Vol. CXXX, No. 6

THE STUDENT LIFE FRIDAY, NovembeR 1, 2019 | CLAREMONT, CA | VOL. CXXX NO. 6

Pomona alum seeks help as mother faces risk of deportation meGHAN bobRoWSKY & JAImIe DING Tania Romero’s been through a lot. She’s raised four kids, battled stage 4 cancer and now, she’s on the verge of being deported. Originally from Honduras, she came into the United States as an undocumented immigrant two decades ago, according to The New York Times. In mid-August of this year, she was pulled over for speeding in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and arrested for not having a license, according to her son, Cristian Jose Padilla Romero PO ’18. He said they posted bail. But instead of being released, Tania was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Irwin County Detention Center — nearly 200 miles away from her family in Atlanta. In addition to fears of deportation, Cristian is worried about his mother ’s health. Tania was diagnosed with stage four mouth and neck cancer in late 2016 and underwent surgery in early 2017, followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatments, he said. He started a petition and GoFundMe on Tuesday afternoon, alleging that the detention center has deprived her of regular medical follow-ups and post-radiation and post-chemotherapy care. She was recently diagnosed with a serious B12 vitamin deficiency, he said. “She still needs to be carefully watched and monitored, and that’s not happening,” Cristian told TSL.

Students at the Claremont Colleges have also been sharing his family’s story, which has been covered by The New York Times, Vice, the Yale Daily News and other outlets. ICE told the Romero family that Tania received an ICE removal order in 2008, but she never received a notice to appear in court, Cristian said. ICE could not immediately be reached for comment. While in the detention center, Tania filed for a motion to re-open her case, her son said. But a judge rejected the motion Oct. 17, and the family found out about a week later. She’s currently trying to get her case reconsidered. But Cristian’s become increasingly worried, because on Wednesday, ICE asked for her Honduran travel documents — a step toward deporting her, he said. “She’s more vulnerable than ever for deportation,” he said. Cristian said his grandparents live in Honduras, but that returning to her home country would be detrimental to his mother’s wellbeing. “We fear that her physical health is declining at an alarming rate,” he wrote in the petition. “And if she is deported to Honduras, my mother would certainly face a decline in health, if not death.” The petition Cristian began Tuesday afternoon, which asks

See DePoRT on page 3

COURTESY OF CRISTIAN JOSE PADILLA ROMERO

Tania Romero, a recent stage 4 cancer survivor, has been held in an ICE detention center for two months.

TALIA beRNSTeIN • THe STUDeNT LIFe

5C Natya performs a South Indian classical dance during the sixth annual International Autumn Gala on Oct. 26. Read more on page 4.

Pomona makes RAs hourly workers JASPeR DAvIDoFF Resident advisors at Pomona College will become hourly employees next semester, administrators announced in a meeting with RAs on Monday. RAs are worried this could result in an overall pay cut. In discussions with each other and meetings with administrators, RAs raised concerns that their new status and job structure will decrease their wages and abilities to take on other jobs, among other issues, according to multiple current RAs. RAs are currently independent contractors paid annually with a stipend of about $8,800 before taxes and a credit for half of room and board fees, according to Pomona Dean of Campus Life Josh Eisenberg. As independent contractors, they don’t log hours with Pomona, giving them broad leeway to work another, more traditional job paid hourly as well. With the change, RAs won’t be allowed to work more than eight hours a day across all

their on-campus jobs without accruing overtime, according to Eisenberg. And RAs will be logging 13 hours a week, more than half of Pomona’s limit of 20 hours of campus employment a week. RAs with multiple jobs fear they may have to quit their other jobs to avoid accruing overtime or going over the total work limit, RAs Jose Huerta Gutierrez PO ’20 and Sarthak Sharma PO ’20 said. “The original discussion was, maybe you can’t have another job besides RA,” Eisenberg said. “Based on conversations with ASPC and some other leaders on campus, we are still going to have it in there that says you may have another job with permission of your supervisor. It’s just that we’re going to be more stringent about that permission.” RAs will earn $6,400 in regular wages for a 34-week school year, Eisenberg said. But he estimated that in total they would receive $8,000 before

See RA on page 2

New York Times podcast host Michael Barbaro addresses packed house at Scripps event JAImIe DING & JULIA FRANKeL “From The New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro. This is ‘The Daily.’” It’s a voice many students know well, whether they listen to it while brushing their teeth every morning or during their walk to class. But on Tuesday night, 5C students got to hear it in person. Barbaro, the host of The New York Times’ hit podcast “The Daily,” spoke to a packed house at Garrison Theater at Scripps College about his life as a traditional journalist turned podcaster. He was interviewed by Alex Cohen, anchor of Spectrum News 1 SoCal’s “The Beat on 1.” “It’s the absence of so many things in audio that makes it so powerful,” Barbaro said. “It’s the fact that there aren’t all these other elements to it like visual cues … you let your mind do all this work when you’re just hearing a couple voices.” Barbaro’s self-described “love affair ” with newspapers began from his first job as a paperboy. “It’s an incredibly boring line of work,” he said, eliciting laughs

from the audience. Every morning, after he finished delivering papers at 6:30 a.m., he would read the paper himself and fell in love with The New York Times. “I’ve always wanted to be a part of The New York Times,” he said. Barbaro’s first full-time reporting job was not at The New York Times, however, but The Washington Post covering retail. “Every beat has a set of great stories,” Barbaro said. “You just have to go find them.” Barbaro said his podcast has three criteria for a good story: an interesting narrative arc that will keep listeners engaged, an engrossing character and a big idea that’s revealed by the end of the episode. “We flip stories inside out,” Barbaro said. “There’s the most obvious way to approach it, and we will just discard that right away.” “The Daily”’s stories include that of a man’s quest to bring his daughter, a former ISIS bride, back to Australia; a gun store owner’s perspective on selling a gun that was used in the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting and a former white nationalist’s choice to

leave behind friends and family when forgoing the movement. The transition from print to audio journalism wasn’t easy, however. “I was very much like a baby being swaddled by these seasoned producers,” Barbaro said.

He believes audio is key to regaining the trust of the public in light of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric accusing journalists of spreading “fake news” and being the “enemy

See bARbARo on page 3

TALIA BERNSTEIN • THE STUDENT LIFE

Michael Barbaro, host of The New York Times’ podcast, The Daily, spoke at Scripps College on Oct. 29 about his career in journalism.

Ballroom Dance

INTERCOLLEGIATE SHOWDOWN PAGE 6

The student newspaper of the Claremont Colleges since 1889

SHS hires new staff members to re-open services PATRICK LIU After a month-long period operating as an urgent care center, Student Health Services was able to resume normal service Oct. 22 after it hired four new staff members, officials said. During the suspension, SHS did not take routine appointments due to a “critical” shortage of registered nurses and medical providers, TSL previously reported. The Claremont Colleges Services responded by hiring and initiating orientation sessions for three registered nurses and a nurse practitioner, according to Janet Smith Dickerson, TCCS vice president for student affairs. In addition, one nursing staff member returned from leave. The new hires will join the three doctors, two nurse practitioners and one registered nurse currently working at SHS. All normal services have now resumed except for allergen immunotherapy services. SHS will be able to offer allergy shots again once the new nurses’ orientation is complete, Dickerson said via email Monday. “We are very pleased that Student Health Services has been able to resume normal operations after the staffing challenges we encountered earlier this month ... ,” she said. “Barring any new unforeseen circumstances, the clinic will be able to treat students with urgent needs immediately, as well as schedule routine appointments without a prolonged delay.” TCCS additionally made efforts in the last three weeks to accelerate its search for a new full-time SHS medical director. The center has not had a fulltime director since at least spring 2018, and lost the previous two in less than a year, TSL previously reported. Dickerson said TCCS invited a finalist to come to Claremont for interviews and a public presentation Nov. 15. She invited all students to attend the meetings and contact her or her assistant for details of the candidate’s schedule. Dickerson previously told TSL that SHS has struggled with hiring due to a “competitive” regional job market for healthcare professionals.

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INDEX: News 1 | Life & Style 4 | Opinions 8 | Sports 11

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RA: Students worry pay could decrease under new system Continued from page 1 taxes, with the addition of paid trainings and special shifts. The RAs will also pay less in taxes as student employees, according to financial aid director Robin Thompson, among other tax benefits. “Moving to an hourly wage system, there’s a lot of benefits for [RAs] because they don’t have to pay their own self-employment taxes,” Thompson said. “They have the capacity to withhold federal and state taxes throughout the course of the year so they don’t get hit with a large tax bill and tax liability in April when they file their taxes.” But if, under the new system, RAs earn more than they currently do, the financial aid office could decrease their aid allotments. The financial aid office determines student income using data from the previous two years, Thompson said, so RAs who began work as sophomores could face reductions during their senior year. Eisenberg said these RAs could lose $2,000 to $5,000 in financial aid in their senior year. But he maintained that the impact of that reduction could be overstated. “If you work sophomore, junior and senior years, even if your financial aid takes a hit at $5,000, you’ve made $24,000 over three years,” he said. “That’s not saying it’s still not a problem and still not something that can be concerning. But I think people sometimes have misheard it.” Eisenberg emphasized that the new policy will grant quality-of-life benefits that will be afforded to RAs as hourly employees, including sick time and structured breaks during long shifts and trainings. Despite administrators’ belief that they’ll be earning more overall, some RAs are concerned that they’ll actually earn less. “On certain weeks, you’re working a lot more, and on other weeks, you’re not working as much, or you’re not picking up enough shifts sometimes. So it really varies from person to person,” RA Sarthak Sharma PO ’20 said. “I can imagine there could be situations in which people aren’t making as much money as they are doing currently.” The new, stricter limits on how long students can work will espe-

CHRIS NARDI • THE STUDENT LIFE

Pomona College Residential Advisor Sara Reyes Noriega PO ’21 hangs up a poster outside Clark III.

cially impact low-income and international students who often work multiple jobs, Sharma said. International students, like Sharma, are also limited to 20 hours of work week on- and off-campus by visa regulations. “Students who are doing the RA job and working other campus jobs would really have to think about what else they’re doing outside of the RA job because they wouldn’t be allowed to work more than 20 hours. So I think international students’ finances would definitely be affected,” Sharma said. Due to the uncertainty around such large structural changes to the role, Eisenberg said, administrators gave students two weeks to decide whether they would like to return as RAs next semester. They advised RAs to work with financial aid counselors and consider how their other jobs might be affected within this timeframe.

Sharma said he was considering leaving the job for next semester.

According to this new plan, we’re supposed to have a four-hour block of office hour time in which students get to come in and talk to us. But I think that that’s more like a professor-student kind of formal relationship rather than the informal kind of relationship that we had with our residents. Sarthak Sharma Po ’20

Outside of financial considerations, some RAs speculated that

their new work structure — four hours of scheduled interactions and/or residence hall programming, rather than more informal availability to residents — would make them less accessible. “According to this new plan, we’re supposed to have a fourhour block of office hour time in which students get to come in and talk to us,” Sharma said. “But I think that that’s more like a professor-student kind of formal relationship rather than the informal kind of relationship that we had with our residents.” Eisenberg said RAs could plan their “office hours” around natural times of social interaction with residents. “If you find out that your floor is really around in the hall from 7 to 9 on Sundays, those can be two hours over there,” he said. “It’s availability and tracking that availability.” Also, on-duty RAs will only work until midnight most nights

and 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, according to Eisenberg. This mean students locked out of their rooms after RA duty ends will have to rely on Campus Safety, incurring a $25 fee in the process. The changes were in part prompted by RAs who met with Dean of Students Avis Hinkson last year, asking for help with the tax liability associated with their independent contractor status, Huerta-Gutierrez said. After administrators began looking into solutions, Eisenberg said, the Human Resources department and legal counsel advised them RAs needed to become school employees. A new California law going into effect on Jan. 1, which will make it more difficult to classify workers as independent contractors, also spurred the change, he said. Disclaimer: Sharma is a TSL Opinions writer.

Pomona, Scripps writing centers expand In Memoriam: Former offerings for 2019-20 academic year Pitzer, CMC vice president James B. Jamieson

ALLISoN FITZ

LILLY HAAVE • THE STUDENT LIFE

Writing partner Soham Khan PO ’21 helps Rohan Gowda PO ’23 with his essay at the Pomona College Writing Center on Oct. 3.

SHReYA KAmRA This past summer, both Pomona College’s and Scripps College’s writing centers expanded their services. Pomona’s center received a $250,000 grant to support oral and visual communication, and Scripps’ center moved to a bigger location, according to the centers’ respective directors. The $250,000 Pomona grant came from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, according to Stephanie Liu-Rojas, the writing program coordinator. The center’s new speaking partner program, funded by this grant, allows students to work with tutors specialized in oral communication to help them learn how to convey their ideas effectively to their peers during brainstorm sessions, class discussions, presentations and essays, according to Liu-Rojas. “The thing about communication is that it is not only writing, but it is also speaking, listening and read-

ing,” she said. “... There are a lot of students that are listening in the class discussion (and that is a form of participation) but they might not interject into the conversation.” The speaking partners will address this by working with the students to “discuss ways and ideas of how people can interject into those conversations when they want to, especially if they are actively listening,” Liu-Rojas said. Claire LeBlanc PO ’23 said she’s excited by the new programming. “Class presentations always make me really nervous, so I am really excited about this new resource,” she said. Scripps’ center moved to a new location in the Clark Humanities Museum — a space almost four times the size of the old one, according to Glenn Simshaw, the writing center’s director. The original room only housed three small tables, Simshaw said, allowing only a small number of students to access the center’s

resources at once. Their revamped workspace has allowed them to offer a variety of additional resources. With this improvement, Scripps also holds its traditional Core Night there instead of in classrooms, according to Simshaw. Core Night helps students write papers for Core I, a required class for all Scripps firstyears. “In the past, we would have lines outside the writing center, and we could fit only about three sessions in the writing center at a time,” he said. With this new space, “we have a waiting area in the writing center, and we can conduct up to a dozen sessions (one-on-one) at a time,” he added. The revamped atmosphere has a “focused but casual atmosphere” where students can ask tutors if they have a quick question and work on the couch, Simshaw said.

Correction In an article in Issue 5 about lighting at Pomona College, Clark V residence hall was incorrectly referred to as Clark IV. TSL regrets this error.

Former Pitzer College and Claremont McKenna College vice president James B. Jamieson died in his home in San Luis Obispo on Sept. 18, according to an email from Pitzer President Melvin Oliver and an obituary in the San Luis Obispo County Tribune. He was 88. Jamieson began as an associate professor at Pitzer in 1968, then served as vice president of advancement from 1973 to 1983 and acting president from 1978 to 1979, Oliver said in an email to the community. Jamieson also was a CMC vice president from 1984 to 1987, according to the Tribune. Jamieson’s ties to the Claremont community extend beyond his professional career — after serving two years in the Air Force, he received his bachelor ’s degree from CMC and master’s from Claremont

Graduate School in 1958, according to the Tribune. During this time Jamieson also met his future wife, Perry McNaughton, who attended Scripps College, according to the Tribune. They married in 1959, shortly before moving to Providence, Rhode Island, where Jamieson received his doctorate in political science from Brown University, according to the Tribune. There the couple welcomed their first son, Jeff, in 1960, before moving back to California. Their second son, Dalton, was born in Claremont in 1966. In 1987, Jamieson and his family relocated to San Luis Obispo, where he served as the executive director for the Performing Arts Center at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), the Tribune said. A celebration of life will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly, according to the Tribune.

THE STUDENT LIFE Editorial Board meGHAN bobRoWSKY, Editor-in-Chief mAbeL LUI, Managing Editor mARC RoD, Managing Editor

Senior Staff JAmeS KARSTeN, Production Editor HeLeNA oNG, Senior Design Editor SAm bovARD, News Designer GRACe SAUeRS, Life & Style Designer mARGoT mAFRA SPeNCeR, Opinions Designer CAmeRoN TIPToN, Sports Designer TALIA beRNSTeIN, Photo Editor JUSTIN SLePPY, Photo Editor ANAGA SRINIvAS, Graphics Editor

KeLLeN bRoWNING, Editor-at-Large JAImIe DING, News Editor JULIA FRANKeL, News Editor PATRICK LIU, News Associate AmbeR CHoNG, Life & Style Editor YASmIN eLQUTAmI, Life & Style Editor DoNNIe DeNome, Opinions Editor eAmoN moRRIS, Opinions Editor eRIKA SCHWeRDFeGeR, Sports Editor mADY CoLANTeS, Copy Chief

TSL’s Editorial Board consists of the editor-in-chief and two managing editors. Aside from the editorial, the views expressed in the opinions section do not necessarily reflect the views of The Student Life. Singles copies of TSL are free and may be obtained at news stands around campus. Multiple copies may be purchased for $0.47 per copy with prior approval by contacting editor@tsl.news. Newspaper theft is a crime; perpetrators may be subject to disciplinary action as well as civil and/ or criminal prosecution.

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DePORT: Claremont community offers support Continued from page 1 ICE to halt her deportation and release her to receive medical treatment, has gathered more than 21,000 signatures as of Thursday night. Cristian is also urging people to call ICE and ask for his mother’s release. Cristian, 24, studied Latin American Studies at Pomona College and is now getting his doctorate in history at Yale University. “[My mother is] the reason I’m in the place I’m in now,” he told TSL. Cristian said he came to the U.S. when he was 7 years old after his mother arrived beforehand. He’s an undocumented immigrant but protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and has three older sisters who entered the U.S. at different times. Cristian called his mom “the bedrock of our family, the glue that keeps us all together.” He was able to get in contact with his congressional representative, Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., delaying his mother ’s potential deportation until at least this weekend as McBath is scheduled to speak to ICE on Friday. The GoFundMe campaign supporting Tania’s legal and medical fees has received almost $25,000 as of Thursday. Cristian’s girlfriend, Anayansi Alatorre Romo PO ’20, was driving from Chicago to California with Cristian when they received the call that Tania had been arrested. “Of course, like what was happening was breaking his heart and like tearing them apart, but like the strength of his mom, you can see it clearly in him,” Alatorre Romo said about Cristian. “... the resilience is present in him and all of his sisters too, all three of them.” Though Alatorre Romo and Cristian aren’t married, she calls

Tania “suegra,” which means mother-in-law in Spanish. Alatorre Romo spent time with her over this past summer when Alatorre Romo taught in Atlanta. When Alatorre Romo struggled with mental health, she turned to Tania for support. “[Tania’s] such a positive light,” she said. When Alatorre Romo’s own mother had a cancer scare, Tania became her support system, even though the two mothers had only met once. “It just hurts a lot … especially knowing the impact on the younger kids,” Alatorre Romo said. After Tania’s youngest grandchild was born, she would often burst into the house and yell, “Leandro!”, smothering him with kisses and love, Alatorre Romo said. Alatorre Romo has started posting flyers around the Claremont Colleges and surrounding areas to raise awareness about Tania’s situation. The Immigrant Rights Coalition in Claremont has also been tabling to get students to sign the petition and call ICE, according to the group’s Facebook page. Shayok Chakraborty PO ’19 said he worked with Cristian while organizing around immigration in Claremont. Chakraborty and Cristian met through the Know Your Rights Collective, which was formed after President Donald Trump was elected in 2016. They worked together to hold a DACA rally as well as events with workshops and legal resources for undocumented immigrants. “Cristian was always there,” Chakraborty said. “I’ve seen him around, and I’ve seen him put out for people.”

Pitzer Student Senate cancels plan to buy overdose reversal drug Pitzer College Student Senate decided not to move forward with their bill to purchase Naloxone when they became aware that Campus Safety already carries doses of it, according to Senate President Clint Isom PZ ’20. Naloxone, commonly known under the brand name Narcan, is a non-prescription medication that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. The bill, which was approved in March 2019, stated that $500 from the reserve fund would be used to purchase 12 doses of Naloxone to be placed at various locations on Pitzer’s campus. Anna Chang, a spokesperson for Pitzer, said they would focus instead on creating awareness of Campus Safety’s existing Narcan Program that was launched in November 2018. The senators that wrote the bill weren’t aware that Campus Safety carried Narcan, according to Isom. All campus safety officers in the field are required to carry two doses of Narcan, according to Campus Safety director Stan Skipworth. “The second dose is for anyone who could become contaminated with the opioid and might also become affected through contact when simply by trying to help the original patient,” Skipworth said. Skipworth cited the rapid expansion of opioid overdoses in the country and the Southern California region as a prime reason for launching the program. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California saw statistically significant increases in drug overdose death rates from 2016 to 2017. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services estimates that 2.1 million people in the U.S. struggle with an opioid use disorder. Campus Safety officers have not had to administer any doses of Narcan yet. Claremont Police have also subsequently launched a similar program, according to Skipworth. — Anushe Engineer Pomona hires new vice president for advancement Pomona College hired Maria Watson as its new vice president for advancement, according to officials. Watson has 25 years of experience at nonprofits and in fundraising, Pomona President G. Gabrielle Starr announced in an email to students. She’s currently the associate vice president of development at the University of Southern California and previously worked at the Lincoln Center and Fordham University. At USC, where she’s worked for the last eight years, Watson launched a New York Citybased branch of the advancement office and worked on the college’s $7 billion fundraising campaign. “In Pomona, Maria noted, she sees a highly successful institution with true intellectual purpose, strong values and an enduring commitment to access and opportunity — what she calls the ‘perfect combination,’” Starr said. “Her aim is to align Pomona’s philanthropic support to match its academic excellence and, in doing so, boost the positive change Sagehens make every day in the world around them.” Watson will be responsible for overseeing fundraising at Pomona, including major gifts, alumni and parent engagement and planned giving, according to Starr. Watson will start work Jan. 6, pending formal appointment from the Board of Trustees in December. — Marc Rod

BARBARO: Spontaneity is ‘an art’ Continued from page 1

COURTESY OF CRISTIAN JOSE PADILLA ROMERO

Cristian Jose Padilla Romero PO ’18 poses for a photo with his mother, Tania Romero.

of the people.” “When journalists tell you about their story on ‘The Daily’ … and you hear them talk about their process and rigor, it’s harder to think of them as the enemy of the people rather than just really hardworking journalists,” he said. Barbaro emphasized the importance of not editing the smaller, more personal moments between himself and his interviewees out of “The Daily.” “We’re not the first audio show to let the kind of weird spontaneous elements remain in a show, but I think we have made an art of it accidentally,”

he said. And he’s reaching a new audience for The Times — more than half of those who listen to “The Daily” don’t read or subscribe to The New York Times, according to Cohen. The Daily received 1.1 million downloads every weekday as of June 2018, according to Recode. Natalya Braxton PO ’23, who attended the event, said she didn’t pay attention to the news until she came across “The Daily.” “Having a medium by which I could visualize ‘key players’ as characters in my head — as people who could come to life with separate histories of their own — was what changed my view on what news could be,”

Braxton said via message. “For those of us ... who need a more human-centered perspective to best understand ‘politics,’ Barbaro provides just that,” she added. Scripps students also had the chance to sit in on a student session with Barbaro before the speaking event. Niyati Narang SC ’20, who began listening to the podcast in early 2018, said it was a “very prominent part of my daily routine.” “It was a great opportunity to ask Michael about some of the politics of his job and get a sense of what role he sees himself playing in the world of news and politics today,” Narang said via message.

Despite policy changes, confusion surrounding student party policies rampant among Pomona students, RAs SIeNA SWIFT For years, Pomona students have taken pains to hide drinking behind closed doors and avoid making too much noise, out of fear of being punished under the school’s policies on unregistered parties, many of which, including those charged with enforcing the policies, find to be confusing and unclear. Much of this confusion seems to have stemmed from a disconnect between policies on the books the training resident advisors receive and RA enforcement practices. Current and former RAs said they were trained based on enforcement criteria that haven’t been included in Pomona’s policy in at least eight years, according to previous versions of the student handbook. Natalie Huang PO ’22, a current RA, said the residence life coordinators conducting training this summer told her that a nonzero number of people with an atmosphere of a party constitutes an unregistered party. But that language doesn’t appear in the current policy. “A social gathering may be dispersed only if it includes (1) excessively loud noise or (2) a violation of any section of the Alcohol and Other Drugs policy. Students who host such gatherings are responsible for the behavior of those who attend,” the 2019-2020 student handbook states. Huang was not aware of this until informed by TSL during an interview. This policy is new for the 20192020 school year. Pomona College’s student affairs committee (SAC) revised the policy at the end of the spring semester, to clarify the chronic areas of confusion and discord.

Haley Parsley PO ’21, a current head sponsor and former RA, also said she was taught the nonzero guideline during RA training in summer 2018, despite it not being in the code. Previously, the policy did not make clear the criteria that would allow an RA to shut down unregistered parties. “Private gatherings in residence hall rooms, or in common living areas of student suites, that infringe on public space or become a public nuisance will be dispersed and sanctioned. Students who host such parties are responsible for the behavior of those who attend,” the 2018-2019

student handbook states. Director of residential life Steven Jubert denied that RAs were taught the nonzero guideline this summer but said it had been used in the past. “In previous years, [nonzero number of people with the atmosphere of a party] was one of the criteria used, as per campus policy. We no longer use this criterion as the Student Affairs Committee has changed this standard,” he said in an email. Despite Jubert’s statement that the guideline was once “campus policy,” student handbooks from the last eight years do not include references to such a policy. Jubert

did not respond to further questions about this discrepancy. Pomona College’s Judicial Board proposed the changes to the unregistered party policy to provide clearer qualifications for what constituted a party. Isaac Cui PO ’20, one of the judicial board chairs, described the previous policy as unclear and unspecific. “Everyone on campus seems to believe that there is a rule that says if there’s a nonzero number of people at an event with the atmosphere of a party, then that constitutes a party,” Cui said. “The problem is, that’s not written down. In my view,

TALIA BERNSTEIN • THE STUDENT LIFE

Jordy Gertner PO ’21, Haley Parsley PO ’21 and Isaac Cui PO ’20 are Judicial Board chairs. Matthew Wagner PO ’20 (not pictured) is J-Board’s fourth chair.

that’s a big concern … you have this disconnect between what the policy says and how the policy is implemented.” Pomona Dean of Students Avis Hinkson, who sits on SAC, said she believes the changes to the policy are positive. “The changes made to the unregistered party policy seek to provide greater clarity, and I believe a better understanding of our policies is always helpful for our community,” she said via email. Jubert added that policy is not a top priority for RAs. “We ask RAs to be familiar with policy, but they do not need to be experts. Policy enforcement is a small portion of the RA position,” Jubert said. Huang said she found the “nonzero” language confusing, and suggested that OHRL should be clearer during training. “I was still confused [after training], I was [thinking], ‘What does that even mean?’ … It is very vague because it could just be five people in a room studying together and, well, [that’s a] nonzero number … It’s up to the RA on duty or the person that’s calling it in; it’s very relative,” she said. Parsley said her previous OHRL training did not give her an understanding of the policies on the books. “I actually still have a lot of moments as a J-Board chair where there are things that I say, ‘It says this in the code,’ and actually it doesn’t, it’s just something OHRL taught me. ... There’s not a lot of continuity,” she said. Two current sponsors, Jay Scott PO ’22 and Connor Squellati PO ’22, also said the training they received on alcohol policy was unclear, and Squellati said it included the “atmosphere of a party” descriptor.

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NovEmbEr 1, 2019

international students dazzle at 2019 international Autumn Gala

TALIA bErNSTEIN • THE STUDENT LIFE

Left: Kavi Ali PZ ’23 performs “A Dance for rojava” during the International Autumn Gala on oct. 26. right: meenakshi venkatraman Hm ’20 performs in the South Indian classical dance during the International Autumn Gala on oct. 26.

YASMIN ELQUTAMI There are few events that headline an aerial silks performance, a Korean rap and a traditional Kurdish dance all in one night, but 5C students got to see all three at Bridges Auditorium last Saturday. The 2019 International Autumn Gala, hosted by the International Place of the Claremont Colleges on Oct. 26, showcased international student talent in various forms from dozens of cultures around the world, with acts like a traditional Japanese taiko drumming performance, an Armenian Tsaghkadzori folk dance and an Argentinian tango. Kavi Ali PZ ’23 performed the Halparke, a traditional Kurdish dance, as a form of expression and representation, mentioning her personal experience at the 5Cs. “When I first came to Pitzer, I

was surprised by the lack of cultural representation and events that would feature students’ talents,” she said via message. “When I heard of [the gala], I knew that was the place for me to show up.” Ali nearly pulled out of the gala on account of Turkey invading Western Kurdistan, but realized her performance could be “a symbol of resistance” through cultural celebration, she said. Gunn Phikrohkit PZ ’22, president of the Pitzer International Students Association, partook in multiple dance performances throughout the night and said the gala encouraged individual student expression. “Personally, I am really happy that I-Place organized this event,” he said via message. “As an international student, I feel that [it] encouraged inter-

national students from different countries to celebrate and share our uniqueness and differences, [and] it was really wonderful performing with people who share parts of my identity and life experiences.” Event organizer and host Sushmith Kulkarni PO ’20 echoed Phikrohkit’s sentiments, noting how International Gala is unique in its ability to showcase one-of-a-kind acts. Performance-based events are typically organized through a college or organization and often have to fit into a certain category, and International Gala’s more flexible criteria lend itself to a greater variety of acts, he said. “This kind of a talent show is a nice way to do it because the people who are performing have control over what they perform and how they are presented,”

Student musicians talk songwriting, vulnerability and more

Kulkarni said. Because of this level of control given to students, their performances are able to be more personal, he added. “You get to show off things you do at home or … with your family or a group of friends that is close and personal to you,” Kulkarni said. “Giving [more unique] talents a platform is a great part of [the show].” International Gala is a learning experience as well, Kulkarni said, whether you’re a performer or an attendee. “[People have] … this tendency to homogenize people who we see as different,” he said. “Events like this not only give you an idea of how diverse the international student body is, but also how diverse people from [different communities are]. For example, two Japanese

FooD FILES

fancy toast and quick eats at new Claremont Village eatery ERIN SLICHTER

STELLA FAvAro • THE STUDENT LIFE

mary Celestin Hm ’21 released her EP “Welcome to September” on Sep. 1.

AMIRAH ADEM Next time you’re singing in the shower or biking to class, consider skipping a Hot 100 single and jamming to a Claremont-grown track. Tahiv McGee PO ’21, Mary Celestin HM ’21 and Lena Proctor CM ’21 are all 5C student musicians, who write, record and promote their music in between classes and extracurriculars. McGee primarily makes R&B and rap music, inspired by his emotions and personal life. He said his songwriting is therapeutic, giving him an outlet to express himself. “All of my songs are ways for me to go about the process of understanding myself,” he said. “By having a conversation with the listener … it is kind of like [when] you learn a new concept, and you’re [able] to show that you actually know it [by explaining] it to somebody else.” Because music pushed him to tackle deeply profound feelings, McGee credited song-writing with the rise of his self awareness. “I think that it is extremely helpful because once I embody whatever emotion I’m feeling at the moment, I’m able to get it out.” Proctor, who makes alternative R&B music, reflected on how her writing style is a mix of reality and fantasy. “Sometimes I write directly on things that have happened to me, and sometimes I imagine the way things could be,” she said. The depth of Proctor’s writing is reflected in the content of her songs. “A lot of times I write songs to different versions of myself,” she said, describing past pieces about her younger self, ego and mind. “I

believe that the words are just as important as the way that I sing them.” Celestin, whose music falls into the genre neo soul lofi, said her songwriting style is spontaneous, often sparked by moments of excitement or intensity in her life. She recounted being stressed during midterms in the fall of her sophomore year. She was in the basement of an academic building at 1 a.m. when she decided to take a break to create. “I started listening to instrumentals on SoundCloud, and I started writing [lyrics] on the whiteboard,” she said.

Once I embody whatever emotion I’m feeling at the moment, I’m able to get it out. Tahiv McGee PO ’21

Although McGee, Proctor and Celestin’s music are ultimately very personal, they hope that audiences will listen to their work and extract feelings of empowerment. Proctor hopes listeners will be inspired to show strength in vulnerability. “We live in a time where being emotional negatively connotes weakness,” she said. “I try to push myself to embrace the darker sides of myself in my music — to not pretend to be perfect because I am far from it.” McGee shared his experience

with homelessness and not having “the standard family unit.” “I want my listeners to take away the fact that no matter what we go through, and no matter what our environment made us out to be, we still have the choice to be, and to handle things, whatever way that we choose,” he said. Despite it being difficult for him to express pain with those around him, McGee maintains that owning his story allowed him to derive a sense of control in his life. He hopes listeners can feel the same. Proctor similarly takes pride in her identity as an Asian-American woman. “My mixed racial identity is something that I have thought about a lot,” she said. “Over the years, I have come into myself and have built confidence in the fact that I don’t fit into conventional categories.” Proctor acknowledged how difficult it is to know where she belongs in the music industry because of the scarcity of Asian-American voices. “I don’t see a lot of representation of people who ‘look like me’ in the media, let alone in the music industry,” she said. However, she expressed that her identity allows her to be free of expectations from others. “At my very core, I am not one thing,” she said. “I am complex, and I allowed myself to embrace this in my music.” Proctor’s EP “In Between,” McGee’s EP “Perspective” and Celestin’s EP “Welcome to September” are all available on Apple Music, Spotify and SoundCloud.

performances and two Indian acts performed, and they were quite different.” Rohan Ahammed PO ’23 was drawn to the event specifically because of the wide array of performances. “I was interested because everyone [at the 5Cs] has such a unique background, and this is a unique celebration of international dance and culture that isn’t on display like this, especially in a venue like [Bridges Auditorium].” Lucy Ordman SC ’21, who went as an attendee, spoke to the significance of having a platform to perform art close to the heart. “It’s really important to have this space where people can share what is really important to them, whether it’s a part of their cultural heritage or a performance that they’ve been working on for weeks or months,” she said.

Sourdough bread, a sprinkling of avocado oil, cucumbers, spinach, grilled tomatoes and a layer of sliced avocado, topped off with salt, pepper and hemp seeds, all for $6.50. This is Trees & PhDs, one of the specialty toasts available at the Claremont Village Eatery, the newest addition to the Village, which had its soft opening Sept. 30. The Eatery, located at 232 W Bonita Ave, is the newest project of sisters Janell and Jolene Henry, the owners of the ice cream and candy shop Bert & Rocky’s farther down the street. The idea for the Eatery came to them in June, when the sisters got to thinking about what was missing in the Village. “We were like, ‘Ok, what does the Village need? What does our community need?’” Janell Henry said. “We felt that there wasn’t really a quick, healthy, reasonably-priced breakfast and lunch place.” In addition to gourmet toasts, the menu offers protein-packed breakfast bowls, pancakes and other breakfast items, a suite of sandwiches, salads and wraps, assorted snacks and drinks. I was particularly excited about the breakfast burrito with bacon, cheddar cheese and sweet potatoes, doctored with hot sauce from the Eatery’s diverse selection. This menu only represents a fraction of what Janell Henry hopes the Eatery will become. Before the as-of-yet unplanned grand opening, she hopes to expand the menu to include paninis, soups and other comfort foods to match the changing seasons, including what I can only expect will be a delicious Thanksgiving sandwich. While I was there, I tried the

Caesar salad wrap. A generous portion of the classic salad with roasted chicken and homemade dressing was wrapped in a green tortilla, and completed with delightfully crunchy croutons, and this is coming from someone who usually picks the croutons out of her salad. Another aspect of the Eatery that I enjoyed is its emphasis on locally sourced products. The bread used for the toasts and sandwiches comes from Old Town Baking Company, which sells loaves weekly at the Claremont Farmers & Artisans Market. Much of their produce is also sourced from the Market, and they plan to use bread from The Rustic Loaf, another Market vendor, for their paninis in the future, Janell Henry said. On top of it all, the Eatery offers a friendly environment. The staff is the same team that works at Bert & Rocky’s, and if you’ve set foot in there, you know the environment I’m talking about. “We believe in kindness,” Janell Henry said. “You come in; we’ll take care of you. Having a bad day? We’ll scoop you some chocolate, girl.” The team’s positive vibe definitely transfers to the Eatery. The space’s open floor plan lend the space a relaxed, communal atmosphere, while the yellow and white color scheme brightens the mood. So the next time you’re hungry for avocado toast and don’t want to pay $7.50 for guacamole on sliced bread at the Coop Fountain, give the Claremont Village Eatery, and their classic take with freshsliced avocado on sourdough for $5.50, a try. Erin Slichter PO ’21 is one of TSL’s food columnists. She’s an international relations major who spends the time she’s not reading political theory riding her bicycle, reviewing Russian verbs and baking sourdough bread.

ErIN SLICHTEr • THE STUDENT LIFE

The new Claremont village Eatery offers specialty toasts, breakfast bowls, sanwiches and more. Sisters Janell and Jolene Henry also own the ice cream and candy shop bert & rocky’s.

Life & StyLe

NovEmbEr 1, 2019

Writer Christina Sharpe visits Pomona to talk antiracist museum curation CORINNE BOBB-SEMPLE Esteemed scholar and writer Christina Sharpe kept her audience on their toes at the Pomona College Museum of Art last week, closing the gap between theory and personal experience with striking imagery and prose. Sharpe, author of “Monstrous Intimacies: Making Post-Slavery Subjects” and “In the Wake: On Blackness and Being,” visited the museum Oct. 24 to give a lecture about similar themes in her current book project, “Black. Still. Life.,” which explores the importance of care in museum and memorial curation. Sharpe invited the audience to play with the title of her next book, stating that it could be read as Black Still Life, Black Life Still, Life Still Black and so on. “My project attends to the myriads of ways that black life under pressure is still being lived,” Sharpe said. “It’s concerned with stillness in all of its noun and verb meanings.” Sharpe shared an excerpt of her project which explored memorials of slavery like the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana and the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum in Montgomery and how they interact with our current era. “How do you attend to lynching when actual lynching is ongoing?” she asked the audience. “How can you move on from something that has actually not stopped happening?” Discussing the ways in which memorials fail to enact care for their viewers by circulating or reproducing potentially traumatizing images, Sharpe extended that often missing regard to her listeners. As she spoke of the colorized triptych of a lynching which adorns the outside of the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, Sharpe chose not to share an image of the triptych with the audience. Sharpe cautioned against the repercussions of visitors taking pictures outside the museum, and the harm it can inflict if introduced to a greater audience through reproduction and circulation. “That image, which is one of violence and pleasure for the lynchers and the gathering crowd of thousands that witnessed the lynching of Henry Smith, circulates yet again,” she said. “I want to think about what it might mean … that this image circulates and becomes part of … a post to Instagram or Facebook to let others know ‘I was there’ — with a historical lynching photograph proscribed.” The use of language to discuss the violence done against black

people without reproducing it in the text is typical of Sharpe’s writing, which she acknowledged is part of her interest in playing with words to create a full picture. “I’m interested in the multiple meanings of a word and what happens when you try to hold that space open and think through all of them,” she said. “I have this terrible habit where I [write] ‘with/and’ because that is how I think. I’m not always satisfied with just saying ‘with’ when I actually mean ‘with/and’ … I’m always trying to capture enough meaning.” When asked who inspires her writing, Sharpe noted Toni Morrison as well as young people in particular doing freedom-expanding work across the world. “I’m inspired by all people who try to make space for black people to breathe,” she said. At the event’s close, students waited to take pictures with Sharpe and have their books signed. Some expressed that the event ended too soon. Roberto Sirvent, a visiting assistant Pomona College politics professor, agreed. “There was a part during the lecture where she said, ‘How am I doing on time? Should I keep going?’ All of us in the room had the exact same thought: ‘Please don’t stop. Please.’” Sirvent explained that he found Sharpe’s presence at Pomona significant because she could help students understand the concept of the afterlives of slavery, and how they manifest even in archiving slavery’s history. “In short, [the theory is that] slavery is not some event of the past … that ended with so-called emancipation,” Sirvent said. “Rather, slavery and anti-blackness is a structuring force in the U.S. and the contemporary world … Sharpe helps us theorize [that by] revealing the violence behind the disciplines [of history].” Tadius Frank PO ’23 walked away from the event knowing more than when he came in, saying that Sharpe’s talk was “an insightful awakening on how accounts of slavery have been tainted by racist historians.” Adia Clarke PZ ’23 was particularly struck by Sharpe’s ability to share difficult truths. “[What] she writes was intended to make us feel uncomfortable,” she said. “[It makes] us question the role we are playing in the wake of slavery.”

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rEEL TALK

‘El Camino’ — An unnecessary but enjoyable epilogue RACHAEL DIAMOND This article contains spoilers. “Breaking Bad”’s Jesse Pinkman is one of those rare and unforgettable characters who stays with you long after the show has ended. From his first aggravated utterances of the word “bitch” to his final hysterical scream as he speeds away from captivity, Jesse captured our sympathy and our laughter. In a show full of characters lacking any semblance of a moral compass, Jesse — despite his prickly exterior and poor judgement — challenges viewers to rethink what they believe makes someone a good person, and compels compassion for a kind of character who, in the real world, is rarely given any. But to go beyond the moral complexities of his character, Jesse simply has such a terrible time over the course of five seasons that you end up rooting for him regardless of your stance on his virtues. After a laundry list of tragedies and abuse, beginning with the death of his girlfriend Jane and ending with enslavement by a group of deranged, meth-cooking Nazis, we just want him to be okay — an outcome that’s implied by Jesse’s escape from captivity in the practically perfect series finale episode “Felina.” Writer and creator Vince Gilligan, however, had a nagging idea of a more concrete conclusion for Jesse’s story, ultimately manifesting in “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie,” which was released on Netflix and in limited theaters shortly after the 7-year anniversary of the show’s finale. Given the perfect, satisfying conclusion that “Felina” provided, I was skeptical

about the necessity of an epilogue, and of its ability to seamlessly mesh with the rest of the show. But my undying love for Jesse overrode my concerns, and I gleefully paid $15 to see it in theaters on opening night — a decision I did not regret. “El Camino” doesn’t quite feel like an actual movie, nor just an episode of TV. Instead, it occupies some nebulous middle ground in which plot arcs must be contained within a two-hour time frame but the viewer has spent over 60 hours with the characters, getting to know and love them.

Despite it straddling the line between film and television, “El Camino” still feels like quintessential “Breaking Bad.” Rachael Diamond SC ’21

This is much of what makes the film so enjoyable; appearances by Mike (Jonathan Banks), Jane (Krysten Ritter) and Walt (Bryan Cranston) are a joy to watch — the old RV even makes an appearance!. The return of Jesse Plemons as the enigmatic, sociopathic and just plain weird Todd, on the other hand, is decidedly less joyous but equally entertaining. Despite it straddling the

line between film and television, “El Camino” still feels like quintessential “Breaking Bad.” It maintains the integrity of the show with the same breathtaking shots of the New Mexican desert, which are even better on the big screen. There are unique pointof-view camera angles, clever use of time lapses and a fantastic script that captures the same dark humor that made the show so spectacular. Even Badger and Skinny Pete are there with the same brand of absurdly hilarious comic relief. As for the film’s necessity, that question still remains. We know that Jesse has suffered too much for Gilligan not to give him a happy ending, which ends up detracting from some of the tension as Jesse struggles to escape police and start a new life. The movie does fill in Jesse’s story somewhat by giving his relationship with his parents more closure and providing viewers with more insight to the abuse he suffered under Todd’s watch. But it ultimately adds little to the ending we already knew. “Felina” implied that Jesse would get to start fresh, and “El Camino” confirms this. Despite being an inessential addition to Jesse’s story, the film certainly doesn’t detract from the magnificence of the show’s conclusion. Aaron Paul is excellent as always, and it’s impossible not to tear up when Jesse finally gets to put his past behind him and begin again. If nothing else, “El Camino” is an opportunity to immerse yourself into the world of “Breaking Bad” once again, and I can’t imagine that any fan of the show wouldn’t be happy to have it. Rachael Diamond SC ’21 is one of TSL’s film columnists. She’s a philosophy major who enjoys talking about movies to anyone who will listen.

NATALIE bAUEr • THE STUDENT LIFE

rEGULArLY SCHEDULED ProGrAmmING

‘Barry’ and ‘Killing Eve’ assassins will hold your heart hostage CLAIRE DUMONT What do two seemingly cold-blooded assassins on two different shows have in common? More than 10 Emmy nominations. HBO’s “Barry” and BBC’s “Killing Eve” seem to be completely different. “Barry” takes place in America, while “Killing Eve” takes place in Britain. “Barry” focuses on male characters, while “Killing Eve” focuses on female characters. However, both shows feature assassins as their main characters — complex, three dimensional ones who warrant empathy. “Barry” centers Bill Hader in the titular role of Barry Berkman, an ex-marine-turned-hitman. In the first episode, Berkman finds himself in a Los Angeles acting class while tailing his latest target. Arriving at the main conflict of the show, Berkman realizes his desire to act and leave his life of murder and crime behind. The assassin in “Killing Eve,” Villanelle, is played by Jodie Comer. The first season plays out like a cat-and-mouse chase between her and a British intelligence officer, Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh). Villanelle is a highly trained and successful assassin, who brings a certain flair to her duties because of her “attention-seeking tendencies.” She becomes highly obsessed with Polastri and sees evading capture from her like a game. At face value, both “Barry” and “Killing Eve” seem to be dark dramas about evil people killing other evil people, but they both play out to be so much more than that. The shows are both classified as dark comedies or comedy-dramas, and they use multiple technical elements to break the genre’s mold. As a comedian, Hader brings a kind of contrast to “Barry,” which looks serious at first glance. Per-

sonally, I will always see Bill Hader as someone funny, mainly because I grew up watching him on “Saturday Night Live.” Berkman grows increasingly confused and anxious throughout the first season, constantly stressing and constructing schemes to ensure no one figures out his secret. The perfection of “Barry” is a result of Hader’s ability to take such a complicated character in a dark topic and make it funny. To Berkman, being a hitman is just like any other mundane or unfulfilling job he can’t get out of, rather than a high stakes and highly illegal profession.

But it’s more than just Hader’s acting ability that allows “Barry” to shine in comedy. The whole show seems to take a light approach to the idea of assassins and murder. A member of the Chechen mafia that Berkman comes to work for, NoHo Hank (Anthony Carrigan), is a prime example of how the show is able to maintain a comedic feel. He frequently sends Berkman text messages complete with Bitmojis and spelling errors to inform him of his next hit or any change of plans. The idea that a boss who orders kills could fumble over Apple’s key-

board and refuse to use spellcheck is ironic — it presents the possibility that these characters who supposedly lead top-secret lives could be hilarious messes just like us. “Killing Eve” is developed by comedian and “Fleabag” star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, so similar to “Barry,” it has someone hilarious taking creative liberty. However, in contrast to “Barry,” the characters in “Killing Eve” are more serious and intense about the idea of an assassin. Villanelle, unlike Berkman, seems to relish in her job of assassinating people and performs each hit with a kind of

mEGHAN JoYCE • THE STUDENT LIFE

frivolous and fun-loving joy. There is a scene in which Villanelle asks her target what brand of bedspread he uses. After gleefully murdering him, she’s later seen smoothing out the same luxury sheets in her own apartment — purchasing them with the money she received from the hit! To Villanelle, murder is just a means to an end; she cares more about her own personal gain rather than moral purity. Villanelle effortlessly exudes the skills and confidence of a seasoned killer, but her motivations often mimic the impulsiveness and selfishness of a child. The contrast between these two identities is what drives the humor of “Killing Eve” forward. Another main difference between “Killing Eve” and “Barry” is the fact that “Killing Eve” bolsters the narratives surrounding its female characters. The strong female energy is felt in the show because of its expert direction from two female showrunners. As a result, I think Villanelle and Eve both represent empowering figures. Both of them work against patriarchal forces in trying to do their jobs, even though they’re on different sides. While there are certainly differences between “Killing Eve” and “Barry,” they both have an uncanny ability to make something as somber as death sinfully entertaining and absurdly funny. Both Barry and Villanelle twist the assumption that a show about an assassin should be dark and serious. Perhaps the most dangerous part about them is how they’ll make you die of laughter. Claire DuMont SC ’23 is one of TSL’s TV columnists. She’s an intended American Studies major from Manhattan Beach, California. She loves her dogs, cats and talking about TV (obviously); her current favorite show is “Daybreak.”

Life & StyLe

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NovEmbEr 1, 2019

Intercollegiate Showdown CLAREMONT COLLEGES BALLROOM DANCE COMPANY

Sequins, skirts and samba: CCbDC hosts competition AMBER CHONG The Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company sauntered into competition season Oct. 26, hosting the Intercollegiate Showdown at Pomona College’s packed Edmunds Ballroom. Each year, CCBDC engages amateur and veteran performers alike from around the country in an individual and formation dancesport competition. The day-long spectacle is sponsored by the Collegiate Dancesport Association, a network that joins ballroom dance teams from several West Coast universities, including the 7Cs. Students from the University of Southern California, UCLA, California Polytechnic State University, Caltech and the University of Arizona came to test their moves. American and international ballroom styles such as smooth, standard, rhythm, Latin and nightclub were divided throughout the day by experience and skill level. Partici-

pating couples performed their routines all at once, circling the dance floor to find their light and flaunt their rhythm. While the judges deliberated and results were calculated, performers were invited to partake in team match, where emcees have each school compete against each other as a team. Vanessa Lincoln SC ’21, a dancer for CCBDC, described how the team match was one of the most memorable moments because it allowed her to connect with students she’d never met before. “You send in a couple [to do] this dance style, but then they’ll put some weird twist on it,” Lincoln said, laughing at the silliness of the prompts given. “This year, they said: ‘You have to do rumba, but make it Halloween.’” CCBDC regularly has over 135 dancers as part of its group, making it one of the largest and most active collegiate dance companies in the country. The Showdown

is one of its most beloved events because of the community it fosters between performers at the 7Cs and beyond. Christina You SC ’21, another member of CCBDC, reminisced about the wave of support audiences gave to newcomers performing for the first time. “There was only one couple, but everyone was cheering them on basically the entire time; even the judges were smiling,” she said via message. “It was just so heartwarming.”

Question & Answer

CCbDC director Denise machin on ballroom dance company’s past, present and future MABEL LUI

those resources and gave students a stepping stone between campus and tour TSL: In the vein of … valuing inclusivity, I hear that this is the first year that CCBDC TSL sat down with assistant director of Smith Campus Center and ballroom dance will be going to Nationals. Is that correct? instructor Denise Machin on Wednesday to discuss her time at the 5Cs. Now in her sixth DM: The first year in a long time, yes. The last time they went was fall of 2014, or fall year at Pomona College, including four as director of the Claremont Colleges Ballroom of 2013. It was before my time. Dance Company, Machin first found her love for ballroom as a first-year undergraduate TSL: Tell me a little bit about that change and why that’s happening this year. at Columbia University. DM: That was one of the big push backs that I got when I was hired as a director from She found her way to Claremont after being assigned to do an ethnographic study of a the alums … they wanted us to send a team to Nationals. But at the time, Nationals recommunity for her doctorate at University of California, Riverside. Machin chose to study quired all formation teams to be made up of men leading women. We don’t want to make CCBDC, and it’s been a ballroom dance ever since. Read on to see what she had to say dancers perform roles that they’re not interested in. And also we have students that don’t about CCBDC’s past, present and future. identify as men or women. TSL: What is your favorite memory from the six years you’ve been here? So we made a commitment that we would only attend competitions that all members of Denise Machin: That’s so hard. My favorite memory — I really loved the concert my our team were welcome to participate at. And very excitingly, Nationals has changed their first year as director [two years after first coming to Pomona College]. It was just the cul- policy to allow same-gender couples. Since they are creating more access, this seemed like mination of a year of hard work … The director right before me, and then the interim the year that we should go back. So I’m really excited. director, were both CCBDC alums, and I wasn’t. So I was kind of this outsider coming in, TSL: How has [this year’s Intercollegiate Ballroom] Showdown changed from preand I think that when that first concert happened and was really successful, and all the vious years? students felt really good, and we had made some big changes — but those changes were DM: It’s gotten bigger, which is really exciting. We initially didn’t even expect to have well received — I felt like I’d made it. as many competitors as we had. We had over 100 competitors, which is a huge growth TSL: Since becoming the director of CCBDC, what are some of the changes that from my first year … This year, we had multiple events that had semifinals, and so not you’ve made? only did we have more of our own dancers competing, but I think that we also have been DM: A lot of our changes have been around just trying to create [having] consistent competition. more access … Ballroom dance has a lead and a follow. But because We try to do a good job; we [try to create] a really friendly attraditionally, leading was done by men and following was done by mosphere because we’re early in the school year, which means for We have a responsibility a lot of dancers women, and the team had [a specific dress policy for leads and folthat are new to their teams, it’s their first comp. So lows] … what ended up happening was any women that led would we want to make sure they have a good first experience so they’ll to show schools that be required to wear pants and dress in typical men attire ... come back. And I think that we have started getting that reputation. they have a choice, So I thought if we just let people wear what they want to wear, So a lot of teams brought new dancers and bigger teams, and ... so I then what role do you want to do? All of a sudden, that opened up think that was the main thing. We’re growing. and they can choose to a lot of people to wanting to try both parts or being open to leading TSL: So, what are your hopes for CCBDC for upcoming years? if it meant that they got to dance with their best friend. So I think DM: That’s such a good question … When I started, I had a real make ballroom dance that was a big change. clear vision for some of the changes I wanted to be made. Such as an accessible activity. We also made a financial commitment that anytime we puropening gender rules and allowing students to compete and dress chased a new costume, we would buy in the full range of sizes that and dance how they wanted. And I had this moment at the end of it was sold in, even if we didn’t require those sizes for the initial last school year after [our] concert in the spring, where I was like, Denise Machin piece that was purchased for, because we wanted to make sure that “we did it.” no matter what size a dancer was, that they had multiple options We’re not a perfect organization; I really believe that progress for costuming when they came to our team. is a process. So every year you need to try to be better and more I think that the team before had auditions that cut people. Now we have placement inclusive than the previous year. But I feel like we had a great framework for creating acauditions so that’s also a change. Our motto is that if you want to join our team, we have a cess. And since [my] first three years of being a director were all about trying to build that place for you. Everybody that auditions makes the team which I think is a nice change … framework, I had this moment where I was like, “Well, now what?” We [also] added a fourth level, so before the team was the beginners, campus and then And then when I saw the change in national rules, I was like, “Oh, this is the next step.” tour. There just seemed to be a really big leap from campus to tour and tour did multiple We need to go to Nationals, because other schools have much less inclusive policies, and pieces, got to work with outside artists and residents; [they] had all these benefits that it a lot of that is because they [have] never seen it done any other way. And I feel like since seemed like only a limited number of dancers were having access to. So we created cam- we’re at such a good place now, we have a responsibility to show schools that they have a pus+, between campus and tour, which doubled the number of students that had access to choice, and they can choose to make ballroom dance an accessible activity.

Dancing the nigh t away

This Q&A was edited for clarity and length.

Top: USC ballroom dancers Alvin Liang and Jay Canyarasmi compete in the Intercollegiate Showdown on oct. 26. middle-right: Christina Dong Po ’22 and Alana Weiss Po ’22 compete in the bronze rumba event. bottom-left: Ariana Weiss SC ’20 and Jackson Hurley Po ’22 compete in the Silver Cha/rumba event. bottom-center: Lawrence Chen Po ’20 and Nicole Pang SC ’20 compete in the Samba event. bottom-right: vanessa Lincoln SC ’21 and Harry Aung Hm ’21 compete in the bronze Samba event. All photos taken by Talia bernstein for TSL.

NovEmbEr 1, 2019

Life & StyLe

Pippin

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‘Pippin’ brings hip-hop and anime weirdness to Seaver Theatre KEATON SCHILLER Pomona College’s production of “Pippin” is bringing layers of weird to Seaver Theatre with hiphop, anime and angst. With shows running through the weekend, “Pippin,” written by Tony award-winner Stephen Schwartz, tells the story of a young man’s journey to find life’s meaning. The main character, Pippin, navigates royalty, war, revolution, romance and religion in hopes of reaching fulfillment in life. This year’s fall musical was directed by Tim Dang, award-winning director and performer. Dang is also the artistic director of East West Players, the longest-running professional theater company of color for the last 23 years, according to the playbill.

As written in the playbill, the musical is set in a time “long ago in the near future,” and “Pippin” has been known for being zany and experimental since its first run in 1972. The original Broadway production featured choreographer Bob Fosse’s signature jazzy, angular moves, and the Broadway revival had the aesthetics of a big-top circus extravaganza. Whether it be a professional theater or community playhouse, every interpretation of “Pippin” is unique, with its own style and spin — Pomona’s production is no exception. The musical was deftly reimagined for the 5Cs, bringing it into the 21st century through hip-hop and anime influences. The musical also peppered in

various timely cultural references, such as a protest sign that said “#NotMyKing,” parodying the popular hashtag “#NotMyPresident.” Dang also decided to portray the ensemble as street performers seeking shelter in a warehouse after being caught by a thunderstorm. While waiting for the storm to pass, the ensemble decides to tell the audience, who is also stuck in the downpour, the story of the young man Pippin. Pippin’s character, though “loosely based on the coming-ofage story of King Charlemagne’s oldest son,” according to the playbill, still speaks to the college experience. Pippin’s conflict begins when he finds himself in the uncomfortable position where many Claremont students

will also find themselves: graduated and feeling unsure about the next chapter of life. Pippin discovers — just like many students soon will — that life’s search for meaning doesn’t end at graduation. If anything, that’s when it begins. Over the course of the musical, Pippin comes to realize that a grand journey may not have been necessary. The wonders of life were with him all along. With audience interaction and abstract, acrobatic and often risqué dance moves, “Pippin” is unorthodox by nature. Acting student Jackie McVay SC ’21, who saw the show Wednesday night, was a fan of the unconventional and avant-garde style of “Pippin.” “It made me want to see more

shows and open myself up to new ideas because this was such a different type of performance,” she said. Audience member Jacob Cohen CM ’21 noted several strong narrative and creative aspects of the show, appreciating Pomona’s ability to make a classic show like “Pippin” feel relevant and intriguing to modern audiences. “[It was] thoroughly entertaining,” he said. “[It had] brilliant choreography, [it was] timely and poignant and added modern flair to a very historical piece.” “Pippin” has four more shows this weekend, one Friday at 8 p.m., two Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and one Sunday at 2 p.m. Students can purchase tickets online or at the box office, outside the Seaver Theatre at Pomona.

Q&A: Cast members talk modern take on classic musical KIRA MATTHEWS

Pippin discovers that life’s search for meaning doesn’t end at graduation. If anything, that’s when it begins. Keaton Schiller SC ’22

Directed by Tim Dang, “Pippin” is the latest production from the Pomona College Department of Theatre and Dance. It takes a classic musical production about a young man who tries to find meaning in his life and adds an anime hip-hop twist. TSL sat down with two actors in the play to talk all things “Pippin,” which will run until Sunday. TSL: What kind of character development takes place for your character? Alex Collado PO ’20 [Pippin]: So, Pippin starts off this journey as a college graduate. He’s wondering what to do next, and he feels like there’s something extraordinary that he’s meant to do. Throughout the show, he goes on [a] journey and adapts different personas to figure out what will stick. He goes through war, he has a little hoe phase and another character, the Leading Player, is leading him throughout his journey and promising him his time will come. So he [is always] frustrated and falls into a depressive state. It’s a very long journey for him. TSL: What do you like most about your character? AC: [Pippin] … puts on all of these different roles. It’s really fun to go from fighting a war … [to] leading a revolution [to] being in an orgy — yes, there’s an orgy scene! It’s very raunchy, but it’s just really fun doing the dances and movements [and] relating to him as a character. He carries a lot of trauma from the past … and he’s going

through [a lot], but what’s behind that? [That] is something I’ve really enjoyed working through. TSL: What do you hope that people will take away from the musical? The show ends with Pippin realizing that — I won’t reveal the details — but he realizes that something he did [prior] isn’t too little for him; maybe this is always what he wanted. [How] I interpreted [the show] is that you shouldn’t settle for anything less than what you truly believe is your worth. That’s an important lesson, not just in finding a job, but also in [everything] that makes up life. Just know your worth, respect yourself and see how far you can push yourself to truly go and to reach your maximum potential. TSL: Could you tell us a bit about the character you play? Tiffany Zhou PO ’21: I play Leading Player. Pippin is on his journey of self-discovery — he’s trying politics, patricide, promiscuity, and I am the narrator that is sharing his story with the audience, and things take a turn at the end. TSL: What do you like most about your role? TZ: What I like the most is just

being able to sing, dance and act. It’s all of my passions, but it’s also nerve-wracking because I’ve never done something of this size. I think it’s just me trying to step into some pretty big shoes — that’s been both really amazing but also really challenging. TSL: What kind of character development takes place for your character? TZ: Oh, well, it’s sort of a surprise … but, long story short, [the show] is my [character’s] baby, in a way. She wants everything to run perfectly, but it doesn’t. So, in the end, [the story] is supposed to be this beautiful finale, but it doesn’t happen. I think it’s a surprise that the audience will find really interesting. TSL: What is your favorite part about acting in the musical? TZ: This character has brought out a lot of different sides of me that I’ve never really explored before. Being able to play such a fascinating, sinister, exciting character and trying to make it my own has been really fun, as well as the process of figuring out who this Leading Player is. This Q&A was edited for clarity and length. Visit tsl.news to read the full version.

Top: Alex Collado Po ’20 stars in Pomona College’s production of “Pippin,” directed by Tim Dang (Domenico ottolia • The Student Life). middle-left: Kendall Packman Po ’22 performs in “Pippin,” the Tony Award-winning musical by Stephen Schwartz (maddie rubin-Charlesworth • The Student Life). bottom-left: Keith Ferguson Po ’20 plays King Charles in “Pippin” on oct. 30 (Domenico ottolia • The Student Life). bottom-right: Pomona College’s Seaver Theatre production of “Pippin” runs from oct. 31 through Nov. 3 (Domenico ottolia • The Student Life).

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Facebook’s ad policy undermines Forget the dining halls. It’s thyme to progress in combating misinformation cook for yourself MICHELLE LUM

NATALIE bAUEr • THE STUDENT LIFE

ELLIE WOODWARD-WEBSTER Starting college comes with a lot of new things: new friends, new city, new classes. For most people, it means living away from home — being solely responsible for getting yourself up in the morning, getting to class on time, cleaning the bathroom and doing laundry. In Britain, this list also includes cooking, grocery shopping, making shopping lists and food budgets, washing up, fending flatmates off your cheese with increasingly passive aggressive notes, dealing with moldy food bins and puzzling over the strange warning light on the freezer. At my home university, the University of Birmingham, firstyears (or “freshers” as we call them in Britain) generally live in university-owned accommodations, divided into “flats,” each with its own kitchen. This is typical in the U.K. Some British freshers have a “meal plan.” Usually, that means a certain amount of money on a card is available per week to spend in canteens and cafes across campus. But this isn’t the norm, and it ends after the first year, when nearly all students move out of university accommodations into privately rented houses. For me, navigating the realm of discount supermarkets and frozen pizzas was as big a part of starting university as figuring out how to take useful notes at lightning-fast lectures. At the 5Cs, the colleges lighten the pressure of moving away from home by making you eat in the dining halls. In one sense, this is a real luxury. There’s no stress over what to cook. No dilemmas about whether walking 10 minutes to the shop is more or less effort than making a meal out of two frozen sausages and a questionable can of chickpeas. (For anyone who’s interested, the Instagram account @verysadfood offers a disturbing insight into some of the very sad food students at the University of Birmingham have cooked up recently.) At the 5Cs, a mealtime dilemma is whether to queue for a burrito or a Sri Lankan curry. When I came to the 5Cs, I was astounded by just how much choice there was — pad Thai, pizza, pasta, cheesecake, melon, chocolate cookies — it was all delicious, and it was all-you-can-eat. I have Pitzer College’s brunch to thank for introducing me to the little fried balls of fluffy potato deliciousness that I’ve since learned are called tater tots. Mealtimes here are a place to socialize without worrying about

any of the logistics. The dirty dishes disappear onto a conveyor belt and magically reappear in clean, warm stacks. College becomes a bubble of learning and socializing that sometimes feels only loosely related to the rest of the world. Dining halls are a luxury, but they’re also restricting. All the 5Cs require students living on campus to buy a meal plan, with certain exceptions for some schools due to medical conditions. Pitzer provides kitchens, but realistically, they’re impractical to use more than occasionally. It makes no sense to buy ingredients when a meal plan has already been paid for. A 16-meal per week plan at the 5Cs ranges from $3,686 per semester at Pitzer to $4,222.50 per semester at Harvey Mudd College. That’s between $230 and $264 per week spent on food. To put that into perspective, my weekly food budget at the University of Birmingham was £25 (around $32). California is expensive, but there’s no question 5C students could save a considerable amount of money if they were allowed to take responsibility for their own meals. You can eat very poorly if you’re cooking for yourself. I had a flatmate who, I’m pretty sure, ate nothing but humongous plates of plain spaghetti for a full year. My dad tells a tale of a 1980s student who suffered from scurvy after eating nothing but porridge oats for a year. But for myself, at least, it’s a lot easier to avoid buying a chocolate cake in the weekly shop than it is to avoid taking a slice when it’s sitting right there, in the dining hall, staring at you. Part of becoming an adult is learning to live independently. Being forced to use the dining halls, for all their tater tots, has made me feel 17 again. Cooking can add to the stress of moving away from home, but most of us have to figure it out eventually. Cooking for yourself may not be right for every college student, but it should at least be an option. The food at the dining halls are delicious, but the 5Cs need to accommodate students who want to take on the responsibility and the freedom of cooking their own meals.

Free speech has long been one of the U.S.’s most cherished values. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg capitalized on this in an Oct. 17 speech at Georgetown University, where he spoke about Facebook as a social media platform and its role in protecting free speech. In declaring Facebook to be a pioneer of free expression, Zuckerberg spouted feel-good lines like “I’m here today because I believe we must continue to stand for free expression,” and “I believe in giving people a voice because, at the end of the day, I believe in people.” Later that day, Facebook Newsroom published a transcript of the speech online under the title “Mark Zuckerberg Stands for Voice and Free Expression.” At Georgetown, Zuckerberg notably made this statement: “We don’t fact-check political ads. We don’t do this to help politicians, but because we think people should be able to see for themselves what politicians are saying. And if content is newsworthy, we also won’t take it down even if it would otherwise conflict with many of our standards.” This is part of Facebook’s recently announced policy on political ads, which states that the company will not fact-check political ads, and speech from politicians will be classified as “newsworthy content.” In his speech, Zuckerberg justified Facebook’s policy by saying, “I know many people disagree, but, in general, I don’t think it’s right for a private company to censor politicians or the news in a democracy.” Facebook’s long list of recent scandals include exposing the data of millions of users to Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm linked to the 2016 Trump campaign, according to Vox; archiving Facebook videos that users had previously deleted, according to New York

Magazine; and allowing fake news originating from Russian accounts to influence American voters, according to Fortune Magazine. Due to these scandals, Facebook has recently been the target of much backlash. Zuckerberg recognizes this and has been giving a series of talks to generate positive publicity for the company. But it isn’t all just talk. It’s true that Facebook has made a lot of progress in the past few years toward preventing the spread of misinformation and false news on its platform. The company has developed new technologies to identify fake accounts and algorithms to pinpoint misleading content, according to a press release. It’s using machine learning to identify false accounts, reworking the news feed and developing ways for Facebook users to report misinformed content to the company. And like Zuckerberg mentioned in his speech, Facebook is in the process of establishing an independent Oversight Board, a diverse group from varied backgrounds, to make final decisions about controversial content on the platform. Furthermore, just a week ago, Facebook announced that it’s creating a “News” tab on its U.S. interface as a collective source of news from credible publications. Hopefully, this will enable users to make better decisions in interpreting the validity of the news they encounter on their Facebook feeds, as they will now have easier access to authentic journalism, as a comparison against news from other less credible sources. So, Facebook shouldn’t undermine all of this progress with its policy on allowing speech from politicians to be exempt from Facebook’s community standards because of its “newsworthy” status, as well as not fact-checking political ads. As a company with such a large reach, Facebook must realize that its policies have a large impact on the communities in which its users live. President Donald Trump will likely benefit from Facebook’s currently way-too-lax policy

Ellie Woodward-Webster PZ ’21 is a literature major on exchange from England. Her favorite things about California so far are the weather, mountains and tater tots.

on political ads. Yet, Facebook refuses to remove a false Trump campaign ad about Democratic candidate Joe Biden and Ukraine. More than 250 company employees signed a letter addressed to Zuckerberg, asking him to change Facebook’s political ad policy, which they said was “a threat to what FB stands for.” The company can’t turn a blind eye to that. Americans, and the rest of the 2.4 billion Facebook users around the world, deserve free speech, but they also deserve the truth. This means no false political advertising, and no more fake news. It’s not enough to “[focus] on the authenticity of the speaker rather than the content itself,” as Zuckerberg claims Facebook should. In an ideal world, people should be able to make their own decisions about important or controversial topics like elections. But we don’t live in an ideal world, and people won’t be able to make informed decisions if false information is circulated on a platform as large as Facebook. Facebook has been disappointing its users for so long. We don’t want to hear cliché, meaningless statements from Zuckerberg. We want to see real change. Facebook has made a lot of progress. But it needs to tackle the issue of false political ads. In some ways, Zuckerberg is right; Facebook doesn’t have an easy task ahead of it. It is almost impossible to draw a hard line between misinformation spread for intentionally nefarious purposes and authentic content. But the company must take responsibility for the problems that have been caused by its rapid growth. Clearly, it’s already doing so, with its new initiatives like the independent Oversight Board and the introduction of the “News” tab. Now, Facebook just needs to face reality and realize that false political ads should not be an acceptable form of free speech. Michelle Lum HM ’23 is from San Jose, California. She often spends her time scrolling through her Facebook news feed, eating chocolate chip cookies and desperately wishing that she could be on fall break again.

ANNIE WU • THE STUDENT LIFE

We need to end socialism’s bad rep MEGAN CHOURREAU-LYON Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., recently released a new book entitled “The Case Against Socialism.” Behind this explicit title, one will find a dense and lengthy explanation as to why (despite the fact that socialism is gaining popularity amongst people in America, as a Gallup poll found) socialism is a dangerous political ideology which always brings about the impoverishment of nations, and why socialism never succeeds. As a French-British person, I come from two countries where aspects of socialism are widely embraced in the political sphere, and a socialist ideology is far from being the fringe politics that it’s considered to be in the U.S. After World War II, the reconstruction of both countries came

through the establishment of a strong welfare state, weaving socialist ideals into the very fabric of their modern form of governments. France’s Socialist Party used to be one of the two leading parties holding political power for decades, according to Britannica. I’ve always been at a loss when trying to understand exactly why socialism remains the Boogeyman of the U.S. It’s not just Rand Paul, or the Republican Party. The fact that President Donald Trump is anti-socialist won’t surprise many; at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump used the term to repeatedly condemn Democratic policies, stating that “we believe in the American Dream, not in the socialist

nightmare.” But many elected representatives from the Democratic Party themselves try to stay as clear from the “socialist” label as possible, ranging from presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., explicitly stating “I am not a democratic socialist,” to reporters at a campaign stop in New Hampshire, to former presidential candidate John Delaney stating that “if we want to win and we want to beat Trump, we should not put up a candidate who embraces socialism,” according to The Hill. The influence of the Cold War and McCarthyism days, trying to fight the “Red Scare” of communism, is definitely a force at play here. But even more so are the examples that

keep being chosen as evidence of the socialist dangers. During an interview with The Daily Show host Trevor Noah, Paul started off introducing “The Case Against Socialism” by stating that “If you review the history of the last 100 years and every time we’ve tried socialism, it seems that time and time again, it ends in authoritarianism, it ends in genocide and famine.” He went on to cite cases of socialism, referencing the leadership of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Fidel Castro and Mao Zedong. But Noah pointed out that people often blame the faults of countries on socialism, even when the countries are plagued by a number of other issues such as corruption.

Furthermore, it’s dishonest to fail to mention other states for which bringing in aspects of socialism into policies has brought fruitful results: France, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Norway. No one can seem to agree on a single, simple definition of what socialism is or should be. However, what is clear is that materializations of socialist ideals are already everywhere, and thus, are not intrinsically un-American. Publicly owned lands such as parks or grazing land, public libraries and public sports centers: These are already part of a socialist reality that America lives in. Megan Chourreau-Lyon PZ ’21 is from France and the U.K. She’s passionate about politics and law, Brexit being over and cheese.

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We can choose what Scripps’ priorities are sexist attitude we have JOHN GIBSON In one of my classes last week, people were talking about how people couldn’t necessarily choose how successful they were; many people don’t get to choose whether they rise out of poverty. I agreed with this, but the discussion got me thinking. Is my life mine? Is it under my control? Or is my life a piece of driftwood being tossed around in a stormy sea? Or in other words, is it my fault that I didn’t turn in the essay on time, or am I the victim of circumstances beyond my control? I reflected on this while procrastinating on one of my assignments, wondering if my procrastination was a choice I was making. I mean, I could just get to work. I could choose to get to work, which would set off a chain of events that would result in a high grade on both the assignment and in the class.

Though I cannot choose what happens to me in life (who hires me, the welfare of the economy, etc.), I can chose what attitude I have. John Gibson PO ’22

Or I could’ve focused on selfcare (aka YouTube) since, to be honest, I’ve been feeling really swamped this semester — I’m tired and feel just a little depressed. My brain couldn’t handle another massive essay that’s worth a huge portion of my grade. At least not right then. Then, I had an epiphany. Though I cannot choose what happens to me in life (who hires me, the welfare of the economy, etc.), I can choose what attitude I have. For example, I can choose to believe that grades are everything and that nothing else matters. Or, I can choose my mental wellbeing and not give too much thought about what my GPA will mean once I graduate. In other words, what do I want from life? I don’t know if I want a quiet life, back in my hometown of 5,000 in rural Arizona, or if I want to pursue a life of success in the big city, something I call the California dream.

Now, those questions will be answered in time, and probably in a way I won’t expect (life is wonderful that way), but what I do know is that I need to do my best no matter what. I should get back to work, and I should probably work smarter, not harder. I will look for efficient ways for getting my work done. And once again, I will consider using a planner to schedule my time. But I’m not sure this is the best way. Far too often, people are held responsible for the circumstances they find themselves in (for example, being impoverished), when in fact the system is failing them. After all, there are certainly things that the 5Cs can do to help me succeed. Like improving Monsour Counseling (short wait times would be duly appreciated). Or having more time-management workshops. However, deep down, I know that ultimately, it is up to me if I want to succeed in college. Even if the 5Cs underwent all these improvements, I will still have to choose whether I want to take advantage of these resources. I’m not saying this to say that colleges shouldn’t do their utmost to help their students succeed; they absolutely should. What I am saying is that sometimes the quality of institutional support (as well as other external circumstances) is outside of an individual’s control and that often, a person has to depend on oneself (and his/her/their friends and family) for success. And if success seems out of reach, then perhaps one could change his/ her/their definition of success to avert feelings of inadequacy and failure. In short, one should take one’s success in college into their own hands, whether it be through improving one’s study habits or by stepping back and choosing mental wellbeing over one’s GPA. In short, try for the best and prepare for the worst. And good luck on the rest of the semester! John Gibson PO ’22 is a prospective history major from Kayenta, Arizona, in the Navajo Nation. He recently finished watching Avatar: The Last Airbender for the first time.

ELoISE mAGoNCELLI • THE STUDENT LIFE

MARGOT ROSENBLATT “It’s so pretty! It looks like a resort.” That’s what my mom said when we first set foot on Scripps College, my then-future college campus. As we bobbed and dipped past white walls and secret courtyards on our tour, I heard all about how Scripps students are happy, emotionally balanced people. In the end, Scripps’ focus on mental and physical wellbeing was what enticed me to come here. In my frenzy to escape the stressful world of New York City private schools, I forwent looking at schools’ academics. I took them as a given, and looking back on my Scripps tour, I can’t remember the part where they discussed classes. Different colleges have different values, and that’s as it should be. But it can’t be a coincidence that in the 5Cs, the women’s college differentiates itself by apparently being the least academic school of the five. “She’s pretty, and who cares what’s in her head?” is the attitude of misogynists. Scripps has to be careful that they’re not teaching us that self-care is for girls and academics are for boys. Let’s start with Scripps’s mission statement: “To educate women to develop their intellects and talents through active participation in a community of scholars, so that as graduates they may contribute to society through public and private lives of leadership, service, integrity and creativity.” The term “active participation” caught my eye. It seems to imply the low expectation of showing up to class and talking once in a while. Society already tells women to coast through, focus on being happy and that they’re not expected to reach for the academic

Jasper’s Crossword: Universal pictures

stars. A women’s college should focus on teaching women to want more. Instead of “through active participation in a community of scholars,” the statement should say “through extraordinary, impactful engagement with a community of scholars.” In short, I’m insulted that Scripps does not expect more from me. Beyond just the theoretical, Scripps (literally) structurally does not prioritize academics. Every Scripps class of every discipline they offer is crammed into three academic buildings, four including the performing arts center. Scripps has 10 residence halls and one ostentatious field house. Other actions and inactions by the Scripps administration makes me wonder what they think Scrippsies are doing in their time outside of class. Unlike some of those at the other 5Cs, almost all of Scripps’ classrooms are locked during the night. The administration opened four classrooms in spring 2018 in response to student feedback, and after a TSL opinion piece written by Tiara Sharma (who transferred out of Scripps) was published addressing that fact. Scripps students don’t spend time in classrooms when they’re not in class, apparently. Seal Court, a space many Scripps students use to study, is tiny, seasonal and mainly used as a place to eat food from Malott Commons or drink coffee from The Motley Coffeehouse. It’s telling that Scripps has a large pool but few open study spaces. The Scripps administration, unlike administrations at other schools, does not think its students are studying very much outside the classroom, a notion that can’t have come from nowhere. There are serious consequences to the Scripps administration’s skewed priorities. Since starting as a student at Scripps, there has been

a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I’m not taken 100 percent seriously in the classroom. At first, I told myself I was crazy and that it was all in my head. Soon, however, I began hearing echoes of that feeling from my friends. Then, during one of my frequent procrastinatory deep discussions with my roommate, the light bulb clicked on: Students from other schools don’t think we’re dumb; they think that we don’t prioritize academics as much as they do and are therefore less of a force to be reckoned with in the classroom. It’s extra bad because it’s a self-perpetuating problem. We’re taught not to take academics seriously, so we don’t, and the culture continues. I find that people try to ‘fix’ me, thinking I’m an unhappy person just because I’m something of a workaholic, a derogatory term at Scripps. I feel as though I’m being pressured into being less ambitious. In reality, reputations aside, Scrippsies are brilliant and ambitious and Scripps classes are extremely demanding. The administration needs to shift its priorities to academics a little bit more. We should build more academic buildings and study centers. We should unlock our classrooms. We should host more career fairs. Scrippsies deserve to be taken seriously. That said, I don’t want less a less beautiful campus or fewer free workout classes. I just want to be a part of a community that doesn’t put a ceiling on how high I should rise academically, and I want to be seen as I am: non-stop, and I want my school to support me. Margot Rosenblatt SC ’23 is from Manhattan, New York. Ever since she stopped fencing, she has had no outlet for her considerable aggression. That is, of course, until she discovered opinion writing. She would like to thank her roommate Alisha for the late night discussions on this topic and every topic.

OFF THE RECORD Happy Halloween! I dressed up as a sexy michael Cera

BOOm There’s nothing scarier than the impending heat death of the universe!

Intergenerational discourse It can be good, folks....

OK Boomer ...or not. *sips iced coffee*

There’s going to be a Lizzie McGuire reboot! All grown up

JASPEr DAvIDoFF • THE STUDENT LIFE

ACROSS 1. The 2% of 2% 4. Silverstein of The Giving Tree 8. Particular CMC party garb 12. One has two cups 13. Hatcher of Desperate Housewives 14. Like Voldemort 15. “That’s all in the past now.” 17. Drug buster 18. Mel Brooks, Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, Rick Moranis (1987) * 20. See ya, in Spain 23. Did cross country 24. Some like it in their OJ 25. Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Ruth Negga (2019) * 29. San Francisco-to-Oakland dir. 30. “Let’s put _____ in that” 31. World Cup chant 33. Sandra Bullock, George Clooney (2013) * 35. Late-summer babies 36. Free (of)

37. Capellini or cavatelli 38. Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig (2015) * 43. Verdi opera 44. Shared commodities in plane seats 48. Armisen of Portlandia 49. Special ed. documents 50. The Raven poet 51. ____ penny (almost worthless) 52. Where to buy Walmart stock 53. Reddit Q&A DOWN 1. Comey’s former org. 2. Bicep location 3. Yin/yang principle 4. Health stat people obsess over 5. Greek queen of the Gods 6. LA mayor Garcetti 7. Bookish 8. Renter 9. Trump’s office’s shape 10. ____ power

11. Last series the Astros won this year 16. Brandy designation (abbr.) 19. Sunbathe 20. Gorilla or chimpanzee 21. Scat 22. Robert of The Sopranos 25. Pollution effect 26. Teal ___ 27. Some fish eggs 28. Many 30. Nike competitor 32. That, in Tijuana 34. Flotilla 35. Alley in a bowling alley 37. Sort out 38. 20th-century President and Chief Justice 39. Bring on 40. Apple location, biblically 41. Parker of South Park 42. Demons 45. Place to 19-down 46. Petty vocalist? 47. Expanse

Eurobash is this weekend! Can’t wait to party in a parking garage

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

Why won’t Disney make a live action Phineas & Ferb? busted I don’t have enough glitter to dress up like the Eiffel Tower Going for a Louvre look instead

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NovEmbEr 1, 2019

Astrology is not bunk, actually SCHUYLER MITCHELL I was born Aug. 25, which means my sun sign is in Virgo. According to the extremely scientific source astrology-zodiac-signs.com, that means I’m “analytical,” “overly critical” and “concerned about matters that nobody else seems to care much about” — in other words, exactly the type of person who would spend time painstakingly evaluating the merits of astrology. (Note: my editor, who wrote an anti-astrology column last semester, is also a Virgo. Case in point.) Astrology has seen a popularity boom in recent years, especially among millennials and Gen Z, and many think pieces have explored the reasons behind its resurgence. It’s a response to post-2016 election anxieties, says The Atlantic; it’s reflective of the narcissism caused by social media, says the New York Post; it’s due to a generational lack of religious belief, says Marketwatch. I’m sympathetic to all of these claims. It’s true, millennials are stressed — the American Psychological Association reports that millennials are the most stressed generation, and in the absence of God, there’s something poetic about the idea of turning to the cosmos for comfort during times of distress and national upheaval. However, many of these explanations gloss over a simple fact: You don’t have to “believe” in astrology for it to prove a useful tool for self-reflection and community building. In fact, a 2017 survey by the youth research firm YPulse found that only one in five millennials “believe” in it. Horoscopes are a common site

of scorn for detractors, but they’re only a small part of astrology. I don’t really care about predictions; I’m more interested in understanding the planetary signs that correspond to personality traits. While most people are familiar with their sun sign, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Dig deeper into your natal chart and you’ll find moon, rising, Mars, Mercury, Venus and more. Don’t resonate with being a Capricorn? Maybe you’ve got a Cancer moon or something. The further you go, the more astrology “works,” but it also offers more opportunities for introspection. At its worst, astrology is taxonomic, grouping us by our immutable characteristics. I agree with my editor: “Don’t use astrology as an excuse for personal failures” — but you shouldn’t use anything as an excuse for your personal failures, really. At its best, astrology is a mechanism for deepening our understanding of ourselves and each other. It can help us recognize our deficits and attempt to remedy them. If you identify with your signs, they can become tools for

communicating your emotions to a friend or partner. If I’m on a date with someone who knows about astrology and say I identify with being a Libra moon, it functions as a shorthand for all the qualities that having a

fessor Heather Williams said it best during a Humanities Studio seminar: “Astrology speaks to our desire to know intimate facts about strangers.” In his 1957 teardown of astrology, “The Stars Down to Earth,” philosopher Theodor Adorno wrote, “[in] former periods, superstition was an attempt … to cope with problems for which no better or more rational means were available … Today, however, the incompatibility of the progress of natural sciences, such as astro-physics, with a belief in astrology is blatant. Those who combine both are forced to an intellectual retrogression which formerly was hardly required.” He’s right. But it’s preciseE ly the deliberate act of LI F NT E “intellectual retrogresD U E ST sion” that makes astrology so GrETA Lo NG • TH enticing. In an age when Ben Shapiro’s Libra moon sign entails. In many cries of “facts don’t care about ways, it’s easier than saying out- your feelings” reign, it feels exhilright that I’m indecisive and prone arating to embrace something as to flakiness. Using the shared lan- ridiculous as the notion that anguage of astrology is an immediate cient planetary motions could be way to establish common ground. controlling our lives. My practical, Pomona College politics pro- rational — Virgo! — side knows

We all need to stop being so Extremely Online DONNIE TC DENOME As a certified Doomer-Zoomer, I live approximately 92.7 percent of my life online. I have five classes and work two jobs; it’s not like I have time to make friends in this hellish meatspace. Not to sound like an AOL commercial from before I was born, but the internet has truly connected me to some weird and wonderful people. Unfortunately, the internet has also allowed me to seek out content that I know is harmful for me. I don’t even have to venture into the hatefilled wildlands of neo-fascist vloggers — I can comfortably find juicy discourse that will make me absolutely hate myself inside left-leaning, social justice-oriented Twitter communities. Such was my fall break, when two Twitter communities I’m part of broke down into strife. For everyone’s sake (but mostly my own), I don’t want to go into too much detail, but both cases involved a keystone member of the community having a very public and very controversial opinion and the rest of the community splintering off into factions aligned with or against the keystone member. I unfollowed people. I blocked people. I had moments when I took a deep breath and thought, “Well, maybe I shouldn’t be friends with this person anymore.” And through the haze of confusion, sadness and a growing sense of betrayal, I had moments where I thought, “What the hell have I gotten myself into?” Over the long weekend, wherein I scorned online communities in favor of taking too many naps and devouring Adam Higginbotham’s masterpiece “Midnight in Chernobyl,” I found that I felt better about myself. Maybe it was being able to sleep 14 hours a day if I wanted to, not having to go to class and being able to channel my cosmic ennui into the historical horror of a nuclear disaster, but I felt like I had let go of an emotional burden. I let myself stray away from the internet and I let myself not be

bogged down in the discourse. Let me be clear: Walking away from these online arguments is not the same as disregarding these topics all together. I had to walk away from these arguments because they concerned facets of my identity that are incredibly meaningful and incredibly central to me. That’s not the same as not caring. I fear there is an impetus — especially for young people and marginalized people — to be Extremely Online on every topic. We live in a world where so many of our interactions are mediated through giant sites like Twitter and Facebook. Our lives are increasingly bound by our online identities, and we are increasingly pushed to be more open about our politics and social positions on public forums. It’s not appropriate, it’s not healthy and it’s not right to expect people to engage in this online discourse as part and parcel of being on the internet. Nor is it appropriate, healthy or right to expect people to be on social media at all. Every time I sank back down into the discourse over break, I felt pieces of my soul slipping away from me. I have nothing but respect for people who fight the good fight and stand up for the rights of the most marginalized within internet debates — but I realized I cannot keep subjecting myself to these kinds of spaces if I want to keep feeling safe and welcome on the internet. In a lot of ways, it was like other forms of self-harm I’ve dealt with. I know that looking at these debates is just going to make me angry and upset. I know that no good is going to come of being in these spaces. I know that I keep looking because it’s making me feel awful … but I can’t stop. It sucks. It really does. The Twitter communities that burst into arguments this weekend were two of a handful of places on or offline where I feel comfortable actually talking about myself and my identities. To see people in those

communities — people whom I loved and trusted — engage in rhetoric that is directly harmful to me and lots of people similar to me stung. And this is where a lot of the advice around “healthy web use” fails. I can’t just log off Twitter. All of my friends are there. I’ve met people through the internet that I care about so incredibly deeplyand the general advice of “log off and take a walk” doesn’t work when my entire social sphere is contained within my phone. So I adapted. Setting limits and trying to enforce them helps: Give yourself X number of minutes on a site or app each day, only use a site to converse directly and privately with specific people and force yourself to take breaks. Making sure you have something else to do that will distract you from the siren song of being online also helps. In the end, what I took away is that we need to be having a better conversation about what digital self-harm and compassionate communities look like. We need to have conversations about healthy web use that don’t assume logging off is an option for everyone all the time. We need to keep talking about the internet as a tool for both love and care but also for hate and discord within marginalized communities. The internet can be a good thing. It’s a wonderful thing for me, a socially awkward, self-isolating weirdo with not enough free time to make friends in “the real world.” But the follies of the internet can occur in communities everywhere, and we should be talking more about how to take care of ourselves in an increasingly Extremely Online world, where “just log off” doesn’t always work. Donnie TC Denome PZ ’20, CG ’21 is a 4+1 BA/MPH public health major from Sunnyvale, California. They really want you to read “Midnight in Chernobyl.”

ELoISE mAGoNCELLI • THE STUDENT LIFE

it couldn’t possibly be true, but my feelings don’t care about your facts, Ben. Astrology has been particularly embraced by queer people as a tool for community-building outside the confines of LGBT-exclusive organized religion, as documented by Vice, and as a lens through which we can understand our identities and emotions that have long been systematically shamed. Straight, cisgender men are often averse to anything that could complicate the facts/feelings dichotomy, which is perhaps why they tend to be astrology’s biggest critics. But here’s the thing: When we talk about astrology, what we’re really talking about is ourselves and all of the gloriously messy, irrational things that make us human. Comparing astrology to religion misses the mark of what makes astrology so great. Rather than approach astrology as a clearly defined belief system with supreme powers of predetermination, young adults are deconstructing its parts and refashioning them into a new whole. Belief isn’t even in the picture. We’re simply making astrology work for us, on our own terms, and it’s fun. As a queer woman, there’s something about choosing to lean into emotion and absurdity, knowing I’ll be met with contempt and derision, and that feels like a kind of liberation. But maybe that’s just my Leo Mercury talking. Schuyler Mitchell PO ’20 is a Pomona College Humanities Studio Fellow, and this article was inspired by a conversation in a Studio seminar. Add her on CoStar: skye824.

Why Lizzo did what Meghan Trainor couldn’t ANAIS RIVERO Changing after gym class was torture. I would quickly pull my jeans over my damp, sweat-stained thighs or change in the gross public bathroom with tampons spewn on the floor. When my friends would talk about their bodies, my palms would sweat and my abdomen would ache as I sucked my stomach in. My mother would cuddle me and pinch my hips and tell me to stop eating rice and sweets. I was terrified of standing on a weight scale and avoided looking at mirrors when I changed.

We rarely see fat women of color loving themselves and expressing their sexuality. Anais Rivero PZ ’22

The choice to love myself was not a want but a need — to survive, I needed to love myself. Self-care is rooted in self-preservation, as Lizzo wrote in an op-ed for NBC. The singer has exploded onto the music scene with bop after bop. Her breakout album “Cuz I Love You” is filled with love letters to herself, and in her open expression of self-love and body positivity, she’s inspired millions of people to appreciate and recognize their self-worth. Yet, Lizzo is not the first artist to make songs about body positivity and self-love. Meghan Trainor raced to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “All About That Bass” in 2014. But the craze surrounding Lizzo and her music is unprecedented, especially for a fat black woman. Her song “Truth Hurts” was tied for the longest reigning rap song by a female artist on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as of last week. Unlike Trainor and many other body positive stars, Lizzo’s approach to body positivity dismantles the ideas and limitations we put on fat bodies, especially black and brown ones. The body positivity movement has turned into a whitewashed co-opted movement. Rather than focusing on fat people — those who need it the most, given we live in a fatphobic society — the movement centers around white women who are slightly bigger than Forever 21 and Urban Outfitter models. Women of color are not given the representation they need within the body pos-

itivity movement. Black and Latina women are more likely to be overweight and obese than white women, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Yet, they aren’t widely represented in the body positivity movement. Instead, we see women who look like Trainor. We rarely see fat women of color loving themselves and expressing their sexuality. Lizzo is not just revolutionary for loving herself and her body, but also for expressing love for her blackness and culture. Her call for self-love is one of self-preservation, because in a world that polices and persecutes black bodies, black people need to love and take care of themselves to survive and flourish. Lizzo wears hot outfits we expect slimmer artists to wear with confidence and refuses to be seen as attractive for a fat woman, but just as attractive. “When people look at my body and be like, ‘Oh my God, she’s so brave,’ it’s like, ‘No, I’m not,’” Lizzo told Glamour. “‘I’m just fine. I’m just me. I’m just sexy. If you saw Anne Hathaway in a bikini on a billboard, you wouldn’t call her brave. I just think there’s a double standard when it comes to women.’” In Lizzo’s songs, she expresses a sexual freedom that fat people are often discouraged from. Since fat people are not what society deems to be “traditionally beautiful,” we aren’t encouraged to be sexually confident. Lizzo rejects this notion and, through both her songs and performances, owns her sexuality. Lizzo also doesn’t give in to the male gaze, but many artists like Trainor do. In “All About That Bass,” Trainor sings “boys like a little more booty to hold at night,” indicating that it’s okay to be a bigger woman because there are some men who will prefer you that way. Lizzo proclaims that she isn’t attractive because men think she is, but because she sees herself as beautiful and sexy. Through her song “Boys,” Lizzo tries to inspire men to practice self-love as well. She expresses how amazing different boys are and gives a shout to the “gay boys” to promote self-acceptance. Lizzo’s message of self-acceptance is focused on body positivity, but it transcends that into different aspects of people’s identity and that’s why her music and message are so successful. Body positivity needs to include more than just cis white, able-bodied people. It needs to be something that resonates with people across many different groups. Lizzo is an example of us moving in that direction, and it’s long overdue. Anais Rivero PZ ’22 is from Miami, Florida, and is interested in politics and Latin American studies. She’s been obsessed with Lizzo for months and will always go wild to “Truth Hurts.”

SportS

November 1, 2019

PAGe 11

Are better days ahead for CMS football? Stags finally notch first SCIAC win, blow out Oxy

HUXLeYANN HUeFNer • THe STUDeNT LIFe

CMS challenges Redlands over possession of the ball Oct.19. Both teams tied for first place in the SCIAC last year.

ERIKA SCHWERDFEGER After going winless for three weeks of conference play, Saturday night brought the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team (3-4, 1-3 SCIAC) a lopsided 56-9 victory over Occidental, their first against a SCIAC opponent this season. Otherwise, CMS’ season thus far has been quite disappointing for a team coming in as the defending conference co-champion. The team began SCIAC play with a loss in overtime to La Verne and then suffered decisive losses to Cal Lutheran and Redlands. “We were really battered, and some of those guys [who had been injured] came back this last week against Oxy,” quarterback Zach Fogel CM ’22 said. “And to win that game was a huge morale booster, and now we have a lot more confidence going into the rest of the season.” The home win against Occidental featured eight CMS touchdowns, seven in the first half, giving the Stags a 49-0 lead going into halftime. Their yardage was also heavily concentrated in the first

half — 317 yards for CMS, compared to a dismal -3 yards for Oxy. Running back Garrett Cheadle HM ’20 rushed for 108 yards and tallied three touchdowns, while Jonah Cartwright HM ’20 rushed for 101 with two touchdowns. Christian Curcio CM ’20 had two touchdowns as well. “It felt good, and it was good because we needed to get our confidence back. It’s hard because you lose motivation and you lose drive, but I felt our team didn’t do that,” Curcio said. “We stayed strong together and we continued to work hard even though it was tough and we ended up being successful.” Overall, the team finished with 376 rushing yards and a 426-188 yard advantage in total offense, as well as a 22-12 lead in first downs. The Stags held Occidental to a lackluster -1 yards rushing. Cheadle drew first blood with 11:48 remaining in the first quarter, when he carried over from the two-yard line to make it a 7-0 game. The first quarter also featured an interception on the second play from Occidental by linebacker Dylan Porter CM ’22.

Later, a 25-yard run by Cheadle was good for another touchdown. With eight seconds remaining, Brian Loudermilk Jr. CM ’22 made a two-yard run to bring the score to 21-0 going into the second. Four more touchdowns by CMS, including Cheadle’s third and final of the day, two by Curcio and one by Cartwright, made for a 49-0 game going into halftime. The Stags had not scored nearly that many points in any of their games so far. “You go into the game with all of your options open and then whatever works you kind of stick to it,” Fogel said. “And so we came out in the first drive and realized that, alright, they’re not gonna be able to stop this. So we just kept doing it.” Besides the strong offensive showing, the win also featured impressive performances from younger players defensively. Stiles Satterlee CM ’22 led the defense with 10 tackles, seven of which he managed solo, while Emmett Thomas King III CM ’23 had a sack. “Our young talent on the de-

fense is insane, which is really cool. It’s really exciting for me … that the defense is only going to get better for the next few years,” Fogel said. “It’s really cool to watch all those young guys out there.” The game saw CMS finish with an average offensive gain per play of 6.4 to Oxy’s 3.2. It was an impressive feat, but surprising considering the season CMS has had so far. “A lot of it kind of falls into momentum and drive, and just getting on a hot streak or getting on a losing streak. It’s kinda tough to talk about. As a team we just try to focus on the next game,” Curcio said. “Regardless of what we did last year, regardless of a slow start or a fast start, we’re just focusing on the next game.” Their last game, a 45-6 loss to Redlands, finished with an average gain per play of 3.1. The yardage, too, was wildly disproportionate, totaling 64 rushing yards against Redlands compared to their 376 against Oxy. CMS’ recent woes and injuries at running back have highlighted the team’s struggling passing

game. This past March, a handful of the Stags’ top receivers chose to play rugby over rejoining the football team this fall, the result of a new safety policy enacted by head football coach Kyle Sweeney that effectively prohibited players from doing both sports. But Fogel doesn’t necessarily see a connection. “I wouldn’t attribute it [to losing players to rugby],” Fogel said. “We want to focus on the guys we have. It doesn’t really matter who we don’t have. Who we do have is enough. We have enough to win. We just kind of fell under the injury curse this year.” Whatever the cause, CMS has regressed from last year, when it tied Redlands for the SCIAC championship. Now, the Stags (34, 1-3 SCIAC) join Whittier as bottom-dwellers in the conference, better only than Occidental and the Tigers’ 0-4 record. Last weekend’s win, though, could have been a turning point. “It all comes down to preparation and training,” Curcio said. “We looked back at what was causing us not to be successful in games and we learned our lessons.”

Buoyed by strong performances and new personal bests, CMS and P-P cross-country prepare for SCIAC showdown

TALIA berNSTeIN • THe STUDeNT LIFe

CoUrTeSY oF CmS ATHLeTICS

Left: Owen Woo PZ ‘21 races ahead with the lead pack of runners. P-P finished second overall behind Cal Poly Pomona at the P-P Invite on Oct. 12. Right: Riley Harmon SC ’22 (left), Abby Johnson SC ’21 (middle) and Sophie Gitlin CM ’22 charge ahead at the Coyote Challenge in UC San Bernardino on Sept. 21.

MATTHEW KIM It’s 4:30 a.m., and the last vestiges of late-night antics have only recently died down across the campuses. All of Claremont is asleep — except members of the Pomona-Pitzer men’s cross-country team, who are cracking jokes and yawning as they begin a chilly, moonlit shakeout run around the 5Cs, hours before their morning race. Across the street, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps harriers are used to an early morning routine; they don’t rise quite as early on race day, but practice nearly every day of the week at 6 a.m., running along a darkened Sixth Street and getting workouts in while others slumber. For cross-country runners in-season, sleeping in is seldom an option. “The amount of pain a runner is willing to tolerate while competing is what separates great cross-country runners from the rest,” said Dulcie Jones SC ’21, who’s endured — and thrived in — countless crackof-dawn workouts in her three years on the CMS team. “I think distance running is the most mentally challenging sport out there, and you can’t expect your training alone to allow you to race well if you’re not willing to embrace how much

it’s going to hurt.” A typical morning practice for the Hens, Ethan Ashby PO ’21 explained, entails a two-mile warmup run around campus, stretching, sprints, dynamic mobility, some sort of high-intensity or long distance workout and then a twomile cool-down jog through the Claremont Village. This is the work it takes to stay in elite running form. And with the weather turning cold and the regular season all but finished, Sagehens, Stags and Athenas are in good shape and have their sights set on Saturday’s SCIAC championship meet, as well as making their mark at the regional and national competitions. “A lot of our goals are focused on the championship season, which is just gearing up,” Ashby said. “Everyone’s fit, and everyone’s run faster this season than they have in the past.” For the first time in years, all four teams have a legitimate shot at the SCIAC trophy, with the Sagehen women poised to mount a fierce challenge to the Athenas’ bid for a 10th straight conference title. The P-P women haven’t won a SCIAC championship since 1991, but they’re ranked No. 10 in the country right now, with the

Athenas at No. 13. Part of this season’s success — which included a narrow win over CMS at the Master’s Invitational in Santa Clarita and a 16th-place finish at the Division I-heavy Bronco Invitational, where the Hens set a program record for fastest team time — is due to depth and a large class of first-years. Lila Cardillo PO ’22 and Helen Guo PO ’20 lead the team up front, though. And even though team victories in cross-country rely on individual performances, working as a team is still important, harriers said. “Something that our coach has emphasized is running in packs and racing in packs, so sort of sticking with teammates and using each other to motivate ourselves forward through the race,” Cardillo said. CMS teams have also seen success in this regard. “From top to bottom, people have been packing up, people are working together,” Stevie Steinberg HM ’21 said of the Stags. “As a team, we’ve been performing well in that we’ve been able to form and keep these groups going.”’ The Athenas, though, are still formidable. Led by standout Riley

Harmon SC ’22, they’ve run well against tough DI fields — taking sixth at the loaded UC Riverside Invitational and third at the Biola Invitational — and dominated weaker competition, winning the Coyote Challenge in San Bernardino. “One of our goals is to continue to be competitive with Division II and DI and scholarship teams, and we’ve done that all season,” Jones said. P-P may be ranked ahead of CMS going into Saturday, but Jones noted that rankings hold no value unless they’re backed up by results. “My belief is that rankings don’t mean anything until you’ve finished the national competition,” she said. On the men’s side, P-P and CMS both boast impressive squads. The No. 8 Stags have won the SCIAC title seven of the last 10 years, but it’s the No. 3 Sagehens who are the two-time defending champions. Though they’re led by Ethan Widlansky PO ’22, the Hens have a variety of runners capable of finishing in the 2-3-4-5 spots for the team, which they demonstrated in their second-place finish over some of the nation’s best Division

III teams at the Kollege Town Sports Invitational in Wisconsin earlier this month. “Last year, we had a really great front runner [in Andy Reischling PO ’19], but our depth was lacking behind him,” Ashby said. “Our team is a lot deeper, and anyone can really contribute to the team on any given day.” The Stags, meanwhile, are relying on a trio of top performers in Steinberg, Thomas D’Anieri CM ’20 and Kyril Van Schendel CM ’22, who have each been the team’s No. 1 runner in various races, and have led CMS to wins at the Coyote Challenge and Master’s Invitational, as well as impressive performances against DI teams. A strong core of young runners has also buoyed CMS’ season, Steinberg said. “We have a really cool young team. Last season we were virtually all underclassmen at nationals,” Steinberg said. “This year, it’s been really good having two sophomores, Miles Christensen [HM ’22] and Kyril Van Schendel, in the top four.” The SCIAC championship men’s race goes off at 8:30 a.m. Saturday in the Wash, Pomona College’s expanse of dirt trails and athletic fields. The women race at 9:15 a.m.

SportS

PAGe 12

November 1, 2019

WEEKLY ROUNDUP

Pomona - Pitzer Sagehen football notches two more big conference wins The P-P football team (5-2, 3-1 SCIAC) continued its impressive season with victories over conference opponents on consecutive weekends. The Sagehens topped Cal Lutheran in a high-scoring affair on Oct. 19, with quarterback Karter Odermann PO ’20 scoring an astounding six touchdowns to continue his monster season and stave off the Kingsmen 43-38. Odermann threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 203 yards and four more scores. Against Whittier at home on Oct. 26, Odermann had 188 yards and a touchdown to Nathan Miles PO ’22 through the air, plus two more scores on the ground, helping the Hens win 27-12. P-P men’s cross-country finishes second in loaded Wisconsin race T h e N o . 3 S a g e h e n m e n ’s cross-country team delivered an elite performance at the Kollege Town Sports Invitational in Winneconne, Wisconsin, on Oct. 19, finishing second in a field that included several of the nation’s top Division III programs. The Hens scored 79 points, 33 points behind No. 1 North Central, last year ’s NCAA champion. Ethan Widlansky PO ’22 led P-P with a sixth-place finish, traversing the 8,000-meter course in 25:05. A smaller group of Sagehens competed at the Highlander Invitational at UC Riverside the same day, finishing ninth. Sagehen women harriers set program record at Santa Clara Invitational T h e N o . 1 0 P - P w o m e n ’s cross-country team broke a seven-year-old record for fastest top-five runner team time at the Santa Clara Invitational on Oct. 10, combining for 1:48:41. The Hens finished 16th among a largely DI field, and were led by Lila Cardillo PO ’22, who finished 19th in 20:51 for 6,000 meters. In the less competitive open field, another contingent of Sagehens finished fifth.

Nearly winless in October, Sagehen men’s soccer will end season with two home contests The P-P men’s soccer team (3-9-4, 2-5-3 SCIAC) is sitting near the bottom of the SCIAC standings and won’t make the postseason, but has a chance to close out its season at home with upcoming games against Redlands and Cal Lutheran. The Hens have gone winless since Oct. 2, most recently losing 2-1 to UC Santa Cruz on Oct. 19 and notching two ties in double overtime, 1-1 at Occidental on Oct. 23 and 2-2 at Caltech on Oct. 26. Jorge Guillen-Lopez PO ’23 scored the team’s lone goal against the Tigers, while Dylan McCuskey PO ’23 and Henry Smith PZ ’23 both found the net against the Beavers. Sagehen women’s soccer keeps rolling with three SCIAC wins The P-P women’s soccer team (14-1-1, 10-1 SCIAC) bounced back from a loss to Cal Lutheran with three straight wins over conference opponents, downing Sixth Street rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 1-0, Chapman 1-0 and Whittier 4-0 in the past two weeks. Bria VarnBuhler PO ’20 had three goals across the trio of wins, while Hannah Mandell PO ’23 had two. The Sagehens will close out the regular season at Caltech on Saturday, and remain the favorites to claim the SCIAC title next weekend. P-P swim teams open season with easy wins over Concordia University Irvine The Sagehen men’s and women’s swim and dive teams coasted to easy victories at home over Concordia University Irvine to begin their season Oct. 25. The men won 13 of 16 events at the meet; Jason Lu PO ’22 led the defending SCIAC champions with victories in the 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard individual medley. The women — also defending champs — took 12 events on the day, with Allison Liu PO ’21 win-

ning the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly, Emma van der Veen PO ’21 claiming both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives and Haley Kirtland PO ’23 winning the 100- and 200-yard freestyle. Sagehen men’s water polo impresses against Ivy League competition, then sweeps SCIAC foes The No. 19 P-P men’s water polo team (16-9, 7-2 SCIAC) traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts over Fall Break for the Harvard Invitational, where the Sagehens fell 10-6 to Brown before nearly out-dueling Harvard in a wild 17-16 overtime loss. P-P then beat La Salle 10-6 and MIT 10-4 on the second day of the competition, with all three Sasaki brothers — Noah PO ’21, Benjamin PO ’22 and Sam PO ’22 — playing a part in the wins. Back in Los Angeles, the Hens beat Occidental 16-12 on Oct. 23, with three goals apiece from Noah Sasaki and Keegan Coleman PZ ’21, and buried Caltech 20-5 on Oct. 26. Dylan Elliott PO ’21 had four goals in the win. Despite trio of wins, P-P volleyball eliminated from postseason contention The P-P volleyball team (1212, 6-8 SCIAC), sitting at fifth in the conference standings, has been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention and will close out its season with games against Whittier and Chapman on Friday and Saturday. The Hens won three of the five games they played over the past two weeks, beating Occidental 3-0, Redlands 3-2 and La Verne 3-2. But it was too little, too late for P-P, which also lost to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3-0 and Cal Lutheran 3-1. Vicky-Marie Addo-Ashong PO ’20 led the team with 12 kills in the win over Oxy, and Naomi Chen-Mallouk PO ’23 had 15 kills and two service aces against Redlands. Isabel Kelly PO ’20 (17 kills) and Addo-Ashong keyed a comeback for the Hens against La Verne.

Athlete of the Week Noah Sasaki po ’21 Men’s Water Polo Irvine, CA

The Sagehen men’s water polo team has maintained an impressive record throughout the season and will enter November amid a four-game win streak, with Sasaki an offensive force in each of them. On Oct. 26, Sasaki contributed one goal to the Sagehens 20-5 victory over Caltech and three to their Oct. 23 win of 16-12 over Occidental. On the road, Sasaki had no less luck, netting goals for the Hens in each of the two games prior, against MIT and La Salle, while the team was in Massachusetts for the Harvard Invite. Sasaki’s twin younger brothers, Benjamin Sasaki PO ’22 and Samuel Sasaki PO ’22 are also on the team.

Calendar Friday, Nov. 1 Volleyball vs. Whittier Saturday, Nov. 2 Football vs. Chapman Women’s Swim & Dive vs. Cal Baptist & Cal State Bakersfield Men’s Swim & Dive vs. Cal Baptist & Cal State Bakersfield Women’s CrossCountry @ SCIAC Championships Men’s Cross-Country @ SCIAC Championships

Women’s Soccer @ Caltech Men’s Soccer vs. redlands Men’s Water Polo vs. Riverside Community College Volleyball @ Chapman Monday, Nov. 4 Men’s Soccer vs. Cal Lutheran Thursday, Nov. 7 Volleyball @ SCIAC Tournament Women’s Soccer @ SCIAC Tournament

Men’s Water Polo vs. redlands

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athlete of the Week William Barton CM ’22 Men’s Soccer Seattle, WA

Things were not looking good for the Stags against Whittier on Oct. 30 as they grappled with a 1-0 deficit in the second half, until Barton won the header that allowed Nate Huntington CM ’21 to send the ball into the goal. The game went into double overtime still tied at 1-1, and it was Barton’s shot from 20 yards out that proved the game-winner. Earlier in the week, the Stags’ Oct. 26 game at Redlands ended in a 0-0 stalemate that also went into double overtime, to which Barton contributed two shots, one of them on goal. Their 3-1 win over La Verne on Oct. 19 was also thanks to Barton’s two goals, one in each half.

Calendar Saturday, Nov. 2

Tuesday, Nov. 5

Football @ Whittier

Women’s Basketball vs. Westmont

Women’s Swim & Dive vs. Alumni

Wednesday, Nov. 6

Men’s Swim & Dive vs. Alumni

Men’s Water Polo vs. Whittier

Women’s CrossCountry @ SCIAC Championships

Men’s Soccer @ SCIAC Semifinals (if CMS qualifies)

Men’s Cross-Country @ SCIAC Championships

Thursday, Nov. 7

Men’s Water Polo vs. Chapman Women’s Soccer @ Chapman

CMS football blown out by Redlands, then blows out Occidental It hasn’t been the season the defending SCIAC co-champions hoped for, but the Stag football team (3-4, 1-3 SCIAC) finally notched a win against a conference opponent on Oct. 26, thoroughly dominating Occidental for a lopsided 56-9 final score. Quarterback Zach Fogel CM ’22 only had to pass three times for 26 yards and a touchdown, as CMS piled up 376 yards on the ground. Garrett Cheadle HM ’20 rushed for 108 yards and three touchdowns, Jonah Cartwright HM ’20 ran for 101 and two scores and Brian Loudermilk Jr. CM ’22 added 99 and another touchdown. The week before, though, the Stag defense was flattened by Redlands and the offense was stuck in the mud, with kicker Alessandro Maiuolo HM ’22 tallying the only points in the 45-6 beatdown. CMS men’s soccer gets a tie and two wins ahead of playoffs The Stag soccer team (11-3-2, 8-1-2 SCIAC) continued to cruise through conference play, dispatching La Verne 3-1 on Oct. 19 and Whittier 2-1 on Wednesday in double overtime. CMS also played Redlands to a tie on Oct. 26. William Barton CM ’22 led the team with

three goals across the two wins. CMS stands atop the SCIAC ahead of next week’s postseason tournament and will close out the regular season at home against Caltech on Saturday. Stag, Athena swim teams fall to UC San Diego to open winter season The CMS swim teams traveled to San Diego to begin their season Oct. 26, losing to the Tritons by a combined score of 369-215. Star diver Kendall Hollimon CM ’20 won the 3-meter dive to lead the way for the men, who are looking to put a brief suspension and investigation into reported misconduct in the rearview mirror. Augusta Lewis CM ’22 took second in the 200-yard breaststroke and third in the 200yard butterfly to lead the women. CMS men’s water polo nearly perfect in four conference games The Stag men’s water polo team (12-9, 7-2 SCIAC) added to its win streak over the past two weeks by beating SCIAC rivals Chapman, Cal Lutheran and Redlands by scores of 11-6, 10-8 and 11-10, respectively. CMS then dropped a close game at La Verne 10-9 on Wednesday. Ethan Lewis CM ’20 led the way, notching a hat trick against Chapman and five goals against Redlands.

Athena soccer drops Sixth Street game but beats Cal Lu, Caltech at home The CMS women’s soccer team (10-3-3, 6-3-2 SCIAC) fell 1-0 to a dominant Sagehen squad Oct. 19, but bounced back with a 1-0 win over Cal Lutheran and a 7-0 drubbing of Caltech. The win over the Beavers on Oct. 26 was Senior Day for the Athenas, but it was youngster Mia Duranczyk CM ’23 who stole the show with a hat trick. Tied for third in the SCIAC with one game remaining in the regular season, CMS is in a good position to make the playoffs after narrowly missing out last year. Dominant CMS volleyball team wins 10th straight game The Athena volleyball team (23-3, 14-1 SCIAC) completed an impeccable October with its 10th straight victory Tuesday, a 3-0 win over Redlands. After losing 3-2 to Chapman on Oct. 1, CMS steamrolled conference opponents for the remainder of the month. Though the Panthers are nipping at their heels, the Athenas sit atop the SCIAC standings as the regular season wraps up. The veteran squad’s balanced attack includes Amanda Walker SC ’20, Phoebe Madsen CM ’20 and Melanie Moore CM ’21.

Volleyball @ SCIAC Tournament Women’s Soccer @ SCIAC Tournament (if CMS qualifies)

Men’s Soccer vs. Caltech Volleyball @ La verne

JUSTIN SLEPPY • THE STUDENT LIFE

Kyle Ballack CM ‘23 reaches for the ball as it soars overhead. CMS lost to La Verne 10-9 on Oct. 30.