The Scripps Voice

By Alissa Fang ’12
Guest Writer

“Every day I see my dream.” The chanting of these words permeated the Claremont air on April 2. Catchy electro hip hop beats echoed across the colleges. College students dressed in neon tank tops and lensless nerdy glasses all migrated to one place. Pomona College’s Big Bridges hosted one of the colleges’ biggest live music events, headlined by LMFAO.

This musical duo is known for its remixes of popular songs including Black Eyed Peas’s “Boom Boom Pow,” as well as their original tunes such as “Yes.”

Heavy security greeted the influx of fans into Big Bridges, checking purses and bodies to make sure no cameras and bottles went in with the spectators. The show opened with DJ Anthem showcasing his skills to a large excited crowd.

LMFAO took the stage promptly after, receiving an enthusiastic welcome by cheers and frantically waving glow sticks. Students eagerly tried to squeeze toward the stage, but security guards were there to prevent people from rushing to the front of the auditorium. The imposing security guards inspired some complaints among disappointed late-comers. Eventually, though, everyone settled in their place and danced along to the beats.

The two rappers of LMFAO, known as Redfoo and SkyBlu, performed songs from their album “Party Rock,” which debuted in 2009. The crowd’s energy continued to rise with LMFAO’s performances of the singles “I’m in Miami Bitch,” “La La La” and “Yes.”

Visuals were very prominent in their stage set-up. Two monitors displayed important lyrics prompting viewers to sing along. The screens also projected trippy, abstract images that moved with the beats of the songs. Colorful lights danced around the entire theater. The concert was more than just a live music experience; it was also a multimedia experience, appealing to our different senses. LMFAO ended its set with the most-recognized of the band’s songs, “Shots,” leaving a hyper and slightly intoxicated crowd behind.

A bit of confusion rippled through the crowd when the duo left the stage without saying goodbye. Some hoped LMFAOwas going to come back for an encore, but were saddened to find out that the duo was not going to play any more songs.

The music did not stop, though; DJ Anthem once again entertained the audience with top hits to make up for the disappearance of the rap duo. And everyone danced the night away.

Well, not really. The event ended at around 10:30, rather early for a hip hop show. Overall, people seemed to enjoy the show, walking out of Big Bridges yelling the lyrics of songs that they had just heard live.

I’m still not sure whether people were so enthusiastic because of the quality of LMFAO’s performance, or because of the few drinks they probably had before the event.

By Eliza Silverman ’14
Copy Editor

According to documentary director Vicki Abeles, young people of the 21st century are graduating from high school uninspired and unprepared to learn and be challenged in college and in the workplace. In her first film “Race to Nowhere,” Abeles presents the origins of this exact problem, offering various solutions as to how it can be fixed. The film is an attempt to galvanize support for and inspire discourse

on widespread reform in schools: less homework, more inspired curriculum, fewer outside pressures put on students.

“Race to Nowhere” features interviews and footage of burnt-out, anxiety-prone, disengaged students. The environment of middle schools and high schools in the United States is, according to Abeles’s portrayal of it, not conducive to developing the intellectual confidence and individuality required to thrive in college and beyond. Rather, students are prone to cramming or cheating to get good grades. Or they develop stress-related illnesses or depression. Educators are fatigued and parents just want to do what is best for their children—with nobody seeming to know exactly what is “best.”

Students in Abeles’s film, overworked and overstressed by the failings of the modern education system, lack the internal motivation fundamental for success. Interviewees all describe similar sentiments toward school: they do not like it because they are pushed to the brink in an intellectual environment devoid of passion and stimulation.

One girl described her depression after she did not earn the grade in math that would qualify her for

Honors credit—she had to be checked into a stress therapy center until she learned to prioritize and balance. Another girl spoke about her struggle with an eating disorder, which stemmed from a desperate search for control. The girl, enrolled as a junior in high school before her rampant anorexia caused her to withdraw, could not handle her nightly six or seven hours of homework. In order to maintain control over at least one facet of her life, she began restricting her diet and imposing rules on food. One 13-year-old girl’s sudden suicide, in the wake of receiving a poor grade on a math test, was recounted by her heart-heavy and disconcerted mother.

“Race to Nowhere” forces its audience to question why the U.S. educational system is creating student martyrs. For what good is their education if students cannot apply what they learn to a productive future?

“Race to Nowhere,” a film which has been screened in over 1750 locations, 48 states and 20 countries through a grassroots community screening campaign, was brought to the Garrison Theater on March 29. Scripps’s Humanities Institute worked in conjunction with Pitzer’s Munroe Center for Social Inquiry to put on the screening, which received an audience of nearly 450 people. This high attendance serves as silent vindication of what Abeles portrays as a stress-induced epidemic currently facing schools.

After the screening, Abeles spoke with the audience via Skype about the film’s success, and its effect on communities in the United States. There was also a panelist discussion from Scripps professor YouYoung Kang and Pomona professor Gilda L. Ochoa. An audience virtually half the size of the College’s current enrollment walked away from Garrison inspired with renewed drive to inform fellow students, spark discussion and change in the current educational system.

By Catherine Wang ’13
Staff Writer

On April 2, a cappella group Midnight Echo hosted the seventh annual Human Symphony A

Cappella Festival. Held on Pomona College’s SCC South Lawn, the performances were filled with spectacular voices, unfettered by instruments and unaltered by software such that their high caliber could be showcased in a way rarely heard in mainstream music. It was a must-hear.

Host group Midnight Echo performed in addition to fellow Claremont Colleges’ a cappella groups

After School Specials, Women’s Blue and White, Kosher Chords, Men’s Blue and White, Claremont Shades, 9th Street Hooligans and Mood Swing. There were also four off-campus groups at the festival:

Cal Tech’s Out of Context, Cal Tech’s Fluid Dynamics, CSU Northridge’s Vocal Percussion Radio and UCSD’s Acamazing.

Clothed in their trademark silly pants, Midnight Echo started off the concert in perfect harmony.

After School Specials dynamically sang their way through a Beach Boys classic. The sweet Women’s

Blue and White were new and improved with their moving rendition of “Mama Who Bore Me” from the musical “Spring Awakening.” The witty Kosher Chords performed a humorous cover of “Sweet

Caroline” and a brilliant “You Won’t Succeed on Broadway” from “Spamalot.” The classic men’s a cappella group Men’s Blue and White won over the crowd with a country hit, the funny “Cleaning

This Gun (Come on in Boy)” by Rodney Atkins. The Claremont Shades performed a powerful cover of Katy Perry’s “Firework,” and the 9th Street Hooligans did a wonderfully harmonized rendition of Radiohead’s “Creep.” Mood Swing touched the audience with covers of “Before the Fall” by The

Rescues and “Animal” by Neon Trees.

Out of Context was the only group to feature a self-composed song. The Cal Tech a cappella group surprised the audience with its funny and self-referential “Looks Like Another Sleepless Night,” a song about struggling with a problem set. Vocal Percussion Radio, a favorite of the off-campus groups, looked like its members were having a blast singing the Pokémon theme song. Fluid Dynamics’ “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love),” from the Disney animated musical of “Hercules”, floated harmoniously to listeners’ ears. And members of Acamazing performed a flawless duet of Mike Posner’s “Baby Please Don’t Go.”

The Human Symphony was a spectacular concert. The annual festival showcases talented singers in a fun and impressive display of their voices. Be sure not to miss next year’s Human Symphony!

By Lilly Estenson ’12
Guest Writer

PHOTO BY TIFFANY YAU

The Los Angeles-based group “The Wild Reeds” talks about its roots, its influences and what it’s like for its members as independent female musicians.

Lilly Estenson: How did you guys form the band?

Natalie: Kinsey was playing solo for a Christmas show and Sharon and I played back-up on one song.  We thought the harmonies sounded really rad. And then our friend Presley Perez, who now produces our albums for us, he really encouraged us to become a band. We started playing a lot of open mics around the area, like at CK’s Café, and also busking at the Pomona Art Walks and other events. And that’s how The Wild Reeds was formed!

LE: How did you come up with the band name?

Kinsey: We picked it because of this Chinese parable, whose title translates to something like “The Oak and the Reed.”  In the parable, the oak tree says to the reed, “I’m sorry God created you because in the wind you just blow over.” But then there is a huge storm and the oak tree falls over, but the reed, even though it blows in the wind, stays rooted in the ground.  It’s a metaphor about strength and how even things that seem little or weak can really be the strongest of all. I think that the metaphor of the reed really parallels our lives in general, and also [reflects on our staatus] as an all-female band. I think people underestimate us sometimes because we are all girls.

Sharon: Yeah, [the fact that we are an all-female band] was something we thought about a lot when we were picking a name. I really didn’t want the band name to be too feminine, or just scream that we are an all-girl band.

Kinsey: We didn’t want people to be turned off.

Natalie: Or on!

Kinsey: (laughs) Yes, turned off or on by just the fact that we are a band of all girls, like even before they hear our music. We want people to see us as more than a “girl band” and just to take us seriously. I think we identify as the reeds in that parable. In many ways, the view from the reeds parallels our perspective as female musicians.

LE: In what ways do you think the reeds are such a good metaphor for your experience as female musicians?

Sharon: Because I think female musicians are underestimated, especially by sound engineers at shows.

Natalie: We are definitely treated differently by sound guys before and after shows. They treat us with more respect after they see us play.

Kinsey: Before the show we’re sometimes treated like children and the sound people don’t think we know what we’re doing.

Natalie: And I mean, we’re not saying that every musician doesn’t go through this. Male musicians have this too because, let’s be honest here, sound guys have to sit through so many bad bands and so many musicians that just don’t know what they are doing. But I think especially with us, when they see three young women, they just assume we don’t know what we’re doing.

LE: Even if you want to avoid the negative connotations of the “girl band” label, do you take pride in being an all-female band—especially considering all the obstacles you have had to overcome because of this fact?

Sharon: Yes, we are definitely proud. But once again, we don’t want this fact to be the focus of what people say and hear about us. Like, we’ve thought about this before—do we need the Reeds to be only and all girls? I mean, we love playing together and aren’t looking to change up the line-up too much, but we are thinking of adding a drummer eventually and we talked about [how important it would be that this new member] also be female. We decided it was not important.

Kinsey: And what it really comes down to is, if something about us is going to stand out, we don’t want the first thing to be that we’re all girls. We’d prefer if people focused on how together we are as a unit or how equal we are as a band. There is no front person in The Wild Reeds. We all write songs and we all share vocal leads. It’s a collaboration. We wanted to make that when we are on stage people don’t see us as three solo singer-songwriters but as one band. The fact that we are so together is what makes us strong.

LE: Tell me more about your upcoming album. How is it different from your first album, the “Songs for the Morning, Afternoon, and Evening” EP?

Sharon: The new album has a few themes that are carried throughout it, and—this sounds cheesy, but—one theme is definitely coming of age. I think generally [our new album] is more edgy and our message is clearer. Our lyrics themselves are less cryptic, and also our sound is more defined. We got bluesier and bolder!

Natalie: The new album definitely has more attitude and is not as dreamy. It is still ethereal, though, and has warmth. Like, don’t worry, we still have sad songs! (laughs)

Kinsey:  Basically, we’re really proud of it and really excited to release it. We have grown way more confident as a band this year and I think it will show.

By Abby Volkmann ’13
Photo Editor

COURTESY OF WASTELANDMOVIE.COM. Muniz’s portrait of a “picker” posing as Jacques-louis david’s “the death of Marat.”

Lucy Walker’s “Waste Land” highlights Brooklyn artist Vik Muniz’s work at the world’s largest garbage dump outside Rio de Janeiro. The film calls attention to the issue of social injustice in Brazil through an artistic and environmental lens.

Walker’s documentation of the intersection between poverty stricken garbage scavengers and environmental problems associated with overconsumption and waste remains surprisingly optimistic. Its uplifting tone makes “Waste Land” a film which registers as more of a feel-good exposé on overcoming social injustices than an environmental call to action regarding overflowing municipal waste sites.

The film’s message is clear and powerful: major cities produce an extraordinary amount of waste, of which some of their poorest residents depend on for livelihood. Vik Muniz developed an on-site participatory art project in which garbage-pickers at Brazil’s Jardin Gramacho dump site recreated images of themselves picking through heaping piles of trash. Their materials for the project were diverse and plentiful, as the scavengers had all of Rio de Janeiro’s municipal trash at their disposal. Muniz’s project provided the pickers with an opportunity to improve their quality of life both because they received all profits from their work and because their adverse situation was exposed to the international community. The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar. The art pieces were auctioned off at roughly $10,000 each.

The project’s development is followed through a series of time-lapse shots that illustrate the craftsmanship, labor and dedication of the scavengers. Walker also includes personal narratives of the garbage pickers that contextualize the social justice aspect of the project. Glimpses of scavengers’ lives come through interviews and tours of their neighborhoods. Though a picker’s lifestyle is both shocking and depressing, pickers attitudes and spirits are uplifting. Walker highlights one man who finds discarded books and reads them for leisure, and a woman who feeds community members with discarded produce. One interview in particular reveals the good-natured spirits of a female picker: “[picking through garbage] is better than robbing purses in Copacabana. I find [this job] more dignified. I may stink, but when I get home I’ll take and shower and it’ll be fine.”

The film forces its viewers to consider the life cycle of the goods they throw away. It’s easy to overlook what happens to garbage when it’s picked up from curbsides. But “Waste Land” reminds viewers that trash doesn’t just evaporate. As scavengers place bottle caps, toilet seats, tape and unspooled film on the art project, viewers may meditate on how waste contributes to global environmental and social problems.

A Response to: “Core Curriculum Fails to Improve”

Dear Scripps voice,

I was overjoyed when I opened your most recent issue and found an editorial criticizing the Core Curriculum. Ever since I was dragged, kicking and screaming, through a horrible semester of Core I, I have been outspoken to both friends and family about the program, which I disliked for a number of reasons. By speaking with first years, I’ve learned that faculty addressed many of my complaints, but the Core program still has a long way to go.

I disagree completely, however, with Stacy Wheeler’s stance on the program. She asserts that the Core curriculum should “develop a strong understanding of our Western civilization and the views it engenders.” I have several problems with this statement. First of all, by saying “our” Western civilization, Ms. Wheeler assumes wrongly that everyone who attends Scripps is a white American. Yes, our school has a sizable white population, but we also have several international students, as well as Asian-Americans, Latinas, and African-Americans. Their history should be given attention as well, not to mention the history of Eastern civilizations, Africa, and South America. Something history and literature curriculums across this country continually forget is that people existed—gasp!—outside of Europe and North America. I was fortunate to have teachers in high school that assigned me texts from the Middle East and China, something that I found as enriching, if not more, as my study of Western civilization. Women and ethnic minority groups have fought for decades for their rights and the right to study their history in school—just ask your mothers. Are we to forgo learning this history because it isn’t “relevant” to “our” culture? To understand the mixed world we live in now, we need to learn global perspectives.

Ms. Wheeler addresses my viewpoint in her article by saying, “These texts are not the ones which have been fundamental to our culture…How can we analyze and investigate alternatives to our own views if we don’t first understand where these views come from and the works that influenced them?” Again, she generalizes the culture of Scripps students as white and Euro-American. She says that before we even attempt to recognize the perspectives of others, we must understand “our” own culture. I agree completely that it is important to understand and know the culture and history of one’s own country, but I don’t think that people should have to wait before discovering other cultures. Many Americans received their first exposure to the Middle East through a group of individuals who interpret the Koran for their own radical purposes, thus assuming that all Muslims are terrorists, a viewpoint that has led to extreme anti-Muslim sentiment in this country. This could have been avoided if the American education system exposed more people to cultures unlike their own. Last year, I explored the kids’ section in Barnes and Noble for a school project, looking for picture books depicting religion. To my dismay, I only found books about Christianity and Judaism. After 9/11, my mother, a preschool teacher, asked a Muslim friend to visit her class and talk about her faith, but it’s safe to say that this did not happen everywhere. It’s never too early to start multicultural education. Students have waited long enough, why should they have to wait until Core II?

Ms. Wheeler’s disappointment with the alterations to the program seem most clear in this sentence: “Students increasingly miss Biblical allusions, aren’t familiar with the basic facts of American history, and don’t know who Adam Smith is or what Marx actually wrote.” She also laments that the Core curriculum doesn’t include Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Federalist Papers, Aristotle, or Plato. I admit, I had a charmed education, but I read all of the authors she mentioned, as well as significant parts of the Bible, in high school history classes.  When my Core I class read Galileo’s Letter To The Grand Duchess Christina, it was the third time I had read it for school. It is important for students to know certain parts of the Bible and be familiar with Marx’s viewpoints, yes, but I would argue that it is equally important to be familiar with the Koran, the Cultural Revolution, Said’s Orientalism, and Marti.

The world of 2011 is no longer centered on the West, and it is increasingly important to understand every corner of the globe. Cultures across the world are mixing, and to understand “our” world, we must understand all of these cultures—even in Europe, where rising immigrant populations are causing controversy and debate. It is imperative that we install this mindset into incoming Scripps students, and the Core curriculum is the place to do so. If Ms. Wheeler wants to learn about “her” Western civilization, there’s nothing stopping her from majoring in American Studies.

Sincerely,
Katie Evans ‘13

By Nikki Broderick ‘14
Staff Writer

Once again, U.S. media and television have done what they do best: further convinced themselves and the United States that news only matters when it relates to us. Major news outlets jumped on covering the shocking magnitude 8.9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that rocked Japan on Friday, March 11—the night of Thursday, March 10 in the United States—and caused thousands of deaths, injuries, and many more displaced citizens whose homes were destroyed.

The media simply could not resist the opportunity to look at these natural disasters through a U.S. centric lens. Half my search results for “tsunami 3/11/11” into Google news garnered not news detailing the devastation in Japan, but articles reassuring me that the tsunami wouldn’t reach the Pacific coast of the United States.

Within days, major news corporations sent correspondents into the desolation that was Japan hit by such a cruel natural disaster. News anchors asked their field reporters what was happening on the ground and greatly sympathized with the Japanese people and their undeserved plight. But U.S. anchors just couldn’t get through a segment without noting how the United States would have fared in such a situation.

Following the coverage of the resulting circumstances of Hawaii’s tsunami, comforting Americans that those in Hawaii would not face the tragic consequences that had been feared, the media focused on the nuclear power panic in Japan. How did they focus on it, though? By investigating all nuclear power plants in earthquake danger regions in the United States—such as those along the Andreas Fault in Southern and Central California. Yes, the media gave attention to the nuclear power

plants in Japan and even brought in experts in the field for panel discussions. But these discussions always ended in addressing possible ramifications for nuclear power plants in the United States.

Around the globe, other news organizations also covered the disasters in Japan. In particular,

I watched BBC America’s coverage—and not once was the United Kingdom’s safety or wellbeing mentioned. True, the United Kingdom isn’t in a danger area for earthquakes and the ripple of the tsunami in Japan had no chance of affecting Britain. However, plenty of other factors—such as connections to the Japanese economy, nuclear power and a historically amicable British-Japanese relation (with the exception of World War II)—could have shaped coverage such that Japan was sidelined in its own tragedy. And yet, these factors did not come to the forefront in reporting.

Why is it that just the United States perpetuates the notion that only news with a U.S. agenda will be relevant to its audience? I too am guilty of such self-centered thinking. My parents live only a mile from the beach in Los Angeles, and when I heard about the earthquake on the news and its potential to hit the California coast I immediately switched my news search to what could happen if it came close to us.

Perhaps it’s human nature to only empathize with a tragedy by placing yourself in that situation, to imagine yourself suffering from similar dire devastation. But should the media perpetuate this selfishness? The purpose of news journalism is to report facts accurately and without bias, not have a selfish agenda. It is part of the cultural preconceptions of U.S. citizens that we are the world’s largest player. And this assumption skews, and subsequently undermines, our coverage of events that don’t take place in the United States… ultimately forcing partiality upon the newscasters and their audience.

By Tiffany Yau ’12
Arts & Entertainment Editor

On April 9, Pomona College’s SCC South Lawn will be the site of bands playing subtle folk and raucous punk music. But regardless of the genre or volume of the music, the message of the music will ring loud and clear: women can rock. Led by members of CCLA Live Arts, Scripps Live Arts, and KSPC, the music festival Vajammin’ Fest celebrates women in independent music and raising awareness about the issues women face in the underground music scene.

The idea for a festival spotlighting female musicians had been brewing amongst concert planners on the 5Cs for a while without ever materializing. But misogynistic remarks at a local show catalyzed the organization of Vajammin’. Mandy Marcus (PO ’11) attended a show for the band Shannon & the Clams which is fronted by bassist and singer Shannon Shaw. When technicalities difficulties in sound arose, the sound guy began shouting condescending and misogynistic remarks towards Shaw, clearly targeting her as a woman. This incident strongly impacted Marcus and motivated her to take action.

Lilly Estenson (’12), member of sponsoring groups KSPC and Scripps Live Arts, said of the inspiration for Vajammin’: ” All of these bands inspire us in some way, and a lot of them defy expectations for female musicians and stereotypes of how women are traditionally supposed to act. We wanted loud bands because I think a lot of times women are penned into the “singer-songwriter” genre, which isn’t fair. Women can rock and play punk music too!” Estenson elaborated on how the bands included in the line-up were selected, and explained that they were chosen based on “their creativity, talent, and badass-ness and what they have been doing in and outside of music. A lot of them are totally independent musicians. And both Thao and Mirah are outspoken social justice activists. On their upcoming tour together they are raising money and awareness at each show for local domestic violence shelters and non-profit organizations that help prevent childhood sexual abuse.”

In conjunction with the music festival, Vajammin’ Fest organized the discussion “Women Who Rock: A Panel About Women In The Music Industry.” The conversation, to take place on Wednesday, April 6, will feature successful women working in the music industry today. Panelists include Allison Wolfe, co-founder of the influential riot grrrl band Bratmobile, Angel Deradoorian, a musician best known for her work with the Dirty Projectors, Jen Schwartz, the drummer of “dyke punk” band Tribe 8, producer, engineer and music entrepreneur, Erica Flores, who currently works at Rock and Roll Camp for Girls Los Angeles, and Erica Tyron (’92), Director of College Radio and Television at Pomona College and the head of KSPC Claremont. The panel will be moderated by Professor Kimberly Drake, Director of the Writing Program at Scripps College, who specializes in punk music literature and culture.

Vajammin’ Fest shows that there is no limit to what an empowered woman can do, demonstrated by the accomplishments of the women featured in the festival and the women behind the festival. Join the discussion on Wednesday, April 6, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m., and come support these badass women in music at the festival on Saturday April 9, 3-11 p.m.!

Vajammin’ Lineup

• 3 PM: Kitchen Hips (Pomona College)
• 4 PM Girl Hands (i.e. Glass Cake and other members of Girl Band) (Oakland)
• 5 PM: Summer Twins (Riverside)
• 6 PM: Peter Pants (Los Angeles)
• 7 PM: Slutever (Philadelphia)
• 8 PM: Grass Window (Kill Rock Stars – Oakland)
• 9 PM: Thao (Kill Rock Stars – San Francisco)
• 10 PM: Mirah (K Records – San Francisco)

By Anna Pickrell ’14
Sports & Activities Editor

To show support for the victims of Japan’s recent natural disasters, 30 Claremont students from across the 5C’s got together to create a flash mob flag in the design of the Japanese flag. The event was photographed and the image will be printed onto postcards signed by 5C community members and sent to schools, hospitals, shelters and orphanages in Japan.

The event, organized by Ching Tung (CMC ’12), was under-attended when compared to the predicted turnout. The event, broadcast solely through a Facebook event on what may be considered a last minute schedule, suffered in attendance in large part due to the minimal amount of advertising made accessible in advance, coupled with the unreliable nature of responses garnered through that medium.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ANNA PICKRELL

The majority of the Facebook event’s 204 confirmed attendees did not, apparently, feel bound by their virtual promises to attend the awareness-raising flash mob.

This lack of commitment speaks more to the nature of a Facebook confirmation than to students’ actual commitment to the cause. Nevertheless, organizers were disappointed to have tens rather than hundreds of participants. More participants would have made a much more vibrant flag. Had more students participated in this token act of solidarity with Japan, Claremont students may have been able to boast membership in a community which banded together to demonstrate solidarity for a worthy humanitarian cause given much lip service but little action.

Though the event’s poor attendance was disappointing, the lack of bodies at the flash mob human flag of Japan was compensated for by the energy of those dedicated enough to show. Clad in red and white shirts and spirited with an excitement to come together for Japan, participants were able to churn out a promising photograph for the project. The human flag of Japan will serve, in postcard form, as a token of community support throughout the rest of the semester. But individual members of that flag will also benefit from the knowledge that they made the initial steps in a project to make an impact, however minor, in the face of the immense tragedy faced by the victims in Japan.

Stay posted! We’ll be updating voice with more information on the flash mob flag’s postcard project as it develops.

Though its poor attendance was disappointing, the lack of bodies at the flash mob human flag of Japan was compensated for by the energy of those dedicated enough to show. Clad in red and white shirts and spirited with an excitement to come together for Japan, participants were able to churn out a promising photograph for the project. The human flag of Japan will serve, in postcard form, as a token of community support throughout the rest of the semester. But individual members of that flag will also benefit from the knowledge that they made the initial steps in a project to make an impact, however minor, in the face of the immense tragedy faced by the victims in Japan.

Stay posted! We’ll be updating voice with more information on the flash mob flag’s postcard project as it develops.

By Pat Palmer
Guest Writer

It’s Income Tax season; recalling the annual mass-migration of lemmings into the sea, to drown themselves. (There’s no law preventing us from giving up our rights.) At this time, symbolic protests are being waged against corporations who “don’t pay their fair share.” That’s fine, and I’m sure they are listening. But what about addressing OUR “fair share?”

Let’s consider a positive remedy that is effective and directly benefits us by getting us a raise in pay. No, your business isn’t going to give you more, but you can take more home: stop volunteering to donate up to half of your pay to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This action is not “civil disobedience,” but actually following the law. It could be regarded as disobedience to public policy, to the extent that the policy deviates from law.

Why would I refer to “income” tax as a donation? Because, in order for the con to work, we must legally choose to give. Yes, it seems like we MUST pay, but this notion is incorrect for most of us. That’s because it is an excise tax, which is a tax laid on a voluntary activity, like sales tax (you don’t have to choose to buy stuff). You might be saying, “Why wasn’t I taught that in civics class (or law school)?” A famous jurist once said: “There are two kinds of taxpayer: the ignorant one who pays the most, and the informed one who pays the least.” Public schools are naturally vested in the former condition. Why not get informed?

Just what is being taxed? Not earnings; money is not an activity. According to the Internal Revenue Code: “the exercise of Federal privilege” is being taxed. This activity is also called “engaged in a trade or business” (a custom-defined legal term, meaning: working for the Federal government). The extent of this activity is measured by “gross income” or “wages” (custom-defined legal terms, meaning: revenue derived from the exercise of Federal privilege). What Federal privilege are you exercising today? Earning a living? Inhabiting the USA? These are inalienable rights; so it follows, that most of us don’t fall into that privileged category of activity.

Note to “tax protesters:” the “income” tax law is indeed constitutional, as written. What is unconstitutional is the way the IRS collects money. This excise tax is  fraudulently enforced as a mandatory capitation, a direct tax on earnings —and extorted by threat of asset forfeiture and imprisonment. Looks like criminal behavior to me! Racketeering is defined as “organized conspiracy to defraud or extort.” This accurately describes the “income” tax scheme which relieves its victims of up to half of their earnings every payday.

After 60 years of trial-and-error legal challenges to the “new” personal withholding tax (started in WWII, as the voluntary and temporary “Victory Tax”), resulting in losses and jail time for well-meaning but legally ignorant tax-justice advocates, the Internal Revenue Code was finally cracked in 2002. The only safe and lawful way to un-volunteer from this racket was uncovered by legal scholar Peter Eric Hendrickson.

You can prove it to yourself by studying his website at www.losthorizons.com and reading his book: “Cracking the Code: The Fascinating Truth About Taxation in America” (12th edition). His discovery is the result of reading the entire 3.5-million-word, deliberately obfuscated, tax statutes, the applicable Code of Federal Regulations and the many legal precedents applied to the “income” tax, as far back as 1862.

After satisfying yourself with Hendrickson’s book, you might feel more comfortable acting on your own behalf. So here is an abbreviated description of the procedure: to start with, demand that your payer (“employer” is a custom-defined legal term, meaning: Federal government) stop all “voluntary” withholding from your paycheck. Enjoy an instant pay raise of 30 percent or more.

At year’s end you file your 1040 and 540 affidavits of self-assessment (as to the nature of your compensation) as non-privileged (non-taxable), if applicable. Now, the most important step: you MUST rebut your payer’s false allegations of “wages” paid, with his/her testimony recorded on the W-2 and/or 1099 form. You do this by substituting that 1099 with a “corrected 1099 information return” and/or replacing the payer’s W-2 with a substitute W-2: IR form 4852 for U.S. and FTB form 3525 for California.

Lastly, if your payer had unlawfully refused to stop withholding, then you can claim a full refund of ALL of your weekly tax deposits—right on the U.S. and California tax returns. Enjoy the bigger check! You are now helping to stimulate the economy, like thousands of folks before you (if the IRS complains, then you will need Hendrickson’s book to adequately respond to them and put them in their place).

Why WOULDN’T a payer stop withholding? From a balance-sheet perspective, thousands of dollars per year, per worker could be saved from “employer’s contributions.” Only fear of the racketeers’ “offer you can’t refuse” would deter them, unless they could find an honest lawyer who would choose to apply the law.

I can hear the liberals moan about how their social programs (and, for the conservatives, their military adventures) would lose funding if we fail to volunteer for this “system of voluntary compliance” (IRS’s own self-description). Poppycock! Have you ever looked at the reverse of your tax payment check? It was cashed by a private bank called Federal Reserve, not the U.S. Treasury. Your donations never see a government program—those are paid for by loans, fees and excise duties. All income tax receipts pay the interest on the so-called “national debt.”

Now, getting back to “paying their fair share.” The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in 1913, closed all “income” tax loopholes then used by business entities world-wide; it has since been corrupted by ersatz regulations to appear to include non-liable workers and exclude liable businesses which is the reverse of its intention. The definition of “federal privilege” needs to be updated, its scope broadened to keep up with the times, in order to make sure that all who use it will pay for it. The lobbying effort to achieve this amounts to the demand that public policy follow the law as written and adhere to the spirit of that law. Neglect of this duty is an impeachable offence for all legislators and actionable against bureaucrats.

Once purified, this excise tax on federally privileged activities will finally be properly paid by all federal employees, contractors and beneficiaries of federally-created monopoly advantage (such as medical doctors, lawyers, drug companies, pro sports team owners, etc.). Also, include corporations that possess federal concessions such as oil, mining, utilities, broadcasting, banks, etc. And do not forget international business: U.S. corporations that rely on federal political pressure, military and intelligence activities to acquire and protect their foreign assets. These infamous non-payers are definitely “federally privileged.”

As Moses said, “Let my people go!” Release the non-liable nontaxpayers and make the legally liable taxpayers pay their fair share. This allusion to slavery is not far-fetched: W-2 workers are essentially government slaves because the IRS considers our labor to have no monetary value. We work for free! We cannot deduct, as an expense, the value of our hours of work. Our gross pay is determined to be 100 percent net profit, as if our expenditure of time and effort is worthless, nonexistent.

Returning to a lawful tax system brings immediate fiscal relief to the private worker while the fat-cats who get government-granted corporate welfare will be properly charged for their advantages. Let us (private earners) seize our rights by grassroots action. Because rights are not going to be given from on-high.  Vote with your wallet and your public servants will cease to be your masters.