IT - THE RECORD

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!

Letter From Meghan Pergrem

Letter to the Editors Addressing New Editorial Policy

Dear Foster and Luke,

I am writing this letter to express my concern with the new declassified policy. I understand that the Record and its editors are under a great deal of pressure from the community, and the administration in particular. I appreciate the importance of the Record as a mouthpiece for all community members and in no way want my criticisms to be taken as a lack of support for the Record or its staff.

I disagree with the sentiments expressed in your letters to the community in last week’s issue of the Record. Foster, in your letter you state, “Declassifi eds are not intended as a medium to stab at people behind anonymity. They are there for cute notes, crushes, thank yous and light hearted humor.�? We believe that these are not the only purposes of Declassifi eds. They have also been used as a forum to make public political statements. You object to the anonymous nature of most Declassifi eds, while not taking into account the necessity of anonymity that is a product of what was intelligently referred to by Daniel E. Solis as “the Culture of Fear.�? Not all of us feel safe attaching our names and/or faces to our politicized opinions. At this point in time, the Antioch campus is not a space in which people can freely speak their minds without fear of being expelled, banned, or persecuted in some other fashion by the administration. Does this mean that our opinions should go unheard or that they are any less refl ective of the community? If this is a question of whether or not the Record Staff should be held accountable for the content of the Declassifi eds, then my answer is no. The Record is not an individual that should be held accountable for the opinions of community members. The question then becomes, what is happening in our community that is causing individuals to write Declassifi eds that are “not so nice�?? Perhaps this question, or rather the answers to this question, could spark some inspiration for stories covered by the Record in the future.

In my opinion, censorship of the Declassifi eds is part of a greater issue concerning the administration’s agenda to control and censor the opinions of community members expressed in the Record. When I read your letters to the community, I was shocked to see our editors supporting this agenda through their editorial decisions. This is the fi rst time in my Antioch career that I have seen the Record editors publicly submit to censorship in the interest of pleasing a disapproving administration.

I want to thank you for your dedication to the Record and respectfully request that you consider alternative approaches to the editorial process that do not include enforcing censorship of opinions, even if you cannot see the value in giving voice to anonymous Declassifi eds.

Sincerely,

Meghan Pergrem

Letter from Carole Braun

Dear friends at the Record and in the Community,

I wanted to clarify the implication in the last Record issue that changing RAB (Record Advisory Board) to REB (Record Editorial Board) would necessitate censorship of the Record. When I taught journalism on campus between 1989 and 1991, my responsibilities included chairing what was then REB. REB, which was composed of previous Record editors and interested faculty, staff and students, created Record editorial policy. Record editors were expected to conform to this policy, but the newspaper was never censored or subjected to prior restraint. (Prior restraint refers to a newspaper being reviewed by someone before it could be published.) Momentum to change editorial policy or question the editors about their responsibilities came from the community and was changed through democratic process. REB was appointed by Comcil. As I recall it, much of REB’s strongest questioning and criticism of current editors about being responsible journalists came from the previous Record editors.

I also was present at an Antioch University Board of Trustees meeting where then-college President Al Guskin defended the Record, its student editors and freedom of speech when Board members complained that the Record needed to be censored or restrained so that its news didn’t offend anyone or spoil the public relations efforts of the College. I was surprised then at the venom of the 1990 Board toward the Record, and I wonder if the current Board is not pressuring the administration for changes.

Carole Braun

Media Arts Technician and occasional adjunct

Letter from Scott Leannah and Gina Kuemmel

To The Editor:

We are new members of what one might term the “extended community�? at Antioch. As family members of an Antioch student we have had the opportunity to visit campus a few times, meet a number of students, and read several issues of The Record. We have had the chance to meet some members of the faculty and administration, as well.

It is our hope that, as a “Boot Camp for the Revolution�?, Antioch is a place where all assumptions are questioned, the voiceless are heard, and where those who will bring change to society are encouraged to observe, evaluate, and act. Indeed, the legacy of Antioch is one of promoting justice, peace, and a better world. Unfortunately, some of what we have read in this paper and experienced during recent campus visits is, rather than demonstrating openness, promoting a culture of insularity and mistrust of anything or anyone new or from the outside.

We have observed that there is a lot of introspection at Antioch, perhaps too much. It seems that a large number of community members are so engrossed in arguing about “Antioch values�? that the school itself seems to be an end, rather than a means, to impacting and changing society. To wit: there was little or nothing that we could see on bulletin boards, in the school paper, posted on walls that speaks to issues outside of your small world on campus. Here are the three main messages we’ve been able to glean from these sources: 1.This is a place where there is tolerance and openness to all expressions of human gender and sexuality. 2. Safe, consensual sex is a value and right for all community members. 3. There is mistrust of those trying to bring about change at Antioch. This is frequently expressed by insults and name-calling.

Meanwhile, in the world beyond Antioch College, discrimination rages, the poor are getting poorer, civil rights are eroding, and those in power seek to rule via fear and suspicion. If Antioch is really the “Boot Camp for the Revolution�?, we wonder why the major issue at hand seems to be a single-focused obsession with “the idea of Antioch�?. Truth be told, we are not certain what is meant by that expression. We have noticed, however, that in spite of a seeming openness to ‘otherness’ and diversity at Antioch, there is instead intolerance and a willingness (on a shocking level) to engage in name-calling and profanity when describing those with whom one disagrees. There seems to us to be little or no ground for respectful discourse at Antioch.

There is much about Antioch that we admire. The idea of a liberal arts college that encourages independent thinking and then equips students to engage the world in a way that fosters justice and peace is something we support. Unfortunately, at least at this time, Antioch seems too self-obsessed to be able to engage in a respectful dialogue among even its own community members, much less the world.

Scott Leannah and Gina Kuemmel

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