Shauli Bar-On | Daily Trojan

The USC Annenberg Institute for Diversity and Empowerment in conjunction with the art collective When Woman Disrupt installed a controversial mural on March 22.

The sentence “Dismantle Whiteness and Misogyny on this Campus” is painted on the ceiling above it. The word “whiteness” is a poor choice for this mural, and the artwork’s purpose loses its impact because of its sweeping hostility.

To be clear, I believe dismantling misogyny and racism are in the best interest of the University and society in general. However, by using the word “whiteness” instead of “racism,” “prejudice,” “bigotry,” “intolerance” or countless other options, the mural fails to draw the empathy and attention of the very people it should be targeting.

IDEA Co-Director Alison Trope reached out to the group When Woman Disrupt to paint and install the mural, and told the Daily Trojan that “whiteness” is being misinterpreted to mean “white people,” when in fact it is being used to connote broader systems, not individual people.

And yet, by dictionary definition, “whiteness” means exactly what the mural’s critics believe it does: the quality or state of being white.

The notion that “whiteness” refers to a broader and more complex idea is not recognized by most. That does not necessarily mean the mural’s artists did not have positive intentions, or weren’t referring to “whiteness” as an overarching system of oppression. But if that is the case, then there is a fundamental problem with this ideology: Why try to inspire change with implications and connotations rather than with a direct and straightforward message? 

It would make much more sense not to allude to or connote this more complex “system,”  “culture” or “climate” that Trope mentioned in her interview with the Daily Trojan, but rather, to be forthright and say this directly in the message.

It’s hard to argue pale skin is what causes superiority and inferiority in American society. Trope acknowledges that not all white people are racist. But by explicitly calling for the dismantling of “whiteness,” the mural comes off as attacking white skin color.

And despite the mural and its label not intending to attack white people for the color of their skin, the word “whiteness” repels certain white students from taking its message of tolerance to heart. Few disagree with the belief that misogyny and racism are aspects of our culture that should be eliminated. This message is not meant to divide the University, but seemingly — because of its choice of a single word — it has.

Di Wu | Daily Trojan

The faculty response to the outcry and criticism from conservative media outlets has been the continuous assertion that the artwork is meant to spark conversation. But according to Annenberg Media, faculty decided to take down a poster put up next to the mural that read, “White Male Privilege is a Myth.” If the true intention is to initiate conversation, then USC should have allowed this poster to stay up alongside the mural regardless of whether or not the faculty agree with its message. It appears as if the mural is meant to initiate a one-way message and recognize its affirmers rather than a spark a two-way dialogue with its dissidents.

That said, it is futile to make personal attacks on the students or faculty members who chose the word “whiteness” for the mural’s label. I don’t believe they had bad intentions or are out to get white students at USC. After all, the mural’s intention is to initiate conversation and get students to begin thinking about issues such as racism, and this is exactly what is happening, as demonstrated with this week’s “Point/Counterpoint” topic.

I hope those who selected the word “whiteness” understand how their mural could be interpreted to mean something negative and unintended, and subsequently join the conversation and debate around the mural.

“We understand that there may be those who disagree with the statement offered by the artists,” the Office of the Dean said in a statement to Fox News. “However, we firmly believe that civil discourse and the free exchange of ideas around sensitive topics are critical to the resolution of differences and to addressing issues facing our community and society as a whole.”

While the University senior administration should not force IDEA to remove or alter the word “whiteness,” it would benefit both sides of the controversy if the mural’s installers made an effort to change the word to something more direct and consistent with the message they intend to spread. 

Shauli Bar-On is a freshman majoring in political science. “Point/Counterpoint” runs Wednesdays.

The post COUNTERPOINT: New campus mural produces unnecessary racial divisions appeared first on Daily Trojan.

Hurston-Wright Legacy Award Winner to Join Emory Faculty Fall 2018

Author Tayari Jones will join Emory’s Creative Writing Program this fall, according to an April 16 University press release. An Atlanta native, Jones has authored four novels, with the most recent, “An American Marriage,” being selected as Oprah’s Book Club this year. Jones is a recipient of the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award in Fine Arts from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, United States Artist fellowship, NEA fellowship and the Radcliffe Institute Bunting fellowship. “This appointment at Emory is truly a homecoming for me as a Southern writer,” Jones said in the press release. “I’m thrilled to return home and teach creative writing at one of the best universities in the nation and the flagship for higher education in the South.” Jones did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.

Yerkes Receives $12.7 Million Research Grant

Yerkes National Primate Research Center and the Emory Brain Health Center received a five-year grant of $12.7 million from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to continue research on oxytocin’s effects in the brain, according to an April 16 University press release. The grant will fund research at the Silvio O. Conte Center for Oxytocin and Social Cognition, aid in outreach initiatives to local schools and drive efforts to improve social functions in patients with psychiatric conditions, such as autism and schizophrenia. Researchers from the Conte Center, Yerkes and the University of Arizona comprise the team.

Emory Experiences Wi-Fi Outage

The Emory Unplugged Wi-Fi network stopped working from about 10:30 p.m. on April 11 to about 12:40 a.m. on April 12.“The outage impacted all students [who] were trying to use wireless to access the internet from the residence halls,” Director of Network Services Wayne Ortman wrote in an April 12 email to the Wheel. The two-hour outage was the result of “planned maintenance” conducted by his team, according to Ortman.

Old Theology Building Construction to Halt During Commencement

The construction area for the Old Theology Building will not impede the May 14 commencement ceremony, Emory Planning, Design and Construction Program Manager Glenn Kulasiewicz wrote in an April 13 email to the Wheel. The blue construction fence will be removed from the Quadrangle, and construction activities are scheduled to pause from May 11 to May 14, according to Kulasiewicz. The building previously housed Pitts Theology Library but is being converted into offices for the University president and other University executives.

No Updates Provided in AEPi Hazing Investigation

Director of Student Conduct Julia Thompson said there were no updates to provide in the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) hazing investigation, she wrote in an April 12 email to the Wheel. The Wheel reported Feb. 8 that AEPi was under investigation by the Office of Student Conduct for hazing. The University’s anti-hazing policy prohibits actions that cause injury, discomfort, harassment, degradation, ridicule or embarrassment. The University has an “obligation” to protect community members from hazing, assist people who have been hazed and hold organizations accountable, according to the policy.

Barbara Bush Dies at 92

Barbara Bush, wife of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and mother of Former U.S. President George W. Bush, died in her home in Houston on Tuesday evening, according to The New York Times. The office of George H.W. Bush issued a statement on April 15 that after consulting family and doctors, Barbara Bush decided not to seek medical attention following a series of hospital visits and an unspecified development in her failing health. The office of George H.W. Bush announced the death in a statement on April 17.

The post News Roundup | 4.18.18 appeared first on The Emory Wheel.

On April 10, hundreds of community members gathered at the Rhode Island State House for a House Judiciary Committee hearing, which featured the introduction of six bills governing reproductive rights in Rhode Island. Five of the bills proposed limitations on abortion access; the lone bill aimed at safeguarding abortions rights was the Reproductive Health Care Act, sponsored by Rep. Edith Ajello, D-Providence. Under the Act, the state cannot “restrict an individual person from preventing, commencing, continuing or terminating that individual’s pregnancy prior to fetal viability” or “restrict access to evidence-based, medically recognized methods of contraception or abortion or the provision of such (services).” The House Judiciary Committee elected to hold all six bills for “further study” after its hearing — including, regrettably, the Reproductive Health Care Act, effectively condemning it to legislative oblivion.

In previous editorials, The Herald has vehemently opposed unwarranted restrictions on abortion — such as a proposed 2012 bill that would have compelled Rhode Island physicians to conduct an ultrasound on individuals seeking abortions and display to them the ultrasound’s images — and decried efforts to curtail women’s rights. Once again, we urge Rhode Island lawmakers to seriously consider the medical needs of all their constituents, extricate the Reproductive Health Care Act from the depths of committee bureaucracy and bring the urgently needed bill to the floor for a vote.

When it comes to reproductive justice, Rhode Island is notoriously retrogressive, more like states in the American South than its neighbors in the Northeast. In spite of the state’s progressive bona fides, access to reproductive health care is “severely restricted” here, according to NARAL Pro-Choice America, a national organization that advocates for the right to choose. These restrictions are codified in state law — a 1986 amendment to the state constitution explicitly refrains from granting or securing “any right relating to abortion or the funding thereof” — and diligently preserved by powerful, anti-choice Democrats in the General Assembly.

Most troublingly, the absence of any state legislation that protects access to critical reproductive services places abortion rights in continued peril. Currently, Roe v. Wade — the 1973 Supreme Court case that deemed abortions consistent with the constitution of the United States and rendered past abortion bans null — is the only statute preventing the renewed enforcement of arcane abortion restrictions still on the books in Rhode Island. These include the requirement that women notify their spouses before receiving an abortion, the prohibition of insurance coverage for abortion procedures and the assertion that “human life commences at the instant of conception.”

Already, obtaining an abortion is prohibitively difficult in Rhode Island: As of 2014, only 20 percent of Rhode Island counties contained any abortion clinics, and over two-thirds of Rhode Island women lived outside these counties. But if Roe v. Wade is overturned — a prospect at which President Trump has expressed impish excitement — Rhode Islanders could lose their right to choose in one immediate, devastating stroke. The Reproductive Health Care Act precludes such an eventuality and would preserve abortion rights in Rhode Island no matter what happens in the nation’s capital.

In the days leading up to the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing, a broad and diverse coalition of Rhode Islanders coalesced in favor of the Act. Gov. Gina Raimondo — who, until the hearing, had remained mostly silent on the issue of abortion — submitted a written endorsement of the Reproductive Health Care Act to the Committee’s chairman. Notably, several religious leaders across Rhode Island also publicly expressed support for abortion rights. Rev. Gene Dyszlewski, pastor of Lime Rock Baptist Church in Lincoln, Rhode Island, told WPRI that, “We believe that the freedom to choose is necessary because each person is the proper guardian of their own life and their own soul.”

We concur deeply. Against a dismaying backdrop of federal retrogression, the responsibility to protect the rights and liberties of all Americans — in this particular case, women especially — now falls on the shoulders of state legislators. Lawmakers in Rhode Island can and must do their part by supporting the Reproductive Health Care Act. Anything less would constitute a grave affront to the thousands of Rhode Islanders for whom reproductive health care access is not a policy abstraction but a day-to-day imperative, an indispensable component of true gender equality. In a state that prides itself on its early history of enshrining freedom of religion and conscience, it is high time for legislators to rise to the occasion, courageously advance that cherished legacy and extend freedom — in full, unadulterated measure — to the people of 21st century Rhode Island.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: Anuj Krishnamurthy ’19, Mili Mitra ’18, Rhaime Kim ’20 and Grace Layer ’20. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

Johnessa Richard | Contributing Writer

Kali Uchis released her new album, “Isolation” on April 6, reluctantly, the same as hip-hop superstar, Cardi B. The Colombian-American singer has dropped many projects before becoming the well-known artist she is today.

From her mixtape, … Read More

The post Kali Uchis drops debut album appeared first on Mace & Crown.

It’s a quiet morning in the summer of 2016 as Kelly Barnhill walks the streets of Takasaki, Japan.

SoVi. NT File Photo.

Students are fed up with dining hall hours, or at least that’s what a recent survey indicates.

A Student Government Association (SGA) survey of 1,254 people conducted during the spring elections found 96 percent of students are in favor of extending dining hall hours.

SGA passed a bill to recognize these grievances. The legislation, sponsored by freshman at-large senator Jacob Baum, calls for Crown Commons and SoVi to extend their hours until 10 p.m. starting in the fall semester of 2018.

Sahithi Meduri, sophomore class president-elect, was a sponsor of the bill alongside Baum. She said current dining hall hours are not fair to students with late classes.

“Many students have things going on until 9:15 p.m. and dining halls close at 8:30 p.m,” she said. “[We] didn’t think it was fair and wanted more options [for students] than fast food.”

While Chic-fil-A is open until 10 p.m. on weekdays, Atkins café until 11 p.m. and Wendy’s until 12:30 a.m., SoVi and Crown Commons dining halls both close at 8:30 p.m. Next semester, classes will run as late as 11:15 p.m. SGA believes students should have access to healthier foods throughout the day.

Meduri thinks students have the right to the extra hours because other UNC schools have better dining options.

“I believe it should already be included in what we already pay in our tuition because other schools in our system have longer hours and more dining food options,” she said.

UNC Charlotte’s cheapest meal plan is $1,185, although students must have 90 credit hours in order to qualify for this option. The cheapest meal plan for freshmen is $2,125. UNC Chapel Hill’s cheapest plan is $1,378, but their latest dining hall is open until 12 a.m. NC State’s cheapest plan is $1,750 and their dining halls are open until 9 p.m. The cheapest plan at East Carolina University is $1,925 and their last dining hall closes at 11 p.m. Although UNC Charlotte does offer the cheapest meal plan, that plan is only available to upperclassmen and freshmen have to pay the most expensive plan of these four schools. In addition, Charlotte offers the shortest dining hall hours.

Freshman Soleil Maynor disagrees with many of her classmates about extending the hours.

“I wish they wouldn’t do it,” she said. “I feel like it might mess with the dining hall employees’ shifts in a very undesirable way and I’m sure they already get home late because they have to clean up afterwards.”

Meduri said she is unsure whether dining hall employees would be paid overtime for working past the current closing times.

The bill is a formal suggestion and does not ensure dining hours will be extended. However, Meduri is confident that the university and the regional district manager of Chartwells Dining — our long-standing catering company — will collaborate to meet student demands.

“‘Epic historical military fantasy’ sounds like a whole lot of book—in a good way. When Rin tests into the most elite military school in her country, it’s good and bad: her classmates are horrible, but she discovers an unexpected power. Though it’s not a YA book, The Poppy War’s cover copy reminds me of both […]

Suspect arrested in connection to chemical assault in Wheeler Hall

Daniel Kim/File

UCPD arrested a suspect in connection to an aggravated assault in Wheeler Hall, according to a Nixle alert released about 10 a.m.  Tuesday.

The alert relayed an instance in which a female UC Berkeley employee was the victim of an assault with caustic chemicals in Wheeler Hall on April 4.

The victim entered a restroom in Wheeler Hall about 1:35 a.m. and encountered the male suspect, according to the alert, then told the suspect the building was closed and asked him to leave. The suspect then followed the victim after she left the restroom, threw a caustic chemical at her and then fled the scene.

The victim suffered from chemical burns and was transported by Berkeley Fire Department to a local emergency room, according to the alert.

Check back for updates.

Ani Vahradyan is the university news editor. Contact her at avahradyan@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter at @anivahrad.

The Daily Californian

On Monday afternoon, members from four different political student groups around campus met in the DM Smith lecture hall for the Quad-Partisan Panel.

The groups featured were GT Young Americans for Liberty (representing Libertarians), College Republicans at Georgia Tech, College Democrats of Georgia Tech and Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) Georgia Tech.

Eight students, two from each organization, sat in the front of the room and answered questions fielded by the moderator and audience within the broad topics of immigration, economic policy and foreign policy.

First up was immigration.

The College Republicans, represented by Jacob Chambers, second-year CS, and Brice Edelman, third-year IE, said that while legal immigration provided economic benefits, illegal immigration into the U.S. needed to be stopped. Edelman was receptive to amnesty for undocumented immigrants currently living in the country, but only if the U.S.-Mexico border is completely secured first.

“Once we’ve secured our border,” Edelman said, “then we can look to a path for illegal immigrants who are currently living in the country, you know, as long as they aren’t part of a gang or committed any other heinous crimes that would merit deportation.”

Instead of spending money to double down on border security, YDSA, represented by Nikhil Pailoor, a graduate ECE, and Sumter Alton, second-year PHYS/MATH, thought the border problem could be solved through strengthening Mexico.

“Secure borders require prosperous countries, and a border has two countries on both sides,” Pailoor said. “We would like to work with Mexico to bring stability to the areas there and reduce the incentives for immigration, so we support assisting Mexico in development and fighting the cartels there. ”

The Libertarians, represented by Jackson Morgan, fifth-year CM, and Thomas Wang, second-year CHBE, pushed against the idea of using government funds to support economic programs directed toward Mexican citizens. Instead, they argued border friction should be removed altogether by making it as easy as possible for people to immigrate.

“The big concern I’m seeing here is the fact that everyone thinks that government is the only solution,” Morgan said. “Opening up quotas and letting the free market decide where people go gives people the maximum freedom and can enhance the country the most.”

When asked by Pailoor if he believed all foreign aid stimulus programs fail, despite the success of the Marshall Plan after World War II, Morgan stumbled slightly, describing the Marshall Plan as an exception because it was a “military policy.”

The Marshall Plan provided large economic aid to European countries to purchase goods as well as funds for reconstruction.

The College Democrats, represented by Justin Deal, second-year PUBP, and Chaselyn Baca, third-year CS, spoke for relatively less time during the discussion phase of immigration policy, but specifically questioned the Republicans’ motives for supporting Trump’s proposed merit-based system. Deal worried a merit-based system could exclude qualified applicants who nonetheless do not meet the standard.

“If it’s similar to Trump’s merit-based plan, even I couldn’t be an American citizen,” Deal said.

The discussion of refugees proved a segue for the conversation into discussing the topic of economic foreign policy. The Republicans justified the record reductions in the number of Middle Eastern refugees by citing that the threat of terror meant that the modern sociopolitcal situation is not analogous to previous refugee crises that have
taken place.

“We’re talking about people traveling across, you know, the Atlantic Ocean, all the way past the Mediterranean and to the United States, from a completely different background, and a completely different system,” Chambers said.

Instead, Chambers supported relocating refugees to countries within the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia.

When asked about the definition of economic success, the different political groups presented different answers. While the Libertarians and Republicans said that each member of society needs to determine their own answer, the Democrats said there was some value in looking at aggregate measures.

“Like the Republicans said, we need to make sure that everyone has a basic standard of living, everyone’s fed,” Deal said, “but more than just making sure, we need to actually make sure it’s implemented. We can’t just look at stats like wealth disparity, and income inequality, and stuff like that, and take note of it. There has to be active policies.”

While, by the end, no group had shifted their position by a large margin, the panel ended on a positive note, with multiple panel members expressing that they would enjoy doing a similar panel again.

“‘Epic historical military fantasy’ sounds like a whole lot of book—in a good way. When Rin tests into the most elite military school in her country, it’s good and bad: her classmates are horrible, but she discovers an unexpected power. Though it’s not a YA book, The Poppy War’s cover copy reminds me of both Eon and An Ember in the Ashes: magical powers, intense school, and harrowing conflict. Yes, please.” 

Tor.com, “The Books We’re Looking Forward to in 2018”

Georgetown student R.F. Kuang makes her literary debut
with a brilliantly imaginative novel inspired by the history of China’s modern history.
The novel is imbued with treachery and magic, much in the tradition of
Ken Liu’s The Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin’s The Inheritance Trilogy.

When Georgetown University student R.F. Kuang was inspired by her undergraduate studies in Chinese history to write a fantastical reimagining of China’s insurgent modern history, she never imagined that her finished manuscript, the first in a projected three-part trilogy, would go into heated auction amongst America’s top science fiction publishers.  And when Harper Voyager, an imprint of HarperCollins publishers, acquired her work on Kuang’s 20^th birthday, there was certainly ample reason to celebrate.  THE POPPY WAR, which will be released in hardcover format on May 1, 2018 (just a few days before the author’s graduation ceremony), is one of the imprint’s most anticipated releases of the year.  “We’re incredibly excited to publish THE POPPY WAR, and to be working with R.F. Kuang, who is an incredible new talent in the speculative fiction industry,” says Voyager editorial director David Pomerico.  “Set in a world full of magic, but based on Chinese history, the blending of military fantasy and coming-of-age narrative hits all the notes popular in the genre today.  Kuang combines cultural authenticity with personal creativity at a time when both qualities are very much demanded by readers.”

The author, a student of geopolitics, notes in a recent interview with The Hoya newspaper, “(THE POPPY WAR) is about the domestic politics, military strategy and interpersonal dynamics of the most important figures of 20th century China, but everything is transposed to a Song dynasty setting…I’m interested in military history and collective memory. That is, how wars are fought, and how we remember them.”

Kuang continues to work on the second and third book in the series, and plans to finish writing the trilogy this summer, before she moves to the United Kingdom for her graduate program at Cambridge University.

About the Book:
Rin knows that the only way out of her village–and an arranged marriage she doesn’t want–is to test into the elite military academy at Sinegard. When Rin aces the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it is a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who had believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, in realizing she is finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence.

The first thing Rin learns upon arriving at academy is that being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.

For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .

Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.

About the Author:

R. F. Kuang is a graduate of the 2016 Odyssey Writing Workshop. She studies Chinese history at Georgetown University, and has recently been awarded a Marshall Scholarship.  Kuang will continue her studies of the legacy of warfare in China at Cambridge University in the fall.   The Poppy War is her debut novel.

###

Media Contact:
Pamela Jaffee
212.207.7495
Pamela.Jaffee@harpercollins.com