The Scripps Voice

By Megan Petersen ‘15
Copy Editor

Christie Kweon welcomes guests with an offer to have a seat on her brand-new and incredibly comfortable couch. The Scripps College sophomore has ample space in her new room—plenty of room for all her usual dorm furniture plus the couch and a mini fridge—because she has her own room this year. But this luxury, not available to many sophomores, didn’t come without a price. Kweon and 22 other Scripps students landed single rooms this year by leaving Scripps altogether and moving to Pomona.

For several years Scripps has had problems with what many call a “housing crunch.” The College’s 2007 Strategic Plan outlines plans for growing the student body (currently just over 950) to 1,000 by 2017. The plan states that this can only happen if the student-faculty ratio and class size remain consistent and if endowment goes up, but the plan never specifically mentions new living spaces. Though a new dormitory is rumored to be in the planning stages, more first-years are living in “forced” doubles and triples (e.g. a room designed to be a single is now a double, a double is now a triple, etc.), more upperclassmen are sharing living spaces, and there are precious few suites and single rooms available, often going to juniors and seniors with higher room draw numbers.

And, now, there is spillover housing available on the third floor of Smiley Dormitory, smack in the middle of Pomona’s campus.

Though the third floor of Smiley is in some ways equipped specifically for Scripps students—they have their own Scripps Residential Advisor, for example—the dorm is still much different from what many Scripps students are used to. An average-looking Pomona dormitory, Smiley might be considered a far cry from their home campus, which Forbes ranked among the most beautiful campuses in the world in 2010. Additionally, Pomona’s housing isn’t segregated by sex, which one would think might bother Scripps students accustomed to their women’s-only living space.

But Maxine Yakobe (’14) and Natasha Kraus (’15) were both more concerned about living on the third floor of a building without air conditioning than the dorm’s aesthetics or the genders of its residents. Heat was among the first things Kraus mentioned when asked about living at Smiley, and Yakobe said she was sometimes unable to sleep on hot nights.

Despite her discomfort, this is Yakobe’s second year living at Smiley. “It has a really cool dynamic,” she said, because it feels like a bunch of students living in one big suite rather than a floor full of singles. “I’ve made lots of Pomona friends and really broadened my social group,” Yakobe said.

“It really brings you out of your bubble,” Kraus added. Both emphasized the convenience of being so close to Pomona’s Smith Campus Center, which holds the Coop Fountain and hosts parties such as Pub various events throughout the year. “I like the proximity to 5C social life,” Yakobe said.

Kweon, who lives just down the hall, also says she enjoys Smiley, but tries not to compare living at Pomona and living at Scripps. “Obviously these are two different colleges. If you’re going to compare, you’re going to have to highlight the negatives more than the positives.”

Though she has to leave the dorm early to make the trek up to her morning Core III class, Kweon says Smiley doesn’t inconvenience Scripps students as much as people might think. “There’s this perception at Scripps and Pomona that this is the worst dorm” or that people who live at Smiley are “trying to detach from Scripps,” which she asserts is untrue. Kweon works at the Sallie Tiernan Field House and also has three classes at Scripps this semester, and said that she often finds it convenient to spend time at Scripps between commitments, studying either in the Student Union or the Denison Library, and come back to Smiley at the end of the day.

Many Pomona students don’t have an opinion about the Scripps takeover of their living space. Antonela Miho, a Pomona sophomore who also lives in Smiley, was open to the idea of spillover students coming to her college. If another college needs extra living space, “we have it,” she said.

Other Pomona students are not so welcoming. “She doesn’t even go here”— one Pomona sophomore, who asked that he remain anonymous, referenced the movie “Mean Girls” to express his frustration at having been deferred housing last fall, thus not knowing where he’d be living until three days before move-in this August. “Why is their housing secured, while mine was in the wind?”

This is the second year that Pomona has set aside rooms for overflow Scripps students, and, with no new dorm in the foreseeable future, the third floor of Smiley may be Scripps territory for several more years to come.

On Nov. 4, Luke Fishbeck of the Los Angeles-based duo Lucky Dragons reunited with 5C students in a performance at Walker Lounge at Pomona College. The band had given a memorable concert at the Shakedown at Pitzer College in the spring semester of 2009. Though his bandmate, singer Sarah Rara, was missing in action, this time Fishbeck was able to keep the crowd entertained with an innovative and interactive show.

Lucky Dragons has recently gained an increase in notoriety after opening for Thom Yorke and Flea’s collaborative concerts at the Echoplex and The Orpheum in October. However, the band has been around since the late 1990s. Having released fifteen studio albums, Lucky Dragons is not only highly prolific but also ahead of its time in its use of music production with its much talked about live execution of other-worldly sounds.

Using advanced technology, the band is able to bridge the gap between performer and audience by allowing participants to hold onto wires and then create their own music through skin contact. Other instruments, such as shakers and gongs, were also passed around to add another dimension to the live music. Whether one was an onlooker or an active participant in Fishbeck’s experiment, one could feel the excitement as the crowd began to realize that it was the real feature of the show. Lucky Dragons’ music can be previewed on myspace.com/luckydragons.

This year’s graduating class has some big shoes to fill. Last year, the class of 2009 brought in a total of nine Fulbright scholarships. Receiving so many prestigious grants meant that Scripps ranked nationally with the eighth-highest number of Fulbright recipients among liberal arts colleges, and 38th for all U.S. undergraduate colleges and universities.

Scripps joins fellow Claremont Colleges Pomona and Pitzer on the ranking of impressive Fulbright achievement. Pomona came in first place among liberal art colleges, with 15 Fulbright scholarships, and Pitzer came in third place with 12 awards.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright Program gives graduating seniors across the country the financial support that will enable them to apply their academic and leadership skills to teaching positions in other countries. Fulbright recipients are encouraged to seek out opportunities that will increase their awareness of international issues and facilitate cultural exchange.

The application process for Fulbrights involves multiple deadlines for applications—both online and hard copies are due before the multiple-stage application review can begin. This doesn’t deter ambitious Scripps seniors from applying for the award, though. Every September, Scripps women scramble to compile essays, transcripts, resumes and letters of recommendation so they may be considered for a Fulbright.

Last week it was announced that 25 Scripps seniors are semi-finalists for the awards this year. After a grueling application and interview process, they must wait until early 2010 for the finalists to be announced.

Students will not know for certain whether their hard work has paid off until next year. Recipients of the award will be informed sometime between March and June of 2010.

At the Claremont Colleges, students are educated on the issues of exploitation that exist all over the world. But, as recent protests have revealed, these issues are closer to home than students may have realized. Over the years, there have been several instances of exploitation of staff members who work at the 5C’s. Afraid to directly approach the administration, staff members turned to those with whom they have daily interactions: the students. At Pomona College, students have reacted in a substantial way with the implementation of the Workers’ Support Committee. The Workers’ Support Committee is an organization that strives to keep the student body informed on issues concerning staff members and construct a positive relationship between staff and administration in order to enable future progress.

Students created the Workers’ Support Committee in response to the actions that Pomona’s administration has taken regarding its employees. The committee works with staff members and meets one-on-one with administration to address key issues such as cutting work hours and laying off staffers. Last year the committee began the “Stand With Staff” campaign to boycott the Pomona dining halls after dining hall staff members’ hours were cut over the summer.

On Oct. 9, a rally was organized in reaction to an e-mail that Pomona President David Oxtoby sent to the student body regarding job cuts for housekeepers. These two demonstrations occurred after staff members approached the committee, asking for help in a shared effort to emphasize the need for change in how workers’ jobs are handled.

The Workers’ Support Committee, which meets weekly, consists of about 30 students. Though the organization is open to students at all 5C’s, almost all of the committee members attend Pomona. The committee addresses Pomona-specific issues, and works toward educating students on the structural problems that exist within the work system at the college. The committee gathers its strength from outside participation; when students get involved in demonstrations, inform their friends on the issues or even just form relationships with staff members, the Workers’ Support Committee is gathering strength.

Members of the Workers’ Support Committee visited individual dorms to discuss the changes that were made in housekeeping staff over the summer. Articles about the committee have already been published in The Student Life and The Claremont Progressive, further bolstering the committee’s presence on campus. “We’re going to do whatever keeps conversations going,” said committee member Sam Gordon (PO ‘11). General student involvement is important to the committee, since it shows the Pomona administration what is a priority on its campus.

Even more important than creating a campus-wide presence is the fostering of a non-politicized environment where staff members feel safe to share their frustration with students. The committee takes action when a staff member approaches it; it is continuously working toward a structural revamping in which staff members are comfortable enough to address the administration on its own. Said Gordon, “We want things to work out so that we don’t have to exist anymore.”

The current relationship between staff members and administration is too unbalanced to allow for issues to pass by without student intervention. This puts the committee in a difficult transitional stage, where its present goal is to diminish the wall of communication between staff members and the administration altogether.

In its work toward a more equal standing with the administration, the Workers’ Support Committee aspires to have as little on its agenda as possible. But, for now, its agenda is filled and its voice—with the help of interested students—is ever-present on campus. The ideologies that go into the committee are enough to inspire any student to take a look around her own community and open her eyes to the issues around her.

Gym Class Heroes pose with Homer and Marge Simpson in Bridges Auditorium

Photos by Vritti Goel

When asked about their decision to perform at Pomona College, Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy and drummer Matt McGiney answered with a straight face, “It was mostly due to their long-standing achievements in academics and philanthropy… Nah, we’re just kidding you.”

Every fall, Gym Class Heroes makes a tour of colleges and universities. But the group appeals to a wide array of listeners, rather beyond just college students. When asked about the types of people who listen to their work, the musicians said that “all manners of people pack into our concerts, from college students to housewives.”

McCoy strongly believes that the music of Gym Class Heroes brings people together. “Just look at who comes to our concerts,” he said. “Young kids, their parents, all races. I mean we lucked out in that department. As far as putting what we do in a category, it’s tough. If I had to choose though, I would say alternative hip-hop.”

While not attracting a sell-out crowd, the concert, held at Bridges Auditorium on Oct. 11, still drew about 100 students who managed to put down their books for an evening to enjoy a relatively rare big-name performance in Claremont. The opening act—The Curious Case of Miriam Feldblum (CCMF)—seemed an odd choice for the concert, contrasting with rather than complementing the expletives and rock-out quality of Gym Class Heroes with their tight-fitting pants and old rock covers. As soon as Gym Class Heroes took the stage, audience members surged to the front, standing on seats and armrests. The band played several of their hits, including “Peace Sign/Index Down,” “Cupid’s Chokehold” and “Cookie Jar.” McCoy, however, spoke more about his newfound singledom than spent time playing actual music.

After an encore song, the band left the stage for good, exiting to a chorus of half-hearted “Encore” shouts from the audience. The music of Gym Class Heroes may be a popular choice on the 5C’s, but their performance in concert—lacking any coherent theme and much actual music—in the end left something to be desired.

Halloween is just around the corner, and here at the 5Cs that means that there is a lot to look forward to. Whether the spooky holiday is something you anticipate every year, or if you just think of it as another day on the calendar, there will be something for everyone this Oct. 31. The annual Harwood Halloween party at Pomona’s ITS parking structure will be preceded by the much-anticipated Girl Talk concert featuring Daedelus. Tickets are available for purchase for just $5. Pomona students can buy their tickets, starting Oct. 26, at Frank, Frary and the ASPC Office. All other 5C students can buy their tickets starting Oct. 28. Tickets will be available at SARLO and at CMC in addition to the Pomona locations. The Girl Talk concert starts at 7:30 p.m., and the after-party will be free and open to all students starting at 10:15 p.m.

Trick-or-Drink, a Halloween tradition, will also be taking place this year at Harvey Mudd. Students at West Dorm on HMC’s campus will be serving a variety of beverages to those who stop by. Additionally, Claremont McKenna will be hosting a party featuring henna tattoos on Oct. 30. The event is open to all 5C students and will be held in the McKenna Auditorium.

Whichever of the many on-campus events you choose to attend, make sure to document your creative ensembles and send them to voice to be considered for our costume contest. Readers will vote on their favorites and a winner will be announced in the following issue. So get creative, dress up and take advantage of the fun events going on this year at the Claremont Colleges.

On Sept. 26, an unprecedented global sampling of citizen perspectives on climate change took place at Pomona College. Nearly 70 citizens from the communities in and around Claremont were given an opportunity to develop and share perspectives on climate change. This was made possible through World Wide Views on Global Warming, managed by the Danish Board of Technology.

Impoverished countries such as Uganda, global powers such as the United States, and developing countries such as China were all included in the sampling of 38 countries. Each site used the same information booklet and set of questions to obtain citizens’ perspectives.

Forums were held at fives sites throughout the United States: Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Phoenix and Claremont. The forum was held universally on Sept. 26, but global time differences meant that Claremont was the final site to obtain citizen data.

This sampling was done to get global citizens’ perspectives before drawing up a successor to Kyoto Protocol later this year. The UN Climate Change negotiations, or COP15, will take place in Copenhagen from Dec. 7 to 18.

Citizens who took part in World Wide Views on Global Warming were given information for four thematic sessions—which took place throughout the day, with food and breaks provided—and were divided into 12 tables to discuss the information and reach conclusions on what should be done. The first session involved addressing the citizens’ concerns, the second was a briefing on the nature of the climate change crisis, the third was about the responsibilities of different countries and the final session was about the pricing of fossil fuels and the idea of carbon trading.

Participants were given an information booklet which was similarly divided into four sections: an introduction to climate change—discussing scientific views on causation, processes and human capacity to control climate change; what COP15 will be considering—including obligations of different countries, proposals and the issue of urgency; how to deal with greenhouse emissions—including proposals and practical issues like difficulty, who pays for the efforts, and costs and benefits; and an analysis of the impact on the global economy, with references to the perspectives of individual countries. This booklet deferred to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a source for knowledge on scientific data about global warming.

Participants were surveyed prior to receiving their information as well as after, to see if being more informed had altered their perspectives on climate change. Each table ranked their top 11 recommendations. The results—as well as the surveys of the individuals—were then uploaded onto the official website, where global perspectives were being compiled.

Some excerpts of recommendations compiled by citizen groups: “ [The] U.S. ought to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions below the 1990 level…,” and “[the U.S.] should create a ‘green’ branch of U.N. that generates funds based on individual countries’ GNP and help developing countries develop and acquire alternatives…”

The goal of the information sessions was to get a sampling of citizens who would be more informed on the issue than those questioned for most polls, which provide little or no background. There was also an attempt made to have citizens represent the demographics of their locale. Of the 12 tables at Pomona, three of them were Spanish-speaking. Picking citizens for the sampling based on demographics was done so that the perspectives would not represent one group the way that advocacy groups’ statistics might.

Richard Worthington, who led the World Wide Views on Global Warming conference at Pomona, brought the conference to the college after being contacted by the Danish Board of Technology. Worthington, who is a professor at Pomona, is currently teaching a “Politics of Community Design” class. The class looks at policy and designs for and by communities. Several students from his class were present at the event, studying and recording the process.

The event was highly documented. In addition to the students who were recording a documentary and photographing so that pictures could be uploaded to the site for World Wide Views on Global Warming, a Japanese public television network was present. Pomona’s The Student Life also reported on the event.

In addition to compiling citizen perspectives, the World Wide Views on Global Warming website provides the perspectives of experts, through expert blogs. Expert panels for each geographic region—Asia, Oceana, Europe, Africa and the America—include journalists, economists, climate scientists and political theorists.

Worthington said the event is about “having a voice,” and expressed reserved hope that citizens’ voices would be heard by the delegates chosen for COP15.

The goal, Worthington said, is to generate calls over to the Department of State and the Environmental Protection Agency. But involving delegates in World Wide Views on Global Warming can be difficult, because there is a historical precedent of isolating them from public interface. The state department won’t announce delegation until week 14, and even then only announces the top 10 delegates. The intent behind isolating delegates is to prevent their being flooded with people trying to sway them, but it also alienates them from the public perspective. Dawn Bickett (PO ’10), a student in Worthington’s class, researched but failed to find who was on the COP15 delegation committee. Worthington said that Todd Stern is likely to be a chief delegate, since he is Deputy Envoy of Climate Change. John Coltran, a professor of physics at Harvard, is another likely delegate.

Dan Possnack, a non-participant community member who came to observe the discussion, said that the structure of politics is the primary hurdle to enacting positive change. Possnack said that investment in the preexisting infrastructure makes governments reluctant to effect change.

A follow-up to the event is planned for mid-October. In the follow-up, participants will review the experience, and Worthington said they are currently looking to secure speakers. He hopes to get one of Barbara Boxer’s staff members to come to Claremont, because of Boxer’s position as chair of an environment committee, and a member of the science committee and foreign relations committee. There is also a contact who will travel to Copenhagen to write a policy report.

For more information, and to see results, visit www.wwviews.org.