Lewis & Clark College

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

Volume 101, No. 2

Lewis & Clark College Student Newspaper

Pioneer Log Staff

2023-10-06

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Text; Newspaper

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Lewis & Clark College: Pioneer Log / Mossy Log

Vol. 101 No. 2 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023 www.piolog.com
OPINION
AI and education
As technology becomes more advanced,
AI in the classroom can be a threat to
students’ learning and educational
accessibility. PAGE 10FEATURES
Apples galore
Tryon Community Life Farm hosts
autumn apple festival with cider tasting,
apple identification and face painting
station. PAGE 6ARTS
Student poet published
Lauren Caldwell ’24 shares journey
to publishing poetry book “Other
Scavengers” and the collaborations that
helped shape it. PAGE 4SPORTS
Mental health resources
Staff at the Mental Health Validation
Program speak out about importance of
therapy sessions, workshops tailored to
athletes. PAGE 11
THE MOSSY POD
Mossy Pod debut next friday
Co-Heads of Broadcasting Joseph Chuku
and Isaac Babus share introductions and
preview topics to come in The Mossy
Log’s upcoming issue.
NSU celebrates Indigenous Peoples’
Day, hosts panel on identity, heritage
In wake of changed COVID protocol, ASB
Senate votes to provide free antigen testsIME debuts
mentorship
opportunity
By AMELIA DOYLE
THE OFFICE OF Inclusion and
Multicultural Engagement
(IME) has officially launched
the new First-Generation Mentorship
Program. The program focuses on
connecting first generation students
with staff, faculty and alumni that are
also first generation.
Director of Inclusion and
Multicultural Engagement Joann
Zhang had noticed in her three years
at Lewis & Clark that there was not a
lot of support for the first generation
community on campus. She wanted
to create a mentorship program that
helps first generation students to
navigate through college and after
college as well.
“Whether you’re a first year or a
fourth year student, we welcome you
all to be part of this First- Generation
Mentorship Program, knowing that
sometimes college can be hard,
especially if you don’t have the
language or the family members
to help support you through that,”
Zhang said.
As well as pairing students with
experienced mentors, the First-Generation
Mentorship Program also assigns
different tasks for first generation
students to help set them up for the
future. Zhang said that the tasks
are small and easy to do to prevent
adding more barriers for students.
Each of the tasks corresponds with a
different year.
For first year students, the task is
to visit the Career Center and learn
about the resources it offers. For
second year students, the task is to
build a resume and a cover letter with
a staff member at the Career Center.
For third year students, it is starting
to research post-grad plans. For
fourth year students it is to conduct
two informational interviews.
“We’re hoping our students
through this program will be reminded
that things don’t naturally happen, and
then we have to work towards them,”
Zhang said.
The mentorship program facilitates
monthly communication between
students and their mentor, along
with any questions or doubts that the
mentees have about college or life
after college.
“I think the feedback that I’ve
gotten from across campus has been
really positive. The alums have said
they wish that this program would
have existed when they were here. So
hopefully our current students will
take advantage of it,” Zhang said.
She also asked that staff or faculty
members interested in being a part
of the First-Generation Mentorship
Program please reach out to IME to
get involved.
“We have a ton of mentors who’ve
expressed interest. So we’re really just
waiting for our first gen-students to
come to us saying they’re wanting this
mentor,” Zhang said.
“PROGRAM” continued on page 3By AVA FRISON
IN LIGHT OF recent changes
to campus COVID policy, the
Associated Student Body (ASB)
has begun offering free COVID tests
as of Oct. 4 to students in an attempt
to make COVID prevention and
monitoring more accessible.
The World Health Organization
recently downgraded COVID-19
from pandemic to epidemic status
level due to lower case numbers
worldwide and minimal spikes
occurring around typical illness
peaks. In light of COVID’s new
status, Lewis & Clark has made
several changes to campus policy
that loosened restrictions and made
case monitoring optional.
In an email from the LC bulletin
sent out on May 26, the college
updated new and returning students
on the revised COVID policy.“Over the past three years, Lewis
and Clark successfully developed
and implemented safe and effective
prevention tools to keep our
community healthy and united in
the face of the COVID pandemic,”
the LC bulletin said. “Now that
the Public Health Emergency for
COVID-19 has expired, it is time
to again change our approach in
response to changing conditions.
Based on recommendations from the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, Oregon Health Authority
and Multnomah County Health
Department, we have simplified and
updated many of our COVID policies
and requirements.”
One of the biggest changes is that
LC will no longer be providing free
COVID tests to students. Instead,
COVID tests are available for
purchase at the campus bookstore
and are limited to one per student. This came as a shock to many, as
testing over a multi-day period is
still recommended as one of the best
ways to detect COVID.
“Antigen tests are available for
purchase in the campus bookstore, at
local grocery stores and online,” according
to LC’s COVID information page.
Instead of providing free tests, the
website provides a link to a sign-up
to receive free at-home COVID tests
from the government.
Now, ASB has stepped in to fill
the void that this lack of testing
availability has left. In an email on
Oct. 2, ASB announced that they
would be providing free COVID tests.
“The ASB Senate unanimously
approved to purchase Covid-19
tests. These tests will be available for
pick-up to students free of charge,
offering you the opportunity to
monitor your health and safety more
conveniently,” the email stated.“ASB recognized the critical
importance of ensuring the health
and safety of our student body.
We heard from many community
members that current test access
provided by the school was
unreliable, and to many people,
inaccessible,” ASB President Alex
Chapelle ’24 said.
Chapelle emphasized the
importance of ASB coming together
to unanimously vote for buying these
COVID tests as the Senate required a
9/10th vote for this motion to pass.
“The unanimous decision underscores
the need expressed by students and
emphasizes the belief that access to
testing is crucial for the well-being
of every student. It reaffirms our
commitment to working together to
ensure a secure and thriving learning
environment,” Chapelle said.
“UNANIMOUS” continued on page 3
By OLIVIA FENDRICH
ON OCT. 2, THE Native Student
Union (NSU) hosted a panel
discussion featuring speakers
from the Indigenous communities of
the greater Portland area. This was
the first event in a series celebrating
Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
This event series is in partnership
with the Center for Social Change
and Community Engagement, the
Office of Equity and Inclusion and the
Office of Inclusion and Multicultural
Engagement at Lewis & Clark.
Jarrette Werk of the Aanilih and
Nakoda of the Fort Belknap Indian
Community in Montana was the first of
three speakers. He works as a reporter
for Underscore News, an organization
that reports on Indigenous and tribal
issues in the Pacific Northwest.
The second speaker was Annabelle
Rousseau ’23 of the Mnicoujou band
of the Cheyenne River Sioux, who
spent the summer working as an
Equity, Climate and Energy Intern for Multnomah County. During her
time at LC, Rousseau majored in
Environmental Studies with a minor
in English.
The third speaker was Yesenia
Morales Santos of the Mixtec tribe in
Oaxaca, Mexico. Morales Santos is a
Project Associate at Upstream Public
Health where she works to promote
health equity and accessibility.
The panel was moderated by Jamie
Cale who is an Ojibwe and Cree program
manager for the OEI. The panel began
with a question about the speakers’
childhoods and how they were connected
to their cultures in their youth.
“Growing up, I went to powwows.
Since I wasn’t born on a reservation,
that’s how I would connect with my
culture,” Rousseau said.
Rousseau explained that her father
was born on a reservation in New
Mexico. She grew up hearing about her
family’s “life on the rez.” She emphasized
the role of family in passing down tribal
traditions, particularly through her
relationship with her grandfather.“My grandfather is still around
and was able to teach me how to do
beadwork,” Rousseau said.
She emphasized that her multiracial
background was often subject to criticism.
“Today I still am proud of being
Native, but for folks who are mixed,
it’s hard to stand your ground. People
antagonize me for it,” Rousseau said.
Werk spoke about the effect of
colonization on his family’s culture.
“When my grandma went to boarding
school she didn’t speak a word of English,
but when she came back she couldn’t
speak our Native language,” Werk said.
During his life, the Catholic
Church became a major force on his
reservation, but tribal traditions
remained important among his people.
He said that in spite of the racism
prevalent throughout Montana, he
never questioned his identity.
Morales Santos had a different
experience. She explained how she is
grouped in with other Latin American
people despite the fact that she
identifies as part of the Mixtec tribe. Her language is an ancient language
unrelated to Spanish.
“Identifying as Indigenous was
different because I was exposed to my
parents’ language, but I was a part of a
Spanish community. I was never asked
about being Indigenous until I got into
higher ed,” Morales Santos said.
Moderator Cale then asked about the
panelists’ opinions on blood quantum and
tribal enrollment criteria. Blood quantum
laws are the rules that define Native
American racial status based on the fraction
of one’s ancestry that is Indigenous.
Werk spoke of conversations he had
had with his partner about the strategies
they would have to use to have children
that qualify as tribal members.
Werk discussed the issues that would
arise if he and his partner wanted to
have a child, as they are in a same-sex
relationship. For their biological child to
qualify for membership in Werk’s tribe,
Werk would have to use a surrogate
mother who was also from his tribe.

“SPEAKERS” continued on page
OLIVIA FENDRICH/THE MOSSY LOG
Jamie Cale, Jarrette Werk, Annabelle Rousseau and Yesenia Morales Santos speak at panel on what it is to be a part of the Indigenous community and define their identity.
By ROBERT MANGER
ON SEPT. 29 , the philosophy
department hosted a
colloquium featuring Liam
Kruchten ’24 who spoke about his
experience as the sole undergraduate
at a conference held by the Caribbean
Philosophy Association (CPA). He
was able to attend this program via a
Student Academic Affairs Board grant.
The week-long conference
consisted of panelists who introduced
fundamental Caribbean philosophical
concepts and points of contention in
contemporary Indigenous thought.
Points of contention included what
it means to be human, whether
queerness is inherent to Blackness, the
continuing use of Western philosophy
and conceptions of gender.
One motif was the intentional use
of the term “transdisciplinary” as
opposed to “interdisciplinary” when
describing education that draws on
multiple academic fields.
According to Kruchten,
transdisciplinary means following an approach to education that is
less reductive, more accurate in
joining disciplines together and more
inclusive of nonprofessionals.
When asked about the applicability
of the term “transdisciplinary,” English
and Philosophy Professor Phillip
Barron weighed in on the concept.
“A transdisciplinary approach
has always been important to me
when I think about teaching because
I think it makes space for a different
community of scholars to be present
in the classroom,” Barron said. “But
it also allows the way we talk about
things in the classroom to more
closely match how language is used
outside of the classroom.”
An imperative topic of discussion
was the idea of shifting the geography
of reason away from a model wherein
European ideas are placed on a pedestal.
“Often in academia or just
in general, African philosophy,
Indigenous philosophy and
Caribbean philosophy are only
valued in relation to Europe and in
contrast to Europe,” Kruchten said. “Yes, there are conditions created
by colonialism, but we do not need
to continue colonialism and be
complicit by studying only British or
European philosophers and saying
‘people in our history have a similar
argument or did the same thing, so
they must have gotten them from
Europe.’”
Regarding his experience as a
whole, Kruchten admitted it was
scary, especially due to the substantial
barrier of knowledge regarding
Caribbean philosophy, but that it was
great to be around people who are
good at what they do and push one
another without passing judgment.
He claimed that unlike abstract
Lewis & Clark courses pertaining to
less prototypical philosophies which
encourage one to disconnect from
their cultural context, the hands-on
nature of the CPA allowed for “doing”
philosophy in a way that felt personal
and full of emotion.
Despite the receptive eyes and ears
of the scholars who attended CPA,
Kruchten reminds himself and others that it is important to remain vigilant
of the relationship between the self
and non-Western philosophies.
After watching the presentation,
two philosophy majors who were
asked about their takeaways said that
it was nice to get a general overview of
contemporary Caribbean philosophy. For those interested in an
introduction to Caribbean philosophy,
Kruchten recommends reading the
works of seminal scholars such as Sylvia
Winter or Frantz Fanon, referring to
the wonderful philosophy professors on
campus or even reaching out to active
scholars like Lewis Gordon by email.FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023
NEWS 2
Krutchten presents on philosophy learnings from visit to CPA summer conference. ROBERT MANGER/THE MOSSY LOGPhilosophy colloquium features student presentation
Liam Krutchen ’24 discusses his experience at Caribbean Philosophy Association conference this summerBy ROSALIE ZUCKERMANN
FOR THE FIRST time in its
history, Lewis & Clark has
created an official position for
Indigenous creative collaboration
and leadership. This role, entitled the
Native Scholar-Artist in Residence, is
filled by Dr. Waylon Lenk ’08. Lenk
graduated LC with a double major in
German Studies and Theatre.
Originally from the villages of
Ka’tim’îin and Taxasúfkara near
the Oregon-California border, Lenk
is part of the Karuk tribe and has
worked extensively in the field of
Native Theatre, particularly with
Native Shakespeare.
“I have been eyeball deep in the
field of Native theatre,” Lenk said.
Lenk played a large part in New
Student Orientation (NSO) by giving
a land acknowledgment speech as well as a lecture on Native Shakespeare.
Native Shakespeare is a field that
focuses on rewriting or translating
Shakespeare to fit within the the
traditions and values of different
world cultures, and deconstruct
the legacy of colonialism that is so
intertwined with Shakespeare’s work.
The Native Scholar-Artist
position grew out of “an institutional
commitment to build relationships
with Indigenous communities
grounded in honesty, respect, and
reparative action,” as stated by
President Robin Holmes-Sullivan
last year on Indigenous People’s
Day. As part of this initiative, Lenk is
directing this semester’s Main Stage
play, Henry IV, Part 1.
Over a year ago, Professor of
Theatre Štĕpán Šimek and Associate
Professor of Theatre and Department
Chair Rebecca Lingafelter reached out to Lenk to see if he would be interested
in directing a play at LC. In January
plans for the play were solidified.
“They were looking for a Native
play but didn’t know if their
department had the demographics to
support any plays by Native authors
about which they already knew,” Lenk
said. “I suggested Yvette Nolan’s
English-to-English translation of
either Henry IV, Part 1 or Henry IV,
Part 2 that she had done for the Play
On Shakespeare translation project
between 2015 and 2019.”
Algonquin Playwright and Director
Yvette Nolan uses English-to-English
translations of Shakespeare to clarify
archaic English while still keeping
the same rhythms and meter. A
2018 interview with Nolan about
her process translating Henry IV,
Part 1 is posted online on the Folger
Shakespeare library.
“After four days of working
through the translation line by
line, we read the whole thing and it
clocked in at 2 hours 20 minutes,”
Nolan said. “And still it clipped
along, clear and lean and muscular.
I wondered about how the archaic
English in the original slowed us
down because we were working so
hard to be clear, working so hard to
bring the audience along with us,
working so hard to simultaneously
translate and deliver the text.”
After the Theatre Department’s
student advisory board decided
on Henry IV, Part 1, the show
preparations began in earnest.
Nolan has done work as a writer-in-
residence at various universities as well
as the National Arts Center in Ottawa
and the Saskatoon Library. Lenk
worked with Nolan as her resident
dramaturg, a term for a literary
editor and research consultant to the
author or director of a play. Lenk has
been critiquing and adapting Nolan’s
translation of Henry IV with her for
many years. In November, Nolan will
give a talk about her translation of
Henry IV at LC.
“I haven’t had an opportunity to sink
my teeth into this play since 2019, and
I am loving getting to work with such a
talented group of artists to continue to
explore the themes of masculinity and
power that have been so fascinating to
Yvette and me about this play for the
past 8 years,” Lenk said.
Lenk’s experience directing this play
so far has been overwhelmingly positive.
“I was expecting good things
coming here to direct… but I am not
being hyperbolic when I say that
everyone has been exceeding my
expectations,” Lenk said. “I have a
fantastic design team, and my Student Stage Manager Piper Clark-White,
Assistant Director Skylar Vayda and
Assistant Stage Manager Isabella
Mercado are all absolute dreams.”
The cast of the show is primarily
underclassmen, composed of eight
freshmen and two sophomores.
During auditions, Lenk was
impressed by the caliber of the actors.
“We did not have any bummers of
an audition, which gave me the best
possible problem to have in casting—I
had too many good options,” Lenk said.
The cast was thrown into
demanding rehearsals immediately,
yet Lenk described members’
composure and perseverance as
better than some professionals.
“We started the rehearsal process
with a weekend movement workshop
to understand the physical language
of the piece and how violence works
in the world of this play led by myself
and my very-exciting-to-work-with
movement director Claire Aldridge,”
Lenk said.
The critical work that Lenk and
his students are doing deals with
the complex legacies of colonialism
by bringing awareness to the deep history of the land on which this
college sits.
“My focus is on guiding my artistic
collaborators to a production that they
can be proud of,” Lenk said. “That is
honestly taking a lot of energy—like I
say, I have a great team, but the play
itself is a beast: five acts long, and the
language is dense even when spoken
in our English.”
When considering the future of
the play, Lenk intends to widen its
reach outside the LC community.
“It is my hope that we can connect
this play with the larger Portland
community, especially the Portland-
metro Native community,” Lenk said.
“I think this is too important a work
to get siloed on Palatine Hill.”
The creation of the Native
Scholar-Artist in Residence position
is a profound and historic moment
in LC’s evolution. Lenk is paving the
way for this role to be a lasting and
integral part of the school.
“This is the very first time this role
has happened, so we really are making
it up as we go along,” Lenk said.
Henry IV, Part 1 will be showing in
Fir Acres Theatre Nov. 3-5 and 9-11.
Lenk originates new theatre position 15 years after graduating from department.COURTESY OF LEWIS AND CLARKNative Scholar-Artist in Residence role debuts
Dr. Waylon Lenk ’08 spearheads newly-created position hoping to forge enduring legacy in theatre
COURTESY OF LEWIS AND CLARK
Lenk is directing LC’s fall play, Henry IV, Part 1, which he adapted with Yvette Nolan.FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023
NEWS 3
Unanimous decision makes
testing accessible for students
Speakers discuss community,
struggle defining self in culture
Continued from page 1.
Students can sign up through a
google form by answering questions
designed to pair them with the best
possible mentor.
Zhang also expressed her hopes
that first-generation college students
will also take advantage of both the First-Generation Mentorship Program
and IME’s other mentoring program,
Great Expectations, which focuses on
peer mentorship.
“Because you never know, your
peer mentor might be able to help
you with one thing, but your first-gen
mentor might be able to help you with
something else,” said Zhang.Program created to help
students navigate college
Continued from page 1.
As of now, there is a limited quantity
of antigen tests available with ASB
potentially looking into buying more in
the future.
“For the time being, ASB purchased
900 wholesale rapid antigen COVID
tests with the intention that this will
hopefully last us some time,” Chapelle
said. “This number was decided on
after seeing what the school had
purchased to supplement the supply at
the bookstore.”
The tests have been available
down at Campus Safety since Oct. 4,
though Chapelle asks that students be
considerate of the limited resources.
“While these tests are available for
all students, be mindful of others that
may have a more immediate need for
these tests,” Chapelle said.
In addition to changes around
testing, one of the most important
updates is that vaccinations are no
longer required.
“As of June 1, 2023, Lewis &
Clark no longer requires students
or employees to receive COVID-19
vaccinations or boosters to attend
school or work,” the website said.
Another change is that isolation
rules are now less restrictive and
require less time in quarantine. Where
in the past students were required to
quarantine for five days and pass a
negative COVID test, now as long as
symptoms are improving, students do
not need to remain in isolation.
“Isolate in place until your
symptoms are improving and you have
been fever-free for 24 hours. You do not need to get a negative antigen
test in order to end isolation. You
do not need to isolate for 5 full days
if your symptoms improve before
then and you remain fever-free,” the
website said.
The college website does advise
wearing a mask for ten days after
symptoms begin.The new COVID policies adopted by
LC reflect the government’s declaration
of COVID’s epidemic status. However,
ASB’s decision to fund COVID testing
indicates strong student interest in
maintaining campus wellness, regardless
of national trends. The effects of providing
free testing will hopefully ameliorate the
high case numbers on campus.
Continued from page 1.
Ultimately, Werk and his partner
concluded that their child would be
Native no matter what, since their father
is Native.
“Blood quantum is specifically
meant for limiting tribal membership,”
Rousseau said. Rousseau, who identifies
as mixed, notes that race identifiers on
some forms are often not useful for
people of multiracial backgrounds.
“I’ve run into the situation where
I wasn’t allowed to check ‘of hispanic
origin’ and ‘of two or more races,’”
she said. “Why would I pull apart my
identities like that?”
Morales Santos shared another view.
“On a census, it’s different because
there’s affiliate tribes,” she said. “I didn’t
know that someone from Mexico could
be affiliated.”
The discussion then shifted toward
the topic of preserving Native identity
in the face of colonization and white
supremacy.
“I grew up both immersed in my
culture and away from my culture. I
always wanted to learn our language and
speak our language,” Werk said.
Although Werk hasn’t become
fluent yet, he believes that the effects
of the pandemic increase the urgency
of promoting Indigenous language
learning.
“It is now or never. We need to have
a full-blown daycare for immersion,”
Werk said.
Morales Santos said that her
parents were integral to her connection
with her culture.
“My parents migrated from Oaxaca
to Oregon,” she said. “There’s nothing I
know more than here.”
She noted that growing up in
a community that was primarily
Hispanic strengthened her relationship
with her culture.
Rousseau said that she had the
opportunity to meet other Indigenous
people in Portland, particularly as it has
the ninth largest urban Native population
in the United States. However, attending
LC had its drawbacks. “I attended an institution called Lewis
and Clark College and our mascot is the
Pioneers which is weird. It showed the
dichotomy of what the Pacific Northwest
chooses to glorify,” Rousseau said.
Werk said that involvement with
the Native American Youth and Family
Center (NAYA) was integral to him in
connecting with the Native community
in Portland.
Rousseau found community through
attending Native farmers markets.
“There are vendors of all types
of Indigeneity there. It’s not specific
to the continental balance of the
U.S.,” she said. “Also, whenever I can
connect with another young person
who’s Native, I consider that a form
of community.”
Morales Santos has struggled with
finding a community where she belongs.
“I don’t think I’ve found a place
where I feel like my Indigenous culture
is being celebrated in the way I want it to
be celebrated,” she said. “But we can use
social media in a very meaningful and
precious way.”
Cale asked about the significance of
Indigenous Peoples’ Day to the panel
of speakers.
“Indigenous Peoples’ Day is one of
those days where you can see a change
in the movement,” Morales Santos said.
“There’s so many Indigenous people
who built a legacy who get to see it on
Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”
“It’s really cool just to celebrate all
the work Indigenous people have done,”
Rosseau agreed.
For allies to the Indigenous
community, Rousseau had suggestions.
“One of the ways allies can connect
and celebrate Indigenous Peoples’
Day is to look into opportunities for
continued learning about Indigenous
People,” she said. “Whether that be
following Indigenous activists and their
work, or purchasing something from an
Indigenous artist.”
For Werk, Indigenous Peoples’ Day is
about “reframing the way we think. It’s
a day to be unapologetically yourself.” In
addition to NAYA, Werk promoted the
Native Wellness Institute, a nonprofit organization that hosts programs to
“embrace the traditions and teachings of
our ancestors.”
Then, the panel asked for audience
questions. A question from the audience
asked if it was okay for them to identify as
Indigenous even though they have a very
limited connection to their ancestors’
now extinct culture.
“A lot of the time, people are scared
to say they’re reclaiming a part of their
culture. You have every right to do so,”
Rousseau said in response. “If somebody
tries to be aggressive towards you, you’ll
come across that regardless. It’s none of
their business.”
Another audience question asked the
panelists if there was a common thread
that united all Indigenous experiences.
“Resilience is something a lot of
Indigenous people have. We’re still here
in spite of so many things set up to harm
us,” Rousseau said.
The final question was if land
acknowledgments are effective.
“By doing land acknowledgment,
you’re decolonizing the ways we see
our land,” Morales Santos said. “The
Columbia River was known as the
Big River by the tribes who used it
for trading. Calling it the Big River
decolonizes it.”
Morales Santos then referenced
Columbus Day, the federal holiday that
the newly adopted Indigenous People’s
Day is observed alongside.
“We can continue to decolonize a lot
of things we use, like Columbus Day,”
Morales Santos said.
Morales Santos ended by
emphasizing the importance of
education on Indigenous peoples.
“Know the land you’re on and who
was there before. It helps us to remember
who we were before,” she said.
The NSU has another upcoming
event in this series, which is a workshop
for Indigenous allies. The event will
take place on Oct. 10 at 3:45 p.m. in
Miller 207. The NSU will celebrate
Indigenous People’s Day on Oct. 9 with
a community mixer at 5 p.m. at Gregg
Pavilion. This event is exclusively for
Indigenous identifying individuals.ELISE SON/THE MOSSY LOG TANVI SHUKLA/THE MOSSY LOG
Reimagining
Roberts
112
Fill out this survey to vote on what
you think Roberts 112 should
become!
By PAIGE A. ANDERSON
Lauren Caldwell ’24 wrote a
book of poetry titled “Other
Scavengers,” which is made
up of 43 poems. Typically called
a chapbook, this small collection
of poetry is organized around a
central theme. Much of Caldwell’s
poetry focuses on her experiences
of living in San Francisco’s outer
Richmond district, where she was
born and raised.
Growing up, Caldwell was
fascinated by the nonconformist
mid-century Beat poets who
would frequent cafes, bars and
bookstores around the city. She
sought out these places so she could
appreciate the lyrical, free-verse
art form. American poets Lawrence
Ferlinghetti and Diane di Prima, two
of Caldwell’s idols, were forerunners
of the Beat style of poetry and helped
define San Francisco as a hub for
poetic art forms.
The landmarks and experiences of
San Francisco life serve as the main
inspiration for “Other Scavengers,”
whose poetry encapsulates the weird and wonderful aspects of the city.
Caldwell tends to avoid heavy
topics such as love and death, instead
focusing on the strange and unique
experiences that San Francisco
has to offer.
“I find (love and death) harder
to write about than weird stuff that
happened to me at the grocery store
or something like that,” Caldwell said.
The creation process was very
involved, from editing to reevaluating
content and the order in which the
poems appeared.
The collection was created in
tandem with a poetry class here at
Lewis & Clark. The class culminated
in building a portfolio, which helped
Caldwell build a collection that she
was proud of.
The publication of “Other
Scavengers” was a lengthy affair,
taking almost three years to complete.
“An ex-boyfriend’s friend of a
friend's aunt owns this independent
book publishing company in San
Francisco, and I was told that she was
looking for new authors,” Caldwell
said. “There's a series called the
Page Poet Series. Each volume is by a different person. I'm number 16 in
this series, and I just sent her over my
manuscript on a whim and she ended
up really liking it.”
The editing portion alone took
between two and three months,
with a consistent back and forth
between editors, publishers
and Caldwell.
“I edited it, I decided what I really
wanted to be in there and what I
wanted to take out, and then it got
checked again by the publisher,”
Caldwell said. “Then the whole
choosing-the-graphics portion was
another big step in the process.
It's interesting because there are
so many little things that go into
publishing that I never thought about,
like the fonts.”
Having outside critiques and
suggestions on passion projects
or personal art forms can be
intense, but Caldwell benefited
greatly from her publisher’s
expert advice.
“There were certain parts of
poems that
she wanted to
highlight more
and I really
struggled with
coming up
with titles. She
helped me pick
out different
ideas or
different lines
in the poem
and suggested
grouping them
together or
titling them
into different
things,” Caldwell
said. “She also helped me figure
out what order I wanted them to go
in, which is something that I never
really thought about. Especially
in poetry, it is another important
part of curating because the way
that the poems appear ends up
affecting their meaning.”
The beautiful cover art of Caldwell’s
book was designed by San Francisco
artist Clare Rojas, a multimedia
creator who plays with surrealist and
dream-like subjects. The book cover
is an eclectic combination of animal
and human figures interacting with
one another in a green expanse
of various hues.
Caldwell has also read select
poems live, which she describes as
both a terrifying and exhilarating
experience. Caldwell did a reading
at the University of Portland as part of the Northwest Undergraduate
Conference on Literature and
won second place in creative
writing for her verse. Caldwell has
also done a
reading of
her poetry at
a bookstore
in the city
that inspired
so much of
her work: San
Francisco.
Incredibly
grateful for
the chance
to introduce
her work to
the world,
Caldwell hopes
to encourage
more young writers to seek out
similar opportunities to work with
professionals and to use the editing
and publishing process to learn more
about themselves.
“I wish that there was a way to
empower and inspire, to try to pursue
this because I feel like there are so
many excellent writers out there
and it's so hard to stumble upon an
opportunity to get published. I wish
there were more resources to help
young writers achieve that. It was
very helpful for my own growth and
figuring out who I am as a writer. I
would love for other people to be able
to have that,” Caldwell said.
Hopefully, Caldwell will consider
blessing LC with a reading of her
poems at The Co-op’s Open Mic
Thursdays, but for now, print
copies of “Other Scavengers” are
available for purchase on campus.FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023
ARTS 4
maia kesler /the mossy logGALLERY OFFERINGS
Hoffman Art Gallery:
Broken Spectre
“'Broken Spectre' is an immersive,
74-minute film that shifts between
a manifold of ecological narratives,
from the topographic to the
anthropocentric, and to a careful
examination of nonhuman violence
and survival… in the Amazon Basin
and related eco-systems.”
- Lewis & Clark Website: Events
Portland Art Museum:
Black Artists of Oregon
“This exhibition serves to deepen
our awareness of the talented artists
who have shaped and inspired artists
regionally and nationally, and it will
be the first of its kind to consider
the work of Black artists collectively
in Oregon.”
- Portland Art Museum WebsiteTHIS WEEKEND
5-7 - One Act Festival: Questions/
Choices/Consequences
7:30 p.m. @ Fir Acres Theatre
The LC Theatre Department
presents their annual One Act
Festival featuring 3 student
directed, one-act plays that span
genres and styles.
Tickets: $3 Students, $5 General
Admission
6 - Art: First Friday Art Walk
6-9 p.m. @ East Side Arts District
Free! Art Openings,
Performanes and Live Music

6-7 - Dance : NW Dance Project
Presents ‘Sharing Stories’
7:30 p.m. @ Newmark Theatre
1111 SW BroadwayAND BEYOND
14 - Film : Cinema of Horrors Drive-in
Presents ‘Evil Dead’
7 p.m. @ Clark County Fairgrounds
16 - Music: Wilco
8 p.m. @ Wonder Ballroom
20 + 22 - Music : Ashnikko
8 p.m. @ Roseland Theatre
20 - Music : The Macks
9 p.m. @ Mississippi Studios
21 - Film : Cinema of Horrors Drive-in
Presents ‘The Shining’
7 p.m. @ Clark County Fairgrounds
21 - Music : Molly Burch
9 p.m. @ Mississippi Studios
23 - Music : STRFKR
8 p.m. @ Mississippi Studios
26 - Music : Halloween Cover Band
7 p.m. @ The Co-op 27 - Film : Cinema of Horrors Drive-in
Presents ‘Scream’
7 p.m. @ Clark County Fairgrounds
28 - Theater : Gagged Halloween Show
7 p.m. @ Evans Auditorium
28 - Music : Drugdealer
8 p.m. @ Polaris Hall
29 - Film : Cinema of Horrors Drive-in
Presents ‘Nightmare on Elm
Street’
7 p.m. @ Clark County Fairgrounds
31 - Film : Cinema of Horrors Drive-in
Presents ‘Halloween’
7 p.m. @ Clark County Fairgrounds

RECURRING EVENTS
Mondays - Psanctum Open Mic
7 p.m. @ The Haven
Thursdays - Co-op Open Mic
7:30 p.m. @ The Co-op
Saturdays - Rocky Horror Show
11 p.m. @ Clinton Street Theater Upcoming Events - OctoberCity life, small moments memorialized
in published student poetry collectionMossy
Music
rainy day
recommendations
“One More Cup ”
By Frazey Ford
"I like this song for a rainy day
because it’s the perfect mix of cozy,
sad and a little mysterious. This is
how I feel when it’s rainy and gray
out and I’m tucked up in my house
with some tea trying to decide if I
should go out for an adventure or
stay right where I am."
—Lola Arthur '25“From Eden ”
By Hozier
“A perfect song to play as the rain
trickles on the window and you make
yourself a warm cup of cinnamon tea.
Fall is for flannels, maple cookies,
and Hozier. “From Eden” captures
the beauty of Hozier’s melancholy
voice paired with gut wrenching lyrics
presented to you with an upbeat
tempo. Blast this in your headphones
or on a speaker alone in your room.”
—Elise Son '27
“Can't Let Go ”
By Human Nature
“This electro-soul song invokes a
detective noir atmosphere of a perfect
rainy night, which explains why it
became the theme song for Bosch , an
Amazon Prime detective series. Listen to
this song if you’re planning on wistfully
reminiscing, staring out a window on a
rainy night as the chaos of the corrupt
city drolls on in the background.”
—Isaac Babus '26“Idaho ”
By Slow Pulp
“What makes this song fall for me is
the line 'I kept on holding out for the
downside.' That feeling is so fall to
me, being in transition and waiting
for something better. I’m daunted by
transition—I always have a pessimistic
outlook towards it and this song really
encapsulates that for me.”
—Millie Minerath '24
Caldwell's cover by artist Clare Rojas.PAIGE A. ANDERSON/THE MOSSY LOG
“I wish that there was
a way to empower and
inspire, to try to pursue
this because I feel like
there are so many excellent
writers out there."
-Lauren
Caldwell '24Great Highway, San Francisco
There was a young couple rethinking their first baby,
there was a white lady and her beagle and her cigar.
There were people dancing and
getting high in their cars.
An old man was worshiping the sun god
and another was scratching a lotto ticket.
They were chasing seabirds and
making out behind trees.
They were going for a cup of coffee
and getting a bite to eat.
A boy was playing frisbee,
a boy was long sunk in the sea.
Someone smeared peace on the stairwell,
someone found it hiding way up on a cliff,
someone teetered there for a bit
then went home.
I retire to the sky without a last name or a cigarette,
dreaming of the people laying beneath the hills
gone, gone beneath the hills.
Poetry from Lauren Caldwell's "Other Scavengers"By KAI MERMIS-CAVA
JOHNNY NURIEL ’ 11 is a
Portland-based performing
artist, who typically performs
alongside their husband Isaiah
Esquire. The duo is well-known
throughout a variety of communities,
particularly the queer community.
Events they have participated in
include Portland Pride, Halloween
Town and Boyurism. Recently, Nuriel
acted as the host of Lewis & Clark’s
New Student Orientation (NSO)
drag show. The show was put on by
Gagged, the LC drag performance
club, and featured both student and
non-student performers.
Nuriel has been a part of the
performing arts community for over
a decade since graduating from LC.
They started performing when they
were still in high school as part of
a theater program, and began to
experiment with other forms of
performance in college.
“When I was a sophomore,
RuPaul’s Drag Race came out,”
Nuriel said. “So I remember watching
season one… and then all of us, like
a bunch of my friends and I, we all
got into drag just for fun. So that was
definitely my first experience…getting
into drag at a pretty young age, just
having a lot of fun with that and really
experimenting with different forms of
gender expression.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race is a reality
television show which first aired
in 2009. It has since exploded in
popularity, and recently finished
season 15. The show consists of
drag queens competing against each
other for the title of America’s Next
Drag Superstar and has massively
contributed to the popularization of
drag in mainstream culture.
When performing at the NSO drag
show, Nuriel stated that their coming
out would have looked much different
if their NSO had a drag show, and how
much joy they found in this one.
“I haven’t really been a huge part
of Lewis & Clark since I graduated,”
Nuriel said. “But I have gotten to
perform and participate in some
different events that have happened,
and my perception from the Gagged
show was just seeing how beautifully celebrated (drag) was and how the new
generation have a lot more resources,
a lot more vocabulary.”
Nuriel goes on to reflect on how LC
has changed over the years.
“I can’t really speak to Lewis &
Clark as an institution, but I think it
just reflects more on how the world
has changed,” Nuriel said.
Nuriel was overjoyed to see the
“beautifully queer” first year class,
and that community is built not
just around shared identity but also
through allyship and celebration of a
still often marginalized group.
The acceptance of drag at LC, as
well as public attitudes towards the
queer performing arts community as a
whole, signals a changing world full of
changing ideas.
“Even the fact that that show
exists and that it’s celebrated and
well-attended really speaks to how
important it is in the Lewis & Clark
community. It should definitely be
maybe even a bigger part of the Lewis
& Clark community,” Nuriel said.
Lili Blum ’24, organizer of Gagged
and the NSO show, also spoke to the
importance of drag.
“I realized I was really passionate
about queer expression, queer joy and
providing safe spaces to do that,” Blum
said. “Drag saves lives. Providing safe
spaces for queer expression, which
drag comes in a lot there, literally
saves lives.”
Though Nuriel is well known
within the queer community, they
don’t limit their performances. They
have performed across the United
States in a variety of venues, including
ones that one might not associate with
drag or even the performing arts.
“My husband Isaiah Esquire and I,
we do have the honor of performing in
a lot of conservative spaces. I say it’s
an honor because it’s an opportunity
to access people in a profound way,
to show them, to reach them in a
way that other people may not be
able to,” Nuriel said. “We’ve had the
opportunity to travel throughout the
United States and we’ve performed
in many conservative parts of this
country and performed with a very
queer, openly queer show. The whole
purpose was to bring that to spaces
that needed it most.”Nuriel reflected on the risks that
come with doing this kind of work.
“I think people forget that even
within Portland, Portland being
perceived as such a progressive place,
there is still a lot of bigotry…I see it as
a higher calling to be someone that is
visible and someone that takes a risk
to put themselves in those spaces,”
Nuriel said. “We’re very fortunate that
we’ve never felt or been in real danger,
but it’s definitely a possibility. So I see
it as a high calling to put ourselves
out there and to perform in spaces
that are not connected to the queer
community, that are not connected to
the drag community, and to present
a mission of love and acceptance and
self-love.”
Despite these beautiful parts of the
performing arts community, it is not
without its flaws.
“There’s definitely an aspect of
the Portland drag community...is
focused on the drama, I would say the
less positive aspects of culture, the
substance, drinking, partying, and I
would say that that’s one of the darker
parts of the drag community. It’s not
the only part, but I do witness that,
especially within the younger queens,
just having a bit of a misguided idea of
what it really means to be a queen, or
a drag king,” Nuriel said.
Though negative aspects exist in
every community, there are kings and
queens who strive to make theirs a
better place.
“A king and queen within the
drag world should be a pillar for the
community. This should be someone
that people look up to, this should be
someone that volunteers and brings
awareness, that uses their voice, their
platform to amplify and do good work,
you know, using their powers for
good. I consider myself to be one of
those, and I always aspire and work to
be that. That’s the kind of person that
I want to be in this world, and that’s
how I want to use my platform. And I
see many others that are exemplifying
that as well,” Nuriel said. “We want
to see drag queens celebrated, but
we don’t want to see them losing
themselves, right?”
The drag and performing arts
community is an important part of
both Portland culture and the LGBTQ+ community, and it would be nothing
without the incredible performers
who built it. The community provides
a safe space for anyone who might
need it, regardless of sexuality, gender
identity or personal beliefs, as long
as one respects everyone else within
the space. Supporting and celebrating
drag communities is just as crucial
as participating, as Nuriel hopes to
remind readers. “Support the folk that are part
of the Lewis & Clark community,
that are trying to create safe and
celebratory spaces for queer people.
Support those spaces. Go attend the
shows. Let people know how much
you enjoyed those shows,” Nuriel
said. “Be an activist, be an ally,
and just continue to show up and
support these events that happen on
campus.”FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023
ARTS 5
Johnny Nuriel brings drag to new generation
Local alumn shares reflections on queerness, creative careers, changing landscape in performing arts
Nuriel developed an interest in drag while at LC and made a career out of performing.COURTESY OF GAGGED
The Y2K-themed Gagged show served as a proud and joyful welcome to the class of ’27.COURTESY OF GAGGED
Songwriting instructor offers real-world experience
Faculty member Rebecca Jordan Smith prepares students for arts careers with music industry course
By LILLIAN SMALL
REBECCA JORDAN Smith is
an instructor of songwriting
at Lewis & Clark, who offers
private instruction through the Evans
Music Center and teaches a music
industry course at the Bates Center
for Entrepreneurship and Leadership.
Smith has an extensive background
in the music industry as a musician
and songwriter. She has toured with
Third Eye Blind, Matchbox Twenty
and Lilith Fair, and has written songs
for Prince, John Legend and Kelly
Clarkson. Her original music has
also garnered national praise. She is
a winner of the Songwriters Hall of
Fame Abe Olman Award, has been
nominated for an Independent Music
Award for Best EP and was a finalist
in the NPR Mountain Stage NewSong
competition. In addition to her
musicianship, Smith is an accredited
filmmaker, and has acted in feature
films such as Liberty Heights and
Latter Days.
With her music industry practicum,
Smith demystifies the often daunting
industry and prepares students for the
real world. This includes bringing in
professionals from across the field to
ensure a wide range of exploration.
“For the music industry class,
that’s a really fun one because it’s an
interesting balance of business and
marketing and some maybe not-so-
riveting topics like copyright,” Smith
said. “I teach hands-on practical
experience and simulation of going
through the life cycle of a recording. I try to have the students understand
these concepts by doing them so it’s
not just memorization.”
Both the songwriting and music
industry classes were new courses
that Smith brought to LC’s catalog when she was hired in 2020. Making
contemporary music instruction
accessible is one of Smith’s principal
aspirations in music education.
“Sometimes I meet students who are
really intimidated by (songwriting),” Smith said. “I think it is a balance
because there does need to be a rigorous
application of study and learning. But
if you’re doing this on a professional
contemporary level, there’s such a
wealth of creativity and experimentation that people are succeeding with actually
in the world that I’m not sure if
programs and individual schools reflect
all the time.”
Smith shares advice from her
experience in the music industry.
“Some people are going to be the
front person of a band. Some people
are going to start their own labels,”
Smith said. “Some people are going
to work in publishing, some people
might work in film and TV. There
are so many ways that you can be
involved in the music industry. So
my biggest advice I think would be
being open, and also being willing to
be active.”
Outside of teaching at LC, Smith
has many projects, ranging from
teaching herself how to use FinalCut
Pro to making a short documentary
on Black farmers.
“I like to encourage and inspire
the students,” Smith said. “Even if
music is your love, and the thing
you wake up and go to bed thinking
about, it’s so important to be a well
rounded human. Exploring other
interests, letting yourself be informed
and affected by other mediums, is an
amazing opportunity you have at LC.”
As much wisdom as Smith has
imparted on her students, she also is
excited to continue to learn and grow.
“That is one of the amazing things
about music,” Smith said. You spend
your life trying to master it. It’s
a practice. You always want to be
learning, even me with as many years
experience as I have. I have learned
so much from students.”
Beyond Palatine Hill, Smith is a filmmaker, screenwriter and performer, bringing her vast and varied experience to her students. COURTESY OF REBECCA JORDAN SMITHFRIDAY , OCTOBER 6, 2023
FEATURES 6
Portland Oktoberfest honors German tradition
ALEXANDRA FLORY/ THE MOSSY LOG
Mechanical bull greets visitors as they enter the festival, offering an exhilarating ride.
Tryon Life Community Farm hosts autumn apple festivalBy ALEXANDRA FLORY
ON SEPT. 22 AND 23, Pioneer
Courthouse Square hosted the
Portland Oktoberfest, a 21+ event
celebrating the 213 year old Bavarian
festival. Portland Oktoberfest was
advertised as combining the Bavarian
tradition of Oktoberfest with Portland’s
eccentric flair. This blend of tradition
and novelty held true, with about
10% of attendees wearing “Tracht,”
traditional Bavarian clothing, including
“Lederhosen” and “Dirndlkleids,”
and the other 90% rocking the usual
Portland fashion.
General admission tickets cost
$18 online and $25 in person, which
included two drink tickets. For $10
more, visitors could receive a 20
ounce commemorative beer “Stein,”
the traditional serving vessel at
Oktoberfest. For those who wished not
to drink, entry was $10 both online and
in person.
Upon entry, one could sense the
classic Oktoberfest feel, with blue-and-
white decorated tents as homage to the
traditional Bavarian flag colors, and,
of course, lots of beer. While the event
served traditional Bavarian food such as
sausages and pretzels, Portland brought
its own signature style to Oktoberfest
by stationing various food trucks on the
edges of the square.
The first thing visitors saw when
entering Pioneer Courthouse Square
was a giant mechanical bull, replacing
the traditional carnival rides and
games in Munich. One bold participant
wearing “Lederhosen” and rainbow
suspenders braved the bull but fell off
in under a minute while drag queens
meandered around the tents and
interacted with visitors. Evidently,
Portland has succeeded in making
Oktoberfest uniquely its own.
“[It is] an incredibly chaotic
Portland farmer’s market with some
German influence,” Annika Valkonen
’24 said.
The tradition of Oktoberfest began
in Munich to celebrate the marriage
of Ludwig I, the crown prince of the German state of Bavaria, to Princess
Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.
The celebration of the marriage lasted
five days and ever since, folks from
all over the world have journeyed to
Munich year after year in pursuit of an
enthusiastic jamboree, which now lasts
16 days. While the original purpose of
the celebrations have since been lost in
time, the excitement and dedication to
Oktoberfest has remained strong.
In Munich, Oktoberfest usually
begins with a parade in which proud
Bavarians wearing their “Tracht” waltz
down the street, followed by draft
horses carrying barrels of beer to their
respective breweries. Only the original
six Munich breweries—Augustiner,
Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu,
Paulaner and Spaten—are allowed to
serve beer at Oktoberfest, and each is
served from a dedicated festival tent
in its own custom one-liter tall Stein.
In every tent, live musicians play songs
ranging from Bavarian “Brassmusik” to
American songs like “Take Me Home,
Country Roads.”
While the Oktoberfest in Portland
was much smaller than the main event
in Munich, the two tents in Pioneer
Courthouse Square not only gave that
classic Oktoberfest feeling, but also
provided shelter to the visitors who
still showed up in the rain. There was
also live music played by a band who
gleefully shared East European music
including Polka and a seven-minute
rendition of “Rasputin.”
Ben O’Connell ’24 and Juliana
Wullenjohn ’24 attended the event out
of curiosity, as they both participated in
the Year of Study in Munich program
during the 2022-23 academic year.
Wullenjohn went all out and even
wore her “Dirndl,” which she bought in
Munich for Oktoberfest last year. She
had heard about the event through her
grandmother, who reminded her that
Oktoberfest had begun. Wullenjohn and
O’Connell were both curious about how
Portland’s Oktoberfest would compare
to Oktoberfest in Munich.
“They got the loud music that you
kind of have to yell to speak over. They did that right. You know I like some
of the decor, they got the blue and
white. But there are a lot less people in
traditional wear and everyone is a lot
more sober,” Wullenjohn said.
“Honestly, the main parts of
Oktoberfest are drinking, music and
more drinking and there is enough of
that going on,” O’Connell said.
Both Wullenjohn and O’Connell
reflected that while the event was much
smaller and more tame than what they
had experienced in Munich, it included
the most important parts of the festival
which reminded them of their time
abroad. They both agreed that the
serving of beer is the most important
part of Oktoberfest and were pleased
that a few of the six original Munich
beers were served.
“I love that they imported beer.
It was really nice to see some of my
favorite ones from Munich on the menu
when they are not able to be found
in Fred Meyer or somewhere else,”
Wullenjohn said.
O’Connell agreed, adding that
drinking good, authentic German
beer at this iconic festival was a
pleasant surprise.
“They’ve got real Munich beer which
isn’t totally easy to find in Portland,
so that’s nice. You know, it kind of
just takes me back to when I was at
Oktoberfest. It brings me back to those
days,” O’Connell said.
Even though the drink menu didn’t
serve all six beers from the original
German breweries, it made up for
it by serving other Portland beers,
wines and spirits which do not exist
at Munich’s Oktoberfest, such as a
grapefruit Radler.
Wullenjohn reflected that while the
event was not exactly the same as it is in
Munich, it was not at all disappointing.
“I do like this as a much more chill
and much more affordable option in
comparison to flying to Germany and
buying their 13 euro liter of beer,”
Wullenjohn said.
Portland was able to make something
new and fun out of a tradition that has
lasted over 200 years.
By PAIGE A. ANDERSON
TUCKED AWAY ON the west side
of Tryon Creek State Park, nestled
among the ever-changing leaves,
lies the Tryon Life Community Farm
(TLC). TLC is a non-profit organization
that stretches across seven acres, where an
abundance of apple and pear trees flourish
and goats and chickens thrive amidst the
natural landscape.
A few weeks ago, I heard about the
annual Apple Festival hosted by TLC
on Oct. 1. I was curious about exploring
more of Portland’s niche celebrations
that are adored by locals and visitors
alike. My friends and I drove only a few
minutes to Tryon where we were directed
to park behind a collection of massive
greenhouses. From there, we walked
to the entrance of TLC. The entryway
suggested a donation of $10-$20.We were
greeted with welcoming, warm faces, and
we followed a dirt path that eventually
opened up to a beautiful clearing.
TLC’s abundant property is home
to a small community that lives on the
land and tends to the farms, as well as
independent residential collectives such
as Cedar Moon and the Sacred Land
Alliance. Another community on the
property is the Willow Creek Forest
School, which, according to the TLC
website, is “an outdoor place-based
farm and forest kindergarten.”
The TLC Farm Story, written by
Emily Aronowitz in 2007, details
the mission of the farm as well as its
commitment to sustainability and
quality of life and growth.
“Tryon Life Community Farm
provides educational opportunities,
preserves green space, restores native
ecosystems and demonstrates how one
can indeed live sustainably in this day
and age and in a rather urban setting,”
Aronowitz wrote.Their mission to actively participate
in the protection and celebration
of native species while fostering
wholesome outdoor education is
obvious in the community members’
slow, purposeful way of life on the farm.
On the farm, to the right is a large
open-air covered space. To the left sit
beautifully crafted adobe buildings
adorned with stained glass windows.
Ahead of us, a large yurt with a face
painting station was set up out front.
Tables clustered with a large array
of different apples lined the outward
edge of the covered building, and we
learned about the many types of apples
they grow. We each tried a slice of four
or five varieties and tasted their three
homemade ciders, each with specific
notes about the flavors present in the
different brews. Some of the ciders
boasted smooth, dry-tasting notes,
while others were ‘zingy’ and ‘crispy’
with notes of Sourpatch Kids and olives.
In addition to the fruit-tasting
stations, there was an apple cider press.
One of the residents showed visitors
how it worked and let the children and
parents alike take turns pressing apples
into juice. The mixture of types of apples
in the cider made it rich, flavorful and
complex. The unadulterated apple
flavor was delicious and refreshing in
the warm early afternoon.
As we explored the land, we found
a lovely orange cat chasing a snake, a
small gingham table with tiny chairs
around it, a chicken pen and a large
barn where a Nubian goat bleated and
peaked its head out at us. A rickety
wooden bridge spans a small creek,
hand painted signs signal beehives and
the vibrancy of the plants and animals
is apparent.
We saw two different children
running around with chickens on their
heads, like eclectic, feathery hats. As the children played around the yurt,
danced along the paths and made
friends with the poultry, parents
intermingled, keeping a watchful eye
on their young ones but also seeming
to know that they were safe on the land.
As a group, we realized that as
college students, it had been years since
we had gotten our faces painted at a
festival, so all four of us sat with one of
the residents of TLC and they painted
bright red apples on our cheeks. The
early autumn sunshine bathed the
farm in a warm light, and the energy
and reverence of the land was present
throughout our experience.
We learned about many volunteer
opportunities offered through TLC. They
graciously welcome and encourage
people to get involved with their
missions of clearing invasive plants,
introducing native plants to the land,
sustainable building and education
inspired by nature.
TLC is accessible to all—the
suggested donations are purposefully
not rigid so that everyone feels welcome.
“TLC Farm is committed to keeping
our land and programs economically
accessible, which means our programs
are offered on a sliding scale and we
work to make use of the land available to
all groups, regardless of ability to pay,”
the volunteer information website reads.
I had a wonderful experience learning
more about the farm and am hoping to
spend some time volunteering on the
property. I highly encourage readers to
get involved with TLC’s mission and
to go see the beauty of the community
for themselves. Even for the student
who doesn’t have time to spend their
free hours volunteering, a visit to the
farm is well worth it. It takes about 45
minutes to walk through Tryon to the
farm—a lovely loop to traverse in the
color-changing autumn forest. NADAV BEN-DAVID/ THE MOSSY LOG
LC Juniors smile with apples painted on their faces, enjoying the sunny afternoon.
NADAV BEN-DAVID/ THE MOSSY LOG
Orange farm cat stocks off with garter snake in mouth, patrolling the farm land. ALEXANDRA FLORY/ THE MOSSY LOG
Oktoberfest participants brave the Portland rain, dedicated to enjoying the tradition. Music, food carts, mechanical bull add unique PNW flair to Bavarian celebration, LC students impressed
Non-profit outdoor education, sustainability collective invites visitors to enjoy afternoon of fall activities
By EMMA AMBROZIAK
PORTLAND IS well known as an
expensive city, and many find
themselves missing out on unique
local experiences in favor of carefully
tending to their fragile college bank
accounts. However, Portland is not
without its advantages for students.
While it can be initially discouraging to
look at prices, it is worth remembering
that a few seconds of research can expose
student discounts camouflaged by
misleading website home pages.
The Portland Japanese Garden,
for example, only knocks a few dollars
off its $21.95 adult admission ticket
for students. However, upon further
research, a year long student membership
is only $50, is tax-deductible, includes
access to member-only events such as
art exhibitions and garden workshops
and offers member discounts in addition
to garden access before it opens to the
public. Anyone looking to rope some
friends into this bangin’ deal should keep
in mind that up to four additional adults
can be added to the purchase, for only
$25 a piece, thus further reducing the
overall cost.
The Lan Su Chinese Garden offers a
generous $13 day admission for students
or a $40 per year student membership
that includes reciprocal benefits with the
Portland Japanese Garden in November
and additional complementary admission
to a different regional institution every
month. In the remaining months of
2023, members will be able to visit the
Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum,
the Oregon Coast Aquarium and the
Clark County Historical Museum.
The Portland Art Museum, with its
ever-changing exhibits, grants $25 per
year memberships to students attending
schools in Oregon. The only caveat is that
the membership is best bought online rather than in person—the front desk
employees are not always aware of this
student deal.
The Oregon Symphony is also
surprisingly affordable: Although
it requires a bit of forethought and
planning, those willing to show their
student IDs can buy $10 tickets for
eligible concerts beginning the Monday
before each concert. Be sure to check the
website for the details before showing
up, but don’t shy away from a fancy
night out for fear of a demoralizing credit
card charge. On that note, if opera is
more appealing than the symphony, the
Portland Opera offers student tickets for
the same price, which can be purchased
over the phone.
For students who are keen on learning
how to swing dance and don’t know what
to do with their Tuesdays or Thursdays,
they ought to check out a seven week class with a $40 student discount through the
Portland Swing Project.
All Lewis & Clark students, regardless
of whether or not they live off campus,
have the option to purchase a 75%
discounted Trimet monthly pass through
the Parking and Transportation Portal.
Exploring Portland and its surrounding
area becomes much more affordable
when you have a reliable public
transportation system at your fingertips
for only $25/month.
Although not specific to Portland,
students who prefer Spotify over Apple
Music should be made aware of the
$5.99/month student premium account
(including access to Hulu).
Students traveling between cities
during breaks or long weekends can
enjoy scenic Amtrak train rides at a 15%
discount. Those who need to travel longer
distances can look for flights through
StudentUniverse, which offers domestic
and international flights for discounted
rates while simultaneously comparing
prices between airlines. Just be sure to
keep an eye out for additional baggage
fees, convenience fees or other hidden
money-swindling ploys that airlines so
often employ.
This is a very brief beginning of
a laundry list of student discounts
that are easily overlooked. I implore
you to venture beyond this island of
a campus and enjoy the city you live
in. It is not as inaccessible as it may
appear. In the meantime, do not be
afraid of public transit, remember that
student memberships often save you
much more money than discounted
daypasses, consider supporting student-
owned-businesses and schools offering
discounted services (massages, haircuts,
tattoos, etc.) and always ask about
student discounts.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023
FEATURES 7
The Sand and Stone Garden is bordered by Portland’s renowned urban Forest Park.
Vintage markets, art exhibits, haunted houses and more await those in search of October pastimesEMMA AMBROZIAK/THE MOSSY LOG
City’s student discounts encourage exploration
EMMA AMBROZIAK/THE MOSSY LOG
ROSE BIALK/THE MOSSY LOG
October is a month filled to the brim with final harvests, spooky festivities, cozy cooking, colorful trees, fall traditions.By MAIA KESLER
AS AUTUMN BEGINS and the
rainy season sets in, exciting
weekend activities are a must
to liven up the atmosphere. Luckily,
there is a wide variety of things to do
in Portland— from right on campus to
across town.
Portland Vintage Market
This market will be held on Oct. 7,
on the Portland Community College
campus in SW Portland. If you are
interested in vintage fashion, this
is the place for you. The market
has more than a hundred vendors
and clothing for all genders, so no
matter what you are looking for, you
will be able to find it. Additionally,
entry is completely free! This is the
last vintage market of the year, so
make sure to stop by before the rain
takes over. If you are interested
in handmade goods and products
beyond clothes, you can check out
their sister market, Downtown Flea.
Details about both can be found on
Instagram at @portlandvtgmarket
and @downtownfleapdx.Portland Art Museum: Black
Artists of Oregon
Easily accessible by the Pioneer
Express on weekends, the Portland Art
Museum is currently housing an exhibit
which calls attention to Black artists in
the Oregon area. The exhibit highlights
works that were created in the early 20th
century, in addition to displaying modern
artwork. Sadé DuBoise, whose art was
seen in the 2020 George Floyd protests,
is one of many artists whose work is
on display. The Portland Art Museum
is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday
through Sunday.
Oaks Park Scaregrounds
If you cannot wait for Halloween,
Oaks Park Scaregrounds is sure to get you
into the mood. It is the Pacific Northwest’s
largest haunted house and is held at Oaks
Amusement Park in Sellwood, right
across the river from campus. The park is
home to three haunted houses, rides and
plenty of food and drinks. Tickets are for
sale on their website and cost between
$25 and $30. The Scaregrounds are only
open Friday and Saturday, so be sure
to make room in your schedule for this
spooky pastime.Portland offers unique selection of memberships, museum passes, event tickets for thrifty scholars
Early fall boasts number of noteworthy local activitiesEMMA AMBROZIAK/THE MOSSY LOG
Stonework plays a vital role in the architecture and allure of the Japanese Garden.The Strolling Pond Garden at the Japanese Garden is home to about fifty koi fish. By OLIVIA FENDRICH
AT FIRST GLANCE, the Lewis
& Clark campus is as safe as
any other institution. The
campus is constantly patrolled by
Campus Safety trucks and there is a
strong emphasis on reporting Title
IX violations, all geared toward
protecting the student body.
That being said, when emergencies
occur, questions arise about
the school’s capacity to respond
constructively. A recent incident in
my dorm late in the night highlighted
this issue. A student was dangerously
intoxicated, requiring immediate
medical attention, which her friends
were hesitant to seek out.
They believed that contacting
Campus Safety or emergency services
would get them in trouble. Other
students phoned the Resident Advisor
(RA) on call, but nobody answered.
While Campus Safety was
eventually called and the student
received the necessary assistance, the
initial failure to reach an RA raises
an important question: Is the school
prepared to support students in
immediate need of help?
The on-campus dorms, although
convenient to freshmen and
sophomore students, raise security
issues. Key cards often grant a student
access to all of the buildings in their
residence area, rather than just the
one they reside in.
For example, a student whose
dorm is in the Forest Residence Hall
complex has access to all Forest halls,
creating a loophole that increases the risk of unauthorized entry and
potential harm to residents.
Another risk posed to those living
on campus is the blue light system.
The black towers with blue lights
stationed around campus each feature
a button that,
if pressed, will
alert Campus
Safety officers.
These towers
rely on high
visibility so
that students
can reach them
if needed.
However, our
hilly, forested
campus can
make it difficult
to locate one
of these towers in the case of an
emergency.
This crucial design flaw places
students at risk of not being able to
contact Campus Safety in the event of
an emergency.
Across campus, other safety
concerns persist. So far in the year, the
administration has made little mention
of last year’s tragic accident.
I value the efforts administration
have made to address the structural
safety concerns on campus. Although,
a question is raised of how educated
students are about safety practices.
Efforts to address structural safety
on campus, what could be used as an
opportunity to educate students about
safe practices instead is mostly forgotten.
The numerous trails found on
campus and in the surrounding area, while picturesque, remain largely
unmonitored by Campus Safety.
Recently, I ventured into the ravine
on one such trail that was virtually out
of sight from the main campus. It was
clear that other students had been
there before,
as indicated by
the cigarette
butts and half-
smoked blunts
littering the
trampled area.
But as I
hiked down, the
trail deteriorated
into a steep,
muddy decline.
I couldn’t
help but think
about what
would happen if I fell or if one of the
branches of the trees came crashing
down upon me. Would anyone be able
to hear me call for help?
Many students flock to LC for its
stunning campus. The opportunity to
walk through a forest on the way to
class is undeniably appealing.
However, the safety risks inherent
to the realities of living on campus and
the scenery that envelops this school
must be acknowledged.
The school should establish
foundational dialogues between
students and Campus Safety to build
trust and address student concerns
about living here.
We deserve informed, non-
threatening policing that prioritizes
student safety. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023
OPINION 8
Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed in the Opinion section are NOT those of The Mossy Log and are held by the authors.By JORDYN SWANSON
THE RAIN IS dreary,
melancholy, glum. The rain is
beautiful, tranquil, charming.
It is a patter against your window,
a chilly drop against your scalp or a
scene for dancing in.
In Oregon, rain is inevitable. It
does three things: comes, goes and
most importantly, stays. The rain is
simply random.
It shows up when you decide
to ditch your jacket at home or the
night you planned to go stargazing
with your friends. It soils the bottom
of your baggy jeans and makes your curly hair double in size. The sight of
it for the fifth day in a row makes you
snarl your lip and sigh, “I should’ve
known.”
Coming to Lewis & Clark, I knew I
would be spending many long, rainy
nights rotting inside my dorm.
However, autumn has always
been my favorite season, so the
combination of dark, rainy skies and
a lush forest right outside my window
enticed me greatly.
The rain is my friend. It is nostalgic
and ambient in a way that makes
studying feel worthwhile. Sitting at
my desk or lying on my bed, I peel
open a book or the lid of my laptop and dissociate for hours to the distant
roar of the precipitation hitting the
asphalt. A hot chai or a platter of
snacks at my side, I find solace in
these rainy hours.
Not to say that rain is a cure-all for
early school year stress. It is actually
quite often the opposite. Many college
students, including myself, have
already started to face the effects of
seasonal depression on campus.
You know the feeling—when
the skies are painted a mocking
shade of gray, each week feels like
it’s stretching through an endless
darkness and all you can wish for is
just one shred of sunlight to keep you
going.
It can be dreadful, and after living
through what feels like centuries of
gloom, it is easy to despise the rain.
I will admit—the descent into fall
after months of infinite sunshine can
be a bit jarring. After all, one of my
favorite activities in the world is simply
lying outside in the grass and taking a
nap in the sun.
But I believe part of mother nature’s
endless changing cycle is appreciating
all the elements for what they are
worth, including the rain. It may be a
nuisance at times, but it can also help
the world feel nourished, alive and
beautiful.
On rainy days, my dorm room turns
into a safe haven, sheltering me from
the elements in a way that still allows
me to enjoy them. Knowing that I am
inside, warm and dry makes me even
more appreciative of the rain.
Whilst hedging myself from the
cold, I like to reread my favorite
novels, write poetry, cook and bake
with my friends or enjoy cozy nights
watching old films and playing nerdy
board games. Rainy days I take to
relax, refresh my body from the upbeat
pace of life and enjoy the warmth of my
belongings and loved ones.
There is no way to avoid rain in
Portland. So instead of dreading that
familiar pitter-patter on my window
in the morning, I look forward to the
feeling of the rain kissing my skin. Students take percautions moving between classes because of weather conditions.Emergencies on campus met with inaction by officials, leaving students feeling uneasy, vulnerable
HALCYON ORVENDAL/THE MOSSY LOG
Rainy days spark calm feelings in spite of gloomy nature
Campus Safety’s crisis preparation inadequite
JORDYN SWANSON/THE MOSSY LOG
JORDYN SWANSON/THE MOSSY LOG
Overcast skies are often present in Portland, the signature climate of the region.“The safety risks
inherent to the realities
of living on campus and
the scenery that envelops
this school must be
acknowledged.”
While many consider gray skies an inconvinience, it may also present itself as opportunity to destressBy JESSIE SHAW
FOR THE 2021-22 school year, a
record number of 677 first-year
students (excluding transfer
students) enrolled at Lewis & Clark,
compared to the enrollment of 473 first-
year students in 2013. Last year’s 626 first-
year students was also an uncommonly
high number, albeit down from the year
before. Maybe this a part of a wider trend
of LC incoming classes being larger in
number from year to year.
The problem is that the increasing
number of new students admitted vastly
exceeds LC’s capacity to comfortably
accommodate students. As a result,
overcrowding has become a primary
concern, especially for dorms and
classrooms.
Last year, I began my first year at LC,
excited yet nervous to experience my first
year living far away from my family. With
the Stewart-Odell complex closed for
renovations, overflow dorm rooms and
converted lounges abounded. While I was
not housed in overflow accommodations,
I knew numerous students who were.
Their opinions about their rooms were
mixed: Many were dissatisfied with the
overcrowded conditions of their rooms,
yet generally got along fine with their
roommates.
Unfortunately, classrooms are also
not spared from overcrowding. They are
not well equipped to handle a growing
student body, as they lack the space to
accommodate the increasingly large class
sizes necessitated by this growth. This has
also made class registration more difficult
and stressful for students as classes fill up
faster due to high demand. Last year, when
I registered for my Intro to Comparative
Politics class, the initial maximum capacity
was 20 students. However, due to the
high demand for the class, 18 additional
spots were added, ultimately making the
classroom extremely cramped.
Since overcrowding affects our
academic and residential experiences, LC
needs to step up to prevent this issue in the
future. I propose two solutions.
One option would be to expand the
school. If LC is determined to increase
the incoming class size, why not build at
least one additional dorm hall or expand a few of the current dorm halls? That would
help make the dorms more comfortable
and less jam-packed. However, LC would
also have to add more classrooms and
amenities and expand essential services
like Fields Dining Hall, which would
be expensive and time consuming.
Additionally, as a result, LC would feel
less like the small school environment we
sought when coming here.
If expanding LC seems too costly for
the administration, keeping the school
small by accepting fewer new students is
another solution to prevent overcrowding.
In this scenario, the school should set a
maximum number of new students they
could accommodate, perhaps no more
than 550 new students. Unfortunately,
that would result in lower acceptance rates for the incoming new students, which I
understand does not feel good after all
the hard work on college applications.
Nevertheless, accepting fewer new
students to keep the school small would
be beneficial for continuing and new
students as having a small school makes
it easier to get to know other students
and professors, thus forming a tight-knit
community.
As overcrowding worsens every year,
the condition of facilities, particularly
dorms and classrooms, becomes more
concerning. If LC wants to accept more
students, the school must expand to
satisfy the growing student body. If the
administration is not willing to expand the
school, they must reject more applicants
to keep it small. Regardless, LC must step
By KAI MERMIS-CAVA
DURING THE month of June,
it has become common to see
businesses change their social
media profile pictures, incorporating a
rainbow flag to symbolize their allyship
to the LGBTQ+ community for Pride
Month. It is also common to see major
corporations toting cliche designs
meant for nothing more than drawing
in money. When corporate pride
merchandise inevitably appears in June,
it has become something of an online
tradition to mock the merchandise.
Scrolling through Tiktok, for example,
one might come across videos rating
Target’s pride merchandise.
This practice of rebranding is
cynically referred to as rainbow
capitalism. Many consider this
representative of the profit-driven
capitalist machine, where corporations
only show public support for the
LGBTQ+ community when it is
financially strategic. During Pride
Month, many people are willing to put
aside any prejudices they might have
held towards large businesses and buy
rainbow-colored items to celebrate.
The main critique of rainbow
capitalism is that companies do not
show support throughout the year.
The moment the clock strikes 12:00
a.m. on July 1, any and all support
from corporations vanishes. Pride
merchandise is either taken down or sold
at a much lower price, and corporations revert to their standard social media
profile pictures, as though it had been
Valentine’s Day or Halloween. Then, for
the rest of the year, they don’t mention
the LGBTQ+ community at all until
Pride Month comes around again.
Maybe the actions of these
companies are meant to be a symbol of
solidarity, or maybe they are nothing
more than a cheap cash grab. Either
way, rainbow capitalism is not a good
thing. It profits off of a community
that is still fighting for rights in the
United States while making no effort
to help said community. While some
companies do donate a percentage of
their profits, most do not.
Rainbow capitalism has also led
to many people showing support
through buying products rather than
actual activism. The origins of Pride
can be found in the Stonewall Riots
occurring over the course of several
days, beginning on June 28, 1969,
after a police raid at the Stonewall Inn.
Corporations ignore these roots, which
leads to the erasure of queer oppression.
The visibility of Pride Month is
incredibly important, but corporations
are nothing but exploitative during it.
While rainbow capitalism is
pandering, it can still drive social
change. Gay couples featured in
advertisements and pride merchandise
publicly displayed at the front of stores
still normalize LGBTQ+ people, even
if the motivation is nothing more than
corporations attempting to make more money. To some degree, it does propel
acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community
by pushing the community into the
public eye.
However, during June of 2023, there
was an obvious decrease in rainbow
capitalism, reflecting America’s
current attitude towards the LGBTQ+
community. Brands were not changing
their logos as they usually do, and
Target removed their Pride collection,
receiving massive backlash.
For the past decade, corporations
have chosen money over their
prejudice, marketing to the LGBTQ+
community because they were able
to make a profit off of it. However,
this past June, the lack of rainbow
capitalism was alarming. Though
rainbow capitalism is a shallow
facsimile of support, the marked lack
of it this year indicates a backward
shift in the general U.S. attitude
toward the LGBTQ+ community.
Now, corporations consider it to be
too controversial, as well as drawing
too much negative attention to be
worthwhile. The lack of rainbow
capitalism itself is not something bad,
but what it indicates is unnerving.
So, is rainbow capitalism bad?
Obviously. Companies that only seek
to profit off of Pride Month do not
truly support the LGBTQ+ community,
or else they would be supporting the
community consistently, instead of
once a year. Their so-called support
is flimsy at best, and non-existent at worst. Every year during June, they
put on a show of peddling products
plastered with pride paraphanelia
and attempt to market themselves as
accepting and supportive.
Yet, despite the exploitative nature
of rainbow capitalism, its absence in June of 2023 was alarming and
made it very clear that corporations
no longer saw enough value in the
revenue they could bring in from the
LGBTQ+ community. Will there be
a change in June of 2024? Or will
corporations continue to do nothing? By KEVIN MATISHECK
GIVEN OUR school’s focus on
sustainability and our youthful
demographic, Lewis & Clark
students might wonder: Is our campus
bikeable? The short answer: no. The
long answer: It could be. It depends on
what you consider to be bikeable and
how you use a bike to navigate Portland
and our campus.
LC clearly makes an effort to get
students biking on campus. Students
have access to ample storage and services
for bicycles, traffic is calmed so that bikers
feel safe on the surrounding streets and
the Pioneer Shuttle offers further bike
access at its stops.
LC clearly has the will, in both
administration and student body, to
make a bikeable campus, but we are no
Amsterdam. The problems for bikeability
at LC arise not only from our history as
an estate, but from the historic intentions
of Palatine Hill as a whole: to establish a
paradise of Pacific Northwest beauty free
from the modernity of the city, and to
make sure anyone without a car (that is,
anyone who was poor) stayed out.
LC is a unique college campus
because it wasn’t purposefully built
to be one. The meticulous sightlines,
abundant recreation and fairytale
landscaping make for a beautiful
wedding venue, but are dependent
on steep stairs, winding paths and
muddy shoes. None of this is really a
problem on foot, as any building on
campus is only ever a fifteen minute
walk away, but on a bike (or any wheels
for that matter) steep stairs and gravel
pathways mean constant dismounts
and potential pedestrian collisions.
The nice thing about being a cyclist
is that you’re also a pedestrian, which is
why nearly everyone who owns a bike
and lives on campus makes the daring
trek to the academic side strong-willed
and bikeless.
But what about the students who
own a bike and don’t live on campus?
For them, the campus is pretty
accommodating. Most of those
aforementioned bike parking areas are
conveniently located where the roads
meet the campus, meaning students
can get off the road, lock up their bike at the entrance and enjoy the serenity
of the estate on foot.
However, trouble arises upon
examining Palatine Hill as a whole. The
area isn’t just car-centric, it’s people-
exclusionary. Anyone without a motor
is greeted by an impenetrable fortress
of sidewalk-less labyrinthine streets
which demoralize even the business
executives they were designed to
protect—not to mention the Teslas and
SUVs speeding by with intent to kill as
you try to find your escape.
Even given the unavoidable
physical demands of biking on a hill,
Palatine Hill should be bikeable.
It is within biking distance of Lake
Oswego, Sellwood and the South
Waterfront with its bicycle highway
leading into Downtown Portland.
Our community also has a dedicated
bicycle path that cuts through the
region and leads to Lake Oswego.
The issue is that bicycles are
forced to take the long way round to
reach any of these destinations. The
aforementioned bike path is only
0.1 miles from the residential side
of campus, but if a student wants to
get there on bike, they have to ride
0.5 miles up busy South Palatine
Hill Road to the law school and then
another 0.2 miles to get to the spot
that should be two pedal strokes away.
LC, with around 2000 students
and 750 employees, is an obvious
travel node and an institution worthy
of cycling infrastructure. South
Palatine Hill’s union of green politics
and green cash needs to put its money
where its mouth is and expand its
existing bike networks to serve not
only the recreation-obsessed peloton
dads who appreciate the extra miles,
but also the cheap college students
who will actually use it. FRIDAY , OCTOBER 6, 2023
OPINION 9
Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed in the Opinion section are NOT those of The Mossy Log and are held by the authors.HALCYON ORVENDAL/THE MOSSY LOG
Pride marketing geared towards LGBTQ+ community is performative at best, exploitative at worst Rainbow capitalism: Companies do not deserve our praiseCampus facilities fall short
for growing student body
ROSALIE ZUCKERMANN/THE MOSSY LOG
Scenic infrastructure
thwarts bike access
THE MOSSY LOG ARCHIVESBy ROSALIE ZUCKERMANN
ALONG WITH the usual
syllabus run-through and
attendance policies, one of
the first discussion topics that was
brought up in my classes this semester
was the question of to what extent
artificial intelligence (AI), specifically
ChatGPT, should be allowed in the
classroom. Because this is such a new
resource, none of my professors had
set policies on how they thought it
should be used. Rather, they opened
the floor for student opinions.
I heard a range of thoughts from
my peers: that ChatGPT is useful and
we should use it unchecked at our own
discretion; that we should not use it to
write content but should be allowed
to use it to accumulate sources for
research; and that we should not
use it in any capacity. As both a mild
technophobe and an English major
with concerns about jobs in the
humanities being displaced by AI, I
align myself closest to the latter stance.
I have never used ChatGPT and I
do not intend to anytime soon. This
is partially due to a desire not to have
that firsthand realization of just how
much it is capable of—I find reading
news about AI disconcerting enough,
and reminiscent of the uncanny
valley.
But aside from my automatic fear
response surrounding all things AI, I
do also logically believe that the use
of ChatGPT in the classroom is not
a net positive. Firstly, it is widely
recognized that ChatGPT poses a
plagiarism issue. Many plagiarism
detection software programs, such as
GPTZero and AI text classifier, have
gained traction, which claim to be
able to determine whether students
are using AI to write essays and
responses.
These fail-safes, however, are not
as foolproof as we would like to think.
There are entire websites and Reddit
threads devoted to the best strategies
for getting around AI detection
software.
Not only does using ChatGPT to
do your work for you inhibit your
own education, it devalues the work
that everyone else puts in by doing
it themselves. It reduces motivation
to treat the assignment as an actual
opportunity to learn, and turns it
into just another meaningless hoop to
jump through on the way to getting a
degree.
“I think ChatGPT is a crutch that
will prevent students from actually needing to learn content. Although
I can see its use for small tasks,
like how to email a teacher with
questions, it also prevents students
from developing the soft skills that
completing those small tasks allows,”
an anonymous K-12 teacher said in a
survey from the National Education
Association.
Simply banning ChatGPT is not the
answer, and my professors recognize
this. Cheating has been around long
before AI, and the people who want
to cheat will always find a way.
Restructuring curricula to prioritize
critical thinking and place less of
an emphasis on regurgitation and
summary is an important adaptation.
Many educators are working hard
to come up with more imaginative
prompts that students will have a
harder time feeding to ChatGPT.
Yet, this poses another challenge:
In a system where teachers find
themselves sidelined, undervalued
and burned out, how do we find the
recources and motivation to build
increasingly ingenuitive classroom
environments? Some school districts are resorting
to replacing human teachers with
digital ones, such as in Mississippi,
where the teacher shortage is one of
the country’s worst.
The implementation of digital
teachers to fill gaps inhibits the social
benefits of school. More reliance on
AI decreases interactions between
teachers and students, as well as
among students.
“Children may also begin turning
to these conversational AI systems in
place of their friends,” notes an article
from Education Next.
Now that we have all been through
the somewhat hollow experience of
attending class on Zoom, we should
value more than ever the socially
interconnected environment of
an in-person classroom. From an
academic standpoint, educators have a
better sense of how to help individual
students when they communicate
with them. AI-dominated learning not
only fosters loneliness, but a sense of
anonymity in the classroom.
The human teacher shortage is not
only an issue for quality of education, but for equity. Despite advantages of
personalized learning, AI can limit
the challenges that create the most
lasting learning and promote bias that
disproportionately impacts students of
color.
“Researchers have found that
schools that serve high percentages
of minority students and students in
poverty have more difficulty finding
and retaining qualified educators
than (w)hiter, more affluent schools,”
Moriah Balingit wrote in a Washington
Post article.
Furthering this inequity is the fact
that the AI systems put in place to
“teach” at these schools are designed
primarily by white developers—a skew
that allows implicit bias to be encoded
into AI. An article from Brookings
titled “AI is coming to schools, and
if we’re not careful, so will its biases”
compares this situation to similar
issues faced in courtrooms.
“We’ve already seen the risks
of using biased algorithms in the
courtroom: Software used to forecast
the risk of reoffending incorrectly
marks Black defendants as future
criminals at twice the rate of white
defendants,” the article states.
The authors also point to the
precedent of standardized testing as
a sign of how not actively considering
the role of systemic racism can create
vastly unfair methods of ascribing
success. AI has not only been used as
an instruction material, but also as
a way to assess how much students
know and in which level courses
they should be placed—similar to
standardized tests.
“(T)hat sorting can be fraught
with pernicious consequences if the
algorithms don’t consider students’
nuanced experiences, trapping low
income and minority students in
low-achievement tracks, where they
face worse instruction and reduced
expectations,” the article states.
Another issue associated with using
AI in the classroom is the privacy
risk. Using AI generative technology
allows the information we feed it
to be stored and analyzed, creating
opportunities for identity theft. Using
AI to analyze grades also encodes
students’ academic performance for
eternity, where every mistake and
opinion becomes a piece of data that
follows them around. While this might
not be any different from the data that
our phones store about us, it is an
expansion into a new environment:
the classroom.However, it is worth acknowledging
that AI resources have also alleviated
some of the draining workload that
teachers struggle with. Being able to
feed simpler assignments and tests to
AI to grade takes a burdensome and
time consuming weight off teachers’
shoulders—something that could
potentially entice more people to take
teaching jobs.
AI grading also allows for students to
receive instant feedback on assignments.
However, this feedback will be less
individualized and in-depth. Every issue
regarding AI is multifaceted, and requires
a weighing of priorities that can vary from
teacher to teacher and student to student.
Are we willing to sacrifice privacy
for personalized learning tracks? Are
we willing to embrace new technology
at the cost of academic integrity and
social inclusion? Or should we resist
the direction in which the world is
moving and risk being left behind in
obsolescence?
I think that if the role of AI in the
classroom is going to be dominant, it will
need much more privacy regulation and
intentional forethought to mitigate bias.
I have heard a comparison that the legal
gray area around AI is much like the Wild
West; we are making the rules up as we
go. As usual, the people making the rules
are the ones who stand to profit from
them.
As for the AI that we face in our
own LC classes, I think that ChatGPT
should be used sparingly and only when
students and professors are on the same
page about how to use it.
Utilizing it creatively can be both
efficient and useful, but I am wary of how
quickly it can monopolize our motivation
to do anything on our own.
This is why I appreciate the class
discussions that acknowledge the
unusual circumstances we are in so that
we can make case by case agreements as
a class.
Ignoring it and pretending that
people aren’t going to crank out that late
night essay with a few prompts of Chat
GPT is not only ignorant, but it changes
the expectations of students.
I am grateful to have the privilege
of getting a college education. If
AI enhances this education, I will
adapt to the changing times. But
all too often, it feels to me like AI
streamlines our education, taking
away the crucial academic challenges
that push us toward success. Keeping
a critical eye on this rapidly changing
educational landscape is more
important than ever.FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023
OPINION 10
Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed in the Opinion section are NOT those of The Mossy Log and are held by the authors.ChatGPT becoming threat to students’ creativity, education, privacy, expectations in classroom environments
AI poses possible issues for learning, equity
ROSE BIALK/THE MOSSY LOG
News Editors
Ava Frison
Olivia FendrichArts Editors
Maya Mazor-Hoofien
Caroline Drew
Sports Editor
Tanvi ShuklaOpinion Editors
Corrina Chan
Lillian SmallFeatures Editors
Paige A. Anderson
Emma Ambroziak
The Backdoor Editor
Emma Ford
Faculty Advisor
Molly RobinsonCopy Chief
J FrankHeads of Broadcasting
Isaac Babus
Joseph ChukuVisuals Editor
Halcyon OrvendalEditor-in-Chief
Amelia DoyleManaging Editor
Rosalie Zuckermann
Business Manager
Irene Hilman
Social Media Manager
Zoe Smith
Photographers & Illustrators Staff Writers
Robert Manger
Kai Mermis-Cava
Jordyn Swanson
Jessie ShawElise Son
Robert Manger
Jordyn Swanson
Rose Bialk
Nadav Ben-DavidKevin Matisheck
Alexandra Flory
Maia KeslerBy ROSALIE ZUCKERMANN
IN SPRING OF 2022, a program
still unknown to most Lewis
& Clark students was founded.
Gabby Beltrane ’23 was struggling
with an ACL reconstruction
rehabilitation, and opened up to
Assistant Athletic Trainer Gina Parisi
about the challenges she was facing.
Since that moment of inspiration, the
Mental Health Validation Program
(MVP) has been evolving into a
critically impactful resource for
athletes at LC.
The MVP provides student
athletes with mental health resources
more tailored to their needs than
a general counseling center. They
offer Student Athlete Support
Groups, Injured Athlete Support
Groups and Emotional Regulation
Workshops, as well as connections to
sports psychologists. The LC website
describes their mission as being
“to break the stigma surrounding
mental health for student-athletes
by fostering a culture of holistic
wellness.”
When Beltrane approached Parisi
about wanting to create resources to
help other struggling athletes, Parisi
knew that it was a project worth
digging into.
“I had been studying and
practicing meditation and holistic
practices that focused on mind, body
and spirit health for 5 years, and saw
the benefits to my own mental health,”
Parisi said. “I wanted to bring what I
knew to Lewis & Clark athletics, but
was only working part time and there
was no structure in place for me to
offer my knowledge.”
Four months later, when Parisi
was hired full-time, Beltrane started
an independent project for credit
to create an athlete-focused mental
health program and asked Parisi
to be her advisor. For Parisi, this
was the start of a gratifying and
impactful collaboration that made
today’s MVP possible.
“This is a vision I’ve had since
2018, to bring mental health
resources into the work I do as an
Athletic Trainer,” Parisi said. “But I
encountered pushback at a previous
institution I worked at, so I was really
honored and humbled that Lewis
and Clark’s athletics department was
supportive of my unique education in
holistic health and desire to support
the mental well-being of student
athletes. Having a collaborator with
a shared vision, and as passionate
and hard-working as Gabby Beltrane
was invaluable.”
Now that Beltrane has graduated,
Parisi has fully taken over as MVP’s
current steward. By connecting with
the Counseling Center, she has also established a staff of therapists who
hold office hours in Pamplin Sports
Center. Glenn Jacob Oviatt and
Christabel Léonce are the primary
Counseling Center liaisons, working
alongside Sports Social Work Intern
Sierra Renham.
“I’m drawn to this work for the
opportunity to accompany students
during such an exciting, challenging
and formative stage of life,” Jacob
Oviatt said. “It’s quite meaningful
to provide support for someone’s
work toward personal wellness while
valuing their own unique journey and
fullness of their humanity.”
In addition to therapy sessions,
workshops are an important part
of the MVP. Parisi reached out to
Léonce to lead two of them, one in
collaboration with a graduate student.
“The first (workshop) I led was
on emotional regulation,” Léonce
said. “It was based on mental health
coping, things that athletes can use
in their day-to-day life… I focused a
lot on emotions, knowing emotions,
recognizing emotions, the importance
of knowing what
you’re dealing
with and using
the right tool for
it because a lot
of the time we
might be using
a hammer and
trying to saw
something and
it’s not going to
saw it.”
If you are
interested in
talking with
someone in
the MVP, drop
in hours are
Tuesdays from
1-4 p.m. and
Wednesdays from
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
in Zehntbauer
Swimming Pavilion room 126. As
part of making mental health less
stigmatized and more accessible,
Léonce remarks on the importance
of the MVP satellite offices being
located within Pamplin so it is more
convenient for athletes to integrate
participation with the program into
their routines.
“I do a lot of outreach, trying to
raise awareness of mental health with
different groups, minority groups
specifically,” Léonce said. “So that
can be people of color, the queer
community and I think athletes tend
to be a minority group on a college
campus because they are kind of
sequestered in a corner.”
Performance anxiety and injuries
that result in questioning identity
around being an athlete are two of
the biggest issues that Léonce sees come up with athletes as a minority
community on our campus.
“I think the most important
aspect of my work is empathy and
presence,” Parisi said. “We live in a
culture that not only conditions us
to believe our worth and value comes
from productivity and achievement,
but also that being emotional is
weak, inconvenient and a burden to
other people. In the subculture of
athletics, it’s even worse because for
so long athletes have been told to be
‘mentally tough’ which has translated
to ‘repress your emotions.’”
Parisi offers new ideas to reframe
how we understand and respond to
our emotions.
“I think being present for someone
in their struggles and offering
empathy eventually leads to them
being able to cultivate self-empathy
(being able to relate to oneself from
a place of care, validation, and
understanding).”
The MVP is not only for people
experiencing more severe mental
health struggles such as anxiety or
depression. It is a
resource for anyone
who wants to be more
involved in bringing
to light the nuanced
circumstances of the
student athletes.
“You don’t have
to have a ‘mental
health problem’ to
come participate,”
Parisi said. “We’re
here talking about
things like ‘what are
boundaries?’ ‘How to
manage negative self-
talk?’ ‘What is diet
culture and how does it
influence how I relate
to food and my body?’”
The MVP is still
relatively new, and
with each new member
that gets involved, the program will
evolve and expand.
“A few goals for the program
is to have a peer support network
where student athletes can facilitate
crisis management and support
groups, a Youtube channel with
educational content and a dedicated
staff member to coordinate the
program,” Parisi said.
Parisi wants to make sure that
students are informed about the MVP
and what it has to offer.
“You can find out about when our
workshops and groups are by following
us on Instagram @MVP.LC or going
to our new website,” Parisi said. “The
continuation and development of this
program depends on student athlete
support. If you are a student athlete,
please consider helping us out by
submitting your feedback.”FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023
SPORTS 11
MVP staff speak out on mental
health resources for athletes
COURTESY OF DERRICK WATERSON
Neighborhood pickleball players flock to stake a claim to crowded Portland courts.
ROSE BIALK/THE MOSSY LOGBy ROSALIE ZUCKERMANN
PICKLEBALL, a paddle sport
often described as a cross
between tennis, ping pong and
badminton, was invented in 1965 by
three dads on Bainbridge Island, WA.
In just over fifty years, it has acquired
36.5 million players nationally, and has
now been ranked as the fastest growing
sport for the past three years running.
As recent events have proven, Portland
is by no means exempt from this trend.
In Sellwood, there has been a
neighborhood debacle spurred by the
high demand for pickleball. In Sellwood
Park, a private community group
called Portland Pickleball Club raised
$20,000 to renovate underused tennis
courts and turn them into pickleball
courts. Portland Parks and Recs issued
the group a non-park use permit to
allow them to legally take charge on the
project.
However, after the construction
was completed and the pickleballing
began, the constant sound of plastic
balls smacking against hard paddles
irritated neighbors who lived near the
park. In response to the escalating
noise complaints, Portland Parks and
Recs decided to change the courts
back to tennis courts. The proposed
compromise is that to make up for the
loss of those courts, the city will turn
lower tennis courts in the park into
pickleball courts. But even this raises
new controversies.
One issue is that the city is not going
to refund Portland Pickleball Club any
of the money they spent renovating
the upper courts. They will refund the
permit fees, but the $20,000 remains
wasted. Another problem is that the
lower courts accommodate far fewer
players than the upper courts—a
difference of 12 as opposed to 32 players.
They are also in worse condition and it
is unclear if the city will put as much
care into paving over cracks and patchy
asphalt as the club did. In an article from KGW8, Portland
Pickleball Club Member Henrik Bothe
commented on the situation.
“At first they just painted some lines
on the very crappy court that is below
us here and wanted us to move down
and move away from all the hard work
and all the money we put in and give it
up,” Bothe said. “But now I think they’re
coming around and they realize that
they have to make it at least as good or
better down there.”
The journey for the club to enact
these renovations in the first place
was not an easy or a brief one. They
spent several years fundraising and
organizing logistics before starting
construction in the fall of 2021, when
the city asked them to stop because
they lacked the proper permits.
According to a KOIN interview
with Portland Pickleball Club Member
Jil Delanty, in the following year the
club paid thousands of dollars for
liability insurance and permit fees.
The aforementioned $20,000 spent
on construction was for materials,
not labor, as all the work was done
by club members themselves. The
construction was finally finished in
fall of 2022.
Delanty’s opinion on the city’s
response to the noise complaints
is that it does not make up for the
years of effort and funds put into
developing these courts. From the
neighbors’ perspectives, however, the
noise drastically impacts their quality
of living. Some have even considered
moving to a different neighborhood.
As pickleball becomes a presence
in nearly every athletic community,
these kinds of issues come up more
and more often. Making compromises
that allow quality pickleball courts
to be available while remaining
non-intrusive to those outside the
community is important, especially
considering how accessible this sport
is to people of all age groups, activity
levels and athletic backgrounds.
Pickleball chaos ensues
on neighborhood courts
THE MOSSY LOG ARCHIVES
“I was really
honored and
humbled that Lewis
and Clark’s athletics
department was
supportive of my
unique education in
holistic health and
desire to support the
mental well-being of
student-athletes.”
—Gina Parisi12FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2023
I read The Mossy Log and all I got was
something in my Backdoor...
Contentedness in mediocrity great
for stoners, others care about futureSpecial interest groups
skate boundary lines
By JESSIE SHAW
THIS WEEK, Lewis & Clark has
launched a motivational campaign
promoting a “growth mindset” to
emphasize the importance of trying new
things, perseverance and challenging
and believing in yourself. However, the
campaign has experienced numerous
setbacks as students have differing
understandings of what a “growth
mindset” means and they need a new
cause to rant about.
“To me, deciding my future is how I
will truly experience a growth mindset,”
Leigh King ’25 said. “I have been having
issues with my family since they do not
approve of how I spend my life–but I do
not have to put up with their bullshit.
I know that whether I pick edibles or
dabs, I am going to be fine. It is my path
to take.”
Although King is an art major,
she initially was planning to major in
biochemistry because her parents want
her to become a doctor. According to
King, after she decided to switch her
major to art, her parents worried that
she would become “a penniless, stoned
hippie,” despite the fact that she has
been painting since she was seven.
Furthermore, she won second place
in her Catholic high school’s art show
despite the sexual undertones in her
painting that no one noticed.
“I may be a stoned hippie,” said
King, “but I still have drive. I will not
be penniless.”
While many of us are taught that
we should never give up, we are still
shunned for failing a test. Although
most students at LC would react as if
failing a test were the end of the world,
Werman Thurman ’26 is one of the
few students at LC who laughs in the
face of F’s—he just gets a new tattoo to
symbolize the struggle, a psychedelic
patchwork of failure.
“When you fail a test, it is not the end
of the world,” Thurman said. “Tests are
stupid anyway. I have so much beautiful
art–a leaf, a bud, a dancing bear. Also,
many of the common tests we have in
class were invented by racist eugenicists.
They can’t judge your intelligence.”
While Thurman plans to major in
political science, his grade in his Intro to
American Politics class has dropped to a D
since he failed the last test. He said he feels
grateful that he was not the only student
to fail the test, as the majority of the class
allegedly got D’s and F’s on the test. He is
also very proud of his new bong tattoo.“It’s not my fault that I failed the test,”
Thurman said. “I could have cheated, and
I could have passed, but then… never
mind. We had to write three in-class
essays in one hour. There was so little
time I could only jot down half of the
lyrics of 1989 Taylor’s Version–I had
Afroman stuck in my head.”
Carrie Oakey ’27, who is in the same
class as Thurman, also failed the test and
did not finish writing the three essays.
Unlike Thurman, she initially reacted
to her failed test score as if it were the
end of the world, but after talking to
Thurman about the test, she realized that
it was not a big deal—as long as it could
be a source of personal growth.
“I have not told my parents that I
failed the test but if I did, they would
probably disown me,” Oakey said. “I
will just neglect to tell them and be
grateful I’m not the sole loser. It will
hardly be the only thing they do not
know about me–I mean, speaking of
personal growth, you should see my
growth setup under my bed.”
Indeed, Professor Interlakner is
regarded by students as one of the
hardest professors at LC, with his
Intro to American Politics class being
especially difficult. Rumor has it that
no student has gotten an A in this
class, except one in 2011 who smoked before every test, prompting many
students to follow in that mythical
student’s footsteps.
While failure and deciding your
life may be considered instrumental
in the growth mindset, Rocky Rhodes
’24 believes that the growth mindset is
centered around experiencing new things.
“Trying new things is instrumental
in growing up,” Rhodes said. “Whether
it’s getting a bad grade, losing a friend
or smoking your seventh joint of
an evening, we grow to learn from
experiences.”
Ranked #1 Student for Reefer
Madness at LC by The Mossy Log,
Rhodes believes that when they smoked
their first silly cig as a freshman,
everything about them changed.
“The moment I smoked my first
joint was when the entirety of myself
changed,” Rhodes said. “It was as if I
had grown from a seedling to a giant
tree. If I had not experienced this
moment, I would still be a seedling
right now.”
No matter how you interpret the
growth mindset, we at the Backdoor
can cover your views to highlight what
LC’s campaign has excluded. If you are
tired of the campaign’s bullshit, read
our hot takes on the growth mindset.
After all, we are growers, not showers.
By LILLIAN SMALL
COMING HOME late after a long
day at the campaign office, Grover
Mint ’17 restlessly opened his
laptop to check his email—a bad habit
that developed while being employed by
Katarina Katz ’18.
Katz and Mint had attended
Lewis & Clark together as bright-eyed
political science students, and were
running for Portland City Council
together on a graduation day promise,
with Katz as candidate and Mint as
campaign manager. It was not going
particularly well.
With mailers and yard signs littering
his apartment, the campaign was taking
over his life in unexpected ways. His
roommates were furious—an entire batch
of door hangers had to be thrown out
after someone had drawn mustaches and
dicks on them. In the glow of the airfryer’s
digital display, an unread email with the
subject line “NRA endorsement” stared at
Mint ominously.
"You know I have been talking
about getting endorsements from
interest groups. So can you reach out
to the NRA? An endorsement from them
would mean a surefire edge against my
opponents. They want a survey from
your potential constituents, have it by
End of Day."
Mint rolled his eyes. Going after
such a prominent interest group
would require some serious rallying
around hobby sport issues, a weak
spot in Katz’s overall campaign. The
National Rollerskating Association
was inoffensive enough, but they took
themselves awfully seriously from
what he had seen at their national
headquarters in Portland’s Alberta
neighborhood. The other week a skating
rally had nearly run him over, along
with his rescue dog, Bernie.
In Mint’s opinion, it made much more
sense to go after a friendlier group such as
the Arts and Crafts Legal Union (ACLU),
or Greenpiece-of-cake (previously
known as the Vegan Baker’s Society, but
rebranded because of the shared acronym
of Vacation Bible School).
Special interest groups were
always passionate about their hobbies
or interests, which was perfectly
understandable. After all, Mint
himself had enough LEGO sets to
stock a store. But some were easier to
work with than others.
Cracking open a Yerba Mate (his
standard Bluephoria), Mint settled
in front of his laptop. As he plugged
away at his word processor, an email
to the campaign’s human resources
department stewed in the back of his mind—something about working
beyond billed hours. But Katz was in a
polyamorous relationship with the head
of HR and a barista at the campaign’s
favorite local coffee shop, so it was
unlikely to go anywhere.
Questions slowly came together:
How will you approach the increasing
polarization between the rollerskating
and rollerblading community?
Do you believe rollerskating is a
fundamental right as an American citizen?
What would be your response to
the movement that is trying to ban
rollerskating, or increase barriers to
accessing rollerskates. Positive or negative?
He glanced at the slightly-off clock on
the kitchen wall—2 a.m.! Satisfied, Mint
went off to bed.
Mint always started the day off right
by making himself a pourover with
freshly-ground local espresso beans,
while listening to the comforting voice of
Michael Barbaro on “The Daily.” Today,
he was in a slightly better mood than
normal. The questionnaire was sure to
make Katz happy!
Mint whistled along his bike
commute and grinned through the $7
purchase of a gluten-free muffin from
a bemused partner of his candidate.
Walking into the office, he waved to
their two uninterested interns.
“What have you got for me?” Katz
said.
“Perfection,” Grover said.
Katz read for several minutes.
Then, with an expression of absolute
incredulity, she looked up at Mint
slowly.
“What?” Mint said.
“You do realize I meant the National
RIFLE Association, right?” “This could have been an email”--but then it was
Student, teacher woes get taken as seriously as they deserve, which is admittedly not very much
By ISSAC BABUS
THE OFFICE OF Student Rongs
and Reactivity has suffered a leak
of confidential complaint emails
after yet another IT disaster. Combing
through thousands of freshman furies
and parental pleas, the Backdoor
presents a comprehensive sample of
campus woes.
To: srr@lclark.edu
From: CardynCreen@lclark.edu
“I was told that this college was the
place for outdoorsy people. I did not
know that by 'outdoorsy' people meant
‘walking to the Gazebo and then back
to the dorm’ 3x a day. Are there any
trails on this campus that fail to lead to
a smoke spot?? I cannot go anywhere
pretty in nature without someone
saying ‘Imagine smoking a blunt here.’
Help!”
Office Response: Hi Cardyn! While
we cannot officially endorse this, one
might potentially try putting THC-infused
chocolate chips into their trail mix. Then,
mayhaps, they would get it.
To: srr@lclark.edu
From: ProudBrody131288@
hotmail.com
“Everyone keeps calling me a
‘conservative extremist,’ 'fascist,’
‘Hitler-lover,’ ‘the type of guy that wants to get handcuffed by a cop and made
out with in the back of the cruiser.’ I am
not any of those things. No one lets me
get a single word in. All I said was that
maybe it is a bit radical to call for the
abolishment and killing of all police and
military figures in America. There are
other solutions that are less violent. Like
better background and mental health
checks on potential officers, bringing
a mental health professional to every
case, having more options that don’t
require lethality, and” [CHARACTER
LIMIT ON EMAIL REACHED]
Office Response: Yeah, buddy, no
one asked.
To: srr@lclark.edu
From: SexySauvBlancSoccerMom
@livelaughlove.com
“We were SO SO proud of our little
baby boy for going off to college after
being homeschooled his entire life, and
your campus safety officers are making
his time there abso-fruitly H-E-double
hockey sticks! They arrested him for
‘attacking a campus safety officer.’ He was
just protecting his fellow classmates from
impending violence! You are the ones who
taught him about p*lice brutality – how
was he not supposed to do as he was told?!
F*** you.”
Office Response: Please Google “Police
Brutality.” We think you are making a mistake.To: srr@lclark.edu
From: AhHartNYC@bigapple.net
“Wawhking. Etiquette. Dey donot
fockin’ getet. Ahm losin’ my gahdamn
mind ova’ this. If deese mothafocka’s
evah hard of the tahrtoise and the hare,
thaid lose theirh shit seein’ how quick
that toirtle mooves. Dey have such
fockin’ angsiety ahbowt turnin’ left o
rieght! Dey staph in da meddl of theh
fockin’ hawllwhey, I am tiahd of it!!
Office Response: …What?
To: srr@lclark.edu
From: lc23-9669@lclark.edu
“I feel so unsafe on this campus. I
have been unable to eat and sleep or
go to class without an anxiety attack
almost coming on. My ability to live
authentically and express myself is
being impinged upon by a repressive
system, and after escaping my parents’
house I thought that would be over.
I had hoped that the anti-queer
sentiments and homophobia would be
left in the past, but alas, it continues to
haunt me even on this campus. If part
of my queer identity is getting a train
run on me in the Troom, I should be
allowed to do that!”
Office Response: We have
heard similar complaints from other
students, and are pursuing the idea
of a devoted orgy space in Fowler. The Troom does have food safety
regulations we are legally obligated to
uphold, our apologies that it currently
cannot suit your needs.
To: srr@lclark.edu
From: brighton.suns@gmail.com
“I am confused. I knew the school
was small, but there are only three
other students on this campus that
have a similar identity to me, and they
are all in the same major, they all wear
the same clothes and they always watch me from the same spot as I go on evening
runs. I am really starting to get freaked out.
This feels like a form of harassment. Can
anyone help??”
Office Response: We hear your
concern, Adam, and this issue is being
taken very seriously. From now on, change
your route, so the students in question
aren’t watching you. We suggest the path
down to the rose garden and wearing a
different tracksuit instead of the red and
white one. Let us know how it goes.
EMMA FORD/THE MOSSY LOG
HALCYON ORVENDAL/THE MOSSY LOGJ FRANK/THE MOSSY LOG