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Page 1: Issue 12, Fall 2012

VOLUME 98 ISSUE 12 www.thecampanil.com Tuesday | Dec. 4, 2012

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

Jay Defeo’s posthumous exhibit

See Page 4

See Credit page 3

Annie O’HareNews editor

Ruby Woodsstaff writer

COURTESY OF LINDA ZITZNER

The Oakland Police Department has been under fire for allegations of gross misconduct.

In a hearing scheduled for Dec. 13, Ninth Circuit Judge Thelton Henderson is expected to decide if leadership of the Oakland Police Department (OPD) will be taken over by the federal government.

OPD would be the first U.S. police force to be placed in fed-eral receivership. When an entity is placed in receivership, it is held by an outside organization that will then control or regulate the entity. Should receivership be deemed necessary, it is not clear how much of the department it will effect. It could be decided that only the high-er leadership of OPD will be effect-ed, or the control of the entirety of

OPD could be handed over to the federal government.

Judge Henderson has been overseeing OPD’s efforts to com-ply with a set of 51 required tasks, reforms set forth in the Negoti-ated Settlement Agreement (NSA) between the department and 119 plaintiffs in 2003.

The lawsuit accused Oakland police officers of misconduct, and centered around four veteran offi-cers, so called “The Riders,” who allegedly planted drugs and other evidence on suspects.

In addition to the reforms, OPD agreed to pay $11 million to plaintiffs.

In compliance with the agree-ment, an independent monitor was contracted to assess the police de-partment’s progress toward compli-ance. This contract is held by Po-lice Performance Solutions, LLC.

In the eleventh quarterly report of the Independent Monitor for the

OPD, published Oct. 15, monitor Robert Warshaw expressed frustra-tion at OPD leadership and the slow pace of change in the department.

“We can only characterize the current condition in the Depart-ment as one of stubborn resistance to compliance with an Agreement made long ago: an Agreement that simply enumerates concepts com-mon in police agencies across the country,” Warshaw wrote in the in-troduction to the report.

While the threat of receiver-ship looms over Oakland, the city is struggling to address a rising violent crime rate with a rapidly shrinking police force.

In an Oct. 17 article, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Oakland has seen a 20% rise in crime over the past year.

Since 2008, the number of po-lice officers has shrunk from nearly 850 to about 650 and is expected to continue shrinking.

OPD threatened with federal takeover

The Mills College farm, a proj-ect that has been in the planning stages for the last two years, broke ground this semester.

Student volunteers helped to prepare the farm by spreading mulch and beautifying the sur-rounding area, including the creek and the pond next to the music building, on HeyDay Playday, a campus-wide event that took place on Nov. 3.

According to Linda Zitzner, the Associate Vice President for Opera-tions, about 75 people showed up for the event and about 20 of those volunteers helped to prep the farm’s soil for spring planting.

The class of 2010 gave their senior gift to the project, and there has been a business plan in place ever since.

"They made this commitment to the farm and inspired further com-

mitment," said Britta Bullard, the on-campus Sustainability Coordi-nator, in praise of the fundraising efforts of the class of 2010.

“This is the first semester it’s re-ally gotten off the ground,” Zitzner said. “We are working on a grant submission to help us support the farm.”

The farm can be found down the hill behind the Underwood Apart-ments, just past the Richards park-ing lot along a gravel road.

“We looked for an easily acces-sible location for when we eventu-ally bring in the outside commu-nity,” Zitzner said. “The farm will eventually have fruit and nut trees and there are plans for possibly a Farmer’s Market, while Bon Appé-tit has agreed to buy produce from the farm.”

The plot of land that the farm is on is in what Zitzner calls the “pre-prep" stage.

The soil is being prepared for spring planting through a process known as sheet mulching, which will then set for the winter. While the plot of land may look like noth-ing more than piles of dirt with

wood chips scattered around, a sys-tem of layers are working under-neath the soil.

According to Zitzner, the ‘sheets’ in the mulching process consist of stable bedding, which is then covered by cardboard and sprinkled with wood chips, more manure is added on top of that, and the final layer is regular soil. Sever-al logs from fallen eucalyptus trees were put in place to prevent the soil and other materials from rolling down hill.

The wood chips come from Mills’ own trees, Zitzner said, which makes the process more sustainable, as wood chips aren't being hauled in from somewhere else. Microorganisms then pro-duce the enzymes that heat up the sheet mulching and create rich, organic soil.

“In addition, we’re putting up a green screen, consisting of small trees or shrubs, to shield the farm from debris caused by cars along the road,” Zitzner said.

CHANTELLE PANACKIA

Volunteers help prepare Mills College’s new farm during the HeyDay Playday beautification event on Nov. 3.

Credit system change still under debate

The debate continues about whether Mills College will change the current course credit system.

Mills College is currently on the semester course credit (SCC) system not the semester or quar-ter unit systems commonly used by other colleges and universities. Credit earned from other institu-tions not on the semester course credit system must be converted upon transfer to Mills.

“Higher education is moving in a direction in which students will obtain course credits by many different means: AP courses, col-lege courses taken in high school, on-line courses, summer courses, etc.,” Provost and Dean of Faculty Sandra Greer said.

These alternative classes are changing the way students can earn degrees and in turn change the value of those class credits when transferring into institutions

like Mills.Student work transferred from

other institutions may not always equate to the standard one Mills course credit, but those transfer courses which are equivalent to at least .75 Mills credit will satisfy a general education (GE), major, or minor requirement, without having to make up the difference in credit.

“We want to be able to inte-grate all those courses easily on a student’s transcript and help her moving smoothly and efficiently toward a degree,” Greer said.

A system that would conform with the standardized credit sys-tem most California colleges use would assist transfer stu-dents in converting their classes taken at previous institutions to Mills classes.

“Overall we are working on a process which would allow pro-spective transfer students to view their credit statements earlier in their decision making process and I think having a system of course credits here at Mills with which they are already familiar would

Kate Carmackstaff writer

See Farm page 3

Mills breaks ground on campus farm

Page 2: Issue 12, Fall 2012

“One of the most cost-effective ways to

address climate change is through composting.”

2 News

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

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Dec. 4, 2012

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Top: Green composting bins are commonly found in residence halls and dining areas around campus. It is a cost effective way to reduce waste and combat climate change. Bottom: Signs accompany most compost and recycling bins to ensure users understand what goes in each type of waste recepticle.

RUBY WOODS

A typical kitchen in the resi-dence halls includes three different colored cans for disposing waste. One, with a black bag lining the inside, is for regular trash. The sec-ond, a blue can with clear lining, is for recycling. The third, a green can and lined with a similarly colored bag, is for composting.

Mills College strives to be a “green” environmental-friendly campus, which includes imple-menting compost in both the dining facilities and the residence halls.

In 1999, compost-ing was first introduced to Founders Commons’ kitch-ens before anywhere else on campus.

Composting started in the “back of house,” a term coined to refer to where all the food preparation takes place. At that time, composting consisted of a carrot top or something that had gone bad.

Composting was then brought to the “front of house,” where customers consume their meals. Anything left unfinished was composted.

Composting moved to the residence halls in Fall 2010 due, in large part, to the efforts of Mi-randa Felix as part of a school project in a student-led initiative.

Felix, currently a senior, is also the president of the Earth C.O.R.P.S. (Community Orga-nized to Respect, Protect, and Sus-tain the earth) club on campus.

“We did a pilot program and researched the benefits of compost-ing, then did a business plan and presented the materials,” Felix said. “Some departmental areas have un-dergone special petitions to require the program because it does require some administrative funding.”

The benefits for both people and the environment outweigh the cost of funding, though, and become significantly cheaper in the long-run.

According to Britta Bullard, the Sustainability Coordinator, without the presence of compost, global

warming will become an increas-ing problem for the earth as meth-ane becomes 20% more effective in CO2, trapping greenhouse gases and contributing to climate change.

“One of the most cost-effective ways to address climate change is through composting," Bullard said.

Currently, Mills’ compost is collected by Recology, a com-pany that operates in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washing-ton to coordinate recycling and composting programs.

Recology trucks Mills’ com-post to Jepson Prairie Organics, a composting facility located in the Central Valley, where the compost is collected into large piles called “windrows.” The piles are covered with plastic tubes, which causes the material to get really hot and even-tually break down into rich nutrient

compost which is then sold to local farmers, who, in turn, grow their food and sell it back to Mills’ din-ing services, whose goal is to buy as much local produce as possible.

This phenomenon is known as the closed-loop system.

“Whatever you put out there will eventually come back and most likely reside in your body,” Bullard said.

Compost on campus extends to the Tea Shop and the maintenance of the grounds.

“All of the to-go containers that Bon Appétit offers are com-postable, so if you get coffee or something from the grill, it can

be composted,” Felix said. “But if you don’t know what to com-post, look at the signs, which are color-coordinated.”

According to Felix, if the object in question comes from a plant, an-imal or fiber, which includes paper, it can be composted, while metal, plastic and styrofoam cannot.

Bullard said the grounds crew participates in composting as well.

“In California, it’s actually ille-gal to throw away grass clippings and yard debris,” Bullard said.

Bullard is hopeful for the fu-ture, which she wants to include an on-campus compost pro-gram, similarly to Jepson Prairie Organic's "windrows."

“The best way to achieve this would be in conjunction with the campus farm,” Bullard said. “The botanic garden already has some

composting on-site, while the sustainability center has a worm bin.”

Students welcome any and all improvements to the com-posting system already in place on campus.

“I'm from a suburb of Bos-ton and grew up with compost at home, but few other folks had it in my town, as far as I experienced,” said junior Evan Kravette. “I love that Mills composts, and I think it should be part of orientation to review what goes in compost bins be-cause I see tinfoil and other non-compostable items in bins fairly frequently, which makes me sad.”

Another student, junior Lora ChauDavis, who became heavily involved in composting upon arriving at Mills, recalls her efforts to help incorporate

composting into the residence halls during her first year, which most notably included a painting party whose slogan was “Yes we can paint those cans.”

“It was a group of us just paint-ing a bunch of cans green to sepa-rate the compost bins from the trash bins,” she said.

Through the closed-loop sys-tem, students are more than likely to ingest recycled matter, albeit indirectly.

“Produce from compost ver-sus produce drenched in chemical soup,” Bullard said. “If we have the choice, what are we going to choose?”

Ruby WoodsStaff Writer

Composting on campus continues to develop

RUBY WOODS

Page 3: Issue 12, Fall 2012

3News Dec. 4, 2012

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

World and Local News

Credit from page 1

Farm from page 1

City Council member fails to pay taxes

Recently elected Oakland City Council member, Lynette Gibson McElhaney, is facing tax liens for not paying state and federal taxes. Gibson McElhaney told the San Francisco Chronicle that her fail-ure to pay her taxes was a product of personal tragedies, including the deaths of close family mem-bers and her husband losing his job. Gibson McElhaney will be sworn in in January of next year and will be representing District Three, which encompasses West Oakland and downtown.

Local coffee brewery purchased by new investors

Blue Bottle Coffee, Inc., an Oakland-based coffee roasting company, was recently purchased by a new group of investors. Blue Bottle’s founder, James Freeman, told the East Bay Express that the new owners, Bryan Meehan, Tony Conrad and Mike Volpi, are not planning to change the company in any major way. Though the three owners are known for in-vesting in small startups and then selling them to larger corporations for profit, it is not clear that will happen with Blue Bottle.

Syrian government accused of shutting down internet

As fighting continues in Syria between President Bashar al-Assad’s military and rebel forc-es, allegations have been made against the Syrian government for shutting down the country’s inter-net access on Thursday, Nov. 29. Though Assad’s regime denies shutting down the internet, Mat-thew Prince, the CEO of Cloud-Fare, a web security agency, wrote to CNN that it is unlikely that the government was not involved.

Palestine gains improved status with United Nations

On Thursday, Nov. 29 the Unit-ed Nations approved Palestine’s request to become a nonmember observer state with the internation-al institution. Despite disapproval from the United States and Israel, more than 130 countries voted to allow Palestine its new status.

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assist in that process” Said Vice President for Enrollment Manage-ment Brian O’Rourke.

Mills undergraduate require-ments state that students must com-plete all requirements and at least 34 credits to receive the Bachelor of arts (BA) or Bachelor of science (BS) degree.

Most Mills courses are currently equal to one credit towards gradua-tion. The change to a course credit hour system would mean that each course would be assigned a credit hour value. The sum of those credit hours, rather then the sum of course units, would determine a student’s graduation eligibility.

Before the change can be sub-mitted for approval by faculty, de-tails regarding the total number of course credit hours Mills will re-quire for graduation and the credit hour value for each course must be evaluated.

“Graduation will be determined when a student gets the right total of credit hours, however, Mills Col-lege has not decided what its total credit hours required for graduation will be,” Government Department Head Fred Lawson said.

For example, instead of 34 courses needed to graduate, a stu-dent would be required to complete a certain number of credit hours. That number is still being decided.

“We have not made any final decisions yet. We are working on how various courses at Mills would be valued in semester hours, but we do not have a final document,” Greer said.

Using 120 hours as a possible graduation sum, Lawson said that not all courses will be worth the same number of hours.

“Some students may also find that they can complete the 120 credit hours by taking only 30 courses instead of 34 and some may find that they need to take more like 43.” Lawson.

Depending on how Mills de-fines each courses credit hour val-

ue, some students could take fewer classes overall to graduate. For example, some science classes that have labs included could be valued with more course credit hours than an English class with out a lab.

“The change to semester hours will make our credit system the same as the system used for federal financial aid, calculations will be easier and there will be less confu-sion,” Greer said.

Greer said revenue for the col-lege was not a motivating fac-tor in the decision to switch credit systems.

“Revenue is not an issue — we will not make or charge any more money for classes because of this,” Greer said. “The only way it may affect revenue may be that transfer students can more eas-ily move credits to Mills, so more transfer students may choose to attend Mills.”

Greer said she would be step-ping down from her current posi-tion at the end of this school year, prompting some questions about if the change to credit hours would get done before she is replaced.

“I don’t know if we can make this big change in the next six months. So there is a small chance that we will have this huge de-bate and all this planning and then it would not get done and then who knows what the next dean of faculty is going to want to do,” Lawson said.

Faculty continue to discuss how courses will be valued in terms of course credit hours and how many total course credit hours will be re-quired for graduation.

“Faculty are meeting about every other week and we hope to get the kinks out by the end of the spring semester. The final plan has to be approved by the faculty and presented to the Board of Trust-ees,” Greer said.

For new and current Mills stu-dents, the question remains: how will this affect our graduation and the graduation requirements of fu-ture students?

HeyDay Playday, which fo-cuses on the up-keep of the Mills campus, was brought back to Mills this year due to the efforts of an alumna who remembered when it had been a regular event on campus and wanted to see its return.

“HeyDay Playday started in the Depression era and went through the 70s,” Bullard said. “Stu-dents were given the day off and participated in everything from washing windows to weeding to planting flowers.”

Volunteers were excited to par-ticipate in a ground-breaking proj-ect that has a long future at Mills.

“It was great to see so many students, staff, and alum working together to get the project done,

and I am so excited to be able to say that I ‘broke ground’ on the farm,” said Melanie Vega, a soph-omore. “If there are future Hey-Day Playday events, I fully plan on attending again and I’d recom-mend that other students help out as well – the experience is worth the work.”

Amanda Ridley, another soph-omore, had nothing but praise for those she worked with on the farm during the HeyDay Playday event.

“It was a great experience that I would recommend to all other students. It was great to be part of a group of students, staff, and alums who took pride in their campus and wanted to improve the already amazing campus,” Ridley said.

The campus farm is one of several top-priority projects of the

Sustainability Committee, which includes Zitzner, Bullard, Susan Spiller, a professor of Biology, Kristina Faul, an associate profes-sor of Geochemistry and Environ-mental Geology, and Karen Fiene, the campus architect, for the 2012/2013 term. Others include creek and lake restoration on cam-pus, neighborhood improvements to roadways and landscaping, and enhancing sustainable living learning opportunities.

It is the hope of Zitzner and others on the Sustainability Com-mittee that courses could even-tually incorporate the farm into their curriculum as well as other sustainability topics such as clean energy, climate change, and the development of alternate forms of transportation for students, staff members, and faculty.

Discussion of credit system change continues

Page 4: Issue 12, Fall 2012

4 Arts & FeaturesDec. 4, 2012

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

Joann PakArts & FeAtures editor

Top: Jay DeFeo’s The Eyes, which is currently on view at the SMOMA until Feb. 3, 2013. Above: A photo of Jay DeFeo working on The Rose, one of her most revered and iconic works of art.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

One can’t discuss art iconoclasts in the Bay Area without stumbling upon Jay DeFeo’s expansively in-fluential career. Recently the Jay DeFeo Trust has facilitated her posthumous resurgence with suc-cess. The Jay DeFeo: A Retrospec-tive at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art retrospective spans over her prolific career which in-cludes close to 130 works.

The retrospective broadly ex-emplifies DeFeo’s body of work from her jewelry making to photo-graphs to sculptures and of course her paintings. The intimacy of De-Feo’s artistic process and move-ment through mediums presents her versatility and ultimately, the transcendence of her art.

It’s obvious that the star of the show and the centerpiece is The Rose (1958-1966) her monolithic oil painting, wood, and mica amal-gamation. The Rose is the charis-matic artwork that organically grew with DeFeo for eight years before it was moved out of her Fillmore studio due to its colossal growth. The Rose is a mythical figure, of-ten seen through photographs and Bruce Connor’s film, but never seen in flesh.

The Rose centers the exhibition in its own private enclave alluding to the origins of the room it grew in at DeFeo’s Fillmore studio. There’s

a surreal feeling when you notice that across the gallery space De-Feo’s The Eyes (1958), a graphite drawing of the artist’s own eyes, is gazing over the space and aura of The Rose.

The retrospective is tantamount to visiting a spiritual and illustra-tive space of DeFeo’s; a shrine and altar like quality bounce off the walls of the exhibit.

The exhibition includes her drawings of the cup her colleague at Mills, Ron Nagle, Professor Emeritus, gifted her.

DeFeo joined Mills College’s Art Department in 1981 and left in 1988 when she was diagnosed with lung cancer.

When DeFeo had her first ma-jor solo exhibition in 1959, she also exhibited in Dorothy Miller’s exhibition Sixteen American at the Museum of Modern Art in New York including Robert Rauschen-berg, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Stella and Jasper Johns. In spherical coin-cidence Jasper Johns’ exhibit See-ing with the Mind’s Eye shares the same floor at SFMOMA. Though it’s blatant that the quiet stoic roots of Jay DeFeo’s Retrospective over-shadows many of the exhibitions in the SFMOMA currently.

The fluidity and transcendence of her work is seamless in the roots that ground her a Bay Area icono-clast. Her body of work stays true to her artistic ethos in her perpet-ual and constant spirit of explora-tion and examination of the sub-jectivity of history, past, and the visual process.

Jay DeFeo spent the final decade of her life as a Professor in Studio Art at Mills College, a time that co-incided with a particularly fruitful period of her artistic practice. After the creative, emotional, and physi-cal toil of creating her monumental signature work The Rose (currently on view at the San Francisco Muse-um of Modern Art), DeFeo become deeply involved with photography and various forms of mechanical reproduction, investigating new materials and innovative methods.

Her subject matter during this period was often the common, ev-eryday objects that surrounded her (a compass, the hole in a plastic tape dispenser, or a ceramic cup), which she in turn transformed through photography, drawing, painting, and photo-collage into images that transcend the defini-tion of the objects from which they are derived.

While at Mills, DeFeo experi-mented extensively with photo-copying which enabled her to produce images with a tonal range that was in keeping with the re-duced palette of black, white, and gray in her related drawings. The instantaneousness of the repro-duction process allowed her to create new images quickly, even incorporating pervious copies into

new compositions.DeFeo exploited the cre-

ative potential of her media through innovative choices of subject mater and through masterful manipulation.

She was a passionate experi-menter whose seemingly dispa-rate creative practices actually produced a remarkable synergy between painting, drawing, and photography. Her works become a visual and physical record of their own construction, each layer and iteration informing the next and seemingly informed by both the fu-ture and the past.

In this way, DeFeo’s works re-veal and epitomize her enduring impulse to think and see through making, valuable lessons that she passed on to her students at Mills.

I interviewed Jay DeFeo, a dear friend as well as colleague, shortly before she died of lung cancer on

November 11, 1989. We talked about her current work — haunt-ing small oil paintings on linen that she had been making since 1986. “A lot of them have a somewhat mountainlike image, a fantasy kind of landscape. . . . I read a lot about mountains; heroic adventures, for example, the ascent of Mount Ever-est. Obviously, there is the idea of

challenging there, to do the best you can each step of the way. In the recent mountain series it couldn’t help but cross my mind about the problems I have had to overcome this last year—just the moving from day to day with the therapy, and the imminent presence of death always there.” (“Talking with De-Feo,” Artweek, February 8, 1990).

Jay DeFeo: A Retrospective

A posthumous celebration of iconic artist’s prolific works

Dr. Stephanie Hanordirector, Mills college

Art MuseuM

Moira RothtreFethen ProFessor oF Art history At Mills college

Jay DeFeo: A Retrospective at SFMOMA closes Feb 3. 2013.

Page 5: Issue 12, Fall 2012

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5Arts & Features

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

Dec. 4, 2012

Rachel LevinsonStaff Writer

There are few fictional characters that I completely relate to: Hermione Granger, Daria, and Liz Lemon. The impending doom that I was turning into Liz Lemon (the main character from 30 Rock) became so apparent that I made the following list of reasons I became her within one month:

2. I have definitely looked in the XL sizes of the boys sections

for appropriate business clothes before.

25. I have started pronouncing camera as ca-mer-A.

26. I have some weird level of stage fright that causes me to

become stiff and awkward yet still unaware of my actions.

27. I have accepted that ANY relationship I will have with Conan

O’Brien (even if it’s from my couch to the tv) will end with awk-ward sexual tensions and equally uncomfortable random run-in’s

throughout my life.

28. I judge the disgusting habit of smoking cigarettes while I constantly eat junk food, some of which most likely use bull semen

as a seasoning … ew.

29. My ideal night is sweat pants, cheesy blasters (or normal pizza’s in this imperfect world),

and a documentary/ new Saturday Night Live.

30. I am probably doing the same thing she would have done with Carrie Fisher if she grew up

with tumblr.

24. I can’t seem to grasp how to be appropriately stylish and still

achieve business dress.

23. I have also surrounded my-self, more than once, with multiple Franks along with a few Toofer’s

and maybe one Lutz.

22. I watch the flashbacks to her awkward childhood and can’t

help but relate to the pure dorkiness of it all.

21. I have said “I’m so excited because these glasses make me

look more like Liz Lemon!”

20. I have surrounded myself, more than once, with multiple

Cerie’s.

19. I would date a beeper salesman.

18. I felt a personal accomplish-ment when she started dating Carol

the Pilot aka MATT DAMON.

17. I know the words to too many jingles.

9. I tend to use random noises (a la blergh) rather than

curse words.

16. I wish cheesey blasters were a real thing.

15. I want to go to Pop-Tarts World

14. I have been told the above by Jennifer aka my Jack/Jenna/(ex-

tremely occasionally) Pete

13. I have a direct correlation between the amount of stress in

my life and the things that I bake that are mainly made of dough and

require kneading/punching.

7. I have a best friend who is going to be the next Jack Donaghy.

12. I have started saying “What the What” and it took someone

pointing it out for me to realize it.

11. I have had a guy try to do a keep-a-way move with my bag and instead of having fun I stood there

with my arms crossed saying “I can wait…”

10. I have an unhealthy comedy obsession which led to me writing a Roman Classics essay comparing

30 Rock to ancient Plautine comedies.

6. I will include the progres-sion of a meal within my telling of a completely different story even if

it is not relevant to the main plot line.

1. I would, without a doubt, buy out an entire hot dog stand to prove my point for equality … if I

had the money needed.

8. I had no problem sharing #3 with the person in #7 in a bit too

much detail.

5. I look back on some great memories with certain people in my life only to find that they are

all centered around food.

4. I love the Barefoot Contessa and muppets at award shows.

3. I recently stayed in on hal-loween night to avoid having a

hangover monday morning only to get food poisoning that night from

what I still declare was the best (and only) Chicken Pesto Avocado

sandwich I’ve ever had.

30 reasons why I have accepted that I am Liz Lemon

Page 6: Issue 12, Fall 2012

6 Dec. 4, 2012

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Opinions & EditorialSTAFF EDITORIAL

How would you celebrate the end of the world if it happened on Dec. 21?

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

“I would probably celebrate it by hiking to the top of Mount

Witney with my partner— Nick Gabnit,

First year Post-Bac

“I wouldn’t celebrate. I would hug my daughter. I would be sad it was over because I have a lot

left to accomplish.”— Sarah Palmer, First year MPP

“I would just get out and see as much of the world I can. I would take pictures, collect something from each trip and self educate.”

— Angelica Addison, senior

“I would be with my family eating tamales with a bottle of

Crystal and watching a movie.”— Mariana Mendoza,

sophomore

“I would have a big party with friends, family and everyone

who wants to come.”— Emmalena Illia,

senior

Letter to the Editor

Dear Mills community and President DeCoudreaux:

When we, as students, talk about the Mills community we see faces of people who created that community for us - each person that supported us through our dif-ficulties and struggles and every-one that encouraged us to succeed became part of that community. These people make up the fabric of our Mills family.

Several of these people left last year, not of their own accord. They were laid off in an attempt to shrink a budget shortfall. Then again, Mills cannot create a community with dollars and cents. Only sup-portive, caring people form that web of connectivity. These people must be valued beyond their sala-

ries or the desks they occupy.In every good organization, a

few pivotal people have institu-tional memory and are the heart of the place. They help everyone else feel that they belong. That sense of belonging dissipates without these sentinel people. At Mills these peo-ple who were forced to leave guid-ed new students of all walks of life at Mills and helped them become part of the college community.

In my favorite English class at City College we had a writing as-signment comparing education to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Learning is an arduous process of discovery and new understand-ings and requires hard work and a leap of faith. Most people, I wrote, benefit greatly from a teacher who challenges and supports them.

This path of learning is based on a connection between teacher and student. Here at Mills, it is so much more than just teachers and includes staff and administration as well.

Even though an institution can-not survive solely on the spirit of caring by the faculty and staff with-out their support the social fabric of the institution dissipates. The his-tory of Mills was created through the sisterhood and goodwill of people like those we lost last year. Please make sure that future finan-cial decisions are made with more careful thought, because Mills is much more than money. Do not sell Mills short.

Sincerely, Tami Etziony, Mills Undergraduate student

The faces of Mills: what the layoffs really meant

COMPLIED BY ALHELI CUENCA

Drake’s Bay Oyster Co. will no longer be shucking shells on the Northern California Coast. Secre-tary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, announced that he will be shut-ting down the historic oyster farm on the Point Reyes National Sea Shore. Salazar is designating the area a wilderness zone.

Drake’s Bay Oyster Co. is re-sponsible for 40% of the Califor-nia’s total oyster haul.

Kevin Lunny, owner of Drakes Bay Oyster Co. told KTVU that he was devastated by the closing of his historic company.

“This is going to be devastat-ing to our families, our commu-nity and our county,” Lunny said. “This is wrong beyond words in our opinion.”

The developments in the Drake’s Bay Oyster Co. case lead The Campanil to question if environment should be protected at the cost of entire communities and families.

As conservationist and stewards of the environment, is there ever a time put aside the need to conserve our natural wild life for the sole benefit of humans?

This is just one decision out of

the many decisions that are not in favor of the wild life we feel is un-fortunately fair. If it is not this fam-ily business then it will be another.

Why the oyster farm and not cat-tle farms? There are cattle farms all over California — dozens in a ten square mile area in the Central Val-ley. Two-lane freeways in Central California are surrounded by only cattle farms. But an oyster farm that produces 40% of the state’s oyster product? To shut that down seems absurd. Cattle farms are not neces-sarily the cleanliest out there.

The decision is extremely dis-heartening and disappointing. Is this decision ultimately the right one, even though “right” is not so easily defined? The decision to close Drake’s Oyster Co. did not seem to have been taken lightly or made out of the blue.

The decision didn’t cut the pro-duction half-way through its lease this year, but instead was waited out and let the family run its course as it should. It is understandable why this is all a series of extremely unfortunate events, what with the history of the family’s company being so rooted in the area and the impact it has had on their well-

being and sustainability in terms of the economy.

It is hard to think of an instance where a person’s well being or the economy of a community did not hinge on some damage to the environment. We drive cars, we fart, we fly. What is the relative cost, in terms of baby seals, of our prosperity?

In the case of the oyster farm, it is maybe high, but lower, surely than ranching. It’s not clear that this company could not move to a different estuary and set up their oyster farm there, but maybe the fact that it is a protected environ-ment provided a unique situation and it would be impossible for this company produce in the same man-ner. If they are producing 40% of the states oyster haul, that region will absolutely feel the economic impact of a loss that size. It is in-teresting that cattle ranches in the area are not in danger, even though raising cattle is quite tough on the environment.

Environmentalists are often being accused of overstating the negative impact of industry and this case seems to be made murky by politics.

My oysters for an environmental mandate

Send your letters to the editor to [email protected]

Page 7: Issue 12, Fall 2012

7Dec. 4, 2012

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

Health & Sports

Ruby WoodsStaff Writer

Leadership is an important as-pect of the Mills College experi-ence, and Stephanie Der, Lora ChauDavis and Erika Colstad are three particular student athletes that have shown exceptional lead-ership skills over the course of the past semester.

Stephanie Der, a senior, has spent the past four years rowing on the Crew team.

“Something inexplicable about rowing keeps calling me back,” Der said.

Der values the family and com-munity that being a part of Crew has fostered.

“These are close friends that I wouldn’t have found otherwise,” she said. “Sports teams help form quick friendships.”

Der appreciated the fact that Mills allows walk-ons, people who have never rowed a day in their lives, allowing for a unique experi-ence that she might not have had at another college.

“Crew sometimes creates un-comfortable situations that can teach you a lot about yourself,” said Der. “If I just ripped a blister open on my hand, I have to ask myself, ‘Do I keep going; what kind of a rower am I?’ ”

The rowing team’s coach, Sara Nevin, commends Der’s dedication to the team as an individual and as a leader.

“For Stephanie, it has always been about the team, not herself,” said Nevin. “And as she has grown and stretched her abilities, so too has the team. Stephanie is a flame personified – a spot of brightness and persistence.”

Der recently participated in the F.L.A.M.E. program – Finding Leaders Among Minorities Ev-erywhere – which was a five-day all-expenses paid trip to Colorado Springs in late October, run by the United States Olympic Commit-tee, that put on a series of panels and workshops.

“We got to meet other Olym-pians and Paralympians, which was really inspiring,” said Der. “I would certainly recommend this to other students who are inter-ested, as this was a very memo-rable experience that I’ll carry with me forever.”

Der’s life isn’t devoted solely to crew, though. She did a peer health exchange for a year, during which she taught pregnancy prevention. In addition, she’s been a member of the dance club for two years and she’s the managing editor of the campus production, The Womanist. She has also joined the choir, a new addition to campus this semester.

Lora ChauDavis, a junior, is another member of crew, having rowed for the past three years.

“I started out as a first-year and now I’m a coxswain,” ChauDavis said. “There’s a stereotype that rowers are tall, while coxswains are tiny and that coxswains are the little people in the back of the boat who yell a lot. We are so much more than that.”

As ChauDavis explains, the coxswain is basically the coach within the boat. They steer, they keep an eye on the other boats, and they act as motivation during the race by cheering the rowers on.

“Crew gives you confidence, an ability to work with people, and a drive to keep going when things are tough,” ChauDavis said.

Similarly to Der, ChauDavis is driven to succeed in areas outside of crew. She works at the on-campus chapel, she has a job with alumni relations as an assistant, she is a member of Earth C.O.R.P.S. (Community Organized to Respect, Protect, and Sustain the earth), and she also started a figure drawing club this semester.

ChauDavis even sits on the Stu-dent Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which consists of repre-sentatives from each sports team, who talk about the needs of student athletes, as well as plan events and evaluate programs.

ChauDavis recently participated in a NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Leadership Forum in Dallas, Texas from Nov. 1-4.

“It was an opportunity to learn about different leadership styles and how different SAAC’s oper-ate,” ChauDavis said.

Erika Colstad, a sophomore on the volleyball team, also traveled to Dallas with ChauDavis and par-ticipated in the NCAA Leadership Forum.

“It was an overall great learning experience that inspired new ideas that I could bring back and help ini-tiate at Mills,” said Colstad. “I met some amazing athletes that I had a lot in common with and who shared the same love for athletics, extra-curricular activities and volunteer-ing as I do. I'm still in close contact with a few, which is so much fun.”

Colstad has played volleyball for nine years, since she was in junior high school. Her position on the Mills team is the outside hitter, who plays in both the front and the back row, which offer op-portunities to play both offensively and defensively.

Colstad loves her teammates.“We’re a family,” she said. “I

know a lot of people say that, but we really mesh well together.”

As with Der and ChauDa-vis, Colstad has interests outside of volleyball.

She is on the Student Athletic Advisory Committee; Colstad is also the co-vice president for the class of 2015; she is a member of the psychology club, as well as a peer tutor for the English depart-ment, an office assistant at the Of-fice of Alumni Relations, a tour guide for the admissions office and a phone ambassador.

With so many additional ac-tivities to occupy her time, it’s rare for Colstad to have a moment for herself.

“I manage to squeeze sleep in,” she says. “My goal is to get eight hours every night, but I don’t al-ways quite make it.”

Despite their busy lives that re-volve around schoolwork, sports, jobs and clubs, Der, ChauDavis and Colstad are committed to their roles as leaders of the Mills community.

Cyclone Spotlight: Stephanie Der, Lora ChauDavis, Erika Colstad

ERIKA COLSTAD

LORA CHAUDAVIS

STEPHANIE DER ALL PHOTOS BY KURT LOEFFLER

Page 8: Issue 12, Fall 2012

8 Health & SportsDec. 4, 2012

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

COURTESY OF LAUREN MARTIN

Simple Kale Salad1 bunch kale.

2 TB apple cider vinegar1/2 apple

1/2 avocado1/2 carrot

1/2 cup shelled pistachio nutsSalad dressing of any kind.

Rip up the kale in to a bowl and squeeze it with the vinegar. Toss the kale with some slices of apple and avocado, grate some carrot over it and sprinkle some nuts over the whole mess. Pour your salad dressing over it.

While traveling through Missoula Mt. this summer, my companion and I stopped at a grocery store for supplies. The young woman who rang up our items stopped at the large bunch of curly kale and her eyes brightened.

"This is my new favorite food," she said. My companion and I agreed that kale is very good, and told her it had become a staple of our diet while on the road.

Our new friend leaned in to us and low-ered her voice slightly.

"It can be a rough food, though," she admitted.

It's true, kale can be rough. Kale has been growing in popularity, but for some,

love for the the tough, fibrous green must be weighed against the fact that it can be hard to digest, even after it has been cooked.

A solution? Squeeze it.Squeezing, or massaging raw kale breaks

down the cell walls, making the leaves easier to digest and cutting down on some of the green's bitterness. I have taken to squeezing kale with a little apple cider vinegar, it seems to aid the process and add a nice tangy fla-vor.The process is strangely satisfying.

After tearing off the stems, cut or tear the greens in to bite-sized pieces. Gather the kale in a bowl and sprinkle some vinegar over it, about a tablespoon for a half bunch of kale. Gather handfuls of the kale and squeeze, sort of like kneading dough. The kale will begin to change immediately, darkening in color and shrink in size, essentially it will wilt.

You can eat it right away, cook it, or for further softening, cover the bowl and let it sit for half an hour or so.

A tale of squeezed kale saladAnnie O’HareNews editor

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Prepare two cookie sheets by buttering and covering with parchment.

Thoroughly clean and dry your egg beaters, a spatula and a glass or metal bowl. (Any fat or grease will break down your meringues.)

Start whipping the whites in the bowl until foamy and bubbly.

Sprinkle in the cream of tartar and continue to blend until you have reached the stage where the whites form soft peaks. Start adding the sugar one tablespoon at a time as you whip. Add the spices

with the last few tablespoons of sugar. Whip until stiff peaks are formed.

Carefully scrape the meringue into a ziploc bag. Seal the bag and cut a small hole in the corner.

Pipe small, thimble-sized meringues onto the parchment. You don't need to leave much space be-tween them because they don't expand much, so you can fit a lot on each sheet.

Refill new bags to pipe the remaining meringue as needed.

Bake for at least one hour. You can check on them periodically, but don't jostle them. They are ready when they feel like they have a kind of firm skin on them. If you want to test them for doneness, you

can pull one off of the pan and it should instantly cool and become crispy. The edges and tips may also be a light golden brown.

Remove the meringues from the oven and let them cool.

Ingredients2 room-temperature egg whites

1 tsp cream of tartar1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 heaping tsp ground ginger1 tsp ground cardamom1 tsp ground cinnamon

You will also need:A few small ziploc bags

a bowlegg beaters

cookie sheets

Looking for a low-fat treat this holiday season? These gingerbread spice meringues taste just like the familiar Yuletide cookies, but are completely fat free! Me-ringues are often considered something daring to attempt in the kitchen, but after learning from my own trial and error, I found making them thimble-sized not only produced adorably bite-sized meringues, but ones that bake faster than their larger cousins and are therefore a simple and rewarding holiday treat!

Low-Fat Holiday morsel: Gingerbread Spice MeringuesLauren Martin

CoNtributiNg writer

COURTESY OF LAUREN MARTIN

ANNIE O’HARE