Month: September 2007

Declassifieds

Declassifieds

Don’t marry that other fool, Greer. Marry me.

Emma, you keep me going.

Hassan R-you were amazing  in AdCil this morning. Thanks for fighting.

Kari Thompson-you are very ot and should be my life partner

I think you’re cute

James-I win!

Be afraid of the angry lesbians [heart] an angry lesbian

Zoe, thank you for your support and guidance. It’s helpful to this intense process. I [heart] you! -Alex

Carobot-Let’s make beautiful movies…and possibly babies [heart] one half of film

Molly-I lurv you.
Sorry we’re so sad sometimes. You still make me immeasurably happy. Kisses fix all kinds of things. -Your giraffe

Thank you, old friends and new, I love love love love you! ~Emma Woo

Elitism is hierarchy. “Cool kids” are oppressors. Challenge the status quo. Deconstruct the patriarchy. Re-envision community.

Chicken-Thanks for being my teacher. I’m working! -Pie

When a person thinks, there is a spot of fire alive in his/her mind, and it is proper that he/she should have the burning point of a cigarette as his/her one expression.

Editing Crisis
Stories shoot from their fingers
Foreigners are Great

Fela,
can I have you babies?
Tommy, I’m sorry I said that the boys aren’t cute enough; I guess you’re the exception

Buckethead-I still want to smoke pot and make out.

L.O.O.T.R…inveigling with fellow gentlement since 2007

To my platonic life partner, Taisa: I’m glad I found you! -Cilla

Dangerous Person, You never showed up for our school yard battle…Lost your nerve? Eagle of Death.

Jamesness, you’re the sweetest ! Thanks for making me feel good, you really know how to make a  kid blush. 🙂

Rory-leave minnesota for the buckeyes.

Billy, you’re a horrible gardener, but I keep you around because you have a cute butt.

Thank you Jenny for being a rad friend. JS

Buttah, You’re my favourite lecherous, lush, life partner, -MBT

Alex- I missed you this weekend. Remember when we bumped into eachother @ the mailroom? I liked it. Let’s do it again.

Sarah- Baby, I’m an anarchist. You’re a spineless liberal. -Phillip

Amy-I’m glad we met. I hope you want to hang out with me.

To my greene & randall ladies: I [heart] you. You are all amazing.
xo niko

Cody- you’re so soccer! [heart] your groupie

Short people Rock Socks

Dave- I just f-ing love you. -Kari

Hey you. wink wink.
-Your secret admirer

Dispatches from Community Meeting

Antioch is starting to come around. Due to great planning from a tireless on-campus leadership core and a focused and talented alumni presence at this weekend’s teach-in, more and more students are joining the effort to save the school. Attendance reports for the event became progressively stronger throughout the weekend peaking with the meeting behind the C-Shop on Monday night that garnered more than 60 students. Riding the swell of pride and hope that students felt this weekend, community members piled in to McGregor 113 for this week’s installment of Community Meeting.
What ensued was a gem. The thank-you section ran through four stacks. CFB proposals moved efficiently. There were over 20 announcements about fresh events and opportunities for the community [for real, you have to go to Community Meeting to know what’s going on at Antioch.] Community Members of the week went to Record editors Jeanne Kay and Kim-Jenna Jurriaans. Trivia With Beth went down like “The Price Is Right,” and Susan Eklund-Leen outbid her opponents in a Pencil-Case Showdown to walk away with the grand prize. And for once Pulse was contentious and controversial for all the right reasons.
The cup overfloweth with thank-yous. The capstone came from 4th year, AdCil student representative Julian Sharp, who thanked the community, he said, “We’re looking out for each other and it feels great.”
AdCil member Julian Sharp gives an update to the community: “The search for Steve continues. He was last spotted near the Pine Forest in the Glen.”

That community spirit manifested itself in Pulse through community members  bringing up issues of transparency, honoring governance structures, and challenging the notions for appropriate ways to challenge authority.
4th year ComCil student representative Sarah Buckingham rang the first bell by asking Director of Student Affairs, Milt Thompson about a rumored $50 charge to student accounts for laundry services. Once students arrived on campus this term they found the formerly coin-operated laundry service to no longer require quarters. Students were under the impression that the laundry service was free.
However, Thompson confirmed that the charge was indeed real. Thus commenced a discussion on if the change was ratified through the proper channels.  Thompson said he brought the issue to either ComCil or AdCil either one and a half or two years ago.
Associate Professor Nevin Mercede, who sat on AdCil as a student representative when Thompson presented the proposal, said that it was sometimes difficult to teach class to stinky students, and, “Quite frankly we hoped [non-coin-operated laundry] would encourage you to do your laundry more often.”
4th year student David Bishkoff argued that he should be exempt from the blanket laundry charge because he does his laundry about once a term which used to cost him around $2.00. He also wanted to know why he wasn’t notified of the charge.
Former Community Manager Levi B. Cowperthwaite responded as a point of clarification that, “There isn’t really a precedent for being notified of tuition or fee increases.”
There may be more news about this to come…
5th year student Nicole Bayani brought up a question of process to Community Manager Chelsea Martens.  Bayani asked if Martens would take a step back in facilitating tough discussions with current Chief Operations Officer Andrzej Bloch. Bayani thought that in last week’s Pulse Martens restricted the space for community members to aggressively interrogate Bloch.
Bayani’s point was that there’s a difference between being disrespectful and being aggressive she said, “Demanding that he [Bloch] answer a question is not being disrespectful.”
There were a variety of views espoused on how to facilitate an effective dialogue and how to ask the most productive question. It was the perfect way to finish one of the most perfect Community Meetings.

AdCil Still in Shambles

Three empty chairs
The absence of Toni Murdock, Art Zucker and Steve Lawry in main building’s conference room at 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning might not have been a surprise for AdCil members, but they nonetheless expressed their dissatisfaction. The invitation drafted by the Administrative Council at the first meeting of the term had been transmitted to the University Chancellor, the Chair of the Board of Trustees and the College President (on administrative leave since August 31st) in a formal letter signed by college COO Andrzej Bloch. Bloch reported that the recipients had acknowledged the invitation but that their coming to AdCil would have to be postponed until Art Zucker came to Yellow Springs.  Faculty member Hassan Rahmanian was not satisfied by Bloch’s explanation, “I don’t know if the letter conveyed the urgency of the situation. It’s a question of crisis of legitimacy.”

Letter of the law vs institutional values
Bloch asked Rahmanian to clarify the statement “crisis of legitimacy,” as, according to Bloch’s reading of the events, there is none; AdCil is not to be consulted when dismissing or choosing the college president. As to leadership, Bloch specified that he was running AdCil as CAO/Dean of Faculty, which is standard procedure for when a president is on a leave of absence. “There is letter of the law and there is historical consolidation of traditions and values of an institution,” contested faculty member Hassan Nejad, pointing out Antioch’s history of shared-governance, “These are values that we preach, we tell our students to uphold these values, we tell the world that we cherish these values, the feeling is that these values are not being honored and respected by higher-ups.”

Transparency & Procedure
Faculty Member Patricia Mische explained that the crisis of legitimacy as a result from the procedure by which the August 31st events were conducted. “We don’t have faith in what Toni said, I feel like she lied to us, to the faculty, that she is saying things in public that we know are not true” she explained, “so even if she came and apologized, what is done is done but we need to register that procedure.” Student member Julian Sharp also emphasized the lack of transparency as a critical issue, “Aside from being trampled on and such there has clearly been a cover up, (…) the University released press statements that are misinformation, lies” he said, “If Lynda Sirk was working for our college wouldn’t it make sense for her to put out a press release in behalf of the college, saying that in fact our president didn’t step down, he was placed on administrative leave and banned from campus?”

Call to Action
Faculty member Hassan Nejad stressed the need for AdCil to formulate a specific request to the University Administration, as he confessed his doubts about their good faith in engaging in candid dialog. “We are dealing with people who have very little respect, if any, for shared governance process, for honesty and integrity in administration, and for consultation and transparency. That’s my conclusion; I could be very wrong,” he declared.
The possibility of a student action to register formally their concerns to the Board was briefly discussed as a means to emphasize community’s dissatisfaction with Toni Murdock’s actions.

Olive & FPRC
AdCil then engaged in a discussion about the Olive Kettering Library. The 3 year long subscription to Ohio Link is about to end, and no funds at this time are designated to pay for its renewal. Moreover, Union Staff member Carole Braun pointed out that the renewal was conditional upon the continuation of acquisitions—a problematic fact because the Olive’s acquisitions manager has been laid off.
Andrzej Bloch sought advice from AdCil as to whether a Faculty Personnel Review Committee should be appointed.  Even though questions of tenure are postponed at the moment, faculty members could still seek promotion.  AdCil voted to approve the formation of FPRC.

When AdCil went into closed session, no resolution had been voted on in regards to the governance issues raised during the meeting.

Fabulous in the Face of Fundamentalists

“We’re here, we’re queer, and we’ll be walking around your local Barnes and Noble during Christian Living Day, holding each other’s hands.”

At 11:30 a.m on Saturday, like a swarm of rainbow colored locusts, a group of forty Antiochians descended on the Beavercreek Barnes and Noble in response to a management- imposed Christian Living Day. Not a thought of protest graced the protestors rainbow-bandana’d heads. Instead, their goal was to formally request a “Gay Day,” after an earlier inquiry from an Antioch faculty member had been shot down by manager Dan Renfro.
Antioch professor Christine Smith was the first to make students on campus aware of Christian Living Day on returning from a shopping trip to the book store last week. At the check out desk of Barnes and Noble, she had engaged in a dialogue with the employees, who said that they were upset about the event and had been denied the request to take the day off by their fundamentalist Christian manager. Encouraged by the employees, Smith returned the next day to speak to manager Dan Renfro, who claimed he was just responding to customer requests. Book authors had contacted him about signings, he said. When pressed, he also admitted to arranging the ministers, gospel choir, crisis pregnancy center and recruiters who where scheduled for the day.

Smith asked if she could request a comparable “gay day” along similar lines: a gay men’s choir, gay and lesbian authors. Smith’s offer to put him into contact with all the relevant parties, however, did little to spark Renfro’s enthusiasm. Renfro went on to say that Smith just had her own opinion and was trying to cause trouble.  Following her encounter, Smith contacted Barnes and Noble’s corporate office, before bringing the issue back to campus. Students quickly threw together a planning meeting in the Queer Center that Thursday and posted fliers advertising a “Gay Takeover” for Saturday.

The air in the parking lot that morning was one of mischievous glee and anticipation, as the group compared outfit choices and discussed appropriate public display of affection; Hand-holding and kissing with “church tongue,” were both deemed appropriate. The en masse entrance of the fabulous forty caused heads to turn so fast that whiplash became a serious concern of customers and employees alike.

The next hours mostly consisted of browsing. Lesbian and Gay Studies, and the woefully vanilla Sexuality section were both popular. Next on the list was engaging the Christian authors in conversation,  while tallying who got the most blatant stares. Many queers were disappointed to find that what had been touted as a nine-hour showcase of fundamentalist Christian values, in reality was nothing more than a hyped-up book signing. Ministers, crisis pregnancy center and illustrious promotions from various sponsoring organizations were as notably absent as the manager himself. Renfro was forced to tone down the event, so the unofficial word goes, after Barnes and Noble’s corporate division had received a series of complaints about the religious agenda-promotion stunt. Renfro himself was not available for comment.

Whether it was their phone calls that pressured B&N to curb their local management, or those of other consumers concerned with a national book store chain endorsing a specific religious perspective, the forty protestors banked the success as one for direct action executed in style. Meanwhile, for all who are interested in having their favorite lesbian poet autograph her work at Barnes and Noble, while tapping their feet to a gay man’s choir, a “formal request for Cultural Celebration of Gay Day” is going around campus for signatures.

“Formal Request for Cultural Celebration of Gay Day at Barnes and Noble Booksellers of Dayton at Beavercreek

In an effort to support cultural celebrations equitably, I request that Barnes and Noble Booksellers of Dayton and Beavercreek sponsor “Gay Day”. This will be a cultural celebration and information sharing of community resources, community activities, and networking for the Dayton area. This will give Barnes and Noble the opportunity to highlight gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) authors and showcase to the community the books and resources available at your store. Having the opportunity to hear GLBT authors make presentations about their work will be an exciting and attractive event for Barnes and Noble and the greater Dayton area.

Thank you for proving us with the opportunity to collaborate together to celebrate literature, community, and culture.”

Thank you, Barnes and Nobles, for giving us an opportunity for an impromptu Gay Day of our own. May there be many, many more.

Alternative to FirstClass soon to be available

While dollars from Antioch College students are spent on the college’s subscription to FirstClass, a new prospect has appeared on the technological horizon. Sprouting out of the alumni-run website antiochians.org, an alternative to the college’s use of the FirstClass messaging and communications software is currently under construction.

The FirstClass system, which links all of the Antioch University campuses, is a subscription service paid for in part by the tuition of Antioch college students.
Enthusiasm about the possibility of an alternative email and messaging has been growing slowly on the college campus. Concerns about the privacy of information on the FirstClass server have been raised and some students have moved their email communications to private email providers. These concerns were heightened by the recent consolidation of University FirstClass servers from localized campus servers to a site in New England.

Following the Antioch University Board of Trustees announcement earlier this year of the suspension of operations for the college, a strong alumni support movement began. One product of this movement was the creation of the antiochians website. From its beginnings as a site for the larger Antioch community to gather news, the webpage has grown to include a forum, gallery, and a wiki page, among other features.
The motivation for the creation of the site comes from the need of alumni to be on even ground concerning facts related to the closing of the college. “We were going to need to be organized and share information,” said Matt Baya, one of the alumni working on the site.

Baya and others are working with an open source platform called Drupal (drupal.org) which “has thousands of features,” he says. Drupal has all the features and accessibility to provide a solid alternative to FirstClass system.

In 1997 Baya worked in the technical resources department at the college, in the days before FirstClass. According to Baya, the decision to implement FirstClass met some resistance. Prior to the actualization of the software, students and faculty could have their own websites and an email address. When the rest of the University forced the school to conform to the new system, all websites and former email addresses were lost, Baya said.

The recent server move to New England comes at a time when the college’s professional technical staff has been moved to the new West building. IT operations at the college are now handled by a staff of three work study students. Field Technician Cassie Collins still attests to the integrity of the campus network. “I don’t think there’s been a practical impact,” she said. “The tickets are still being answered.”