Articles - THE RECORD

Teach-In Series Concluded with Panel Discussion

By Edward Perkins
A panel discussion in the McGregor building capped off a week of teachins concerning rights and wrongs in the global war on terror. A small but engaged audience consisted of Antioch students, faculty members, and locals from Yellow Springs. The panel was comprised of four experts: Dr. William O’Brien, who works for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs, Gordon Chapman, who worked for the CIA and military intelligence following WWII, Julie Gallagher, a historian and the Ohio coordinator for Amnesty International, and Antioch’s own Dr. Hassan Nejhad who specializes in Middle East Affairs.

Antioch professor Jean Gregorek, PHD, warmed up the audience with a concise but precise introduction to the discussion topic. Jean began by recapping the events of the past few days, which included films and teach-ins. She also informed the audience about the Military Commissions Act, which recently passed Congress. Jean explained how the act gives the CIA and military unprecedented power, including “The power to incarcerate prisoners of war indefinitely�? and “absolute power to decide the fate of these so called enemies�?. After the introduction, Jean handed the microphone over to the panel members.

Hassan spoke first. His presentation was strong, and spiked the interest of the audience. He began “torture is nothing new�? but then stated, “It is a shame that it is still with us�?. The audience was visibly engaged at this point. Hassan gave an overview of definitions of what torture is, how the Bush administration defines torture, and international laws governing torture, including the Geneva Convention. He spoke passionately, citing examples of US conduct that could be described as torture, before demonstrating how such actions are defined as torture by international law. Hassan cut through the confusion surrounding the issue of torture. He explained the governing bodies that prosecute torture, the documents that define torture, and how the USA has violated these guidelines.

Dr. William O’Brien was next, speaking about the psychology of POW’s (prisoners of war). His 33 years of experience working in clinical psychology for the Dept. of Veteran Affairs made him uniquely suited to address these topics. O’Brien gave chilling tales of former POW’s and how their experiences have mentally scarred them for life. Listening to his tales, it was hard not to feel terrible for the CIA’s prisoners, regardless of what crimes they stand accused of. The Doctor also spoke about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and its effects. PTSD is common and severe with many POWs.

Gordon Chapman, who worked in military intelligence, had terrific insight to convey in his lecture. Since 1993, he has worked for Veterans for Peace, a non-profit whose function is explained by its name. Gordie shone some perspective on the matter. He cited examples of US terrorism before 9/11, including the relocation of Japanese-American citizens during WWII and covert actions/operations in Latin America. Gordon also noted that “Ho Chi Minh was a US ally in WWII�?, drawling a parallel to Osama Bin Laden, another former US ally. He then spoke about torture at the CIA during his career there. Years after leaving, he found out about incidents of torture that allegedly went on just doors from his office without his knowledge. Dr. Julie Gallagher (also an Antioch professor) wrapped things up with a lively speech. She spoke about an anti-torture bill, which failed to pass Congress. This bill would have prevented many of the abuses allowed by the Military Commissions Act. The MCA allows for all kinds of outrageous conduct, suspends the writ of Habeas Corpus, and gives the government unprecedented and maybe illegal powers. Julie, the regional coordinator for Amnesty international, talked about her group’s extensive anti-torture work. She made an excellent point, saying at this point we need to at minimum “regain the human rights that have been lost�?, but ideally need to do far, far more.

The evening ended with a brief, but lively, Q&A. The intelligent and thoughtful comments demonstrated how much the audience had soaked up from the panel. The questions ranged from the Supreme Court’s response to what course of action concerned citizens should take next. Hassan explained that parts of the bill may be turned down, but reiterated the urgency of the situation by saying “it could take time and the government can go ahead in the mean time�?, meaning the government could continue to torture until such changes are made.

Dude, Where’s my Speaker?

By Kim-Jenna Jurriaans and Preston Kraft

After a completely fruitless three hour trip to Heidelberg College two weeks ago, to hear a speaker who didn’t show up, because, well…. he got the email with the RIGHT date in it, these writers were ecstatic about their second bid to some off campus encounters of the scholastic kind, last Tuesday.

Our very own Hassan Nejad was approached by Clark State to monitor a discussion between students and Dan Senor, former adviser to Paul Bremmer and chief spokesman of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.

Oh boy, oh boy! This we had to see. Pictures of large auditoriums, filled with well schooled, dressed up youngsters, practicing the universal “I’m extremely interested�?-mode, characterized by pensive frowning, appropriate nodding and the occasional hand on the chin, came into mind and inspired us to work on our very own repertoire of serious face expressions for the evening.

“Dress up nicely,�? Nejad told his flock in Islam class who were interested in attending the formal event. On the inquiry by one of these writers whether this meant No pajamas, Nejad smiled politely, but whether he really trusted our ability to present a decent fashion sense by the next Tuesday remains uncertain. After all, this is Antioch. Nicely, therefore could consist of any outfit varying from black underwear and rollerblades to multicolored knee socks and “matching�? hot pants. But this lot wasn’t one to be ashamed of. One of the attending Antiochians stole the show by swapping his usual green flannel bed wear in for a nonchalantly conservative combo in beige and red, impressing many a passer by on his short stroll from Spalt to the car. Yeah, this flock was dressed and prepared to impress.

We arrived in Springfield were we were greeted by a small Star Wars convention on the ground floor of the theatre that was housing that night’s discussion on “The Iraq war and con sequences for the Middle-East�?.

But what was this? Instead of the chic auditorium we were ushered into what seemed to be an empty ballet recital room on the 2nd floor, with a video projector, a white screen and four rows of folding chairs in front of it. Not feeling extremely inspired to work on our plié talents; the slightly surprised Antioch crew went straight for the catering.

Nejad, who entered the room a couple of minutes later looked somewhat startled: “where’s the speaker?�? “You are the speaker�?, a blond Pi Theta Kappa woman informed him. “Well, you are the speaker to lead the afterwards discussion. The real speaker will appear on that screen over there, at precisely 7.30. You did know that this was a satellite meeting, right.�? The expression on the faces of the Antioch flock answered the question, even without verbal output.

“Well, at least they have cookies!�? remarked Preston Krafft, who felt that since he already pulled all his charms together for the occasion, he might as well work them on the dessert buffet. At precisely 7.30 the Antioch delegation, the majority of the audience, set straight in their chairs to witness the life broadcast from Dallas, to which several colleges throughout the country were connected.

And what a broadcast it was! In perfect liberal fashion, toes started curling up about 5 minutes into the gig, as Dan, polished, groomed and showing of his impeccable dental work, glossed over centuries of historical perspective to declare the Middle- East Problem as a result of the Arab’s defeat in the race to modernity and an animosity that, according to him has been existing for thousands of years.

“Wow�?, Nejad commented as soon as the broadcast went off the air, “this is a hard act to follow. But what an act it was! This guy clearly doesn’t know what he was talking about.�? He was asked to lead the discussion because of his knowledge of Islam and the Muslim world and said he was appalled by what he had just seen: “At first I wasn’t really sure about this whole thing, but now I’m actually glad that you all came. You wouldn’t see anything like this at Antioch any time soon.�?

One of the Antiochians, in a vain attempt at anger management, was seen leaving the room half way through the session. “There is a reason I don’t watch Fox. But this was worse�?, one of the 4th years said on his way back to the car. In a discussion session, strikingly similar to our Monday and Wednesday Islam classes, Hassan did his best to iron out some of the inaccuracies that had just been fired on the audience, in what appeared to be a 45-minute propaganda video for the invasion of Iraq.

After the meeting Preston Krafft said, “That guy was definitely a Bushbot, no doubt about it. He was just overly optimistic. He was more scary than funny.�? The writers of this piece, hereby also want to point out their appreciation for Hassan’s efforts to bring some Antioch enlightenment to those less fortunate regions of Ohio.

Hassan finally proposed to take out his flock for a giant scoop of ice cream at the local ice-cream parlor. “It was like after you’ve lost the big game and your coach takes you out for ice-cream�?, said 4th year Kendall Canyen. “I actually didn’t really want ice cream, but since Hassan was paying for it..�? Thanks Hassan!

The Dried Baby Organ Dispensary

Welcome to the Dried Baby Organ Dispensary. Here at the D.B.O.D. we pride ourselves on collecting and recommending only the freshest of jams to smoke your babies to.

Telepathe- Farewell Forest EP
[ The Social Registry :: 2006 ]

In the dead of night, deep in the forest; in the shadiest of groves, the neglected, lost souls of this earth gather and cause a mighty din. And not in an A.A. meeting kind of way. This is sheer debauchery, a feast of sin even. It is urgent and sensual, incomprehensibly dark and devilishly alluring. Like swimming through the folds of the velvet blanket of night, and drowning, and sinking into it, endlessly…… And then waking up inside of a jack-o-lantern. Awful, demonic creatures are dancing around you in circles and laughing beautifully. Everything seems fluid and starts to blur, and you find yourself lost but comfortable, and the shadows creep over your mind like a coma. And then you wake up again, alone in the rain. The wind is blowing and the leaves are falling and you are staring at the face of eternity. It looks kind of like movement stuck inside of an aging polaroid photograph and…. then it’s gone. That’s it, party’s over. The way the details of a dream slip away from you as you watch the sun drift up over the horizon, it just goes away.

Fujiya & Miyagi- Transparent Things
[ Tirk/Word and Sound :: 2006 ]Fully krausened. Chic and funky enough to turn David Bowie’s head. I have a creeping suspicion that these people work at the cloud factory.

Boards Of Canada- Trans Canada
Highway EP [ Warp :: 2006 ]

There’s this Mogwai song that says that if stars had sounds then they would sound like Mogwai. Eh. I’m going to disagree and say that I think that if stars had sounds then they would sound like Boards Of Canada. Really though, it sounds like stars; stars exploding, or stars making love, you know, all that general kind of star stuff that stars do. I had a vision one time when I was tripping that in the future I would mate with a very tall, purple alien woman who could float. I mean, you know, it probably wasn’t a woman at all, I mean it was an alien and all that. But you get the idea. Anyways, I love Boards Of Canada. Although the music is almost exclusively digital, there is something about it that is more organic than dirt. Vibrating, breathing, neon tinged dirt. All over you. It sizzles and glitches like a robit in an acid bath as it interfaces with the hardware of your soul, and it will teach you the songs of the stars. Two thumbs up.

Time-Tested Quality Blends
White Magic- Through The Sun Door
EP [ Drag City :: 2004 ]

Some strange pastoral romance, written in blood and scattered about the plains for the wind to find. The wind found it, and recited it to the hills, and sang it to the sky, and screamed it across the deserts. And someone just happened to be there with a recording studio. It’s like magic and shit! The music on this album conjures the feeling of a train swaggering across some green, vast expanse. These are songs of love, transfiguration, and departure. Think Joni Mitchell worshiping Baphomet for roughly ten years and smoking just enough punk rock to get really dirty in it. Really an absolutely remarkable album. Straight-forward enough to be widely accessible and crafted with enough innovation and skill to please even the most pretentious of ear drums, I feel like I see most people enjoying this recording. I’d also like to use this space to plug White Magic’s forthcoming first ever full length release, “Dat Rosa Mel Apibus�?, available November 14th. Don’t worry, you folks at Drag City can just send me a check later.

Ivan Knows Best….

OOIOO- Taiga [ Thrill Jockey :: 2006 ]

Wood Pipes:
It’s raining candy in the jungle, and all the tigers are turning neon colors like fruit stripe gum. But, really though, who the shit is this crazy fucking Japanese woman and why does she keep screaming?! Is it Lisa Frank? Does she have any opium? No silly, it’s just Yoshimi P-We from the Boredoms. And as to what the shit she is screaming about, I have no idea, I think it’s Japanese. But regardless of what language it is it’s wild and I think that I like it a lot. I feel like Hansel and Gretel at the same time on some crrrraazzzy rainforest spaceship made out of candy. Is Yoshimi some kind of wicked witch or something? Maybe, but whatever, this spaceship tastes hell of good. So where are we going, anyway? Well, to the funky rainbow colored dancehall built on clouds and reggae. Duh……..

Ivan:
This ceedee attracted my attention immediately given the fact that it began with an actual staccato of drum beats; this almost caused me to actually move somewhat on my seat. Quickly, however, came the horribly sad whining high pitch voice of a young woman. This complaint, though short, was immediately overwhelmed by two to four lines of response by strong low voiced women.

Another portion began with the unmistakable sounds of a galloping horse, followed to the best of my imagination by those of a screeching frog. Then some clear rhythms managed to catch my attention, basically the line sounded DA DA DEE DEE, DA DA DEE DEE, DADADEESEE, DADADEEDEE…The rapid succession of rhythmic sounds eventually compressed and produced in me a feeling of confinement and resentment. I was expecting the DA DA DEE DEE, to become as expected DA DA DA, DEE, DEE, DEE…DADEE, DADADA…But this expectation was for nought. This cede did certainly make an effort to communicate something important to its audience, unfortunately I could not begin to understand what that might have been.

Having thought a few minutes since this last sentence I do come to the conclusion that such a ceede’s raison d’etre might indeed be to demonstrate to educated and long-lived listeners that they are clearly unable to cope with evolution in the musical world. I, however, intend to expose myself further to such art in order to determine exactly what these shiny round objects intend to do to our civilization.

“Bring me some cereal”
– Wood Pipes

Horrorscopes 10-13-06

By request, a very special Horoscope for this week’s edition of the Record. Ladies, Gentleman, and Gender-Neutral or Othered persons, I bring you…Horrorscopes. Yes, I predict your death for my general amusement and your torment. Just try not to die this week; I’d rather not get sued.

Heart Heart, Amy Campbell, Horrorscope writer and mysterious mystic – haunting Main Building since Summer 2005.

*Please note that this week’s horoscopes are completely satire and I hold no malice towards anyone, nor am I plotting or actually predicting anyone’s death. Anyone who dies under such circumstances does so completely by coincidence, and not through my actions of writing a horoscope.

CAPRICORN (DECEMBER 22-JANUARY 19)

Life is a bitter pill to swallow, good thing death also comes in convenient pill sized form as well. Have you considered hemlock? I hear all the cool kids are doing it.

Tarot Card: Five of Cups – Suicide via imbibing or consuming of liquids or pills. You may be so incompetent that it’s an accidental suicide where you’ve participated in reckless behavior that you damned well know would get you killed.

AQUARIUS (JANUARY 20-FEBRUARY 18)

Surprise!!! You’re dead!!! Your death will be totally random and quite unexpected. ComCil might have something to do with it, and it will probably be a totally arbitrary decision. Don’t blame me when someone stabs you with a protractor. You probably deserved it.

Tarot Card: Wheel of Fortune – Death by circumstance, don’t walk in front of Twinkie trucks or participate in Breath-play with a chicken anytime soon.

PISCES (FEBRUARY 19-MARCH 20)

You can sleep when you’re dead. Until then, if you sleep the clowns will come into your room, and begin gnawing on your body until you die if you sleep. Needless to say, you’ll die of insomnia, but only after you go crazy and take your friends with you.

Tarot Card: Nine of Swords – When will this nightmare end?! Four years, maybe five, you’ll get your degree eventually.

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19)

*Crush* Your heart is broken. You become extremely morose and die because you refuse to leave your room to eat, bathe, or use the restroom. I hope you live off campus, like we need more haunted rooms.

Tarot Card: Three of Swords – Life isn’t worth living without love, so I’m going to lock myself away and listen to sad love songs until I die.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20)

You’ll die on your way to co-op or vacation. That’s right, as soon as you get the hell away from Antioch you will keel over. Might as well stay here and rot.

Tarot Card: Six of Swords – Row, row, row your boat *glub, glub, glub*

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 21)

You’ll be kidnapped. Unfortunately you aren’t worth much so your wallet will be stolen and they’ll throw you in a ditch somewhere in the hills of Tennessee where no one will ever find you. You’ll crawl around in the wilderness for awhile until a vulture eats your liver. Maybe you’ll fall off a cliff first if you’re lucky.

Tarot Card: Eight of Swords – Tied up and thrown away like a bag of garbage.

CANCER (JUNE 22 – JULY 22)

Somebody gets so sick and tired of your whining that they stab you in the back, multiple times. No one goes to your funeral, and no one cries.

Tarot Card: Ten of Swords – [think Psycho shower scene]

LEO (JULY 23-AUGUST 22)

Like Gemini, you get to die tied up. Unfortunately it’ll probably involve some rather inconvenient circumstances, like dying during kinky sex. There’s no way your parents will be able to take this news, so not only will you die, but your father will have a heart attack and your mother will probably have an aneurysm.

Tarot Card: The Devil – Death by Lust. Makes you wish you weren’t such a pansexual, talk about embarrassing obituaries. And you thought your horoscopes were ba-a-a-a-d.

VIRGO (AUGUST 23-SEPTEMBER 22)

You’ll die peacefully in your sleep, because you led an uneventful life. Loser.

Tarot Card: Four of Swords – I heard Virgo McVirgin died this week. Who was that? Dunno, who cares. Wanna crash the funeral? Sweet!

LIBRA (SEPTEMBER 23-OCTOBER 22)

Don’t fall down!!! You’ll die by falling, probably while you’re telling someone not to fall down. Hopefully it won’t be on your birthday. On a related note, tell Joe Cali Happy Birthday on the 17th, and tell him not to fall down.

Tarot Card: The Tower – Cause I’m freeeeeee, freeeee falling.

SCORPIO (OCTOBER 23-NOVEMBER 21)

You’ll maim yourself horribly and end up bleeding out by the side of the road or getting a serious infection. I recommend not taking up bungee jumping, sword play, or fire eating. Ever.

Tarot Card: Five of Swords – Don’t cry for me, some people have a thing for amputees. Oh god… why is it green and smelly?

SAGITTARIUS (NOVEMBER 22- DECEMBER 21)

You’ve got a battle to fight and you’re going to rush off to your death to fight it! Dying for a cause, how romantic. Hope it’s worth it.

Tarot Card: Knight of Swords – I’m going to save Antioch by strapping a bomb to my chest. *Ka- Boom!*

A New Acronym: CSKC Prepares to Open its Doors

By Madeline Helser

Coretta Scott King once said, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members…�? and it holds true today, especially when applied to our institution.

Construction is slated for completion on the Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom, designed to enhance knowledge and awareness about cultural identity in our community and beyond. It aims to educate future generations about cultural struggles and focus on how, as a community, to increase the unity among the different cultural identities.

The CSK Center was the notion of Bob Devine and Team 7. Team 7 was part of the renewal plan for Antioch College given to us by the Board of Trustees. The idea for the center was motivated by an essay written by Dr. Everett Freeman on some of Dr. King’s writings on community. Dr. Freeman was then on the Board of Trustees, and is now the President of the University of Indianapolis. It was in the renewal plan that Team 7 would articulate some sort of center for cultural and intellectual freedom. Out of the plan and the mind of Team 7 and Bob Devine, The CSK Center was born.

After a few weeks on the project, Bob Devine resigned, and Beverly Rodgers became the chair of Team 7. Team 7 was one of the most diverse teams working on the renewal. The team had good community representation; students, staff, and faculty were all represented in a very diverse manner. The team created job descriptions for Diversity positions within the administration.

The positions created were Director/ Diversity Advisor to the President of the College and Administrative Assistant/Diversity Advocate. “The position of Director is loaded with responsibilities, including fundraising, which will be important to the Center’s programming and future staffing. The new director will also need to be visionary, and carry out projects and ideas to better inform and engage the community. They will also serve as a special assistant to the president on institutional diversity; this is crucial to the retention and recruitment of faculty, staff, and students of color. We are a very white campus, especially in the upper-administrative positions, and the Director will hopefully be able to assist with this problem as they sit in the President’s staff group and bring in resources to support faculty, staff, and students of color.�? Says Lauren Hind, an upperclassmen working for the Center. As of now, they are in the process of interviewing and hiring an administrative assistant and are in the last steps of hiring a director, which includes visits to campus and talks given by the three candidates in the Inn during Lunch.

When Steve Lawry was hired as President, things were not flowing together very smoothly, so Beverly Rodgers was asked to step in as Interim Director for the Project. Beverly’s job is to oversee the entire renovation of the building that used to be used and known as the G-Space and Security. From overseeing the installation of the carpet to the programs hopefully being set into place, Beverly deals with it all. The main part of Beverly’s job as Interim Director is to organize. She is to get all of the little things out of the way so when the Director starts in early January, the little things will be out of the way and the director will be able to start their job right away. She also has staff meetings with the people that are going to be occupying the new offices in the CSK. Until now, the groups to occupy those offices have had no direct supervision. She is also to get a handle on the budget for the CSK Center. The CSK Center, until just recently, has had no direct monetary support.

The As far as physical changes to the building, the laundry equipment was removed, which included the floor having to be leveled, the electricity taken out, and the walls needing to be repaired and painted. The rest of the building was carpeted and painted as well. It is now being wired for Computers and Internet Access. There are new doors on the front and main entrance and the fireplace is being replaced from a wood burning type to one with gas logs. There are going to be 8 offices set up. The director, the administrative assistant will occupy two of the offices. The other offices will be for the Bonner program, the Makeit program, Vista Americorps, and the community engagement office. The office furniture has already been ordered and should be in by the week of October 16. Once the furniture is in the building, everything should be set within 2 weeks. The Lounge furniture for the common room, formerly known as the G-Space, won’t be in, however, until the middle of November.

As far as programs in the future, Beverly has positive outlooks. “Antioch has a lot to offer our community. But sometimes we get very hidden under a bushel basket. Let’s look at how privilege plays out in the outside world. We need to continue dialogue about it. It’s an important facet of education.�? A goal is to be able to have a good developed program for next term. A positive step was bringing Allen Johnson to campus, as he opened up the arena for discussion on topics of cultural identity on a new level.

She has in mind a program educating about Youth Urban Violence, specifically in the Dayton area. It would be for volunteer work or for co-op. Beverly believes that it would be a wonderful way to expand students’ ability to connect with the area.

Another possible program would be focused on immigration. “ I feel like immigration is something that people just do not know much about,�? said Rodgers, “we have so many opportunities to interact and focus on what we already have.�? The aspects of things like availability of healthcare, work, and ESL courses are important to the immigration issue. There are so many struggles associated with it that it is very much linked to cultural and intellectual freedom. Beverly remarked, “Allen provided good grounds for discussion of that once again. To be able to express culture freely and respectfully, you have to be empowered. It doesn’t necessarily have to be regional or national, but we can look at it on a smaller level, because in some way, it all connects.�?

Overall, The Coretta Scott King Center for Cultural and Intellectual Freedom is headed in the right direction. “I went to Atlanta to talk to Mrs. King, and I feel we have a serious responsibility that we do honor her name. She expanded on Dr. King’s ideology with the fight for the rights of women and gay’s as well as supporting HIV research. She was courageous and forceful, yet elegant. A truly amazing person,�? said Beverly.

There will be an opening celebration for the center sometime in the spring of next year. The orchestra will play and alumni will flood Kelly Hall. It will be a celebration of cultural freedom and diversity. As Beverly said, “We may be small, but we’re pretty mighty!�? We can accomplish anything we put our minds to, and the King Center is solid proof of that.