UWC- USA SEPTEMBER 2014

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Campus Culture:

Tradition

RUBY MCCAFFERTY !(USA - VT ’15)!

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Before arriving at UWC, I didn’t believe much in tradition. I didn’t understand why someone would continue to do something for the sake of a memory that he or she hadn’t even created. My family is not one that religiously watches A Christmas Story every Christmas Eve or that colors eggs before Easter. In my family, everything is always changing so I was confused by the families who never did. To be honest, tradition  always felt empty, superficial, and somewhat cheesy to me. 

Now, over a year later, I find myself strongly bound to a multitude of these things that I previously lacked any affinity towards. When rumours of Howling being greatly changed or even abolished began to surface at the beginning of the year, I found myself with a surprising amount of fire in my stomach. The whole shift of Cultural Days has left me with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Even the fact that the candlelit “initiation” ceremony was on the same night as Welcoming Ceremony this year miffed me a bit, and that can barely be called a tradition. All of these things are changing, and it has taken me a while to figure out why it has left me feeling a little broken.

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CAMPUS NEWS

Read our latest instalment of campus culture, this time covering tradition in the community. !!WORLD NEWS

Made up of thousands of individuals (including a few UWCers) the climate march should certainly be on your radar. !!OPINION

One of our journalists shares the daily plight of breakfast. And no, it’s not the stairs.

!!COMMUNITY

Tune in as Sir E Brum answers the first wave of community questions with detailed explanations, sage advice and a few jokes. !

Photo Credit: Ruby McCafferty

UWC- USA SEPTEMBER 2014

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A message from the Editors

Hello readers, !Welcome to the second issue of the Literati, our weekly take on the world, campus and life in general. As you all get ready to for South West Studies, or for Survival Week, don’t forget to pick up this issue for some quick reading on campus traditions, the social movement for climate change and some quick advice for all of life’s little problems, from romance to towels. !Best, ! The Editors !!

LITERATI STAFF

THE EDITORS

Blake Anderson USA-KS

Ojaswee Rajbhandary Nepal ‘15

Charlie Thompson Canada ‘16

Sunniva Olsrud Punsvik (Norway/ Denmark ‘16)!

Izabella Pastrana USA-MO ’15

Sage de Brum Marshall Islands ’15

FACULTY SPONSOR

Parris Bushong

WRITERSRuby McCafferty USA-VT ‘15

UWC- USA SEPTEMBER 2014

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This campus revolves around traditions. From banging on the sides of the bus on the very first day, to Blue Moon Café and all of the little things in between, students find themselves being carried through the year by passdowns, ceremonies, rituals, and shows. But our tradition is not written in some barely-together, dust-covered book written by our founders (although that does sound a bit like the registration book we all signed on Matriculation night). No. Our tradition is alive and well, breathing, shifting, and guiding us. It matters so much because it is our only way of connecting ourselves to this place in the short period of time here. Two years is like a breath in the grand scheme of one’s life, yet these two years will be some of the most important. It feels dangerous to place so much value on such a short period of time, so we try our best to expand it. I don’t know about you, but when I howl under the full moon, I can almost feel all of the alumni howling with me. When I’m up late at night planning for a Cultural Day show, I am yawning but I am also thinking of the hundreds of people who have done the same before me.

I think part of the UWC spirit, what makes this place what it is, what ever you want to call it, is this. It is tradition that not only keeps this place alive but keeps alive the hundreds, thousands of people who have been here before us, so that at any given moment it is not just you studying alone in the library or you hiking up to the cross or you staying up until three A.M. to finish your Math IA, but it is everyone, together, who has ever done that thing. To keep the tradition is to keep the energy and

love and fight that everyone has poured into this place.

So, by all means, shift the times or dates or schedules. Decide that mentally scarring of the first years during Howling is a bad idea. Change the Cultural Day rules so we can get more sleep. But remember that even the most insignificant traditions carry a piece of the history and energy of this place, and if you lose them, you’ll lose the livelihood as well.

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The People Have Spoken !

CHARLIE THOMPSON (CANADA ’16)!—————————-!

!At 3:53PM in New York, the crowd chants angrily at police, “Who do you serve?! Who do you protect?!”

From above, the People’s Climate March must have looked strange. A massive, pulsating wave of people flooded the streets of New York City along Central Park, shouting and carrying colorful banners. Approximately 400,000 individuals found themselves walking on September 21st, which makes this event the largest environmental rally in the history of the world.

The march had been planned well in advance, and it was no coincidence that it took place just before the UN Climate Summit of 2014. It wasn’t just in New York either: 2646 individual events took place simultaneously in 162 countries. Among them was the Sante Fe rally, which was attended by some UWC-USA students.

The principal concern of the organisation is the inaction of policy-makers in regards to climate change. At a time when the scientific opinion is almost unanimous, it seems that the concern is not shared by the people who run this country and countries around the world. Protestors from remarkably different backgrounds were united for a brief period of time, as citizens of the world. There were teachers, students, celebrities, scientists and ordinary people that converged along the route.

On Fifth Avenue, a group of Japanese ice sculptors unveiled a 3000 pound ice statue, shaped into the words THE FUTURE. As it melted into pools on the ground, Nora Ligorano, who was one of the creators of the piece, said: “It’s a comment on what we are doing to the planet.”

In the aftermath of the protest and summit, the message appears to have been received at some level. 150 companies, government organizations and other groups signed The New York Declaration on Forests, which outlines steps and procedures that aim to cut natural forest loss in half by 2020, and eliminate it entirely by 2030. Vice premier Zhang Gaoli of China vowed that his country would work on seriously reducing C02 emissions in the near term, and release a detailed plan for post-2020 as soon as possible. The European Union pledged to draw 27% of their power from renewable sources by the year 2020, and in the longer term wishes to cut emissions by 80 to 95 percent by 2050. The E.U also said that it will put 20% of its budget towards causes related to climate change between now and 2020. A large number of countries spoke of ambitious goals to be reached within 6 years, and America has promised its help in many of these efforts, in addition to reaching agreements with major oil companies to curb methane pollution.

Photo Credit: Adrees Latif—Reuters/time.com)

UWC- USA SEPTEMBER 2014

A second event took place the next day in the wake of the People’s Climate March. The aim of Flood Wall Street was to bring awareness to the corporate and financial interests that they claim have been directly detrimental to the well-being of the planet. “We are here representing the communities who are suffering directly from an exploitative, extractive economy that doesn’t respect people’s dignity, or human, labour, and civil rights,” said a representative of the group Migrant Justice.

The function of government in most places is to represent the people they govern - to listen to their constituents and adjust their policies based on the values of the population at large. In the last decade, some would say that this hasn’t happened in America and many other countries who claim their democracy as a point of pride. The people have made their voices heard - time will tell if the governments of the world will hold up their end of the bargain.

UWC- USA SEPTEMBER 2014

The Biggest Disappointment

on Campus !SUNNIVA OLSRUD PUNSVIK (NORWAY/ DENMARK ‘16)!

—————————-!!Waking up early. Walking up the stairs. Feeling tired, exhausted and having no energy. Walking into the cafeteria, not knowing what to expect for breakfast and then seeing the freshly made French toast with chocolate, taking some syrup and cottage cheese, the beginning of the day could not be more valuable than that. Sitting down at a table, saying good morning to those who took the effort to walk to the cafeteria and finally get to dig in the best meal of the day before attending classes. Thinking to oneself that this could not be a better start of the day, but then one bite and some chews later, your entire day would be destroyed by one little thing. It does not matter what you try to do, you can never escape from them, and they show up when you at least expect it. Just finding one can ruin an entire day. The inevitable curse of finding raisins in your food.

It is not only about the French toasts and about pancakes, the cereal too. When trying to be healthy and take one of the cereal with fibres in, there are usually raisins in them. Taking the effort to pluck out one at a time, finally feeling the pressure removed from your shoulder when one knows one does not have to eat it. Pouring milk in the bowl (or taking

yoghurt and cottage cheese if you are like me) and then sit down to eat. It tastes like heaven and you feel like Carpe Diem, when you least expected it, there is one raisin that always manages to hide from your hawk-eye, and it comes in one’s mouth and one is accidentally starts chewing it. That can instantly ruin one’s mood and motivation to do anything until lunch.

How can such a small thing be one of the biggest disappointment on campus? Well, as the phrase goes: “even the smallest things can make a difference”. Food is essential. Therefore, when one has the most delicious breakfast, eating one small raisin makes a difference. It is not because that one is picky, but one has to satisfy the tongue since it is the tongue which decides whether something tastes good or not. Some tongues simply cannot stand the taste of raisins. Mine happens to be one of them.

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Ask Sir E Brum !SAGE DE BRUM!

(MARSHALL ISLANDS ’15)!—————————-!

Welcome to Ask Sir E Brum. This is an advice column where you, the reader, can ask me something, anything even. For the most part, you can ask me anything at the boundary of explicit sexual references and belittle anyone's mother indirectly. Ask away, fellow students and I shall work far more intensely than Deep Thought (I hear ya hitchhikers) to produce the most concise and, if the IB allows me the time, as witty answer as I can.

You are also free to send me the answer to your questions should you like to bring up interesting finds of yours (you may choose to have a fake name as well!).

Just email your questions to my email (sage.debrum@uwc-usa.org)

and very likely will your question be attempted to be answered!

1. How do I get over my ex- boyfriend?

Depending on the breakup, I have differing suggestions.

A. If the breakup was “parting as friends”, might I suggest a large jug of chocolate ice cream, Spanish soap operas and a solid two weeks with your close friend who cares and enjoys ice cream?

B. If the breakup was bad and the jerk proved to be jerky, then the best way to get over him is with your car. For lack of a car, might I suggest security’s golf cart?

2. I am very religious, but I’m afraid that God isn’t paying attention to me. What do I do?

In my experience, in the religious country of the Marshall Islands with “religious” people, I have found that if you speak to God, then you are religious, if God speaks to you, you are most-likely psychotic. I have obtained such words from House, and he’s a doctor.

3. How do I get a girl in my math class to stop singing?

A. First off, ask the girl who the original name of the artist of the song is.

B. Tell her, “Let’s keep it that way.”

4. How do I tell my friends to be quiet while still be as polite as I can?

Make them cupcakes and write upon said cupcakes the words “Shuddafu”. Then serve your freshest batch of Shuddafu cupcakes. (Shuddafu – n. Marshallese food )

5. Why do people wash their towels if they’re always clean when they use them?

I’ve heard that:

A. People don’t want that “water smell” when you leave wet cloth be for a long time

B. Damp clothing could potentially act as a catalyst for the growth (and the provision of a home) of bacteria

C. There’s a nice thing about returning to nice-smelling towels after a good, warm shower.

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UWC- USA SEPTEMBER 2014

Nay, what must now happen is bigger than the debate regarding the day-rooms and inter-dorm visitation (discussions which must themselves continue as well, however). The UWC-USA community has a responsibility to come together (faculty, staff, administration, students) as one body. People need to be able to separate their emotions from their argumentation, true. But it is becoming rapidly clear that something about this conversation is personal, whether it is meant to be so or not. If the community is to move towards a useful conclusion and standpoint, the fight cannot be a personal one. Administrators are but people trying to do what they see as being best for the school and its students. Students are people too, people who want and deserve to be genuinely listened to and taken seriously.

If in six weeks the UWC-USA community has managed to infuse as much negative feeling into its dealings as was done in nearly six months in the year prior, something needs to change. But the change needs to come from a place of calm and of respect. Mutual respect.

Jeffrey Fry said: “You can get angry, you can get even, or you can get ahead”. So let's get ahead, together.

WILL

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UWC- USA SEPTEMBER 2014

Once upon a more enlightened time, a higher power said, “Let there be NAD.” And so there was. This higher power then also said shortly after, “Here beginneth Southwest Studies Week,” but we’ll get to that part later.

Now, despite the ungodly time period of the first show of the year, not to mention the pretty drastic changes to the usual structure of cultural days (including the eradication of official t-shirts—ridiculous), the North Americans did a pretty swell job of putting together NAD for this past Saturday.

The level of unadulterated American talent was absolutely incredible. Emelia’s impressive future as a rapper was pretty much cemented in her passionate embodiment of Alexander Hamilton, Brian’s strut could bring grown men and women everywhere to their knees, and although Ceci’s championing of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as a part of the USA left many to still be convinced, her dedication to the cause proved admirable.

Frankly, though, Canada could have done better.

But ahem, moving on. So the higher power from before had just said, “Here beginneth Southwest Studies,” etc., etc. “Unless, that is, you’re a second-year, in which case you’re in Survival Week. I’ve toyed with calling it ‘Support’ Week, but ‘Survival’ just sounds so much more hardcore and exciting. It’s as if you’re all going to die or something but won’t really because you’re tough and resilient and ridiculously cool.”

Over the course of the past month, exhaustion and stress have permeated the hearts and minds of all on campus (especially the second-years), and the beginning of this class-less week allows just enough time for everyone to heave a collective sigh of well-earned relief (especially the second years).

Most unfortunately, however, it seems as if the hectic lives of these troubled souls will only continue to be plagued by the migraines of college applications and the IB’s sadistic tendencies (Theory of Knowledge, anyone?), but at least, co-years, we’ll have some time to catch up on our studies (watch movies), work on our college applications (hang out with friends), and enjoy having the rooms to ourselves (yeah, this is exactly what I mean with this one—sorry, Mélina—no, I’m kidding).

But speaking of first-years, as you are all departing for your various adventures traipsing across the American Southwest, it is important to remember that no, you don’t have to like every single one of your co-years or group-mates, but keep in mind that you might just be pleasantly surprised to discover that some of them aren’t actually as terrible as you might have initially thought. Like Stan (at least in my experience). He’s not so bad once you get to know him a bit, you feel me?

In conclusion, firsties, please try not to fall off the Grand Canyon or walk into cacti in your travels, and second-years, let’s just try to get through this unscathed and not completely fed up with TOK.

!PS, I was just kidding, Canada. You guys aren’t that bad, admittedly.

the FLIPside

The Flipside