Dispatches from Community Meeting

By Kathryn Leahey

Every Tuesday, I wait outside the door of a familiar room in McGregor and wait for a Keeper of the Keys to arrive. Every week, I proceed to sit down in the same chair, pen and paper at the ready, and wait for the other attendants to shuffle in. Nearly every time, I am amazed by how few people bother to show up. “Where is everybody?” has become one of Levi’s new catchphrases. This query is almost inevitably followed by repeated requests for each of us to take out our cell phones and text two friends demanding that they make an appearance. This week’s appeal, however, was only made once and half-heartedly at that. He did not even bother to plead with the stubborn minority present to move toward the front of the room.

After a handful of thank-yous, over half of which made by the CMs themselves, and Bob Devine was recognized as Community Member of the Week for his faithful service on ComCil, RAB, and innumerable subcommittees, the new director of the Coretta Scott King Center, Dr. Dana Patterson was introduced to the community. Some announcements concerning this weekend’s festivities – a mock Homecoming game and dance earlier Friday evening, a showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show late Friday night, DIV on Saturday, and, most importantly, Quiz Bowl at 6 on Sunday – were made.

This week’s Pulse was brief, concerning the defacement of SOPP posters around campus. Mariel shared a positive interpersonal experience she had involving the checklists posted in the dance space. The topic of getting consent from everyone involved in an interaction, including those who have to watch it, was brought up once again, as was the existence of sober walkers. Ultimately, the meeting lasted less than thirty minutes. A group in attendance polled cited the vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce available as the most exciting and memorable part of the meeting.

Dispatches from Community Meeting

By Kathryn Leahey

This week did not see a run-of-the-mill community meeting. Most noticeably, Levi B. was not joined by his usual cohorts. With one home sick and the other preparing for the Black and Tan bash, Hope and Melody were filled in for by the highly capable Ms. Sarah Buckingham. Beyond the obvious lineup change, more community members, that is, most of them, were conspicuously absent. McGregor 113 held a, sadly, farless- than-capacity audience when Levi called the meeting to order. Nagging Statement Number One: People, for the love of Pete, come to community meeting! By not going, you are only costing yourself some delicious berry-flavored ice cream and the opportunity to argue and make your voice heard. I have heard innumerable people around campus complain about community government being taken less seriously by this administration. If you want shared governance, take a flipping share in it. Do not submit to apathy.

The meeting began as usual with our weekly round of gratitude. Luke Brennan thanked the Record staff and all those community members who have contributed letters to the paper as of late. Levi B. thanked all those who volunteered in the CG office after the desperate plea for help was made on First Class. All those involved with Ann Shine’s piano recital, Community Day activities, the Pennell House art party, and Daniel Farrell’s speech were also thanked. Dennie Eagelson and Janice Kinghorn were thanked for the procurement of the aforementioned delicious raspberry ice cream. Additionally, two student-cum-nurses and an anonymous flower-bearing friend rounded out those on the receiving end of the community’s thankfulness.

As usual, Cil updates were not terribly extensive. As of the time of the meeting, AdCil had yet to meet for the week. However, we did learn the ComCil is continuing their discussion on REB versus RAB and are planning on establishing a RAB restructuring committee to meet the college’s present needs.

Most of the announcements made this week were repeat reminders of things announced at our last meeting. Once again, the Uprising Tour will be taking place on campus soon with a special performance by Drive By Shiavo, a speaker from the ACLU will be coming on the 23rd, and the Alumni Board will be here this weekend. Applications for CM and for Pennell House coordinator, Record editor, and C-Shop manager are still due on the 27th of October and 2nd of November, respectively. In new news, On Saturday at 8 pm, there will be a chem-free harvest-time themed party at the Wellness Center, and the Queer Center is having a meeting on Monday. We also learned as a community that Meghan Pergrem does, in fact, love Erin Winter, as was announced by the former this Tuesday. Then into the blender we went: it was time to Pulse. Our major topic this week was the issue of respect, especially that for CG, its officers, and its things. To begin, CG has office hours for a reason. We are all encouraged to use them. If no one is there during office hours and you need assistance, call the office at PBX 1050. More pressingly, as you may know, the old piano available for use in the Union, which may or may not have been slated to be thrown away, was destroyed at some point late last week. Levi commented that a general sense of entitlement may be cited as the reason why someone would do something like that. Nagging Statement Number Two: I’d like to send a big WTF to anyone involved in this senseless act of vandalism. What’s the point? Why destroy something that belongs to CG and, thus, in a sense, all of us? Step up. Take responsibility. Use this opportunity to change the bratty, privileged attitude that allowed you to do this in the first place.

After learning that a possible Cactus Liberation Front has stolen a giant cactus from Units 1, the conversation on this topic drifted to possible solutions to the problem. Jeanne Kay and Perry have started a fundraising effort to replace the piano. If you’d like to help, talk to one of them. Beyond possibly replacing the instrument, several schools of thought emerged about what ought to happen in regards to the situation. The idea that the pieces of the broken piano be turned into art was presented, although some felt that this should only occur if the piece of work would still be able to produce music. The idea that “people [the vandal(s)] must know they will suffer�? was put forth, but others called for greater positive thought and action. Amanda felt as though the destruction of the piano can be contributed to a phenomenon referred to as the “tragedy of the commons�? and suggested that a sign stating “My name is Betty. I’m a piano. Take care of me!�? posted on the piano may have prevented such an occurrence, an idea that provoked giggles from the crowd but will have Levi looking into the idea of naming other things around campus. Finally, I think most people’s feelings can be summed up by what Nicole stated near the end of our short meeting: “We don’t have nice things. We don’t really have [pause] things…but don’t destroy ‘em, because we sure as hell aren’t going to get new things.�? Until next week, Antiochians, to paraphrase Joe Cali, try not to break anything. And don’t fall down.

Dispatches from Community Meeting

By Kathryn Leahey

The term’s second regularly scheduled community meeting proved to be less exciting than the first. To begin, Beth Jones and Meredith Root (or Be-Root, collectively), the masterminds behind the Womyn’s Center, were named Community Members of the Week. A string of thankfulness involving organized events then ensued. Hope thanked Robin for providing the meeting with refreshments, and Ivan Dihoff thanked all those who had attended the previous emergency community meeting, the organization of which prompted Amanda to offer her gratitude to Levi. Caitlin thanked Jimmy Williams for the Constitution Day festivities while Kaleigh lauded Melody for the Shabbat and workshop she organized this past weekend. CG as a whole was also recognized for bringing Swan Island to campus. Chelsea and Jenna both thanked the women’s rugby team as well as the Cincinnati Women’s Rugby Team. Jenna also extended her thanks to her friends for their assistance during her period of limited mobility. Finally, Luke thanked all Record readers who complimented the first issue of the term.

When the entire community’s gratitude was exhausted, we proceeded with the candidate’s forum. Six students have decided to run for ComCil, while only four students and one faculty member are making an attempt to be elected to AdCil. Those running for ComCil are nearly all third-years and seem to be overwhelmingly female. Brian Utley, the sole second- year male candidate, made it known that he feels his minority opinion would be an asset to the council. Others’ reasons for running differed. Nicole wanted to make sure that campus voices continue to be heard during the changes that are occurring at Antioch, and Meghan Pergram felt as though her thorough understanding of the Leg Code would be an asset. Chelsea Martens and Julie Phillips both cited their previous community involvement as a reason for electing them while Sarah Buckingham banked on her sheer love for Antioch. Questioning began, and we discovered that, although all of the candidates are already exceedingly busy, they all believe that will have ample time to fulfill their ComCil duties if elected. When asked about specific policies, Meghan referenced a long-term guest policy that she would like to see devised and Brian mentioned an idea to support low-income students throughout the registration process, although exactly what he went by that was not made clear. Most candidates were found to have ideas for making meetings more efficient. Brian announced that he was a trained meeting facilitator while others presented ideas about preparation, redirection, and sub-committee use. Meghan, however, felt as though long conversations are often very useful. Chelsea and Meghan also both gave some ideas for strengthening the council’s presence on campus and its standing with the administration which centered around assuring timely progress.

Finally the interrogation of the prospective ComCil members ended and future AdCil members were up to bat. Hassan Rahmanian., the only faculty member who came forth, has been on AdCil for 10 years, but this is his first instance of running on the community side. Two prospective council members, Erin Winter and Ryan Boasi, decided on the spot to run. Both cited frustration with the state of the school as the reason for their decisions. Erin is also, apparently, a morning person, a statement that cannot be truthfully made about most college students. Corri Frohlich, another candidate, is trying to make the big move between ComCil and AdCil. Chris McKinless, the final student hopeful, is most concerned about AdCil’s advisory board status, a concern that he say is his reason for running. When asked by Caitlin how he plans to handle that concern, he mentioned “creative methods�?, although he didn’t explain what he meant by that. Ryan and Erin responded to the question by saying that AdCil needs to improve the student body’s relationship with the administration by acting in a strong but respectful manner. However, Corri, as opposed to Chris, sees nothing wrong with AdCil’s status as an advisory board. Although some of the questioning by the community devolved into statements rather than inquiries, Amanda’s question about AdCil taking action had all five candidates poised to show their passion for actually getting things done.

Many of the announcements made after the candidates’ forum involved help being requested in one form or another. The Phone-a-thon still needs workers, as does the Coretta Scott King Center, Events, and the Tecumseh Land Trust. Volunteers were called for by Jelesia for Make-A-Difference day as well as the CG office, the community garden to build a scarecrow on Saturday, and the SOPP office for a poster campaign. Despite all the help that is apparently needed, only one organization asked for any money. One hundred dollars was requested for the Queers Only Party on Friday, about which we were told to “be there or be straight.�? The Womyn’s Center is holding an event entitled “Love Your Body Night�? on the 29th and a Planned Parenthood Potluck on October 6th. Everyone should also check posts around campus about upcoming Wellness Center activities.

The most anticipated part of the meeting, clarification from Robin Heise, shared little new information and left some with a bad taste in their mouths. Robin read from a statement that she had posted to First Class, reinforcing basic ideas repeatedly. John Minter apologized for any misinformation that he may have taken part in, and Meghan thanked him on behalf of all of the students for being so available; Robin followed up his statement by saying that John had not been working in financial aid long enough to truly understand it. The statement was likely well-intended, although some felt as though Robin was more chastising John than coming to his aid. After the financial aid talk, Melody led a brief party etiquette refresher course. The wisdom imparted? 1) Don’t break anything! 2) Clean up after yourselves! 3) The SOPP still applies, even if you are drunk.

The final major topic brought up at Pulse was a discussion over the appropriateness of last week’s Question of the Week. Most saw no harm in the topic, although some felt that it was possibly exacerbating a standing problem. The misunderstanding related to the Record feature was determined to be due to the difficulty of judging a person’s tone in print without the use of the dreaded emoticon. Noam Chomsky and Voltaire were quoted and ideas about personal rights and discretion were discussed, but no real conclusion was reached except that the article was provocative. Tune in next week for more information about union workers on campus having to submit to drug testing.

Dispatches from Community Meeting

An Entering Student Shares Her Perspective
By Kathryn Leahey

On Tuesday, September 12, I attended my very first community meeting, along with many members of the 1st year class. However, I had an elevated purpose. Ice cream and fruit failed to distract me. My mission; cover this important event for the Record, despite the fact that I had little-to-no idea of what would take place and can still only attach about 17% of the faces around campus to a name. Having left class five minutes early to make sure that I would be there on time, not yet quite adjusted to the Antioch schedule of everyone arriving fifteen minutes late for everything, I fiddled with the tape recorder I had brought with me which, of course, ceased to function as soon as its use was required and I settled into a squeaky chair, watching the others slowly file in. Eventually, Levi B. called the meeting to order (or at least some version of it) and the community members applauded the commencement of first community meeting of the term. I had a feeling this would be a great learning experience.

Lesson One: The Antioch community apparently has a lot for which to be thankful. Firstly, Andrzej Bloch was named Community Member of the Week or CMOW, which is, I’m afraid, yet another acronym that I’ll need to memorize, for his help and advice to CG. Next, the official segment for the sharing of appreciation began. Among those thanked were all those who contributed/will contribute to the Record, Orientation, the trash removal effort after Sunday’s concert, the rugby team, the Queer Center, and the math assessment. Dennie Eagelson thanked the first-years, while a representative second-year, Bryan Utley, thanked those remaining in his class. Others thanked include Kelly O’Keefe for doing an excellent job with the C-shop, the library workers who are responsible for the new electronic reserves, Dave Chappelle for giving back to the community, and Katrina for paying the RA’s this term who, in turn, thanked Robin Heise.

Lesson Two: There are a surprisingly large number of things going on for such a small campus. Events that may not have been heard elsewhere include this weekend’s guest speaker, an Antioch alumna, who will be holding a Shabbat at the Queer Center on Friday and a workshop on Saturday, the availability of transportation to work sites for volunteers (write to mabrown@antioch-college.edu), and the imminent recruiting of prospective new Community Managers. Volunteers are needed at the bike shop, the Coretta Scott King Center, and the Alternative Library, while FWSP students are still needed at the gym and to work under Katrina and Melody for events. We are apparently all feeling sporty lately, and the formation of both a rugby cheerleading squad and a racquetball team were mentioned, while Brian, the gym co-op student, would like to organize even more athletic events. Caitlin would like to remind everyone not to pet or feed her seeing-eye dog. Anyone interested in sitting on a committee should speak to Hope; those interested in the Columbus protest against George W. Bush following an October 5th walk-out should talk to Jimmy, who also dispelled the rumor of the Antioch Dean of Students “bail fund�?; those who would like to submit works to the art show should send an email to ewinter@antioch-college. edu. Upcoming events include Make-ADifference Day on October 28 and Constitution Day, observed on September 18 with a speech by Miguel Santiago. Three funds proposals were made: one for $100 to send the Record staff to a journalism fair at Bowling Green, one for $200 for the Pennell House art party, and one for $75 for the Queer Center for decorations.

Lesson Three: For a campus on which so little is found shocking or even far from ordinary, it’s amazing what we as a student body find controversial. Robin Heise’s email inbox being full led to a review of Pulse guidelines, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of the semantics of the work “unlearn�? which lasted longer than the discourse on the recent campus vandalism. However, I think that Levi B. did a lovely job of summing up the campus-wide feelings toward the crimes by saying that “no victories for humanity were made from the vandalism last week�? and imploring us all to “please don’t do stupid shit.�? Look for further information on both the broken pathways around campus and a sum of $250 being deducted from FWSP awards at next week’s meeting.