Visiting dancer explores bodily potential

In her Wednesday April 23 performance, Alice Sheppard displayed fluidity as a dancer using a 20-pound carbon fiber titanium wheelchair, custom-made for her career in dance. Sheppard opened with a performance that was silent aside from the sound of wheels rolling across the Doty Recital Hall floor. Backward and forward, Sheppard moved with ease, transitioning from sitting to standing – some moments she spent using her arms to help her maneuver across the floor.

She stopped performing to speak, remembering the moment when she was dared to take on dancing – she later revealed that her journey since that decision made her more comfortable with her disability. At one point Sheppard encouraged the audience members to imagine themselves sitting in a wheelchair and place their arms in a position that will push their wheels forward. Through this, she demonstrated the connection that the spine and core have with the chair’s movement, rather than only the shoulders and arms.

It was at AXIS Dance Company in Oakland, Ca., known for its ensembles of performers both with and without disabilities, where Sheppard learned about the “architecture of the ideal dancer body,” something that the inaccessibility of famed dance studios across the country reveal.

“I am more disabled by the environment, than I am the state of my disability,” she said. She noted that because of this, finding dance education for individuals with disabilities is hard. It’s a movement, however, that connects her to the disability arts and culture world.

Sheppard said that, like herself, “Most disabled dancers tend to come into dancing later in life … we bring with us some of what we’ve learned about life with an impairment.”

She said she realizes that there may be social, political and cultural implications to her performances: “I realize that the act of being on stage as a disabled dancer is a sort of social justice message, but the work I’m doing is art. And I have no prescribed takeaway for that.”

In her final dance, Sheppard utilized a pair of metal crutches to further explore her movements: An image that stands out is of Sheppard extending her wingspan, holding the crutches outward as she leaned forward from her chair.

“I’m using [the crutches] to kind of explore the potential of the body. I’m interested in what happens when a crutch-using body combines with a wheelchair-using body and they combine into one body,” she said. Sheppard is particularly interested in symbols like crutches that can become artistic expression.

The dance was accompanied by music featuring a steady heartbeat that remind us of the energy, athleticism and mind-body connection that goes into all forms of dance. “Dancing is a way to really live in the world, to understand movement … a way to learn the body, to learn the world and to really come into contact and interact with people.”

Edgar Fellow Grant Kusick seeks well-rounded productivity

If The Lamron’s Photo Editor Zoe Finn didn’t nominate the “guy in the purple shirt” for this very article, we would have never had the pleasure of meeting sophomore Grant Kusick, who said he’s “obsessed with being productive.” Kusick compares himself to Johannes Sebastian Bach, who said “I’m obliged to be industrious.”

“I would consider myself a goal-oriented person,” Kusick said. “What I’m realizing is that I don’t derive as much satisfaction from the sort of normal things that people go about doing.” And this is true: What he loves to do most is “getting things done.”

A typical day in the life of Kusick involves a morning of strength training at the gym (“I try to get three to four sessions in per week”), class, then relaxation before he delves into his school work. Arguably most students finish their work in order to relax, but Kusick said that he relaxes to prepare himself for work. It pays off, as he said he rarely finds himself cramming for assignments.

Kusick learned early on that procrastination does not fall in line with this mentality: “What you have to remember is that if you put something off, you’re probably going to do worse on that assignment, or you’re going to be really miserable,” he said, adding that he always “pays for it” when he procrastinates.

“If you have the opportunity to do it, do what you know is going to be in your best interest,” he said. Kusick’s keys to productive success include “being able to self-analyze, know what’s the right thing to do and having the willpower obviously to execute that.”

Now that he’s mastered the art of college coursework, Kusick has noticed a comfortable pace in which he retains more information than when he crams. It’s hard in college, he said, where there is more freedom than ever with deadlines: “You have to make yourself do the work and I think the issue is that people aren’t prepared for that in high school.”

“Expecting people to magically adapt to that is hard … the fault may be with secondary education more than higher education,” he said.

A biology and Spanish major in the Edgar Fellows program, Kusick said that his repertoire of interests – biology, literature, classical music – is an “easy thing to let happen to yourself at a liberal arts college.” But his goal of going to a top graduate school to become a biologist keeps him on track, as he knew he loved science since taking AP Chemistry in his sophomore year of high school.

Through his studies, Kusick aims to deflate the “false dichotomy between the humanities and the sciences” as studying both requires the ability to think analytically and critically. When he was a freshman, Kusick had a lot of high school credits, and was not afraid to take classes that interested him. Courses like political science and British literature have rounded out his thinking ability, and they’ve been beneficial to him, he said.

Coming upon his junior year, Kusick said that there are more than enough offerings in biology and Spanish to continue his productive academic career in strides.

Kusick’s goals for the remainder of the semester include achieving a 4.0 GPA (“I had a 3.97 last semester.”) and to not let his semester pass him by.

“When you live deadline by deadline, that can happen,” he said.

Coursework aside, Kusick loves to dance, especially at the Inn Between Tavern. On weekends, he lets himself “notch down the pace a little bit.”

Open up to BirchBox

To make myself feel more pampered and rid myself of my inconsistent femininity, I subscribed to BirchBox. It’s a service that delivers samples of higher-end beauty products each month like perfume, nail polish and scrunchies in hopes that subscribers will turn around and buy the actual products. I was pleasantly surprised with my first box which came last week. Opening the cerulean tissue paper-lined package was the best part. I felt like a mom-to-be at her shower, unpacking each perfectly stacked item from the six-by-four inch box in which I found eyeliner, nail polish, hand lotion, perfume and a granola bar that they suggest I use “as a quick snack en route to or from the gym!” I drunkenly ate it on a Friday night.

The “Gold Struck” nail polish made by Color Club is metallic enough, but has a consistency and strength of interior house paint. For those who struggle to color between the lines, this is dangerous. Nevertheless, my nails looked hot this weekend, and it’s a color I wouldn’t ordinarily buy.

And that’s the fun of BirchBox: I now own things that I would never have purchased, but can still use. Take Atelier Cologne’s Orange Sanguine scent that sells for $170 per 200 mL bottle. It’s a deliciously sexy smell, but something I would only douse myself in occasionally. Now that I have two samples, I have the option to use this perfume a few times. If I like it enough, I’ll ask my mom to buy it for me.

I received a sample of BeeKind lotion – something I already own. No worries though; I support the brand and its sustainability efforts. What I could have gone without was the black eyeliner: I rarely wear eyeliner and when I do, I tend to go for the more natural hues to match my complexion. Luckily my qualms can be fixed over time, as I can go onto BirchBox’s website and tell them which products I liked and didn’t like – eventually improving my box experience.

BirchBox as a company tries to personalize your experience. I appreciate the effort, but I could honestly do without Rainy Day Tip #84: Repurpose your old BirchBoxes! It’s cute but unnecessary, and honestly the last thing I need to be doing on a rainy day. That kind of personalization is like reading American Girl: You’re always asking, “Who the hell would ever actually do these do-it-yourself things?”

But those individuals do exist, and that’s why BirchBox does it.

Honestly, I don’t know why I subscribed to this. I still wear lip gloss that I bought in 2008 and I have eight unopened tubes of mascara that Santa puts in my stocking literally every year. I never got on the beauty product train, so I guess BirchBox was an easy way of pretending to do so.

Local rapper spits fire, to release new beats this summer

When performing, freshman Dane Jennings refers to himself as Seize Fire, a name that fits the pyrocentric theme of his first EP Prometheus. Approaching his second year of rapping, Jennings recorded the five-song album at Blue Sky Studios in Delmar, N.Y. near his hometown of Schenectady after deciding to “take it to the next level.”

“I’ve sold every CD that I’ve printed so far,” Jennings said. Every CD – that is, a total of three. But Jennings plans to produce a full-length album this summer.

What began as a continuation of his musical talents – he plays both piano and percussion instruments – spitting rhymes is now an almost full-time passion for Jennings. His songs vary from electronic piano, like the beats in “A Minor Subplot” to the cerebral rap found in songs like “Tempershock.”

Some songs Seize Fire puts together alone, but others are a collaboration between him and junior Josh Bauscher, or Dark Star. Jennings said that the consistency of Bauscher’s style balances his “more erratic” style, boasting about the over-300 hits received on the Seize Fire vs. Dark Star SoundCloud song “Lionheart” on which they spit, “What matters is what you do when you’re done saying what you’re saying. Easy to see the world, so it’s hard to go out and change it. I’m stuck in a state of restless complacence.”

Jennings writes based on “powerful experiences, positive or negative,” adding that “Everyone has things that make them angry and I think that a healthy way of dealing with that is writing music.” Like most performers, he admits that “in retrospect my early stuff wasn’t that good.”

“I’m always writing. I'm always practicing piano and practicing raps, writing new raps. I perform at Muddy Waters maybe every other week, just to keep it up and get myself out there,” he said.

Because of his musical upbringing, Jennings is used to performing: He formed the alt-rock band Mental Trigger that lasted through his senior year of high school, and has had his share of piano recitals through his adolescent years. At Geneseo, he plays piano for the jazz ensemble.

One of his most stirring musical experiences was Lollapalooza 2011; it was so moving that he still sports a tattered wristband to signify the memory of camping all night out to see Eminem where he had the “best seats in the house.”

“The energy that he put into the performance – he does very few a year – and I was just such a part of this, it was inspiring and powerful,” Jennings said.

Everyone knows Eminem, but Jennings admits that he doesn’t listen to much mainstream rap – “Pitbull rapping doesn’t do anything for me” – and that finding worthy rap artists takes a bit of digging. Jennings is one of a few students at the college who had heard of Spring Concert opener Aesop Rock; in fact, he’s a big fan.

“He has some of the best rhythm of any rapper alive,” Jennings said, adding that one of his favorite Aesop Rock lyrics appears in the song “Zero Dark Thirty”: “Kick the same bucket like Chinatown turtles.”

It’s lines like these that Jennings aims to mimic, as his writing has varied from a focus on wordplay to purely flow. He said that he “can’t see my life without playing music, without performing and writing, to some degree.”

Ideally, Jennings said, he would “make it.” But he understands the naiveté of this ambition: “It’s just so hard to make money; even incredible musicians can’t make money in the music industry. But I’m hopeful.”

Geneseo Class of 2014 Editor-in-chief reflects on utility maximization

It’s a Wednesday night and I’m listening to “Drunk in Love” remixes and eating a Chipotle burrito in The Lamron office. This is normal: In January 2011, The Lamron instilled in me a routine in which I drop all academic priorities on Wednesday to pursue the all-night production of this very newspaper. And there’s my first confession: The amount of time I’ve dedicated to The Lamron has surpassed time that could have gone toward what many would call a healthy, properly managed academic career void of sleepy Thursdays and weekly all-nighters. I sometimes look back and wonder what kind of student I would be without the rock star lifestyle that comes with being an editor-in-chief.

That’s not to say that I don’t value my academic career. I do – that’s why I’m riding on various forms of financial assistance, confident that my undergraduate degree will get me places. I’m a good student and – for the most part – love my classes. I still manage to stay engaged and receive solid grades, despite a myriad of heavy responsibilities.

But I’ve learned that there’s a lot to be said for genuine dedication to certain “extracurricular” things in my life like The Lamron and my dear, newly recognized Think Local Geneseo.

I’m not trying to address readers via cover letter; I’m trying to prove just how much you can do at this school without feeling inhibited by coursework or institutional guidelines. As a student, maximizing on your opportunities will make you not only marketable in this bleak world of unpaid internships and entry-level positions that call for five years of experience; it’s a strategy that will also make you empathetic, curious and interested in what the world has to offer you.

In over three years of turmoil, joy and confusion, I did what my orientation advisors and recent graduates told me to do. I joined things, I worked hard, I got drunk, I planned for a future – I made mistakes and I achieved goals. I’ve exhausted my time at Geneseo, I think, to its potential capacity.

And that’s where my second senior confession comes: I can’t put my finger on it, but something is different about this place. I don’t if it’s just my perception or the fact that I’m going to miss the on-campus Tim Hortons, but my co-seniors might nod along with this sentiment.

It’s almost a cynical feeling – it comes naturally when you stay in one place for four years. Feeling jaded forces me to step back and acknowledge the Geneseo goodies that I’ll cherish most. The aforementioned genuine dedication goes for friendships, too. Now that “XO” by Beyoncé is on, I might as well give a teary-eyed shout out to the people who made me who I am – you know who you are.

Not to mention, dancing on the Inn Between risers as an alumna will soon be unacceptable, so you can find me there through 2 p.m. on May 17. To you, Geneseo, I’ll just say that it’s been quite interesting; I’m ready for life and whatever is thrown at me. That’s how I know that I did this right.

Our belly dancing doesn’t lie

It’s not easy to feel sexy when you’re doing a “twerk in slow motion” in sweatpants and an oversized Buffalo Sabres T-shirt. This was a challenge in my first ever belly dancing class as junior Natalie Kelsey did her best to help my body move with a little less rigidity than that of a robot. With a beaded sarong wrapped around my frumpily clothed waist, I watched as Kelsey showed a group of six dancers, myself included, the basics of belly dancing. We used mostly our hips, chests and quads to mimic her movements, only – at least in my case – to realize that the art is a lot more difficult than it appears.

While Kelsey makes the dance look like liquefied bones, my moves were disjointed as I tried to put too much effort into every movement forward and back, left and right. My left hip and arm didn’t want to cooperate and it didn’t help that I stared right into my own look of disapproval. I was a way-less-hot version of Shakira.

But Kelsey reassured me that it takes about two or three classes before things click and “all of a sudden things fall into place.”

Because belly dancing is the only dance with which she’s familiar, Kelsey said, “It feels like it’s changed the way that I walk.”

It’s been this way since 14-year-old Kelsey and her mom went to a four-hour belly dancing workshop; two years later her mom became the leader of Adi Shakti World Fusion Bellydance in Oneida, N.Y.

While Kelsey gets paid for her job as a Workout Center instructor, she said she loves it because “it’s very much the way that women already move” and according to the Adi Shakti website, it’s a unifying “empowerment of the feminine spirit!”

My favorite move was “snake arms,” also a move that I pull when I’m thrown into the middle of a dance circle at my much older cousins’ weddings. Leading with the shoulder, then the elbow and finally the hand, we each transformed our limbs to rubbery illusions.

Once I was further into the class, I was able to let myself relax and enjoy my body’s natural movements – they came, and then left quickly. But, for a fleeting second, I felt like a seductive master of the dance.

The classes, offered twice weekly, are not only educational – they’re tranquil and calming. I went into a belly dancing class with silly expectations and came out promising myself that I would go the following week. Next time I’ll be sure to dress appropriately – if you know what I mean.

Fight against obesity requires steady, multi-pronged approach

A federal study reported that in   one decade, obesity in children ages 2 to 5 decreased significantly, from 14 to 8 percent. For once, I’ll allow myself to appreciate numbers at face value and hope that this report foreshadows revolution. I often take a minute to look at studies like these and pore over the numbers, examining the discrepancies between reporting and reality. I also have a general apprehension of anything survey-based – I’m trying to let that go. But these statistics from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that pertain to early childhood obesity are real and indicative of United States public health possibly turning a new leaf.

Considered a disease as of 2013, obesity is complex and interconnected with food, health care, politics and economics. The cause of obesity changes every day: We blame it on genetics, on food deserts and food access; we blame it on laziness.

Wherever its roots lie – and this changes per person – obesity is costly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated an annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. in 2008 to be as high as $147 billion, with obese individuals paying almost $1,500 more than those of “normal” weight. Furthermore, obesity is more prevalent in some groups: about 50 percent of black men and 40 percent of all Hispanics are obese. Women with lower incomes are more likely to be obese than those with higher incomes.

But the report, now published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, comes amidst heightened efforts geared toward preventing childhood obesity, thus lowering overall numbers, through initiatives that have been criticized as idealistic, unpromising and small-scale. These efforts include nutrition education, farm-to-table planning and campaigns to ensure healthy habits from a young age – to educate children about the consumption choices they will soon make.

This also comes at a time when many have expressed wariness of industrial food production, large-scale supply chains and the negative externalities that reveal the hidden costs of production that were, apparently, unforeseen. From concentrated animal feeding operations to thousand-acre plots of corn and soy, these practices are becoming more transparent daily. It seems that the trendiness of “fresh food for all” has become more of a norm than a trend. Perhaps it’s a necessity.

Policymakers and scientists alike have debated over whether anti-obesity efforts like those of Michelle Obama and those mentioned above are costly or effective. Some argue that school programs can only go so far, as a child’s habits are formed at home.

But because the first lady has ensured that she makes her programming and education available to over 10,000 childcare centers, and because of so many initiatives similar to those of the first lady, a systematic shift may have occurred. It’s at this young age that children are most likely to develop and maintain healthy habits. They’re at an age when preventable disease should remain preventable and not a given.

Of course, we must remember that this is a very small step in the right direction. There is work to be done, and there always will be. One-third of adults in this country are still obese.

Still, I’m hopeful that a decrease in early childhood obesity is a glance into the future of health in America; if we’re putting forthcoming generations on a better track, then we’ll soon see a healthier, and less costly, population.

Without support for reproductive health care, TED fails women

In developed countries, it’s easy to take for granted accessibility to safe and often affordable health care services. TEDWomen, the feminist sector of TED, displayed a bit of ignorance when the organization attempted to explain why it has not opened a discussion on abortion. TEDWomen co-host Kelly Stoetzel responded to criticism and said that abortion does not apply to the focus on “wider issues of justice, inequality and human rights” and that abortion is something on which the organization does not want to take a stand, similar to a “state tax bill.”

What we need to take away from TED’s response is the understanding that there is work to be done in terms of global women’s empowerment, and I’m not sure TEDWomen understands its role.

TEDWomen’s reply deems the organization out of touch with the status of women across the world and health care’s connectedness with all forms of justice, inequality and human rights, especially as they pertain to race, class and gender issues. When a nation diminishes a woman’s sovereignty over her own body, it undermines her social, political and economic life. Criminalization of abortion forces too many individuals into the high-cost, risky black market.

According to the World Health Organization, 18.5 million of the 21.6 million women who experience unsafe abortions each year live in developing countries. All of South America and Latin America and most of sub-Saharan Africa have very high rates of unsafe abortions per year, while the United States, Australia and most European countries have a better record.

In 2000, the United Nations presented their Millennium Development goals to be reached by 2015 with an ultimate target that calls for the promotion of “sustainable and equitable development.” The fifth goal is to improve maternal health; eliminating unsafe abortion is necessary to achieve this goal and the overarching aforementioned one.

That’s not to say that accessibility to safe abortions does not impact women in the U.S. At home, it’s stigmatized: Women must face protestors and state regulations that limit the accessibility of safe practices. But the safe practices are there, which cannot be said for developing nations.

On top of the density of unsafe abortions throughout certain areas, almost 46 percent of women who die from abortion are younger than 24, according to the World Health Organization. Organizations like TED should be making efforts to help this age demographic the most.

TED’s misguided mission of celebrating “solutions to poverty; new approaches to leadership” through asking, “How can meaningful change be imagined, fostered, and scaled?” cannot be achieved without confronting the issue of abortion. According to welfare economics, we can improve social welfare by bringing up those who are worst off – in this situation, we can make “meaningful change” by improving the lives of impoverished women around the world.

Whether we approve of it or not, safe abortion is a privilege. When TEDWomen goes this long without confronting the topic in its talks and conferences, it allows followers and contributors to go seemingly uneducated, undermining the intensity of the problem.

The reality of the world outside of TED reminds us that women’s status in developing nations is bleak. If TEDWomen cannot open an abortion discourse, TEDWomen cannot call itself feminist.

Confronting the future of academic instruction

College and postgraduate attendance have been normalized – that’s a fact. Between 2000 and 2010, full-time college enrollment increased 45 percent, while the number of individuals, notably women and people of color, obtaining graduate and Ph.D. degrees in hopes of teaching in higher education continues to increase each year. When these factors of supply and demand for higher education instruction meet at their market equilibrium, we’re exposed to the dark realities of commoditized instruction: adjunct positions. Part-time, low wage, no benefits and zero job security – that’s what many individuals on track to obtain their Ph.D.s can unfortunately expect when they enter academia.

These frighteningly low wages – some schools pay as little as $1,000 per course, so you do the math – force adjuncts to take on as many classes as possible, spreading themselves thin as they make ends meet while compromising time that should be allotted for students and research. They can teach anything from 200-student introductory lectures to 30-student mathematics discussion courses at anywhere from community colleges to Ivy League universities.

These positions that now make up over half of university instructors, according to the American Association of University Professors, leave individuals uncertain about their career and income. It’s not a risk-averse lifestyle; stories have been coming out since 2010 of adjunct instructors living off of food stamps and other public services, laden with debt and short of insurance.

This prevalent “adjunctivitis” is exploitative; Marx would be the first to tell us that. But I also think that it reveals the greater reality of funding within and toward higher education. Colleges and universities are tightening their faculty budgets, and especially at state schools we’re seeing less funding as cuts continue to climb.

At the same time, if we understand colleges working as businesses in a free market industry, we confront the fact that they’re willing to minimize costs with a lot of cheap labor. Just this month, lawmakers in Colorado attempted to implement regulations by approving a bill that would ensure  more job security and benefits for adjunct instructors, along with higher salaries with incremental increases that have potential to reduce the disparities between full-time and part-time workers.

Risks involved with this kind of bill go back to basic economics: Higher wages will push the college to take on fewer positions, and scarcity of classes may arise. Those individuals that will benefit have more workplace mobility and time for the aforementioned pitfalls of adjunct positions. It has its strengths and weaknesses, just as anything, but it’s more than most states can tout for the equivalent of modern-day child labor reform.

In her class syllabi, Distinguished Teaching Professor of English Beth McCoy outlines full-time and part-time faculty labor in a lengthy explanation of the “adjunct crisis,” closing with strong rhetoric: “What does this mean for these human beings and teachers, for you as human beings and undergraduates, and for you as human beings who are preparing to enter a world where many institutions and individuals will expect you to work for very little (and even for free) and with no security whatsoever?”

Understanding the inner workings of higher education is a challenge. What needs to happen is an in-depth look into both part-time and full-time instructors and how we provide for the people that are educating each successive generation. What we have currently is not sustainable.

Olympic Games: a measure of athleticism or economic health?

Starting today, we will watch countries come together to compete in the 22nd Olympic Winter Games in an honest display of worldwide nationalism, talent and strength. Or more realistically, a portrayal of global inequities and the inaccessibility of winter sports to which viewers turn a blind eye. Economists Madeleine and Wladimir Andreff predicted that the United States will sweep 36 medals in Sochi, followed by 28 and 27 for Germany and Canada. Russia, Norway, Austria, Sweden and France follow decreasingly close behind.

What many don’t realize is that the Olympics, both summer and winter, define participants not in terms of athleticism but instead home country wealth. Nations across the world are littered with athletically inclined individuals who have a fair stake in the games; participants set themselves apart, then, in a measuring up of endowed resources.

Economists have studied the games for years through econometric research identifying variables that impact medal counts. But a 2004 study titled “Who Wins the Olympic Games: Economic Resources and Medal Totals” found that there is a strong correlation between total gross domestic product, or more specifically GDP per capita, and Olympic performance. That is, the more money a country has to spend per individual, the higher its success will be in the Olympics.

Often GDP goes hand in hand with higher populations that allow for a larger pool from which to choose our strongest athletic representation, along with the purchasing power to do so. It also provides athletes with an indefinite supply of training resources and corporate sponsorship. Look at Shaun White, backed by Burton Snowboards, Target, Red Bull and Hewlett-Packard. It gives athletes from developing nations incentive to flock to places like the U.S. where they will have access to similar amenities, leaving their home countries unrepresented.

These resources are especially helpful in the Winter Games, an essentially insular competition. Pair that with the hefty costs for sports like skiing, skating and hockey, and we see the Winter Olympics exemplary of the classism surrounding the tournament.

We could point to geography as playing a key role in foiling warmer countries’ efforts to compete in the Winter Olympics; however, even in sports like figure and speed skating, curling and hockey, competition exists between the wealthiest nations with money to train and provide their athletes with expensive equipment and infrastructure like large indoor facilities. Further, there exist nations like Belarus, bringing 26 athletes, and Croatia, with 11, that are geographically advantaged but are not expected to leave Sochi with any medals.

It’s hard to shake the feeling of elitism that comes with watching skiers, figure skaters and curlers – they are sports that I, and many others, never learned and probably never will. The Jamaican bobsled team was a comedic trope but revealed the norm that we’ve created out of the Winter Olympics and our expectations of its competitors.

This year, Zimbabwe will send its first Winter Olympic competitor, 20-year-old alpine skier Luke Steyn who, according to The Associated Press, “perfected his art while studying in the United States, on trips to New Zealand and Chile, and then throughout Europe on a bid to qualify.” It goes without saying that Steyn has a wealth of privilege that has allowed him to represent his country this season and serves as an anomaly to the unsettling lack of representation at the Winter Olympics.

What many are unable to grasp about the less fortunate

In a country with an ongoing debate over minimum wage levels, food stamp provision and universal healthcare, taking a step back and attempting to empathize with those directly impacted by their changes is necessary. An understanding of engrained structural inequality is crucial to rebuilding impoverished communities and populations. It’s unfortunate that the myth that still needs to be debunked is that of the lazy poor. The label of “welfare queen,” or those accused of collecting excessive welfare through fraud was once common in the 1960s and serves as a symbol of the present-day binary discourse surrounding poverty. That is, the unsettling idea of “us” and “them.”

Anti-poverty activist and professor of integrative studies Paul Gorski calls this the “deficit ideology.” In his 2010 paper, “Unlearning Deficit Ideology and Scornful Gaze” Gorski writes that deficit ideology “is a worldview that explains and justifies outcome inequalities … by pointing to supposed deficiencies within disenfranchised individuals and communities.”

In a loose colloquial generalization, we too often use “they:” they don’t value education, they choose to use drugs, they don’t know how to eat healthily, they all choose to have children at young ages and they are all disposed to take advantage of government welfare programs. The list goes on.

While easy enough for an explanation of inequality, deficit ideology leads to assumptions that are ignorant of the sociopolitical context that surrounds and impacts disenfranchised communities. It instead relies on the idea that problems spawn from within – it’s the same thing as blaming the victim.

This dogma allows for a continuance of quick-fix remedies as problem solvers: low-cost fruits and vegetables, free parent mentoring, assistance for teenage pregnancy. In a display how out of touch policy-makers and outreach organizations can be, we see a way of fixing inequality with a focus on problems within communities, rather than those that weigh upon them.

In her viral Gawker piece “Why I Make Terrible Decisions,” Linda Tirado provides an eye-opening adventure into the decisions of those low-income individuals that academics, politicians, journalists and more speak about, and often shame, on a daily basis.

Tirado writes about fast food, a classic inferior good that is now stigmatized if used as a main source of nutrition: “Junk food is a pleasure that we are allowed to have. Why would we give that up? We have very few of them.” Did that occur to anyone when they thought of farmers markets as a cure for malnourishment?

While a common and short-term cure for food access and insecurity is to throw fruits and vegetables in low-income areas, Tirado reminds us that this won’t make a difference, as the action ignores the circumstances that brought her to where she currently stands and bind her to this “hopeless” state, including terribly low wages and out-of-reach health care.

When fast food is a pleasure and access to health care is scant, what needs to happen is structural shift that allows individuals to enjoy healthful lifestyles without feeling pressed for time and money, something that we should all have.

Health should not be a priority only for the privileged. It should be provided for all, easily and conveniently. The idea that life is hopeless for so many people is frightening, and should remind those with power about the importance of government-funded services to those individuals that literally cannot provide themselves and their families with what they need in both the short and long term, at no fault of their own.

Seasonal drinks offer up an instant cure to the winter blues

As upstate New Yorkers, we need something to help us in these coming months as a reminder that we’re warm-blooded creatures. What’s better than preparing a wintery drink to take away the pain that seasonal affective disorder and post-holiday boredom bring? Knowledge of those drinks that are easily homemade – as both going outside and movement are painful experiences – will be crucial this winter. Consider yourself Don Draper with a greyhound; it’s simply 2 fluid ounces of vodka mixed with 5 fluid ounces of grapefruit juice. Easy and classic, a greyhound is a dapper drink; at mediocre holiday parties, don’t forget, “If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.”

Citrus drinks such as this one, plus the traditional screwdrivers and mojitos, place you on tropical sands far, far away, where it’s always 5 o’clock.

Spiking heavier warm drinks is a really comforting way to celebrate the holidays or assuage stress. Explore with eggnog, hot cider, coffee, hot chocolate and even tea. A boozy mint hot chocolate calls for tequila and peppermint schnapps – it’s a Girl Scout cookie with some beneficial side effects. The double whammy of rum and coffee might induce insanity, but it makes for an equally entertaining morning.

On a more elegant side, Nigella Lawson calls this one Christmas in a Glass. It’s a mix of Prosecco or other sparkling white wine and gingerbread or cranberry-flavored syrup – that’s all. If Christmas in a red Solo Cup is better fitting for this weekend, I assure you that the drink will still work its magic.

But a classic end-of-year holiday, winter or finals party, in my opinion, is not complete if it’s missing a large bowl, bin or jug of punch, sangria or jungle juice. I prefer sangria because of its healthful addition: fruit. For festivity, mix apples, pears, cranberries, a sprig of rosemary, a bottle of pinot grigio, club soda, white grape juice and vodka, when necessary, in a deep bowl. Serve up, and watch your messed-up life or bum-filled house gloriously come to life.

In the end, what matters most is that you attempt to enjoy yourself, amidst the snow, slush and below-freezing temperatures. Whether it’s board games or tequila shots – or both at once – do what you must to fight through what may be a lackluster six months.

Why cutting computer science in Geneseo is bad for women

Geneseo’s computer science program is set to vanish in May 2014. While the cut disheartens many, it also reminds us again that the college has misguided missions that cause more confusion than anger – women in entrepreneurship being one of them. First, some background information: A study published in mid-November by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics reported that there remain heavy disparities among gender participation in computer sciences and engineering. Specifically, women represent less than 30 percent of people who receive computer science and engineering degrees at the undergraduate level. That number is decreasing, and it’s even lower for minority women.

At the same time, Geneseo recently began touting itself on entrepreneurialism when the college endowed a $2.5 million chair for entrepreneurship and offered a class to School of Business majors, MGMT 385: Special Topics in Entrepreneurialism.

The class consists of groups that will actually build start-up companies, and today, start-up means a lot more than a business mindset; it means serious high-technology innovation. In other words, the ability to code.

And let us be reminded that Gov. Andrew Cuomo is luring start-ups to upstate New York. Cuomo is allowing them to operate tax-free for 10 years on New York college campuses. Cuomo is hopeful the state can rebuild communities surrounding higher education institutions.

But let’s look at the facts of high-tech start-up companies that are now well on their way, if they haven’t done so already, to creating job growth and economic activity. The percentage of technology start-ups founded by women is 5 percent, and only 35 percent of start-up businesses have female owners.

Job listings for young start-up companies call for internships for those with experience in web design, coding and everything in between – all things that are not offered to students at Geneseo.

It’s not surprising. Admit it: You don’t need data to know that start-ups are a male-dominated high-tech industry, and that’s fine, but the lack of women is insanely inefficient.

Women 2.0, a platform for female founders of technology start-ups, reported that tech companies with female executives receive higher returns on both investment and venture capital. A Harvard Business Review survey report showed that, at all levels, women are rated higher in “competencies that go into outstanding leadership.”

This was all reported after a 2011 piece written by Vice President Lesa Mitchell of the Kauffman Foundation. She said, “Despite recent gains, women still lag behind men on key measures of startup activity, and their firms tend not to grow or prosper nearly as much.”

The bottom line is, without a computer science department, students as a whole aren’t gaining necessary skills for entrepreneurship. Women are especially at risk from their lack of introduction to this market.

Geneseo picked up its slack in departments that were once heavily male-dominated, like biosciences and mathematics, but the college still isn’t making connections where there is untapped potential for women to considerably excel. The aforementioned programs are only useful if students and faculty understand where improvements can be made.

Mitchell also noted, “The returns will increase when more women contribute to the process by bringing their ideas to market and building high-growth firms around them.”

That is true and very ideal, but Geneseo will not be a contributor to this change without a computer science department to offer women the skills they want to grow as high-tech entrepreneurs, no matter how many tax incentives they’re provided.

Battling the end-of-the-semester meal plan budget crisis

Already begging friends for some generous meal plan swipes? Don’t be ashamed, it literally happens to (almost) everyone – but there are proven practices to make it last that I suggest you implement, before it’s too late. I’ve been off campus for over a year, but I know the pains that come with stretching out the meal plan to the last dollar. I have problems trying to stretch real money out – it’s called a budget, and it’s a gnawing pressure that makes decisions so much harder. What is the most economically efficient purchase? Why can’t I buy a Frappuccino?

The first and most important thing you can do for both fiscal and physical health is to avoid bottled drinks and extraneous beverages in general. That is, if it’s not coffee or tea or some stimulant without which you’ll go mad, the purchase deems itself unnecessary. Use and reuse water bottles to avoid being charged for tap water and for the sake of sustainability. And don’t forget: Bring your own mug to get 25 cents off on beverages.

Also in the expensive category are packaged goodies like granola bars, Pop-Tarts and Chex Mix, which are much more expensive at retail prices in Campus Auxiliary Services facilities. Don’t buy the Clif Bar that is $2.99 when you can buy it for $0.99 at Wegmans.

While breakfast is the most important meal of the day, according to every single scientist, don’t let it eat up your dollars. Nutrition and Wellness Coordinator Cory Hancock said she looks for things with whole grains, healthy fats and protein “that will provide fullness and sustained energy.” A piece of fruit, peanut butter and whole grain toast will do the trick, as she said, noting that the choice is both healthy and very inexpensive.

If what’s left of your meal plan doesn’t even allow for breakfast, my best advice is to buy a couple boxes of cereal for $1.99 each from Wegmans or a dozen eggs. With a high amount of the nutrient choline, eggs will also keep your brain energized through the morning if topped on a piece of whole grain toast.

For everyday choices, seek out the bargains on campus. Levison’s Deli in Mary Jemison Dining Hall offers cheaper sandwiches and sides than those in Fusion Market with higher-end ingredients. Buy a whole sub at Southside Cafe and save half for later.

If all else fails and your friends won’t budge, add more money to your meal plan, and try not to screw yourself over next semester. Campus Auxiliary Services Marketing Coordinator Rebecca Stewart offered a piece of advice: “You have to actually look and pay attention to what you’re spending, versus blindly grabbing what looks good and then getting to the register and realizing what’s in your arms.”

Transportation project promotes pedestrian and bicycle traffic

The Livingston County Planning Department held its final public review of the Transportation Connectivity Plan that involves multi-modal transportation across the county, using Geneseo as a pilot project. The plan, which the Village of Geneseo will review next, could ultimately apply to neighboring towns.

Stuart I. Brown Associates, Inc., C&S Engineers, Inc. and Martin Alexiou Bryson prepared the plan for the Livingston County Planning Department. Knowing that Geneseo is dense with students, the planners of the pilot project focused on enhancing public transportation ridership and improving efficiency while encouraging the use of bicycles, public transit and trails.

The pilot project in Geneseo will focus on pedestrian and bicycle safety, according to Edward Flynn, a senior planner at Stuart I. Brown. Flynn noted that the intersection at Main, North and Court Streets is an area that can be made more “pedestrian-friendly,” ensuring ease for vehicles as well.

Additionally, the plan calls for more lighting on Court Street, more enhanced crosswalks and a bus shelter at the corner of Center and Main Streets where “right now there’s a lot of parking for vehicles but not a lot for bicycles.”

According to Angela Ellis, the Livingston County planning director, students are some of the biggest users of Livingston Area Transportation Services and Geneseo is a “major destination for the county” with health services, shopping centers and tourist attractions including the Livingston County Historical Museum.

Many people come to Geneseo from elsewhere, “so how do we facilitate that movement knowing that economic development and sustaining businesses is also very important,” she said.

Other Livingston County towns, Flynn said, are similar to Geneseo, and similar problems arise: “A lot of these areas have downtowns … and a lot of them have issues with making sure that their downtowns are more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly,” he said.

Ellis said that a countywide public transportation service centered in Geneseo is also in the works; the challenge, however, is funding and demand. The further a town is from Rochester, she noted, the more rural and less populated they get, and “financially it doesn’t make sense.” One of the plan’s goals is to emphasize that “public transportation is not always about a bus,” she said, which can be both inefficient and costly.

“It’s all going to be about the bottom line, which is being able to afford it,” she said. “What we want to do, because resources are so limited, is to take a look at everything we have currently, see how it can be tweaked first before we build anything because we want to make sure that we are maximizing our resources wisely.”

In the plan’s implementation, Flynn said that the choice is “up to the village.” “But what this does is align them with funding opportunities,” he said. “Folks that have plans have a much better chance of getting that funding.”

Pollution rapidly contributing to China's cancer crisis

For those who cannot grasp the extent to which pollution can actually cause harm, how about this: an 8-year-old with lung cancer. Breaking the record as China’s youngest lung cancer patient, the child’s case brings to the forefront the high costs and risks of rapid economic development without carbon emission regulation. She was exposed to tiny atmospheric particulate matter from human activity that was dense around her roadside home, including transportation and industrial operations.

Frightening, but not unique: According to the World Health Organization, more than half of pollution-caused lung cancer deaths occur in East Asia, and officials at the China Ministry of Health report that lung cancer deaths in China have increased fourfold in 30 years.

The case is indicative of the deterioration to which China’s cities are vulnerable and the lack of oversight that caused the child’s cancer. It should provide insight into the need for global interjection to ensure that environmental regulation plays a key role in developing countries’ growth plans.

The world did not confront China’s lack of energy regulation or recognize potential consequences. When China enacted the $586 billion stimulus package in 2008 that allowed it to soar economically through the global recession, it became the largest exporter in the world, and has averaged a 10 percent growth in gross domestic product for the past 30 years.

But that growth comes with negative externalities. According to a 2013 report by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, China contributes 29 percent – compared to the United States at 15 percent – to total global carbon emissions. While the U.S. and the European Union found a decrease in carbon emissions from 2011-2012, China continued to increase, albeit at a “slower” rate of 3 percent.

If we delve deeper than the nationwide measurements, of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, 16 of them are in China.

In allowing massive urban growth spurred by similar pushes like China’s stimulus packages in 2008, the country has cost itself too much in both the health of its people and its efficiency.

According to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study in 2012 that analyzed the costs of health impacts from particulate matter, pollution came with a quantified cost to the Chinese economy of $112 billion in 2005 alone. Compare that to a $22 billion cost in 1975.

The study found two main causes for the increase in pollution costs: growing urbanization and higher incomes that increased cost of both labor lost and leisure. In other words, growth; in historical examinations, we see growth and economic development always noted with population shifts to cities and higher wages for citizens.

But when this growth happens very quickly, things get dirty – literally. Urban Chinese citizens across the country suffer daily on their commutes to work; on some days, public transportation is pointless because drivers cannot see. Especially in northern China, where central heating is set to operate for the duration of winter, grey smog is likely to remain and cause further complications.

Recent attempts to curb intense industrial city pollution are entering the discussion too late. China has recently implemented various measures that include more transparency, a reduction of emissions and emergency response plans for heavy pollution.

But before, or even a little bit after, the nation started to grow at an exponential rate, China should have adopted and explored alternative energy solutions to ensure long-term sustainability and safety for its citizens. In regulation through raising the production cost to industries for carbon-emissions, it could have protected itself and avoided what is now a dark and smog-ridden reality.

STARTUP-NY offers upstate New York economic renaissance

Step aside, Silicon Valley, because upstate New York is the new frontier for startup ventures. Thanks to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent launch of STARTUP-NY, we can now hope to see the state make use of its resources that lie among over 300 higher education facilities, both public and private. Set to take action in January 2014, STARTUP-NY, or SUNY Tax-free Areas to Revitalize and Transform Upstate New York, aims to encourage startups or “high technology businesses” on or near college campuses with the guarantee of a 10-year tax break; that means 10 years without income tax – at least until an individual hits $200,000 – along with sales, property or business taxes.

Before anyone criticizes STARTUP-NY, let us examine upstate New York, and why we need something – anything – to encourage post-graduate students to stay in the area.

According to the United States Census estimates, between 2010 and 2012, 35 upstate counties decreased in population, while downstate counties increased. Further, according to the STARTUP-NY report, only three-quarters of New York state college graduates remain in the state.

Thus, students are either leaving the state or flocking to the New York metropolitan area, leaving upstate New York and its valuable research facilities as untouched but valuable entrepreneurial locations. The main cause, according to Cuomo, is New York’s high tax rate.

It is an offer that may sound both risky and unusually favorable to certain businesses, but encouraging activity in places like Binghamton, Geneseo, Buffalo and other upstate locations is necessary. While these towns and cities once thrived on small businesses, and still do so today by playing host to college campuses, the attraction is dissipating.

STARTUP-NY is a program that will retain college graduates in upstate towns while strengthening higher education and its offerings for a more well-rounded and perhaps applicable experience at the undergraduate and graduate level. The state spends $4 billion on research but only attracts 4 percent of venture capital investment – something needs to change, or we have a lot of sunk costs to manage.

Startups on State University of New York and private campuses could potentially be untapped breeding grounds for economic development. A Cleveland State University study examined the impact of Ohio tech-based startups that received financial assistance. The study found that 127 companies generated $270 million in statewide economic benefits and helped to create and retain 1,100 jobs.

The legislation does its best to minimize loopholes and address the risks of fraudulent or unwanted results, including crowding out of local businesses and “shirt changing,” or starting a company under a different name to receive public benefits. Further, because the educational institutions, rather than their host towns, decide the allocation of property to companies, it looks like anything that falls in line with a college’s mission is fair game – and that says a lot.

The bill says that it “builds on the State’s rich tradition of positioning colleges and universities as centerpieces for upstate economic development.”

Take Geneseo and its mission for example: “It combines a rigorous curriculum and a rich co-curricular life to create a learning-centered environment” and develops “socially responsible citizens with skills and values important to the pursuit of an enriched life and success in the world.” What can’t you do with that?

By placing startups where students and post-graduates can learn and work without the concern of high New York state taxes for 10 years, we can hopefully see a shift in the way upstate New York is led alongside business development that is lasting and has an impact.

AC requests increased speaker budget for safety net

In hopes of hosting the founder of nonprofit To Write Love on Her Arms, Activities Commission asked Student Association for a budget increase of $3,500, despite having complete funding for the speaker. Jamie Tworkowski founded the Florida-based organization in 2006 as a source for individuals struggling with mental health issues, addiction, self-injury, depression and thoughts of suicide. To Write Love on Her Arms now appears on merchandise and social media and receives celebrity endorsements from figures like Miley Cyrus, OneRepublic, the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and more.

The Wednesday Nov. 6 hearing raised discussion from both SA Executive Board and various SA organizations as AC Contemporary Forum Coordinator senior Miles Shadman presented his request for the budget increase, citing his main concern being the budget limitations of his successor if he were to use almost his entire remaining $8,000 budget for the speaker.

Due to his coming December graduation, Shadman said that his main intent for the budget increase is to ensure that the student who takes over as contemporary forum coordinator has a comfortable budget for inviting speakers. He said that he wanted half of his budget, or around $3,500, to remain for the next coordinator to avoid facing multiple SA budget increases next semester.

“Once you start repeating that process, no matter how small it is, people are going to say, ‘Why are we giving you this money?’” he said.

While Shadman said that members of both SA and AC recognized that his pursuit was “thoughtful,” members of SA Executive Board expressed their concerns with the budget increase.

“Ideally [Shadman] wants to be very considerate of his successor,” Director of Student Affairs senior Effie Barbagiannis said. “However, it would set a not-so-great precedent that organizations can request more money when they already have it.”

Monetary issues aside, ethical concerns also arose with the speaker decision. While Shadman wanted to invite Tworkowski, senior Emma Jean Liberman, SA representative of Womyn’s Action Coalition and women’s studies representative for Pride Alliance, was opposed due to the Tworkowski’s history and “very close ties with anti-gay ministries,” Liberman said. She cited Fireproof Ministries and Mercy Ministries as specific anti-abortion and anti-gay organizations that worked closely with To Write Love on Her Arms in its early stages.

“I think it’s severely irresponsible to give money to someone who founded the organization in conjunction with something like this,” Liberman said. “I’m just not sure what kind of message we want to send to our campus.

“I support the cause behind To Write Love on Her Arms,” she added. “I think that mental health awareness is a really important issue – I just don’t think it’s the right organization.” The fact that AC has the funding it needs for this event was the greatest concern of SA Executive Board, who ultimately decides if the budget increase will pass at the SA meeting at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 13.

Sustainability in Geneseo unlikely without proper funding

Geneseo’s Sustainability Commission ambitiously introduced a Climate Action Plan in 2010 with both short-term and long-term goals regarding cutting campus emissions of carbon dioxide. Effective use of the plan would cut emissions in half by 2020 – compared to the lower rate of 1990 – through the tracking of energy use and behavioral patterns, the installation of energy-saving projects and educational and community outreach. By 2050, the commission hopes to reduce emissions to its 1990 level, a reduction of 100 percent.

While the commission has made an honest attempt to confront the worldwide energy crisis and the environmental externalities that exist on college campuses, it is hard to grasp the potential of the initiative.

The biggest challenge facing the Sustainability Commission is the fact that there exists no paid faculty position designated to the oversight of sustainable activity on the campus. Similar to any one of the classes or organizations at Geneseo, the commission is a priority but not the only priority for those involved.

The Sustainability Commission is comprised of students, faculty and staff from various departments of the college that also includes subcommittees, which focus on certain aspects of sustainability. All of the bases are covered, but to what extent and how thoroughly? If the commission exists as no more than an unpaid extracurricular activity for those involved, what results, if any, does the college expect?

Members of the Sustainability Commission certainly contribute experience and knowledge, just as I do to The Lamron and other obligations. Well-known instructors from across the spectrum bring accomplished research and representatives from athletics, Campus Auxiliary Services, the student body and the administration, ensuring that initiatives put into action recognize various implications, both positive and negative, that can arise.

It’s clear from the Sustainability Commission website that the members are probably spreading themselves too thin: Seven subcommittees reveal the amount of work that each member packs in.

Business manager of facilities services Craig Ross and associate professor of biology Kristi Hannam seem to have the most responsibilities. So it should be a red flag when we see that they hold positions as members and chairs of the Sustainability Commission while working on the Budget and Finance, Climate & Impact Monitoring, and PR & Campus & Community Engagement Subcommittees, all things that, when done well and correctly, take time and commitment.

From personal experience, it’s known that there is just not enough daylight to manage as many things that we say we do on paper, and the Sustainability Commission’s reliance on insanely busy faculty members and students is worrisome, in terms of both the college’s future of sustainability and my perception of its priorities and mission.

The lack of funding for a paid position reveals shortsightedness or perhaps oblivion when it comes to sustainable initiatives and progress. Without money for a position, the reality is that these changes probably are not feasible.

In 2012, former President Christopher Dahl designated the Environmental Impact and Sustainability Task Force behind the plan as a Presidential Commission, heightening its urgency. If the opportunity arose for faculty funding, I would hope that there would be consideration for a position that involves sustainability on campus to make further strides in effecting the Climate Action Plan. Keep in mind: We’re one-third of our way to 2020.