Disability and Accessibility Town Hall

Disability and Accessibility Town Hall

By Steve Yang [email protected]

Two years ago, President Kington tasked a group of faculty, administrators and students with developing a “comprehensive response to serving students, faculty and staff with disabilities.” The efforts were motivated by regulatory compliance concerns and a push to adopt universal design principles that reflect and represent the College’s core values. On Thursday morning, these findings were summarized and discussed at a town hall in JRC 101, dedicated to informing the campus-wide Grinnell community.

The Disability and Accessibility Task Force is chaired by Angela Voos, vice president for strategic planning and Joyce Stern, dean for student success and academic advising. They collaborated with Autumn Wilke, coordinator of disability resources and over 50 other individuals across six subcommittees to raise awareness, discuss accommodations and develop numerous forms of access for disabilities at Grinnell. The Task Force emphasized accommodating “invisible” disabilities and implementing universal design concepts, specifically in the College’s new social studies building under construction, the Digital Humanities Lab and Campus Safety.

“Disability is a giant umbrella that covers a lot of different identities, a lot of different people,” Wilke said during the Town Hall. “Many things are related to mental health and many physical disabilities such as chronic fatigue … are invisible. Advancements in accessibility … are also having great benefit for people with invisible disabilities.”

A major issue is the perception of what disabilities look like or how most people envision “disability” and the specific accommodations that must be provided. Joyce Stern focused on “invisible” illnesses during Thursday’s Town Hall in JRC 101. Photo by Xiaoxuan Yang.

“Disabilities don’t always look like what we expect to them to look like and we can’t judge what it is and is not accessible for others,” wrote Emily Howe ’17, who is actively involved with the disability community on campus, in an email to The S&B.

Some forms of compliance are necessary to meet legal standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which governs the minimum requirements Grinnell must meet. For example, professors must begin providing course syllabi much earlier in the semester, areas of refuge that meet certain accessibility requirements must be established and faculty/staff offices on campus should be accessible to those with wheelchairs and service animals.

“Knowledge and action about accessibility and inclusion and are the most important aspects of disability at Grinnell,” Howe explained. “Oftentimes Grinnellians, including professors and administrators, just don’t think about where their events are being held or how they’re designing their Powerpoints.”

The way that syllabi and assistive technologies are implemented, particularly with educational programming, can significantly impact the way that students with disabilities are able to participate in class, Stern explained.

“More than providing accommodations, accessibility and individualized experiences must be available from the get-go, so that one day it … just feels normal,” Stern said. “Everyone wants to … fully participate, without a modification for their benefit. If those things aren’t in place, we need to make sure that those accommodations are made.”

As such, the Task Force is eager to reframe disability and accessibility issues on campus as issues of difference, rather than of lacking.

“We start thinking about this more as a diversity issue and not as a disability issue and an accommodation issue,” Wilke said.

Notable accomplishments were described, such as increased training and education for faculty, a renovation of the classroom technology catalog and making assistive listening devices more readily available. Task Force members highlighted NetNutrition, which makes allergy information easier to access and the efforts that campus members have made in being more conscious of disability accommodations. Audience members praised the prevalence of service animals, less stigma surrounding fidget toys or “tinker toys” and ramp access at Bob’s Underground Cafe.

However, gaps in awareness are still persistent. Students are often careless with leaving their backpacks in walkways or their bikes on sidewalks, which impedes accessibility. Encouraging students to be proactive rather than reactive, Howe suggested that student leaders must be instrumental in changing campus perceptions and Stern noted that it takes a campus to go all in on this effort.

“This form of inclusion is everyone’s responsibility,” Stern said. “For example, ‘Open to all students’ may not actually be open to all students. What can we do to change that?”

Warren Buffett hosts students in Nebraska

By Carter Howe [email protected]

Twenty Grinnell students travelled to Omaha on Nov. 18 to meet Warren Buffett, who has been dubbed the “Oracle of Omaha” and has previously served on Grinnell’s Board of Trustees. During the Center for Career, Life and Services (CLS) trip, students talked with Buffett about financial investment and professional success. Grinnell was part of a group of eight academic institutions, including Yale and Columbia’s business schools, that attended. The 20 Grinnell attendees were the only undergraduates present.

Berkshire Hathaway, the Buffett-owned company that hosted the event, required that one-third of attendees be women in order to promote equality in the traditionally male-dominated field of finance. According to Mark Peltz, Dean of the CLS, there was no shortage of applications from women.

During a question and answer session, the Grinnellians had the opportunity to ask Buffett about his longtime friendship with Joe Rosenfield, the Grinnell alumnus known for his generosity and dedication to the College and the namesake of the JRC. Buffett served as a trustee of the College because of his friendship with Rosenfield.

Buffett’s special relationship with Grinnell is rooted in his longtime friendship with Joe Fosenfield ’25. Photo Contributed.

Participant Gargi Magar ’17 said that Buffett was very kind and offered valuable life advice.

“Someone asked ‘What’s the most important thing you need to succeed?’ and he said ‘Unconditional love is the greatest force in the world.’ I don’t think anyone was expecting that answer because that just seems very Dumbledore,” Magar said.

Philip Kiely ’19, who also attended the trip, said he was surprised by Buffett’s humble demeanor.

“I was expecting that he’d walk in and there’d be a big whooshing sound because all the air just rushed out of the room, but no. … He was very professorly. It just sort of seemed like he was a visiting professor from another school that you should be respectful to, but no one to be afraid of,” Kiely said.

Peltz emphasized that the CLS is committed to providing opportunities for students to explore many careers, not just finance.

“This is certainly a transformational experience for the students who are able to participate and what CLS is really interested in doing is identifying other ways that we can provide similar transformational experiences in other areas of the world of work, not just investment,” Peltz said.

Although Peltz is not sure whether Grinnellians will get to visit Buffett again, he says he would certainly organize another trip if possible.

“It’s an opportunity that I hope we have again. … I mean Grinnell, was at a table 15 feet away from Warren Buffett. There are shareholders for Berkshire Hathaway that never get to shake Warren Buffett’s hand. We did.” Cakarmis ’17 goes to COP22

Earlier this month, the international community gathered in Marrakesh, Morocco, for COP22 — a climate change conference following up on the agreement reached one year ago at COP21 in Paris. Grinnell’s own Tea Cakarmis ’17, who previously worked with the UN agency on Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) was invited by UNESCO and the nation of Palau to participate in the conference. This week, The S&B’s Michael Cummings sat down with Cakarmis to discuss her experience in Marrakesh and the future of climate change policy.

The S&B: What is COP22 and how does it relate to COP21?

Tea Cakarmis: COP22 was intended to be an explanation of how the implementation of COP21 will take place. COP21 in a lot of ways is an ideological promise, we’ve agreed that climate change is human-caused, that it is something where the science is very conclusive and also something that we need to act on. However, the way you go about it has consistently throughout the COPs been where a deal breaks or makes. In Marrakesh they were discussing how to actually put COP21 into action.

The S&B: How did you end up going to Marrakesh this year?

TC: I was [working] with UNESCO and I was working with the delegation of Palau. Since day one of my internship, the Paris Agreements were just signed. I started working in February, so it was really, really fresh. The agreement is indisputably one of the biggest accomplishments that have been done since the forming of the UN framework on climate change, [but] the small island states still did not feel as if it was reflective of how alarming the situation is. We talk about 2 degrees Celsius and small island states formed their own sort of aspirational alliance for 1.5 degrees because that’s really the only thing that they find could even maybe possibly be satisfying. So we started working on how we could represent them, creatively, outside just the actual official delegations in Marrakesh. Then we came up with a project and when my internship ended they were like, “Oh, how about you join us in Marrakesh?” I didn’t really think that that was even possible, and it was in the middle of my school year and everything, but then it just sort of worked out. It was amazing. Tea Cakarmis ’17 represented Palau at COP22 in Marrakesh, Morocco. Photo contributed.

The S&B: What were your responsibilities while in Marrakesh?

TC: I personally was in charge of decorating the booth that the delegation of Palau had. … We were trying to bridge the gap of distance, and so before the conference started I concluded a partnership with Disney France. We actually got them to create a clip for the small island nations specifically for COP, where they featured their new cartoons, animated movies, where it’s either an endangered species or just generally island people who are featured in it. It’s four spin-offs of “Finding Nemo.” The other part of it is, we wanted to keep it as digital as possible, but we couldn’t do that all the way. We had a partnership with Fondation Cousteau — that’s Cousteau the oceanographer — their foundation sort of represents data visually really successfully. What we wanted to show is the human consequence on the ocean. We wanted it to be both engaging in terms of the beauty of the ocean, but also the extent of the human impact on the ocean. We had 10 photos that were the size of one and a half by two meters, so the size of me and bigger, that were placed around — we had our own improvised exhibit space. What I did was basically arrange that space, arrange for the materials to be shipped, the logistical part of that.

The S&B: How will a Trump presidency affect international climate change policy?

TC: The U.S. delegation [at COP22] was very firm in saying it is business as usual, meaning business as Obama left it. They were very deliberate in saying that Paris is formed in a way that even if you want to pull out of it, you already made your promises that you’re going to have to uphold for at least three years, which is luckily how much [Trump’s] mandate takes. So even if Trump wants to pull out of Paris, he won’t be seeing the benefits of it, or what he believes the benefits can be, until the end of his mandate. So unless he is reelected, pulling out of Paris will not do anything for him as a president. Kington vocalizes support for undocumented students

By Emma Friedlander [email protected]

President Raynard Kington signed two statements in late November affirming the College’s continued support for undocumented students. The first statement is an open letter to President-elect Trump, published in “Inside Higher Ed” on Nov. 18.

It asks Trump to condemn the hate speech that is performed in his name and has received signatures from 110 college presidents. The second statement is a letter in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a policy that delays deportation and provides eligibility for work permits for undocumented students. The letter was facilitated by Pomona College and has received signatures from 441 college presidents.

“The two topics of the letters — the broad issue of the values that we stand for and the specific issue of undocumented people and particularly undocumented students — we thought, given the outcome of the election, required us to give some statement,” Kington said of college presidents’ decision to create and sign the letters.

Throughout his campaign, President-elect Trump issued promises about policy changes that could jeopardize the status and safety of undocumented students. These promises included the repeal of DACA and the elimination of sanctuary cities. Until policy changes are actually implemented, however, the College can do little to change its own policies toward undocumented students.

“What we will have to do is be prepared to understand our options as an institution if the Trump administration chooses [policies] that would have an impact on our students,” Kington said. “But we’re a long way from that. Nothing, at the moment, has changed.”

Five days before Kington released his all campus email about the two letters, a group of Grinnell students published a petition in The S&B, which urged the College administration and Board of Trustees to implement new policies protecting undocumented students. Abdiel Lopez ‘18, Alexis Acosta ‘18 and Alfredo Villalobos-Perez ‘19 organized the petition under the guidance of Professor Tess Kulstad, anthropology. As of Tuesday, the petition has received over 320 signatures.

“We wanted more than just a display of support to the community. We wanted the school to ensure safety,” Lopez said.

The letter includes a number of demands, including the explicit dissemination of resources for undocumented students, the establishment of local churches as sanctuary churches and an increase in tenured faculty of color.

“I don’t see many resources for at-risk, undocumented or unauthorized students, and that needs to happen as soon as possible,” Lopez said. “I hope I and other students can organize and really pressure the administration to do so with confidence and support their own commitment to social justice.”

Although Lopez, Acosta and Villalobos-Perez’s letter urges immediate action, Kington explained that the College must first be advised by its legal counsel and greater College community before going forward.

“Many of us [college presidents] are engaged in a question of the legality of sanctuaries,” Kington said. “We’ll decide if we need to do anything based on more information coming from our lawyers and our member organizations who are already engaged in the discussion: the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, the Council of Independent Colleges, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. … It’s really complicated, and it doesn’t make sense for each of us to figure this out. We’re going to do this as a community in many ways.”

Although Grinnell College does not have as many undocumented students as other colleges and universities, they do make up a portion of the student body.

“We treat undocumented students the same we’d treat any other student,” Kington said. “In essence, those students are international students. The difference is their special status and the fact that some of these students aren’t eligible for some types of financial aid, for example.”

Although undocumented students do attend Grinnell and are treated equally by the administration, Lopez stressed that campus resources and discussions should consider undocumented students more. “I think students and faculty and staff really overlook the [undocumented] community because it’s not as visible as other identities. There is a risk in coming out of the shadows,” Lopez said. “Because of that, there hasn’t been much mobilization around the issues that affect undocumented students. … I’ve talked to many undocumented students on campus and they feel left out, or they feel like they have been sort of put on the margin.”

Beyond the Grinnell campus, Lopez hopes to put support structures in place for undocumented persons across Iowa.

“We’re also trying to contact student organizations in order for us to host ‘Know Your Rights’ workshops across the state, like in Marshall [County] and Tama [County],” Lopez said. “Those two counties have large undocumented populations. … I’m in this hub of privilege here at Grinnell College, and there are many undocumented people in the state. I would do a disservice to myself and to the community at large if I didn’t put into practice what I’ve been learning.” Kington joined hundreds of other college presidents in signing the statements. Photo by Sarah Ruiz.

GWSS students request tenured professor

By Michael Cummings [email protected]

Students hoping to major in Gender, Women’s and Sexuality studies (GWSS) at Grinnell have dealt with a number of complications over the past couple of years, as the College is currently facing a shortage of tenure-track positions in the GWSS department. To address this deficiency, GWSS SEPC (Student Educational Policy Committee) published a letter to Dean of Students Mike Latham on change.org on Nov. 15, urging the College to hire a new tenure-track GWSS professor.

“We have two tenured faculty but neither of them are teaching right now,” said Julia Marquez ’17, a member of the GWSS SEPC. “So we have Lakesia [Johnson], who’s amazing, but she’s working in an administrative position right now. And then we have Astrid [Henry], who’s also amazing, but she can’t work right now, she had a stroke.”

Currently, the GWSS department is getting by through the combined efforts of a few visiting professors, as well as help from professors in other departments whose research and classes have a GWSS focus.

Unfortunately, according to Marquez, while these professors are able to cover the minimum number of required classes for students to complete the major, it’s difficult for students interested in GWSS to find a reliable advisor. Kyle Lindsey ’19, Hannah Boggess ’18, Julia Marquez ’18, Gabrielle Matthews ’17, Jackie Abing ’17 and Armando Perez ’17 comprise GWSS SEPC. Photo contributed.

“The biggest [issue] for majors is we need to declare with a faculty member. There have been people who declared with [Professor] Sara Sanders [History], she is also a senior lecturer in GWSS … and Lakesia still will be your advisor, but it’s just a lot more reassuring to have an advisor who’s actively in the department and teaching classes.” The letter to Latham, which garnered significant support from students, alumni and even former visiting professors in GWSS, prompted Latham to reach out to the SEPC and offer assistance.

“Dean Latham saw it and actually reached out to us,” Marquez wrote in a follow-up email to The S&B. “Though (as he pointed out) he is not the person who actually makes faculty hiring decisions — that task lies with the Executive Council, which decides on faculty positions in the spring — we’re meeting with him this Friday to talk over the issue with him.”

Marquez stressed her gratitude at Latham’s response to their letter.

“We’re not trying to pick a fight with anybody in the administration, especially Dean Latham,” Marquez wrote. “We’re grateful for his support and his willingness to meet with us.”

Overall, Marquez and the rest of the SEPC are excited to work towards hopefully bringing a tenure-track GWSS professor to campus next year.

“We’re doing this because we really need another GWSS professor and this is our effort to make it happen,” Marquez wrote. Firsthand stories from Standing Rock

By Andrea Baumgartel [email protected]

This past Monday evening, JRC 101 set the backdrop for a panel of speakers from Standing Rock, representing the still-growing resistance against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) South Central North Dakota. The high probability of pipeline breakage would result in contamination of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation’s water supply, located just a half mile from the pipeline, as well as the water of surrounding tribal nations and U.S. states such as Iowa. Although the water protectors’ nonviolent protest is being met with intimidation and violence, all of the speakers attested to the transformative love, healing and strength that is Standing Rock. The speakers included multiple Native American activists and educators, including Tyler Lasley, Mary YoungBear, Quinton Pushetonequa, Bewan Wanatee, LaVern Jefferson and Leah Slick- Driscoll from the Meskwaki Nation, as well as Jenna Thomas from the Rosebud Sioux, Rev. Wendy Abrahamson of St. John’s Episcopal Church and Prolific the Rapper, an indigenous musician who has used music and film to spread the Standing Rock message. All of the speakers have been to Standing Rock multiple times, often in subfreezing conditions, to engage in peaceful protest and help sustain the morale of the camp, primarily through cooking, community building and prayer. In addition to the panel, the event also featured a short film from Grinnellians who have visited Standing Rock to provide water protectors with supplies.

DAPL has met resistance since the pipeline’s initiation nearly nine months ago. Recently, Standing Rock has become, in the words of Professor Deborah Michaels, education, “the epicenter of an international, spiritual and political movement.” JRC 101 was packed with community members drawn to the Standing Rock story. Photo by Mayu Sakae.

“Most Americans are unaware of what is going on in our country in regards to environmental injustice,” said Slick-Driscoll, who teaches social studies at Meskwaki Settlement School. She defined environmental injustice, specifically in relation to indigenous rights, as “taking the needs of one group over the needs of another group.” Not only does the threat of the pipeline violate multiple laws, including the Clean Water Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, but it also would cut through sacred tribal burial grounds. If — and when — the pipeline were to spill, the oil would severely contaminate the water of Native Americans and others who rely on the Missouri River source.

“Many people in America believe that not talking about these things [like the pipeline] is an act of patriotism … that it would make the U.S. government look bad … but this is simply creating an oligarchy,” Slick-Driscoll continued. “There is a need for a higher level of humanity. People outside need to talk about these issues because it affects all of us.” Photo by Mayu Sakae.

Although DAPL only runs through certain tribal land, its implications hold potential consequences for all people.

“They are using eminent domain for private gain,” Wanatee said. “This pipeline doesn’t run through my land [Meskwaki Nation], but there are still 1.5 million people I am concerned about.”

Wanatee spoke about her experience of running across the nation to Washington, D.C. in protest of the pipeline, as well as experiencing the frontlines at Standing Rock. “If you can’t go to Standing Rock, call your legislators,” she implored. “Make your presence known to them.”

Jenna Thomas of the Navajo Nation traveled with her husband, Quinton and their two children from Arizona to Standing Rock.

“As a Native American, awareness for environmental justice has been at the forefront of what I’ve been taught [throughout my life],” she said. “I had to be part of what connects all of us. All of these tribes, all of the others who have come here — [what connects us] is the environment and prayer.”

Tyler Lasley of the Owen Valley Payahuuada camp echoed Thomas’s emphasis on the interconnectedness that lives alongside the fight for a common cause. “When I showed up to Standing Rock, the people there took care of us. We were prepared to be on our own in this fight, but we didn’t need to be.”

Mary Youngbear works for the Meskwaki Cultural Center and Museum and has been to Standing Rock twice, assisting with cooking for hundreds in addition to protesting.

Photo by Mayu Sakae.

“Although [law enforcement] presence was always made known by the helicopter, it made us feel the opposite of scared. It gave us strength and fortitude,” Youngbear said. The final speaker was Prolific the Rapper, who shed additional light on the injustice from law enforcement that protestors face. Prolific has risked unjust incarceration for filming the events at Standing Rock with a drone. He has made numerous music videos — posted to his YouTube channel — with his footage that has exposed the true experience of the pipeline resistance.

Afterwards audience members asked questions that raised awareness about Grinnell College’s current investment in the fossil fuel industry.

“Tell your school to divest,” Prolific said. “Call as many legislators as you can. This is everyone’s fight.” The cost of equality among student athletes

The cost of equality. Photo by Jeff Li.

By Candace Mettle [email protected]

As required by Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA), the Athletic Department of the College released The Report on Athletic Program Participation Rates and Financial Support data to all current students via email.

According to the report, Grinnell spends 69,177 dollars on men’s teams and 33,784 dollars on women’s. In other areas of athletics, such as coaching salaries and money spent per student, the numbers are closer.

The report is intended to make students aware of how the College achieves gender equality in athletics, from the student athlete population, to coaches and to budgets. In whole, the report comes out of Title IX, which states that male and female athletes must have equal access to participation, recruitment, scholarships and other benefits if their institution receives federal funding. Although Grinnell is on par with its peer institutions in many categories, the College does poorly on recruitment. So what accounts for the large disparity in recruitment funds?

Ben Cooprider, assistant athletic director and assistant baseball coach, offered some explanation for the differences.

One of the key reasons is due to how the College generated the report. Recruiting expenses come in two ways: through the money set aside by the College for athletics and from money raised by alums and current student athletes.

“In years past this has been a much closer alignment in money, but this year one of the things that we polled was any designated gifts to recruiting purposes and allocated that in [recruitment] and not in others,” Cooprider said. “We have a number of men’s programs that have a much longer history than our women’s program and that’s not the fault of our women’s programs.” After all, Cooprider pointed out, the women’s team have had a very successful run in the last few years as their records continue to improve.

Because of the men’s teams’ longevity, the connections established by former players and coaches are believed to run more extensively than the women’s, resulting in the disparity in gift money. The athletic department has begun to delineate plans to remove the disparity between funds.

“We don’t want to remedy it by lowering the amount of money spent by the men’s teams; we in fact want to raise the amount of money,” said Cooprider. “I know it will be something that [Andy Hamilton] will be taking up with people in trying to supplement the women’s budget because they don’t have the designated gift funds readily available as some of our men’s programs.”

Cooprider believes that with a new athletic administration headed by Andy Hamilton, the College as a whole will improve its Title IX record.

“[Hamilton] is a great person to tell the story of Grinnell athletes,” Cooprider said. “He’s an alum, he taught [and] he coached two women’s sports — basketball and tennis — so he understands the changes we need to make.”

Since he began his new position, Hamilton has met with other members of the department to address the College’s Title IX failures. As a result, the department has hired a Title IX consultant to conduct an independent review, launched and gender equity task force overseen by head swimming and diving coach Erin Hurley and have started an internal department review, which will lead to an external review done by representatives from the College’s peer institutions. Hopefully the efforts will explicitly show what other areas the department needs to be improved on in time for the next review.

The College must follow one of three of Title IX’s core requirements: providing athletic opportunities for all genders, having athletic population reflect the population makeup of the student body and complying with demonstrated needs of underrepresented athletes. In this case, the underrepresented group is women. Like most institutions, the College complies with Title IX through meeting demonstrated need among women athletes. However, according to Andy Hamilton, there are 13 “laundry lists” of standards that must be met in order to prove full compliance with the third requirement of Title IX.

Recently, the athletic department has begun to poll all student athletes to determine how players feel about their time here at the College, specifically if they believe the College has been fully committed to its progressive ideas to equality and of course, to see if the College has met its chosen Title IX requirement. “Within the sports that we have, we just want to make sure that we’re covering demonstrated need,” Hamilton said. He is confident in that the College does meet Title IX standards since coaches have not expressed dissatisfaction with their recruiting resources and students have not advocated for additional sports teams or other changes. However, there is always room for improvement.

“I want our coaches to recruit at their optimal levels,” Hamilton said. “We want to get student athletes that can excel at [the College].”

Hamilton does admit that rosters across all sports, regardless of gender, could be increased. To get more student athletes however would entail increases in the athletic department staff. As an experiment, the department has offered a post- baccalaureate position for cross country and track, which has proven to be a success in getting more student athletes who are top athletes and students.

“If we can make sure that our budgets are filled and do better in recruitment, we could in fact have more women student- athletes,” Hamilton said.

For female student athletes currently here, there are campus organizations that aim to foster strengthening their presence. Head women’s softball coach Amanda Reckamp created the Female Athlete Leadership Series (FALS) in 2012 with head women’s soccer coach Kirsten Koester to encourage athletes to become confident in their leadership abilities. Both coaches were inspired to create this organization after attending a NCAA- sponsored women’s coaching academy. The event was created offer women, a minority in the coaching world, a multitude of networking, professional development and other opportunities to their underrepresented group.

“I kind of wanted to go a little further and offer that same opportunity to [the College’s] female athletes,” Reckamp said. “And so we started FALS. It’s basically a workshop once a month, bringing female athletes in to strengthen the women’s athletic community, to come in a shared experience of being female athletes and troubleshoot and discuss any issues that come up on our teams and kind of problem solve … how to become better leaders in real situations within those teams.”

Once a month, the members of FALS meet to discuss various topics, such as leadership development and failure recovery conflict management. To be a part of FALS, women athletes must be recommended by their coaches. The four years that it has been a part of the College has been a success, in Reckamp’s opinion. The athletic department has been nothing short of supportive, and this year’s group has expressed greater interest in solidifying FALS’ presence. In turn, the athletes have grown confident in their leadership abilities and thus team culture surrounding the women’s sports have improved substantially.

“Sometimes I think that the people in that room aren’t sure where or how to make an impact, but hopefully these sessions empower them to have a conversation to hold a teammate accountable and to know that they have the skills and abilities and to know that it’s okay to do those kind of things,” Reckamp said.

As a coach, however, Reckamp believes that she has not felt like the department has failed to meet her goals.

“I take advantage of the lots of recruiting opportunities available,” Reckamp said. “Some of them that are beyond my given budget line, so I take advantage of several academic recruiting showcases. The administration has been nothing but supportive of me finding opportunities to recruit top-level student athletes to come play softball here, so … I don’t think I’ve been hindered by a budget, [and] I don’t feel like I don’t have the same opportunities regardless of gender and sport to recruit top-level athletes and students.” Hanna Kessel ’19, a women’s basketball and track student- athlete, is one of the newest FALS members.

“I expected to come out of it with a kind behind the scenes look at what leadership means, not only to athletes on their teams but to coaches and what they expect of leaders on their teams,” Kessel said.

In light of the College’s current Title IX violations, Kessel hopes that FALS will take on a more central role in the discussions on how to solve them.

“I definitely think that FALS is an important organization to work with the groups that are trying to respond to these disparities because like FALS has got representation from all the female teams on campus,” Kessel said. “[FALS] can represent a collective voice that can discuss all those overarching issues that we are experiencing as an athletic department. FALS’ role in this process has been pretty limited and it should be increased definitely.”

Kessel, however, is skeptical if anything will come out of it. As she pointed out, to even begin to work on changing the dynamic between male and female athletes, the students must be aware of the inequality.

“When they handed out [the survey], one of my teammates was giving out the cards and we wondered what are we supposed to write and then she started listing off the things in which things weren’t equal,” Kessel said. “Then all of us started going, like, wait a sec, yeah, that’s not all that fair! So it’s as if as in the moments when those stuff are happening you get a little ticked off, but we hadn’t been musing over it as a team until that moment. I can’t imagine that if the women’s team had to collectively get together to talk about it, that the men’s team do.”

Although she trusts in Hamilton’s ability to work actively to achieve gender equality within the athletic department, Kessel is not sure if her efforts will actually come into fruition. Many colleges struggle to fulfill these Title IX requirements and in their efforts to do so, have let down some student athletes.

“Do you add another team, [or] do you make the women’s teams have more players? Those are two things that are unrealistic to ask for,” Kessel said. “There are just not a lot of sports you can add. Then there’s a disproportionate members of teams so it’s really hard in allocating funds proportionally well. A team of 14 players against a team of 25 basketball players do not need the same amount of funding, numbers wise.”

Even current players could be affected by efforts to comply with Title IX. Cooprider and Reckamp are adamant about recruiting athletes that are not only outstanding in their sport, but also can thrive in a prestigious school.

“As a basketball player, I don’t want to have 25 players,” Kessel said. “It’s less playing time for me — I think it’s absurd that the men’s [basketball] team has so many players! But I also don’t want to take those positions away from male athletes.” Kessel pointed out how colleges have, for example, been removing wrestling from varsity competition as a way to follow Title IX.

As well, Kessel stressed that it partly depends on the student body to voice their dissatisfaction. One of the elements of Title IX is that colleges must meet the demonstrated demand for athletic participation. That entails working towards a women’s lacrosse team, for example, if students advocate for it.

Throughout the year, there will be opportunities to discuss this aspect of Title IX. It is important for the student body to participate in these conversations for a few reasons. Students like Kessel were only knowledgeable of the College because of recruitment. The athletic community makes up a sizeable percent of the student body population and thus contribute to the legacy of the College. Given the College’s progressive image, it will be interesting to see how the College tackles gender equity and Title IX in athletics.

Tommy’s Top Ten

Here is a list (in no particular order) of the ten best “under-the-radar” albums of 2016.

Joyce Manor — Cody: On their latest release, the Californian punk quartet present a far more developed and mature sound. They ditch the teenage, angst-ridden tracks of their previous record “Never Hungover Again” for more conventionally written songs that explore themes such as parenthood and unemployment. A must-listen for fans of The Story So Far, Blink 182 and Brand New.

Touché Amoré — Stage Four: This is the album that the young D.C HarDCore movement was waiting for. On this new record, Amoré transgress the boundaries of both genre and lyricism, creating an end product with the melodic satisfaction of The Smiths intertwined with the unhinged passion of Jeremy Bolm’s vocal delivery.

Danny Brown — Atrocity Exhibition: On ”Atrocity Exhibition,” Brown delivers a refreshing blend of experimental and hardcore hip-hop that both challenges and rewards the listener. Since his last full length release “Old,” Brown has transitioned from underground party starter to progressive hip hop pioneer, a side he had hinted on during his early career but had seemingly dropped in search of greater commercial attention. Fans of Kendrick Lamar, Vince Staples and Earl Sweatshirt should surely take a listen. Sunflower Bean — Human Ceremony: Arguably the hottest new act to emerge in 2016, with their uncompromising blend of raucous psych-rock and indie pop, Sunflower Bean delivered a debut album that simultaneously feels both nostalgic and new. This album received significantly positive reaction from Grinnellians when they played Gardner Lounge in November.

Parquet Courts — Human Performance: The New York Garage Punk quartet deliver their most vibrant and melodic album to date, sending a clear message to the alternative scene that they are a force to be reckoned with. Highlights include the brooding and beautiful “Berlin got Blurry” as well as the six-minute punk jam “One Man, No City”.

Skepta — Konnichiwa: The North London artist dropped what has turned out to be a highly significant album for the burgeoning grime scene. This album sent shockwaves around the music industry when it was named “Album of the Year” at the Mercury Awards ahead of the likes of Radiohead and David Bowie. This unanticipated recognition propelled the relatively unknown rappers onto an international platform where I am sure they will continue to flourish.

Death Grips — Bottomless Pit: The infamous hardcore hip hop trio once again dropped a surprise release to the delight of their small, but infatuated, fan base. It would be hard for any Death Grips listener to imagine an even more twisted and unusual sound than on their previous release “Jenny Death,” yet they are once again able to deliver a unique sound that pushes the limits of hip hop.

Preoccupations — Preoccupations: Formerly known as Viet Cong, the band chooses not to change their sound as well as their name for this new release. A dense and powerful collection of post-punk and alternative songs, this album simultaneously challenges and rewards the listener while offering a revitalized version of their distinctive sound. They also feel no need to stay within the normal constraints of songwriting, creating the 11-minute epic “Memory.” Fans of Ought, Joy Division and The Editors should enjoy this album.

Underworld — Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future: On their ninth album, Underworld have created some of their most vital work yet, all without compromising their unique sound that a modern audience might label as dated. The songs here are long, dramatic, forceful and linear in their motion. Songs like “I Exhale” sweep the listener away rather than make them groove, demonstrating a level of transition in their work. Few believed Underworld would drop potentially their most fulfilling record this late into the game, but none can argue that they have achieved something special with this release.

MONEY — Suicide Songs: This album sees the trio perfect what they started to build on their debut record “The Shadow of Heaven.” The gritty, grey backdrop of Northwest England continues to be the prominent aesthetic, yet on this record they have the confidence to shed more light on what was previously kept quietly in the shadows.

-Tommy O’Donnell ’20

Creativity Tops Monotony

Finals week is the perfect reminder for many starving students that schoolwork saturates our minds in pools of self-doubt, anger and dread. In these last weeks, our frustrations often coagulate into D-Hall conversations about how much work we have. Many students, including me, participate in this ritual to patch up the symptom of a larger disease: a culture of overworking students. After all, in a competitive private school that isn’t ever going to place a maximum limit on homework, we’re left to our own devices to find time for our own personal enjoyment. For better or for worse, Grinnell College charges us as individuals to strike a school-life balance, all while staring up a mountain of homework.

But how do students temper the rigor of academics? The answer lies in one’s free time. To a group of three Grinnell students I posed the question, “What is your creative outlet and why is it important to your daily life?”

Alex Schmiechen ’17 is a biochemistry major at Grinnell who makes time for right-brain activities after a full day of lab work. She explained that art has been with her for a long time and that her current project is “mainly ceramics. I’m taking ceramics classes but I also do it more for myself.”

When asked why ceramics was important to her daily life, she responded “Ceramics helps me to relax after a long day of homework and it’s meditative. It’s nice to use a part of your brain that isn’t schoolwork related. Most of the day I’m doing biochem stuff, which is mostly analytical and it’s nice to use that right brain side at the end of the day.”

A student who wished to remain anonymous agreed, “If I’m ever lagging in a class, I’ll take out a notebook and start writing down ideas for my story. Writing starts to refresh my mind, and I look forward to when I can finally make time for my book. Then, because I’ve changed my mindset to feeling passionate instead of bored, the class is manageable,” they said.

Alex Turner ’16 chimed into the topic of creativity as an individual who studies languages for personal pleasure. He stressed that creativity isn’t limited to art. “For me, [my creative outlet is] language. I often find myself thinking interchangeably in three languages — English, French and Japanese, sometimes all at once. Each language has its own personality and often I experience sentiments unique to one language. It’s not just a matter of different vocabularies. It’s an entirely new way to experience the world!”

Each student had wonderful things to say about the impact creativity had on their daily outlooks. Allotting time in their day for the sake of creation diversifies their world perspectives, provides a feeling of self-purpose and gives them a quiet refuge from an environment screaming bloody deadlines into their ears.

But is this the best way to strike a work-life balance? Some might say that working more as a solution to being overworked seems to be a troublesome answer. But for many students, this “work” doesn’t feel overbearing. In fact, the creativity puts tools in their belts that can be used to tackle academics.

An analogous way to understand creativity’s role is a laborer using multiple muscle groups to work a physical task. We give ourselves strength and endurance when we spread the burden. Driving ourselves to exhaustion through a mono-work culture of academics is a surefire way to burn out — leaving our academics a pained, one-dimensional drudgery.

To support this idea, I turned the conversation towards free time usage. I asked Schmiechen if she saw her creative expressions as relatively valuable compared to watching Netflix at the end of the day.

Her answer seemed divided. “When I’m watching Netflix I’m hardly using any part of my brain at all, but both [art and Netflix] are good in their own way. The difference, for me, is that ceramics is productive relaxing. When I watch Netflix I sometimes feel guilty, but with ceramics I’m actually producing something.”

I asked Schmiechen to elaborate on the value of Netflix. “Creating art is like breathing. You need to exhale and inhale. You can’t just be creating all the time and you need to take time to be absorbing information.”

Balance was a crucial element for everyone I interviewed. Sometimes our minds will be exhausted and we need to dial down and watch our favorite show on Netflix. Doing the best you can in the moment is what matters. But when we have the energy to be creative, switching off and simply absorbing information is doing a disservice to our potential as human beings. If we only use academics to reach our potential, we run the risk of exhausting that lone medium.

-Ian Stout ’17 A Finals Week Survival Guide

So, we tried to write a list of helpful and widely applicable tips for surviving finals, but writing that sort of thing is no easy task. The thing is, we all get through difficult times in different ways; some of us go to study breaks, some of us avoid the world, some of us sleep too much and some too little. There is no exact formula for success during these challenging times — the simple truth is that you need to practice self-care in whatever way makes the most sense for you as an individual. What works for us may not work for you, and what works for you may not work for your friends and so on. That’s the thing about self-care; it’s all about you, not what works for anyone else. So, if you take anything from our column this semester, it should be to use the resources around you to take care of yourself in a way that works for you. As a very wise [2013]er wrote on the wall in Bob’s, “Self-care is not selfish, it’s an act of survival.”

(Most important tips are asterisked.)

#1 Be realistic*

Take a step back right now. What do you have to do? How are you going to do it? When does it need to be done by? If there are a lot of conditions to getting your projects completed, it’s best you begin to check in with resources (see #4) now. The sooner you do, the easier it will be. It’s easy to get so wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of finals that you forget to think about the details of exactly what you need to do to accomplish your goals. If you are thinking through your next couple of weeks and realize that you might need some help, reach out to those resources now! Be realistic with your aspirations and limitations – it will help in the long run. (We speak from experience.)

#2 Sleep*

Whether you take cat naps at four in the afternoon or go to bed at three and wake up at ten, figure out a sleep schedule that means you’ll actually sleep and which will allow you to do work, show up to class and literally stay woke. Sleep tends to be the first thing to go during stressful times, yet it is absolutely critical to maintaining your health, academic success and general well-being. We understand that sometimes it’s necessary to stay up a little later or wake up early, but just try and remember that sleep does matter.

#3 Utilize your resources*

Find the people who are paid and trained to listen and help you. This is a stressful time of the year and utilizing resources around you could make a big difference. Also, remember your friends have a lot on their plates too right now. Although it’s important for your friends to know what’s going on, they can’t always commit their full energy to you. We have an abundance of resources on campus — lots and lots of paid professionals who care about your wellbeing. Reach out to them, and use your resources as best you can.

#4 Try not to compare stress levels and workloads*

We (Grinnellians) have a nasty habit of engaging in a culture of competitive suffering. We often compare our stress levels and workloads making it into a needless competition, or if we’re not doing that, it’s easy to assume that your peers are doing just fine and have their lives in perfect order. But the truth is none of us really have it together and we all live and work differently. There is simply no comparison. Trying to compare stress and suffering doesn’t help anyone; not you nor the people you’re comparing yourself to. Just do what you can, regardless of how you think everyone else is doing.

#5 Let yourself off the hook*

It’s okay. It will somehow be okay. If you need someone to actually tell you that, message or find us. We are here for you.

#6 Know when you need to check out*

Whatever your body’s signs are that you need to step out of a situation, leave a study group, find a new place to work or take a break, try to recognize it and then actually remove yourself. Walks are great. Someone told us about how they wound down with video games today. Physically leave, do it.

#7 Embrace the rush

TO AN EXTENT – use the adrenaline to finish projects and power through, but if it starts to feel overwhelming, check out.

#8 Take an incomplete.

This is probably one of the biggest secrets at Grinnell. If you are feeling overwhelmed or for some reason feel like you will be unable to complete your coursework by the last day of classes, an incomplete is a fabulous option. It provides you extra time to complete your classes without any punishment — there are no repercussions and no impacts on your transcript. It simply allows you to finish your assignments in the two weeks after finals are over. You can get a form in the Student Affairs office on the third floor of the JRC — they’re due by Dec. 9.

#9 Go to the important study breaks.

There are a lot of study breaks, so don’t go to all of them. Do go to some of them. They are a good opportunity to bond with friends, schedule in breaks and take time to eat. We personally recommend Puppies and Pancakes and 2 a.m. Pancakes (Yes, we really enjoy pancakes.). Be selective; find the study breaks that meet your needs and then make the time to attend them.

#10 Dining dollars

Never underestimate the power of snacks! This time of year lots of people have suddenly realized they have dining dollars left (by checking this website: get.cbord.com/grinnell) and are frantically trying to spend them. Find a friend who is flush with dining dollars or be that friend and take a break from your studying to go get some mozzarella sticks or a quesadilla. Having a study break with a new or old friend who has dining dollars provides a nice break, a social opportunity and a snack all at once!

-Maddie O’Meara ’17 and Emily Howe’17 Dance Ensemble’s Borro(we)d emphasizes community

Photo by Sno Zhao

Nora Coghlan [email protected]

Themes of community, love, friendship, trust and intimacy will all be explored this weekend through the Theater and Dance Department’s Dance Ensemble performance of Borro(we)d. Artistic Director Waewdao Sirisook led this semester’s Dance Ensemble.

At the beginning of the semester, the ensemble sat down to discuss themes that they would like to explore in their choreography.

“A lot of the work leading up to our performance was … talking about issues that we really cared about, so a lot of it is about community and being together, but also celebrating individuality, celebrating our bodies, ourselves,” said ensemble member Ceci Bergman ’19.

The group found these themes to be particularly salient given the current political climate, and specific causes like the No Dakota Access Pipe Line movement and awareness campaigns advocating for acceptance and inclusions of Muslims.

One particular campaign, wherein Muslim men stood in busy areas with blind folds on and signs that said “I’m Muslim and I’m not a terrorist,” and invited strangers to hug them, was particularly important in Sirisook’s conception of community.

“When people did not participate in that it broke my heart. I myself did a short performance on that too, and … I believe that every performer is in a very vulnerable place when they become that person who depends on other peoples trust, and … when I talked with students and they wanted to work with vulnerability and love and relationships, I immediately thought of this theme that I have experimented with before,” Siridook said.

After deciding on a theme, the dancers worked together in groups and pairs to develop their own choreography. Sarah Schlax ’17 said that unlike previous semesters, the dancers had much more influence on the final outcome.

“I think we’ve been given more leeway than in other instances to really choreograph our own piece,” she said. “And the theme of the piece is community and love and friendship and putting more of ourselves into it and our interactions with other dancers really lends itself to that theme really well.”

“Having more freedom to express ourselves makes the piece more intimate and I think more raw so it’s much more of an introspective piece I think,” Charlie Rosenblum ’18 added.

Sirisook’s unique style of teaching and choreographing complimented the piece’s theme as well. Along with the original student choreography, Sirisook incorporated traditional Thai dance.

“We included a lot of Thai dance, both the philosophy and aesthetic in that also in the movement, and we also have a lot of individual movement from each student,” Sirisook said.

Each member of the ensemble contributed something unique to the piece as well, especially because the members have varying levels of dance experience.

“[Working with new dancers] was a bit difficult at first but I would say that what I’m looking for is not … perfection,” Sirisook said. “What I’m looking for is people to share and to be yourself, be your best of that moment and finally I think I find that each person has that quality within themselves even though they might not be a professional dancer.”

More than making the piece perfect, Sirisook hoped that the themes of the work would transfer to the group.

“What I wanted them to gain the most was the love and trust of each other because that … leads to a good work. If they do not love and trust each other, the work will still become very awkward. You can dance and you can memorize the dance very well, but this kind of work that we do now if you see the show, it involves a lot of intimacy and real feeling,” Sirisook said.

Borro(we)d will be performed tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m. in Flanagan Theatre in Bucksbaum.

Student directed One Act Play Festival opens tonight Photo by Helena Gruensteidl

Zane Silk [email protected]

After months of studying direction, planning auditions, selecting plays and holding rehearsals, this semester’s directing class will showcase their work at the One Act Play Festival this Friday and Saturday. The festival will include five works directed by Luis Rojas ’18, Ben Charette ’17, Lauren Fenton ’17, John Kim ’18 and Ayo Bowman ’18.

The directing process began for each student with a search for the perfect play. For Ben Charrette ’17, finding the work that spoke to them was tough.

“I sat down with several books of one acts and couldn’t really find anything. … So I went online and started looking up different playwrights and dug through archives of plays, and there were a couple where I mentally bookmarked them as one of the possibilities. And then as soon as I got to ‘Heart in the Ground,’ I stopped dead in my tracks, and said this is the one. There’s this real raw emotional honesty in it.”

Set in the Midwest during the 1920s, Charette’s play tells the story of a husband and wife who are devastated by the death of their infant and must try to rebuild. Several other directors also opted for more relationship-focused pieces; Fenton’s play, “Post Its (Notes on a Marriage)” explores a relationship over time through the post it notes shared between the pair. And “Guys” directed by Kim, is a buddy comedy that explores friendship.

From the start, Rojas limited his search to Latin American theatre, because he felt their bold, political messages are too often overlooked. Rojas read 26 scripts until he stumbled upon “March,” a play inspired by Argentina’s “Dirty War,” the military dictatorship’s ruthless campaign against dissidents that left over 10,000 missing. “March” features the characters One, Two and Three, who tell their stories as they are marched off to their deaths, only for the actors to return as new characters — Four, Five and Six — in a cycle that repeats.

“I like that there are no names in it,” Rojas said. “It shows the way these people were stripped of their own identity, stripped of their voice, stripped of their name, … especially when it’s your government doing it to you — I think it’s very important to think about that in this political climate and also on this campus.”

Bowman, on the other hand, turned to more a more alternative work, in order to provide a meaningful experience for his audience. Bowman directs “The Actor’s Nightmare,” which features actors siting amongst the audience and follows the character of George who is backstage and must perform a play with no preparation.

“It’s very much a play that people who are invested in theatre will enjoy, … but everyone’s been on the spot … everyone’s had that feeling of, ‘I don’t know what’s going on,’” he said.

After taking special care to choose their perfect piece, the next challenge for this semester’s directors was casting their shows and finding the best way to translate their vision to the stage.

“This is the first play I’ve directed, but I’ve been in a couple dozen, … and I’ve seen enough directors trying to get this one particular thing out of an actor who’s just not understanding,” Bowman said. “I came in with the knowledge that this is not going to be what I’m imagining in my head, that doesn’t really exist.”

For some, it was the logistical aspects that were most challenging. Bowman said it was difficult to find times that worked for all five of his actors, while Charette talked about struggling to juggle the many responsibilities, especially those usually handled by stage managers. Now rehearsals are nearly over and each production’s different pieces are coming together.

“A director who feels entirely confident at this point is a foolish one … there’s always something to stress about,” Charette said, who added that that unlike actors who have the stage, directors lack an outlet for the nervous energy that builds as the performance nears. “You have to channel that into your performers beforehand, and once the actual performances comes about there’s nothing you can do but watch.”

The One Act Plays showcase will be performed on December 2nd and 3rd at 7 p.m. in The Wall in the Bucksbaum Center for Arts. Patrons will be seated on a first-come first-serve basis, and no tickets are required to attend.