Diversity, responsibility, and a healthy campus climate

Students, staff, and faculty cooperate across groups to raise awareness

By Ashley Klann
Editor-in-Chief

Clark is an institution that prides itself on being open-minded, liberal, and actively engaged in serious discussion. While you’d be hard pressed to find someone who disagreed that diversity is an important issue,

Director of Graduate Studies in English, SunHee Gertz. Photo courtesy of clarku.edu

Clark’s practices in this area have fallen into what the Diversity Task force calls “benign neglect.”

Sure, you hear a few words about it during Week One, but diversity is something few contemplate post-orientation. Every year the international flags go up for Gala, and we’re all reminded that this topic is paramount, but what are students really doing to promote diversity, responsibility, and a healthy campus climate?

Two sophomore students, grad students, and a slew of faculty and staff members from various departments have pooled their efforts to raise awareness about diversity at Clark.

“Take something as simple and specific as majors,” said Taskforce member Maya Baum. “There’s no major that focuses on diversity. You can go your whole time here and not deal with it. Diversity can be incorporated into every subject taught at Clark. It should be a part of the discussion. It’s something we should have here.”

The Diversity Taskforce has been holding meetings with various committees and departments since November to sort out its objectives. Spearheading the effort is Professor of English and Director of Graduate Studies in English, SunHee Gertz, and sophomores Maya Baum and Hannah Yukon.

Tennis royalty comes to Worcester

DCU Center hosts U.S. vs Belarus Fed Cup tie match

By Dana Ferranti
Contributing Writer

It’s all a tad bit surreal. What are eight professional tennis players (including four Grand Slam champions) doing coming to Worcester to play a tournament? Seriously, how could this be?

Every person I posed this question to had as little a clue as I did on how or why Worcester was chosen to be the site of the United States vs. Belarus Fed Cup tie. We were all just very happy it happened.

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The Fed Cup is women’s tennis’ analog to soccer’s World Cup. There are a few differences, namely that it happens annually, has a confusing format, and doesn’t tend to start riots. But the basic idea is the same: one country’s best tennis players play against other countries’ best players to see who has the best team. In this particular match, the U.S. was up against Belarus.  The winner of the match would move on to the World Group II playoffs where they would have a chance to get into the World Group for 2013.  If they get into the World Group, they then have a chance to win the Fed Cup in 2013.  Like I said, confusing format.  The important thing to remember is the winner of the U.S. vs. Belarus tie (they call it a “tie” for some reason) is one step closer to winning the Fed Cup.

In a world of abundance

How wasting food on campus affects people everywhere

By Shalmali Ghate
Contributing Writer

During Diwali, the festival of lights in India, scores of sweets and treats are accumulated by children in the area. However, they always wind up with an overabundance of sweets, causing mothers to force their children to eat

Photo courtesy of sustainability.temple.edu

them all in order to avoid wasting food. When my family and I came up with ideas to eliminate the sweets after the festival, my grandmother would tell stories about different ways in which God punishes those who waste food.

During my senior year of high school, I found a grand solution to escape from eating the infinite stock of desserts by taking them to a nearby orphanage. While distributing them and feeling very happy about not having to eat them anymore, a curious thing happened. Some kids came up and asked me if there were more left! Some others told me that the sweets were the most delicious ones they had ever eaten, and that they would never forget me. A bit perplexed, I checked my bag of sweets to verify that they were the same ones from home. When I confirmed they were, my mind felt guilty about the misjudgment I had made about those sweets for the past fifteen years.

In contrast, on my first day in the Clark University cafeteria, I witnessed heaps of food being thrown into the garbage without a second thought about waste. I find it abhorrent that some people are dying from starvation and others have an abundance of food which they throw away. As I mulled this over, a boy sitting next to me began a conversation about how he didn’t have enough money to pay for tuition, while he got ready to throw away three full plates of food and leave. It is striking how wasteful people can be even when they know what it feels like to be lacking something.

Cougar of the Week

By Mai Hayashi
Scarlet Staff

Photo by Mai Hayashi

Name: Austin Knief
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: New York
Sport: Baseball
Position: First Base

Q. How long have you been playing baseball?

A. Since I was four years old. I played for my town’s team.

Q. How was last season for you? You appeared in a few games. How were you doing?

A. Last season I pitched in Florida, but my arms got injured. So I will move to first base this season. I like pitching but I’m missing hitting.

Q. This season will begin soon (March 3rd). How do you feel about it?

A. This season our team had a few losses because some sophomores transferred to other schools, but I’ve been preparing myself. During spring break, we have ten games in Florida. I’m excited to begin under the sunshine in Florida.

Q. Do you have any games or colleges that you are looking forward to playing?

A. I’m looking forward to playing Babson and Wheaton College because they are two of the best teams.

Q. How is the condition of your team?

A. In terms of how good we are, the seniors are stepping up. It’s not going to be an easy tournament. I think team chemistry is important. I’m trying to hang out with my teammates.

Clark men’s lacrosse preview

Cougars prepare for a better season

By Josh Tessler
Contributing Writer

The Clark University Men’s Lacrosse squad begins their regular season on Feb. 29th against Assumption College as they try to redeem themselves from their last season record of 6-8.

Image courtesy of Clark Athletics

“We definitely want to go above .500 and we definitely want to make the playoffs. We’ve never gone above .500 and made the playoffs,” Jeffrey Wasson, Cougars’ Attackman said.

Last season, the Cougars were fueled by leading scorer, Chris Johnson, Attackman, who helped the Cougars battle against several teams.

They played two games in Maryland, one against Hood College, which they won 7-6. The other match was against McDaniel College, in which they lost 13-6. In those two games, Johnson had five goals and one assist.

“Chris Johnson is a special player. Last year he used his agility and stick skills to score some big goals for us. This year will be no different. He is definitely one of the best offensive players in the conference,” Wasson said.

The trouble with intramurals

Students without a team are the ones with the most reasons to play

By Charlie Romanow
Scarlet Staff

When I first looked into joining the intramural program at Clark, I was instantly alarmed.  Not at a deficiency of sports or lack of participants; on the contrary, it’s surprising how many people participate in intramurals considering the small amount of attention that varsity athletics get.  What bewildered me about the intramural structure and process was how student participants without a team (referred to as free agents) were supposed to find a team. For all who are not aware of the system, students form teams on their own and sign up together.  They are then directed to contact the free agents so that all that are interested may join.    Being the worrier and cynic that I am, I immediately thought of the possibility that a free agent would not be contacted and thus not be able to participate.  Fortunately my concerns were quickly subdued as I was contacted by a team captain and joyfully participated in intramural softball. As it came closer to the deadline for this year’s intramural basketball, I again was worried by the possibility that I would be without a team and my concern was warranted. 

Right under your nose

Outstanding student art exhibit displayed in the U.C.

By Gwen Walsh
Alumni Editor

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In the hallway between the Lurie Conference Room and the Info Desk there is is a grid of eight pastel portraits by senior Caitlin O’Brien which stopped me in my tracks. The compositions depict bare shoulders and partial faces of female students, and are so well executed that I was able to name three of the subjects immediately and recognized others from just walking around campus. The focal point of each of the pieces is the woman’s ear, and you get only a glimpse of her face, so it is astounding that O’Brien was able to imbue so much personality into these works using only body parts that are generally non-identifying. The artist statement posted below the exhibit, which is titled Iridescence, explains that the installation is a discourse on skin color and the construction of the “other.” This is evidenced by O’Brien’s focus on rich tones and naturalistic shadows which bring each of the subjects to life. This must have been particularly difficult considering her medium.

Marc on the Menu: Ya Mon, 482 Park Ave.

by Marc Kadushin
Scarlet Staff

As a Clark student and Foodie I try to keep tabs on new restaurants opening around campus. In recent months the Kumon learning center shut down and was replaced with the Jamaican restaurant Ya Mon. Seeing as it is close to campus and I was hungry for something new, I decided to give it a try.

Ya Mon has a “hole in the wall” sort of interior. The floors are made of concrete and the walls of painted wood. There are a handful of random wooden sculptures adorning the walls. The chairs and tables are comfortable, but feel a bit out of place.

There was Jamaican music playing across several speakers. Despite this hodgepodge décor, it somehow made it feel more homey.

The prices at Ya Mon are pretty damn reasonable. For $7-$8 dollars you get an entrée with all the fixings. For $3-4 you can get soup, oatmeal, dessert, and the likes. They also have smoothies, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Heads up: a lot of their dishes are only available on certain days, so I would suggest that you check ahead to make sure that what you want is on the menu.

That being said, it seemed like many of their menu items weren’t available, regardless of the day. So basically it’s a bit of a crap shoot with what you can get, but whatever it is, it’ll be a good deal.

The Descendants delivers

By Natalie Beale
Scarlet Staff

The Descendants, directed by Alex Payne, is a cruel movie to watch during a New England winter. Among other things, it is an excellent piece of tourism promotion for Hawaii. Sure the weather’s not always perfect, and the families can be – to quote George Clooney’s character – screwed up, but

Image courtesy of impawards.com

the stunning scenery and island weather just made me distinctly jealous. (Of course, ‘island weather’ is all relative; I hail from the UK, which is not widely known for its giant turtles and sandy beaches.)

However, despite the beautiful surroundings and the equally beautiful cast (George Clooney knows not of middle-age) the film’s family drama is brutal. We learn, two minutes in, that Matt King’s (Clooney) wife is in a coma. As a result, he is left alone to bring together his two daughters and extended family. The drama is played out against a plot line of a family sale of land, but this becomes irrelevant.

Both anger and grief are portrayed convincingly with great emotion, and part of this rests on the way ‘normal life’ tries, impossibly, to continue. The screenplay delivers irreverent and realistic snippets of daily life, as well as the emotional scenes. The movie is not overtly sentimental, or a great tear-jerker, but it is certainly difficult to watch. The overwhelmingly grim facts – the coma, among other family problems – are always felt even in the trivial exchanges. The heaviness of the subject is supplemented by frequent dark humor. It is a movie that probably evokes more laughter than tears, without feeling like it lacks taste. The family is made endearing through its faults. Matt is a bad parent, his daughters naturally disrespect him, they swear casually, they get angry and they hate as much as love each other. They have a group breakdown, in which some problems are confronted, some are mended and some wounds are only just opened. I found it difficult, to decide whether I partially liked the movie or loved it. It builds slowly, but rather than just mount to a climax it goes up and down with emotion. In effect, it partially replicates the King family’s confusion, where there can be no simple solution or easy healing.

Editor’s Corner

The great turkey giveaway

By Gwen Walsh
Alumni Editor

My dad has five brothers who are just like him. Same thick, dark hair, same wire rim glasses, same volume of eccentricities and the same uncanny ability to be the in the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time. Over the holiday we went out to dinner with several of my uncles and one of them told an anecdote which I had somehow not yet heard – the story of the great turkey giveaway.

He was working out in the yard one weekend just before Thanksgiving: pulling weeds, hauling brushing, raking, when my aunt asked him to pick something up at the grocery store. Now they live in West Hartford, which is a suburb in Connecticut which many of you have probably heard of or lived in. If you know anything about the town, you know that it is pretty upscale, so when my uncle when out to Stop and Shop still wearing his gardening clothes, with his hands and hair still caked with mud, he looked pretty out of place. As he was walking out the sliding glass door, a women at a food drive booth stopped and handed him a frozen turkey. It wasn’t until he was in the parking lot that he realized she gave him the bird because she assumed that, with his ripped clothes and filthy appearance, he must have been homeless. And only in West Hartford would people give a homeless man a meal which requires an oven.