Samatar, a Minneapolis native, is a Theater major concentrating in Performance Studies. Personally, he is “interested in how performance can add to the discourses of health, rights, and politics as a platform of critique from all voices.”

Helfand, from Corvallis Oregon, is an Anthropology major with a Biology minor. She hopes to “go on to implement creative initiatives to develop new and effective solutions in the field of Public Health.”

Photo: William Matsuda ’15.

In Bid’ah Helfand and Samatar hope to open up a dialogue revolving around tradition—what is the difference between culture and religion as defined by rituals and traditions, what types of traditions do we perform and how do these traditions come to be.

The two use their own experiences with tradition and ritual as a springboard for opening up this dialogue in their performance. The two noted that, “we have been expanding the format to allow for a whole lot more sharing of personal experiences that we hope will pique the curiosity of the audience in relation to their own experiences with ritual and tradition.” While the initial piece performed this fall used a slideshow of images to embody the different themes the two were exploring, this piece will utilize other mediums. In the upcoming performance Helfand will perform a series of spoken word pieces which will be mixed in with Samatar’s choreographed movements, inspired by the movements of Islamic prayer. These vignettes are tucked between larger scenes that employ visual elements, stories and/or movements to tell the personal stories of the performers. All the elements are woven together with musical themes. There will also be photography present in the space. The photographs were taken by a fellow Macalester student, Clark Bledsoe ’13, and will serve as another mode of visually investigating the themes of ritual and tradition.

On the topic of their means of performing Helfand and Samatar said, “We want to use the medium of performance to inquire, interrogate, and interact with tradition being an innovative process that is often perceived as fixed and invariable. We are questioning and encouraging others to contemplate with us about how modernity interacts with tradition.”

The performance is not only interactive in the plethora of media it uses but also in its very format. At the end of the piece the audience will be invited to join in an informal group discussion with Helfand and Samatar.

The specific space, for the duo, is crucial to their interrogation of tradition. They are transforming their space in Dreamland Arts into an experiential space that incorporates themes of rituality, religion and tradition. In addition to cultivating a certain feel in the performance space, Helfand and Samatar are excited to host an event in an off-campus local venue because of the larger, more diverse audience it will draw. While they are grateful for the significant support they have received from the Macalester community, they both agree that, “a lot of really great work done on the Macalester campus has the tendency to stay within the Mac bubble, when it is often speaking to topics that the broader community and a diverse audience could benefit from.”

In order to raise money for the event, primarily to pay for the off-campus locale, the two decided to set up a Kickstarter. A Kickstarter is an online pledge system, usually used to fund creative projects, where donor money is only collected if the target amount is reached. Through the Kickstarter, various Facebook blasts, bake sales and lots of face-to-face conversations, the duo were able to reach their goal.

In response to the community support, the two noted, “This has been an amazing experience that has refreshed our faith in humanity. We know that sounds pretty extreme, but we say this honestly because without the community support that we have felt and received, this project would not be at all close to what we wanted for it.”

All Helfand and Samatar are waiting for now is your presence at their performance, go and add your voice to this new and nuanced dialogue on tradition and ritual. Showtimes are May 23, 24 and 25 at 7:00 p.m. and May 25 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets can be reserved at http://www.dreamlandarts.com/shows/detail.php?eventId=219.

]1 Reid Callahan ’14 brings down the opposing quarterback in a game against Crown College on Sept. 1. As members of the Midwest Conference, Callahan’s Scots will play a consistent schedule for years to come starting in the fall of 2014.

As of last Wednesday, the Macalester football team became the newest member of the Midwest Conference (MWC). The Scots are set to join the conference in the fall of 2014, ending a 12-year period where they were playing as an independent team.

“The Midwest Conference will be a step up in terms of competition from what we have been playing as an independent. The conference will just be more consistent week in and week out,” said sixth year head football coach Tony Jennison.

As the newest member of the MWC, the Scots will be taking part in a conference with schools from Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa. Member schools are Beloit, Carroll, Cornell, Grinnell, Illinois College, Knox, Lake Forest, Lawrence, Monmouth, Ripon and St. Norbert. The conference is made up of two divisions, the North and South divisions. Macalester will join Beloit, Carroll, Lawrence, Ripon, and St. Norbert in the North division. The idea of being in a conference is appealing for players, coaches and fans.

“I think it will help in terms of recruiting, where new potential Mac football players will be drawn to a program that has the chance to compete for playoff appearances every year,” offensive lineman Adam Bauer ’14 (Auburndale, WI) said .

Part of the logic behind this transition is that the Scots will be able to develop rivalries and a consistent schedule from year to year. Playing as an independent was a challenge logistically.

“The change was made because it was becoming quite obvious that we couldn’t sustain the independent schedule for much longer. Take this past season for example…we had to fly to Oregon to get a tenth game, not easy on our budget or my stress level,” Jennison added.

As soon as the Scots are part of the MWC, they will have a chance to play the NCAA Division III national tournament, something they were not eligible for as an independent. Mac football players will also be eligible to win postseason awards. It is also logical to think that a larger student contingent will begin to attend more games than in past years as rivalries develop and the stakes become higher. Safe to say, the players are excited.

“I could not be more excited about the change,” cornerback Konnor Fleming ’15 (Charlotte, VT) said. “As a program on the rise, I along with the whole team have been looking for an opportunity to show the Macalester community as well as the rest of the nation just what this football program is capable of. We’ve got guys busting their asses in the weight room three or four times a week, and the amount of drive and determination on this team is unrivaled.”

Linebacker Jesse Russell ’14 (Eden Prairie, MN) echoed his teammate’s sentiments. “As someone who came here after we had left the MIAC, the goal in my mind was always to improve the team enough that we could rejoin and compete in another conference,” Russell said. “While I will never play in the new conference, I am very grateful for the work done by President Rosenberg and everyone else in both the administration and the athletics office who made this possible for our team.”

With this move to the MWC, it seems like the football team is continuing to move up in stature. After failing to record a winning season in ten years, the Scots have recorded two in the past three years. Hopefully, this upward trend continues into a future MWC conference title for the Scots.

Red Queen involves 13 Macalester dancers and includes video clips shot and produced by University of St. Thomas videography students from Professor Tim Scully’s class. The dancers and members of Pilobolus, in collaboration with Professor Chip Small’s Ecology class and Professor Maria Dahmus’ Environmental Studies class, both from UST, devised the piece.

With ideas generated from discussion within these classes, the dancers and members of Pilobolus created movement that reflects human interaction with the environment. The title comes from an evolutionary hypothesis that addresses a species’ theoretical need to run as fast as it can just to stay in the same place. That is to say that survival is based upon an organism’s ability to maintain its foothold in the broader context of its constantly changing environment. This encourages us to look at our own relationship to the environment and perhaps see ourselves as the “Red Queen.”

Red Queen was made possible by the Ordway Campus Connections, a program funded by a grant from the Wallace Foundation, which encourages interaction through the arts at Macalester College, the University of St. Thomas and Metropolitan State University by means of performance, collaboration, and professional residencies. One of the goals of this particular project was to introduce Pilobolus’ distinct aesthetic and artistic process to a variety of students who may or may not usually consider themselves artists and encourage collaboration between the arts and more traditionally academic disciplines.

Student-choreographed pieces in Matter over Mind include Re(x!)clamation, by Laura Levinson ’13 (Denver, CO) which examines the act of reclaiming, sanctifying, utilizing, and relating to space, burning sage to purify the space where the dance takes place. Embellished and Then, choreographed by Phoebe DeVincenzi ’13 (New York, NY), explores the stories that we choose to tell with our bodies as they relate to reality and to the imagined, looking at the repetitions and evolutions of preformed identities. See Creatures, choreographed by Kate Keleher ’13 (Winchester, MA), tells the story of one person’s encounter with unearthly beings.

0 1 1 2 3, devised by Emma Buechs ’13 (Glendale, WI) and ensemble, explores patterns and cyclical relationships, inhabiting the space of the never-ending. It is Hard to Tell, created and danced by Hannah Geil-Neufeld ’13 (Chicago, Ill.) and Buechs, examines the means and ways of knowing a person, and celebrates a friendship of great influence. Black Sheep by Daimon Hardy ’13 examines the dynamics of a three-person relationship when one feels marginalized by the others. In Bodacious’s piece, Bodacious Over Mind, dancers become zombies except for one dancer, who tries to escape. And Julia Davidson ’13 (Lawrence, Kan.) offers an as-of-yet-untitled trio piece that questions what happens when you try to create a dance using just your sense of proprioception.

Performances are at the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, Main Stage Theater, Fri., May 3 at 7:30 p.m., and Sat., May 4 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on. For ticket information, call 651-696-6359. There will be a post-show discussion after the Friday night show with Pilobolus Dance Theatre and another post-show discussion after the Saturday matinée with all student choreographers.

Offensive tackle Eric Fisher of Central Michigan went first to the Kansas City Chiefs, who surprisingly preferred him to Texas A&M tackle Luke Joekel, who was chosen second by the Jacksonville Jaguars. With the pick, Fisher became just the third offensive tackle ever to be taken first overall, and was also the first player from the Mid-American Conference to ever be the top choice in the draft.

Meanwhile, the usual fixtures of the start of the draft were conspicuously absent. Only one wide receiver (West Virginia’s Tavon Austin to the St. Louis Rams at number 8) and no quarterbacks or running backs were selected with the first ten picks. When a quarterback was finally taken with the 16th pick, it was the truly baffling selection of Florida State’s E.J. Manuel by the Buffalo Bills. While he is admittedly a physical specimen, Manuel perennially underachieved while under center for the Seminoles, a fact that casts doubt on his potential to lead an offense at football’s highest level.

In choosing Manuel, the Bills eschewed the draft’s consensus top signal-caller, Geno Smith of West Virginia. Originally expected to be a top selection, Smith fell all the way to the second round before finally being picked up by the quarterback-challenged New York Jets with the 39th pick. Smith will be charged with the seemingly insurmountable task of replacing the now-departed Tim Tebow, whose unsurpassed dominance led the Jets to great heights last season.

Despite the disappointment, Smith was far from alone in his misery, as he was accompanied by several high profile players who, due to various factors, had left NFL teams unimpressed and saw their draft stock plummet accordingly. Notre Dame linebacker and Heisman trophy runner-up Manti Te’o, he of the deceased fake girlfriend, dropped to the San Diego Chargers at 38 as a result of his embarrassing no-show in the national championship game against Alabama in January as well as his bizarre love life. LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu, another star plagued by off-field issues, waited until the third round before going to the Arizona Cardinals, and USC quarterback Matt Barkley, who just a year ago was considered to be a top-tier prospect on the same level as stalwarts Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, fell clear to the fourth round after a poor senior campaign. Barkley’s story is a case study on the dangers of college stars foregoing the draft to stay in school, a decision which, while romantic, can potentially cost players millions of dollars in devalued draft stock.

And yet after all the excitement, the most important question remains to be unanswered: Which team had the best draft? The answer will not become clear until after the coming season or perhaps after several seasons, but of course that hasn’t stopped sports fans and commentators from prematurely crowning champions and ridiculing losers. So far, the 49ers, Steelers and Bengals have attracted the most praise, while numerous teams, including the Browns (surprise), Cowboys and Raiders have been criticized for failing to properly address their team needs. Ultimately, however, the best pick-ups and the biggest busts of the draft will show themselves on the field. Tests, interviews and college game tape can only prove so much about an NFL prospect and are nowhere near as illuminating as that most important statistic in sports: wins and losses.

When he found out that I had told some of my friends what had happened, he began harassing me and threatening me unless I kept silent. So I went through the school process, and I was floored at how responsive the school was, how quickly they acted and how serious the limitations that they put on my rapist (we’ll call him Scott here) were. At the bottom of the official decision letter it said in bold: If Scott violates this order in any way, his status as a student will be severely jeopardized. I was so happy. He would have to stay away from me and if he tried anything, there would be serious action.

Or so I thought. He came within the 100 feet limit once. And then again, while staring at me. And then again in the library. I reported all of these back to my Dean of Students, and was repeatedly told that this is a small campus, and things happen. Eventually, he was not allowed to come to Winter Ball. And then at a Kagin, he approached me multiple times, glaring menacingly, blocking my path on the stairs, speaking to me and touching me. I approached the school again. Finally, this case was referred to the Macalester College Harassment Committee (MCHC). Despite my having a witness, nothing was done.

Scott is a graduating senior, so some people may wonder why I care anymore. He’ll be gone soon enough, so what if the school didn’t do anything? When he was first found responsible, I was told that the purpose of these sanctions was to help him learn from this. It is clear to me he hasn’t learned anything, and that scares me. When he gets his diploma, he will officially be a representative of what Macalester stands for, and I fear that he will represent my school as a place that protects rapists at the expense of the people they victimize.

If I return to Macalester for my senior year in the fall and get my diploma next year, I will also be representative of Macalester. For better or worse, I will be tied to Scott forever. I will also be tied to what I see as a pattern of survivors of sexual assault who are forced to watch their school choose to protect the future of criminals over their own safety. My fear is that if I stay, I will become a silent accomplice to rape. Not just to my own rape, but to the future people I believe Scott will victimize.

I love Macalester. In my Early Decision application I wrote the school a love letter. No, I’m not joking or speaking metaphorically. I proposed to Macalester College. This feeling has not changed. I know that Macalester handles sexual assault much more effectively than most colleges. But being better than the worst can’t be enough, and it is not enough for me. It shouldn’t be enough for any of us to let our school tie us to criminals. I want my Macalester degree to be associated with the amazing people I see everyday, but when we allow predators to graduate without having to learn from their mistakes, we are ensuring that our school’s reputation will be determined by their future actions.

Whether or not I stay at Macalester, I still have the power in my relationship with Scott. The difference between something that is private and something that is a secret is fear. Scott is going to live his life afraid that someone will find out what he did. And so I want to say a few things to Scott: You’re graduating soon, and the police aren’t pressing charges and you may think you’ve gotten away with what you did to me. But wherever you go, I need you to know that I know that you raped me. Wherever I get my degree from, I will look at it with pride. Your Macalester degree will always be a reminder of what you’ve done, and of the woman who is out there, surviving and talking about it with no shame, rigidity or antagonization.

La Cucaracha, 36 Dale St. S, Saint Paul

This hot spot is located right down Grand and has some of the best nachos you will ever get your mouth on.
They are baked with Chihuahua cheese, spiced and marinated grilled chicken, black beans and cilantro.

Family-owned for 43 years, this Crocus Hill spot features other Mexican delights like the Smothered Burrito: packed with beef, doused in enchilada sauce, hot tamales (chicken or pork) or a beef enchilada, covered with chili con carne, sour cream, and cheese.

Hop on the 63 or, if it ever stops snowing, ride your bike and enjoy nachos and margs all day at this accessible restaurant.

Best Patio

El Notero, 4000 E. Lake St., Minneapolis

This spot is part restaurant, part grocery store. The restaurant is family owned, but that is not the only appealing aspect of El Notero. The gem is the hidden garden like patio in the back that diners can sit and enjoy. So assuming it is warm out this weekend (a mild stretch of the imagination) come enjoy this hidden garden on Lake Street in Minneapolis.

Best Tequila Selection

Barrio Tequila Bar, 925 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis

This is the Twin Cities’ only tequila bar and there are over 150 types of tequila to choose from. This is also a MSP chain with one location actually in terminal two of the airport. However, that does not stop this restaurant from being delicious. Barrio has a wide selection of small and large plates. You can either go for the tapas experience or you can go full entrée and get a large plate. The crab tortilla soup is a unique take on a classic Mexican dish and the guacamole comes freshly made with a mortar and pestle. The visit is definitely worth it, both for the tequila and the food.

]1 Wayfinding signs, like the one above found in Markim Hall would be added to mor places around campus. Photo credit: Visual Communications

The work that has already begun on the studio art building will result in the most drastic changes, according to Mark Dickinson, Director of Facilities Services.

“The [art] building will be enclosed and there will be a new third floor,” Dickinson said. There will also be a new boiler in the basement and the construction crew may finish sitework north and east of the building.

He also said that the project is currently on schedule for its Spring 2014 deadline, advertised on the side of the construction site’s crane.

“The project is [going] to be done in January and ready for classes by the 27th,” he said, meaning that art students have only one more semester taking their classes in makeshift studios and classrooms.

Besides the art building construction, there are numerous maintenance projects planned for summer break. The Riley Pool in the Leonard Center has been closed since April 30 for draining, cleaning and re-grouting, and is scheduled to reopen on June 7.

Doty and Bigelow residence halls will also undergo some changes. Dickinson said that there are plans for a new roof on Doty and interior work in the hall’s stairwells. In Bigelow, the electrical transformer and vault work will be completed in the southwest corner and basement.

Humanities 226 will get a makeover with new carpet, paint and seats, and there will be additional sustainable landscaping around Weyerhaeuser Hall.

Another project in the works is the installation of wayfinding signs on the Macalester campus. According to Dickinson, this will not take place this summer, but college representatives have selected a company, Visual Communications, and conducted a preliminary consultation with them.

Director of Communications David Warch and Vice President for Advancement Tommy Bonner are in charge of the wayfinding project.

Warch explained that wayfinding signs are meant to reduce confusion for visitors navigating the Macalester campus.

“Effective wayfinding design minimizes signage clutter while providing necessary information for visitors at key decision points,” said Warch in an email. “For complex environments such as college campuses, wayfinding design services provide the blueprint for effective signage placement, messaging and signage design in tandem with architectural and exterior campus design.”

Bonner added that Macalester’s current labeling system leaves a bit to be desired. “Many of our campus buildings do not have the signs,” he wrote, “and even the ones that do have signs they are not easily readable except at a close distance. Visitors to campus often have to ask one or more individuals where to find a particular building.”

The company that Warch and Bonner found, Visual Communications, was chosen for its history of past successes. VC installed wayfinding signage at Carleton College and has a history of designing signs for Macalester as well. They created the master signage plans that were installed in the Leonard Center and Institute for Global Citizenship, according to Warch.

Warch said that they made the decision to implement the Macalester wayfinding project through a sign design company in order to assure that the signs are well placed, “have a consistent and quality design, provide the correct messages,” and obey the numerous area laws and regulations.

Although wayfinding signs are a common feature on campuses similar to Macalester’s, they are not designed to assist students. Warch said a successful wayfinding system would aim to provide guidance for first-time visitors and other more frequent visitors such as athletic spectators, alumni and parents.

Warch and Bonner have not yet received Visual Communications’ design proposals, but they expect to see them sometime in the coming month.

Since the school competes at the Division III level, I know that our sports teams are never going to be as big of a deal here as they are at schools like Duke or Ohio State. I’m fine with this; one of the major reasons I chose Macalester was for the fact that the student body is only about 2,000 people. Without drastically increasing the size of our student body, there’s always going to be a limit to our visible support of our sports teams. I also understand that many people at Macalester simply do not enjoy sports. Obviously, this is completely acceptable; just like I don’t want to be pressured into watching things that I have no interest in watching, I have no desire to pressure non-sports fans into becoming sports fans. Finally, I understand that many students are extremely busy. Macalester is quite academically rigorous and it’s a lot to ask someone to invest an hour or two during their day to watch sports when they could be spending that time studying.

However, I do want to point out one phenomenon that I’ve observed during my four years at Macalester. While I’d categorize the majority of the Mac community as apathetic towards our sports teams, I’d say that our student-athletes do a great job supporting one another. At any sporting event, many (often most) of the Macalester students in the stands are current student-athletes. On a related note, if 80 percent of the campus consists of non-student-athletes, far fewer than 80 percent of the Macalester students attending the event are non-student athletes.

I think this can be attributed to two major factors. The obvious one is that people who play sports are more likely to be sports fans, which in turn increases the likelihood of their attending a sporting event. But the less obvious reason (to me) is something that I feel is responsible for our apathy regarding our athletic teams: the student-athlete/non-student-athlete division at Macalester.

This is a touchy issue for many. I remember an op-ed from last semester where a former student stepped on many toes by lamenting the “cliques” at Macalester. I actually have no problem with the existence of these types of social groups, since students who have similar interests are more likely to befriend one another. It’s not a coincidence that most of my friends are at least conversant in the language of sports.

For those of you who claim that no divide exists, look no further than the tables at Café Mac to see it in action. The baseball, soccer and football tables are visible as soon as you step foot on the north side. I’m not attacking these tables at all, far from it. I’m just trying to account for their existence.

While I fully support a student’s right to choose to socialize with like-minded people, I believe this divide helps account for the lack of support that our athletic teams receive by the student body. The concept of a significant portion of the student body receiving less-than-optimal support may seem a bit surprising, since Macalester is probably the most supportive place I’ve ever been. However, I think that a lot of this support is largely contained within friends, since it’s hard to openly cheer for a group of people with which one has limited contact.

While student groups at Macalester almost always put on exceptional shows, many students choose to attend these events based solely on the fact that they have a friend or two that is participating. Indeed, I attended my first ever Fresh Concepts show based solely on the fact that a newfound friend was performing. I ended up loving my time there, and have consequently been to almost every show since. It took having a friend that was a part of Fresh Concepts to get me in a seat.

I believe this dynamic extends to sporting events. What easier way is there to show your support to a friend who happens to be a student-athlete than to watch them playing the sport they love? It comes as no surprise, then, that most students at sporting events are student-athletes, as a significant percentage of their friends are likely on a sports team. Conversely, a non-student-athlete without friends on a sports team lacks this key incentive to watch a Macalester sports team in action. This lack of incentive could account for some of the disappointing attendance figures at sporting events and Macalester’s relative indifference towards athletics.

I suppose an easy question to focus on is why your average non-student-athlete, non-sports fan should care about the Macalester community’s relative indifference towards its athletic teams. Ostensibly, there’s no real difference between the football team going 11-0 and 0-11 to someone who is apathetic to our athletics. I think this objection can be addressed by understanding the impact that athletics have on creating an idea of school spirit and the way in which outsiders view the college.

While I certainly agree that school spirit comes from a variety of areas, a sports team’s success is often parlayed into school pride. It’s no secret that communities often bond around an individual team’s success, both those professional and intercollegiate. If we’re apathetic towards our sports teams, we lose this opportunity to bond around the success of a group of our peers. Macalester athletics mean a lot to a significant portion of the community. Shouldn’t their awards and triumphs be something that we make an effort to support? It’s a pity to treat the accomplishments of some of our most talented classmates with indifference.

There’s also a certain association that the greater community has with a college or university and its athletics program. The athletics webpage is the second hit when one googles Macalester College. Like it or not, even if the campus holds an apathetic attitude towards athletics, a significant portion of the outside world doesn’t hold a similar view. If one accepts that we’re indifferent, by extension, one acknowledges a certain level of apathy towards our reputation.

In short, if you have no interest in sports, it’s completely fine to never watch a Macalester team in action. But the next time you’re on the fence about attending an event, I urge you to consider the larger implications of not attending and the chance that you might end up really enjoying yourself.

1. “You Don’t Need a Weatherman” (Darkstar): Spacey and melodic, this song is punctuated by unconventional rhythmic inflections. Darkstar makes great paper-writing music that provides just enough ambiance and intricacy without being distracting.
2. “I Don’t Like” (Chief Keef): Finals … that’s that shit I don’t like.
3. “Like Totally” (Gold Panda): Nothing makes me feel like churning out a paper the way rhythmic electronica does. Keep on doin’ your thing.
4. “Mute” (Youth Lagoon): Sometimes when I’m in the thick of writing a paper I like to spend a few minutes mentally fast-forwarding to the post-finals period when I can finally nap (or collapse immediately after handing in my last final, whatever you wanna call it) outside in the sun. This song takes you there … minus the near-death feeling of extreme exhaustion.
5. “I Can’t See You I’m Dead” (Shlohmo): The title’s pretty fitting for this time of year, and Shlohmo’s offbeat percussive accents will keep you on your toes if you’re feeling sleepy.
6. “Living Every Dream” (Antwon): Nostalgia break! Antwon is like Biggie, if Biggie had a Tumblr.
7. “Tonight, Tonight” (The Smashing Pumpkins): I can’t really think of any way to relate this to finals but let’s be honest, it has probably been too long since you’ve listened to The Smashing Pumpkins.
8. “Ay Shawty 3.0” (Kitty): Fact: My obsession with Kitty is at the point where it feels wrong to make a playlist without her.
9. “Kid You’ll Move Mountains” (Caribou): With an inspirational title, driving percussion and a whimsical, hypnotic soundscape, this song is everything I want to hear when I’m writing a paper.
10. “Juice” (Chance the Rapper): Chance’s freshly released mixtape “Acid Rap” is about to blow up. His flow is easygoing with distinct, sizzurp-smooth vocals and off-the-wall production—it feels a lot like fellow Midwest rapper Danny Brown’s breakthrough XXX. It’s unpredictable, feel-good music and let’s face it, we’re going to need all the good vibes we can get when pulling three consecutive all-nighters.
11. “Strawberries” (WHY?): None of us are really “okay” during finals, but this is the only song I can think of that makes not-being-okay sound totally okay.
12. “Werkin’ Girls” (Angel Haze): Rapping along with Angel Haze makes me feel like I can do anything. If it gives me enough of a boost to turn up the speed a notch on the treadmill, it can definitely get you moving on that paper.
13. “Jessica” (Major Lazer): This track features Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, but you’d never guess from the pitchy, crooning falsetto and slow talk-singing that both make their way into the song, which is definitely a departure from Vampire Weekend’s releases. This song is calming and smooth enough to keep you in the zone but afterwards you might need a few minutes to process what the hell you just listened to.
14. “VCR (Four Tet Remix)” (The xx): Serene vocals and a steady rhythm. Good for powering through a conclusion at a steady pace once you’ve passed the “fuck-it” threshold.
15. “Don’t Hold The Wall” (Justin Timberlake): Hahah just kidding I still can’t stand this album. Gotcha!

Download these from iTunes, or the artists’ websites, or the Pirate Bay or whatever sketchy website you use. The fun thing about capitalism is that almost no matter what you do, your money is going to end up in the hands of terrible people who wear suits. Happy finals!!!1!!1!1!!!

The lesson quickly strayed off topic, as 7th graders are known masters of deception, leading to an hour-long lesson on foreclosure, human rights and subsequently the use of sit-ins, speeches and rallies to promote a cause. For the first time in a year, many of my students were actually excited by the subject of social studies. They began to discuss changes they wanted to see in their school and community. A petition for better desserts led to a proposal for holding a march against bullying. Ultimately, the students decided to promote a sit-in until the school offered more hands-on educational opportunities. The main teacher in the classroom (who was actually my 7th grade Social studies teacher) and I were both taken aback by the excitement that our students were showing for a subject they professed to hate most days of the week.

I was devastated when I returned home that night and discovered that the administration of Macalester College had refused the pleas of its students, alumni and community partners to transfer its card services to Sunrise Community Bank. How could I return to my students bearing the truth that most administrators, including their principal, were not likely to challenge the status quo? How could I convince them that non-violent protest can still be effective in this era of apathy? How could I continue to encourage them when the principal reschedules a meeting, the School Board can’t find the funding or the Superintendent challenges their integrity?

The next day, most of my students had all but forgotten the previous day’s discussion. One of my quieter students, however, approached me after class and asked, “Are your friends still having the sitting-in?” I excused the grammatical error and told her no, the school would not agree to the student’s demands. She looked confused and then said, “That’s okay; they can try a march now.” As she walked away, I realized that my amazing students know the sting of failure better than most and likewise know that the only solution is to keep moving forward.

I hope that members of KWOC, the Macalester community and their community partners will find inspiration in the words of my student. The photo campaigns, rallies, letters, petitions, speeches and sit-in may not have led to a victory, but you can always march!

Solidarity,

Brett Srader ‘12