The College Hill Independent: March 3, 2011

8/7/2019 The College Hill Independent: March 3, 2011

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T H E / C O L L E G E / H I L L

I ND E P E ND E NTVOLUME XXII, ISSUE 4

MARCH 3, 2011BROWN/RISD WEEKLY

PTSD i RI [5]

Zmbis i FL [15]Ld iss [9]


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NewsWEEK IN REVIEW p.2by Emily Gogolak, Ashton Strait, and Emma Whitford

FROM THE EDITORS: THE ISSUE:

THE INDY IS:MANAGING EDITORS Gillian Brassil, Erik Font, Adrian Randall NEWS Em-

ily Gogolak, Ashton Strait, Emma Whitford METRO Emma Berry, Malcolm

Burnley, Alice Hines, Jonah Wolf FEATURES Belle Cushing, Mi mi Dwyer, Eve

Blazo, Kate Welsh ARTS Ana Alvarez, Maud Doyle, Olivia Fagon, Alex Spoto LITERARY Kate Van Brocklin SCIENCE Maggie Lange SPORTS/FOOD David

Adler, Greg Berman OCCULT Alexandra Corrigan, Natasha Pradhan LIST

Dayna Tortorici CIPHRESS IN CHIEF Raphaela Lipinsky COVER/CREATIVE

CONSULTANT Emily Martin X Fraser Evans ILLUSTRATIONS Annika Finne,

Becca Levinson DESIGN Maija Ekey, Katherine Entis, Mary-Evelyn Farrior, Em-

ily Fishman, Maddy Mckay, Liat Werber, Joanna Zhang PHOTO John Fish er

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Drew Foste r, Sarah Friedland, Annie Macdon-ald SENIOR EDITORS Katie Jennings, Tarah Knaresboro, Erin Schikowski, Eli

Schmitt, Dayna Tortorici, Alex Verdolini. COVER ART Emily Lemon Fishman

Letters to the editor are welcome distractions. Send yours to The College Hill Inde-pendent, PO Box 1930. Brown University, Providence, RI 02912. Contact [email protected] for advertising information. // theindy.org // The College Hill Independentis published weekly during the fall and spring semesters and is printed by TCI Press inSeekonk, MA.

UNREST SPREADS IN IVORY COAST p.3by

Erica Schwiegershausen

EPHEMERA:

OpinionsSAVING WOMEN IS NOT AJUSTIFICATION FOR OCCUPATION

p.4

by Amanda Labora

FeaturesLIFE AFTER WAR p.5by Simon Van Zuylen-Wood

SportsTHE OAK TREE MASSACRE p.13by David Adler and Edward Friedman

LiteraryGODS TRUE ZOMBIES p.15by Rita Bullwinkel

ArtsCANADIAN BEACON:AN INTERVIEW WITH SHEILA HETI

p.9

by Dayna Tortorici

BAD MAMAS/SUPERMAMAS p.11by Eve Marie Blazo

MetroDERAILED p.7by Alice Hines

SWEAT AND BLOOD p.17by David Adler

As war wages throughout Libya, the end may be near for Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi.The longest serving dictator alive, Qaddafi is best known for punishing Westernimperialists with style; although responsible for countless war crimes, Qaddafi may bethe flyest man on the planet. A lover of horseracing and flamenco dancing, the dictatoralso sports an impeccable wardrobe and enjoys surfing the net. Like most dictators,Qaddafi also suffers from a number of irrational fears. He hates staying on upper floorsof buildings and prefers not to fly over water. The Col. also insists that when seeinga doctor, all examinations and procedures are recorded on film so that they can bereviewed by other doctors he trusts. As the Indy looks forward to a new democratic

Libya, we say farewell to the self-proclaimed King of Kings of Africa with a timelineof Qaddafis greatest hits. -EF

June 7, 1942 Muammar al-Qaddafi, son of a Bedouin herdsman, is born in a Bedouintent in a desert on the outskirts or Sirt, Libya.

September 1, 1969 Qaddafi leads a small group of junior military officers in abloodless coup against King Idris. At 27 Qaddafi aims to become the new CheGuevara of the age, inviting any and all anti-imperialist groups to Libya for shelterand weapons.

1970 Qaddafi adds title of prime minister.1972 Drops title of prime minister, attempts to buy a nuclear bomb from China.

Announces that any Arab wishing to volunteer for Palestinian terrorist groupscan register his name at any Libyan embassy and will be given adequate trainingfor combat. Finances the Black September Movement, the group responsiblefor the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Olympics.

1973 On the prophet Muhammads birthday, Qaddafi delivers the Five Point

Address. Summer vacation is canceled; children are taught Qaddafis philosophyinstead. Engaging in political conservations with foreigners becomes a crimepunishable up to three years in prison. 10 to 20 percent of Libyans are formedinto a secret police by Qaddafis Revolutionary Committee. The regime begins toexecute dissidents publicly and rebroadcast the executions on state television.

March 1973 The Irish Naval Service intercepts Claudia, a vessel carrying Soviet armsfrom Libya to the IRA.

1977 Tries to buy a nuclear bomb from Pakistan.1980 Assembles The Revolutionary Nuns, a group of handpicked female

bodyguards trained in the martial arts. Although virgins, the Nuns are allowed towear high heels, paint their nails, and wear lipstick.

1995 In response to a peace treaty between Israel and the PLO, Qaddafi expels 30,000Palestinians living in Libya.

June 1998 Qaddafis favorite bodyguard, Aisha, is killed in an ambush after shethrows herself across Qaddafis body to protect him from bullets. Qaddafi andseven other female bodyguards are wounded.

1998 Escape to Hell and Other Stories by Qaddafi is translated into English.

2002 Qaddafi purchase a 7.5% share of Italian football club Juventus for $21 million.2004 The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) verifies a stockpile of 23 metric

tons of mustard gas and over 1,300 metric tons of precursor chemicals.October 2004 An astronomy enthusiast, Qaddafi orders the construction of the

Libyan National Telescope Project for nearly 10 million euros.2006 Following the US bombing of Libyan military airbases supporting terrorism,

Qaddafi claims that his adopted daughter, Hanna, was killed in the attack.Unheard of prior to her death, reports of Hannas age varied from 12 months to6 years.

2007 Qaddafi arrives in Paris with his 400 person entourage. The group arrives onfive planes with a Saharan camel.

March 2009 Qaddafi names a stadium after his friend, Venezuelan president HugoChavez.

September 2009 Attempts to erect a tent in Central Park after landing in New Yorkfor the 64th session of the UN General Assembly. Moves tent to an estate belongto Donald Trump, until local government forces claims need for a permit. At the

conference, Qaddafi speaks for one hour and 36 minutes, during which he blamesa foreign military for the H1N1 outbreak, accuses Israel of assassinating JFK, callsfor a one-state solution for Israel and Palestine, and refers to Obama as son ofAfrica. Remains on first floor of the UN after refusing to climb 36 stairs.

2010 During a visit to Italy, Qaddafi pays a modeling agency to assemble 200 youngwomen, to whom he lectures about converting to Islam. Each woman is given acopy of the Quran.

2011 Hires Serbian, Ukrainian and Ghanaian mercenaries to combat Libyan rebels.

Qaddafispeaksforonehourand36minutesattheUNGeneralAssemblyin2009.


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Fancy a ScooP?Awkward first date reaches the point of badicebreakers.Boy: So, whats your favorite ice cream flavor?Girl: Um I dont know. Mint-chip probably.You?Boy: Definitely breast milk.

He wasnt kidding. A new trend has takenthe ice-cream world by storm: breast milk.Last Friday, Icecreamists, an ice-cream parlorin Londons Covent Garden, debuted its latestconcoction. Meet Baby Gaga. Fans turned

out in droves for the rare offering, intended topromote breast-milk awareness among moth-ers. Flavored with vanilla and lemon zest, con-taining the milk of over 15 women, and sell-ing at 14 pounds a scoop thats $22.50 thisGaga sold out as soon as it launched. All werescreaming for ice cream, but the Icecreamistsassured customers that supplies would soon berestocked. We have had an amazing response-- many women have come forward and offerto give us milk, owner Matt OConnor toldReuters.

But, breast milk, really? Some people willhear about it and go yuck but its pure organ-ic, free-range and totally natural, OConnorsaid. And if you think donating your milk is a

bad idea, think again. Victoria Hiley, 35, soldher milk to the ice cream shop after respond-ing to an Internet ad. Its a recession beater,she said.Whats the harm in using my assetsfor a bit of extra cash? she added. Paid 15pounds (about $24) for every 10 ounces of hermilk, Hiley may be onto something.

If youre lactating and thinking of mak-ing some extra cash, however, youre out ofluck. Breast milk wont be hitting the ThayerBen and Jerrys anytime soon. On Thursday,the BBC reported that Icecreamists removedGaga to make sure it was fit for human con-sumption. Gaga samples were sent to thecounty lab to test for hepatitis not somethingyou usually catch from the casual ice creamrun. The local Councilor Brian Connell an-

nounced: Selling foodstuffs made from an-other persons bodily fluids can lead to virusesbeing passed on. Who knows if Gaga willmake its way back to Icecreamists, but heresto a great attempt at viral marketing. EG

The MoST DangeRouS

PLace FoR a RacIST

BILLBoaRDLast Wednesday, Texas-based anti-abortiongroup Life Always erected a racially chargedbillboard on the corner of Watts Street andSixth Avenue in SoHo: an adorable black girlwith a pink hair bow and matching pink dressstands next to a slogan reading The MostDangerous Place for an African American IsIn the Womb. The nonprofit wanted New

Yorkers to be aware of its claim that PlannedParenthood targets minority groups. Ac-cording to spokesperson Marissa Gabrysch,Theres just a huge disproportion [in] thatAfrican Americans represent 13 percent ofthe U.S. population yet represent 36 percentof abortions in the United States.Pastor Stephen Broden is a member of theboard of directors for Life Always. Hes gladthat New Yorkers who have seen the billboardcan now empathize with the 36 percent ofAfrican American women who have had abor-tions: The reaction to this billboard is cen-tered on trauma; abortion is traumatic, it is theemotional and physical trauma that womenface after abortion that necessitates access topost-abortive healing services.

Councilwoman Letitia James voiced the as-tonishment echoed by many viewers: Tocompare abortion to terrorism and genocideis highly offensive. Not to mention that em-ployees at the Mexican restaurant below thebillboard allegedly faced threats of violence.Almost immediately after it was erected, anupswell of complaints convinced the outdooradvertising company that endorsed it to takeit down. The billboard disappeared last Friday,but the image of 6-year-old Anissa Fraser, thestock image model selected for the billboard,is immortalized on the internet.Luckily, the billboard wasnt enough to shiftthose in the pro-choice camp to the other side.Mayor Bloomberg assured New Yorkers:

Ive always been in favor of a womans rightto choose, and nothing that any billboard oranything someone puts up is going to changemy mind. EW

FoXy RuSSIan

BIoLogISTSHumans began domesticating gray wolves atleast 15,000 years ago, presumably as soonas the technology developed to weave minia-ture booties and four-legged sweaters so thatFluffy and kind didnt get cold in the winter.This tango with nature has led to many ques-tionable creatures (read: Pomeranians); none-theless, researchers in Russia are hoping torecreate the domestication process with oneof Fidos closest cousins: the silver fox. Rus-

sian biologist Dimitry Belyaev leads a team ofresearchers at the Institute of Cytology andGenetics (ICG) who have been breeding silverfoxes since the 1950s, trying to replicate theprocess that turned Canis lupus into Lassie.

The experiment has had remarkable suc-cess. After years of selectively breeding thosefoxes which are most amenable to humancontact, the animals now actively seek humanattention and, for all intents and purposes,behave exactly like dogs, complete with tail-wagging, face-licking, and attention-seekingbehaviors. Belyaev hopes the experiment willnot only finally justify the premise of Fox andthe Houndbut also shine a light on the processof animal domestication in human history.However, it could have interesting implica-tions for human evolution as well. Research-ers have proposed that the genes that encour-age increased sociability in animals might havealso occurred in our early primate ancestors,allowing us to live together cooperatively and,eventually, build complex societies.

For those desperate to acquire their own,the internet company SibFox.com purport-edly sells domesticated Russian foxes. Unfor-tunately, their Rainbow Boulevard address inLas Vegas and the fact that those foxes whichare not used in the ICG experiment or adopt-ed by researchers are sent to a coat factory un-dermines the legitimacy of the establishment.It looks like it could be a while until everyonecan have their own fantastic Mr. Fox. AS

WEEK IN REVIEWIllsraion by Emily Marin


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UNREst spREads

IN IVoRy Coast

MARCH 3 2011 | THE COLLEGE HILL INDEPENDENT | www.THEINDY.org3 |NEWS

he three-month political stalematein Ivory Coast has seen a surge inviolence in recent weeks, raising

concerns that civil war may be imminent.The situation further deteriorated thisweek as Abidijans Abobo neighborhoodcame under renewed attack by the forces

of incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo.The attack on the Abobo neighborhood,which supports Gbagbos opponent, for-mer prime minister Alassane Ouattara, isthe latest in a series of attempts by Gbagboto maintain power through force after los-ing the disputed election this past Novem-ber.

This outbreak of violence hit the re-gion after a three month post-electoralstruggle between north and south. Gab-gbos term expired in 2005, but he man-aged to repeatedly postpone elections un-til last November. Following a three-daywait for results, Ouattara was declaredthe winner with 54.1% of the vote. How-

ever, before the end of the day the Con-stitutional Council, headed by a supporterof Gbagbo, invalidated the result, claim-ing that the votes in seven pro-Ouattaranorthern regions had been rigged and de-claring Gbagbo the true winner.

The international community isunconvinced by these unsubstantiatedclaims, and has widely refused to recog-nize the Constitutional Councils verdict.Even the typically timid UN has been sobold as to call Ouattara the winner. How-ever, Gbagbo has refused to step down,rejecting proposals of African delegationswhich offer amnesty and comfortable ex-ile abroad. In the months since the elec-tion, Ouattara has been inaugurated and

the presidential rivals have set up oppos-ing governments.

The current violence is reminiscentof the countrys brief civil war in 2002,when an uprising of northern rebel forc-es left the country divided between thenorth, controlled by the New Forces, therebel group currently backing Ouattara,and the south, which remained under con-trol of Gbagbo and the government army.Many hoped that the 2010 election wouldhelp heal the north/south divide and re-unite the country, but presently such anoutcome is looking less and less likely.

Gbagbo has maintained power, de-spite his loss of the presidency, by con-

tinuing to pay the salaries of soldiers andkey civil servants, though his access tothe countrys treasury has been curtailedsince mid-January. The Ivorian army hasremained loyal to Gbagbo, although hiscurrent lack of funds means that nearlyhalf of Februarys army and civil serviceworkers wont be paid. For now, how-ever, the army continues to fire machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades intoneighborhoods it describes as infiltratedby pro-Ouattara rebels. The UN esti-mates that about 500 people, mostly Ouat-tara supporters, have been killed since theelection.

Now, citizens are fleeing the capi-tal and surrounding neighborhoods at an

alarming rate. Abidjan is collapsing underGbagbos brutal fight to stay in power,with businesses shutting down and em-ployees being laid off. Many banks haveclosed, all A.T.M.s are out of service,and cash is increasingly rare. Nine news-

papers opposed to Gbagbo have closed,citing that they could no longer withstandpolice harassment and constant threats ofviolence against their journalists. All overthe country, citizens are scared, hungry,and without work or money. It is believedthat the New Forces are moving southalong the border, and there is widespreadfear of what will happen when they reachpro-Gbagbo strongholds.

In Abidjan, formerly one of WestAfricas most prosperous cities, lines ofwomen can be seen fleeing on foot, bal-ancing their possessions on their headsto the sound of nearby gunfire. On thenarrower sections of the Cavalla River,rafts packed with hundreds of Ivorians

make their way to the safety of Liberia.Grago Malhn Michelle, a refugee fromBahieleu, told the BBC that he fled afteran armed soldier confronted him in hishome: While I was in the room he cameto me with a gun and knife in his hand. Iblocked the knife and it gashed my hand.These were government soldiers. Therewere no rebels in the village. After theydid this to me, they took all my belongingsand carried them. They just came to harassme and take things from me. I never didanything. Currently, between 300,000and 400,000 Ivorians have been regis-tered as internal displacees within neigh-boring Liberia, a number which will likely

put a strain on the country of 3.5 million,which is still recovering from its own 14-year civil war.

It is unclear how the present situa-tion in Ivory Coast will develop. AlthoughGbagbo has shown no signs of relinquish-ing power, he is feeling increasing pres-sure to step down. His army has sufferedan increased number of armed assaults inrecent days. Last week gunmen affiliatedwith the New Forces captured severalsmall towns in the countrys west fromGbagbos forces. Such attacks have beenaided by increasing defections by Gbag-bos troops.

Unfortunately, the future of theworlds largest producer of cocoa looks

bleak. Gilles Yabi, the West African di-rector of the International Crisis Grouptold Time: The best scenario, which infact is quite bad, would be a country thatremains divided with two separate admin-istrations with the possibility of militaryconfrontation in the future. For now, un-rest is spreading, Ivorians are fleeing, andOuattara remains confined to a lagoon-side hotel under 24-hour guard by U.N.peacekeeping officials.

ERICA SCHWIEGERSHAUSEN B13.5is not controlled by the new forces.

by Eria Shwieershasen

Illsraions by Annika Finne

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MARCH 3 2011 | THE COLLEGE HILL INDEPENDENT | www.THEINDY.org OPINIONS| 4

by Amanda Labora // illsraion by Annika FinneOn Tuesday, March 1, Oliver Rosenbloom B13wrote an opinions column for the Brown Dai-ly Herald discussing Brown students percep-tion of the military. He claimed that those whooppose ROTC based on the militarys historyof discrimination ignore the militarys role inenforcing human rights around the world, spe-cifically citing improved womens rights in Af-ghanistan. Amanda Labora B12.5 disagrees.

osenblooms argument is basedon two fundamentally wrong, and

downright irresponsible, assumptions.The first is that American military inter-vention has improved the lives of womenin Afghanistan. The second is that cul-tural attitudesin particular those towardwomencan be altered by external inter-vention. But such American-led civiliz-ing missionsactually endanger the posi-tion of women in places like Afghanistan.

But dont take my word for it. In herrecent book entitled A Woman AmongWarlords (2009), Malalai JoyaAfghani-stans youngest female member everelected to parliamentaddresses thedifficulties women face in Afghanistan,including those that resulted from theAmerican occupation. According to Joya,who worked as an underground teacherfor girls during the Talibans reign, things

are now worse for Afghanisespeciallywomenthan they ever were under theTaliban.

More than seven years after theU.S. invasion, she writes, we are stillfaced with foreign occupation and a U.S.-backed government filled with warlordswho are just like the Taliban. Instead ofputting these ruthless murderers on trialfor war crimes, the United States and itsallies placed them in positions of power,where they continue to terrorize ordinaryAfghans.

These same warlords were behindJoyas 2007 suspension from parliament

for insultingor as I would argue, de-nouncing and exposingfellow represen-tatives in a television interview, as well asthe multiple rape and death threats she hasreceived since taking office.

Anyone who has taken the time tolearn about the history of Afghanistanwould know that foreign interventionwhether at the hands of the Soviets andthe Americans during the Cold War, orAmerica, Pakistan, and Iran after the So-viet withdrawal in 1989is largely respon-sible for Afghanistans status as a failedstate. According to Barnett Rubin, theauthor ofThe Fragmentation of Afghanistan(1995), it is the underlying social fragmen-tation of Afghanistan, resulting from de-cades of warfare and foreign intervention,that prevented Afghanistan from develop-ing a stable, centralized, and legitimateform of government after the Soviet with-drawal. The last thing Afghanistan or itswomen need is an American occupation.

Rosenbloom is right to refer to themistreatment of women as barbaric,but his use of womens rights as a justifica-tion for continued occupation is misguid-ed. In fact, this argument reminds me ofthose made by European colonial powersin the Middle East, in particular that ofFrance with respect to its colonial project

in Algeria. Who can forget the images ofFrench womenthe wives of colonistsliberating the Algerian woman fromher oppressive veil? The reality is that atti-tudes are not likely to change as a result offoreign intervention. If we have learnedanything from the revolutions sweepingacross the Middle Eastfirst in Tunisia,then Egypt, and now in Bahrain, Libya,and Yemenit is that real change beginsand ends with the people.

The recent sexual assault of CBSnews correspondent Lara Logan in Cairosparked heated debate in the Americanmedia regarding womens issues in the

Middle East. Reactions to the attack haverun the gambit, with some blaming Loganfor bringing the attack on herself, and oth-ers blaming Islam.

As Rachel Newcomb rightfully point-ed out in the Huffington Post, blame theMuslims is not an acceptable response tothe Lara Logan story. What happened toLogan is terrible and reprehensible, but itis not representative of Egyptian men orthe Egyptian revolution. People are rightto question what the revolution couldmean for the future of womens issues inEgypt, but we can be certain that changeis not going to come from anyone but or-dinary Egyptians.

Based on what we are hearing fromEgyptians on the ground, there is reasonto be hopeful. Many of the reports MideastReports received from Egyptians over thecourse of the protests have pointed to adecreased incidence of harassment in thestreets.

Radwa al-Barouni, a translator andprofessor at the University of Alexan-dria reported the following on protestsin Alexandria: Its an amazing sense ofcommunity, its like the government hasbeen bringing out the worst in people forso, so, long, and this is finally bringingout the best in people. I mean, theres no

sexual harassmentnothing! I finally feelsafe walking around the people Ive beenafraid of for most of my life.

And now, in the wake of Mubaraksfall from power, one website calling forcrowd-sourced reform in Egypt, kolena.org, is showing an increased emphasis onwomens rights. The site, which takes sug-gestions from individuals, and ranks thembased on votes, lists Protecting Womenas third on the list of things that need tobe changed in the new Egypt. Thesechanges are the result of domestic, popu-lar movements, not foreign intervention.

Rosenbloom is also right to point to

the sacrifices that American troops havemade all over the world. American sol-diers risk their lives every day to protectAmerican citizens. Any panel evaluatingthe presence of ROTC on campus shouldconsider the positive things the Americanmilitary does. However, the evidence heuses to support his argument is problem-atic and troubling. As American citizens,we have a responsibility to question theactions our government takes abroad,especially when human rights abuses areused to justify occupation. As the demo-cratic movement taking place in theMiddle East has shown us, American for-eign policy has a history of being painfullyshortsighted. Our strategy of backing op-pressive dictatorial regimeslike that ofHosni Mubarakwith billions of dollarsin foreign aid hasnt made America anysafer, nor has it proven to advance humanrights.

AMANDA LABORA B12.5 is a for-mer research assistant for the Brown Af-ghanistan Working Group (BAWG) andcurrently co-manages a blog, Mideast Re-ports.

SAvINg WOMEN

IS NOt A juStIFIcAtION

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MARCH 3 2011 | THE COLLEGE HILL INDEPENDENT | www.THEINDY.org5 |FEAtuRES

n 2003, having waited 15 years in theRhode Island National Guard for the

opportunity to deploy overseas, VinnieScirocco deployed for Iraq and trained ata base. Three months later, without seeingcombat, Scirocco was physically injuredand given honorable discharge. I didntfeel like I completed my mission, said Sci-rocco, now the State Commander of theVeterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). To theday I die I will probably always feel thatway. No pill, no conversation with anyoneat any educational level can change that.

After six years of road rage and constantguilt Scirocco checked himself into theVeterans Affairs Hospital in Providenceand was diagnosed with Post-TraumaticStress Disorder (PTSD).

A childhood friend of Sciroccos,who was deployed at the same time and re-mained in Iraq, developed Post-TraumaticStress Disorder (PTSD) shortly after Vin-nies discharge, after shooting and killinga baby girl. He was a gunner on a Hum-vee that patrolled the streets of Baghdad,where civilian vehicles are not allowedto pass military vehicles. A family desper-ately trying to get to the hospital chancedit and passed the Humvee. Scirocco ex-plained the aftermath: So he shot at

the car. What you hope to do is shoot inbetween the husband and the wife. Youdidnt want to shoot at anybodyWell,there was a little girl in the backseat whogot shot and killed. This friend of mine,hes a father. Hell never be the samenomatter how many times I tell him, Its notyour fault; you had to do that, hell alwaysfeel guilty for thathe cant take that bul-let back.

Both Scirocco and his friend undergotherapy and take medication for PTSD.Theyre both saddled with a heavy, inex-tinguishable guilt. But one of them neversaw action, while the other did. The prob-lem with diagnosing PTSD when no iden-

tifiable trauma has occurred is not neces-sarily that veterans will be getting benefitsthey dont deserve, but that the misdiag-nosis can lead to a dangerous reliance onprescription drugs, or an overestimationof ones own mental health problems.

The conditions implied emphasis onoutside trauma rather than manufacturedneurosis has done much to de-stigmatizethe admission of mental illness amongsoldiers. And the more PTSD is destig-matized in the ranks of the armed ser-vices, the argument goes, the more activesoldiers and veterans will feel comfort-able seeking psychiatric help. And thenthe Army suicide ratewhich this yearsurpassed the civilian one for the first

timemight start decreasing. But PTSDdiagnoses may overemphasize trauma andde-emphasize soldiers own understand-ing of duty, patriotism, and camaraderie.A study of four Rhode Island veterans re-veals that guilt over not serving was equal-ly responsible for fragile mental health astrauma sustained while in battle.Dr. Tracie Shea, who works with PTSDpatients at Veterans Affairs Medical Cen-ter in Providence suggests theres a fun-damental difference between a veteransand a civilians PTSD.

Ive certainly seen cases in whichpeople feel less bothered by the memo-

ries. They can manage it better, their qual-ity of life is better, Dr. Shea says. Afteradministering group therapy with otherveterans, Shea always asks what theyfound most helpful. They always say tobe with people they can understand andconnect with. But once they leave here,its back out in the cold world, the discon-nective world. The disconnect in ques-tion is not simply between PTSD and non-PTSD, but military and civilian.

Herein lies the harsh irony of the vet-eran PTSD case: the safe return to civilian

life can be more debilitating than activeduty. The pace of life is slow and unregi-mented; the concerns of othersa flat tire,a long line at the grocery storeseem ab-surd.

A fall 2010 study published in the jour-nal Aggressive Behavior found that stress-ors related and unrelated to battle wereequally responsible for anti-social, violentbehavior among US Marines. Boredomor monotony and concerns or problemsback home were two of the leading com-plaints cited.A college student enrolled in the RhodeIsland ROTC program at Bryant Col-lege, who asked to remain anonymousfor this article, says that when soldiersreturn home they often find it impossibleto recreate the camaraderie they experi-enced in the course of duty. Its also off-duty where they begin to confront theiragency in battle. Its not til afterwardsthat you realized that the person you shotdown had a wife and a kid, Smith says.Youre lookin through your scope, youget the order and you do it. I think thats abig thing with it. You [come] back and yousee somebody freaking out or really upsetover something very, very trivial.Of the 8 million Vietnam veterans, aboutone million are thought to have had PTSDupon their return from duty, according

to a 2006 RAND Corporation Study.Many of these are among the estimated600,000 veterans that killed themselves.By comparison, 58,000 US troops diedin Vietnam. Its thought that one of thereasons Vietnam veterans were so proneto suicide was that they had to cope withsymptoms for ten years before the PTSDdiagnosis was even introduced into theDSM in 1980.

One local Vietnam vet with PTSD,64-year-old North Providence residentArmand Briere, said the day he camehome from war in July 1968 was the hap-piest of his life. Lacking any hope of a full-time career and unable to explain how hefelt to anybody else, Briere self-medicatedwith hard drugs he picked up overseas,and overdosed several times. He cantbring himself to talk about the details ofhis PTSD symptoms, particularly the flash-backs and nightmares. Though he revealsno desire to go back to war, he found him-self re-engaging in a brutal, death-defyingmilitary consciousness, both inadvertent-ly and on purpose. The heroin he took, hesaid, was like dying and coming back.The ony work he was ever capable of do-inguntil his body gave out on himwasphysically exhausting, and he has chroniccarpal tunnel syndrome to show for it.The flashbacks themselves have lodgedthemselves in his mind inexorably, and

have had him revisiting scenes of death ev-ery day for forty years.

Fellow Vietnam vet Roseanna Evanshas the same diagnosis and experiencessimilar symptomslike embarrassingduck-and-cover reactions to fireworksand periodic outbursts of public violence.But these symptoms materialized dur-ing the Gulf War, after she already hadPTSD from Vietnam. Though no less seri-ous, her initial PTSD was not suffered incombat, but on an army base in Oakland,California.

Evans, who is 60, grew up in a mili-tary family stationed in Newport, RI. Ithad been her dream since childhood toserve in the Air Force. Deemed too lightat 100 pounds, she instead took up withthe Army and was sent to Oakland, Cali-fornia in 1969. In the politically-chargedBay Area, Evans was vilified. They askedthe women to march in the parade. Wegot bombarded by bags of defecation,we got bottles of urine thrown on us, wegot spit at, we had bricks thrown at us.And then we was called outour names,we were told we were either gay or pros-titutes. At the age of 18 thats kind of hardto deal with. Throughout the 70s, on re-serve duty, Evans was periodically home-less in Oakland, sleeping on park benches.In 1970 she became pregnant from a rapeby a fellow soldier on the base.

Evans developed a crippling guiltcomplex later that year. I was supposedto go over to Vietnam and do the desertionformsthat was my job. [If you were] preg-nant, they would not send you over. I hadto train to this kid and he took my place.When Saigon got hithe got blown. Af-ter an explosion on a military base in Ku-wait during her National Guard servicein the Gulf War, images of Saigonwhichshe never actually sawflooded back.

Neither of these traumas were sus-tained in battle, but they were a direct

result of war-time circumstances. WhenEvans cries, its not about the rape, butabout her pregnancy, which she holds re-sponsible for another mans death. LikeVinnie Scirocco, she was blocked fromactive duty, and felt she hadnt served hercountry. Thats why, two decades later,once her children were old enough to beon their own, Evans re-enlisted to serve inthe Kuwait war with the National Guard.She didnt know she had PTSD, and thesymptoms were badly exacerbated uponher return.

Until recently, it was difficult for vet-erans like Evans to prove they had PTSD.As Evans puts it, We wasnt shot at, so wedidnt have PTSD. In July 2009, GeneralPeter Chiarelli, the Vice Chief of Staff ofthe US Army, and one of the foremostsupporters of improved PTSD treatment,announced that the VA was repealing apolicy which prohibited non-combat vet-erans from getting help.

While cases like Evans underscorewhy this policy is a good one, they raisethe question: what exactly constitutesPTSD? If Scirocco got PTSD in Iraq, sur-rounded by war, but not because of a trau-matic event, and Evans got it in America,but through a series of traumas, do theyreally have the same illness? Anotherstudy of PTSD incidence conducted in2008 by the Rand Corporation identified

18 different criteria for PTSD and foundthat the percentages of afflicted veteranschanged considerably when they applieddifferent definitions to the same samples.The official DSM Definition is vague, butemphasizes three main criteria: 1. Thesubject must be exposed to a traumaticstressor in which the subject or someoneclose to the subject is put in peril. 2. Thesubjects reaction to this stressor must befear. 3. The subject must reexperience thetraumatic event and avoid stimuli associ-ated with the event.

California-based researcher Dr.Paula Caplan argues that no veterans atall should be diagnosed with PTSD, sug-gesting more precise terms like battlefatigue and shell shock for dealingwith mental battle scars. Caplan, who hasa forthcoming book on the misdiagnosisof PTSD among veterans, argues that thePTSD label pathologizes and furtherstigmatizes veterans mental problems,which she says are a normal reaction towar. We should never say that becausesomebody is traumatized by war [theyhave PTSD], Caplan says. We shouldntuse that term. We should say they are trau-matized by war.

Caplan thinks the only way to rehabil-itate veterans is through routine engage-ments with civilians, especially those will-ing to listen and talk. When World WarII veterans are going to the VFW halls orAmerican Legions, are there guys andwomen talking about how traumatizedthey are? Theyre just drunk out of theirminds.

Evans, Scirocco, and Briere are all un-employed or retired. Without their activeinvolvement in the VFW, they say theydlose hope completely. While Caplansvilification of VFW branches may be irre-sponsible, shes onto something in seekinga better distinction between the psycho-logical toll that occurs from war and that

which occurs from trauma. Caplan arguesthat what we call PTSD is essentially a nor-mal reaction to an extremely unnatural setof circumstances. This interpretation toohas its flawsfor it would imply those thatarent diagnosed with PTSD are somehowabnormal. And by extension, it might sug-gest that veterans like Scirocco and Evanswho are haunted by their inability to fightfor their country, are the deranged ones,while those who wouldnt dream of goingback, like Briere, are better adjusted.

Couched in a veterans inability to readjustto civilian life are two primary impulses.One is to seek out those who understandtheir torment. The other is to perform aservice for their countrya drive that im-pels so many to enlist in the first place.For many veterans, serving in battle car-ries with it infinitely more meaning thanstaying home and getting a part-time job,or even taking care of their own children.Providence VA clinician Dr. William Un-ger notes two factors in particular thatmake some veterans want to go back towareven those who know they havePTSD. Guys leave with a snapshot oftheir lifebut what happens when theyregone? Babies are born, kids learn to drive,wife gets a new job, these are all goodthings, but they dont fit the picture youhad when you left, Unger says. Second,

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many patients, numbed and unable to lovetheir families again, yearn to reunite withtheir comrades. Theyre closer to [theircomrades] than anyone else. Guys oftentalk about going back because they lefttheir buddies.

Others, like Evans, were desperateto return to war out of sense of nationalduty, even when it was an abject impos-sibility. When 9/11 hit I wanted to goback to war, but because of my mentaland physical state I was told I couldnt,Evans said.

Scirocco is still tormented by his dis-charge. I was injured and I couldnt goback. I guess thats kind of why I volunteerwith the VFW, Scirocco said. For methats a way of being able to give back. ButIve realized I think the one thing that mycomrades in the VFW share is that whenwe raised our hand for our countrythatcommitment didnt end with our service.

Other able veterans who want to re-enlist after being diagnosed with PTSDare not prevented from doing so. Dr.Shea says many veterans are extremelyhappy to return to combat for second de-ployment and often report better secondexperiences after clinical treatment in be-tween deployments. Nevertheless, Shea

adds that there is evidence to suggesttheeffect of this stuff is cumulative, de-pending on the amount of exposure theyget with subsequent deployments.Todays soldiers returning from the Mid-dle East are more frequently diagnosedupon discharge than any previous genera-tion of American soldiers since PTSD wasintroduced to the DSM-III in 1980. Partof this increase is due to better report-ing methods. All members of the militarymust check in with a VA specialist im-mediately upon return from duty. Mem-bers of the National Guard do the same,and then again at 30, 60, and 90 days af-

ter their tour of duty is complete. But asRhode Island National Guard Press Lia-son, Lt. Col. Denis Riel notes, The issueis [what happens] once that process endsa lot of PTSD symptoms dont manifestfor months, if not years.

Another reason for high incidenceof PTSD is that a higher number of citi-zen soldiersNational Guard and ArmyReservesis deploying than ever before.National Guard soldiers, who have muchless training and are less equipped forbattle, must return home two weekends a

year and make a rapid readjustment ratherthan live on the army base. In January, theArmy revealed that half of this years sol-dier suicides were committed by NationalGuard soldiers, though they make up only20 percent of the total pool. 145 NationalGuard troops killed themselves in 2010,compared to 65 in 2009. In 2010, 156 fulltime soldiers committed suicide while onactive duty; 162 did in 2009. Its impos-sible to gauge how many veterans commitsuicide every year, since the army doesntkeep track once soldiers are discharged,but a 2010 study by the California news-paper Bay Citizen found that the propor-tion of California suicides by veterans isabout two to three times higher than that

of non-veterans. As veterans get older,the likelihood of suicide increases. Thestudy also notes that the incidence of fatalcar crashes, motorcycle crashes, and ac-cidental poisonings are all significantlyhigher among veterans than non-veterans.

It should come as no surprise thatthe National Guard doesnt exactly toutPTSD statistics to potential recruits ei-ther. During the recruiting interview Iunderwentm the officer did not mentionPTSD of his own accord. When I askedif it was something to worry about, headmitted it was, but that a lot of soldiersfaked it in order to get medical leave.

Still, increased PTSD awareness does

by Simon van Zylen-Wood

MARCH 3 2011 | THE COLLEGE HILL INDEPENDENT | www.THEINDY.org

not seem to discourage soldiers from serv-ing. The anonymous ROTC student toldme, When you raise your right hand andswear to defend the constitution of theUnited States against enemies foreignand domestic, PTSD isnt really on yourmind. He also feels that his primary re-sponsibility is to those who served, nothimself.

Its really difficult to say Hey Com-mander, I have PTSD, I need help, and Imnot going to deploy. Your buddy who youfought with six months earlier who might

have saved your life and you might havesaved his life[hes] going back. Your ob-ligation and your affection and your lovefor those people is pretty much [moreimportant than] some issues you mighthave.

East Providence resident AmandaOcteau, 29, served in Iraq with the Army.After four years of treatment for PTSD,she is again ready to resume classes at theUniversity of Rhode Island, where shedouble majors in psychology and biol-ogy. Despite having studied PTSD in hercoursework before she enlisted, Octeauwas not deterred from service. She rec-ognized the symptoms of PTSD in herself,but she denied herself treatment, out of a

desire to be a superwoman and a reluc-tance to stop her service.

Octeau adds that although the mili-tary leadership has made it easier and lessembarrassing for veterans to seek mentalhealth, an admission of PTSD can hurtones job prospects in the military.

I think people are trying to impresstheir higher command, Octeau says. Itis very competitive. Even if your com-mander seems nice, it might affect [your]job down the road.

While many veterans are fast over-coming the stigma of talking about PTSDand seeking counseling, these Rhode Is-land veterans have lingering effects which

they say no doctor or medication cancure. Drugs for anxiety and sleep, angermanagement counseling, cognitive be-havioral therapy to reinforce positiveassociationall of these measures haveproven effective at VA Medical Centersin correcting erratic behavioral patterns.Perhaps impossible to improve, however,is a marked inability upon discharge to re-adjust to the routines of civilian life, whichleaves veterans treading a line betweenwanting to die and wanting to re-engagea military ethos through violence, a returnto combat, or rigorously oppressive workethics.

Briere said his daily ritual of house-keeping, bartending, and organizing par-ties at the VFW branch thats ten housesdown from his own keeps him feeling busyand helpful. The same goes for Sciroccoand Evans. Octeau, though she fills hertime working hard in school, finds less andless time to talk out her problems, mostlybecause a vast majority of local VFW mem-bers are much older than she. The blanketdefinition of PTSD treats the veteran likeany other trauma patient. Not only aremany depressed and suicidal veterans be-ing diagnosed with an illness they may nothave, but theyre being treated for it.

Late in his life, in a period when hepsychoanalyzed World War I veterans,Freud noted a reluctance among some pa-tients to resist psychoanalysis altogether.He termed this destructive impulse thedeath drive, which resisted meaningand classifications altogether, as well asthe possibility of improvement. This dan-gerous desire to repeat is especially perti-nent among the veterans studied here. Butits crucial that when a veteran says he orshe wants to go back to battle, its not justout of a masochistic death-drive, but outof a longing for camaraderie and nationalservice, and for that remarkable interplaybetween disciplined regimentation andadrenaline-rush that comes with battle.

Prsptivs PTSD

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e want to make Providencethe coolest place in the

world. It was 2006, and Bill Struever, thedeveloper who had helped Baltimore, MDsee biotech officies in soap factories andcondos in crumbling mills, was in Provi-dence. Struever Bros. Eccles & Rousehad picked out three old factory buildingson the West Sides Valley StreetU.S.Rubber, Nicholson File, and AmericanLocomotive Works, all former industrialgiantsto transform into a twenty-firstcentury yuptopia.

The project, dubbed ALCO (forAmerican Locomotive Corporation),would be the largest investment in the citysince the Providence Place mall. It wouldreuse historic structures according toprinciples of green building. There wouldbe offices, mixed-income condos, and res-taurants. There would be a public river-walk and a Sheraton Four Points hotel.These dirty factory bricks held fragiledreams of renewal. What if instead ofjewelry companies we could have organicfood distributors? What if the Woonas-quatucket river were a public park insteadof a health hazard? What if a five-star hotelcould bring five-star guests?

Today, only the first office-parkphase of the project has been completed,which lives up to the retro-chic image onthe brochure pages. 24-pane windows letlight into the airy offices of the RhodeIsland Economic Development Corpora-tion (RIEDC) and United Natural Foods,recruited from Dayville, CT in 2008. Thesignsteel letters spell out ALCO atop astylized train racing into a factory wheellooks neither new nor old, its colors per-fectly faded.

Next door, where condos and af-fordable housing should be, windows areboarded. To walk around the site, the for-mer U.S. Rubber factory, one must firsthop a sagging chain-link fence where aweather-worn ALCO banner hangs. Thebuilding itself is not dilapidated, only din-gy. It fits with the rest of the used-car lotsand auto-body shops around itexceptthat its unoccupied. Prior to ALCOs in-ception, the space was the home of smallmanufacturers and artists. According toa 2004 survey by the Partnership for Cre-ative Industrial Space, in 2004 there were21 small businesses with 152 employees onthe ALCO complex.

ALCO is not the only project in limbo.Struever Bros. pulled out of Rhode Islandin 2009 after the real estate market crash.Dynamo House, the enormous powerplant that was to house a new HeritageHarbor museum and a hotel, sits empty onthe Providence harbor. Many of the con-tractors that built Struever Brothers Cal-endar Mills (rented by non-profit UnitedWay since 2008) have yet to be paid, andare suing. For now, these projects wait fornew developers, investors, and money tocome Providence way.COLONIAL INVASION?

For some, the ALCO dream was morelike a nightmare. The Olneyville Neigh-borhood Association (ONA) called thenew developments part of a colonialinvasion in a 2007 letter urging UnitedWay not to legitimize Struever Bros. bymoving into one of their buildings. At thefirst City Planning Commission (CPC)meeting about the project in 2006, Xan-der Marro, local artist and ONA repre-sentative, brought up the discrepancy be-tween the median neighborhood incomeat the time, $19,000, and the income ofthe workforce market making upwards

of $50,000 for whom ALCO would priceits apartments.

ONAs offices are not far from ALCOin Atlantic Mills, an industrial buildingalso on the Woonasquatucket. Though At-lantic Mills is considered by architecturalhistorians to be one of the most importantmill buildings in the US, it has yet to beredeveloped. It is home to English For Ac-tion, an ESOL non profit, a smoke shop,furniture warehouses, and, as rumor hasit, the kind of illegal work-live studios thatmade the Olneyville art scene famous inthe 90s. On Saturdays, the place fills upwith Dominican families who come forflea-market housewares. Its a microcosmof the neighborhood and the kind of diver-sity that ONA wants to preserve.

The building is also one of the tenmost endangered in the city, accordingto the Providence Preservation Society.Plagued by neglect, lack of maintenanceand fire hazards, Atlantic Mills is at risk,the society stated in their 2010 annualpress release. If the space were to be reno-vated, it would likely involve a privatedeveloper and result in elevated rents andproperty values.

From ONAs perspective, develop-ments like ALCO only end up hurtingthe residents of the neighborhood theywant to improve. Issues of rising prop-erty taxes, foreclosures, and jobs for localresidents were raisedbefore the City andPlanning councils with each new StrueverBros. project, beginning with Rising SunMills in 2003.

In 2000, the median sale price of ahome in Olneyville was $55,000. In 2006,the year of ALCOs proposal, they peakedat $265,000.

THE MACHINE CRASHES

ALCO was one of RIs last boom real es-tate projects. Its first phase was complet-ed in 2008, and the scramble to financephases two and three revealed a politicalmachine willing to fight for the idealism ofredevelopment.

In late 2008, an $8 million Tax Incre-ment Financing (TIF) plan was approvedfor ALCO by three different city commit-tees within a matter of months. A TIF isan interest-free loan that a developer bor-rows through city government to financea project with civic value. The city inturn takes out a loan with interest and uses

future tax revenue from the projects in-creasing property values to cover the dif-ference. Some of the tax revenue is alsoallocated for civic improvements on theproject, in this case a public walkway alongthe river, rent subsidies, and the construc-tion of workforce housing units.

For Judith Reilly, aWest End residentwith a knack for paper trails, ALCOs TIFapproval was more than suspicious. ThomDeller, director of the Providence Rede-velopment Agency (PRA) and StrueverBrothers main point of contact, askedthe City Planning Commission (CPC) toapprove the TIF during their October21, 2008 meeting without supplying anyof the detailed financial projections, andbefore his own agency, the PRA, had hada chance to vote on whether or not it fitwith overall plans for the neighborhood.

Deller then pushed the project to theforefront of the City Councils agenda un-der the argument that it needed to be ap-proved before the end of the year or losemoney on property reevaluation. Finan-cial projections that came out just days be-fore the December 15, 2008 City Councilmeeting showed much larger costs to the

city than what Deller had previously sug-gested to the CPC.

ONA would later file a conflict-of-interest ethics complaint against StephenDurkee, the Chair of the Planning Com-mission who also happened to be ALCOsarchitect. According to ONA, who vid-eotaped the October 21 meeting, Dur-kee had abstained from voting but hadcontrolled the meetings direction andstipulated what concerns could or couldnot be raised. ONA and Reilly also filedjointly on a complaint to the AttorneyGeneral against Deller for withholdingthe financial projections, and the PRA fornot bringing up the project in their meet-ing prior to it being voted on by the CPC.

Reilly calls this semi-legal stuff thatdoesnt pass the smell test, and pointsout that all of this was going on right whenStruever Bros. was in the midst of massivefinancial difficulties because of the real-estate crash. At the time, this was publicinformation. On October 27, 2008, theBaltimore Business Journal reported thatStruever Bros. had laid off 20 employ-ees. On December 2, Struever Bros. putTide Point, one of its biggest Baltimoreprojects, up for sale. On December 1, the

Providence City Council approved theTIF. In retrospect, its hard not to see theTIF as a bail-out.

Neither the Attorney General northe Ethics Commission did anything aboutthe complaintsDurkee was acquitted,and Deller slid by on the grounds that thefinancial projections had been at a privateconsultants office. (As Reilly points out,this is a huge problem for all future open-records cases, since public agencies nowonly have to hire a private consultant toprotect records they dont want anyoneto know about).

The loan, meant to go out by Febru-ary 1, 2009, was never issued.Presumablyby that time, Struevers dire finances weresuch public knowledge that it was indefi-nitely postponed. Technically, since theTIF was never repealed by the City Coun-cil, it could be approved at any time, evenwith Struever Bros. completely out ofRhode Island.

McCormack and Baron, a SaintLouis, MO based developer who came onboard in 2007 to work on the affordablehousing component. Around the the sametime that Struever Bros. was applying for

The stalled gentrification of Providences American Locomotive Worksby Alie Hines // phoos by he ahor and john Fisher


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its TIF, McCormack and Baron appliedfor a tax exempt bond financing fromRhode Island Housing. The proposal wasapproved preliminarily by RI Housing onDecember 17, 2009.

It was right around this time that thisnew loan was approved that the Provi-dence Journal reported that the city wasstill owed $93,000 in consulting fees forthe TIF preparation, taken out by Deller

in anticipation of the TIF being issued.(The city is still owed this money.) AnneBerman, of RI housing, says that her orga-nization was not worried when this newsappeared because the applicant, McCor-mack and Baron, was a very well respect-ed and seasoned developer.

McCormack and Baron officiallytook over the project in October 2009, ac-cording to the Providence Journal.

As of now, the RI Housing loan hasalso yet to be issued. McCormack andBaron is still working on cobbling theirfinances together, Berman says. She em-phasizes that part of RI housings job is toprovide financing where other sourceswouldnt, and is optimistic that project

will move forward in the not too distantfuture.

PLANNING AND FORGETTING

No one knows what will happen to ALCO.But what the projects history reveals isa city government that is pro-develop-menta particular kind of development.In this case, of offices and upper-incomehousing.

Eileen Grossman was the owner ofa local jewelry manufacturer, DressupInc., that was relocated when Strueverbecame interested in 2006. According toGrossman, the relocation was the nailin the coffin for her business, though ittook place at the developers expense.She disagrees both with the subsidies andwith the way the city prioritizes new resi-dential and commercial spaces over old,local manufacturers already under threatfrom outsourcing. Grossman inheritedher company from her father, who startedit in 1948. She is now a GOP VolunteerCoordinator and an active member of theRI Tea Party.

In 2009, according to a McCormack

and Barons proposal, ALCO phase I was60 percent occupied by businesses thatemploed 180 people. This is only 30 morethan were counted by the Partnership forCreative Industrial Space in 2004, prior toredevelopment.

Who was meant to live and work inALCO? Local workers making $19,000 ayear were probably more suited for em-ployment at manufacturing companies

like Grossmans. Reilly points out that thecity has an interest in fostering ALCO-style redevelopments not only because ofhistoric preservation, green building, andneighborhood growth, but because of taxrevenue.

John Sinnot, Senior Development Di-rector at Struever Bros., said somethingsimilar in a 2006 letter to City Planning:We are working daily to restore historicmills and create new built environmentsthat will both contribute to the growingvibrancy of the area and expand the taxbase.

Not that the city has seen any moneyyet. United Natural Foods was lured to RIin part by a tax-stabilization package nego-

tiated by their neighbor, the RIEDC. Thehousing componentregardless of wheth-er it was truly affordableremains un-built and uninhabited, and thus nontax-able. Meanwhile, median home pricesin Olneyville, which peaked in 2006 at$265,000, dropped to $115,000 in 2008.

Though it has been crippling, thehousing crash will not end Rhode Islandsdreams of redevelopmentor corrup-

tion. The current administration has yetto make a comment on the Olneyvillegentrification debate. However, develop-ment of jobs, real-estate, and business wasa focal points of Mayor Angel Taverascampaign last year. Providence is watch-ing closely to see what he will make ofthe waterfront land emerging from thehighway 195 wreckage. Meanwhile, withStruever Bros. gone from the state and thenews, its easy to forget that that old U.S.Rubber factory on Valley street was oncesupposed to look retro, not ruined.

ALICE HINES B11 loved hopping thatfence.

These dirty factory bricks held fragile dreams of renewal. What if instead

of jewelry companies we could have organic food distributors? What if theWoonasquatucket river were a public park instead of a health hazard?


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man is shot, collapses, and dies. He mum-bles Mildred and falls to the floor of anobscenely well-furnished living room. Thusbegins Mildred Pierce, the 1945 film noir and

melodrama, directed by Michael Curtiz and star-ring Joan Crawford in the eponymous role. MildredPierce is the story of a divorced, single mother de-termined to provide her churlish daughter a life ofluxury by any means necessary.

Todd Haynes B85, the prolific independentfilm director best known for Safe, Far from Heavenand Im Not There, will be direcing the miniseriesversion of the classic film. The five-part series, pre-miering March 27 on HBO, will star period-piecevirtuoso Kate Winslet in the titular role, Evan Ra-chel Wood as her eldest daughter Veda, and GuyPearce as Pierces second husband Monte. She gaveher daughter everything, the tagline for the trailerreads, But everything was not enough.

Rather than attempting to remake the original,Haynes has looked to the 1941 novel by James M.Cain that inspired the film. Curtizs version displacedCains narrative of a working class womans struggleagainst social injustice, instead injecting murder andsuspense into the narrative. Cains novelunlike thefilmcontains no murder, no mystery, and no flash-backs. And neither will Hayness version. So dontexpect Winslet to resurrect a crazy-eyed Crawford.This is no made-for-TV melodrama, nor is it a thrill-er. Theres more sex, more naughty couplings,and

way less theatricality.The frankness with which [Cain] dealt with

Mildreds sexuality, her relationship with Monty,and the complexity between the two women char-actersmother and daughterwas so much morenuanced, and so much more relevant and relatable,than I ever truly felt about the original film, Haynessays in an interview with Collider.com, which is abeautifully stylized piece of Hollywood operatic,noir filmmaking. [Cains book] felt modern and con-temporary and approachable, and thats one of thereasons why I wanted to take it on. Haynes wantedto honor Curtizs film, but also bring elements outof it that might have been overlooked in the originalproduction that was so codified and stylized that youmissed the real human nuances and conditions that

made it feel incredibly modern and relevant, and Ithink we did accomplish that.

Curtizs film begins at the end of the Pierce story.We dont know it yet, but the man who died wasPierces second husband, and so far we think shesthe killer. We first see Pierce wearing a massivemink coat, strutting along the Santa Monica pier,and for one fleeting instant, she seems to contem-plate jumping off of it. In the next scene, sitting ina police station, Pierce begins to tell the story of theevents that led to her demise. The screen dissolvesinto a bright, cheery, humble home in Glendale.Pre-powerhouse Pierce appears wearing an apron,baking pies, while her husband, Bert, flops down ona sofa in the background. We hear Pierce in voice-over: I felt as though Id been born in a kitchen andlived there all my life, except for the few hours ittook to get married. Within the next few minutes,Bert accuses Pierce of spoiling their eldest daugh-ter with inane material items, and Pierce criticizesBert for his lack of ambition, sternly ordering him togo pack up. After a series of tragediesall seem-ingly induced by Pierces decision to leave her hus-bandwe witness her transformation from dowdy,maternal housewife to wealthy, ambitious restaura-teur. Pierce becomes increasingly masculine, dress-ing in broad, padded-shouldered suits, and guzzlingscotch, claiming, Its just a little habit I picked upfrom men.

As Pierce settles into single motherhood, shemeets her soon-to-be second husband Monte, awealthy layabout. After a spontaneous sexcapade atthe beach, Pierce returns home to find her young-est daughter dying of pneumoniaHollywood-stylepunishment for motherly negligence. By the end ofthe film, Pierce has lost both husbands, her young-est daughter, her business, and at the very end, herbeloved Veda. The implicit message: career womencan only achieve happiness if they relinquish theiroccupational ambitions, redomesticate, and give uptheir financial and sexual independence. She mustbe purged of her excess (her whiny, money-hungrydaughter Veda), and deprived of her sexual threat(big shoulders, big bucks) to the male business world.

Feminist film critics have interpreted Mildred Pierceas a warning to independent women to know theirplace, lest they end up bad mothers and child-lessspinsters. Reflecting the subjection of womanas a social type, Mildred Pierce sent the message toAmerican women in 1945, who achieved workingstatus during wartime, that female autonomy wasa threat to their families and to society. The year1945 marked not only the return of the troops andthe transition to a post-war economy, but also the re-vocation of womens temporary economic freedomand the reconstruction of gender boundaries. Thereconstitution of the family unit was of dire neces-sity to return rightful order and normalcy to thenation. By the end of the film, Pierce is punished fortransgessing the gender line, for rattling the struc-ture of the nuclear family, and must perform a finalcapitulation to her proper role.

As if being a threat to cultural order werentenough, Pierces subjectivity has been character-ized by some critics as an aberration, an illness, evenpathological. Pierces independence is interpreted,by writer Stanford M. Lyman, as the outward mani-festation of a latent, incestuous lesbianism towardher daughter Veda. According to 1970s feminist filmtheorist Pam Cook, in Duplicity in Mildred Pierce,the conclusion is less extreme: viewers judge Pierceextra harshly for indulging Vedas penchant for con-sumption, thus the mother-daughter bond is read asdangerous. Solidarity among women (represented

by Veda and Mildred) represents the greatest threatto patriarchy, argues film scholar Janet Walker.Female collectivity provides a vision of the worldwithout men.

It is clearly the mother-daughter relationshipthat is extremely problematic in both the film andthe novel, Mary Ann Doane, pioneer in feministfilm theory, George Hazard Crooker Professor, andchair of the Modern Culture and Media departmentat Brown, told the Independent. There is a certainimpossibility associated with the role of the motherin a patriarchal culture and it has to do with spatialmetaphors of over-closeness and excessive dis-tance, usually linked to the working mother. Theredoesnt seem to be a middle ground for the figure ofthe mother.

BAD

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rrectionofMild

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by Eve Marie BlazoIllustration by Charis Loke

Design by Joanna Zhang

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So what have we learned? A career woman livesa split life, divided between motherhood and busi-ness. Bad mothers drive their daughters to murderand society into ruin. And women in love, or womenin general, are a threat to penis-power. But Vedahas an attitude problem, and her negative bondingworks to protect patriarchy, ensuring her motherslove will be destructive and self-defeating. Pierceslove is something closer to masochistic, and Vedasmay be nonexistent.

The closing imageis a long shot of Pierce walk-ing away from the camera with her first husband,

the father of her children, her arm bound to his,approaching a gargantuan, sun-drenched archway,while in the foreground, two black women scrub thesteps of the police station. Everyone and everythingin its proper place outside the Hall of Justice. Theend.

But no film is a simple inscription of ideology,Doane argues, and this film brings aesthetic pres-sure to bear on the contradictions of such an ideol-ogy. Lynne Joyrich, Professor of Modern Cultureand Media Studies at Brown, offers further insight:Even though the narrative closes as this promotionof heteronormativity, viewers remember the mo-ments in which shes tough and strong, and whenshes bonding with other women. [Pierce] will never

be a typical wife and mom, shes going to find someother fabulous thing to do.Pierces on-screen fabulosity is reflected and

reinforced by Crawfords real-life star-image. Justlike Pierce, Crawford was a single motherand ac-cording to later accounts of her adopted daughter(whom she disinherited), Crawford was a very, verybadmommy. The pressmaintained Crawfords star-image as a woman rising up from struggle, just asPierce is depicted as a fighter who rises to the top ofthe social ladder. Crawfords real-life bootstrappingaugmented the believability and self-referentiality ofher onscreen roles,which epitomized the indepen-dent woman trope of the 1930s and 40s. Herhighlypublicized downfall (she was dubbed box office poi-son prior to nabbing the Academy Award for Mil-dred Pierce), was integrated into her star-story as just

another obstacle she had to overcome.

Pierce carries her connotations with her, butHayness vision is sure to offer new insights to this 70-year old story. Doane, who taught Haynes in the 80s,

reflects, When [Haynes] was at Brown, he took acourse from me on the womans film and saw manyof the films that had an impact on his filmmaking,says Doane, He has always been interested in theideological implications of form and the cultural or-dering of sexuality Because Todd was a semioticsconcentrator at Brown, he has often been seen as toointellectual and unemotional, as though intellect andemotion were absolutely incompatible. But I thinkthat his uniqueness resides in the fact that he is ableto collapse that opposition, to push the spectator tosimultaneously feel and analyze emotion. He knowsfilm theory extremely well and at the same time heundermines all the stereotypes of coldness and ab-stractness that are usually associated with theoryBecause Todd is so attentive to form and medium,

the issue of seriality and television will undoubtedlybe of great concern to him.

Haynes is somebody who, across all of hiswork, is very interested in what conventions differ-ent media forms offer. He plays with media form andconventions to get us to think about the very modehe is using to tell the story... Haynes directed thetelevision short Dottie Gets Spanked, using televisionformas a commentary on television, says Joyrich,In that way, I think Mildred Pierce could be perfectfor [television]... Television allows for ongoing nar-ration because of its serial form. Serial form allowsfor really involved, multiple intersecting narrativesyou can come up with a complex social and familialnetwork. I think that form itself has a lot of potentialfor what you could do with it as a commentary onfamily dynamics and the complex relations of whathold people together.

Ive seen Mildred Pierce at least five times, and mymother could triple that amount. For the women inmy family, its been a hallmark of strong womynism.I asked my mother what she thought about Pierceand patriarchy. She got very defensive, claiming thatPierce is a survivor, an ambitious, bad-ass superma-ma, and that of course she returns to work after herreunion with Bert. Contrary to said feminist read-ings, my mothers Pierce is a role model, a rebel,

a heroine of early Hollywood. But even as a blackwoman, my mother overlooks the infantilization ofPierces black maid, played by Butterfly McQueen,and the glaring omission of successful, or positive im-ages of women of color in the narrative just so shecan experience something beautiful to look at, aglimpse into a life thats not mine. The politics of itdont mean anything to me.

Synthesizing my mothers take on Pierce withthe critical consensus, Joyrich notes, [Mildred Pierce]speaks to so many people and can be powerful somany years later, frankly because those issues arestill with us. We look at the film now and it can seemdated, but issues of struggling to balance work lifeand home life, internal peace with ambition and de-sires for success, are all still big issues in our timeThe film opens up more than it can close off. It isnever closed and contained because it leaves spacesand gaps for viewer to get pleasure out of it.

The reappearance ofMildred Pierce is a testamentto the endurance and continued relevance of thestory.Haynes slips his own reading of Pierce into thefilms gaps, as does my mother, extracting new plea-sures and possibilities from the Pierce story. But it isalso Pierce herself who perseveres. Despite the con-fines of genre, racial stereotypes, and heterosexistnorms, Pierce transcends her own containment. Shesurvives in time and crosses racial boundaries. Mostof all, I guess my mother relates to Pierce--after all,shes a mother too.

EVE MARIE BLAZO B12 loves her bad-ass super-mama.

A career woman lives a split life,divided between motherhood andbusiness. Bad mothers drive their

daughters to murder, and societyinto ruin. And women in love, orwomen in general, are a threat topenis-power.


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n the evening of January 27, amans gruff voice came over the

AM radio to football fans across the state

of Alabama. Al from Dadeville, as hewas called, had pronounced himself theproudest Alabama University fan in thenation; as proof of his devotion, he haddriven down to Auburn University to de-stroy the 130-year-old symbol of Auburnpride that has haunted Alabama fans foryears: the beloved Toomer oak trees.Every year, after major Auburn footballvictories, fans gather at Toomers cor-ner named for State Senator SheldonToomer, who brought Auburn to promi-nence when he founded the Bank of Au-burn where they drape toilet paper overthe oak trees at the corner to celebrate theAuburn Tigers glory. The origin of the TPornamentation is unclear, but gathering at

Toomers corner is Auburns most storiedtradition. Al from Dadeville boasted oftaking an herbicide commonly known asSpike 80DF to the oaks, assuring listen-ers that there was no chance of survival.Signing off like any good Alabama fan, theDadevill-ain solidified a new chapter inthe Auburn-Alabama rivalry: Roll DamnTide!

That Damn Tide (Alabamas slogan isdrawn from its mascot, the Crimson Tide)has crashed waves against the Auburn Ti-gers for over a century. The cornerstoneof the rivalry is the Iron Bowl, the annualmatch between the two schools renownedfor its unrestrained hostility. The Iron

Bowl is rivalry at its finestAlabama has40 wins to Auburns 34, with sides oftenalternating wins year to year since its ori-gin in 1893 (there was a forty year hiatus1907-1948). In fact, ESPN ranked the ri-valry only one spot behind Yankees-RedSox in their list of the top ten rivalries inthe history of sports. But the joy of a well-matched rivalry comes with great animos-ity, and with great animosity comes less-than-great sportsmanlike conduct. TheDadevillain is merely one in a long lineof overzealous fans on both sides to pushthe limits of acceptable fandom. Back in1993, one of the Toomer oaks was setaflame by enthused Bama fans after anAuburn victory in the Iron Bowl, and pan-ic ensued in a packed crowd of Auburncelebrators. More recently, in 2005, anAlabama fan injured seven Auburn frater-nity members, stabbing five of them theday before the Iron Bowl, as he cried out,Roll Tide!

Al from Dadevilles real identity isHarvey Almorn Updyke Jr., a name thatscreams youre lucky I only kill trees.If there is any upside to this story, it is thediscovery of the character of Mr. Updyke.His mug shot says it all: a mean grimace,sweaty wisps of hair across his forehead,upturned villainous eyebrows, and ablack-and-white striped shirt that lookshalf prisoner, half referee. A retired Tex-as State Trooper, Updyke named his sonBear, after the heroic Alabama footballcoach Paul William Bear Bryant, and hisdaughter Crimson, after the AlabamaUniversity mascot. Tracking the radio callback to his home in Dadeville, the police

arrested Updyke, charging him with aClass C felony of Criminal Mischief forviolating the sylvan sanctity of ToomersCorner. For his enthusiastic vandalism,he faces up to 10 years in prison. His po-lice record includes another arrest forcriminal mischief in Williamstown, TX in1996, and a theft charge in 2004, also inTexasthough neither charge appears tobe related to sports fandom. Meanwhile,Alabama University released a statementsaying they have no record of Updyke hav-ing been a student there.

ALABAMA ACCORD?

In the aftermath of the incident, as wouldbe expected for such a long standing

heated rivalry, retaliation ensued. Grass-roots media outlets throughout the stateexploded with rage over the crime of theDadevillain, referring to him as The mosthated man in Auburn or The most hatedman in the Southern states or even Themost hated man in America. One fan-made image shows Updykes mug shotwith the caption, If found, please hog-tieand bring to Auburn, Alabama. Deaththreats were reportedly sent from Au-burn fans to his home, forcing his familyto pull their children out from school. Andaccording to Birmingham News, when Up-dyke visited a Wal-Mart, out on $50,000bail, his cars tires were slashed.

Surprisingly, although the individualperpetrator has been demonized, his ac-tions have inspired a new unity: fans fromboth universities have joined togetherin solidarity over the lost oak trees. OnFebruary 19, the Auburn communitygathered for the Toomers Tree Hug,an event to mourn the loss of the Auburnoaks that reflected the depth of pain andfrustration in the small town, AssociatedPress reports. One Auburn fan shook hishead in mourning over the dying trees: Idont understand why anybody would just

maliciously [kill] a tree thats not bother-ing anybody. One powerful image showsa womans hand laying a roll of toilet pa-per in a bed of roses at the base of the treethat reads, Get Well Soon. For AlabamaUniversity, while a small minority of stub-born fans celebrate the fall of the Auburntradition, many have pitched in to help thegrieving Auburn community. An orga-nization called Tide For Toomers, runby Alabama football fans, has raised over$45,000 through its Facebook campaignto saveor, if they are truly lost, replacethe Toomer oaks. Alabama coach NickSaban even teamed up with Auburn coachGene Chizik to issue a joint statement

expressing that this incident is not whatthe greatest rivalry in college football isall about. Out of the violence seems tohave grown a new harmony, at least tem-porarily, for the rival universities. In thishearwarming scene, however, many haveforgotten about Mr. Updyke and his felo-ny charge. Lets just hope the judge is anAlabama fan.

DAVID ADLER B14 and EDWARDFRIEDMAN B14 did time for second-degree sapling slashing.

THE OAK TREEMASSACRE

Sprts Rivlris T d nw

by Daid Adler and Edward Friedman

Illsraion by Annika Finne

O


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Those HooligansHeated as our American rivalries canget,across the pond theyve been doing itlonger (and better). While Football Hoo-liganism transpires globally, Europe hasfervently extended the violent lengths towhich beer-sodden fans, known as Hoo-ligans, will go. Today, gangs of such hoo-ligans, known as firms, brawl with thesupport of a terrifyingly calculated orga-nization behind them, occasionally asso-ciating themselves most often unofficial-ly with extremist political movements.One such firm, the Continental FootballHooligans, have cornered the market onsignal flares as DIY pyrotechnics and even

(if youre a good shot) projectile sabotage.Italian Footballs first fatality occurred 30years ago in the class-divided Lazio-Romarivalry when a fan was hit in the eye by aflare and died from the resulting injuries.In recent years, in the fierce AC Milan-Internazionale rivalry, the AC Milangoalkeeper was struck by a flare in a 2005Champions League quarter-final. Why is ittaking America so long to catch on?

RIVALRYTHROUGH

TIMEWith March Madness approaching quickly, sports rival-ry becomes a choice topic. College basketball fans from

around the nation are currently preparing to undergo a gru-eling months worth of dedicated fandom, and the marqueematchups of the NCAA tournament will no doubt featuremany infamous rivals. It is impossible to deny that rivalriesare the most compelling aspect of a sporting event. Theyelevate the competition to a level of emotional significancethat transcends the physical act of sport and provide farmore entertainment than a regular game detached from ahistory of feud, even for those of us uninvolved in the rivalryitself. However, rivalries can often expose the dark, pitifulunderbelly of sports fandomdrunk old men slinging fistsover whether the receivers feet were or were not inboundswhen he caught the ball. Here, we look back on sporting al-legiance gone too far.

When in RomeAmong the most ancient of all sports vio-lence were the Nika Riots of 532 B.C.E. atthe Hippodrome chariot races in Constan-tinople. The classical brawlcatalyzed bya volatile combination of preexisting civilunrest and chariot faction pride dwarfsanything that modern fans could offer.At the end of the January 13 racing day,the two leading sporting factions of theday the Greens and Blues stormed thepalace of Emperor Justinian I to protestthe imprisonment of fellow fans fromeach of their ranks. Not stopping there,the enthused fans burnt down the HagiaSophia, along with much of the city. The

Nika Riots lasted over a week and claimedthe lives of a whopping 30,000 Romancitizens. In the end, Justinian let his truecolors show, expressing his support forteam Blue (and throwing a little gold theirway). The Imperial troops finished off thehaplessly abandoned Greens. Peace wasrestored to the Eastern Capital of the Ro-man Empire. Rebuilding of the burnt, gut-ted city began. They kept racing chariots.Of course.

Killer BabeThe rivalry of the New York Yankees andBoston Red Sox offers a history repletewith competition and pranks, some moretasteful than others. The teams first met in1901 and the rivalry was cemented when,in 1919, the Broadway producer and own-er of the Sox sold his starting home runrecord-setter Babe Ruth to the Yankeesin order to finance a production ofNo, NoNanette. Ruths hitting prowess would goon to propel the Yankees to seven WorldSeries, of which they won four. The Curseof the Bambino, as it came to be known,has haunted the Red Sox ever since.

Rumbles and beatings outside of

games and at Cambridge sports bars color-fully pepper the last decade of the rivalry,but nothing comes close to the actions ofone Nashua, NH Yankees fan in 2008.45-year-old Ivonne Hernandez rammedher car into a group of Red Sox fans out-side a Nashua bar after they allegedlytaunted her for the Yankees sticker in theback window of her 1997 Dodge Intrep-id, injuring several and killing 29-year-oldMatthew Beaudoin. Hernandez claimsthat the group had harassed her, slammedon her windows and shook her car aftershe cited the deficit of Red Sox champion-ships. She was convicted of second-degreemurder in December of 2009. 20 to 40yearsthat Red Sux.


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When the dead give birth to children things split open and rip offand it can be very expensive to replace, especially if you want it doneby a good surgeon. When Dreama May gave birth she was alreadydead, but her child, to most every ones surprise, was living. A liv-ing child in Florida, her doctor said, now thats an unnatural thing.What shall he do, the doctor asks, how ever do you expect to raise aliving child among those who have already passed? Many of Dreamasneighbors thought the child should be sent away immediately. Put

him up for adoption in a nice living state, like New Hampshire, theyall said. Give the child a chance at a normal upbringing. But everytime Dreama considered such a thing she realized just how much ofan impossibility it was. She and her husband, Larry, had never hadany children while they had been alive, and now, due to some un-natural phenomena, here they were in Limbo, in Florida, with a childthey could finally love and watch grow and share a television set with.They decided to name the child Austin. Austin Bilby. And with all thelove Dreama Mays lifeless heart could muster she clung to that child.Raised him and reared him, watched him grow hair and grow up. Shewould look at him, going swing dancing with dead girls from acrossthe street. She would smile, her smile creasing with the plasticity ofher artificially constructed face. When he was old enough it seemedthat every night, when she said goodbye to Austin and sent him outon the town, that the days were shortening before Austin would haveto leave Florida to go be with his own. Sometimes, Austin would lookat his mother, at her permed wildly white hair, her tattooed eye liner,her gradually decaying flesh, and he would kiss her on the check, feel-ing the give of the skin below, wondering where his mothers bodywould move to next, and knowing it would be a place very differentfrom where he was heading, a place where either things were burnedand never buried, or a place where light ran wild and clouds were sol-id. He liked to dream of his mother and father bouncing in betweenGods hopping stones, leaping from one rain cloud to another, buttruth be told, he wasnt exactly sure where they would be destined togo. Either option, he thought, sounded better then up north.

Cassadagas vibrations reach for miles beyond its city limits, all ofthe mediums psychic powers simply emanating out of their homes,beams of light escaping through the cracks under their doors and thespaces between their curtains. Sometimes at night, Austin wouldsee a little stream of photons bounce around his room, knowing that

there was only one place from which they could have come. Boastingthe largest community of the living in Florida, Cassadaga also con-tains the largest number of psychics per square mileage in the world.The city of seers and palms, tea leaves and shakras, meditation andcommunication. Come, let me look into you and tell you. Some peo-ple who visit Cassadaga are dissatisfied with the results, but naturallyno one can control the spirit world. The dead are more unpredict-able than the living and often less inclined to oblige you with reason-ability. In peak months, Cassadaga becomes very crowded, and withall the minds floating about its hard to tell whose is whose. Whenthe mediums sleep, they unlock their skulls and let their brains floatup out of their heads like balloons, their spinal cords stretching likerubber bands out of their backs and anchoring the brain to its respec-tive owner. Sometimes, if you come to Cassadaga late at night, youcan see the brains floating out of the chimneys, bobbing in the lighthumid breeze, sweating, slightly, because of the crowd of souls thatsurround them, invisibly petting and plying the mediums brains to

wake. Before Austin left Florida to head up north his mother wouldtake him to Cassadaga to get him used to being around living people.Austin would walk up to a medium and ask, may I touch you? Mymother says its good practice. And he would feel around their armsand their skulls, sometimes happening upon the latch that unlockedtheir brains (We must warn you, they would say, that not all peopleup north have skull latches). But, truth be told, the mediums were of-ten more interested in touching him then he was in touching them. Aliving child in Florida, they would ponder, is it possible that hes trulyalive? Or is he maybe dead and alive at the same time? Can he com-municate with the spirits who have already left Florida for the nextworlds? They would corner him: tell us Austin, who do you like mak-ing love to better? The living or the dead? And Austin would blushwith vivacity and reply that he had never made love to a living girlbefore, but that he liked dead girls very much.

wrien and illsraed

by Ria Bllwinkel

Gods tRUE

DREAMAMAY

CASSADAGAIn Florida things are pastel. You cant get a cup thatsbright yellow. It has to be faded. Brand-new worn out.Thats the way they make things there. Sunwashed and di-luted. Light light pink sunglasses with white white hair. Areflection of what some living, vibrant human might looklike. Thats how most everyone looks. Generally, realpeople dont live in Florida. Just ghosts who are beingheld in Limbo for punishment of gluttony or for charginginterest on loans.


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Loving a Floridian is like loving Frank Sinatra. Though he mightbe handsome, he is dead, so really my love is confined to a kindof removed admiration. A sulky, beaten kind of love that floatsin between two people but that never really sticks to anythingsolid. It wafts and travels between realms but, ultimately, it can

never translate substance for substance because what does anupbringing with drawls and cracker barrels and overcrowdedartificial beaches have to say to the upbringing of reality? (Onewhere people are alive and colored and sit on wooden chairs in-stead of plastic ones.) The unease of the unfamiliar, however, isundeniably sexy, forcing my mind to jump realms into a place Ihave only seen in pictures and pornos. Knowing that when ourmouths meet his mouth has been in all sorts of places beforemine. Florida places. In alligator swamps and in theme parksand in faded looking ice cream shops. His mouth has been inCuban sandwiches and in girls with bleach blonde hair, on riverboats and in towns filled with psychics. In his fat mothers uterusand on his mothers poodles back. On his grandparents form-aldehyde foreheads and in zombies flesh. A fawn in the cold re-ality, absent of the bitterness that comes with stark definition,one can only love a Floridian if one accepts their utter separa-tion from the rest of the world, their otherworldly upbringingthat has made them so divergent from the standard color wheel,their dilution that stands so stark in the face of vibrancy.

Before Austin moved out of Florida to the land of the living hedated a dead girl who was a stripper. She worked at the worldfamous Mons Venus. At the Mons, everything yellows like afaded photograph, like a set of weeks-old unbrushed teeth. Theaging plastic seems to permeate even living peoples brains, sothat when their skulls get smashed open all

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The College Hill Independent: March 3, 2011