Issue 2 Fall 2012

In past years, the Language De-partment at Mills College has only offered Spanish and French as lan-guages available for study.

But, after an extensive search for an appropriate professor, it has added a Mandarin Chinese course

this semester, taught by Dr. Chiu-Hung Chen.

Chen moved to the Bay Area from Florida two months ago, where she was the Visiting Assis-tant Professor at the University of Miami. Although the Bay Area has

been known as a cultural hub for many Asian immigrants and Asian American families, Chen is still ad-justing to to the culture shock of the San Francisco Bay.

“I’m still in the process of ex-ploring the Bay Area, but the

Language Department has been very welcoming and support-ive!” Chen said. “Thanks to their help, the transition to Mills has been a very pleasant experience

VOLUME 98 ISSUE 2 www.thecampanil.com Tuesday | Sept 11, 2012

See Chinese page 2

Find more stories, photos, videos and live updates at www.thecampanil.com

Art Museum’s digitizing program

See Page 4

Language department offers Chinese class

See English page 3

Students frustrated by new English requirements

All first year students at Mills must take English 001 regardless of any Advance Placement (AP) cred-it they may have received before starting at Mills. Last school year (2011-2012) was the first academic year that students could not bypass English 001 by taking a placement exam hosted by the English depart-ment. The exam took the form of a a generic expository essay that was usually completed online before first years started the academic year

at Mills.English 001, Rhetoric and Com-

position is now compulsory for all first years and those transfer stu-dents who did not take a compara-ble course at their previous institu-tions. In the course, students learn analytical writing and how to write a clear college paper. Students in the introductory class receive help along the way, from peer edits to weekly tutorials put on by Teach-ing Assistants for the class and the opportunity to visit their professor during office hours.

“It’s an opportunity for all stu-dent writers,” said Cynthia Schien-berg, head of the English depart-

ment. “(College writing) is not the same as skills learned from AP. And the opportunity for all students to take part in the tutorial program is great.”

Schienber also said writing only one essay to waive an entire class was not sufficient for students to show just how good or bad of a writer they were.

Professor Terah Demant said first years should want to take Eng-lish 001 because it offers them the basic skills they use throughout their time at Mills.

“This is a baseline class, every

Emily MibachStaff Writer

CHANTELLE PANACKIA

Student reading in the F.W. Olin Library on Mills campus.

CHANTELLE PANACKIA

Eden SugayHealtH & SportS editor

Students in Mills College’s new Chinese course take away some laughs as well as Mandarin from Dr. Chiu-Hung Chen, professor of two elementary classes.

2 News


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Sept 11, 2012

Mills welcomes new professor and Chinese program

French professor to leave Mills next spring

Long time Mills French profes-sor Christian Marouby will be retir-ing as of Spring of 2013.

Marouby has been at Mills since the Fall of 1982. He has taught Ele-mentary French, Essays of the Self, Introduction to French Literature, Contemporary French Culture, In-troduction to Literary Criticism, and Introduction to Comparative Literature.

As a mentor, advisor, and pro-fessor, Marouby has cherished his time here with the students he has worked with. He said that students are what have kept him here and the reason why he finds it all worth it.

“You really see people grow, bloom, go through hard times, and

get through them,” Marouby said.Grace Osborne, a senior at

Mills, had Marouby for both of the Elementary French classes and was his advisee for the Gilman and Ful-bright Scholarships.

“He was more interested in what made me, me. He took care to get to know me,” Osborne said.

Marouby transferred to Mills from Miami University of Ohio. Transitioning from a larger school to an all women’s college was a beneficial change for him.

“Human contact is primordial and with students who are in gen-eral appreciative and excited,” Marouby said, “There are classes where students are just apathetic, but you don’t have that here.”

Sophomore Amélie Parmidge is taking Essays of the Self with Ma-rouby, which is a history of French autobiographies. As a science ma-jor, she finds herself to be very meticulous in her thinking process. She said Marouby has contrasted

that with an openness in his teach-ing style.

“He made the material very ac-cessible and comprehensible,” Par-midge said. “He never makes you feel foolish when you ask a ques-

tion. He’s there for you.”Although he is a head of the

French program, he and his col-league of 20 years, Brinda Mehta, don’t think of it that way.

“We really respect, admire, and support each other,” Marouby said,

“There’s not really a boss.”Brinda Mehta has not only been

a colleague of Marouby’s for 20 years, but has also grown to be a close friend of his. Upon meet-ing each other, Mehta was intimi-dated by his overall intelligence and found him to be a “dashing Parisian.” However, they got along right away.

“He is a trustworthy and cher-ished friend. He is compassionate and sensitive,” Mehta said. “I am going to miss him greatly, I can’t imagine Mills without him.”

Together, they have restructured the entire French program. In addi-tion to language classes, they added Francophone Studies, which em-phasizes French-speaking cultures outside of Europe. According to Mehta, they play on each others’ strengths and have been able to create “a very relevant and cutting edge major.”

When searching for his replace-ment, Marouby found it to be very

important that the new French Pro-fessor get along really well with Mehta.

“We found someone who I think is going to be really, really fabu-lous, someone who I think is going to get along really well with Brin-da,” he said.

Parmidge said Marouby seemed excited to introduce a new French professor and move onto new things in his life.

However, Marouby’s retirement is a personal decision, and it wasn’t easy for him.

“I don’t want to do this longer than I could be really good at it,” Marouby said.

As a student of Marouby’s for three semesters, Parmidge said, “I certainly will miss him. I hope he enjoys himself.”

While recounting his favorite memories at Mills, like his first lit-erature class of his first semester, Marouby said, “It’s been a gift to have been here.”

Fatima SugapongStaff Writer

so far and I’m excited to continue working here.”

Chen has been a Chinese in-structor for five years. She knew she wanted to become a teacher from her experiences in school as a child.

“I’ve encountered several great teachers when I was at school and they have made a huge impact in my life. I intended to become a teacher because I hope to provide the best experience to my students just as my teachers have done for me,” she said.

With Chen’s goal to provide the ultimate learning experience for her students, she also has short and long-term goals she hopes to com-plete while at Mills.

“My short-term goal is to build a language program that provides students with a solid training in both language skills and cultural communicative competence,” Chen said. “Knowing and understanding the culture from where a language is derived from is important. This allows the students to create a more genuine connection to the lan-

guage. In addition to the language program offered on campus, the Language Department also wants to launch a faculty-led summer study abroad program in China that would provide students with total immersion of cultural and linguistic experience. My long-term goal is to establish a minor and then a major in Chinese Studies.”

Apart from the apparent dif-ferences in culture, Chen is also having an interesting time adjust-ing to the environment on the Mills campus.

“Teaching classes at an all wom-en’s college is a very unique experi-ence for me, especially in terms of the Language Department. I have only taught three classes so far, but I can already see that most of my students are learning at a more similarly paced rate compared to co-educational classes. I expect this to make a huge difference in the de-velopment of my curriculum. I’m very anxious to see their progress throughout the semester! I teach two separate Elementary Level Chinese classes and they both have been doing very well so far.”

The number of students in both

of Chen’s Elementary Chinese classes is about 15, which is par for the course for most classes at Mills.

“This is the perfect size for a language class. Students have an adequate amount of time to practice the language by actually being able to interact with their peers, which is important.”

Chen is extremely optimistic about the progress of her classes and those to come. Both classes are currently working on the four tones of Chinese, which are similar to our inflections in English, and the phonetic system pinyin. Master-ing the tones and pinyin is difficult to say the least, but it has been a more than pleasant experience for Chen’s students.

“This language is very foreign to my classes, but it has been bring-ing my students closer together. They are becoming so comfort-able interacting in Chinese and we have been sharing a lot of laughs! My favorite thing about teaching is seeing the sparkle in students’ eyes when they slowly start to realize they can actually communicate in one of the most difficult languages in the world.”

Dr. Chiu-Hung Chen addresses her classroom in the College’s newest language class, Madarin Chinese.

CHANTELLE PANACKIA

Chinese from page 2

“He is a trustwor-thy and cherished

friend. He is compassionate and sensitive.”

3News Sept 11, 2012


Annie O’HareNews editor

JEN RAMOS

All new students must now take the introductory English class regardless of transfer credit.

World and Local NewsLocal DJ dies in car accident

Famed Bay Area DJ Matthew Africa died in a car accident on the afternoon of Sept 6. Known for his masterful mix tapes, including a recent mix of the best of rapper E-40. He was 40 years old.

New charter school opens in Oakland

The first day of classes at the 100 Black Men Community School was held on Sept 4. The school, an all-male public charter school, was created to help African-American boys overcome diffi-cult issues such as violence and a lack of positive role models — in their lives, though the school is open to male students of all eth-nicities and races. The Bay Area chapter of the 100 Black Men started and financially supports the school.

Bombings in Syria’s capital

There were two bombings in northern Damascus on Friday Sept 7. The first bombing was in northern Damascus outside the Rukniyeh mosque, killing five security troops and wound-ing several civilians. The sec-ond bombing occurred near the city’s main courthouse. There were no casualties reported in that bombing.

Twelve killed in remote part of Kenya

In a part of a renewed ethnic clash, armed raiders set fire to houses in the Tana River area of Coast Province, located in south-eastern Kenya. The clashes be-tween the Orma and Pokomo communities took place in the same area and killed about 52 people. Ten people injured in the attack are receiving treatment for their injuries.

Mills in search of new Dean of Student Life

Since Dr. Joi Lewis left her post as Vice President and Dean of Student Services in April this year, a search committee of stu-dents and faculty has been work-ing with a consultant agency to find her replacement.

As with most of Mills ex-ecutive and administrative hires, the school has hired Diversified Search, an executive search firm, to find candidates.

Vetting candidates for a position like Dean of Student life is execut-

ed in rounds. One wave occurred for the position of Vice President and Dean of Student Life, over the summer.

According to Sandra Greer, pro-vost and dean of the faculty and also chairing the search committee, the firm sent Mills potential candi-dates from all over the country, and the search committee chose 7 to bring to the Bay Area to interview them in person.

Greer referred to these as “air-port interviews” because they are held at the Hilton near the Oakland International Airport.

Of those 7, three candidates were asked to come to campus and make presentations to the Mills community. Two candidates ac-cepted the invitation and emails

were sent out inviting students and

faculty to attend these events and evaluate the candidates, said Greer.

Greer said that, rather than be-ginning a new wave of interviews, she and Mills President Alecia De-Coudreaux have decided to pause the search and not initiate another wave until after the school year has settled in and when possible candi-dates are more receptive.

“We are not in a big rush be-cause we have a really good interim dean, Kathleen Rice is a delight and we are really enjoying having her here,” Greer said.

Rice, who began at Mills on July 2 of this year and has been involved with the hiring of her permanent replacement, said that she plans to stay with Mills for 6 months, making Greer’s initial goal to find a replacement for the posi-tion by January.

“You keep going ‘til you find someone,” Greer said.

Greer recognized that holding candidate presentations in August meant fewer people would be able to attend, but stressed that students should not feel left out of the pro-cess. She said all students will have a chance to give their feedback on any candidate that is seriously con-sidered by the committee.

“We would do all that again,” she said, referring to repeating the search process and candidate pre-sentations so more students could be apart of it. “We would either ask them to give the talk again, or a new one if it is a new candidate. We’re not at the end of this, we’re trying to take it at a measured pace to make sure we do a good job.”

Students frustrated with new English requirements

class you take after (this class), assumes that you have the skills learned in this class,” Demant said. “All classes here are built on this class.”

Many of the staff are pleased with all students having to take English 001, but several students are discouraged by the change in policy.

“I think it’s bad because if you are considering English (for a ma-jor or minor), but you’re still unde-cided, you have to relearn material instead of branching out,” first year Rachel Strand said.

Other students who do not have transfer credit are pleased to be tak-

ing the introductory class.“I never actually took it (AP

English), but if I did, I would prob-ably feel what others are right now, because I would want to bypass the class,” said first year Meagan Durfee. When asked how she felt on taking the class with no AP preparation she added, “I am happy to take the class, because I didn’t have a good English background in high school.”

While students feel like AP Eng-lish was a good enough preparation system for college writing, Schien-berg disagrees.

“Everyone needs access to how to write a good college paper, and this is the best way of making sure it’s done,” she said.

English from page 1

“We’re not at the end of this, we’re trying to take it at a measured pace to make sure we do a good job.”

4 Arts & FeaturesSept 11, 2012


Mills College Art Museum’s Digitizing Collection Project

Top Left: The Creation Of The Human Race by Tsihnahjinnie, date unknown, accessioned in 1950. Top Right: Volumn by Kenji Nakahashi, 1980. The Creation Of The Human Race and Vol-umn are part of the Mills College Art Museum’s project to digitize 8,000 unkown pieces of art.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MILLS COLLEGE ART CENTER

The Mills art gallery was in the midst of change: stripping, sweep-ing, painting, and preparing for an upcoming exhibition. While the gallery was taking its new form, so were hundreds of pieces of art just meters away, in a cold back room with a storage-room feel.

Mills College seniors Daisy Wong and Rachel Levinson, both work-study students for the Mills College Art Museum (MCAM), are digitizing 8,000 otherwise un-known pieces of art. Students, alongside a database special-ist brought in specifically for the project, are working to archive the Mill’s art collection electronically and preserve them in digital perma-nence.

The Museum is home to an expansive art collection, encom-passing works from many differ-ent artists and eras. The museum’s collection houses prints, paintings, photographs, sculptures, ceram-ics, textiles, and Native American basketry. Despite the large volume

of pieces in the collection, its ex-istence is largely unheard of and hidden from the public eye. This, according to Wong, in addition to much-needed funding, is what started the digitizing endeavor.

“The whole point of this is to have all the pieces in our collection accessible online to the public,” said Wong. “Most of the things in here are not going to be seen for a really long time so being able to do this is really great.”

The print collection, including photographs, drawings, watercol-ors, prints, and small paintings, is the first to be digitized.

The work-study students are responsible for the preliminary process of digitizing, which starts with taking high-resolution photos of the art, piece by piece, followed by editing and color-correcting for online presentation. While the pho-tographing and editing is done by students like Wong and Levinson, the archiving of the newly-digitized works is done by Stephanie Boris, who helps to organize institutional, specifically museum, databases. The database of the collection is ex-pected to be available the the public online by 2013.

One of the most noteworthy aspects of the entire project is the student involvement, especially with pieces by famous artists like Henri Matisse, Diego Rivera, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Man Ray, amongst others.

The first day of Levinson and Wong’s work involved handling the work of a famous artist.

“It was a book that Manet paint-ed of his impressions while listen-ing to jazz music,” said Levinson.

According to the MCAM’s website, the collection includes pieces ranging from works by rela-tively unknown artists to reproduc-tions and pieces by the extremely famous. The fame of certain artists doesn’t determine the level of stu-dent involvement with the work, allowing them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interact with promi-nent pieces of history. Wong feels the most rewarding aspect of be-ing apart of the digitizing is “see-ing work that’s really beautiful and that is done by really famous people you’ve only read about in history books.”

As Levinson puts it, “Unless you go into conservation, you don’t normally get to do this.”

Top: An untitled piece by Mel Ramos, 1967. Bottom: Stepped Pyramid of King Zoser by Felice A. Beato, 19th Century.

Left: “I AM THE DAUGHTER OF THE EARTH AND WATER.” by Kitty Hu (Mills Alumni, 1957). Right: Mechanic by Jean Gardner (Mills Alumni, 1978).

Amanda DuttContributing Writing

5Arts & Features Sept 11, 2012


Cyclones all over the world

KC Callender, 22, led a produc-tive life while at Mills College, which included being a Resident Assistant for several Learning Liv-ing Communities, and is now look-ing ahead to the future with the hopes of finding a career working with marine mammals.

Since graduating, Callender has been extremely busy selling her belongings, including her car and motorcycle, before hopping on a plane and moving to London, Eng-land for four months to live with her partner.

While in London, she has been working on a young adult novel, which she hopes will be finished by the time she goes to Bali in October to obtain her SCUBA – Self Con-tained Underwater Breathing Ap-paratus – instructor license.

From there, Callender plans to apply to internships, jobs and grad schools that she hopes will ultimately lead to a career working with marine mammals, as she wants to care, train and rehabilitate them.

“This has been my dream since I was four years old, and it only took me until after I graduated to really accept that I couldn’t give up on that childhood dream,” Callender said. “Well, that or being an author – which I’m trying, too!”

Born in Ventura, California, Callender had moved to Morgan Hill, CA by the time she was two years old, before eventually settling down in Mt. Airy, Maryland, due to her father’s job working for Lock-heed Martin, a technology-based business that does a lot of work for NASA and the government, where she kept multiple horses in her backyard.

When Callender was fourteen

years old, her parents divorced and her mother gained custody of her, prompting them to move to Santa Monica, CA to live with Callen-der’s grandmother, who was termi-nally ill. Callender’s grandmother owned a house that had been in the family ever since Callen-der’s great-grandparents escaped Nazi Germany.

Callender had spent the sum-mers of her childhood visiting her grandparents in this house, so mov-ing in really felt like visiting in the summer.

“I still get filled with the memories of lox and bagels in the dining room, my hand cramp-ing from writing stories in a note-book or the toss of a baseball with my grandfather in the backyard,” Callender said.

As far as living arrangements were concerned, “It was small at first,” Callender said. “I lived in a room that was about half the size of most people’s rooms, though thankfully not a cupboard under the stairs.”

Callender recalls that when she first moved in to the house, she had to clear out her room, which had been a semi-office area.

“It was filled with a broken type writer and tons of smelly old books written in German. I remember asking my grandmother if she could still read them, and as she flipped through the pages just said a simple ‘Yes,’ “ Callender said.The house is full of memories, according to Callender.

“My mom is filled with the memories of her grandparents in the house, and I’m filled with the memories of mine,” Callender said. “Apparently my great-grandmother was a very wealthy woman in Ger-many and gave up everything to get some of the last boat tickets out of Europe. It’s heroic, scary and loving. I don’t view that house as something horrid, but rather

a safe-haven.”Callender happily completed

high school in Santa Monica be-fore entering Mills College, where she originally planned to major in creative writing but then eventu-ally switched over to biology after two years.

“The only reason I had never pursued biology before was because I was scared, mostly of Chemistry,” Callender said, “And I decided that fear was never a reason not to

do something.”Callender’s dedica-

tion to her studies impressed her professors.

“KC was an inquisitive and rig-orous Biology student. She was al-ways focused and thoughtful in the Lab,” said Susan Spiller, Associate Professor of Biology at Mills.

According to Callender, some of the best ways to get the most out of an institution is to become a part of it.

“I learned this from becoming a Resident Assistant, which I did for 2-and-a-half years,” Callender said. “I was actually planning on transferring until I did this. That is where I found my family and re-ally learned what Mills had to offer, considering I was the one supposed to be telling the resident what it had to offer.”

Callender’s residents praise her skills for being both a confidante and an authority figure.

“I think that KC was an excel-lent RA because she mastered the combination of being someone who I felt comfortable enough having a friendship with but also had enough authority that I respected her as my resident advisor,” said junior Maribel Garcia.

Spiller agrees that Callender made an excellent RA, someone who first years trusted to take care of them and look out for their interests.

“My experience with KC as an RA for the Sustainability Living

Learning Community (LLC) was also really good,” Spiller said. “My dog, Moose, and I attended one of her Hall meetings around finals time – that was really fun for all of us – Moose thought it was great to get petted by all of the girls. KC always tried to take good care of her freshwomen charges as an LLC Student advisor.”

In addition, Callender joined the volleyball and crew teams, as well as served as the Class of 2012 Vice President for a little less than two years and worked at Bon Appétit for her last year.

“My life at Mills had its ups and downs, though,” Callender revealed.

According to Callender, her first year was filled with crazy partying, experiencing the Bay Area, tons of unneeded drama and making life-long friends. Her second year was filled with new experiences, both mentally and physically, as she played around with gender roles in the way she dressed and acted, while her third year was spent per-fecting her RA abilities.

“My final year was an intense year,” Callender said. “Truthfully, it was my hardest year at Mills. There was so much pressure with doing everything you wanted be-fore graduation, the looming future, and I was struggling through many personal issues. No matter what, though, I did it with a smile and with the friends I had made in my first year to hold my hand.”

A weekly look at what amazing things Mills Alums are accomplishing.

Mills Alumna, KC Callender, celebrates her spring Commencement with poppers of confetti.PHOTOS COURSTESY OF KC CALLENDER

Ruby WoodsStaff Writer

PHOTOS COURSTESY OF KC CALLENDER

Mills Alumna, KC Callender, at a stadium in London for the 2012 Paralympic games.

6 Sept 11, 2012


Opinions & Editorial

Who would play you in a movie?

Q U E S T I O N O F T H E W E E K

“‘Gabrielle Union 30 lbs ago.’”

“‘Robert Downey Jr.”

— Avalon Baldwin, Junior

“Kesha.”

— Eleanor Strong, Junior

“Bill Murray.”

—Erika Grant,Junior

—Dee Massey, Senior

“ Samuel L. Jackson. Hewould play me better than

I would play me.”

— Abbey Maserano,Sophomore

STAFF EDITORIAL

If someone were to ask you to close your eyes and think of Amer-ica, what would you see? Some of us would see hotdogs and firecrack-ers. Others would see the Statue of Liberty and the Declaration of In-dependence beaming in the warm effervescent glow of freedom.

For so many the privilege of be-ing an American is something we never have to think about. When people ask us what our nationality is we are able to say, “American” without thinking.

For others the American experi-ence is hyphenated.

There’s a clause or an explana-tion before our “American” denot-ing that we didn’t come here the same way everyone else did. Some of us are African/Black-American,

Latin-American or Native-Amer-ican. We are a subset of a larger group. Although the explanation before our “American” is problem-atic, we still have the right to vote, go to the bank and feel safe in our own homes.

For 11 million people, many of whom have lived in the United States for years, those simple rights and privileges are void. These people are not citizens; they do not have visas, and at anytime can lose their family or friends. The differ-ence between being a citizen and losing everything is, for all intents and purposes, one piece of paper.

For many, whose home coun-tries are riddled with tumult and violence, America continues to be a beacon of hope and opportunity. Many people are willing to die to live the American dream. The ashes of their hopes are littered across the southern border f the United States.

For Cristal Lopez, Mills Col-

lege student, aspiring immigration lawyer and former undocumented person, the reality of losing every-

thing was a very real fear. She, like so many came to America not of her own volition but rather at the

will of others. Although she grew up a normal kid going to science camp and playing with her friends she knew that there was something different about her and all the other kids in her neighborhood.

“Seeing the police would almost bring on fear,” she said. “You knew if they pulled you over it wasn’t just ‘click it or ticket’, you didn’t want to be deported out of the country.”

If not having the proper papers makes someone illegal, what does it mean to be American? Am I American? What are the sum total of my American parts?

I had no control over my being American. It was the intertwin-ing and twisting of many different fates that lead me here. I had no choice. Like so many people who call America their home, my people came here on boats. They came, not as explorers or people looking for religious freedom, but rather as cargo destined to be chattel in a

foreign land. My people were still considered 3/5 a person and were not given citizenship until they had been here for 178 years as slaves.

Does the Mother of Exiles on Ellis Island mean girls like Cristal and myself when she says, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door”?

This land is populated by the intertwining fates of millions of people over hundreds of years. Is America the sum of all of its parts? The story of us is rich and tumul-tuous. There are things for which we can be extremely proud and ashamed. But for so many of us our desire is just to be included. For some, this desire is so strong that they are willing to die for it. Mother of Exiles, do I get to be American?

Mother of Exiles: What does it mean to be American?

Politics is a blood sport. Any in-animate object or octogenarian can be used as a weapon. We saw this at the 2012 Republic National Con-vention when Clint Eastwood be-rated an empty chair and pretended that the President of the United States of America was in it. We all know that party conventions aren’t really for gaining new members but rather to galvanize their bases. This

sort of behavior leads some to won-der if politicians care more about spectacle then actual platforms. Is Clint Eastwood’s speech at the Re-publican National Convention what is wrong or right about American politics today?

Why would an Academy Award winning actor and director talk to a chair? Eastwood is known for his cinematic scope and masterful sto-

ry telling. Why would he depend on a sight gag? Some wondered why he didn’t take a cue from this year’s Coachella and use a Barack Obama hologram to ignite the imagination of his audience.

Some people actually watch conventions to gain information about politic parties. A sight gag does not give them a lot of informa-tion about policy or platform. Sight

gags do not show an economic plan for the future. The image of Clint Eastwood conjures up many feel-ings for the American public. I’m sure the GOP delighted in Dirty Harry dealing a smack down to the perceived absentee president. These sorts of political games expose our dirty laundry to the world. They make American poli-tics look like all flash and bang

with no substance. The American people want real solutions to their very real problems. The American people want jobs they can raise families on. We want our money to be worth something. The American want their dignity back. Although these divisive political games can be humorous at times, they are not putting food in our bellies and money in the bank.

“You knew if they pulled you over it wasn’t just ‘click it or ticket’, you didn’t want to be deported out of the country.”

Shanna HullabyOpiniOns EditOr

7Sept 11, 2012


Opinions & Editorial

Haunting, beautiful, and well-mixed, The xx’s sophomore album Coexist, which is available for pur-chase September 14th (but is avail-able for live-stream now) could be the story of a young relationship.

It’s all there — lamentations on the hard fall of infatuation, the pain of misunderstanding, the loss of closeness and the inevitable change that occurs, the question of history, the pull to rekindle old romances, old friendships, to find one another again one night on a dance floor, the declaration and gift of giving in love, of that wonder of finding someone.

“There’s no one else that knows me like you do, what I’ve done you’ve done, too, the walls I hide behind, you walk through, you just walk through.” Lyrics that may in other bands be overly emotional, or not have enough depth, resonate over the minimalistic, well-crafted, artful way Jamie Smith produces and mixes Coexist.

As the second album, Coexist shares many of the same attributes

as their first release, xx, with a few exceptions: the band members have grown up, enjoyed the benefits the success from their first album, and have developed further as artists.

Producer and beatmaker Jamie Smith, lauded as one of the indus-try’s most prolific arrangers follow-ing The xx’s first album, brings his unique, dynamic style back from ar-ranging and producing abroad and into Coexist. Romy Madley Croft, The xx’s guitarist, sings a beautiful female counterpart to male vocalist Oliver Sims. Sims has developed as a singer, able to harmonize and ma-nipulate his vocal range, bringing greater emotional depth; his vocals on “Chained”, “Fiction”, and espe-cially “Missing” have a beautiful tonal quality.

“Missing” seems like Sims’ personal lament. My heart went out to his character. I’ve seen my friends left heart-hurt and con-fused, as it seemed like their loving, wonderful relationship spontaneously imploded.

“My heart is beating in a dif-ferent way, been gone such a long time, still feel the same. Will you miss me, when there’s nothing to see?” Sims asks. Croft’s vocals fill the background track, then emerge

in an almost spiritual way. “Do you still believe?” she asks, as Sims’ voice echoes in the back ground,

“In you and me? Are we all we could be? Is it meant to be?”

The entire album plays like a chronicle of a metamorphosing young relationship.

“Reunion,” the track that pre-cedes ”Missing”, is reminiscent of a night out when you see your estranged lover across the room, or are potentially considering a one-night stand with a beloved friend, and feelings make you wonder, “Did I see you see me in a new light?”

The instrumentals on “Reunion” are undoubtedly one of my favor-ites on Coexist. And its vocals blend beautifully with the tasteful steel drum rhythms, which segway into a subtle yet effective dance beat, reminiscent of the interplay on xx.

“Reunion” is swiftly followed by “Sunset”, a quiet mid-tempo la-ment on the loss of affection and closeness (could we call this the morning after song? When no one knows exactly where the lines are now?) “What have you done with the one I love? When I look into your eyes I see no surprise…I al-ways thought it was sad that we act like strangers, after all that we had, we act like we had never met,” intones Croft. “We make believe, I’ve never seen your face beneath

moon…you were more than just friend,” Sims sings quietly. “I al-ways felt like you knew me, now it’s like you see through me.” Sty-listically, “Sunset” reminds me of xx, a good song for driving-on-the-highway-in-the-dark.

In a way, the orchestration of the album reminds me of the way the film 500 Days of Summer was pro-duced; the relationship described within Coexist is not shared in a linear fashion.

Arguably, “Angels,” the first promoted single and first track on the album, could be seen as one of the first moments Croft reflects on her infatuation, or her love, for her counterpart.

But it’s hard to structure or de-fine this relationship that resonates throughout the album — could the tracks all be about one relationship, perhaps evolving from friendship and eventually ending in heart-break? Or is each song a different love, a different relationship, a dif-ferent story? Ultimately Coexist will make you reflect on those re-lationships that have left an indel-ible mark on your heart, and that, fantastic production aside, is what makes this compilation a beautiful and effective album.

COURTESY OF FLIKR

An evolved sound, a familiar tone

Jade FranciscaContributing writer

“My heart went out to his charac-ter. I’ve seen my friends left heart-hurt and confused, as it seemed like

their loving, won-derful relationship

spontaneously imploded.”

The xx performig in Milan, Italy at the Alcatraz on July 5, 2010. Their newest album, Coexist, comes out this September and is currently available online.

8 SportsSept 11, 2012


Meet the PressINTRODUCING THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF OUR EDITROIAL STAFF

Annie O’Hare News Editor

Shanna HullabyOpinions Editor

Saleha Ahmed Staff Writer

Emily Mibach Staff Writer/Copy Editor

Amanda Dutt Staff Writer

Francesca Twohy-Haines Staff Writer/Layout

Katie Laackmann Staff Writer/Editing

Staff WriterJade Jones Hawk

Cyclone Spotlight

This week’s Cyclone spotlight is Chelsea Satterwhite, a senior Biol-ogy major who manages to balance a full schedule of classes as well as playing almost all three games of the first set of Mills Soccer.

Satterwhite has some impres-sive stats under her belt that equate

to over 265 minutes of play just during this past weekend set of games held in Southern California against Soka University, according to Elese Lebsack, Mills College’s Associate Athletic Director.

Satterwhite, a Bay Area Native hails from Mountain View and it’s not surprising that she’s been jug-gling hard sciences and sports since she was young.

As a Biology major and soccer player, she’s always been inter-ested in both the academic chal-lenges as well as the ones on the

soccer field.But Satterwhite is modest about

her achievements. When asked about how long she’s been play-ing she quietly replied, “Thirteen years; since I was eight.”

Most of those 13 years of soccer included playing in highly competi-tive clubs which is a very different climate than the Mills soccer team.

“I like the dynamic of the Mills soccer team, we’re basically all friends and family,” she said. “There’s always lots of laughs on the field.”

Lebsack said Satterwhite has a team-centric attitude on and off the field.

“She managed to make shots on goal, get back on defense, and create opportunities for her team-mates. She brings energy to the field and team; certainly a key play-er for this past weekend’s games,” Lebsack said.

When she graduates with her Biology degree this spring, Satter-white hopes to expand her lab expe-rience as she figures out where she wants to attend graduate school.

Satterwhite said she is thinking about about coming back to Mills to continue her graduate studies due to the amazing time she’s had so far.

With interests and talents that stretch from Neurobiology to soccer and running, Satterwhite is a true Cyclone who exempli-fies the importance in finding a good balance.

She’s extremely excited to usher in a new season and wishes the suc-cess of her team and teammates on and off the soccer field.

Chelsea Satterwhite brings a team spirit on and off the soccer field

Joann PakArts & FeAtures editor

WELCOME TO OUR NEW STAFF WRITERS

Documents

Issue 2 Fall 2012