Lewis & Clark College

The Pioneer Log: Lewis & Clark College’s Student-Run Newspaper

Volume 97, No. 5

Lewis & Clark College Student Newspaper

Pioneer Log Staff

2021-11-12

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Text; Newspaper

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Lewis & Clark College: Pioneer Log / Mossy Log

By PHILIP STEFFEN
ON THE MORNING of Oct.
28, students entering Fields
Dining Hall were greeted
by a display of carved pumpkins.
The pumpkins, each one carved by
a union employee of Bon Appétit,
bore messages regarding working
conditions within the dining hall.
Most pumpkins referenced the
workers’ dual grievances of low pay
and short staffing. Some struck on
the higher goals and aspirations of
union workers, with one pumpkin in
particular carrying a carving of a house
with the word “someday” above it.
While this ‘pumpkin picket’ represented
a seasonal take on the more traditional
picket line, the demands were serious.
While the Oct. 28 action may
have come as a surprise to many
students, it was far from the first time
an action of this type has taken place.
As reported by The Pioneer Log in
March 2018, the Bon Appétit Union,
which went public in 2017, won its
first contract with management in
January 2018 after a long and highly
publicized process of negotiation.
In 2020, mere weeks before the
beginning of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, the union reached a new
contract with management. This
2020 contract is now at the forefront
of the present union campaign.
Although there was little prior
publicity, the pumpkin picket was not
the first step in labor action this year.
According to Bon Appétit workers,
several significant issues have been
at play since the beginning of the
semester.The top issue for workers is wages.
Since the most recent contract was
signed, the cost of living has risen
drastically due to the COVID-19
pandemic. The prices of housing,
gasoline, food and even water are rising
at higher than average rates. Bon Appétit
workers argue that the provisions for
raises in the 2020 contract are no
longer adequate.
“Bon” Continued on page 3By VENUS EDLIN
AS A PREDOMINANTLY white
institution, the way Lewis &
Clark has addressed race in
the classroom has been called into
question multiple times.
On Oct. 6, an incident occurred in
ENG 205-F2 when Associate Professor
of English William Pritchard showed
the class the BBC version of “Othello”
which features Anthony Hopkins in
blackface. When a student pointed out
how odd it was to see a white actor
play a Black character, Pritchard
was prompted to show a clip from
the Laurence Olivier version of
“Othello,” which includes even
darker blackface.
“I agreed that it was a problem,
and it was in this context that I
raised the topic of the Laurence
Olivier film of ‘Othello’ from 1965,”
Pritchard said via email. “That film,
I said, found a wholly unsuccessful
way of addressing the problem of
a white actor playing Othello: by
wearing heavy black makeup and
adopting an exotic accent.”
After showing the clips, Pritchard
facilitated a conversation debating
whether such casting choices were
appropriate. Several students
felt uncomfortable during this
conversation and thought Pritchard
was providing a venue to excuse
blackface. Students also brought up
various films where marginalized
groups were played by actors who do
not share those identities. Pritchard
reportedly justified all of these
performances in class.
Pritchard recalls the conversation
differently.“A couple of students insisted that
only a Black actor could have the real-
life experience and understanding
necessary to perform the role of
Othello,” Pritchard said. “They argued
that people from underrepresented
groups should be allowed to represent
themselves on stage, a position with
which I entirely agree.”
Following fall break, Pritchard
addressed the topic again in class on
Oct. 11. Several students remained
dissatisfied with the conversation. Claire Champommier ’23, one of the
ENG 205-F2 students, had written a
letter over break addressing the issue
and decided to garner signatures from
her classmates on Oct. 13. The letter
was sent the following day to Dean of
the College of Arts and Science Bruce
Suttmeier, Associate Dean/Professor
of Rhetoric and Media Studies Daena
Goldsmith and Associate Professor of
English and Department Chair Karen
Gross.
The letter contained two demands of Pritchard: that he read out a two-
page minimum apology to the class
and that he attend multiple racial bias
training sessions for the remainder of
the school year. The evening after the
letter was sent, Pritchard emailed an
apology to the class, which was read
out loud the following day Oct. 15.
Champommier classified the
statement as a “half apology” that
contained a lot of “defensive language.”
She was not satisfied with the apology.
“Furthermore, we respect you as a professor and person, but when you
disrespect us and our classmates,
we have to respect ourselves too,”
Champommier said. “We also let him
know that I thought we were being
very generous with our demands.
Anything else that he had to say to
try and make himself feel better was
only going to belittle our feelings even
more, so it’s best for him to just listen
because this is not the time to react.”
Suttmeier has been in contact with
the ENG 205-F2 students that signed
the letter since it was originally sent
out. He believes Pritchard has dealt
with the issue fairly.
“ Professor Pritchard has apologized
and has expressed a desire to work on
how to more effectively present and
teach issues of race,” Suttmeier said
via email. “The students, after their
Friday Oct 15 class, responded to me
that Professor Pritchard gave them
space for them to say what they needed
going forward. I am grateful to the
students for taking the time and effort
to come to me with their concerns, and
I am grateful to Professor Pritchard for
his willingness to engage with his class
and collaborate on a way forward.”
Pritchard views Suttmeier’s
dealings of this issue positively.
“Dean Suttmeier has been
extraordinarily attentive and
responsive throughout this incident,”
Pritchard said. “He has taken the
students’ concerns very seriously. He
has worked with me to process what
happened in my class and ensured
that we could continue to function
as a class for the remainder of the
semester.”
“Students” Continued on page 3Vol. 97 No.5 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021 www.piolog.com
Today’s Weather
Overcast with a mix of sun and
clouds with a high of 61 degrees and
a low of 48 degrees. 90% chance of
humidity. Sunset at 4:43 p.m. and a
waxing gibbous moon.OPINION
Gender neutral bathrooms
Gender neutral bathrooms on campus
should increase inclusivity and
accessibility by removing urinals.
PAGE 5FEATURES
Biology professor grant
Tamily Weissman won a $30,000
grant which will allow her lab
to conduct in-depth research on
Parkinson’s disease. PAGE 7ARTS
Passion Play
This fall’s Main Stage production
portrayed the Passion of Christ in three
different historical contexts, spanning
three acts. PAGE 8SPORTS
McGinn hits milestone
Volleyball setter Michelle McGinn ’22
racked up 1800 career assists.

PAGE 10Bon Appétit workers at LC call
for better staffing, higher wagesPresidential Committee
soon to reveal finalists
Showing of two versions of “Othello” featuring blackface sparks controversy, administration responds
AMELIA MADARANG/THE PIONEER LOGStudents confront racial issues in classrooms
By AMELIA DOYLE &
ASMAA ZAIDAN
THE PRESIDENTIAL Search
Committee is seeking a new
president for Lewis & Clark as
President Wim Wiewel has begun
planning his retirement.
The committee is composed of
nine Trustee Representatives, three
faculty representatives, two staff
representatives and Associated
Students of Lewis & Clark President
Sarah Lind-MacMillan ’22. Trustee
Co-Chairs Paula Hayes ’92 and Patrick
J. Mahaffy ’85 are currently leading
the search committee. Summit, the
team’s search firm partner, is aiding
in the search.
According to Hayes, the
presidential committee and Summit,
as well as other committees, have
been working hard to try and find a
new president and have hosted the
five campus input sessions.
“The dynamic is actually wonderful
in my opinion ... and I’ll say we have
been really committed and engaged
and that’s been evident since the very
beginning,” Hayes said.
In July and August 2021, the search
committee hosted listening sessions to obtain community input. The goal
was to gain a greater understanding of
what LC needs in a president, and how
this can be reflected in their search.
“We try to go beyond what’s been
done in the past,” Mahaffy said.
“Paula and I felt it really important to
engage with the constituency groups,
where there were students, faculty,
deans, staff, beyond the selection of
the committee members.”
After hosting the five campus
input sessions, the team was able to
put together a position profile. The
13-page document outlined what
the committee was searching for in
a candidate, as well as the role and
responsibilities that come with being
president. The Position Profile also
cites the college’s Strategic Plan and
fundraising campaign, Exploring
for the Global Good. According to
the document, LC is searching for
an “experienced, personable, and
energetic higher education leader”
who will continue “to execute and
enhance the vision of the College.”
“A true commitment to education
is really important to us, along
with a proven track record as an
“Presidential” Continued on page 3
HANNAH KORN /THE PIONEER LOG
A student Bon worker waits to swipe in students at the Fields Dining Room.
By AMELIA DOYLE &
ASMAA ZAIDAN
ON OCT. 29 , the American
Psychological Association
(APA) released a statement
apologizing to people of color (POC)
for their discriminatory practices. The
apology focused on acknowledging
the roles that the APA, and the field of
psychology, have played in “promoting,
perpetuating, and failing to challenge”
racism, and the resulting harm that has
been inflicted on communities of color.
“APA is profoundly sorry, accepts
responsibility for, and owns the
actions and inactions of APA itself,
the discipline of psychology, and
individual psychologists who stood as
leaders for the organization and field,”
the statement said.
The APA acknowledged its
promotion of eugenics and hegemonic
science, and apologized for their failure
to speak out against the psychological
impacts of lynching on Black
people, and of forced assimilation of
Indigenous peoples. The organization
also commented on the low diversity
within the field of psychology and
the unethical testing practices they
utilized. In a statement included in the
press release, APA President Jennifer
F. Kelly underscored the importance of
such an apology.
“For the first time, APA
and American psychology are
systematically and intentionally
examining, acknowledging and
charting a path forward to address
their roles in perpetuating racism,”
Kelly said.
At Lewis & Clark, some professors
had their students read the apology and
discuss it in class. Associate Professor
of Psychology Diana Leonard brought
up the apology in her classes, as she wanted her students to understand the
discriminatory practices present in the
field of psychology.
“One of the things that came
forward from the students was the
idea that an apology to all people of
color was itself kind of reductive, that
no one group is going to experience
oppression the same way,” Leonard
said. “And the apology to all people of
color does not honor that,”
According to Leonard, many of
her students remain skeptical
of the statement.
“(They) are
saying that this
isn’t enough,
they feel that
an apology in the absence of more immediate change
in action,” Leonard said. “I think that’s
really valid.”
Leonard also said that the wording
of the text was inaccessible, so it did
not have as much of an impact, or seem
as meaningful, as it could have. Many
of her students reportedly asked who
the text was written for. She also recognized that the
people reading the apology cannot
simply forgive the APA because it is
an apology to a group of people, many
of whom are no longer around.
“No individual person reading
this can forgive, and that makes it an
unusual type of apology,” Leonard
said.
While some students had a
more negative reaction
to the text, Leonard
believed it was a
step in the right
direction, but
only if it is accompanied by an agenda of further
steps.
“I’m very grateful that this apology
has happened, that this recognition
is out there (and) that this work is
being done,” Leonard said. “And the
apology seems meaningful to the
extent that it is indicating that (there
will be) more changes on the horizon
... (and) that it is going to be part of
a broader agenda of addressing these
harms,” Leonard said.
Along with an apology, the APA
released two other resolutions, which
set out plans to combat harm in the
discipline. One resolution lays out the
APA and the field of psychology’s role
going forward in dismantling systemic
racism in the United States. The second
one pledges to work to advance health
equity in psychology.
“In offering an apology for these
harms, APA acknowledges that
recognition and apology only ring
true when accompanied by action; by
not only bringing awareness of the
past into the present but in acting
to ensure reconciliation, repair,
and renewal,” the statement said.
“We stand committed to purposeful
intervention, and to ensuring that
APA, the field of psychology, and
individual psychologists are leaders in
both benefiting society and improving
lives.”
Leonard echoed this sentiment,
saying that an apology is only the
beginning.
“It is an important key step
in reconciliation and in resolving
conflict,” Leonard said. “So we have to
do it ... But it can’t be the last thing
you do. You need to actually build
cooperation towards making sure the
harms don’t occur, and making sure
that there are some kinds of operations
offered and that are present.”
By AIDAN D’ANNA
DEAN OF EQUITY and
Inclusion and Vice President
for Institutional Research
and Planning Mark Figueroa is set to
depart from Lewis & Clark on Dec.
3. Figueroa started his career at LC in
2011 as the Director of Institutional
Research, but has shifted roles
many times over the last ten years.
Figueroa stepped into his current
role as dean of equity and inclusion in
the summer of 2019, taking the place
of LC Law Professor Janet Steverson,
who had held the position since 2016.
According to an interview conducted
by The Source in 2019, Figueroa
took the job in order to move
equity and inclusion issues to the
forefront of conversations on campus.
“I am eager to move forward into
a more visible leadership role on
critical issues of equity and inclusion
at LC,” Figueroa said. “Over the last
eight years, I have learned a great
deal about our institutional culture.
Relationships matter so much. I see
many opportunities for us to continue
to work together to make this place
a more truly safe, welcoming and
equitable learning community.”
Two years later, Figueroa
is witnessing those changes he
worked so hard to promote, both in
hiring processes and conversations
about diversity taking place at LC.
“Our track record in the last two
years has been pretty phenomenal,”
Figueroa said. “Especially for a liberal
arts college like ours to have the level
of diversity we do within our search
pools speaks volumes to the amount
of work that we’ve done working with
search committees, and the work that
they’ve done to try to build those
pools and cast the net. And where
I see the impact the most is other
people are talking about these issues,
as regular matter of fact business.”
One of Figueroa’s first tasks
as dean was to recruit a full time
associate dean of equity and inclusion, which he did within
nine months of taking over the job.
Figueroa hired Casey Bieberich for this
role, as well as Title IX coordinator, in
March 2020. Bieberich has benefited
greatly from Figueroa’s leadership and
standing in the community, despite
starting the role during the pandemic.
“I have primarily met people
through Zoom and am slowly getting to
know people more this year,” Bieberich
said. “Mark is a hugely supportive and
flexible person who is very comfortable
with change and uncertainty. And
I think we have benefited from
relationships that he has built over
time, a lot of equity work gets really
relationship and culture-based, which
takes a lot of spending time with people
and getting to know (them) and their
motivations and what they care about.”
Figueroa’s position as dean is
currently half-time to allow him to
fulfill all of his other roles. However,
the future of what the position will
look like is currently up in the air.
“Even if (the position of dean of
equity and inclusion) was two full
time jobs, there’s not enough time
to attend to everything that people
need,” Figueroa said. “Could more
time and attention have been paid to
more things? Yes, but I will say the
COVID-19 interruption really threw
everything for a loop. So I think
moving forward, the nature of this
position and how it gets configured,
might need to be different.”
Bieberich hopes that the office can
long term support someone whose
sole focus is institutional equity.
“We all bring our own lived
experience, or identities, our own focus
to this kind of work,” Bieberich said.
“But to have an office that focuses on the
institution as a whole … that requires
a lot of coordination, organization
planning and documentation. And that
is all a focus that I hope will continue
and be more firm in the future.”
Whoever takes over any, or all, of
Figueroa’s roles will be an integral part of
the LC community, and play a role in the operations of many offices. Director
of the Center for Social Change and
Community Involvement Dr. Kayleigh
McCauley-Sayer is excited to work with
the new Dean of Equity and Inclusion
to further her office’s mission.
“The successor will be a key partner
for the Center ... particularly in the area
of social change,” McCauley-Sayer
said via email. “I am eager to learn
about the plans to fill his positions, as
are many who are invested in equity
and inclusion here at the college.”
Upon his departure from LC,
Figueroa will return home to
California to spend more time with
his extended family. He will also
take on a new role as vice president
for planning and development
at Moreno Valley College.
“The position I’m moving into is
exactly the next step in my career
trajectory,” Figueroa said. “I want
to work in a community college
and serve that community that I
was part of for a really long time.”
While the new iteration of
Figueroa’s position will not be hired
until early next year, the office is
developing a plan to move forward
in the interim. Bieberich says she
would be happy to take on Figueroa’s
responsibilities if she was asked,
but that is not her main concern.
“I think we will figure out an
interim plan for the next however
many months,” Bieberich said.
“And though that can be focused
on some pretty concrete goals, like
departmental, institutional goals,
I am much more interested in long
term hiring for a permanent position
like a dean of Equity and Inclusion.”
Figueroa and Bieberich both
agree that the next dean will likely
be a person of color, but for different
reasons. Bieberich believes that it
would be extremely challenging for a
white person to be able to check all the
necessary boxes the position requires.
“I think it is hard to find a
person who is white, regardless
of all the lived experience of other types of oppression, who really
gets at a fundamental level what it
is like to live in this country with
the experience of systemic and
institutional racism,” Bieberich said.
On the other hand, Figueroa
believes that a person of color will
likely take over his job because it is
an expectation that a position like
dean of equity and inclusion will be
filled by a person of color, but that
it does not necessarily have to be.
“Just because it’s a person of
color doesn’t mean you’re going to
get what you think you’re going to
get,” Figueroa said. “I mean, that’s
a stereotype to think that a person
of color would be better than a non-
person of color. I don’t necessarily
buy that. I think that the expectation is that that is what it’s going to be.
But if there’s somebody who brings
everything that we need and isn’t a
person of color, but understands and
knows and has been part of that lived
experience with those communities,
and understands it from that
perspective, that could work as well.”
Regardless of who takes over the
position, Figueroa emphasized that
it is not about the person, but about
the work. As long as the equity and
diversity work continues at the pace
it has been over the past two years,
he will be pleased with his successor.
“When people leave campuses,
we have to remember that our job
is not to replace that person, (it) is
to find a way to fill the need that
the college has now,” Figueroa said.FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
NEWS 2
LC’s department of psychology grapples with addressing role in perpetuating systemic discriminationCommunity discusses future of Dean of Equity and Inclusion role as search for successor is underway
PHOTO COURTESY OF LEWIS & CLARK
Dean of Equity and Inclusion Mark Figueroa speaks to an audience at an LC event.
AMELIA MADARANG/THE PIONEER LOG APA issues apology regarding history of racismMark Figueroa set to depart LC at end of 2021Continued from page 1
administrator who ... in their own
institution may have had to deal
with complex issues and some
degree of change,” Mahaffy said.
“The liberal arts model, to some, is
under assault. And so, maintaining
a commitment to it and adapting to
it and dealing with those changes is
really important to us.”
The Position Profile explains that
a president must “Drive diversity,
equity, and inclusion efforts for
students, faculty, and staff.” The
search committee explained what
this looks like in practice.
“One of the things that we are
looking for is both a commitment
to diversity, equity and inclusion,”
Hayes said. “But those are just
words, we are also looking at their
backgrounds and track records of
success, or moving the needle in
those areas with their institutions,
and then also their just firm belief
and commitment to those goals,
and willingness to translate them
regardless of what institution that
they’re in.”
Another major concern,
particularly for Mahaffy, who is
chair of the finance committee, is the
school’s finances and fundraising
efforts. Part of the President’s role
is taking the lead on fundraising.
Mahaffy stressed that moving
forward, a major part of the school’s
plan is to continue fundraising
campaigns, as most other colleges
do. This is especially notable given
that LC does not have a history
of constant fundraising, and the
current Exploring for the Global
Good campaign is the school’s first
major fundraiser in 20 years.
“Our new president is not
only going to have to commit to
continuing that campaign which is
underway, but thinking hard about
what we do next as a campaign,”
Mahaffy said. “Turns out that
fundraising for most colleges, for
most universities, is a full time,
24/7 engagement. And I don’t
think this would surprise anybody,
once we complete this campaign,
one should expect ... there will be
another campaign. It’s just normal
at most institutions.”
At the start of the search process,
Summit found potential candidates
for the presidential position who fit the profile, which they then
recommended to the Search
Committee.
“Our search partners at Summit,
given these instructions, went out
and found a whole lot of really
interesting and eligible candidates,”
Mahaffy said. “And so everything
has gone as expected, now is the
hard part of finalizing which of these
candidates, all of whom, or the vast
majority of whom meet that profile.”
Summit has been integral to the
search process, in narrowing down
the field, and also in locating and
reaching out to strong candidates
who would not have otherwise found
the position given its nature, Hayes
explained.
Beyond Summit’s findings,
the Committee also solicited
nominations from the community.
There was also an option for people
to self-nominate. Once the co-chairs
have narrowed down the candidates
further, they hope to meet the
finalists. Although the candidates
are from all over the country,
the co-chairs find that in-person
interaction provides invaluable
insight into the candidates
personalities.
“We find that personal
interaction (is)so critical to what it is
we’re trying to find for LC,” Mahaffy
said. “(This) includes all ... these
intangibles of who a person is, how
they interact with people ... (and)
the broader part of the community
— students, faculty, staff.”
Currently, the Search committee
is unable to reveal information
about the candidates, due to
confidentiality. They did, however,
say that they have a “sizable” and
“diverse” group.
“Given the candidates we
have, we are optimistic that we
will (introduce) ... a handful
of candidates as finalists to the
community,” Hayes said.
Despite the extensive work
involved with the process, the Search
Committee say they are on track to
meet their end of 2021, beginning of
2022 deadline. As soon as they have
made a decision, the committee
will make a recommendation to
the Board of Trustees, who will
ultimately make the final decision
on who will be the next president
of LC.Continued from page 1
The second issue raised by the
Bon Appétit workers is staffing.
The same process of inflation that
has raised the cost of living is also
responsible for driving up wages
in the service sector in Portland
at large. The result is that wages
provided by the 2020 contract are
no longer competitive with the
average service wages in Portland.
Additionally, the level of affordable
housing near LC, as well as limited
public transportation, makes the
process of commuting to a job on
Palatine Hill expensive and time
consuming. This factor, which Bon
Appétit workers believe has not
been adequately accommodated for
with higher wages, further dissuades
potential employees. As a result,
the Bon, already understaffed at
the beginning of the year, has seen
effectively no net gain in employees.
Due to this staffing shortage,
workers have been forced to fill
the roles of multiple employees
at once. This is corroborated by
two individual student workers
in the Bon, who spoke of a hectic
environment in which non-student
employees were overworked
between many different stations,
and where shifts are frequently left
unfilled.
Ryan Jensen, General Manager
of Bon Appétit at LC, commented on
staffing issues.
“Our team continues to do all
they can to attract, recruit, hire,
train, develop, and retain a strong
work force. We are working through
a variety of channels to recruit new
employees as fast as we can.” Jensen
said via email.
According to Bon Appétit
workers, though, the staffing
situation threatens to deteriorate
further during winter break, during
which workers are temporarily
laid off and forced to go on
unemployment or find temporary
work. This process has historically
led to significant attrition of
employees, and comes on top of
what is already a historically large
first-year class, which would pose a
challenge to dining services under
average conditions.
All of these building tensions
came to a head on Oct. 27, when
a gathering of union members presented their managers with a
request for a wage increase as a
starting point for negotiations,
with the intention of reaching a
resolution to both staffing and cost
of living issues. According to those
present, management declined to
engage with this request, citing the
2020 contract.
In response to this, union
members went public with demands
the next day with the pumpkin
picket, which was followed by
widely shared calls for solidarity by
students and student organizations
on social media. This included a
statement from the Associated
Students of Lewis & Clark that
expressed support for union
wage demands and endorsed
negotiations.
“ASLC stands in solidarity with
Bon workers. Because Lewis & Clark
College contracts a third-party —
Bon Appétit— for food service, the
college cannot raise wages alone
for Bon employees. Therefore, we
hope to see successful negotiations
between Bon Appétit over
increasing the wages for workers.”
The statement said.
According to union workers,
this action led to the opening of
negotiations with management.
However, negotiations have
remained stagnant, with
management sticking to the 2020
contract and union membership
continuing to insist on higher pay. Jensen did not give much
information about Bon Appétit’s
position on demands for higher
wages.
“We have heard the demands from
workers and have had a conversation
with union representatives,” Jensen
said. “However, we cannot discuss
the details of our union contracts.”
Jensen characterized the
relationship between the Bon
Appétit workers and management
as a positive one.
“Relationships between
management and union employees
have historically been very positive,”
Jensen said. “Our managers value
the contributions of team members.
We look forward to our continued
partnership.”
However, union workers
reported that their relationship with
management has grown increasingly
tense since the initiation of this
year’s campaign. As an example,
employees cite an incident on Oct.
28 when management briefly placed
the union’s carved pumpkins in a
dumpster, after which the workers
removed the pumpkins from the
dumpster and restored the display.
The long contract negotiation
processes of 2018 and 2020 pose
significant historical precedent
for a protracted back-and-forth
between the Bon Appétit union and
their management, and it remains
unclear how and when the current
situation will be resolved.NEWS 3FRIDAY, N OVEMBER 12 , 2021
Faculty, students debate how to address race
Bon workers’ union stages protest
to improve contract, conditions Search for LC’s newest
president is underway Continued from page 1
However, Champommier was
not satisfied with Pritchard’s steps
towards resolution and described the
class’s conversations with the dean
with frustration.
“The arc of my relationship with
the dean and his correspondence with
me first started with a lot of hope, and
quickly turned into the realization that
this was also going to be a performative
situation,” Champommier said.
Suttmeier responded to the initial
letter quickly, but subsequent email
communication took nine days for
a response from the dean on two
occasions. Champommier described
feeling alone in dealing with the issue
not just with Suttmeier, but also with
many of her classmates, especially as
a woman of color in a majority white
classroom.
“I am the only one in my class
who has been working on this,”
Champommier said. “Again, nobody
has asked me to do this ... But I
personally am at a point myself
through experiencing other types
of racism in the classroom and
microaggressions like this, that I really
just hit a point in my education, where
I’m very tired of this, even more than
tired, that I’m angry and stubborn.”
Moving forward, Pritchard plans
to do peer mentoring through the
college’s Teaching Excellence program, participate in a race and pedagogy
reading group with the English
department and participate in “any
relevant workshops that are planned
for next semester.” Previously, he had
attended a 2019 faculty retreat on
inclusive pedagogy, and another 2020
retreat on supporting historically
underrepresented students, on top
of the mandated training professors
undergo, when initially hired in 2003.
Regarding issues in the classroom,
Suttmeier recommends students take
their concerns to their professor or
department chairs before involving
the dean’s office. However, Gross was
not responsive to the ENG 205-F2
class’s concerns.
“Also to note, the chair of the
English department, the extent of her
involvement and support in this was
forwarding our initial letter to Will,”
Champommier said. “She has not said
or reached out to us about anything. I
almost went to her office, I tried to go
to her office hours. I sat outside her
office hours and I just cried.”
Gross declined to comment.
According to Oregon law, faculty
are required to complete training
on Diversity & Inclusion, Title IX
and Workplace Harassment within
three months of hire. However, LC is
looking to expand this training.
“We have not been satisfied with
the quality and effectiveness of the trainings we’ve been using, and so
we entered into an agreement earlier
this semester with a new firm, Get
Inclusive, for a complete campus
training program … ” Suttmeier said.
“We plan to introduce these new
training modules over the course
of the coming year. We expect that
these trainings will do a better job of
reinforcing the College’s commitment
to being a welcoming and inclusive
community.”
The faculty handbook and
human resources policies also lists a
harassment or bias-motivated conduct
policy, which obligates LC community
members to maintain a safe and
respectful community environment.
It also includes reporting procedures.
This policy works in conjunction
with the Freedom of Expression
& Academic Inquiry policy that
prioritizes “critical thinking” and free
express, while emphasizing “mutual
respect” and “civility.” The faculty
handbook also details the academic
responsibilities of professors and
their teaching methods. However, no
race-based pedagogical policies exist.
According to Dr. Robert B. Pamplin
Jr. Associate Professor of Government
Todd Lochner, the absence of these
specific policies makes sense.
“We have to recognize that any
discussion of race is potentially
controversial, is potentially provocative,” Lochner said. “And
so we have to treat discussions
with sensitivity and respect, while
at the same time engaging in those
discussions. That doesn’t, I think,
lend itself to really firm, very strict,
bright line rules or policies.”
According to Suttmeier, it is rare
for the dean’s office to deal with issues
similar in nature to that of Pritchard’s
ENG 205-F2 class. However, multiple
professors have caused controversy in
and out of the classroom in regards to
race in recent years.
Numerous students have criticized
comments made by various professors
over the years. One such incident
involved an Economics class in which
the n-word was read out loud in full,
multiple times. Matthew Feldman ’20
was a student in this class.
“(The class was) mainly about
American capitalism, so there’s a
lot of allusions to slavery,” Feldman
said. “In those primary sources, they
obviously use the n-word occasionally.
(The instructor) felt that ... showed the
reality of the harshness of capitalism
and the dehumanization of it. He felt
the need to say that word out loud.”
After the issue was brought up
to Suttmeier, the professor publicly
apologized and said he would include
a content warning on the syllabus for
future relevant classes.
Suttmeier did not respond to questions about the incident.
Similarly, Lochner had read
quotes aloud in class that contained
the n-word in the past. About eight
years ago he started to reconsider this
policy.
“The student or I would just
be reciting the facts of the case
and the n-word would be there
and you actually said the n-word,”
Lochner said. “That made me a little
uncomfortable, so one year I said
let’s just use the euphemism onward
instead.”
After doing so, a student
complained to Lochner, which
surprised him. The student argued
that using the euphemism, rather
than the epithet in full, trivialized the
language. The following year, another
student told Lochner that the n-word
should never be used in class. Because
of this, Lochner said he understands
both arguments.
“I think both sides are fair,”
Lochner said. “Now I pretty much
have a blanket policy that I would use
the euphemism right rather than the
actual word. If a student, in reciting
the facts of the case, used the n-word,
I probably wouldn’t call them out on
it. But again, I would have reminded
people before the class began that
these are sensitive issues and need to
be responsive to basically everyone’s
feelings.”
HANNAH KORN/ THE PIONEER LOG
Bon Appétit workers are often understaffed while serving meals at Fields Dining Hall.
LC administration acknowledges need for new training models to affirm commitment to inclusionBy COPELAND BURCHENAL
I BELIEVE THAT THERE is a
widespread assumption within
the Lewis & Clark community that
logging is a practice that does nothing
but hurt forests. In my own personal
experience, I have engaged in many
conversations where people were
quick to look down upon logging as
a backwards and outdated practice.
However, the timber industry actually
plays a vital role in rural economies
and does have the ability to greatly
increase forest health, if the correct
regulations are enacted. Complete
dismissal of the practice is foolish,
but I do not blame anyone for feeling
angry about the destruction this
industry has caused.
History of humanity’s interaction
with forests and trees goes back to
the very beginning. Five million
years ago, we were climbing trees to
escape predators in the Rift Valley and
500,000 years ago we were collecting
their fallen branches to stoke fires for
cooking. As it stands now, we have
removed 50% of all forests from the
planet. Though many of the world’s
civilizations have been able to avoid
widespread destruction of forests, with
the rise of extraction-based economies
and globalism we have found
ourselves in an incredibly dangerous
place. We are currently experiencing
a catastrophic die-off of species that
rely on the conditions forests create. If
we do not enact widespread plans to
stop this crisis, we are not only digging
the graves of thousands of species, but
also the graves of millions of people. When a forest is clear-cut, which
was the preferred method historically
(and is still used in the Pacific
Northwest) it disrupts a forest’s
natural system. Mature trees cannot
help their saplings, root systems
cannot distribute nutrients, plants
which need shade cannot grow and the
cycle of life-and-death is fragmented.
One might think we can just leave it
alone until it fixes itself, but this is
wrong. When the forest grows back
at the same exact time, all trees are
similar heights and create thicket-like
conditions. Within these unnaturally
thick forests, resources are scarce and
disease spreads easily. This weakens
the trees and the system as a whole.
After that, we all know the story:
million-acre fires, skies red with
smoke, entire towns wiped from the
earth and untold amounts of damage
and suffering.
So how do we fix this? Well, you are
going to hate to hear it, but the answer
is more logging. But this time, with
a purpose. By thinning the forests
to their natural state, we are able
to remove unnecessary competition
from the system. This means that the
trees are not only physically further
apart, but also healthier. By going
back to the forest we once clear-
cut, which has now grown back, we
can partially restore the cycle we
erased while also supporting the job
market of rural areas; oftentimes,
logging companies present the only
economically-feasible employment
for entire towns.
It is also important to note that
specifications vary greatly between different forests: The oak stands of New
England will need different treatment
from the pine forests of Montana,
which in turn will need different
treatment from the rainforests of the
Olympic Peninsula. It is just as much
an art as it is a science.
Natural resource extraction is
not the enemy of environmental
protection, exploitation is. We
have a terrible history of resource
exploitation, but stopping all logging
will not fix this history. I am not telling
you to trust all aspects of logging, as
there are those within the industry
that would love to cut down every tree
they could find if it meant more capital
gains. However, we can not let these
industrialists poison the community
as a whole. Proper regulation and
civil oversight is critical to ensuring
that the forests of the world are
restrengthened and restored while
also keeping alive a critical aspect of
our world economy. By REBECCA HANSON
Y IK YAK, THE anonymous,
localized message-sharing app,
has made its comeback for a
new generation of college students.
The app, removed from app stores in
2017, returned in August 2021. Prior
to its removal, student groups on
campuses across the country, from
Clemson University to Lewis & Clark,
protested and petitioned for it to be
banned in the wake of violent, racist,
misogynistic threats and “jokes” that
often circulated on the app. In 2015, LC
protests specifically concerned racially
charged threats, with administration
eventually involving the police in
response. Then, Yik Yak was gone.
The test the app faces upon its
return, especially at LC, is whether or
not it is doomed to repeat history. Is
an anonymous app, localized within a
five-mile radius, set to fail by design
as the perfect recipe for rampant
harassment? Or can it, alongside
other anonymous student accounts on
various social media platforms, bring
a fraught student body together after
we have been pushed apart by months
of isolation? I have hope for the latter.
I believe that, if we use these tools
wisely (or at least with respect to our
peers), we can create something of a
shared diary, an outlet for all of our
hopes and fears.
Part of this hope is thanks to
the app’s upgraded harassment
and mental health resources. Yik
Yak’s return was accompanied by
“Community Guardrails” that claim to
target harassment and bullying on the
app, as well as “Stay Safe Resources”
and “Mental Health Resources” on the
app’s webpage.
Still, as with all social media
platforms, the power to create
community is in the hands of the users.
On Yik Yak, users have some level of
control over the environment, enabled
by the downvote feature. A “yak”
which receives five or more downvotes
is removed. However, thanks to the
app’s anonymity, discussions can go
either way. But the posts that I have
seen on the app, filled
with humor, drama and
angst, convey a sense
of deep sympathy and
humanity. The common
thread connecting the
vast majority of these
posts is a shared sense
of suffering. Breakups
are carefully charted.
My feed is often a well
of loneliness, filled
with attempts at humor more akin to
screaming into the void than actual
jokes.
I believe that there is a real
potential for a community here on
Yik Yak. Recurring figures emerge in the comment section (ask any regular
user about the cherry emoji and its
mysterious disappearance). Students
work together to solve their school-
related problems and older users
do their very best to provide some
reassurance that life gets better. From
issues as frivolous as messy bathrooms
to ones as serious as feelings of
impostor syndrome and depression, I
know there is someone out there who
is experiencing the same thing.
Yik Yak’s trend of turning the woes
of real life into a digital community
continues well beyond that specific
app. This Yik Yak ethos extends to
multiple LC gimmick accounts that
serve as humorous outlets for the
everyday frustrations of student life.
These accounts use humor to show
students (myself included), that they
are not alone.
These pages, typically found
on Instagram, similarly embrace
anonymity and humor as a tool for
unification, enabling LC students
to share in their misfortunes. Some
of the more popular pages share
photographs submitted by students
of unpleasant LC bathrooms (@
shittylctoilets) or experiences at Fields
Dining Hall (@cursedbonimages), as
well as an “affirmations” account that
delves into the niche fears and desires
of the student body (@lcaffirmations).
The majority of these posts are
presented in a detached, humorous
style that reinforces the absurdity
and anonymity ingrained in these
accounts.
Despite the feeling of absurdity and
detachment, all of these pages place
student experiences front and center,
giving a feeling of catharsis. When my
hall did not have hot shower water for
the first month of the semester, I had
a place to laugh about it and feel that
my experiences were being seen. On
Yik Yak, when I see other people my
age having the same struggles as I am,
I feel just a little less alone.
These online platforms have
potential to improve people’s lives
offline. While online communities do
not always automatically translate
to offline ones, the
extreme locality of
these pages means that
finding a new friend is
always possible. And if
not, there is always a
corner of the Internet
where we can share
our struggles and find
community. However,
if we want it to function
in this way, we must
make sure that it includes everyone. It
is our responsibility as users of these
platforms to use our collective power
to enforce anti-racism and harassment
if we want to realize this potential and
keep Yik Yak alive.By MAL SPICER
EVERY SCHOOL DAY , students
congregate in the all-gender
bathrooms on the first floor of
J. R. Howard Hall with the simple
goal of using the restroom between
classes. The crowd quickly grows while
students wait for a stall to open up,
especially when one of the toilets is out
of order. Luckily, if you are a person
who can use a urinal, you have a free
fast pass and can skip the line. In the
time you save, you might even be able
to take a few seconds to close the stall
door behind you, or at least wash your
hands before leaving.
This experience is commonplace
for many students at Lewis & Clark:
waiting around in a space that is
intended to increase inclusivity,
but still remains more accessible
for a privileged few. No one should
have easier access to use a restroom
than someone else, especially not a
restroom that is labeled as accessible
to all.
If the purpose of all-gender
restrooms is to increase accessibility,
then they should not have urinals.
Everyone can use a toilet, but not everyone can use a urinal. All students
should be able to go into a stall and
have privacy. No one should have
to feel exposed or embarrassed by
revealing whether they can use certain
stalls, but not others.
It is not fair to label a space as
neutral and accessible when the
design of the space leads to inequity
of access. The process of converting
a restroom to be gender inclusive is
not as simple as changing the sign on
the door. For a truly neutral, gender
inclusive and accessible space, urinals
in gender neutral bathrooms should
be removed and replaced with toilets,
and more restrooms on campus should
be converted to gender neutral spaces
in order to provide more options to
students.
Many gender-neutral bathrooms
on campus are obviously converted
from men’s restrooms. With urinals
in plain sight and their position in
opposition to women’s restrooms,
many students still treat these as
men’s bathrooms. For example, the
gender-neutral bathroom in Aubrey
R. Watzek Library, located near the
elevator on the first floor, has one
exposed urinal and one stall with a toilet. The restroom directly next to it
is designated as a women’s restroom,
and there are no other gender-neutral
options available anywhere else in the
building.
All-gender restrooms should serve
as a safe space for all students on
campus, especially for transgender
and gender-nonconforming students.
However, the current conditions of
these spaces can lead to frustration
and discomfort. If LC were to replace
all of the urinals with toilets in the all-
gender restrooms this would ensure an
equitable environment for all people,
regardless of the stall that they choose.
On-campus students are used to
gender neutral facilities within dorms,
and there is no reason the space where
academic work is completed should
be so different from the spaces where
students live. There need to be more
options for gender-neutral bathrooms
in academic buildings, especially for
students who prefer to exclusively use
these neutral spaces.
Space matters. If the school
attempts to be intentional about
creating a space for all people, then
every person should be able to benefit
from that space. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
OPINION 4
Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed in the Opinion section are those of the authors and are not held by The Pioneer Log.Yik Yak comeback
requires vigilance
AMELIA MADARANG/THE PIONEER LOGLC should increase accessibility
for gender neutral bathroom users
Logging can be beneficial for forests,
despite many negative associations
GABRIEL MANTIONE-HOLMES/THE PIONEER LOGSOFIA REEVES/THE PIONEER LOG
On Yik Yak, when
I see other people
my age having the
same struggles as
I am, I feel just a
little less alone.
By TOR PARSONS
IF YOU WENT to elementary
school in the United States,
you have undoubtedly heard
the conventional myth of the first
Thanksgiving. The story typically
goes something like this: When the
Pilgrims, the first permanent white
settlers of what is now the U.S.,
arrived in today’s Massachusetts,
they had to learn to survive in the
wild. The Wampanoag tribe, who
had been watching the Pilgrims
for months, revealed themselves to
the Pilgrims as winter approached,
teaching the newcomers their ways
of agriculture so that the Pilgrims
would survive. The Pilgrims’ harvest
ended up being so bountiful that they
held a feast to thank the Wampanoag
for their generosity.
Nearly every word of this story is
false. It creates a narrative in which
the American continent was willingly
handed over to European settlers,
and should no longer be taught as a
national founding myth. However,
it has almost no connection to the current holiday of Thanksgiving.
The rush to create controversy
around what ultimately started as
a celebration of harvest, family and
national unity clouds the pursuit
of truth surrounding actual dark
moments in American history.
If you have been in the U.S. for
the past year and a half, you may
have heard an alternate story of
the first Thanksgiving: In 1637, the
colonial governor of Massachusetts,
John Winthrop, declared a “day
of thanksgiving” in the colony
after colonial soldiers massacred
hundreds of Pequot men, women
and children. This story is every bit
as false as the traditional one. While
the Wampanoag did dine with the
Pilgrims, and hundreds of Pequot
really were slaughtered in 1637,
there is little connection between
either event and the modern holiday
of Thanksgiving.
As a school named after a pair
of colonizers, Indigenous issues are
especially fraught here at Lewis &
Clark, as evidenced by the recent
graffiti incident on Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Students have
called into question some planned
festivities surrounding Thanksgiving
at LC, due to the holiday’s allegedly
bloody history. But Thanksgiving
does not stem from a celebration
of killing Indigenous people, and
should not be in the crossfires of a
culture war.
America’s much-needed racial
reckoning following the death
of George Floyd saw authors,
universities and media outlets make
an effort to upend conventional
narratives about our history. It
should not be controversial to
suggest that centuries of genocide,
enslavement and oppression have
been swept under the rug in order
to portray European settlers as
a benevolent force. However, in
the scramble to rewrite American
history, a different sort of myth has
taken hold.
Many Americans feel so misled by
traditional historiography that they
become prone to believing that there
must be a bloody history behind
every American tradition. This is true
in many cases, but the story of John
Winthrop and the Pequot massacre,
which spread virally across social
media last November, is not the
origin of Thanksgiving. In 1600s
America, a “day of thanksgiving” was
a general term for a holiday, with
days of thanksgiving declared several
times a year by colonial governors.
Besides, the Pequot massacre
occurred in May, making it an
unlikely origin story for a November
celebration.
The real roots of Thanksgiving,
according to National Geographic,
have little to do with either the
Pilgrims or the Pequot. Many
early colonists in North America
held ceremonial dinners in
autumn before the settling of New
England. In Canada, for instance,
Thanksgiving is celebrated in
October, commemorating the 1579 feast of explorer Martin Frobisher,
and Spanish and French settlers held
similar feasts in the New World even
earlier. Prayer meals to celebrate
the harvest were commonplace
in Renaissance-era Europe, and
farming communities in what
became the eastern United States
carried on the tradition.
Moreover, Thanksgiving did not
become an official holiday in the
U.S. until the Civil War. Inspired by
harvest festivals in New England,
Abraham Lincoln created the federal
holiday of Thanksgiving in 1863,
with the intent of bringing America
together after massive national
upheaval. Before then, the holiday
was rarely celebrated outside of
New England. The story of the
Pilgrims and the Wampanoag was
only linked to Thanksgiving in the
late 19th century, according to the
Smithsonian, as part of a renewed
interest in establishing a shared
national history.
While usually thought of as an all-
American tradition, Thanksgiving
is in fact one of the most universal
holidays America celebrates. Having
originated as a harvest celebration,
Thanksgiving is not all that different
from the Chinese Mid-Autumn
Festival, the Jewish Sukkot, the
Slavic Dozynki and the Japanese
Tsukimi, all of which are autumn
festivals celebrated with feasts
and family reunions. America’s
Thanksgiving may have originated
as a European Christian ritual, but a
vast majority of cultures have similar
harvest festivals, and this year when
you eat turkey with your family, you
can be thankful that you are not
celebrating Indigenous genocide.
Today, America is more bitterly
divided than at any other point since
the Civil War, and Lincoln’s vision
of a national holiday for friends and
family to meet and reflect rings ever
truer. Thanksgiving must not become
a casualty of our culture wars.By NOAH REESE-CLAUSON
CORE CLASSES are a universal
struggle for Lewis & Clark
students, the latest iteration
being Words and Numbers courses.
Each freshman is required to take
one Words course and one Numbers
course. The Words courses are
humanities-related, while Numbers
are mathematically focused. I am
currently in the Numbers course
“Networks and Trees,” and will be
taking a Words course in the spring.
My experience
has not been
negative, but
if given total
control over my
course load, I
would not choose
to take it because
of the high cost
of each course. I
believe students
should have more
control over what classes we take
because of how much we are paying
for each one.
LC is a liberal arts college, which
means that there is an emphasis on a
widespread education, which I believe
was an inspiration for the current
core curriculum. General education
programs are one way liberal arts
colleges enforce this, which in my
experience has been pretty positive.
At LC, these requirements often
allow students to choose the topics
they want to learn about, instead of
herding them into predictable entry-
level courses. Requirements such
as a “culture, power, and identity” course, and a “global perspectives”
class steer our learning, without
being too constricting, and allow us
to choose courses that suit us.
While the Words and Numbers
program attempts to do this, I think
it is much less successful. The topics
vary greatly, but the surplus of
niche courses can make it difficult
for students to find a course that
interests them.
The professors also vary in their
preparedness. Words and Numbers
courses are generally supposed to
be like English
and math courses
respectively, but
the courses are
not all taught by
professors from
those fields.
Putting faith in
professors, as
LC does, can
easily backfire,
when courses
often cover topics outside of the
instructor’s specialization.
If a student does not want to be
in a class they are forced to take,
something is wrong. Some may say
students like this do not belong in
a liberal arts system, but I disagree.
Liberal arts schools can offer
numerous benefits, such as personal
connections between students and
professors and discussion-based
classes. All of this can be done
without forcing students into classes
that are not of interest to them.
If the roles were switched and I
were running LC, the only course
that would be required would be some sort of social justice education.
I would not want alumni running
around, spreading transphobia,
xenophobia, racism, sexism or any
ideologies involving hate. Other than
that, if students are going to go into
debt for their education, they should
be able to decide what classes they
want to take without restriction.
Each core class is an eighth of
annual tuition, and together they
are a quarter. If the preference form
does not yield a fit, or none of those courses interest you, then you are
wasting a lot of money. Since only
a third of the courses we take are
required for our major, if core or
even general education classes were
removed, we could fill that space
with electives. We could spend our
money on courses we are interested
in while still widening our breadth
of knowledge, and even making it
easier to double major. This way, we
can uphold the liberal arts tradition
without wasting money. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
OPINION 5
Words and Numbers courses restrict
students from pursuing their interests
Thanksgiving is not a celebration of genocide,
rather a commemoration of harvest, gratitude
Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed in the Opinion section are those of the authors and are not held by The Pioneer Log.ZACHARY REINKER/THE PIONEER LOGAMELIA MADARANG/THE PIONEER LOGEnforcing
CWs fails
logistically
By ETHAN TOLPIN
CONTENT WARNINGS , or
trigger warnings, can be an
effective way to help students
engage with disturbing material.
However, what one student may
find completely benign may deeply
disturb some of their classmates.
While there are certain themes which
many of us students may agree justify
a content warning, there is no way
for professors to anticipate what
exactly might trigger each student.
The line between when and when
not to provide a content warning
is impossibly gray. It is partly for
this reason I believe instating a
college-wide content warning policy
is ill-conceived. Fair policy must
be first, unambiguous and second,
enforceable.
If Lewis & Clark were to declare
one type of trigger explicitly worthy
of a mandated warning, would this
implicate other people’s triggers
as less deserving? I support the
use of content warnings under
many circumstances, especially when
I perceive something as brutally
violent, but I see no way to clearly
delineate what objectively requires
content warnings.
I believe there is a personal
thoughtfulness to the giving of
content warnings which institutional
policy would sever. Professors,
in theory, teach courses that
they are both interested in and
knowledgeable on. Likewise, they
choose course material they believe
is significantly important to the
subject and worth imparting. A
policy of mandated content warnings
would depersonalize a professor’s
relationship to both their material
and students.
Furthermore, I wonder how
such a policy would be enforced.
Would there be repercussions for
not providing content warnings? If
so, who would adjudicate these and
what would they look like? Threats
of punitive action may intimidate
professors away from broaching
uncomfortable, but often critically
important, topics. Alternatively, it
could compel professors to provide
content warnings not out of care
for their students, but out of fear of
retribution. There is no department
at LC that I trust to objectively
determine what the threshold for
mandatory content warnings would
be, or the associated punishments.
Instead, I think professors should
be cognizant of their authority,
consider the mental well-being of
their students and provide content
warnings when they deem them
applicable to help prepare students
to engage with possibly distressing
material. Content warnings are a
healthy and integral part of the
conversation between students and
their professors and should remain
that way. When a student believes a
professor has not provided adequate
notice for disturbing material, they
should communicate that with their
professor. In turn, professors should
provide a welcoming environment for
such discourse. Building a safer and
more respectful community requires
not punitive action, but dialogue.
AMELIA MADARANG/THE PIONEER LOGIf students are going
to go into debt for their
education, they should
be able to decide what
classes they want to take
without restriction.By LIAM CASEY
A WIDE VARIETY of fruit trees
thrive in the mild, rainy climate
of Portland, producing a bounty
of apples, cherries, figs and plums
every year. Unfortunately, since many
residents lack the time or know-how to
collect fruit themselves, much of this
produce goes to waste each year.
The Portland Fruit Tree Project was
founded in 2007 to address this problem
by harvesting unused fruit from around
the city and using it to reduce hunger and
food waste. The project has its roots in
Northeast Portland, where the founders
observed pounds of fruit falling from trees
and rotting on sidewalks throughout the
city. According to their website, over the
15 years since their founding, Portland
Fruit Tree Project has established
community orchards, led 750 harvest
events and expanded their operation to
include educational workshops.
The organization hosts volunteer
harvesting projects to collect fruit
from homeowners who have a surplus,
and later redistributes that fruit to
communities who face food insecurity.
In 2020, the organization was able to save 11,000 pounds of fruit from waste
and donate them to communities in need.
The picked fruit is distributed primarily to
food pantries, but some are reserved for
volunteers and tree owners.
Portland Fruit Tree Project also offers
tree care services ranging from 1-hour
“coaching sessions” on properly caring
for trees to full-service orchard care. The
non-profit’s most recent endeavor has
been the “Mobile Orchard” project, where
they aim to combat green gentrification
and bring fresh fruits and vegetables to
communities in need.
According to the non-profit’s website,
green gentrification is the notion that
“introducing urban green projects and
spaces into a lower income area has the
potential to drive up property values
and push out marginalized groups.”
By intentionally building transportable
planter boxes, Portland Fruit Tree Project
is able to move their planters to follow
families if they relocate and thus provide
for communities where the need is
greatest.
Although the harvesting season
usually ends in November, the
organization is currently seeking
volunteers to help pick fruit. The
organization’s event calendar lists
volunteer days to pick at some of
their community orchards through
December, so there is plenty of
time to get involved this semester.
The project also offers internship
opportunities that can be found on
their website, www.portlandfruit.org.
To this day, according to their
impact statement, Portland Fruit Tree
Project has donated $538,232 to food
distribution organizations and has
harvested upwards of 413,648 pounds
of fruit. Beyond their own efforts, they
also encourage homeowners to pick
their own fruit and donate it to one of
their partner organizations. Portland
Fruit Tree Project stands as a great
example of a grassroots non-profit
organization that has found a unique
way to address waste and inequality.FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
FEATURES 6
These five furry (or slimy) pets bring life to LC
LC’s Diplomat in Residence provides
resources for future overseas careers
By ROSALIE ZUCKERMANN
IN 2019, NIELS Marquardt ’75 was
appointed as Lewis & Clark’s first
Diplomat in Residence, a volunteer
position intended to provide resources
and support to students interested in
pursuing careers abroad. Marquardt’s
career as a diplomat and ambassador
of the U.S. State Department has
allowed him to work in many different
countries around the world, including
Thailand, Australia, the Congo and
Madagascar, among others. Prior to
becoming a diplomat, he volunteered
with the Peace Corps in Zaire and
Rwanda.
Before embarking on his travels
abroad, Marquardt was a student here
at LC who was primarily interested in
foreign languages and cultures.
“I had never even heard of a career
as a diplomat,” Marquardt said. “But
at LC I met my first real life American
diplomat who came and gave a talk
during the International Affairs
Symposium. That was when I first
started thinking about the possibility
of a career abroad.”As a German major, Marquardt was
able to study abroad in Munich as part
of a full-year program.
“I found (the program) extremely
interesting and stimulating ... and I
would recommend it to everyone,”
Marquardt said.
It was during this overseas program
that he saw the consulate in Munich
and spoke with multiple American
diplomats who worked there, fueling
his budding passion for political
interest abroad.
LC’s study abroad program is
unrivaled for a college of this size,
with almost 60% of students choosing
to take a semester or more abroad,
according to the Office of Overseas and
Off-Campus Programs. Not only are
study abroad experiences valuable for
expanding one’s global perspective, but
they also help students develop foreign
language skills.
Marquardt fell in love with the
German language in college and, over
the course of his career, learned French,
German, Thai and Spanish. He believes
that the language departments at LC
are particularly strong and encourages students to take advantage of the
language requirement.
“Having a foreign language-mindset
when you’re living overseas and not
reverting to English, even though it can
be challenging at times, is invaluable,”
Marquardt said. “Fluency in foreign
languages opens doors — in any
profession — that would remain closed
if you approached the world solely as an
English speaker.”
Marquardt has come full circle back
to LC, where he first began his journey.
“I think LC is a great school on
a hill, but you have to work hard to
maintain the link between the hill and
the world,” Marquardt said. “Pursuing
opportunities studying abroad or
studying foreign languages can help
connect students to the rest of the
world.”
As LC’s Diplomat in Residence,
Marquardt has two main goals:
mentoring students and bringing
resources to the school. He helps
students open their eyes to overseas
careers such as teaching or working with
Non-Governmental Organizations, and
helps them meet their long-term goals
step by step while fulfilling education
requirements. Marquardt continues
mentoring students post-graduation to
help connect them with internships and
job opportunities.
Marquardt also brings guest
speakers to campus, seeing himself
as a “middleman between LC and real
practitioners of diplomacy.”
This October, Marquardt hosted
an informational session and Q&A
panel. He also helps to organize the
Ambassador Perkins Distinguished
Speaker Series. This event brings a
different speaker to campus each year
to deliver an address and do workshops
with students. This spring, the speaker
series will feature Ambassador Joseph
Yun, a senior advisor to the Asia
program in the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Marquardt encourages students to
reach out to him at nielsm@lclark.edu.PHOTO COURTESY OF NIELS MARQUARDT By BELLA ROOT
HAVE YOU EVER been too shy
to ask to pet that adorable dog
on campus? Have you ever
wondered how many cats lurk in the
shadows of Hartzfeld Hall? Pets are
not strangers to the Lewis & Clark
campus, but many of us are not closely
acquainted with one. Their lives are
shrouded in mystery. Here to shed
some light is a list of five excellent
campus pets.
Peggers
Owner: Megan Beran ’25
Peggers is a six-year-old domestic
shorthair tabby. Her hobbies include
rolling on the carpet, scrounging
for crumbs, licking everything and
zooming around Beran’s dorm at
10:30 p.m. Peggers’ favorite foods
are pretzels, goldfish and sandwich
bread. According to Berand, Peggers
has the charming personality of a goofy stoner. A fun fact about Peggers
is that she is missing her right hind
foot. When Beran adopted her, she did
not notice that Peggers was missing
a foot, but that has not stopped her
mischievous cat from getting into
trouble.
“She’s so agile, I think she does
pull-ups or something,” Beran said.
Biggie Snails
Owner: Melanie Worthington ’25
Biggie Snails is a friendly garden
snail with a brown shell. He is one
years old. Worthington received Biggie
from a friend who had around 70
garden snail babies. Biggie especially
enjoys hanging upside down from
the top of his terrarium. His favorite
foods are frozen peas, strawberries
and basil. According to Worthington,
Biggie likes to look at people’s faces.
“He may seem hard on the
outside, but he’s soft on the inside,”
Worthington said.Calypso
Owner: Britt Holmquist ’23
Calypso is a playful one-year-old
domestic longhair cat. A fun fact about
Calypso is that she is polydactyl, which
means she has six toes on each foot.
According to Holmquist, Calypso is a
lesbian. Her hobbies include staring
angrily at people, yelling at Holmquist in
the bathroom, hunting birds through the
window and turning on the shower so
she can drink from it. Calypso’s favorite
things to eat are plastic garbage bags and
yarn. She is known for being chatty.
“Everybody who meets her is like,
‘Your cat talks so much,’” Holmquist
said. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, she has so much
to say.’”
Calypso is regularly featured on the
Instagram account @hha_cats.
Darcy
Owner: Rory Bayer-Nadel ’22
Darcy, a five-year-old labradoodle
and goldendoodle mix, is a loving dog that serves as Bayer-Nadel’s medical
service animal. Darcy is a migraine-alert
dog, meaning she is trained to detect early
signs of a migraine and alert Bayer-Nadel
so they can take preventative measures to
ease the severity of the migraine. When
she is working, she is polite, focused and
calm. When she is not, Darcy is vocal,
attention-seeking and lazy.
“It’s similar to having a toddler,”
Bayer-Nadel said.
When she is off-duty, Darcy enjoys
hiking, making furry friends at the dog
park, chasing cats, rolling in the snow and
napping.
Chamomile
Owner: Ferdinand Sawyer ’22
Chamomile is a sociable Siamese
shorthair mix with white hair and tabby
stripes. Chamomile is 14 months old. A
fun fact about Chamomile is that she is
a mother of four kittens. Her hobbies
include waking Sawyer up by licking their
face and stealing items. “She loves to go for earplugs, pens
and washi tape,” Sawyer said. “Lately
she’s been dropping them in my
roommate’s boots.”
Chamomile is also leash-trained
and loves to go on walks. She has
two cat trees to herself, which are
where she spends most of her time.
Chamomile’s favorite foods are
pumpkin puree and puree fish in a
tube, which Sawyer refers to as “cat
gogurt.”
“She goes wild for cat gogurt,”
Sawyer said.
Chamomile is friendly, social and
affectionate. Chamomile can also be
found on Instagram at @hha_cats.
Every pet has their own individual
personality, likes, dislikes and feelings
about personal space. Remember that
while pets on campus are very cute,
you should always ask permission
from their owners before petting or
engaging with them.Megan Beran ’25 holds her cat Peggers.NORA BARNARD/THE PIONEER LOG
Non-profit tackles food
insecurity, picks fruit
Diplomat in Residence Niels Marquardt speaks at an Oct. 21 informational event.
ALEX NASH/THE PIONEER LOGCampus pets range from playful to secluded, but these five outgoing friends are sure to make your day
Biggie Snails eats one of his favorite foods.NORA BARNARD/THE PIONEER LOG
Calypso perches on her cat hammock.NORA BARNARD/THE PIONEER LOG
Darcy sits with Rory Bayer-Nadel ’22.NORA BARNARD/THE PIONEER LOG
Chamomile takes a break in her cat bed.BELLA ROOT/THE PIONEER LOG
By TOR PARSONS
PORTLAND’S MANY bridges
are arguably the best-known
landmarks of the city. 12 bridges
span the Willamette River within city
limits, while three more cross the
Columbia River on the city’s northern
edge. Most are drawbridges, which lift
as needed to let barges pass through
the city. There is no regular schedule
for when the bridges lift. Nearly every
bridge is different in construction
style, lifting mechanism and traffic
carried. Here is a rating of some of
Portland’s most iconic bridges, from
north to south.
St. Johns Bridge - 9/10
You may not know where to find
it — this northernmost crossing of the
Willamette River is tucked away in a
secluded corner of Portland — but you
have certainly seen pictures of the St.
Johns Bridge. Its bright green Gothic
styled towers have appeared as the
logo for the Bridgeport beer company,
in ads for Travel Oregon and in
several movies. The St. Johns Bridge
is Portland’s only suspension bridge,
and when it was completed in 1930, it
was the highest bridge in the nation
and the longest in the American West.
It was not, as local folklore claims,
designed by the same person who
went on to design the Golden Gate
Bridge. If this landmark has a flaw, it
is how remote it is relative to the rest
of Portland. Unless you live in the St.
Johns neighborhood, there is little
reason to ever cross it other than to
admire its beauty.
Fremont Bridge - 7/10
Another of Portland’s high-level,
non-lifting bridges, the Fremont Bridge
soars over industrial North Portland,
with a graceful arch visible across
much of the city. No silhouette of the
Portland skyline is complete without
the Fremont Bridge. Both levels of this
double-decker crossing carry four lanes
of Interstate 405; unfortunately, it
cannot be crossed on foot or by bicycle
except on a single day in August, when
the annual Bridge Pedal bike race uses
the upper deck.
Steel Bridge - 8/10
This is a bridge-shaped bundle of
superlatives: It is the only drawbridge
of its kind in the world, and it is one of
the planet’s most multimodal bridges,
according to the Oregon Department
of Transportation. The lower deck
of the Steel Bridge carries long-haul
freight and passenger trains, as well
as a path for walking and biking. The
upper deck carries cars, buses and
MAX light rail trains. Furthermore,
the two levels of the bridge can lift
independently of each other. Usually, the lower deck will rise vertically into
the upper deck to accommodate the
passage of ships without disturbing
the upper deck’s traffic. But if a
particularly tall ship comes through,
the upper deck will lift as well.
Marquam Bridge - 4/10
Carrying Interstate 5 diagonally
across the river, the vertiginously
high Marquam Bridge has all the
charm of an oil platform. It is
the most-used bridge in Oregon
according to the Oregon Department
of Transportation, carrying 140,000
vehicles every day, but it is hard
to imagine it was designed for that
many, as the bridge’s traffic slows to
a crawl in both directions no matter
the time of day. At least the top deck
provides a good view of Mount Hood
on a clear day.
Tilikum Crossing - 9/10
The Tilikum Crossing’s 2015 debut
made it Portland’s first entirely new
bridge since the Fremont Bridge
opened in 1973. The Tilikum Crossing
may rival the Steel Bridge as the city’s
most unique bridge. As Portland’s
first and only cable-stayed bridge,
which has a style similar to that of a
suspension bridge, Tilikum Crossing
is also the longest transit-only
bridge in the nation. Wide sidewalks
on both sides carry bike lanes and
pedestrians, while buses, streetcars
and MAX trains use the lanes and
tracks in the center.
The bridge boasts an array of
quirks: For instance, the spotlights
on the bridge’s towers at night reflect
the speed of the Willamette River
below it. When the river is slow and
placid, the lights are green; as it gets
faster, the lights progress through the
spectrum to red. The real attraction,
though, is under the bridge. Beneath
its supports on each end of the river
is a massive concave dish, which
together with the bridge creates an
acoustic effect known as a whispering
gallery. By standing in front of the
dishes, two people can talk to each
other in conversational tones across
the river. Exact statistics are hard
to find, but the Tilikum Crossing
may be the world’s longest-distance
whispering gallery, and certainly the
only one that spans a river.
Howard Bridge - 10/10
Although its name is somewhat
unclear, there are benches around
campus that were supposedly made
from wood that was “salvaged from
the Old Howard Bridge,” implying
there is a New Howard Bridge. Either
way, with its peaked roof offering a
convenient refuge from the rain, and
its location high above the trickling
creek, our campus has the best bridge Portland has to offer. You may have
heard of “winning the Bon,” which
means being the last person to swipe
your card in for a particular meal
service at the Fields Dining Hall. But you can also “win the bridge,” by
walking across the bridge right as the
floodlights turn on in the evening.
Currently, this happens around 5 p.m.
You can also “win” other Portland bridges by being the first person
to drive across after the bridge has
lifted, according to a local tradition
invented by The Pioneer Log in
November 2021.FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
FEATURES 7
By SOFIA REEVES
TAMILY WEISSMAN, associate
professor of biology at Lewis &
Clark, recently received a grant for
her work studying Parkinson’s disease. The $30,000 grant from the Collins
Medical Trust will allow Weissman
to conduct in-depth research on the
mechanisms that cause the disease.
Weissman’s past work has mainly
focused on how brains develop at very early stages in an organism’s life.
Though she is continuing that research,
she is now asking questions about how
brains behave at the end of life. As a
neurobiologist, Weissman is interested
in neurons, the cells that play a central
role in the brain and nervous system, and
how malfunctions within neurons can
cause neurodegenerative diseases such as
Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease
and Huntington’s disease.
“All of these diseases share this one
unifying feature with their mechanism
and that is that inside the (cell), a
certain protein clumps up abnormally
into these structures called aggregates,”
Weissman said.
In the case of Parkinson’s disease,
Weissman’s lab is focusing on a
specific aggregating protein called
Alpha-synuclein. Weissman believes
that the research being done in her
lab could identify why these proteins
clump up, which could lead to more
targeted treatments for Parkinson’s
disease. Current treatments focus
primarily on treating its symptoms,
but this research could contribute to
new treatments that would stop the
proteins from aggregating together.In order to study these proteins
within the neurons of a living organism,
Weissman studies a small species of fish
known as zebrafish, which are distinctive
for their pattern of horizontal stripes.
“(Zebrafish are) transparent, which
means you can just put the fish under
the microscope and look directly without
hurting the fish,” Weissman said.
When they alter the proteins in
the fish, they can observe changes in
patterns of aggregation within their cells
from moment to moment. While using
zebrafish in her research, Weissman
follows strict standards of care for their
quality of life. These standards include
careful monitoring of temperature in
the tanks, making sure the fish are well
fed and limiting how frequently they are
disturbed for use in research.
“Anytime we use them for our
experiments, we do so in the most humane
way possible,” Weissman said. “It’s very
important to me and to us as a lab that we
work really carefully with the fish.”
The grant money from the Collins
Medical Trust will allow Weissman’s lab
to use microbiology techniques to slightly
alter the DNA that codes for relevant
proteins. Seeing how these alterations can be observed in the zebrafish can help
them to understand why the proteins
behave the way they do in neurons.
Their research is being done in close
collaboration with the Unni Lab at
Oregon Health & Science University
(OHSU), which maintains direct
communication with Weissman’s lab,
while serving in a mentorship role. This
involves frequent meetings and sharing
of data between the two.
This collaboration is an opportunity
for LC students who are a part of
Weissman’s team to learn more about
research being done at OHSU as well as
scientific research processes. Weissman
emphasizes the large role that LC
undergraduate students play in her lab.
“All of the work is all done by
undergrads,” Weissman said. “I don’t
have a grad student or a postdoc, like our
competing labs do at other universities.
Undergrads are the ones who get to learn
how to master these techniques.”
Weissman estimates that the research
project will take about two years. She is
excited to take her research in this new
direction, where it has the potential to
make an important difference in the way
that Parkinson’s disease is understood. LC professor receives esteemed research grant
Portland bridge review: best and worst of Bridgetown
From the famed Steel Bridge to LC’s very own Howard Bridge, the City of Roses has many to traverseNeurobiologist Tamily Weissman plans to continue exploring the causes of neurodegenerative diseases
Established in 2015, Tilikum Crossing has the world’s longest whispering gallery and is the longest transit-only bridge in the U.S.Weissman’s research has explored how changes within neurons can lead to disease. PHOTO COURTESY OF LEWIS & CLARK
MIRO ENRIQUEZ/THE PIONEER LOG
MIRO ENRIQUEZ/THE PIONEER LOG
The Steel Bridge is one of the most unique bridges in the country, with a double-deck structure that allows for traffic on both levels.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
ARTS 8
“Passion Play” celebrates
creative stage performance
Former poet laureate donates personal archive to LCBy SCOTTY MONTGOMERY
THE LEWIS & CLARK Theatre
department put on a vivid
display of the unity and
disconnect of art, politics and religion
Oct. 27-30 and Nov. 3-6 with their
rendition of “Passion Play” directed by
Associate Professor of Theatre Rebecca
Lingafelter.
“Passion Play,” written by the
award-winning playwright Sara Ruhl,
is a play in three acts that portrays
a distinct and poignant recreation of
the Passion of Christ in three different
historical contexts.
In the Christian tradition, “The
Passion” is a recreation of Jesus’ last
days on Earth before his crucifixion
and rise from the dead. Each act
unveils the unique ways 1575 England,
1934 Germany and 1950s-1980s South
Dakota weave religion and politics
together through a communal, “poor
theatre” experience.
This project featured a cast of 14, with
each member filling a distinct character
for each of the three acts. Four of the
cast members are senior theatre majors
completing their capstone projects.
The planning, production, rehearsal
and preparation for “Passion Play” took
somewhere between 120 and 130 hours
for the cast and crew, according to an
estimate by Lingafelter. This is not even
counting the hours of work the costume
shop and workshop put in. A team of
over 50 people, including guest artists,
worked together on “Passion Play.”
Lingafelter noted that when looking
for a mainstage production she chose
options that had a certain focus on the
historic perspective of community.
“Most of the plays I chose had
some kind of medieval resonance,”
Lingafelter said. “Not just in terms
of plague years, though I think that’s
present, but this sort of culture of
medieval performance in Europe being around this sense of shared communal
ritual.”
More than anything, “Passion Play”
was about a celebration of theatre,
something to remind the LC community
of the space lost over the pandemic.
“We tried to stream and we tried
to Zoom and we did our best to cobble
together something, but that’s not what
we do,” Lingafelter said. “What theatre
does is not mediated performance.
What theatre does well is this kind of
phenomenological experience of bodies,
sharing breaths and imagination and
that space together.”
While our impulse may be to glorify
the theatre through rose-colored glasses
in our separation from it, “Passion Play”
is here to remind us that nothing so
profound is that one-dimensional.
“It doesn’t just romanticize what it
means to be in community, but it also
looks at the responsibilities of that and
the different ways that that manifests
over time.” Lingafelter said. “It’s about
both the beautiful, positive aspects
of that, and also, the violent, horrific
aspects of when a community becomes
defined by its oppression of the other.”
In her director’s note in the program,
Lingafelter states that “Passion Play”
demands people ask themselves
what stories their own community
is telling to itself, about itself. What
is “Passion Play,” its production and
its performance, saying to LC about
LC? Lingafelter believes it questions
the audience on the tension between
community and individuality.
“How do we hold each other in
community while still honoring
individuality?” Lingafelter said. “How
can you share collective vision while
honoring individual perspective or
purpose?”
The cast explores this tension in
a technique brought in by Amber
Whitehall, the movement director for
“Passion Play,” called “flocking.” This brings in moments of abstract group
movement to the performance.
“They switch leaders, which also
starts to have some pretty profound
implications.” Lingafelter said. “It’s
really about stripping away all of the
external stuff of the theatre to really
come into the performer … the power of
live performance is with the actor.”
With this focus on the power and
energy of raw performance, combined
with the aesthetic of “poor theatre”
Ruhl demands with “Passion Play,” the
elements of physicality were even more
important and intentional. Significant,
symbolic prop pieces such as the cross
were represented by a ladder, and
the water by a fish marionette. The
marionette was also featured on Nov. 5 in
a fish parade for Watzek’s “First Fridays”
art series sponsored by Arts @ LC.
“Why this play feels so resonant to
me is it is about a group of young people
… living through cataclysmic times, and
having an opportunity to sit with that
and watch this group navigate that,”
Lingafelter said.
Young people are living through
too many historic events to count, and
“Passion Play” is really a love letter
to how theatre acts as a guiding light
through that. The pandemic is isolating
for so many, yet the community
“Passion Play” presents to LC urges
individuals to think beyond themselves
as they live through such tragedies.
“Things like group laughter and
silence help us not feel so inside of those
experiences and realize that we are a part
of a group of people who are all going
through this really cataclysmic change
together, you know?” Lingafelter said.
The LC mainstage will continue the
trend of historical narrative with their
performance of “Medea” in the spring.
The production excitingly has an all-
student design team with three student
designers and one student technical
director, the most they have ever had.By JILLIAN JACKSON
LESS THAN three miles
northwest of Lewis & Clark,
Annie Bloom’s Books has
been serving the Multnomah Village
community since 1978. With its bottle
green awning and charming window
displays, Annie Bloom’s is a cozy,
family-oriented alternative to Amazon.
Annie Bloom’s book buyer Will
Peters is confident that the store has
a distinct connection to Southwest
Portland as well as LC.
“We’re really rooted in a
neighborhood and community that
supports us,” Peters said. “During the
COVID year, we actually hired three
recent LC graduates who were looking
for jobs and a safe place to work.”
After just five minutes browsing
Annie Bloom’s, it becomes apparent
that the store’s community-centered
approach is not a marketing
gimmick. It is the real deal. Parents
try to corral their kids down the
aisles as they race toward Caldecott
Award Winners and children’s
classics starting at $7.99; one child
even implores his mother to buy
him a nonfiction book on veganism.
Meanwhile, Molly Bloom, a black cat
who serves as the store’s only live-in
employee, curls up in a wicker basket
below the magazines.
Additionally, Annie Bloom’s has
made an effort to serve the local
unhoused population through a
partnership with bicycle-powered
mobile library Street Books.
“Customers can buy books, and
Street Books comes and distributes
them to unhoused people in the
community,” Peters said.
Those who buy a book from the
official Annie Bloom’s wish list for
Street Books donations receive a
10% discount.
Although Annie Bloom’s does not
sell used books, its bargain section
is always well-stocked. Sumptuous
art- and cookbooks, which would
cost an arm and a leg at Barnes &
Noble, have sticker prices of less
than ten dollars at Annie Bloom’s.
The bookstore also hosts
extensive Judaica, poetry and
Pacific Northwest collections. You
can pick up Folkmanis puppets
and imaginative greeting cards, as
well as a quirky brand of journals
that allow you to write between the
lines of your favorite author.
With Literary Arts’ Portland
Book Festival on the horizon,
November promises to be an
eventful month for Annie Bloom’s.
The hybrid, week-long event
will culminate with an in-person
celebration on Saturday, Nov. 13 at
the Portland Art Museum. “We will be at the Portland Book
Festival selling books for authors who
are up on the stage, and we’re excited
about that,” Peters said.
Annie Bloom’s participation in
the Portland Book Festival reveals
more of their LC connections. On
Wednesday, Nov. 10, the bookstore
hosted a virtual event featuring
Associate Professor of English Mary
Szybist.
Szybist interviewed Rita Dove, the
first African American poet appointed
as United States Poet Laureate, about
Dove’s upcoming book of poems,
“Playlist for the Apocalypse.”
“I was wildly lucky to have Rita
Dove as my teacher when I was an
undergraduate at the University
of Virginia,” Szybist said via email.
“She brought me into poetry, and
I’m grateful to still be in this life-long
conversation with her.”
Annie Bloom’s seeks to foster
these life-long conversations, even as
the COVID-19 pandemic continues to
pose challenges for the independent
bookstore.
“We started out doing a lot of
deliveries all around town, and we
wanted to keep everybody employed
who worked here already,” Peters said.
He credits the eclectic staff,
who range in age from the
aforementioned recent graduates to
eighty-somethings, as part of Annie
Bloom’s welcoming atmosphere.
During lockdown, Annie Bloom’s
became a source of levity and joy
for locals in Multnomah Village.
“Everybody during the pandemic,
before we were open again, wanted
to know how Molly was,” Peters said.
“They would call and ask.”
Annie Bloom’s has since
reopened its doors, with curbside
pick-up available to support the
immunocompromised. Their website
also supports local deliveries and
USPS shipping.
“We’ve tried a number of different
things throughout it and reinvented
ourselves a couple times over, while
keeping the core philosophy of what
we do,” Peters said.
By ASMAA ZAIDAN
IN OCTOBER, Lewis & Clark
Special Collections and Archives
welcomed an exciting new addition
when poet and essayist Kim Stafford
donated his personal archive of nearly
50 years.
Stafford was Oregon’s ninth poet
laureate, the founding director of Lewis
& Clark’s Northwest Writing Institute
and a professor at LC. The Stafford
family has a longstanding relationship
with the college. Head of Watzek
Library Special Collections and College
Archivist Hannah Crummé explained
that this relationship was part of the
reason Stafford wanted the collection
to be housed at LC.
“As Kim would say, the Staffords
have worked here for half the history
of the college,” Crummé said.
William Stafford, iconic poet and
pacifist, was Kim Stafford’s father.
Like his son, the elder Stafford
taught at LC and his archive was also
donated by his family to the college
in 2008. In an interview with LC’s Newsroom, Kim Stafford explained
the logic behind his decision.
“I’ve been a part of Lewis & Clark
since 1949, the year I was born. My
family and I lived on SW Palatine
Hill Road while our dad taught at the
college. So isn’t it destiny that my
father’s writings and mine should
live here together?” Stafford said. “A
library is a home for the past, but I
like to think an archive is a home for
the future — a place where ideas, both
formed and half-formed, might seed
new thoughts and new worlds.”
The archive features a diverse array of
items. Beyond Stafford’s poetry, essays
and prose, the archive also includes his
journals, books he published or was
featured in, publications, news articles,
films, audio recitations, documents
about his teaching, handwritten letters
and more.
One of the many fascinating things
in this archive, according to Crummé,
are Stafford’s writing journals, which are
hand-bound by the writer himself.
“Kim makes his own little notebooks
that he does his daily writings in, so those are visually quite appealing and
give a sense of the holistic nature of
poetry for him, in the sense that he’s
been involved in creating the artifact
down to the level of the notebook itself,”
Crummé said. “So he’s not just creating
the poem, he’s creating the book in
which it’s written.”
Liam Conley ’23, a student worker
on the team that is processing the
archive, has worked in archives since
his first year at LC. Conley found
himself fascinated by the consistency
and sheer number of the poet’s
writings. Some years, Stafford wrote
every single day, leaving the student
workers with hundreds of papers to
sort through. For example, Stafford’s
daily writings from the year 1998 are
the most extensive, at 3-4 inches thick
in their folder.
For many, the work that goes into
archives is foreign. Perhaps to some,
the word “archive” simply evokes
an image of a dusty old box and
aged academics sorting books in the
basement of Watzek. In reality, the
process of working with archives is a complex and codified process, often
digital and much more accessible
than their earlier counterparts. Conley
explained the process step by step.
“A lot of what we’re doing is going
through these boxes that they’ve given
us, these documents or books ... and
inputting them into spreadsheets,
which is what we then use to translate
into a software called Archives West
and ArchivesSpace, which is how
people access the document,” Conley
said. “So ... when they do come here
they can get a physical copy and know
exactly what they need.”
In processing an archive, students
are essentially creating a lengthy
table of contents. That way, people
interested in viewing actually know
what box to request.
More popular collections get their
own digitized version on Watzek’s
Special Collections website. William
Stafford’s archives, for example, have
their own webpage. Crummé says they
hope to do the same for the Kim Stafford
archive, but it is a lengthy process. So far,
they predict that it will be fully accessible in its physical form sometime during the
Fall 2022 semester.
According to Crummé, archives
provide an important insight into the
thoughts and ideals of people from
the past. Crummé gives the example
of Shakespeare, whose drafts and
other personal writings are lost to time.
Had people at the time recognized the
importance of keeping such documents,
we would have access to priceless work
from the great playwright today.
“It’s important to keep a range of
people’s writings to demonstrate what
the culture was like and to demonstrate
what the intellectual process was like, to
demonstrate how people were thinking
and feeling in Oregon at this time,”
Crummé said.
Besides the potential future value,
there is current value as well. For one,
Special Collections hopes to host an
exhibition related to Stafford’s work
soon. Students may also benefit from
seeing the writing process play out
in Kim Stafford’s writings, from the
drafting stage to publication. Perhaps
they too may feel inspired to write. Local bookshop builds
neighborhood culture
COURTESY OF ANNIE BLOOM’S BOOKS
Molly sits beside a book on black cats.MIRO ENRIQUEZ/THE PIONEER LOG
The actors in Lewis & Clark’s mainstage production “Passion Play” performed in different settings with a ladder as Jesus’ cross.
Watzek Special Collections and Archives processes assortment of writings, other works by Kim Stafford
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
ARTS 9
By TOR PARSONS
MR. BEAUTIFUL is destined
for stardom. This seven-piece
band composed of current and
former Lewis & Clark students has been
playing to larger and larger audiences
since they were founded in mid-summer
2021. Concert-goers can now hear their
long, energetic instrumental songs at
venues across Portland.
“We played nine shows over
the summer, and we’ve had four
or five since then,” bassist John
Wallent ’22 said, describing the
band’s sound as “Dance music with
a capital D.”
Most of Mr. Beautiful’s performances
have been at house parties around
Portland, in a loose affiliation of venues
that the band’s saxophonist Fabian
Guerrero ’23 refers to as “the Mr.
Beautiful archipelago.”
The band is a product of Sap
Haus, a collective household near
the LC campus that is home to artists
and musicians of every stripe. In
June 2021, Wallent began jamming
with drummer Charlie Oakes ’23
and keyboardist Danny Charvat ’21
at Sap Haus. They came up with
original songs influenced by 1970s funk
bands such as Parliament-Funkadelic,
contemporary funk artists The Funk
Ark and Antibalas and Afrobeat pioneer
Fela Kuti.
Mr. Beautiful quickly added
members they knew from jazz
groups at LC in pursuit of Oakes’
vision of founding “a large-ensemble
funk band.” Initially named Young
Charles after Oakes, the band began
looking for a new name after Oakes
said he did not want to be the center
of attention.
The name Mr. Beautiful came
about in reference to an event that
occurred months before the band
was founded, when Wallent and
Guerrero came across a local stray
cat who would come sleep on their
porch.
“We were on a walk one night
and we met this cat and he followed
us home, and Fabian looked at him
and was like ‘Ah, yes. Mr. Beautiful’,”
Wallent said. Mr. Beautiful became
the cat’s name, and Guerrero later
realized it would also make a good
band name. The cat is now used as
the band’s logo on Instagram.
During the summer, Mr. Beautiful
played gigs nearly every weekend.
After doing several shows at Sap
Haus, one of which literally broke the floor, Mr. Beautiful began to be
invited to house shows throughout
Portland, drawing massive crowds
at each one. Photographer Evan
Yerian ’22, a close friend of the band
members, publicized each gig.
As time went on, however, Mr.
Beautiful’s success began to get the
better of them.
“Wherever we end up playing
shows, the neighbors no longer
welcome us to play shows there,
because they end up being so big,”
Guerrero said.
Wallent described the crowd at
one of their recent shows, at a house
venue nicknamed the Treehouse, as
“a sea of people spilling out into the
street,” likening it to the evacuation
of Dunkirk, France in World War II.
Wallent, as well as guitarist
Max Simon ’23, are co-managers of
KLC Radio, and Mr. Beautiful has
been active on campus, too. At the
beginning of the school year, they
played at the welcome dance on the
lawn outside Pamplin Sports Center,
introducing themselves to hundreds
of LC students. They also appeared
as the house band for the inaugural
episode of “Abdo’s Late Show.”
According to Wallent, being
in a band with so many members
comes with its unique triumphs and
struggles. The best thing about the
numerous musicians is that all of
them bring different influences to
the table, resulting in Mr. Beautiful’s
eclectic sound. The band’s two lead guitarists, Simon and Chris
Parke-Johnson ’21, have completely
different playing styles, according to
Wallent.
“Chris is like the jazz virtuoso,
and Max is like the sonic architect,”
Wallent said. “They might as well be
playing two different instruments.”
But there are downsides to being
in a seven-member band, the largest
of which is finding a time when
everybody is free to meet.
“We’ve only had time to rehearse
before gigs,” Wallent says. “No time
to just get together and work on new
material.”
Even as Mr. Beautiful’s audience
grows, their future is in doubt.
Charvat might move out of Portland in
December, and Guerrero is studying
abroad next semester.
“It would not be Mr. Beautiful
without Danny on the keys,” Oakes said.
“There’s a very good chance that Mr.
Beautiful just spectacularly implodes
after this semester.”
For now, though, Mr. Beautiful
is still going strong. Their next
show will be Friday, Nov. 19, at a
location to be announced on their
Instagram @mr.beautiful.band.
Mr. Beautiful is not on Spotify,
though there is an unrelated artist
on Spotify by that name. The band
members recommend that students
listen to other LC-based artists, too,
including Jakki and the Pink Smudge,
3x Tuk and the singer-songwriter
Gyatso.Breakout instrumental funk band
Mr. Beautiful takes PDX by storm
ALINA CRUZ/THE PIONEER LOG
Fabian Guerrero ’23 jams out on the saxophone at the Mr. Beautiful Halloween show.Professor medals at
Latino Book Awards
By ALINA CRUZ
LEWIS & CLARK Visiting
Assistant Professor of Hispanic
Studies and Latin American
Studies, Sergio Hugo Moreno
recently won an award at the 2021
International Latino Book Awards
for his novel “Donde Se Acaba El
Norte,” or “Where The North Ends.”
Moreno was awarded silver in the
category “Best Adventure/Drama
Novel in Spanish.” The professor
was among 297 different authors
competing in the entire contest, and
beat out two other novelists to grab
his medal.
Moreno was born in Gallup, New
Mexico, but grew up in Ciudad Juarez,
Mexico. He credits both environments
with influencing his novel. Moreno
was very happy to win this award, as
his background of being Hispanic, and
growing up in border towns, inspired
his work.
“It’s actually the most prestigious
award for Latino authors in the
U.S., but especially for Spanish
speaking authors,” Moreno said.
“The International Latino Studies
Association does a great deal to
promote literature of Latinos and
Latinx authors in the U.S., not only
in English but also in Spanish and
Portuguese.”
“Donde Se Acaba El Norte” is
about a grief-stricken man named Uriel Romero who is plagued by
nightmares. One of his dreams,
about a Franciscan monk named
Diego living in the 17th century,
becomes increasingly vivid. This
causes Romero to begin questioning
the difference between reality and
the dreamscape. Diego is accused
of heresy and sent to New Mexico
to catechize the Apaches, but
he is strangely familiar with the
landscape, and more coincidences
begin to occur as the Inquisition
comes for him.
Moreno had been wanting to write
the novel for a while, and finally
started it five years ago, before
realizing how much of an activity it
would be to develop.
“It’s more about a learning
process. Of course it was about
completing a project that I had in
mind for many years and never got
around to do it,” Moreno said. “But I
said, ‘I want to learn. I want to learn
something in the process.’ And to not
just have a novel but, if it’s going to
fail as a novel, might as well learn
something.”
The novel is based on Moreno’s
real life. The work, while a story
of self discovery for both Romero
and Diego, made Moreno realize
that writing it was not about
understanding who he is, but
capturing the history and culture
of his childhood border town,
as well as his old friends and
neighbors.
“It’s also an attempt ... to not
only understand the history but to
understand the present,” Moreno
said. “So to understand the present
by also understanding the history
of where I’m from, which is closely
related to the history of New
Mexico.”
Moreno also had high praise for
his experience teaching at LC. While
he had taught at many universities,
Moreno likes how LC centers both
a lively social community and
academics.
“I think it’s a nice combination
between hardworking, dedicated
students who, at the same time, also like
having fun and are friendly and open
minded. It’s a balanced institution,”
Moreno said.
“Donde Se Acaba El Norte” is yet
to be released in English, and the
Watzek library does not have a copy
on file. However, there is an excerpt
available on Moreno’s profile page on
the LC website.
ALINA CRUZ/THE PIONEER LOG
Dr. Moreno sits at his desk jotting notes.By AIDAN D’ANNA
NARRATIVE MEDICINE is the
practice of listening, absorbing,
metabolizing and being moved
to action by stories of wellness and
disease. When put into practice, this
involves treating a patient as a whole
person, rather than just as their illness.
The field is a relatively new one,
founded by Physician Rita Charon of
Columbia University.
“Harvard Medical School had taught
me a reductionist, positivist, disease
centered model of listening to what
patients said,” Charon said in an interview
with Medium. “So that’s what sent me to
the English Department (at Columbia).
I figured they were the ones on campus
who knew something about listening to
stories.”
Charon got her Ph.D. in English,
in addition to her M.D., and uses it to
inform her clinical practice. The program
at Columbia revolves around groups of
participants Charon calls a Community
of Practice, and it simply means a
gathering of people committed to sharing
stories and listening to one another. The
Practice normally begins with a text or
some piece of art as a starting point, and
allows the stories to flow from there.
According to The Northwest Narrative
Medicine Collaborative,“Participants
gather to read a short text, discuss, write in response and share if we choose; all
participants need to bring is a pen and
paper.”
Alexis Rehrmann is the community
engagement coordinator at the Lewis
& Clark Center for Community and
Global Health, as well as a board
member for the Northwest Narrative
Medicine Collaborative. She runs
regular Communities of Practice with
Health Studies classes at LC. Rehrmann
received her certificate to act as a
Community of Practice facilitator last
year, and believes that using art as a
jumping-off point is a useful surrogate
to bigger questions in the medical field.
“(Narrative medicine) exists very
much against medical scribing, which
is this really concrete training to
take information and put it into the
electronic health record,” Rehrmann
said. “So what we’re positing is that
sitting with a piece of art, sitting with a
piece of poetry, trains you to listen for
all this complexity that is not in that
other thing.”
Although narrative medicine has so
far been used mostly to tell stories of
illness and disease in a clinical setting,
it can also help bridge the gap between
fine arts and the hard sciences.
“Artists, from the visual arts, music,
writing of many genres, playwrights,
these are people who come to us,”
Charon said. “They say, ‘I’ve been practicing narrative medicine for years.
I just didn’t know there was a name for
it.’”
Rehrmann believes that
narrative medicine can not
only connect art and
science, but that the
skills it teaches are
forms of art in
themselves.
“Storytelling
is of course
itself a form
of art,”
Rehrmann
said. “And I
think about
listening, a
listener that is
really skilled is
going to have a
physical practice
that supports
listening, like an
actor or a dancer
would. It’s a full
body experience, the
listener also creates
a space for the story to
take place. The questions
they ask, what affirms the
person that’s speaking, how do they
get there together in this series of
questions, and I think that those skills
sound to me like theater.” When Becca Teichman ’22 attended
one of Rehrmann’s
Communities of Practice in her Health
Studies internship class, the personal nature of sharing stories in this way
really resonated with her.
“I thought it was really interesting the
way people can use art like slam poetry
to communicate about their own
experience with health and
illness,” Teichman said.
“And how that can be
really personal but
an art form at the
same time.”
In addition to
discussions of health,
wellness and disease,
the overarching goal of
narrative medicine is
to develop the skills of
storytelling and active
listening in a way that
makes all parties in a
conversation feel heard
and valued.
“I really cherish the
opportunity to sit with
people together and talk
about things that are meaningful
to us,” Rehrmann said. “I think that
there is not a lot of actual opportunity
to do that in our lives normally, and so I
think when I have work that allows me to
really sit with someone and say, ‘What do
you care about? Where are you at today?
What matters to you here?’ I find a great
honor in that, and that for me is really
what this narrative medicine work is for.”Narrative medicine: the lost art of active listening
Communities of Practice resist traditional medical scribing, encourage storytelling, vulnerability
MAYA WILLIAMSON/THE PIONEER LOGFRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
SPORTS 10
Setter McGinn ’22 surpasses
1800 volleyball career assistsFour tips to start your
weightlifting journey
By ROSALIND MARGULIES
RECENTLY, weightlifting has
come into vogue, and for
many good reasons. The sport
has many benefits for both physical
and mental health. However, the
weight room can be a daunting place
to the inexperienced. With vast
amounts of conflicting information
on the internet, it can be difficult to
know where to start and to whom you
should listen. Here are a few tips and
principles to guide you as you begin
weightlifting.
1. Be consistent
The most important thing you can do
to build muscle and gain strength is be
consistent. Find a program that works
for you, preferably one that centers
compound movements — movements
that use many muscle groups — such as
bench press, deadlift and hip squats
and stick to it; if you change what
exercises you do every week, you will
likely have a difficult time building
strength.
Whether you are a beginner or
a seasoned lifter, it is hard to go
wrong with a push, pull, legs (PPL)
split. Jeff Nippard, power lifter and
fitness guru, offers a detailed and
beginner friendly PPL split for free
on his YouTube page. To start, try
to make it to the gym at least two
to three times a week, for around
30 minutes to an hour each time.
This will allow you to make progress
while avoiding burnout.
2. Prioritize protein
When you first start lifting,
unless you are at a very low
body fat percentage, you will
undergo something called body
recomposition. This, according
to Michael Matthews of Legion
Workout Supplements, is “the
process of simultaneously decreasing
the proportion of body weight
that is body fat and increasing the
proportion that is lean body mass.”
During body recomposition, your
body uses energy from existing fat
stores to build new muscle. This is
why new lifters and people at higher
body fat percentages can progress
so fast, even if they do not eat a lot
of protein. However, if you want
to continually build muscle after
this honeymoon phase, you must
prioritize protein in your diet.
There are a wide variety
of misconceptions about how
much protein you need to build
muscle, with some bodybuilders
recommending up to two grams of
protein per pound of bodyweight.
For the majority of people this is
vastly excessive; according to a
1996 study by P. W. Lemon, “0.8g of
protein per pound of bodyweight is
an optimal daily intake to building muscle for strength exercisers.” You
do not need to be that exact about
it; while tracking macronutrients
can be an incredibly helpful tool for
some, it is not feasible for others.
If that is the case for you, just try
and prioritize protein in your diet.
Eat plenty of protein rich foods
like chicken, fish, turkey and tofu,
but make sure to not neglect whole
carbs, healthy fats and vegetables.
Do not assume that to progress
you need to cut out your favorite
foods. There are not any “good” or
“bad” foods, and there is not any
single food or macronutrient that
you cannot fit into a healthy and
effective diet.
3. Practice progressive overload
Put simply, progressive overload
is the practice of making sure you
do a little more every time. If you
bench 135 pounds for three sets of
eight one day, next time you might
try to bench 140 for three sets of
eight, or 135 for three sets of ten.
By increasing the weight or amount
of reps a little bit every time you
go to the gym, you will challenge
your body without overwhelming
it, increase your strength and build
muscle. Progressive overload is the
key to making steady progress in
the gym. “It is basically doing more
work than your body did before,”
says exercise physiologist Mike T.
Nelson, Ph.D. “If you never require
your body to do more, you will never
get a positive adaptation in terms
of strength, muscle, cardiovascular
fitness or anything else.” You can
use apps like RepCount to easily
keep track of your workouts and
make sure you are progressively
overloading.
4. Listen to your body
Listening to your body is the key
to creating an exercise routine that
works for your physical and mental
health. If a movement does not
feel right, it probably is not. Learn
proper form on any exercises you do
before upping the weight. YouTubers
like Jeff Nippard offer in depth
videos on how to properly perform
most exercises, and you can film
yourself lifting and watch the video
to make sure your form is right.
Do not go heavier than you can
handle; ego lifting can lead to bad
form, which can lead to injury.
Similarly, do not try to work through
an injury, as this will only lead to
further injury. If you need an extra
rest day, even if you are not injured,
take one.
At the end of the day,
weightlifting and exercise in general
should be something you do to
help you feel your best. Take this
mindset and these tips with you as
you embark on your lifting journey. By GABRIEL
MANTIONE-HOLMES
MICHELLE MCGINN ’22, a
setter for the volleyball team,
has been fortunate enough to
see her hard work pay off. On Oct. 29,
McGinn surpassed 1800 assists during a
match against the Linfield Wildcats. Not
only is this alone a huge accomplishment,
but it also places her fourth of all time for
career assists in the Lewis & Clark record
books.
McGinn has been working toward
this moment since she started playing
volleyball when she was 8. Her
introduction to volleyball came about
through the sport’s schedule, which
worked out for her family.
“Both of my parents worked a lot,”
McGinn said. “We didn’t have any
extended family that could take me
to games on Saturdays. But volleyball
happens to be the sport that had games
on Sundays. So I would go and practice
on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and then
we’d have games on Sunday.”
McGinn transitioned to competitive
volleyball when she was 12 and began playing for club teams. It was during this
transition that McGinn fell into the setter
position that would later allow her to
accumulate 1800 career assists.
“Coach Mani, she was the coach
at one of the high schools close to my
house,” McGinn said. “At 11 years old,
I was playing with the high school girls
during their practices every day, so that
really helped me see where I was.”
When McGinn’s club volleyball coach
found out that she was left-handed,
she immediately moved her to the
setter position. Left-handed players are
especially good in this position because
they have the opportunity to both set and
hit the ball. McGinn has remained in that
position since then.
Volleyball played a huge role in
McGinn’s choice to attend LC. The
college was not on McGinn’s radar until
she was recruited to play volleyball.
While Portland is a long way away from
McGinn’s hometown of Kailua, Hawaii
she is happy with her decision to attend
LC.
“I wouldn’t have met my best friends.
I had this amazing experience in Oregon.
I’m happy where I’m at right now,” McGinn said. “I found a mentor, and
my coach and so many friends through
sports.”
Along with the relationships McGinn
has formed through volleyball, she
has also learned a lot of practical skills
for the outside world. Volleyball has
taught her the value of hard work and
determination, which she will be able to
apply to all aspects of her life.
While McGinn is a volleyball player,
one of her biggest inspirations is Michael
Jordan. McGinn has a pair of Nike shoes
with “always” and “forwards” on the lips,
a motto she has derived from his career.
“All the quotes that I always read
about him, his stories, watching ‘The
Last Dance’ and stuff like that; that’s
how I sum (him) up.” McGinn said. “His
whole mantra, the way he carried himself
throughout his career, and even after his
career, was that no matter what he was
always moving forward, he was always
getting better.”
While this is McGinn’s final season at
LC, she hopes that her career in volleyball
will not end here. McGinn hopes to
eventually follow in her mom’s footsteps
and become a volleyball coach.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELLE MCGINN
Michelle McGinn ’22 finishes her last LC volleyball season with an incredible accomplishment of racking up 1800 career assists.
SOFIA REEVES/THE PIONEER LOG
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELLE MCGINN Michelle McGinn ’22 has been playing volleyball as a setter since she was 12 when her coach realized she was left-handed.
News Editors
Asmaa Zaidan
Amelia Doyle
Sports Editors
Henry Goodier
Gabriel Mantione-HolmesOpinion Editors
Adelaide Kaiser
Sofia ReevesFeatures Editors
Gabe Korer
Will Toppin
The Backdoor Editor
Rosalind Margulies
Faculty Advisor
Molly RobinsonCopy Chiefs
Ayanna Miller
Venus Edlin
Social Media Manager
Yasmin KemerVisuals Editor
Amelia MadarangEditor-in-Chief
Ihsaan MohamedManaging Editor
Aubrey Roché
Arts Editors
Aidan D’Anna
Casper James Pierce
Copeland Burchenal
Liam Casey
Alina Cruz
Rebecca Hanson
Jillian Jackson
Emma Krall
Scotty MontgomeryTor Parsons
Noah Reese-Clauson
Mal Spicer
Philip Steffen
Hana Tariku
Ethan Tolpin
Rosalie ZuckermannBy AMELIA MADARANG
IF YOU ARE anxious about the spike
in COVID-19 cases at Lewis & Clark,
you may feel locked in your dorm.
Unfortunately, this has been a common
feeling among students on campus
recently. October saw the highest
number of reported cases of COVID-19
on campus. This recent spike in cases
has been accredited to Halloween
weekend and the cooling weather,
which has caused parties and events to
relocate indoors. With many students
planning to travel for the holidays, there
is concern and anxiety surrounding the
high infection rate.
Nearly two years into the pandemic,
managing COVID-19-related anxiety has
been a national focus. According to the
Centers for Disease and Control (CDC),
anxiety and depression symptoms
among adults in the United States
increased after August 2020 and peaked
in Dec. 2020 to Jan. 2021. After that, the incidence of symptoms dropped.
However, it did remain high in June
2021, relative to the 2019 National
Health Interview Survey estimates.
The national and state-level relative
increases and declines in reported
anxiety and depression symptoms
mirrored the national weekly number
of new COVID-19 cases throughout
the same time period. This COVID-19-
related anxiety is reflected at the college.
LC students have been going to
classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic
for nearly four semesters, with an
extremely low rate of COVID-19 cases
reported on campus. In recent months,
however, the number of cases has
increased dramatically, and naturally so
has the anxiety of students.
If you or someone you know is feeling
increased anxiety due to the spike in
cases on campus, know that you are not
alone.
John Hancock, associate dean of
students for health and wellness, hopes that the context LC provided, regarding
the outbreak cases, would quell student
fears.
“My sense is that anxiety was a bit
higher in mid- to late October, when we
had a number of new cases diagnosed,”
Hancock said. “At that time, I worked
with others at the College to create the
LC Bulletin of October 26, to provide
some context for the positive cases that
we had experienced. I received feedback
that the information we provided in that
Bulletin helped reduce anxiety.”
The LC website outlines their
“COVID-19 Ongoing Response”
which provides school’s policies on
vaccinations, traveling and face covering,
among other things. The school has not
developed any new policies related to
mental health, although they have added
staff members in the Counseling Service
this year.
There are more specific COVID-19
resources on the Counseling Service
site labeled “Support in the time of COVID-19.” Here there are apps to
reduce stress, improve sleep and manage
feelings of depression or anxiety. It also
includes strategies for grief and anxiety,
as well as websites that offer online
guided meditations, among other things.
Hancock wants students who are
struggling with COVID-19-related
anxiety to focus on what they can
control.
“Wear your mask, practice hand
hygiene, get your booster vaccine dose
when you are eligible (and if there are
no medical contraindications) and
avoid unnecessary higher-risk situations
(e.g., in public, crowded spaces or in
unmasked social gatherings),” Hancock
said. “Talking about one’s anxieties with
friends, family or college staff can help.
So can regular exercise, getting enough
sleep, eating well and making sure you
are taking time to have some fun.”
LC Wellness Services will also be
hosting a COVID-19 testing clinic for
all undergraduate, graduate and law students on Nov. 22, 2021 and Dec. 10,
2021 in order to alleviate any possible
stress of spreading the virus to family
members before upcoming holidays. The
clinic will be optional for all vaccinated
LC community members. However, the
testing will be mandatory for anyone in
the community that is unvaccinated.
The CDC still advises for everyone
who has traveled within the past few
days, and is fully vaccinated, to self
monitor any symptoms carefully and
continue to adhere to all state and local
recommendations.
The booster shot has also recently
become available for eligible students
at LC that are looking to combat some
ongoing anxieties due to possible
exposure. If you have received the
Johnson & Johnson shot, you are
eligible to receive the booster shot after
two months. If you have received the
Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, you are
eligible after six months to receive the
booster shot. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
SPORTS 11
Breakthrough COVID-19 cases trigger student anxiety
LC attempts to thwart worry within vaccinated student body as temperatures push people indoors By HENRY GOODIER
AFTER A YEAR-LONG hiatus
during the 2020-21 season
due to COVID-19, the Lewis
& Clark Men’s Basketball team
will once again be competing this
winter. Last year, in order to ensure
the safety of the student athletes
and coaching staff, LC was the only
school in the Northwest Conference
(NWC) to completely opt out of the
season. Today, Nov. 12, 2021, the
2021-22 season will officially debut
for the Pios when they face West
Coast Baptist College. Their season
will stretch from now until the NWC
Tournament, which begins on Feb.
24, 2022.
With the pandemic still at large,
Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Tim
McCory expressed his gratitude for
the opportunity to compete this year
and acknowledged the impact of
losing a season on the team.
“I would say having our season
cancelled last year, there’s just so
much gratitude and appreciation
for all of the little things: practices,
games, the interactions we have with
each other,” McCory said. “I think I
can speak for my team in that we are all really grateful.”
According to McCory, the lack of
game-time experience over the course
of two years is a hard obstacle to
overcome. However, it has given the
players time to work on themselves
and focus on building a foundation
with one another.
“The challenge is just game
experience. Playing two games in two
years there’s certain aspects that we
learn, and certain situations that you go through, just by playing another
opponent,” McCory said.
Point Guard Ryan Cibull ’22,
one of four seniors on the team,
acknowledged the hardships, as well
as the advantages, in a majority of
the team having not yet partaken in a
collegiate season.
“Since we have not competed in
two years, there are many new faces
on the team, and many inexperienced
players,’’ Cibull said. “This is exciting because it gives everyone an
opportunity to fight for playing time,
which has led to each player pushing
each other to get the most out of
practice each day.”
More than ever, COVID-19 has
continuously reminded student
athletes that their time on the field
or court can go by in a flash. Coaches
and players have since prioritized
enjoying every moment the sport
provides. “For our sophomores, this will be
their first competition they’ve had,
and first games they’ve had; (my
hope is that they) just really enjoy it,”
McCory said. “Forward that to some
of our seniors, I bet that they can’t
believe that they are (now) in their
fourth year at Lewis & Clark.”
Furthermore, among the Men’s
Basketball team and all sports within
LC’s athletic program, COVID-19 has
become the ultimate test to controlling
only what one is capable of managing.
“When COVID hit, we controlled
what we could control, and that was how
each of us could individually get better,”
Cibull said. “Once practices started, we
aimed to have a high level of effort and
attention to detail in every practice,
and have the same approach to life off
the court in terms of the classroom,
weightroom, and our recovery/
nutrition.”
For every team, as Cibull noted, the
end goal is a championship. Despite
being stripped of a season, the team has
worked tirelessly for the past two years
to prepare for the road ahead and try to
attain their goal of a NWC championship.
The Pios will continue this six-game
home stretch beginning with University
of St. Thomas on Nov. 17, 2021. LC Men’s Basketball returns to competition
Nora Barnard
Alina Cruz
Miro Enriquez
Hannah KornAlex Nash
Zach Reinker
Maya WilliamsonPhotographers & Illustrators Staff Writers
Despite cancelation of 2020-21 season due to COVID-19, Pios remain confident in upcoming year
2,300 seats in the Pamplin Sports Center sit vacant as the LC Men’s and Women’s Basketball season quickly approaches.
PHOTO COURTESY OF LEWIS & CLARK
ZACHARY REINKER/THE PIONEER LOGWeb Manager
Qwynci Bowman
InDesign Specialist
Greta BurtonBusiness Manager
Kamryn FordBy HANA TARIKU
UP ON PALATINE Hill, droplets of
rain have begun emerging from the
sky. Portland has officially entered
its rainy season, and with that comes
puddles, ponchos and droves of confused
Californians.
Reports of water falling
from the sky were
first confirmed
in September.
Locals were
ecstatic as
they were
brought
back to familiar weather patterns and traditions
of sloshing around in pools of water and
showering outside. The first-years from
California, on the other hand, were shaken
by the downfall. They did not understand
that it is a normal occurrence for water to
pour out of the clouds and onto the trees,
people and ladybugs — 43
inches of water
per year, to be
precise. I took it upon myself to track down some of
these frightened students to hear what they
had to say about this change in weather.
Ethan Sanders ’25, a Bay Area native,
sat down with me to recount his first
sighting of rain.
“I thought I was just sweating really
hard,” Sanders said.
Compared to many of the other
Californians, Sanders was relatively calm.
Having taken plenty of showers in his
lifetime, he told me, he was not as shocked
as some other Californians by the rainfall.
Sophia Haines ’25, from the area
outside of Calabasas, Calif, told me about
her experience with rain.
“I felt like the sky was assaulting me,”
Haines said. “There’s no reason for it to do
that.”
After doing my rounds, I discovered
that beyond being stunned from water
falling out of the sky, first-years were
facing another problem: what to wear.
The mysterious water coming from the
sky has caused their legs to be exposed
to unprecedented amounts of moisture.
Socks were soaked and Birkenstocks
ruined completely. I consulted with a few
students regarding the impending fashion
crisis and how they were planning on
handling it.
I asked Polly Munger ’25 who hails
from Bend, OR, what she would be wearing
during the rainy seasons.
“My rain jacket,” Munger said.
That sounds about right.
With LC being the undisputed fashion
capital of Portland, many of the students
refuse to throw on beaters to save the
cherished parts of their wardrobe. As I
sit here writing this article I see confused
students walking around in their Birks,
despite the current drizzle. All things
considered, maybe they should have opted
for the fake ones.
Despite that, having now finished with
my interviews of Californian first-years, I
have come to the conclusion that they will
be alright. Everyday more and more of
them grow accustomed to the mysterious
water falling from the sky.
12FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2021
The Backdoor is a work of humor and fiction
LC gives Indigenous students bookstore discount
In lieu of reparations, the college plans to give every Indigenous student a coupon to use on LC merch
By ROSALIND MARGULIES
LEWIS & CLARK is nothing if
not plagued by its history. Last
month, graffiti decrying the
manner in which LC upholds the
legacies of Lewis Meriwether and
William Clark, by taking their names
,appeared on campus. In response to
this, the school has decided to take
bold and unprecedented action to
make amends with Indigenous people
whose familial histories bear marks of
colonization.
“We completely understand how
our students feel, and are therefore
very excited about this program,”
Dean of Outreach Karen Bradshaw
said. “I mean, my great grandma
was a Cherokee princess, so I’m
basically Native myself, so I really
get it. We’re happy to offer all of our
Native American students 15% off at
the Lewis & Clark bookstore, valid
through December 1. Some exclusions
may apply. Roll Pios!”
Reviews regarding the discount
have been mixed. Some have called
it “worse than doing nothing” and
“outright offensive,” while others
described it as “honestly, better than
I expected from this administration.”
Several students questioned why
the administration was hesitant to take
more substantial action. According to
Bradshaw, it would just be too much
work.
“I mean, I guess we could change
the name of the school,” Bradshaw said.
“But that would be a whole big thing,
y’know? Like, we’d have to change all
the signs on all the buildings. And we have a whole bunch of buildings. Oh,
and I just got new business cards, and
they all say Lewis & Clark on them, so
those would be useless, and I’d have to
get new ones. It’d just be a big hassle.
There’s not any money to hire any
Indigenous professors, or integrate any
Indigenous studies classes, either.”Bradshaw later clarified.
“Well, there’s some money,” she
said. “But we have to spend that on the
football team.”
I questioned Bradshaw about her
dedication to the football team. Her
eyes grew steely as determination
colored her gaze. I sensed that she was staring through me to something I was
unable to see, something bigger than
either of us.
“They’re getting so close to winning
the championship,” she said, clenching
her fist. “We can’t give up on them now!”
I also spoke briefly with Neo Libbral
’22 of Slow n’ Steady, an activism group aiming to combat LC’s troubling
history. The group took to Instagram
to condemn the graffiti and laud the
peaceful methods they themselves
employ, which according to Libbral,
“are super-duper close to actually
working.”
“We’ve been sending emails
and attending board meetings for
decades, and I’ll admit, not much
has happened, but I think the
dominoes are about to fall,” Libbral
said. “We’re just 50 or 60 more
peaceful protests away from real
administrational change.”
Right now, the group is collecting
signatures on a petition to get the
administration to look at the group's
other petitions. I signed, more out of
pity than anything else.
The announcement of the
discount is the largest step LC has
taken toward racial justice since last
year’s punch card program to combat
tokenism. Every LC student of color
was given a punch card, and receives
a punch every time a photo of them
is used in LC promotional material.
When students amass ten punches,
they are able to trade in their card
for a free coffee from Maggie’s.
“It’s good and bad,” Amara
Nez ’24 said about the punch card
program. Nez is an Afro-Indigenous
student whose face is visible in no
less than two dozen spots on the LC
website and campus. “On one hand,
it really sucks that my image is being
used to propagate the myth that this
campus is particularly diverse. But
on the other hand, I’ve never had to
pay for my own coffee.”
AMELIA MADARANG/THE PIONEER LOG
Californian first-years stunned by
mysterious water falling from skyHelp! I am trapped
inside a newspaper!
By SOFIA REEVES
YOU HAVE to help me. Yes, you,
who picked up this paper and are
reading this article. I do not have
much space on this page, so I will make
this brief.
The other day, I was just sitting at my
desk, minding my own business, doing
some article edits like the good little
Pioneer Log editor I am. Then, the next
thing I knew, I suddenly became one
with the newspaper. My consciousness
was suddenly compressed into these
twelve little pages and somehow the
only space I can find to write is in
the Backdooor, unfortunately. Now,
of course, no one will take my plight
seriously when my legitimate cry for help
is wedged between two satire articles.
How did this happen, you ask? Well,
I am just as baffled as you are. However,
I do have a few running theories. The
most reasonable theory seems to be
that I managed to fall into the printer
and got my whole being transferred into
the ink that makes up these pages. I am
admittedly a bit of a klutz. Or maybe
I was ensnared by a rogue computer
science major who digitized my brain,
converted me to a PDF and printed
me out in the paper. Maybe this is a
chemistry experiment
gone terribly
wrong, or
even the work of
witchcraft
committed
by one of
my many
enemies
who disapprove of my work in the Opinion
section. Either way, it is rather cramped
in here.
Admittedly, being trapped in a
newspaper does have its bright sides.
I have not had to eat at Fields Dining
Hall in four days. And being corporeally
altered does count as a valid excused
absence from my classes. Plus, living in
a PioLog is much more clean and quiet
than living in a Lewis & Clark dorm.
There is no one to leave any messes
laying around or to blast music with
wall-rattling bass from three rooms
over. I can actually hear myself think in
here.
That being said, there really is not
much to do. I have read every article
about five or six times, and have already
made a mental note of any typos I can
find, so it is starting to get pretty boring.
I wonder if I will be trapped here
forever. Maybe no one will ever even
read this paper. Maybe I will meet the
same fate as so many other PioLogs
before me, abandoned in a puddle in a
parking lot or picked up out of obligation
and later recycled without ever being
read.
All I can do is keep up my hope that
you, dear reader, will see this, and free
me from my
newsprint
prison.
CASPER PIERCE/THE PIONEER LOGZACHARY REINKER/THE PIONEER LOG