the 105th annual American Anthropological Association (AAA) national conference in San Jose, California. Not having been to a professional conference of this size before, I had little idea of what to expect from the 4,500 anthropologists who convened in the McEnery conference center in downtown San Jose. Among other academic activities, business meetings are held by the many subsections of anthropological study such as the associations of environmental, Black, or Feminist anthropologies to discuss publications or finances. On Saturday November 18th, the business meeting for the entire AAA discussed the AAA’s stance on the war in Iraq, US torture, and extraordinary
rendition programs. Notably, the business meeting reached a quorum, or the minimum amount of attendees necessary for an organization to make representationally legitimate decisions. The AAA has made a public statement against the occupation of Iraq that may be adopted by other organizations in academic communities. This is a very encouraging response from the AAA, encompassing the start of the war, immediate withdrawal, comprehensive munitions removal, and a genuinely multilateral peacekeeping force from the UN. The AAA then continued by further addressing torture in the context of Iraq. They state: “Be it moved that the American Anthropological Association unequivocally condemns the use of anthropological knowledge as an element of physical and psychological torture; condemns the use of physical and psychological torture by US Military and Intelligence personnel, subcontractors, and proxies; and urges the US Congress and President George W. Bush to: Comply fully with national and international anti-torture laws, including the Geneva Convention and protocols, the UN Convention Against Torture, the 1996 War Crimes Act and US Criminal Code, Sections 2340-2340A; and Ban all interrogation techniques—including physical and psychological torture—that violate the broad universal humanitarian standard outlined in the UN Convention Against Torture; and Repudiate any attempts by any US Government official to substitute any definition
of torture for that broad humanitarian standard; and Comply fully with the US Supreme Court’s Hamdan v. Rumsfeld decision of 2006, in which the majority opinion states that even during times of war “the Executive is bound to comply with the Rule of Law”; and Repeal the 2006 Military Commissions Act; and Terminate the ‘extraordinary
Be it moved that the American Anthropological Association condemns the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq... rendition” program and halt the transfer of detainees to countries with a history of prisoner abuse and torture; and Close all US overseas prisons and release all prisoners being held without charge in US prisons (including overseas prisons); and Release the names of all prisoners being held in US prisons (including overseas prisons); and Pay reparations to all victims who have suffered physical or psychological torture at the hands of US Military and Intelligence personnel, subcontractors and proxies; and Grant the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international monitoring agencies full access to all US overseas prisons; and Prosecute all individuals— including current and former Bush administration officials— who have authorized or
committed war crimes or who have violated laws prohibiting torture.” These statements and decisions are a step in the right direction from academic communities to become involved in some of the key moral issues of this historical epoch. However, while the AAA has taken measures to publicly address the war, the CIA is attempting to employ academics in some dubious ways. Anthropologist David H. Price of St. Martin’s College in Olympia, Washington and author of “Threatening Anthropology: McCarthyism and the FBI’s Surveillance of Activist Anthropologists” has exposed a program, the Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program, which provides generous funding for students of “in demand” languages. Senator Pat Roberts-R has been head of the senate committee on intelligence and proposed a bill incriminating those who expose classified information, which incidentally would incriminate many journalists and academics alike. The PRISP is designed to prepare graduate students for jobs in the CIA or other intelligence gathering operations with preferences given to individuals who have experience in languages such as Arabic, Urdu or Chinese and focus on topics such as bio-terrorism or counter terrorist activities. At face value this might not seem, for some, a very big deal, but maintaining the ethical standards of academic communities is clearly under fire. The AAA explicitly states in its code of ethics: 1. Anthropological researchers have primary ethical obligations to the
“B
e it moved that the American Anthropological Association condemns the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq and urges the US congress and President George W. Bush to: Immediately withdraw all US military personnel, intelligence agents, and subcontractors from Iraq; and Cease all US military operations and vacate all US military bases in Iraq; and Make payments for the removal and cleanup of depleted uranium, unexploded cluster bombs, and other residual waste left from munitions; and Prosecute all individuals who have committed war crimes against Iraqis, and Fund the creation of a United Nations peacekeeping force to assume peacekeeping duties in Iraq.”
continued on next The Yeti ~ Vol. 2 #4 ~ February, 2007 | 11
people, species, and materials they study and to the people with whom they work. These obligations can supersede the goal of seeking new knowledge, and can lead to decisions not
Close all US overseas prisons and release all prisoners being held without charge in US prisons... to undertake or to discontinue a research project when the primary obligation conflicts with other responsibilities, such as those owed to sponsors or clients. 2. Anthropological researchers must do everything in their power to ensure that their research does not harm the safety, dignity, or privacy of the people with whom they
work, conduct research, or perform other professional activities . . ..” This duly noted, does an intelligence program seeking to cultivate participants in its operations necessarily have the same interests as those people to whom the anthropologist has the first and foremost ethical obligations? Price notes at the time of publication in 2005 that the PRISP has only been in action as a preliminary program, receiving funding to the tune of 4 million dollars and operating in an undisclosed number of American universities. The US Federal News reported in 2006 that at least an additional 1.3 million is allotted for 2007. According to Price roughly 150 students or less are receiving funding from the PRISP. However, Price appropriately points out a long history of collusion and temptation of academics by the US government, or unconscionable misuse of scholarly information such as
the use of Raphael Patai’s book “The Arab Mind” to utilize culture specific information in honing interrogation techniques at Abu Ghraib. So then, the final question remains, to what extent does one serve one’s country, and at what expense to the well being and autonomy of those who academics serve? While the choices that individuals make are certainly theirs, can one justifiably indenture themselves to the intelligence industry with the knowledge that the CIA is active in circumventing the ethical obligations of academic professionals? I think not. However, this is ultimately a personal choice for the parties involved. 1.
2.
What is Food Not Bombs? Food Not Bombs is a revolutionary movement that works to end hunger, suffering, and the exploitation of the earth. The first group was started in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1980 by anti-nuclear war activists. Food Not Bombs provides meals in public places and anyone who attends is welcome to eat. The food served is acquired by donations and/or salvaging of food that establishments were attempting to discard. Where is it? We meet at Carter Howell Strong Park (behind McDonald’s on Tennessee Street) every Sunday at 3:00PM.
12 | The Yeti ~ Vol. 3 #4 ~ February, 2007
Why should I get involved? -20,000 people starve to death every day. -Leon County has two shelters that have sleeping quarters for the homeless: They are able to house roughly 1/25 of the county’s homeless population. -Dumpsters behind local establishments are now being locked and/or monitored. -40% of homeless women are homeless due to domestic violence. -No one deserves to go hungry! Contact Info For more information you can contact: Virginia or Greg @ 727-543-1488 Mandy @ 850-980-4039 Or email us @ TallahasseeFNB@gmail.com Hope to see you there!
Little, Sara Ross. pp. 17-18.
Anthropology News. Vol. 48, Num 1.
Price, David H, “The CIA’s Campus Spies” published 3/12/2005
www.counterpunch.org/
price3122005.html accessed 3.
Tallahassee Food Not Bombs
Works Cited
1/14/05
“Senate Approves Defense
Appropriations Conference
Report; Contains Important Kansas Project.” US Federal 4.
News. Oct 1, 2006. Vesperi, Maria D.
2007 “A Quorum Gathered to
Conduct AAA Business in San José.”
Pax Christi is contributing to the peace and justice movement by exploring and articulating the ideal of non-violence. The five primary objectives of Pax Christi are disarmament, peace education, alternatives to violence, primary of conscience, and a just wolrd order, as justice is a precondition of peace. Meeting: 4th Monday of the month at 7:30pm Location: St. Thomas Moore Contact: Shirley Poore, 878-1349
Planned Parenthood of North Central Fl., Inc. PPNCF provides a variety of Clinical Services at an affordable sliding scale rates and in complete confidentiality. We serve both male and female patients of all ages. Call to schedule an appointment. Location: 2121 W Pensacola St Contact: 574-7455, Education Line: 575-0485
Pride Student Union
Tallahassee Naturally Tallahassee Naturally is a group of about 100 men and women dedicated to the advancement of family naturist recreation in the Big Bend. Club activities include full-moon skinny-dips, trips to Barebottom Beach, canoeing trips, swimming and skin diving trips to remote springs, and the Annual Greek Athletic Competition. Meets for Annual Greek Athletic Competition: March 23 at 7pm Location: SSB 214 Website: www.tallahasseenaturally.org
Tallahassee Progressive Center The center is home to many of Tallahassee’s progressive organizations. It provides low cost office space and offers meeting spaces. They host a First Friday art hop and many other events. A calendar that includes all of their events is located on their website. Contact: 222-1888 Website: www.tallprogcen.com
We are one of the most consistent and active feminist groups on campus providing programming from weekly discussions, to the Body Outlaw, to women’s health and reproduction workshops, and female sexuality workshops. Meetings: Sundays at 7pm Location: Off campus, Contact us for directions Contact: theefword@gmail.com
Domestic Violence/Rape Crisis Volunteer Counselor Training. The Refuge House is looking for dedicated, caring individuals to assist battered women, their children, and rape survivors. Volunteers are needed to provide counseling, children’s activities, legal advocacy, community education, crisis intervention, and much more. If you are willing to commit to help for one year and are interested in enrolling in our 40-hour training, give us a call! Contact: Volunteer Coordinator, 922-6062
The F Word
Refuge House
Corporate media got you down? Don't be sad, BE THE MEDIA! Tally IMC is a community based, democratic media outlet affiliated with the global Indy Media Network. We are looking for more people with technical expertise and article submissions Website: Tallahassee.indymedia.org
PRSA was founded with the purpose of improving the quality of life for all Puerto Rican and other students at FSU as well as to promote Puerto Rican cultures through social, political, educational, and service activities. Contact: prsaseminoles@yahoo.com
Tally Indymedia
Puerto Rican Student Association
The “list” struggles resolutely to provide accurate, up to date information about lectures, meetings, readings, rallies, benefits, etc. of interest to the progressive Tallahassee community. Posts are limited to 1-4 a week. Removal is upon request. Sign up or send request for posting to tombaxter@talstar.com Contact: Tom Baxter, 893-7390 or tombaxter@talstar.com
PSU seeks to provide services and programs to address the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students and to increase the awareness of issues pertinent to them within the FSU community. Further, the PSU shall attempt to create a supportive and healthy environment for the welfare of all students regardless of their sexual orientation Meeting: March 22 at 7:30pm in SSB 214 Location: A303G Oglesby Union Contact: fsupsu@gmail.com
Tallahassee Progressive Calendar List
The Women’s Center Tallahassee Funding Abortions Now TFAN is a non-profit organization that exists to help women cover the costs of an abortion. Our group consists of students and people in the community who work to raise money to help these young women. We would welcome anyone who would like to work with us to fight the oppressive policies of the current administration Contact: Lynn 591-1014 or Jacksonmsw@aol.com
Tallahassee National Org. for Women Our purpose is to take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, in truly equal partnership with men with respect to citizenship, public service, employment, education, and family life, with freedom from discrimination because of age, race, marital status, sexual orientation or parenthood. Location: Tallahassee Progressive Center Contact: TallahNOW@aol.com Website: http://members.aol.com/tallahnow/
Our mission… Developing a greater awareness in the FSU community of the nature of women’s problem and their relationship to the economic, social, and political nature of the American Society. Stop by the Women’s Center, located directly across from the Student Services Building, and check out the reading library and study areas. If you want to discuss feminist issues, or just hand out and relax, stop by! Meetings: Mondays at 8pm Location: Women’s Center, Woodward Ave Contact: Barby Moro, Director sgawc@admin.fsu.edu
Veterans for Peace Veterans for Peace advocates for peace worldwide and organizes protests and other forms of nonviolent action to educate and demonstrate on and for peace. Contact: Tom Baxter, tombaxter@talstar.com Website: http://www.veteransforpeace.org
Contact: SGAenvironmental@admin.fsu.edu
Family Tree Community Center The Family Tree’s mission is to provide services which promote the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, to work to eliminate the conditions in society which allow homophobia to exist, and to be a place where everyone is welcome.. They host the Equality Florida Meet-up group, Tallahassee Pride Fest in June, a youth group, and various other social, discussion, and political groups. Meetings: 1st Tuesdays of each month Location: 310 Blount Street, Suite 205 Contact: 222-8555 or staff@familytreecenter.org Website: http://www.familytreecenter.org/
Food Not Bombs Tallahassee Food Not Bombs is a chapter of an international organization that focuses on radically resisting and eliminating occupation, racism, poverty, discrimination, violence, war and so much more. FNB's mission is to create a unified and sustainable community. Servings will be in the Carter Howell Strong Park (behind the hang over McDonald's on Tennessee Street), Sundays at 3pm. Please bring a food dish if possible! Contact: tallahassseeFNB@lists.riseup.net
educational and cultural instrument for FSU students, faculty, and staff and the Tallahassee community. We are open to everyone. Location: A303H Oglesby Union Contact: hlsu@admin.fsu.edu
Jewish Student Union The JSU provides education of Jewish customs and culture to all FSU students, faculty, and staff and community members. Everyone is welcome to join! Location: A303C Oglesby Union Contact: 644-0040
Krank It Up Community bike project located in Railroad Square. Tools to fix your bike, volunteers to guide you. Hours are as follows: Open: Mondays 1-6pm Tuesdays 2-6pm Ladies Night* Wednesday 1-6pm Thursday 1-6pm Friday 1-6pm Saturday 11am-4pm Location: 663 Industrial Drive, Railroad Square Website: http://www.krankitup.org
Ladies Night at KIU FSU NORML NORML is dedicated to removing criminal penalties associated with the personal possession and private use of marijuana. For over four years we have been a voice for students, staff, and faculty at FSU who oppose marijuana prohibition. By fostering education through discussion, we hope to inform the entire campus on marijuana issues and impacts of marijuana policy. Keep an eye out for HempFest on March 31st! Contact: 644-1668 or fsunormlsecretary@yahoo Website: http://www.fsunorml.org
Grassroots Free School A school that takes freedom and democracy seriously? Where classes are optional, and rules and the consequences for violations are decided in democratic meetings? Of course? Based on the tenets enunciated in A.S. Neill’s, Summerhill, and Summerhill School and in Free at Last by Daniel Greenburg, Grassroots School is one of the oldest free schools in the US. We are willing to share our approach and experiences with anyone who is willing to read one of the above books. Location: 2458 Grassroots Way Contact: Patrick Seery, 656-3629 or gpseery@yahoo.com
Haitian Culture Club of Tallahassee HCC of Tallahassee is a community-based club that promotes Haitian culture through various activities, education, outreach, and community service. We strive for unity and equality for all Haitians worldwide. Some of our activities include Creole language and Kompa dance courses, and donation drives. We are open to all! Contact: 644-2698 Website: www.hcctallahassee.org
Hispanic Latino Student Union HLSU shall serve as an institution dedicated to gathering information in regards to trends, necessities, and achievements of the Hispanic/Latino community. The HLSU shall function as an
Ladies Bike Night at Krank It Up is part of a community bike project in Tallahassee aimed at arming the people with wheels. Come in & learn how to fix all of your bike parts! Ladies and trans only. Meets: Tuesdays 2-6pm Location: 663 Industrial Drive, Railroad Square Website: http://www.krankitup.org
Middle East Peace Association The Middle East Peace Association discusses political and current events in the Middle East and North Africa from a nonpartisan perspective. MEPA participates in panel discussions, information sessions, public awareness and cultural events, and aid organizations dealing with the Middle East and North Africa. Contact: fsumepa@yahoogroups.com Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fsumepa/
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is an organization that was founded in 1909 and has been historically active in the fight for civil rights. The FSU chapter continues to struggle for a society without racism, reaching out to the community both on campus and throughout Tallahassee. Contact: fsunaacp@yahoo.com Website: www.naacp.org
North Florida Women’s Health & Counseling An established licensed medical facility serving women of North Florida and South Georgia since 1981. Provides Abortion services, free follow up exams, Well woman gynecology, pap smears, Depo Provera/NUVA Ring, emergency contraception, birth control exams, STI testing, free walk-in pregnancy testing, and educational programming. Location: 1345 Cross Creek Circle Contact: 877-3183
Pax Christi
ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union is freedom’s watchdog, working daily in the courts, legislatures, and communities to defend the individual rights and personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We struggle to defend constitutional principles such as free speech, freedom of expression, privacy, equality, and separation of church and state. Contact: Chapter Chair – Chet Kaufman, 668-1946 Or Write: ACLU of Tallahassee Chapter PO Box 11145 Tallahassee, Fl 32302-3145
Location: A303B Contact: 644-3909 or FSUASU@hotmail.com Website: http://localendar.com/public/fsuasu/
Black Student Union The BSU works to bring about better racial relations on campus by promoting mutual respect for all cultures. The BSU provides panel discussions, distinguished lecturers, community service and campus-community interaction. Soul Food Sundays: Sunday Feb 25 at 3pm, every other Sunday Location: 206 Woodward Avenue Contact: 644-0716 Website: http://www.fsu.edu/~sga/bsu/
African Student Association ASA is a non-profit umbrella organization for African Students located at FSU. ASA seeks to create a medium through which African young adults can network and collaborate on projects based on the common desires to reshape the future of Africa. As an organization that desires to address issues facing African young adults, ASA plans on fostering relationships to raise awareness and interest in the needs and cultures of Africa and Africans within their present communities. Contact: ASAfsu@yahoo.com Website: http://www.fsu.edu/~activity/asa/
American Indian Student Union AISU serves to promote and provide for the social welfare of the American Indian student body here at FSU. We are an educational and cultural instrument for the FSU community by providing cultural awareness and materials which promote American Indian cultures. AISU serves as a bridge connecting the FSU community to the American Indian community, and were open to everyone! Location: A303D Oglesby Union Contact: 644-3756 fsu.aisu@gmail.com or aisu@admin.fsu.edu
Amnesty International Amnesty International is an international non-partisan organization that acts through education, letter writing, lobbying, and direct contact with the local, national and global communities. Amnesty International has over a million member worldwide in 192 countries. We discuss events and the plan of action for fighting for human right at our meetings. Contact: aifsu@yahoo.com or 645-1380
Arab Cultural Association ACA is dedicated to promoting Arab cultural and political awareness in the FSU and greater Tallahassee community. Join us for exciting and entertaining cultural events such as the Arabic ball, Middle East dance workshops, and monthly Sheesha Nights. Look out for political actions discussions on civil liberties, Israel/Palestine, Iraq, and many more topics. All welcome! Become involved! To join the listserve, receive meeting times, and event updates, send us an email. Contact: aca_fsu@yahoo.com
Asian Student Union ASU is a an educational and cultural organization at FSU that provides cultural shows, workshops, and other events. The ASU works towards introducing the student body and the Tallahassee community to Asian culture and heritage. We hold monthly meetings and everyone is welcome. Also, keep an eye out for Asian Heritage Month events in March.
Caribbean Students Association CSA provides both Caribbean students and other students with an active voice on campus in matters concerning Caribbean students at FSU. The Association provides social, cultural, and educational activities for FSU and the Tallahassee Community. Contact: fsucsa@yahoo.com
College Democrats The purpose of this club is to educate FSU students and the Tallahassee community about politics and the Democratic Party. This club is based at The Florida State University campus, but shall work in the entire community to promote the beliefs and ideals of the Democratic Party and encourage civic responsibility. Contact: fsudemocrats@gmail.com
Colombian Student Association ColSA serves to promote and provide for the social welfare of the Colombian American students at FSU. It functions as an educational an cultural instrument for FSU and the Tallahassee Community. Previous events include guest speakers, ColSA week, and fundraisers. We are open to everyone regardless of background. Contact: 645-1387 or fsucolsa@yahoo.com
Critical Mass Organized mass of bikers that ride through heavy traffic areas in order to promote the desire and need for alternative transportation. Meets in front of the Old Capitol on Monroe & Appalachee the last Friday of every month at 5pm. Website: Tallycat.org
Endless Anti-War Vigil Join the Tallahassee Network for Justice and Peace, Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, in their two plus year vigil against our wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Haiti. Meets: Sundays 12:30-2:30pm and Thursdays 4-6pm Location: Corner of Apalachee Pkwy and Monroe St, in front of the Old Capitol Contact: organize@TNJP.org
Environmental Service Program The Environmental Service Program is an affiliated project of FSU’s Student Government Association and the Center for Civic Education. We exist to protect the Earth and to have fun while doing it. Current projects are: educational outreach, increasing recycling services at FSU, and the Sustainable Campus Initiative. Meetings: Mondays at 5:30pm SSB 219 Location: A224 Oglesby Union
the cpe shops CPE hired a new woodshop director, Erin Wilson, to get everything ship shape and running again. Her first priority is getting the shop up to safe working order- then purchasing some new tools. We can function fine without new tools, but we do want some in the long run. The shop is not yet safe for any student to use, and Erin will keep the collective updated on what’s going on. We will be back to running classes and studio hours once the building is in full working order. Erin’s personal prescription for the woodshop is that it should be converted into a studio art space open for all. We will decommission some of the more hazardous machines (especially the ones that just don’t work) and then have half of the shop open for setting up chairs and easels. We could keep the band saw, radial arm saw, and drill press. This would give us sufficient means to create canvases and smaller projects. We could also continue to make shelves and things if students felt the desire to do so. Erin will also advertise smaller projects in the CPE catalogue, like smaller shelves, tables, bookcases and the like. We’re going to paint the walls of the shop, on Wednesday the 21st at 10am. Anyone is welcome to come by and help. Hopefully, we will have things ready for an open house during DIY week, the last week of March. More updates as things progress. You can email Erin at woodshop@yourfreeuniversity.org.