One of my big projects this summer was to set up the Northwest News Network, a collaborative news-sharing project among college papers throughout the northwest. This was an interesting task- it involved a lot of creeping on college news sites, trying to figure out who to contact at each school and blindly sending messages via email, Facebook and even twitter to people I’ve never met. But it’s been a highly rewarding experience, especially because of all the new connections I’ve made. Now that I’ve gotten past the stalker-ish part, I’m in frequent contact with people at various schools across the northwest: Whitworth University, Pacific Lutheran University, George Fox University, Willamette University and Walla Walla University.

This project has provided a great opportunity to do some research as well. My dad went to PLU in the 1970s, and over the years he’s mentioned that he got to interview The Beach Boys when they gave a concert at the school. I’ve always thought this was awesome, but it didn’t occur to me until I began working with people who work for The Mooring Mast (PLU’s paper) that the interview is probably still out there.

Indeed, Pacific Lutheran University has some really great archives; you can find a scanned version of every single Mooring Mast issue ever printed. Once I discovered this, a quick Google search gave me the date that The Beach Boys played at PLU, so all I had to do was find the corresponding issue. The archivists at the PLU library graciously took the time to scan very good quality versions of the story and send them to me. Here they are:

They also sent me a copy of my dad’s review of the concert,

and that week’s edition of his music column (featuring a really funny, very retro headshot.)

I didn’t even know that he wrote his own weekly music column, and I was surprised to learn that he’d been the Mast‘s Arts Editor.

What was most surprising, however, was how easily accessible all of this information was. All of this research (and by that I mean the fact that this investigation required such minimal work) has given me a lot of perspective. Once I decided I wanted to find my dad’s interview with The Beach Boys, I tracked it down in a matter of minutes. Thanks to the power of email and scanners, it was a painless process. What’s more, I can go back and read every one of my dad’s columns. If I wanted to, I could read every single story The Mooring Mast has printed since it was first published in 1924. (And I thought the creepy part of my job was over once I’d established a few connections!)

When my dad interviewed The Beach Boys, he couldn’t possibly have thought that his daughter would be able to track down his story of her own volition forty years later; such a thing would have been absolutely inconceivable. So much has changed over just one generation. Who knows where technology will take us next? Whatever happens, it’s nice (and perhaps a little bizarre) to know that fifty years from now this story will probably still be out there.

I would like to extend a huge “thank you” to Kerstin Ringdahl and Chelsea Hebert at the PLU library for generously scanning copies of these stories that are of a much higher quality than the originals I found online.

This story was originally published in The Whitworthian of Whitworth University on October 8, 2014. It was written by Whitworth reporter Rachelle Robley. The photographs are by Whitworth photographer Simon Puzankov. This story is printed here through the Northwest News Network, a collaborative project between many northwest collegiate newspapers.

“This is your house, make us feel comfortable,” Denice Frohman said. On Oct. 2 at 9:00 p.m., spoken word poets Denice Frohman and Dominique Christina of the duo Sister Outsider brought an energy of social change to the HUB MPR.

“There is a tension between the relativity of sisters and being an outsider. A sister is familiar, an outsider is not. We are at once, familiar and foreign,” Christina said, in describing the meaning of their duo’s name.

“Social issues will never be over-emphasized. We have to keep talking about it because these are real problems,” senior Ashton Skinner, the cultural events coordinator, said. The first topic of the night was education reform. Sister Outsider performed their poem, “No Child Left Behind”, a poem that combined both Frohman and Christina’s written works about the Philadelphia and Denver education systems, respectively.

“I think the event was culturally important because it was a conversation about social issues. In class, these issues are often listed as facts,” sophomore Krystiana Morales said.

The duo covered a variety of topics from the concept of home to misrepresentation of minorities and the LGBT community.

“You kill everything that’s different, I preserve it,” Frohman said, in her poem “Dear Straight People.” The poem wasn’t directed toward all straight people, but specifically toward straight people who go out of their way to make gay people feel uncomfortable.

“It’s important for people to learn about opinions of others and know that not everyone has the same views, but that’s okay,” freshman Nick Fuller said.

Students cheered in agreement, but were also quiet during poems. There seemed to be a mutual understanding that what was being said was important, and that their words needed to be heard and understood.

“I tried it out, but I still felt like there was something missing. I was worried I was broken because I didn’t like boys,” Frohman said prior to performing her poem about her first kiss with a woman. The duo’s poetic real talk allowed students to feel a sense of comfort in not always having all aspects of life figured out.

“People are struggling with identity issues thinking, ‘Who am I? How do I be true to that?’ They need people validating their questions, people who have celebrated that journey,” Skinner said.

“Here is a poem, and I hope you feel disrupted by it,” Frohman said, prior to  reciting  a Muhammad Ali poem about the importance of having the courage to speak up.

Both Frohman and Christina were very open about their awareness to discomfort within the audience.

“Challenges to make the audience feel uncomfortable help you grow,” Frohman said. Considering the first poem was about education reform and the last about bloody vaginas, the duo evidently planned for a transition into intense topics.

In Christina’s “Summer of Violence” poem, she speaks about the emotional impact she experienced as a college student when she attended the funerals of four friends whom she lost to gang violence.

“It’s good for Whitworth to open our eyes because there really is a Pinecone Curtain and we can get too comfortable behind it. But this event made us uncomfortable in a great way,” sophomore Alysia Morales said. The duo was aware of the effect they were having on the audience and the growing discomfort they were creating.

“They were conversational, but not confrontational,” sophomore Kaley Alness said. Students may have felt this way during Christina’s last poem, “The Period Poem,” in which she speaks openly about the pride a woman should have in having her period and why men should be more accepting of that.

The next cultural event will be the Liberty of North Korea, or LiNK, event on Oct. 29 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.. There will be a film screening and discussion about the organization’s mission and how people can get involved with bringing freedom to North Korea. On Nov. 21 at 7:00 p.m. in the HUB MPR, International Festival will take place. Sodexo will serve a variety of foods from different countries and international students will share poems, songs and fashion native to their countries. For more information about cultural events, contact Skinner at askinner15@my.whitworth.edu.

Of Fireworks and Uncertain Futures

This story was originally published in The Willamette Collegian on September 30, 2014. It was written by Willamette reporter Alyssa Milstead and is printed here through the Northwest News Network, a collaborative project between many northwest collegiate newspapers.

Brendan Dwyer admits that there are a lot of challenges that come with educating first-year students about alcohol.

“You have such a varied audience,” Dwyer said. “And frankly, people don’t like being told what to do. People learn through their own experiences.”

The senior biochemistry major and Opening Days coordinator wanted to change the programs that were being used to educate first-year students about drugs, alcohol and sex. In previous years, there was a required lecture or performance on alcohol and drug use that first-year students were required to attend with their Opening Days groups.

“I thought it was pretty mediocre, and most staff members agree with me,” Dwyer said

In the spring of 2014, administrators and students from Bishop Wellness Center, Opening Days, Multicultural Affairs, Community Education, Residence Life and other facets of campus life discussed the alcohol and sexual violence prevention programs that first-year students attend.

The new committee eliminated all previous alcohol programs along with “Sex Signals,” a lecture program that used humor to educate students on sexual violence. Now, first-year students must complete an online module and attend a presentation titled “Living the Motto.”

“Think About It,” the online portion of the training, focuses on alcohol, drugs and sexual violence prevention. Freshmen are required to complete the module during the first week of classes.

“It’s kind of like an online magazine, where they click through, and read things, and take quizzes,” Director of Bishop Wellness Center Margaret Trout said. “It takes a while to do it, but it’s full of information.”

The new “Living the Motto” program compiles information for students about healthy drinking habits and appropriate sexual conduct. Trout said she no longer wanted drinking and sexual violence to be addressed in separate programs.

“We really wanted to move away from having these separate venues,” Trout said. “We address a lot of topics, but encourage students to watch out for their friends, whether they’re drinking too much or if there is violence happening.”

At “Living the Motto,” students watch a 25-minute video that highlighted the issues, solutions and resources available to students on campus, which Trout said she thought accurately portrayed the drinking behaviors of Willamette students.

Trout thinks that students hold the dangerous perception that the average Willamette student drinks more than they actually do.

“The video was Willamette-specific, and it was normalizing reality, which is that students aren’t really [binge drinking],” Trout said.

This year, students also watched a 30-minute theatre performance that was co-written by senior English majors Anna Fredendall and Rachael Decker, focusing on bystander intervention.

“Our whole concept with ‘Living the Motto’ is that we all have a responsibility to take care of each other and make sure that we’re all safe,” Decker said.

Freshmen students met with their residence halls and community mentors before and  after the “Living the Motto” presentation. This is a change from previous years, when students would attend all alcohol and sexual violence prevention programs with their Opening Days groups.

“I think this really integrates [Living the Motto] more into what their community is going to look like after Opening Days,” Decker said.

Dwyer was pleased with the feedback from the “Living the Motto” program, but said he is more uncertain about the success of the online module “Think About It.”

“It’s good for accountability and fundamental knowledge. And it is the best module we found for engagement and content,” Dwyer said. “But college students are less engaged with online modules.”

Why have women’s fraternities attracted so many new members in recent years? How do male and female members’ opinions of Greek life change over the course of four years?