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Grinnell College Grinnell, IAFebruary 27, 2009 Volume 125, Issue 18

The Scarlet and Black

First College Newspaper West of the Mississippi

Inside

Yuki Goto continuesrecovery through po-etry, persistence, runsmarathon..................p.7Campus celebrity:Grinnell’s residentBob Marley Zac El-lington ’10...........p. 10Can’t decide who to vote for? Comprehen-sive SGA election cov-erage....................p.8-9Got opinions oncampus concerts andfilms? We do. Readour letters............p. 12

Cops on campus,

students concerned

NISFELD

& D

AVID

OGAN

Three weeks ago, at least four Grinnellstudents were arrested on and off campus for various alcohol related charges. Police pres-ence—both on and off campus—is a commonanxiety for students, who often are unaware of how to interact with law enforcement officials,and rumors about the recent arrests have only increased that unease.In the midst of a perceived uptick in policeactivity, ACE Security—the student run orga-nization responsible for basic safety and secu-rity at all-campus events such as Harris partiesand concerts—organized two campus-widediscussions to educate students about theirrights and responsibilities vis-à-vis law en-forcement agencies, as well as the role CampusSecurity and ACE Security play on campus. The events included a fireside chat held on Tuesday at which SGA President Neo Morake’09 spoke about safety on campus. ACE Secu-rity co-Director Ben Howort ’09 also fieldedquestions on the role of ACE Security.On Thursday, Howort hosted an informa-tion session about how to act when encounter-ing police officers. The event began with open-ing remarks by Director of Campus Security Stephen Briscoe. Afterward, Howort fieldedstudent questions on issues ranging from whenpolice can enter dorms to their legal rights re-garding warrants and evidence usage.“I would love for people to be more in-formed about their rights in terms of inter-acting with police,” Howort said. “The otherthing I’d like to see change, and this goes forthe whole student body, is that I’d love to seemore alcohol related education and a shift inthe alcohol culture here.”Some students who have recently inter-acted with Grinnell police said they felt thatGrinnell students were treated differently than

Security, see p. 4

EFF

ADERSTRONG

Last week, the Student Publications and Radio Com-mittee (SPARC) announced student publication budgetsfor the 2009 spring semester. Several new publications were allotted funds, while most existing publications facedslight budget cuts.According to the overall SPARC budget, of publica-tions that received funding for the fall semester, only Pressand KDIC’s budgets remained the same while the S&B’sincreased, and the rest decreased. However, five new publi-

SPARC, see p. 4

SPARC unveils spring budgets with six new publications

cations were added under SPARC for the spring semester. This semester’s proposed budget totaled around$125,000, compared to $122,504.10 in the fall, with$89,517.32 and $74.865.32 being allotted in each semester,respectively.“We go through a fairly painful budget process each se-mester,” said SPARC Treasurer Matt Zmudka ’11. “Publi-cations are always requesting more money than we actually have to give out.”SPARC receives one-third of the Student Activity Fund, with the other two-thirds going to SGA. This amounts toabout $88,000 per semester, or about $58.33 per student.“If you were looking at that [number] broadly, you couldconsider that as your subscription costs for 12

S&B

s, four

B&S

s, two

Sequences

, so on and so forth. Most people justsee ‘free’ and don’t realize it’s coming out of their StudentActivity Fee,” Zmudka said.According to Zmudka, when determining the budget,SPARC usually tries to limit expansion rather than elimi-

NISFELD

& H

EIDI

ONNER

A year ago this week, on Feb 23, 2008, homophobic slurs were scrawled outside a student’s dorm room and some of thestudent’s property was vandalized. Over the course of the nextten days, 34 LGBTQ students were sent anti-queer hate mailand offensive and potentially threatening e-mails. After eachevent, the campus community came together for rallies and aforum, and well over 100 students chanted supportive cheers asthey marched from Main Hall to the JRC to proclaim both theiranger and their solidarity. To remember the anti-queer acts and the supportive commu-nity response, and to continue the dialogue on issues of campusinclusiveness, the Stonewall Resource Center (SRC), in collabo-ration with other LGBTQ groups, has scheduled a number of events that they hope will bring last year’s acts into focus. The series of events includes an informal workshop takingplace today at which students will be able to apply iron-on “Hate

Series of events commemotrates hate mail, builds awareness

Free” decals to clothing and backpacks, and a facilitated paneldiscussion on Monday at which administrators and sociology professors will answer questions about the overall community impact of these kinds of events. The events will wrap up Tuesday with a speak-out in Bob’s Underground where students can re-flect and share their personal experiences with last year’s events.According to SRC Program Coordinator Brian Perbix ’09,the programs aim to remind people about the magnitude of last year’s events and foster a continuing dialogue about Grinnell’scampus climate since the events. “It would be irresponsible of usto let this moment pass unacknowledged,” Perbix said.Leah Krandel ’09, one of the organizers of the speak out, saidthat the event will provide an opportunity for victims to sharetheir emotions, particularly friends of those who received letters,a group that Krandel described as “secondary victims.”“It’s a hard place to be in where you were upset, and you werea secondary victim of what happened but your feelings weren’tas legitimized because you didn’t have a physical letter,” Krandelsaid. “I needed support but so did all my friends.”Despite last year’s outpouring of support, many students saidthat the campus has a long way to go. According to Ryan Carlino’10, people in the Grinnell LGBTQ community are still con-fronted by people insensitive to their sexuality.“Grinnell is a great place to be openly gay compared to a lotof schools,” Carlino said. “But people still do not feel comfortablebeing publicly, openly out, or expressing affection toward theirpartner, it shows that there is still maybe some tension or thingsgoing on campus [that do not support being gay].”Krandel said she hopes that the week will increase dialogue oncampus regarding campus attitudes towards the LGBTQ com-munity. “I’m going into this with the hope that we’ll give peoplethe opportunity to continued dialogue about this and encouragepeople to remember that this happened,” Krandel said. “These ...happen a lot on this campus, and we don’t talk about them.”

Ben Archer ’09 poses a question to SGA executive candidates at Thursday’s open forum hosted by Election Board. The forum opened with candidatesreading statements of intent followed by a period of questions from audience members. Questions ranged from what each candidate will look for whenappointing cabinet members to the candidates’ perspectives on Films and Concerts in student life to how they will deal with the demanding schedule imposed by their respective positions. See pages 8 and 9 to read candidates’ answers to a set of questions provided by the

S&B

and more coverage of the open forum.

AWRENCE

UMULONG

Candidates compete in SGA Cabinet elections

February 27, 2009

EWS

edited by J. Francis Buse and Brian Sherwinbusejohn@grinnell.edu, sherwinb@grinnell.edu

World Headlines

• Pakistan’s Supreme Court barred opposition leaderNawaz Sharif from holding any public office. Sharif, who was convicted of hijacking and terrorism in 1999after being usurped in a coup by former President Pervez Musharaf, is considered far more popular than currentPresident Asif Ali Zardari, whose Pakistan People’s Par-ty worked with Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League to oustMusharaf last February. The ruling has ignited politicalprotests across Pakistan.

National Headlines

• Authorities arrested George Iknadosian after a guntaken from the scene of a deadly shoot out betweenMexican authorities and criminals was traced back to agun store owned and operated by Iknadosian in Phoenix. The incident, in which eight Mexican drug enforcementauthorities were killed in a raid on a drug cartel last May in western Mexico, has raised interest in figures such asIknadosian, who have allegedly illegally supplied smug-glers with ammunition and hundreds of guns. Mexico’sgun laws, in which citizens can not purchase guns with-out government approval and assault rifles are outlawed,are much more lax than America’s.

Iowa Headlines

• Iowa congressional leaders said they have been fightingfor disaster relief that has yet to be given out to Iowansin areas affected by last summer’s floods. The financialassistance, which totals in the billions and is still largely awaiting bureaucratic approval, was alloted for residentsand businesses that are still heavily damaged. Blank Dis-trict Braley called for government leaders to push thefunding through the “red tape,” also citing funds meantfor New Orleans that have yet to be dispersed.—

Compiled by J. Francis Buse

• On March 4, Stephen Briscoe and the Grinnell Police De-partment will be conducting a talk on the legal rights of stu-dents. This talk is spurred by the recent arrests.• The College’s camera policy is under legal review, and willbe out in the near future.• VPAA Julie Hoye discussed and asked for input into a pos-sible effort to move GenComp elsewhere in ARH, and re-place it with another classroom. Email her with feedback! —

Compiled by Hugh Redford

Mock trial team qualifies for nationals

HASE

ELKER

On the weekend of Feb 13-14, Grinnell’s two mock trialteams competed in the regional competition at St. AmbroseUniversity in Davenport, Iowa. For the fourth time in theteam’s 14-year history, a Grinnell team qualified for nation-als.One of Grinnell’s two teams took fifthplace and was the only team to tie LorasCollege and Illinois State, which took firstand third place respectively, in individualmatches.Co-captain Alex Conlon ’09 attributedthe team’s success to more cohesive prepa-ration, and a strong group of underclassstudents. “Instead of just running throughthe motions, we had a more focused, col-laborative environment,” Conlon said.Adam Lange ’11 said that splitting the group into twostrong teams, a requirement due to the team’s large size, wasuseful as they could practice against one another and simu-late actual matches. “Practicing against [each other] helpeda lot,” Lange said.In comparison to larger schools, whereteams practice upwards of five times a week, according to Co-captain Chris John-ston ’09, the Pioneers only met once a week for the first semester and returned a week early from winter break in order to beginmore intense preparation for the regionalcompetition. Johnston said that the dispar-ity between Grinnell and larger schoolsmade the qualification for nationals evenmore impressive. Johnston added that the team wasnot fully prepared the tournament, and said the openingstatements were written on the way to the tournament. “I wouldn’t go so far as to call it improv,” Johnston said. “But we do a good job of thinking on our feet.”However, the team found stability in the coaching andlegal advice of Grinnell lawyer Brad McCall.“I think my primary role with the team has been to assistthe students in learning appropriate court room practice,procedure and demeanor,” McCall wrote in an e-mail tothe S&B. “In addition, I think that I have helped to teachthe students the intricacies of the Rules of Evidence.”Even with professional mentor-ing, Conlon said the team still has a few Grinnellian quirks. “It’s a very Grinnellteam—we have a tough time getting ev-eryone into suits,” she said.Mock trial simulates major elements of a trial and serves as an unofficial pre-law program. For the competition, the teamreceives witness statements and basic caseinformation attorneys would receive at the beginning of theacademic year. The mock case played in the tournamentinvolved a politician arguing that she lost an election due tolibel from a reporter. The mock article contained false ac-cusations of murder, and led to court action by the politicianagainst the reporter. Prior to the case, the teams determine who would argue the prosecuting and de-fending side. The second Grinnell team, despitefacing multiple top teams, had very closerounds and nearly qualified, according toConlon. Additionally, Erin Daugherty ’09, Liting Cong ’11, and Max Kaufmann’12 won outstanding witness awards forportrayals of “drunken journalists” and a“crazy janitor,” according to Lange. “Webasically kicked ass,” said Johnston.Nationals will be held in Kansas City,Missouri during the first weekend of spring break, March13-15.“It will be really close … because at this high level all of the teams obviously know what they are doing and are all very competitive,” Lange said.

For fourth time, lawyer team will travel to Kansas City for national tournament

Friday

ERCUSSION

SEMBLE

BucksbaumSebring-Lewis Hall,2 p.m.

ARDI

RAS

EBRATION

JRC 209,6 p.m.

HAT

& C

HEW

WITH

THE

CDO C

REW

JRCLobby, 11:30 a.m.

NVESTMENT

ANK

ING

& C

ONSULTING

CDO 104, 1127 ParkStreet, 4:15 p.m.

RANT

ROGRAM

& E

NDOWED

NTERN

SHIPS

ORKSHOP

CDO 104, 1127 ParkStreet, 12:15 p.m.

RITING

ESUMES

& C

OVER

ETTERS

ORKSHOP

CDO104, 1127 ParkStreet, 4:15 p.m.

ANFORTH

ECTURE

Noyce 2022, 4:30p.m.

RITING

ESUMES

AND

OVER

TERS

ORKSHOP

CDO 104, 1127 ParkStreet, 4:15 p.m.

RADUATE

CHOOL

LANNING

CDO104, 1127 ParkStreet, 4:15 p.m.

PEN

@ F

AUL

CONER

ALLERY

Bucksbaum Faulcon-er Gallery, 7 p.m.

EWBERRY

IBRARY

RESENTATION

ARH102, 7 p.m.

OOMMATE

IXER

JRC 209, 8 p.m.

INCOLN

ENTER

AZZ

RCHESTRA

Herrick Chapel, 8 p.m.

’

ENNIS

ISCONSIN

-W

HITE

WATER

PEC TennisCourts, 8:30 a.m.

’

ENNIS

RACELAND

PECTennis Courts, 4:30p.m.

ISO T

ALENT

HOW

Harris Center Con-cert Hall, 7 p.m.

SGA C

ONCERT

MainHall Gardner Lounge,9 p.m.

RANT

ROGRAM

& E

NDOWED

NTERN

SHIP

ORKSHOP

CDO 104, 1127 ParkStreet, 4:15 p.m.

OMMUNITY

EAL

Davis ElementarySchool, 818 HamiltonAvenue, 5:30 p.m.

NVIRONMENTAL

HALLENGES

AND

ESPONSES

ECTURE

ARH 120, 2:15 p.m.

OLE

THE

EGRO

PIRITUAL

RESENTA

TION

Burling IIF Com-puter Lab, 4:15 p.m.

OVE

ESPONDS

CEPTION

JRC 101,4:15 p.m.

’

ASKETBALL

. S

. N

ORBERT

Darby Gymnasium,7 p.m.

SGO C

ONCERT

Main Hall GardnerLounge, 9 p.m.

EIL

ATRICK

RIS

Harris CenterConcert Hall, 10 p.m.

283451

Movie Times on Page 7

Feb. 27 - Mar. 5

Monday Thursday Saturday Sunday Tuesday Wednesday

“It’s a very Grinnell team—we have a tough time gettingeveryone into suits.”

Alex Conlon ‘09

“I wouldn’t go so far as to call it improv. But we do a good job of thinking on our feet.”

Chris Johnston ’09

Help Desk

TC Tech Tips!

Have you ever printed to a printer that’sout of toner or paper? Or maybe you’ve always wondered what labs are open when you’re trying to finish that paper the nightbefore it’s due. Check out the Campus Technology Map at

http://tcdb.grinnell.edu/map

-- it’s a mapof all the computer labs and printers on campus; it’ll tell you whether or not they’re available or out-of-order, including a whole lot more!

—The Technology Consultants

February 27, 2009

EWS

edited by J. Francis Buse and Brian Sherwinbusejohn@grinnell.edu, sherwinb@grinnell.edu

Ouderkirk speaks on Postville, immigration, rights

On Monday, Feb. 23, Father Paul Ouderkirk,a priest from the town of Postville, Iowa, spoke onthe condition of the Postville community after a government raid last May arrested over 300 il-legal immigrants residing in the town and work-ing for the controversial Agriprocessorsmeatpacking plant. Invited by the Stu-dent Organization of Latinas/Latinos(SOL), Ouderkirk focused largely on the time since the raid, in which volunteershave assisted the families of the those ar-rested, many who have been deported.Ouderkirk, who had retired from priesthood prior to the raid, is the de factodirector of relief work in the town. Ouderkirk hasbeen interviewed and quoted by news organiza-tions such as

CNN

and

The New York Times

What conditions did you play witness to within the plant that the workers were subject to?

One of the things I’ll never forget is peoplestanding shoulder-to-shoulder, a man with anelectric knife, all day, cutting the legs off theturkeys and chickens, but right [under] him,people cutting meat, and the floor filthy withfeathers and blood—it was dangerous.

Speaking on a larger scale, since the pres-idential campaign began there was very littlediscussion about immigration in the actualcampaigning. Since Obama has taken officethere doesn’t seem to be much focus on it atall. I was wondering what you think aboutthe current administration and Congress’soverall focus and action on the issue of im-migration?

I think I’ve said often that every electedofficial that had anything to do with immi-gration law should hang their head in shame. They have let immigration law become a po-litical mess that it’s now more political thananything.One of the worst things was in the year2003 they swept immigration law underHomeland Security law—the worst thing thatcould have possibly happened. Then it becamemilitaristic. That was all political. They stoodaround. The elected politicians did not standup for the right thing. They didn’t do the rightthing.

And on a state level, late last year, you saidthat Governor Culver was failing to keep usfrom “bleeding to death.” Have Culver andthe state government responded in the pastmonths since then?

No, in fact, the governor turnedhis back on [The Archbishop,myself, Paul Real, and three otherrepresentatives from the Hispanicministry and dioceses] the day we went down to see [Secretary of Homeland Security] Janet Nep-olitano. He knew who we were. Heturned his back on us. He has notbeen responding.I would criticize the state of Iowa. They have not done enough. This is the largest raidin the history of Iowa. They have not stood upand said, “We can’t do much as a state, but now on a federal level we expect [the government]to do more.” And, they have not done that. That’s wrong.

With the situation at Henry’s Turkey Service [in which mentally disabled men were subject to illegal workhouse conditionsfor years], is there anything you can draw comparisons between the two situations? And whether that’s a problem on a statewide level or a nationwide level?

Once you have an ingrained immoral con-dition in the community, it takes an exception-al person to stand up and say, “This is wrong.”And they don’t want to upset the community.And I think that’s the way it was with whathappened with Henry’s Turkey [Service]. Thepeople had accepted a condition that was notgood. I read somewhere that some inspec-tors never ever went in there to inspect thoseplaces.And the apartments in Postville – someof the ones we’ve been in, man, they shouldhave been closed the next day. And they didn’tbecause they didn’t have a housing code andso on. And I think you’d find that all aroundthe country, especially in small communities. We’ve called a number of them, just like us.[The businesses] are bigger than us, but it’s thesame. Unless good people get together and say no more then nothing happens.

—Interview conducted by J. Francis Buse Father Paul Ouderkirk spoke on the recent raid in Postville.

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