Category: March 18, 2019

Empowering women one dance at a time

DYLAN COUR
STAFF WRITER

March has long been recognized as Women’s History month. The celebration started as a local festival in Santa Rosa, California in 1978. Just two years later, a group of women’s groups and historians successfully lobbied for national recognition. In February of that year, President Jimmy Carter issued a presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8th as National Women’s History Week.

This continued for the next seven years until in 1987, Congress passed a bill that designated March as Women’s Month. Since 1995, the president has issued an annual proclamation during the month stating once more, it is Women’s History Month.

To celebrate women’s history on campus many groups do a variety of things. For example, Kappa Iota, our local sorority on campus, hosted their annual Luxury (Lux) Liner. The event took place on Friday, Mar. 15.

“Luxury Liner is our annual philanthropy event, and we choose a different theme every year. This year we chose Peace, Love and Rock and Roll because we were inspired by the feminist and peace movements from the 70’s,” said Rose Cyburt (’20).

“We host Lux Liner around this time every year, while trying to avoid it conflicting with other events. It conveniently worked out to be during Women’s Month so we also hosted a donations drive, as well as multiple sisterhood events to raise awareness on domestic violence,” said Cyburt.

In order to gain interest in the event, KI brings in outside forms of entertainment as well. This year, the band Political Lizard came and played live, and they also brought in a magician.

Lux Liner is not only an opportunity to celebrate women’s month, but doubles as K.I.’s formal.

“We open the event to campus because we believe that a formal event should be open to everyone. We like to be as inclusive as we can,” said Megan Finkbeiner (’19).

Because this is the largest philanthropy event of the year for Kappa Iota, all of the proceeds for the event go to R.I.S.E.

“R.I.S.E. Advocacy embodies KI’s values, so it was really easy for us to choose a philanthropy to support especially since we are local,” said Natasha Netzley (’21).

R.I.S.E. Advocacy, – previously known as Women’s Aid Shelter of Gratiot, Isabelle, and Clare Counties, recently changed their name to be even more inclusive.

“One of the reasons for the recent name change was to remind the community that R.I.S.E. Advocacy provides services for people of all genders and sexualities. They are a fantastic resource and a crucial establishment in our community for helping survivors get back on their feet,” said Holly Barnum (’20).

“R.I.S.E. offers numerous free and confidential services from legal advocacy to counseling to emergency housing. R.I.S.E. Advocacy also educates in the community to decrease sexual victimization and intimate partner violence,” said Barnum.

“On top of Lux Liner, we also run a supply drive every year to collect different resources that the shelter is in need of that are not usually thought of, such as toothpaste, feminine products and clothes. We also like to take part in the campus event See Spot Run to aid R.I.S.E. where ever we can” said Netzley.

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ACDC dances into spring concert

BAILEY LANGBO
STAFF WRITER

The weekend of Mar.15- 17 marked the last show of this academic year for the Alma College Dance Company. The concerts took place in Presbyterian Hall and featured pieces by dance teachers and choreographers Kristen Bennett, Rosely Conz, and Ben Munisteri. Students were also able to choreograph their own pieces to be put in the show.

Dancers and choreographers have been working on this show since the beginning of winter semester. Auditions were held shortly after returning to campus in January, and the pieces created by faculty were put together within that timeframe.

Pieces by select students within the company have been worked on for most of the year, and were also featured in the company’s Student Choreographers Concert, which took place in the beginning of February.

Another piece was initially performed at the American College Dance Association (ACDA) conference, which took place at Wittenberg University, located in Springfield, Ohio.

This being the last show of the year means that is is the last show for the company’s seniors. Senior Maureen Murphy (’19) has been dancing for 15 years.

“This show is kind of bittersweet. I’m so happy that I’ve gotten to dance through college. It’s weird to think that this is my last dance show. I’m excited because it’s going to be a great show, but it doesn’t feel like I’ve been dancing here for four years. It feels like a lot less. I love that it’s brought me a great group of people who I’m going to miss next year. I hope that I’ll be able to come back and see them next year in their shows, though,” said Murphy.

“I’ve been dancing for about 15 years now. It’s just become a part of my life that I can’t imagine living without. I feel like dancing enables those with a soft voice to express [themselves] with their body. Dancing at college gives students a lot of new perspectives in dance as well as a lot of opportunities to develop our skills as both performers and creator,” said Ally Boulware (’20), one of the featured student choreographers.

“The faculty here is extremely supportive and helpful and pushes us to achieve our best,” said Boulware.

“The hardest part about putting the show together [has] definitely been the hours,” said Nicole Yost (‘21).“Anyone who tells you dance is easy is a huge liar. Just imagine having classes all day and then two-hour rehearsals each night, not to mention being able to switch your brain over to dance mode each of those times, even after a rough day.”

Dancers claim that the long hours are worth it. “Dance has been my escape [for] my entire life,” said Yost. “Even over breaks, I find that I slip more than usual because I don’t have that active release, not only body wise, but mentally as well. In one of the pieces that I’m a part of, I connect to the story so well and every time I run it, I am able to get those feelings off my chest more and more.”

“Dance has been a part of my life for so long that it shaped my life and taught me important life lessons. I learned resilience, time management, organization, losing gracefully, and gratitude. Those qualities have carried me far in my life, and will continue to do so,” said Alexandra Mithen (’22).

“I’ve been dancing for 15 years now. I love that I get to keep doing doing something I love. Everyone at my recital senior year was crying because they were done, but I still had four more years! Hopefully I’ll keep dancing throughout my entire life. I also love the thrill of performing onstage and finishing, standing there proud of your performance while the audience screams and cheers,” said Mithen.

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Tucker Carlson comes under fire

SYDNEY BOSSIDIS
STAFF WRITER

Tucker Carlson has recently been the center of a controversy involving a series of demeaning comments he made years ago. Media Matters for America — a nonprofit organization focused on monitoring the press for inaccurate or unreliable information — released the interviews on Mar. 10, 2019.

Carlson started out as a print journalist in the 1990s before becoming a political commentator and being hired by Fox in 2009.

He has worked for Fox News since 2016 hosting, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” a politically driven talk show that airs nightly.

The comments that led to the hashtag “ # Fi r e Tu c k e r C a r l s o n” occurred between 2006 and 2011. Carlson would call into a radio show called, “Bubba the Love Sponge Show,” to discuss various topics, typically related to political issues to voice his opinions. The earliest reported was Apr. 4, 2006.

The subjects of his comments frequently varied but were mainly targeted at minorities. There were many dealing with race, gender, and even the Warren Jeffs case — a legal case in which Jeffs paid a 14-year-old girl to marry her cousin. He also used derogatory terms to refer to women such as Michelle Obama and Samantha Bee.

Among his misogynistic statements, he claims that white men were responsible for “creating civilization”.

Then, several times throughout a five year period, he made racist remarks about former President Barack Obama. Additionally, there were many negative statements made about the war in Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries.

The hashtag “ # Fire Tucker Carlson ” started trending on Twitter shortly after these audio files resurfaced. People became angry that Carlson is still employed by Fox News without any sanctions. They feel that his opinions should not be publicized on his own show when they are demeaning to certain populations.

There has also been a call for advertisers to stop sponsoring his nightly show or risking being boycotted by consumers.

In recent months, he lost a total of 34 advertisers such as Samsung, IHOP, and Pacific Life Insurance as a result of his speech.

It is unclear what, if any, other companies will pull their advertisements.

His misogynistic and racist comments continued since being hired by Fox. Recently, in Dec. 2018, he made anti-immigration remarks during his show stating immigrants made the country “poorer and dirtier”.

In Dec., Fox supported Carlson’s opinion on the matter. On the latest clips, Fox has not made any comments.

It seems unlikely that Carlson will face any repercussions over this controversy and will continue to have his show.

Carlson is claiming no responsibility for what he said. In an interview with Variety, he says that it happened more than a decade ago, and his views can be seen on his show.

He also defended himself by saying, “anyone who disagrees with my views is welcome to come on [to his show] and explain why.”

This is not the first time that media figures have made such remarks. Jeanine Pirro, host of a show on Fox News, questioned Representative Ilhan Omar wearing a hijab.

Fox said they would handle the situation regarding her behavior with her directly. Megyn Kelly had her show canceled on NBC after making a racist remark in Oct. 2018.

This string of incidences brings into question how people should deal with news outlets allowing their personnel to make the comments such as Carlson’s and if there should be punishment, even if those comments happened over a decade ago.

The reasons why Carlson has not yet been removed from his position are unclear, as other people in similar positions of power have been removed from their spotlights due to similar comments.

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Students promote No More Campaign Awareness

EMILY COWLES
STAFF WRITER

This past week nursing students Katie Bush (‘19) and Sophia Guzman (‘19) brought pieces of the No More Campaign to Alma College. These students aimed to raise awareness for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence on college campuses.

“The No More movement was started by Law and Order SVU’s lead actress, Mariska Hargitay. This movement’s main purpose is to help support victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse,” said Guzman.

“However, it is a movement that has spread across the country, helping influence many college campuses to host events and prevention/outreach initiatives in order to not only raise money, but also raise awareness of these issues, while continuing to support the victims and promote that change needs to occur,” said Guzman.

On Monday night, Bush and Guzman showed a documentary that portrayed the sexual violence that occurs on college campuses. This film, accessible to the public by Netflix, shows acts of sexual assault and domestic violence being committed, as well as the trauma of attempting to seek help after these experiences.

“The movie, The Hunting Ground, is a very heavy and informative film that really touches base on the acts of sexual assault on college campuses. Not only does it tell the stories of victims from colleges all across the country, it also portrays the acts of college campus administration and faculty trying to cover up the facts and attempt to keep the victims quiet so it does not fall back on their college or university image,” said Guzman.

Both Bush and Guzman agreed showing this film in conjunction with bringing the No More Campaign to campus was important. This film can relate to students and show people who have never experienced these situations that they are real and can happen to anyone.

“I feel that when people hear ‘sexual assault,’ they automatically assume we are talking about women. However, these types of movements support everyone, including men, women, students and staff members. This movement was created to help everyone who has been a part of an incidence, and no one should be discouraged to come forward and speak to someone in order to get help,” said Guzman.

Bush explained that if someone knows something about an act like this being committed but is scared of any repercussions that may come if they say something, then they should seek help and speak out in order to protect themselves and others.

“It is very important to take care of yourself. And if someone is in a situation where they know something that happened and they don’t really know what to do and how to act, there are people on campus who don’t report, and that includes the Chaplin and the Counseling and Wellness Center. It’s not bad if you’re scared to reach out [for help],” said Bush.

Maya Dora-Laskey, Professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies, followed up Bush’s comment by adding different organizations that students can go to for resources, as well as organizations with a voice against sexual assault and domestic violence on colleges campuses, mainly here in Alma.

“I always recommend collaborating with other organizations—some good partners might have been Health and Wellness, Diversity and Inclusion/ CSO, Women’s and Gender Studies, Kappa Iota (KI), and MacCurdy Women’s House, and our Title IX Office on campus and Women’s Resource Center, RISE Advocacy (formerly Women’s Aid), Child Advocacy, and Alma PD in the Alma community,” said Dora-Laskey.

For those who are looking to be more active in organizations such as No More, there will be events held by Title IX in April, and students can contact Kaydee Hall with any questions.

The upcoming events for this are as follows: April 2 will be a forum with RISE staff members, April 6 will be the Scots Ask 5k and April 9 is Cone-sent. There will also be members of the No More Campaign at Open Mic with Theta Chi.

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