The Daily of the University of Washington - Latest News

Crime blotter: stolen check, assault and office theft

Hayat Norimine — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

This crime blotter aims to keep readers up to date on crimes that affect the UW community, such as the assault of a UW Medical Center visitor and a burglary in Magnuson Hall.

Friday, June 17

UWPD officers responded to a report of fraud after a UW employee was contacted by a Bank of America representative to verify a check from her account being cashed, which she said she did not authorize. The check had been cashed June 10 in West Seattle and deposited into another Bank of America account. The money was withdrawn from the account in which it was deposited before the bank was able to freeze the account. The Bank of America Fraud Unit began an internal investigation and asked the woman to file a report with the Federal Trade Commission. She will not be liable for the loss, and her account was closed.

Sunday, June 19

UWPD officers responded to a report of fourth-degree assault at approximately 3:05 p.m. at the UW Medical Center frontage road. A woman was visiting a patient at the hospital when she was approached by the female assaulter, who then insulted her and hit her in the face with a car door. The assaulter fled by car and hasn’t been located by police. The woman who was attacked declined medical attention.

Thursday, June 23

UWPD officers responded to a report of burglary after a woman claimed items were missing from her office. She told the officers her wallet and cellphone were taken from her private office in the Magnuson Health Sciences Building. She said she left her office for approximately two minutes at about 1:30 p.m. and returned to find her cellphone missing from her desktop where she left it. She also found that her wallet was missing from her purse, which was in a file cabinet behind her desk. She said she closed the door to her office but had not locked it. The police have no suspects.

Reach reporter Hayat Norimine at news@dailyuw.com.

Editorial cartoon

Ricky Smidt — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Looking for shelter

Sarah Schweppe — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

When custodians begin working at 5 a.m., they sometimes find they aren’t alone in buildings on campus.

The UWPD receives calls from UW Custodial Services (CS) when employees find people who have spent the night in campus buildings without permission.

Usually these people are looking for shelter, said Steve Rittereiser, commander of the Office of Professional Standards for the UWPD.

“Most of the individuals we’ve come into contact with were seeking some kind of shelter,” Rittereiser said. “It seems to me that it tends to be a little more frequent in the summertime. Part of the reason is there is a little less activity in the buildings.”

Sattia Sear, dayshift assistant director for UW CS, said that the custodians, whose shifts start around 5 a.m., will alert their supervisors if they find someone in the building.

“Usually the problem that our staff runs into is in the morning they run into people they think shouldn’t be there,” Sear said. “Sometimes when people leave the door open or unlocked, transients will get in.”

Contributing factors

The time of year may have an effect on the level of homelessness on campus.

Kathleen Murphy, manager of the U-District’s Rising Out of the Shadows (ROOTS) Young Adult Shelter, said that summer is a surprisingly busy time for ROOTS.

“You’d think that winter would be the most active time,” Murphy said. “[However], some of the biggest turn-away numbers we’ve had have been in the middle of the summer. A lot of this may be attributed to travelers. People will come up to Seattle during the summer.”

UWPD officer Russ Sattarov said he sees two possible reasons for an increase of homelessness on campus in the summer.

“The first is because there’s less people on campus,” Sattarov said. “The second is because it’s nice and warm. … It’s easier to travel in the summer. They know if they can’t get into a shelter, they can sleep on the street and the weather won’t be too bad.”

ROOTS was recently awarded a $500,000 grant that will allow it to expand and serve more homeless young adults.

“We’ve seen an increase in the past couple of years of homeless youth trying to access our services,” Murphy said. “I know that the University of Washington has had an increased awareness of folks — homeless or not — around the campus trying to get into buildings.”

Sattarov said he isn’t sure that there is actually an increase in trespassing in academic buildings during the summer, but it’s more noticeable because there are less people on campus, so it sticks out when someone is in a building who shouldn’t be.

“I don’t think that it happens more in the summer,” Sattarov said. “I think it’s just more obvious.”

Where it happens

Sattarov said that, because buildings are locked at a certain point in the evening that varies from building to building, a trespasser usually comes in beforehand and hides until all the other occupants of the building are gone.

“They will find a room they can use,” Sattarov said. “There’s water and a bathroom.”

The UWPD will occasionally get calls from the custodial staff of the buildings about people trespassing after hours, Rittereiser said.

“We don’t get too many, but we do occasionally get calls,” he said. “Most of the time, the buildings are active enough that we get a call earlier when it appears the individual may be attempting to stay the night.”

Rittereiser said that he thinks the incidents happen infrequently and in various buildings on campus.

“There aren’t any particular buildings that are more susceptible than others,” Rittereiser said. “It does happen in several different buildings.”

Although the UWPD sees trespassing occur in many different buildings, Sear said that custodians notice it in some buildings more than others.

“Some certain buildings seem to have more problems than others,” Sear said. “Yesterday I talked to one of the building coordinators who’s aware that transients have been hiding in rooms after hours.”

Sear cited Parrington, the Communications Building, Bloedel Hall and buildings along the Burke-Gilman Trail as locations that have recently had problems.

“Sometimes people move from building to building,” he said. “Usually if there’s an issue, [employees] call their supervisor or manager. I hear about it a day later.”

Rittereiser said UWPD officers will come to the buildings, approach the individual they have received the call about and ask him or her to leave.

“Traditionally what our response has been is that we’ll make contact with the individual that is attempting to stay overnight,” Rittereiser said. “If we find out that they’re trying to stay overnight, we have the ability to identify them and ask them to leave based on the fact that they’re trespassing. Generally we get compliance, but we keep a record of the incidents.”

Because the campus is public, buildings are open during business hours and only after that would the UWPD issue trespassing charges.

Rittereiser said that if it becomes a “habitual problem,” individuals will be banned from specific buildings. He said that the person responsible for the building can write a letter to request that the individual be banned from the building.

How it happens

Unlocked doors leave an opportunity for people to get into buildings after hours.

“I think it’s common that people who work in buildings will have a friend that wants to drop by who doesn’t have a key,” Rittereiser said. “Sometimes they prop the doors open. It certainly invites more guests than the ones they want to come into the building, and it creates a personal-safety issue for an individual after hours.”

Rittereiser said it’s not always easy to connect thefts or vandalism to trespassers.

“We haven’t been able to connect thefts to particular situations,” Rittereiser said. “It would not surprise me to say that a theft may have been related to something like that, or vandalism to a building may have been related.”

Sattarov said the UWPD has found campsites near the Urban Horticulture Center, which is not located on the main part of campus. Evidence of camping often includes sleeping bags, tents and trash.

“This place looks different from the rest of campus,” he said of the grassy land where the UWPD has found camps. “I suppose if somebody wanted to set up a tent and camp here, they could go unnoticed for a while. … [There are] some people who have been homeless for a long time and they know the rules. If they don’t leave any trash behind or harm anything, they can sleep in the same place every night for a while.”

Sattarov said that while it’s easier for the homeless to set up camps in the more remote parts of campus, the UWPD gets more calls about homeless persons trespassing in buildings because that’s what people notice. He said people often camp in alleyways just off campus near Northeast 40th Street or on the Ave, but people might come onto campus because it’s safer.

“It’s safer,” he said. “It’s quieter. It’s away from everything. The Ave is not safe.”

Preventative measures

Rittereiser said that the UWPD encourages students and staff to take preventative measures to help decrease trespassing after hours.

“[Don’t] allow individuals to follow you into a door that you open with a key and … make sure you report any locking-device deficiencies to the Facilities Services Department,” he said. “If you suspect that an individual is attempting to use a university building in which to sleep after hours, please contact the UW police.”

Reach reporter Sarah Schweppe at news@dailyuw.com.

Monitoring your activity

Lauren Kronebusch — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

For UW junior John Vu, and for all library employees, the policy is the same: You are not allowed to judge internet content. You may observe it, and if it is potentially illegal or in breach of copyright law you may report it, but you can’t judge it.

Vu has been a lead at the Odegaard technology Help Desk for about a year now, and he explains that, as far as monitoring student computer- and internet-usage goes, his jurisdiction is limited.

“For stuff to do with the libraries that’s restricted to use, usually we favor students who are actually doing educational work,” Vu said. “The policy for us is that we cannot kick anyone off the computers because we are not allowed to judge content. So we usually ask them — if they’re playing games or something — to leave for another client.”

The UW-Information Technology (IT) policy deals with monitoring and investigation of employees and students. IT policy governs employee/student interaction with technology by describing the “appropriate use” of university-owned technology or university resources. IT policy is enforced in almost every institution in the United States.

It’s not quite the high-school situation, where teachers and librarians peek over students’ shoulders to enforce educational rather than recreational computer usage. Vu most often consults with students about viruses — generally on the student’s own laptop, not on a UW-owned computer — or students wanting to receive email on their smartphones.

However, there are still restrictions that apply to computer activity in less public environments, like in the residence halls. In the case of students illegally downloading music or videos, UW-IT staff does not do any direct monitoring.

“We usually get contacted by third parties about it,” said Kelli Trosvig, interim vice president and vice provost of UW-IT. “We then contact the student … and we give them warnings and ask them to cease. If it continues, we take appropriate action. We’ve taken a policy that we don’t release [student names] to the record or motion-picture companies routinely.”

Trosvig said that the university is not currently required to screen for illegal downloading and copyright infringement. There has been a national debate in the past about whether the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), passed in 1998, requires Internet-service providers — such as universities — to monitor for copyright infringement.

In the past, some reports of child pornography being viewed in the library, for example, have come from third parties. The next step for Vu would be to report directly to the UW Police Department, but he cannot take any more action than that.

“Some people come in complaining about pornography, but again, we can tell them the policy that we can’t judge content,” Vu said. “But that’s as far as it’s gone. It doesn’t happen very often. If there is something illegal, like something that breaches copyright law or any of the regulations, if we see it, we can report it, but we can’t really do much except report it.”

While monitoring of student activity takes a very different and much more limited form under UW-IT law, restrictions on technology use are much stronger with concern to UW employees. Trosvig said that there is a distinction between a UW employee whose access to UW technology “is predicated on their job” and students whose access is “part of their educational mission.” According to the UW’s Administrative Policy Statement, “The UW does not routinely inspect or monitor the use of computers.”

“What is meant by ‘monitor user activity’ depends on the situation,” Trosvig said. “UW-IT staff routinely need to look into cases of compromised UW NetIDs, and as a result they may ‘monitor user activity.’ During the investigation of a compromised NetID [for example], UW-IT staff may ‘monitor user activity’ by analyzing login patterns to see which IP address the intruder logs in from and which resources the intruder is attempting to access. This is done to protect both the legitimate NetID owner and the university from further unauthorized activity.”

UW employees are prohibited from sharing their UW NetIDs, as well as other “inappropriate use” of technology, which can include using university resources to run a political campaign or running a personal website. Students, on the other hand, are not subject to the same restrictions.

“We don’t adapt for university students because … they can do that,” Trosvig said. “But faculty and staff should not be using university resources for their political activities. So all of those things are inappropriate use of state resources.”

Students who are UW employees are primarily considered students, and are therefore generally not restricted under UW-IT law in the same way other university employees are. For other UW employees, UW-IT states that “all email and other electronic information pertaining to UW business is ‘owned’ by the university, regardless of where it is kept, and is subject to disclosure.”

Other monitoring of an employee’s technology use may occur, but it does not directly involve UW-IT staff. Trosvig said that the UW Human Resources Staff or the Attorney General’s Office may ask that an image of a user’s UW email be created, or that a user’s university-owned computer be reviewed for inappropriate use as defined by state law.

“This is really being driven by the state public records laws,” Trosvig said. “So this isn’t really a university-driven mandate. … Everything that we do in email related to state business, state grants, contracts and information is a state record. We don’t have a Big Brother predilection by any means.”

Reach reporter Lauren Kronebusch at lifestyles@dailyuw.com.

Movie review: 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon'

Amy Scott — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

The logic of Michael Bay’s twisted universe gets even weirder in “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.” The characters become loonier, the motivations of the heroes and villains are nonsensical, the destruction is purposeless, and come on: Shia LaBeouf’s girlfriend is way too hot for him.

Bay’s universe mirrors our own in every possible way, except for one major detail: Although humans share Earth with giant autobots, this reality doesn’t seem to faze anyone. The autobots sound like humans, they act like humans, and they care about humans, possibly more than their own kind.

Initially, Bay’s attempt at rewriting history by insinuating that the 1969 moon landing was really an attempt to investigate a Cybertron spaceship crash-landing on the dark side of the moon is kind of cute, but then you realize that a majority of the details have been mystically arranged to serve the function of making a stupid Pink Floyd joke. Jerry Wang (get it?), played creepily by The Hangover’s Ken Jeong, makes this clear when he says, “We’re code pink. As in Floyd. As in dark side.”

The wacky ensemble is completed with John Malkovich as a corporate goon, a sinister John Turturro, and Frances McDormand as the Secretary of Defense, who insists she’s not a “ma’am” — whatever that means.

Bay’s attempts to make up for “Revenge of the Fallen” pay off in the 3D department, because the visual effects are pretty stunning, and the added depth of field is appropriate for this kind of live action. But the randomness and purposelessness of the film’s characters and events are overwhelming, and even a little depressing at times. If superhero LaBeouf can’t get a job after college, there really isn’t much hope for the rest of us.

This movie is really, really bad. But there are some seriously awesome, slow-motion action sequences, and enough robot face-offs to entertain even the most skeptical young adult. Ultimately, though Bay has a few moments of inspiration, he seems to be channeling Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” — lots of flying paper, crashes out of windows and falls across long distances — or maybe it was just the music playing tricks on me.

My favorite part of the movie, though, was Megan Fox’s replacement, zombie-runway model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (don’t judge). Her acting is nonexistent, and she looks like she’s posing for a photo shoot the entire time.

Coincidentally, this makes her perfect for a Michael Bay film.

If you’re going to see “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” I trust you know what you’re getting yourself into. Either you’ve seen the first two, or you’ve heard of the infamous director’s shenanigans. Brace yourself. If you like an exhaustive amount of explosions and gigantic, awesome robots, this movie is for you.

The verdict: A really, really bad — but visually resplendent — migraine of

a movie.

Reach reporter Amy Scott at arts@dailyuw.com.

Moving history

Amy Scott, Kirsten Johnson — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

For the past 10 years, Kim England has sent her “Geography of Cities” class of 150 students to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), located right past Husky Stadium and across the Montlake Bridge — just blocks away from campus.

The museum, England said, tells a “people’s history,” combining art, technology, industry and commerce with the personal narratives of those in Seattle’s past.

In the class, which studies the historical development of cities, MOHAI has provided an ideal visual history to accompany the concepts she teaches.

But beginning next year, England’s students will have to travel just a bit farther to make the visit: In November 2012, MOHAI will relocate to a new location in South Lake Union. The move is the first ever for the museum in its 59-year history; its current building in Montlake is being demolished for SR520 road expansion.

“It’s a bit of a bummer from the perspective of sending the students across the bridge [to visit], but it’s not like it’s moving to Canada,” England said.

In the spirit of the move, an exhibit titled “MOHAI Moves History” is currently featured at the museum, which tells the six-decade story of the museum’s past and includes information about the new location.

“It recounts the history of the building and the institutions that use it — like the King County Historical Society and Seattle Historical Society — as they move out of that building,” MOHAI art historian Paul Dorpat said.

Dorpat is one of the art historians of another currently featured exhibit titled “Now & Then,” which is one of the last exhibits in the Montlake building.

This exhibit uses “repeat photography” to compare the same point of view of historical images with contemporary photos and visually illustrates changes in Seattle’s past.

Despite the inevitable move, Dorpat said those at MOHAI are optimistic about the potential for more foot traffic at its new location.

“I think [those at the museum] are happy about moving to a new location which is more centrally located,” he said. “I think maybe they think they’ll get more people coming to the museum at the south end of the lake.”

Some popular attractions of the museum include the pink “Toe Truck,” a Rainier Brewery commercial beer-man suit, and the Alki Landing Diorama, depicting settlers from 1851 first arriving at Alki.

But its resources extend well beyond the typical collections of photographs and historical artifacts — MOHAI also features off-site summer walking tours and short video segments called “MOHAI Minutes” that cover local spots like the Admiral Theatre in West Seattle and Schmitz Park near Alki. “MOHAI Minutes” even has its own YouTube channel.

The museum also shows movies in the basement and has regular speakers, like bestselling author Steve Berry, who is scheduled to lead a writer’s workshop August 6.

“Those are things that will sustain them,” England said.

As a student in England’s class last year, Junior Tiffany Oh visited MOHAI for the very first time. Before her visit, Oh said that she was somewhat unfamiliar with the museum.

Yet on that visit she particularly remembers being wowed by the “Boomtown” exhibit, a town of buildings displaying facets of Seattle’s history beginning from the end of the 19th century. She also retained some interesting tidbits about Seattle’s history, like learning the names of the first African American and Chinese American who lived in Seattle.

“There are a lot of things in Seattle’s past that I didn’t know about before,” she said. “It’s an important history museum, stuff you don’t get to see at [places like] the Pacific Science Center and the EMP.”

Experiences like Oh’s are what England hopes for when she assigns her students field assignments for the course, like visiting MOHAI.

“I want them to come away thinking that the city is not something in terms of a built environment, … the city is not something that is neutral,” England said. “Most of the time, there are reasons why some things in the city look the way they do, why some buildings look the way they do. By having them go do this they get a sense of how it looked previously. I’m trying to give them different ways of thinking about a city.”

Senior Taylor Youtsler also visited MOHAI as a part of England’s class and, to his surprise, found the museum enlightening.

“I thought I knew most of the history of Washington and Seattle, but when I went in there it was kind of amazing the fact that I didn’t even know half of what I should have and I was living here the whole time,” he said. “Everyone [who visits] is going to learn a whole lot, that’s a given. Just by going in there, it’s a good experience.”

Reach reporters Kirsten Johnson and Amy Scott at arts@dailyuw.com.

Out and about

Kristen Steenbeeke — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Deborah Schwartzkopf

As an end to her residency at Pottery Northwest, Schwartzkopf will be displaying an array of dessert dishes at the ceramics studio (with dessert inside). If you want to make your mouth water, check out the last two days of the showing.

Wednesday, June 29, and Thursday, June 30

10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Free

Pottery Northwest

226 First Ave. N.

Queen Anne

“Picnic”

Adapted from a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Picnic” follows the story of a drifter named Hal Carter who steals an old friend’s fiancée.

Friday, July 1, through Thursday, July 7

6:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. daily

$6 with student ID

Grand Illusion Cinema

1403 NE 50th St.

University District

Daniel Wilson

If anyone could write a great book about robots, it’s Daniel Wilson, who earned a Ph.D. from the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. He’ll be reading and signing his new book “Robopocalypse,” which is about robot murderers.

Wednesday, June 29

7 p.m.

Free

University Book Store

4326 University Way NE

University District

Seattle International Beerfest

Try out beers from all around the world (that is, if “international” means beer primarily from the United States and various European countries).

Friday, July 1 – Sunday, July 3

12 p.m. – 10 p.m. daily

$20-$35

Mural Amphitheater

305 Harrison St.

Queen Anne

Reach Copy Chief Kristen Steenbeeke at arts@dailyuw.com.

Overton is not a pimp

Maddie Hall — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Venoy Overton might be a lot of things: a once-great college athlete, a disgraced alumnus, and, now, in danger of violating the plea agreement he made earlier this year in regards to the misdemeanor charges of furnishing alcohol to a minor.

But Overton is not — at this writing — a convicted pimp, and that’s something at least a few Huskies need to remember.

The breadth of the English language gives its users the opportunity and the pleasure to say the same thing in so many different ways. Usually, this lets us say exactly what we mean (which of us could have gotten through our composition credits without Synonym.com?).

But in some contexts, such as the law, it’s important that very specific words be used and that their very specific definitions be understood.

One Dailyuw.com reader (“Keep him in jail”) commented on The Daily’s June 3 news story about the most recent charges against Overton, “Seriously, does this idiot not take a hint? First he rapes a minor, and now he’s playing at being a pimp.”

I appreciate the willingness to comment on the issue, because it’s an active readership that keeps a news source relevant. However, “Keep him in jail,” Overton has only allegedly acted as a pimp — or, to be more specific, he’s allegedly guilty of promoting prostitution in the second degree, which is a Class C felony.

Thankfully, erroneous claims within comments are usually self-correcting: Another reader (“Reader”) replied, “Venoy is guilty of many things but rape of a minor isn’t among them (at least that we know of).” “Reader,” that’s exactly how I would have phrased it — and similar to the way I have.

It was in another arena that I first heard statements that troubled me in the same way “Keep him in jail”’s words did. Before Overton’s name was even associated with the then-redacted police report in which a 16-year-old girl accused him of sexual assault, my women studies class was deep into a conversation that included phrases like “the basketball player who raped that girl” and “that athlete-rapist,” shouted across dozens of rows of the lecture room. The accusations outlined in that police report never even amounted to sexual-assault charges, much less a conviction; the phrasing used during that in-class conversation, then, was especially distasteful in hindsight.

When a person is in a prominent leadership position, as UW student-athletes often are, it shows exceedingly poor judgment for that person to provide alcohol to teenagers. Knowing that he would be held in the public’s view to a higher standard of behavior should have caused Overton to avoid such incriminating situations. The poor choices we know he has made can influence the way we talk about him. It is very difficult for someone to rid his or her name of a sex scandal, even if it turns out to be a rumor. Indeed, once a prominent individual is brought to trial, the elevated publicity of such charges can mean a guilty verdict rendered by the public before the legal proceedings are over, and a bad name long after. Although the alleged rape charges against Kobe Bryant several years ago were later dropped, people still refer to “The Kobe Bryant rape case” as if the rape had legally existed.

Promoting prostitution is a serious crime, and one for which its commissioners have to be held responsible. If Overton is guilty of the accusations laid out in the charging documents, that puts him among the lowest of the low and confirms behavior involving dangerous, sex-related offenses. That’s exactly why it’s so dangerous and discourteous to suggest he is already. Until and unless Overton is found guilty of the most recent charges against him, let’s refrain from calling him a pimp; the law rightfully allows him the benefit of the doubt, and the language surrounding his name should too.

Reach opinion writer Maddie Hall at opinion@dailyuw.com.

Pub review: Die Bierstube

Andy Fulton — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

It is immediately apparent upon entering Die Bierstube that Shultzy’s does not possess a monopoly on the U-District’s supply of German beer and food. This bar, located in the far-northwestern reaches of the U-District at 6106 Roosevelt Way NE, possesses something approaching Old World charm — in addition to its fine Bavarian fare — that is disappointingly absent from the other “pubs” in its neighborhood. The pub ambience manifests itself in Die Bierstube’s dark, wood-paneled walls, worn, wooden tables, German-style tap fonts, and a clientele with an average age well above their mid-twenties. This bar, in short, begs you to pull up a chair and order a beer.

Die Bierstube’s strong suit is, unsurprisingly, its beer. Like Shultzy’s, Die Bierstube features a lengthy selection of imported German draught beers from centuries-old breweries like Spaten, Maisel, Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr. The dozen-odd beers are each sold in volumes of .3, .5 and one liter, and cost around $4.25, $5.25 and $9.75, respectively. Each beer is also served in a glass made by its respective brewery, which serves to greatly enhance the authentic German feel of the establishment.

For beer-lovers brave or foolish enough to give it a go, Die Bierstube proudly offers a two-liter chugging challenge featuring a giant drinking glass called “The Boot.” For around $20, a minimum of three people can fill up “The Boot” with beer and, once it is picked up, must drain the massive vessel before it is placed back down. German tradition states that the second-to-last person to drink from “The Boot” must pay for the next round, so challengers are given the incentive to drink as much as possible as the volume of beer in “The Boot” gets low.

The beer menu has a brew for everyone. The light Hacker-Pschorr Weisse is a good beginner’s beer with a light, though not anemic, body and a spiced aftertaste reminiscent of Hoegaarden. The Spaten Oktoberfest is perfect for a light-beer drinker who wants to try a darker variety that won’t offend his or her inexperienced palate. Hacker-Pschorr’s Dunkel Alt, an appetizing dark lager, tastes vaguely like a mocha porter without bitter coffee flavors. The mighty Paulaner Salvator was originally brewed by German monks as a replacement for bread during Lent and weighs in at 7.5-percent alcohol by volume. The Salvator, or “Savior,” has a thick, malty taste comparable to liquid bread, yet features a swirl of other flavors that even moderate-beer drinkers may appreciate.

Those who would rather sip a mixed drink than quaff an ale are able to do so: Die Bierstube features an abbreviated list of German interpretations of popular American mixed drinks, such as the Honig Dropf (Honey Drop). Mixed drinks cost between $6.50 and $7.50, a range that sharply contrasts those offered by lower-priced bars on the Ave.

Die Bierstube’s food menu is surprisingly authentic. Even simple and inexpensive menu items like the landjaeger, a thick, traditional German beef-and-pork jerky served with marbled rye bread, impress with their German taste. Perhaps the best part about Die Bierstube’s German fare is the prices. A light meal of currywurst or a bratwurst sandwich cost patrons around $7.

Die Bierstube’s inviting Old World-pub interior is complemented by one of the U-District’s strongest selections of beers and a solid menu of fairly-priced German grub, strengths that more than negate the distant location.

The verdict: Die Bierstube is a bar for beer lovers, plain and simple, and certainly one that every UW student should visit at least once.

Reach reporter Andy Fulton at arts@dailyuw.com.

Talking heads: How would a 20-percent increase in tuition affect you?

The Daily Staff — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

“A 20-percent increase in tuition would make higher education for a student like me nearly impossible. If financial aid was to be opened up to middle-class white students, it would make education for me a lot easier than packing on the loans and having a second job. Right now I work as much as possible and I take out as much as I can in unsubsidized loans.”

Justin Nygard

Sophomore, undeclared

“The hope is that I’ll gain a scholarship. My plan used to be to do a ROTC scholarship, but now ROTC has stopped doing all of their scholarships. They won’t do that until next year, and by next year, we won’t have the money to put me through school. As it is, I’ve got a transfer degree, but if tuition increases I won’t be able to finish up my education.”

Timothy Vo

Sophomore, Chinese

“It just means a lot more student loans. I’m already going to try to graduate as fast as humanly possible, so I’m probably going to be taking as many credits as I can without having to pay the extra tuition for credits. I’m going to try my hardest to get out by summer of next year instead of doing a senior year, because I cannot afford to keep going to this school.”

Keena Bean

Junior, undeclared

“It would be a big impact. It’s disappointing that our state isn’t prioritizing education more, and that the school has to pass the burden of everything that they have to buy to the students because that’s the only way that they can pay for it.”

Bradford Walzer

Junior, political science

U-District young-adult shelter receives grant to expand facilities

Hayat Norimine — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Outside the only nightly young-adult shelter in the U-District, dozens of people wait — hoping to be taken off the waiting list and given shelter for the night. With the expansion of the shelter, they might not have to hope.

The young-adult shelter Rising Out of the Shadows (ROOTS), located under University Temple United Methodist Church on Northeast 43rd Street, was granted a $500,000 grant this month by the Raynier Institution & Foundation, which will allow the shelter to rebuild and expand its space to accommodate more guests each night.

Brad Trenary, board member of the Raynier Institution & Foundation, said ROOTS makes an important contribution to the Seattle community.

“We are thrilled with what ROOTS does,” Trenary said. “We think ROOTS is one of the greatest gifts to homeless young adults in Seattle.”

About 600 homeless people ages 18 to 25 live in the Seattle area, ROOTS Executive Director Kristine Cunningham said, and this past year ROOTS turned away 2,103 visits due to lack of space.

“We’d be at least a step closer,” Cunningham said about the expansion. “It’s a drop in the bucket, but it’s a good drop in the bucket. It’s moving in the right direction.”

The expansion allows ROOTS to house 45 homeless young adults instead of the previous 27. Currently, if over 27 guests sign up for the shelter, a random selection determines who gets turned away for the night. The construction, which is scheduled to begin in August and last three months, will take place during the day and will not significantly affect ROOTS’ overnight shelter.

While the grant was not enough to buy a new building, Cunningham said the current location near the UW is ideal because most of ROOTS’ volunteers are UW students.

UW senior Amanda Mendoza, a volunteer at ROOTS, said the shelter has been turning down a lot more people over the summer. It’s the regulars, though, who benefit from the ROOTS community the most, she said.

“I’ve made a lot of connections with guests I see every week,” Mendoza said. “When they have something good [happen] in their lives, they can’t wait to share it with us. … We’d know what’s going on. We’d be a substitute for a family member who hasn’t been around.”

Ben Wolzfelt, age 25, is currently homeless and seeks shelter daily at ROOTS. He was placed on the waiting list one night and said the experience was scary because he didn’t know what he was going to do for that night if he didn’t get in.

“I think it’s a wonderful thing,” Wolzfelt said about the expansion. “Especially in this area, it will get a lot more people off the waiting list [and to] just do what they need to [do] to get back on their feet.”

Wolzfelt recently lost his job and said that, like many of the homeless young adults he sees at ROOTS, his situation is a temporary setback.

“You do hear a lot at night … about plans for the future,” Wolzfelt said of the conversations the guests engage in at the shelter. “They’re normally striving towards something.”

Cunningham said many of the homeless youth who seek shelter at ROOTS don’t mind the rules and order that come with the shelter and have ambitions about their futures.

“Just having a predictable place to be safe for one night helps them put the wind in their sails,” Cunningham said. “These are folks that just need a really solid foundation to jump off from.”

With the expansion, the hygiene center will also have four bathrooms instead of three, which Cunningham said is a critical aspect of what the homeless youth need in a shelter.

She added that, while the shelter will not change significantly in appearance, the remodeling will allow the shelter to function more efficiently because of the more open space and improved hygiene center.

“The walls don’t really change that much, but the improvements will be vast as far as how the shelter feels and how it operates,” Cunningham said.

The overnight guests receive accommodations such as toiletries, nursing facilities, underwear and laundry services.

“We are kind of taking it on faith [that we can] grow our income to accommodate the extra people,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham calls ROOTS a community crucial for those who are homeless and don’t have the support they need — a community those who are turned away miss out on.

“They don’t have that circle of support,” Cunningham said. “We’re that circle for these guys. We’re it. That’s a part of how poverty and oppression work. Until the community claims them, that cycle perpetuates.”

Reach reporter Hayat Norimine at news@dailyuw.com.

UW scholarships open opportunities for study-abroad students

Jillian Stampher — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

UW junior Elizabeth Benitez didn’t want to study abroad to discover a new culture. Instead, she was going abroad to rediscover her own. One main obstacle, however, stood in her way: money.

In recent years, the rising costs in airfare, tuition and housing have left many study-abroad students in debt. In order to account for financial issues, students are forced to use a combination of their own savings and student loans, Global Opportunities Adviser Sara Stubbs said. Stubbs believes that money is a deterrent for many students who want to study abroad.

Stubbs has recently joined the UW Center for Experiential Learning and Diversity to teach students about their options.

“I think [money] is a big concern for students coming from all financial backgrounds, but particularly students who are Pell Grant- and Husky Promise-eligible,” Stubbs said. “Being at the university and paying for the expenses that are associated with all the costs that students face, the additional costs of studying abroad are a concern for those students a lot of times.”

In order to avoid debt, students can find financial relief from the UW to help fund their trips. Stubbs said scholarships offered through the UW International Programs and Exchanges (IPE) office, which awarded 41 scholarships this past fall quarter, are popular among students with financial needs.

The UW offers two scholarships specifically for students going abroad. The Global Opportunities (GO!) Scholarship and the Fritz Undergraduate Scholarship both award between $2,000 and $5,000 to each recipient. Eric Baldwin, the operations and scholarship manager for the UW IPE, said the GO! Scholarship received 419 applicants during the 2010-2011 school year and 429 applicants in 2009-2010.

“Costs like tuition, fees, and living expenses have always been a big issue for students with significant financial need, especially Husky Promise- and Pell Grant-eligible students,” Stubbs said. “The GO! Scholarship is designed to help provide access to study abroad to students with significant financial need.”

Last winter, Benitez was awarded $2,000 for her trip to Ecuador. Without the money she received through the GO! Scholarship, Benitez would have been forced to take out loans to fund her trip.

While the Fritz scholarship requires a minimum 3.0 GPA and is directed toward students in the social sciences, the GO! Scholarship is open to all majors who are Pell Grant- and Husky Promise-eligible.

This was important to recent UW graduate Aparna Lakshman, who found few scholarships open to biology majors studying abroad. Without the GO! Scholarship, she would have been unable to travel abroad for a pre-med study abroad program.

“A lot of scholarships are limited to citizens and to certain majors, and I am not a citizen,” said Lakshman, who emigrated from Oman four years ago. “I had to pay for my trip out of my own pocket, and I definitely couldn’t have gone [without the scholarship]. Basically, I was relying on it.”

Stubbs said the GO! Scholarship, which is funded by the Washington state Legislature, has awarded around $210,000 to students with financial need per year for the past two years. The application process includes an 800-word essay in which students explain why they want to go abroad, along with a 300-word essay to explain adverse factors such as financial limitations.

“We want them to be able to articulate how this experience is going to broaden their worldview,” Stubbs said. “We also want them to be able to articulate more about global citizenship, and that can mean something very different to different students.”

Benitez kept these points in mind when writing her essay for the GO! Scholarship. She spoke about her own worldview and explained how going to Ecuador would help her break the language barrier she’s faced with her own parents, who only speak Spanish.

“I have a lot of difficulty communicating with my parents because of the language barrier, [since] they don’t speak English,” she said. “I speak pretty decent Spanish, but not enough to fully get my point across and say what I really want to say. I kind of halfway say what I mean because I don’t have the vocabulary to say it.”

Laksham, however, took a different route with her essay. With the help of IPE advisors and the UW Writing Center, Laksham wrote about her immigration to America and how that affected her desire to enter the medical field.

Scholarships such as the GO! and the Fritz have opened up opportunities for students such as Laksham and Benitez, which makes Laksham grateful, as she believes that “you shouldn’t allow money to be a boundary.”

Reach reporter Jillian Stampher at news@dailyuw.com.

Will's word of the week: ketchup

Will Mari — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Gloriously sunny Seattle summer days mean that we can excuse some of our more unhealthy ways. That includes the eating of hot dogs and hamburgers (veggie or bison or otherwise), and the use of ketchup.

Yes, ketchup. I’m not quite sure if this column has touched on condiments before, but since summer has begun, now’s a great time to do so. And “ketchup” is marvelously mysterious. I must thank my friend Chris Lim for suggesting it. “Is it true that the etymology of ‘ketchup’ is Indonesian?” he asked me the other day.

Yes, actually, kind of: “Ketchup,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), may, indeed, have a Japanese origin. Or perhaps Indian. Or maybe Chinese. And it really didn’t have anything to do with tomatoes until the 19th century, Michael Quinion reminds us. A fellow philologist, Quinion’s delightful site, “World Wide Words,” is a handy resource for such quandaries as the exact extraction of “ketchup” versus “catsup.”

The former, according to the OED, can be, technically, any “sauce made from the juice of mushrooms, walnuts, tomatoes, etc., and used as a condiment with meat, fish, or the like.” So it has, for centuries before the invention of ballparks, been a kind of dipping sauce. The latter, the confusing “catsup,” is, as the OED also puts it, “a liquor extracted from mushrooms, tomatoes, walnuts … [also] used as a sauce.” Basically the same thing — indeed, the very same: But how did that happen?

Well, note that the Chinese “kôechiap,” or “kê-tsiap,” according, again, to the OED, is the ancestor of the modern conception of ketchup, and means the “brine of pickled fish or shell-fish.” It may have been picked up by Dutch merchants in the 17th century as they traded in Malaysia and throughout Indonesia. We thus next find “kēchap,” the Malay version of the word, and then the Dutch transliteration, “ketjap.”

Expatriate Chinese communities help to explain the prevalence of a dipping sauce named “kēchap” in the midst of the region’s transcultural fusion of tastes. The presence of British merchants and their close contact with the Dutch during this era also helped to bring the idea of “ketjap” to us in the West.

In their accounts of “ketchup,” Quinion and the OED also quote the first-known, written reference to the word, from Charles Lockyer’s 1711 “An Account of the Trade in India,” in which the author writes of how, “Soy comes in Tubbs from Jappan, and the best Ketchup from Tonquin; yet good of both sorts are made and sold very cheap in China” (sic). Another dictionary more than a decade before had referred to “catchup” as a “high East-India Sauce,” reflecting the early mixing of the ketchups, so to speak.

Over time, “ketchup” prevailed, although it took a while for the main varieties of ketchup to be centered around the tomato and products made from its paste. But by the time we get to the end of the 18th century, with Henry Heinz and his 57 varieties, ketchup had gone global again. Ubiquitous bottles of the stuff can be found all over the world, perhaps thanks to hungry American GI’s bringing their tastes with them during the world wars.

So, the next time you grab that red bottle and cool down those hot fries with a glob of somewhat-mysterious “catsup,” you’ll know that it has a long and global history. Pass the ketchup, please, indeed.

If you have any word ideas, questions or etymological inquiries for next time, please send them to me at opinion@dailyuw.com, and, until then, take care!

Reach columnist Will Mari at opinion@dailyuw.com.

Crime blotter

Hayat Norimine — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Tuesday, May 31

Officers responded to a report of stalking from a male UW student. He told officers that he had sexual relations with a female UW student he met at a bar, after which he began receiving threatening text messages from the suspect, who claimed to be the female student’s boyfriend. The UWPD did not contact the alleged stalker, because the victim was worried contacting him would exacerbate the problem. He agreed to contact the UWPD again if the problem continues.

Monday, June 6

Officers responded to a report of a disoriented elderly female at approximately 7:13 a.m. on Columbia Road. The woman said she did not know where she was and offered conflicting information on the location of one of her relatives. According to the report, the woman said she was living in a house by herself, but officers called her real estate agent from a card she had in her purse and discovered she sold her house seven years ago. The UWPD transported the woman to the Northwest Hospital emergency room, and the hospital’s staff assumed her car.

Thursday, June 16

At approximately 4:16 p.m., UWPD officers responded to reports of a mentally ill person at the UW Medical Center. The man had left the UW Medical Center and was reported to have been extremely depressed and exhibiting erratic behavior. Officers found the man sitting in the UW Medical Center parking lot. He was unresponsive when officers spoke with him, and they reported that he was mumbling nonsense and staring off into space, sometimes screaming and dancing unpredictably. The man was detained and taken to the UW Medical Center for a mental-health evaluation.

Officers responded to a report of vandalism of Schmitz Hall. The vandalism happened sometime between 8 a.m. on June 15, the last time an officer was in the area, and 8 a.m. on June 16. The graffiti was sprayed on a brown door, a stop button and a no-parking sign with permanent marker or paint pen. The total cost of cleanup was estimated to be about $85.

Reach reporter Hayat Norimine at news@dailyuw.com.

Don’t fault Romar for Overton’s transgressions

Jacob Thorpe — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

The Venoy Overton saga is going to leave a blight on the University of Washington’s basketball program, there’s no way around it. For as genuine a person as head coach Lorenzo Romar is — and as good as his intentions may have been — a program’s good name can’t remain unblemished after having one of its more visible players get investigated for “sexting” his 15-year-old cousin, having a self-described “orgy party” with a pair of 16-year-olds and his most recent transgression: promoting prostitution.

It’s too much, and too scandalous.

There will forever be a mark on Romar’s time at the UW, which previously had a pristine reputation even in the shadowy world of college athletics.

After Venoy’s recent arrest, Romar said, “My staff and I spent an extraordinary amount of time and energy attempting to mentor Venoy prior to his recent graduation, so this news is especially troubling.”

Yes, Romar and his staff failed to rehabilitate Venoy, to use the structured environment of a college basketball team to turn him into a first-class citizen. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have tried.

Some will undoubtedly say Romar should have cut Venoy loose at the first sign of trouble, that keeping him needlessly put the team at risk, and that the recent events coming to light are the natural consequences of having too light a hand.

It’s true that Romar prefers to play the father-figure to his players — rather than a stern disciplinarian — and perhaps that means that, at times, he spares the whip too much or tries to reform tortured souls.

But is that really such a bad thing? Rather than cast Venoy off into the street at the first sign of trouble, the staff sought to change him. Had they succeeded, it would have done far more for Venoy’s life than basketball ever could have.

Playing on a team is a unique, cathartic experience. Not only does it give a player structure when, in many cases, these “bad apples” have never really had a structured environment before, but it also makes that person accountable to their teammates.

For whatever reason, big-time college athletics attracts a fair share of people who are, for lack of a better word, thugs. Every major school you can think of has its share of players who’ve been arrested at some time or another.

For example, Auburn University, who won the national title in football, is also about to win the infamous “Fulmer Cup,” which is given to the school that has the worst criminal record of a certain year.

But for every player who wastes the opportunity provided by their scholarship, another uses it as a new lease on life, gets a degree and changes him or herself for the better.

While the UW couldn’t set Venoy on the right path, coach Romar and his staff’s methods and intentions shouldn’t be questioned. Former UW forward Mike Jensen was arrested for stealing while in his senior year of high school, but was never a problem at the UW.

For a positive example, look no further than former guard Isaiah Thomas, who left school after this season to enter the NBA draft. By all accounts, Thomas wasn’t on a great track in high school. He wasn’t necessarily a bad kid, he just didn’t have his priorities in order. The result was that he had to go to prep school for a year after falling behind in his high-school credits.

Look at him now: a well-spoken former team captain who was great with the media and never had an academic concern.

When coaches decide to take athletes with a troubled past, he or she is taking a chance. There’s always the risk that the athlete will screw up and embarrass the school in the process.

But there’s also the possibility that the student will take advantage of the opportunity and change his or her life — as well as the lives of others — in the process. And for taking that chance, the staff should never feel embarrassed.

Reach opinion writer Jacob Thorpe at opinion@dailyuw.com.

Editorial cartoon

Diane Truong — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Falling behind

Hayat Norimine — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

With rising tuition comes an increased need for financial aid — and a struggle for those who don’t qualify.

The state Legislature passed the Higher Education Opportunity Act on May 9, which gives the UW Board of Regents tuition-setting authority starting in the 2011-2012 academic year. The Board of Regents will decide tuition June 30, and the UW administration is leaning toward a 20-percent resident-undergraduate increase, which would set tuition at $10,571 per year. Non-resident tuition will rise 10 percent, pending approval by the regents, to $27,230 per year.

Junior Arthur Zetes is an out-of-state student from Boston who only qualifies for loans and struggles to pay for his education.

“My family has hit very hard economic times,” Zetes said. “I’ve never been in this situation before.”

Zetes is a Japanese major who wanted to finish his degree requirements abroad. Having applied and been accepted to a prestigious university in Japan, Zetes planned to study abroad in the 2011-12 academic year. His plans changed when he could no longer afford to go, instead having to stay in Seattle and work.

“I’m trying to work as much as I can without going insane,” Zetes said. “I’m living with my friends, paying rent, … trying to get [state] residency so that, when I go to Japan, it’ll be a lot cheaper.”

Instead of going to Japan this year, Zetes is switching from a full-time to a part-time student fall quarter. He is reducing his course load to five credits and is working 30-40 hours a week at the Ponti Seafood Grill and at GAP in University Village. He pays for his own rent and also has a goal of saving at least $300 a month.

“I was almost going to go insane,” Zetes said, referring to finals week, when he began working. “It’s affecting my life more than my education. I [had a] short temper, I was worrying, … I wasn’t fun to hang out with. … My friends say that I look tired all the time, and I’m not as energetic and upbeat as I used to be. If this is how adult life is like, I’d rather be a kid.”

When asked how he would deal with a substantial tuition-increase next year, Zetes bluntly replied, “That’ll suck.”

Other students are worried about tuition increases, as well. This past year’s ASUW President Madeleine McKenna expressed her concerns at the Board of Regents meeting June 9.

“I think 20 percent would be a hard pill to swallow for a lot of students. It’s hard to measure what the impact on students would be.”

Although tuition would increase, the administration’s proposal would also allot $17.2 million for financial aid. Still there are concerns about the amount of people who would be receive aid.

“We’ll look how far we can stretch those grant funds,” said Kay Lewis, UW director of financial aid and scholarships. “We’re confident we can cover low- to middle-income students. Just how far up into that we can go, we don’t know yet.”

Board of Regents Chair Herb Simon said that, while a 20-percent increase seems like the most beneficial to students in terms of quality of education, the regents need to be mindful of how the increase will affect the middle class.

“They’re the ones that are most impacted when the cost of college education goes up,” Simon said.

Senior Dusty Wight’s younger brother is a senior in high school and hopes to go to the UW. Wight worries about how expensive tuition will be by the time his brother graduates from college, and whether his family will be able to afford to put him through college.

“We are in that bracket right in the middle,” Wight said. “We don’t have enough to pay, and not enough to make it for financial aid. They don’t really change the bracket very much, so I don’t think we’re going to get any money.”

Wight is a double major in political science and international studies, but is thinking about completing the pre-med track. If he chooses to complete the track, Wight would need to go into his fifth year, for which his family would struggle paying.

“If tuition wasn’t going up, it would have been an easier decision to make,” Wight said. “I could help support [my brother] for all he needs, which would take a big burden off of the family.”

Zetes said dealing with his financial problems makes it difficult to focus on school instead of work.

“It’s lowering my grades, I’ll tell you that much,” Zetes said.

Despite the challenges of paying for his education and the opportunity to attend a cheaper school closer to home, Zetes insists the UW is where he wants to be.

“This is the best school for me,” Zetes said. “Even if I got into Harvard, I would have [chosen] this school. I love the diversity here, … beautiful campus, huge array of classes — this school just has so much.”

Zetes hopes he can continue at the UW with the education he was expecting — with diverse experiences, quality classes and the time to commit to them. With his efforts in saving money, Zetes will try to keep up with rising tuition while finishing his degree.

“I don’t know how feasible that is,” Zetes said, “but we’ll see.”

Reach reporter Hayat Norimine at news@dailyuw.com.

Movie review: 'Cars 2'

Kristen Steenbeeke — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Here’s something perplexing: If the first “Cars” movie was deemed one of Pixar’s worst — and there are several other Pixar movies (“WALL-E,” “Up”) that people would die to see a sequel for — then why on earth was “Cars” rewarded with a follow-up, and a near-two-hour one at that?

Never mind that, though. Despite my wishes for a movie that follows WALL-E and the gang’s task of making the earth livable again, I suppose “Cars 2” will do for now. At the very least, it’s pumped full of adrenaline and a whole lot of action. But all that excitement isn’t backed up by the deeper connection we feel toward characters like the sickeningly adorable robot, WALL-E, and his love interest, or the lonely old man in “Up.”

In “Cars 2,” the character of Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) — the underdog-gone-celebrity from the first “Cars” — returns. He’s taking some time to relax in Radiator Springs with his girlfriend Sally (Bonnie Hunt) and best friend Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) when he gets roped into doing another race, run by a certain Miles Axlerod (Eddie Izzard). In Pixar’s attempt to keep up with the environmentally conscious times, Axlerod is an electric car using the race to promote his new clean fuel, Allinol.

Oh, and, in addition to the race, Mater gets involved in some international espionage, teaming up with a couple new cars who are trying to reveal a mysterious group’s plot to get Allinol off the market. We are provided with enough interlinked story lines in the film to avoid boredom, wondering whether McQueen will beat his rival Francesco (John Turturro) in the race, while also rooting for Mater as he steps out of his comfort zone to fight the bad guys with quick smarts.

The fact is, though, that no matter how many telling facial expressions and human characteristics someone gives to a car, they’re still just cars. While the action in the movie will certainly please a younger crowd, and there are enough adult-targeted jokes to engage the older crowd (there are references to State Farm Insurance and a few jabs at the sloppiness of Americans), it’s still hard to relate to a bunch of hunks of metal that happen to be able to talk. Sure, we have the inevitable Pixar lesson — don’t be embarrassed by your lower-class friends! — but it’s a bit shallower than those of other Pixar films. The directors seem to want to rely on the excitement and aesthetics of the thing — there’s always some sort of explosion, chase, or situation of impending doom, and Italy, England, and Japan look almost real — so much so that the heart of the film is lost. It’s a spy thriller that will entertain the kids but quickly lose ground with adults.

However, it seems unfair to judge “Cars 2” in relation to other Pixar films. The reality of the matter is that a “bad” Pixar movie is still better than a great amount of other animated films these days, and “Cars 2” still has enough substance to engage viewers without falling completely flat.

The verdict: A bad Pixar movie is still better than most, making "Cars 2" just good enough.

Staff editorial: Non-enrolled UW students should be able to buy summer U-PASS

The Daily Staff — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

University of Washington students who are enrolled for the fall, but not during summer quarter, will be getting creative within the next couple weeks in an attempt to attain an affordable transportation option this summer.

Whether it is buying the U-PASS from an enrolled student who doesn’t want to pay the $99, having a U-PASS’ed friend replace a “lost” U-PASS or Husky Card and paying them the fee, or printing off a photocopied version of the glossy sticker, less-than-honest students in need of transportation might resort to breaking the rules to save a couple hundred dollars in fares this summer.

It’s not right, but it happens.

Students around the area who rely upon the U-PASS during the school year — but are not enrolled this summer in favor of a local job or internship — will be looking to avoid $90-99 monthly bus-pass fees at any moral cost because there is no way for students who are not enrolled to take advantage of a summer U-PASS.

The reason for this is straightforward: The UW administration subsidizes the public transportation of those coming to campus in an effort to lower the amount of traffic congestion in the area. Although the UW allows employees and enrolled students to purchase the U-PASS, Director of Transportation Services Josh Kavanagh said that the administration doesn’t see an institutional responsibility to subsidize the transportation of those not directly using the UW resources on a daily basis.

The argument makes sense, but we don’t think it is satisfactory.

There are a good deal of students in and around Seattle who are using the summer as an opportunity to earn money to pay for their education, to further their education and working opportunities through an internship, or to conduct business central to their growth as individuals.

The vast majority of students who need a U-PASS are those who are fully utilizing their summers for personal or financial advancement, a goal that is central to our university’s mission statement. We can’t imagine a student who would apply to pay $99 or more for the summer just to subsidize a few trips with friends on Metro transit.

Buying into university services as non-enrolled students over the summer isn’t unprecedented, either. The UW allows students who are returning in the fall to purchase medical insurance — albeit for an additional fee. Likewise, although not entirely similarly, students have the ability to buy a summer IMA membership if they are not enrolled.

We understand how the administration might not feel obligated to provide students not enrolled during the summer with the ability to buy a U-PASS, but we’d also like to make sure two things are recognized.

First of all, accessible and cheap transportation is vital to many students, and experiences and wages earned over the course of the summer will almost certainly indirectly affect the UW. Much like continuing health insurance into the summer, for many students the ability to buy a subsidized bus pass is only a fair continuation of a service they have been provided the entire year.

We’d also like to point out that the subsidization of the U-PASS comes from university funds, of which a majority comes from student tuition and fees. We would like the opportunity to subsidize our own bus fees, even if it means charging the staff/faculty summer rate of $135, in order to have a more convenient and cheap transportation option this summer as we intern or work in the Seattle area.

We understand why non-enrolled students aren’t allowed to buy into a summer U-PASS program, UW administration, but we think you can do better.

If students were given this option, many would likely shy away from the previously stated U-PASS shenanigans and thievery.

This is the opinion of The Daily’s Editorial Board: Editor-in-Chief William Dow, Production Director Marlee Gross, Opinion Editor Erin Flemming, News Editor Josh Liebeskind, Lifestyles Editor Lauren Becherer, Arts & Entertainment Editor Robert Frankel, Copy Chief Kristen Steenbeeke, Development Editor Alison Atwell, and Photo Editor Lucas Anderson.

Out and about

Amy Scott — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Happy Go Techy

This event is a fair for all things tech: accessories, apparel, crafts and apps, plus a “Tech a Photo” photobooth to commemorate the occasion. Donations go to NPower Northwest.

Saturday, June 25

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

FREE

Mary Gates Hall

The University of Washington

Neil Gaiman

Fiction writer, screenwriter, and graphic novelist Neil Gaiman, together with local fantasy writer Maria Dahvana Headley, will discuss Gaiman’s award-winning “American Gods” and Headley’s well-received debut novel “Queen of Kings.”

Sunday, June 26

7 p.m.

Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave.

Downtown Seattle

Expensive Genes

Brent Weinbach, an “eccentric genius and comedic innovator,“ is featured at a monthly show put on by Children of the Atom.

Monday, June 27

8 p.m., 21+

$10

El Corazon, 109 Eastlake Ave.

Downtown Seattle

Nancy Kress

Kress, the award-winning author of sci-fi novels “Nano Comes to Clifford Falls” and “Steal Across the Sky,” will be doing a reading and book signing Tuesday.

Tuesday, June 28

7 p.m.

Free

University Book Store,

4326 University Way NE

University District

Reach reporter Amy Scott at arts@dailyuw.com.

Proposed city ordinance to mandate paid sick leave

Kevin Dowd — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Seattle City Councilman Nick Licata, accompanied by the Seattle Coalition for a Healthy Workforce and a host of local small-business owners, proposed an ordinance yesterday that would mandate paid sick leave for all employees within the city of Seattle.

The ordinance already has the support of Mayor Mike McGinn and multiple City Council members. Licata said he thinks the bill will come to a vote before the City Council in the month of August and expressed confidence that the ordinance will pass.

Licata, who has been a driving force behind the development of the ordinance, thinks the rationale behind it is fairly simple.

“I think that we need to recognize that we shouldn’t have sick people doing work, particularly where they are handling food or servicing other people,” he said.

Under the proposed ordinance, the amount of hours of paid leave accrued by workers depend on the size of the business. The employees of smaller businesses receive hours less often and can accumulate less, while the employees of larger businesses earn hours faster and can gain more. For an employer the size of the UW, the proposed legislation would mandate eight hours of paid leave for every six weeks worked, assuming the employee has a 40-hour work week.

ASUW Director of Government Relations Andrew Lewis hopes that the ordinance, if passed, will be beneficial to the UW student body.

“I would hope that the scope of the law would affect students on our campus; it would affect students who work for HFS [Housing & Food Services],” he said. “This is definitely something that we are monitoring, and we want to be part of the process as it develops. And we are definitely interested in the possibility of a city mandate that would give student employees access to paid sick days.”

The ordinance would have immediate consequences for students employed part-time, including those employed by HFS. Under current policy, these students receive no paid sick leave as less-than-half-time employees. In the event of sickness or injury, they are expected to find someone with which to exchange shifts.

If this ordinance is passed with a simple majority vote by the City Council and the approval of McGinn, even part-time student employees would be entitled to sick-day benefits, said Marilyn Watkins, policy director of the Economic Opportunity Institute and one of the main developers of the bill.

“They would also be eligible for benefits, [which] would accrue at the same rate,” Watkins said of part-time workers, such as those employed by HFS. “Somebody working half-time — they are only going to accrue about 20 hours in the course of the year.”

Workers would still have the option of exchanging shifts, but they wouldn’t be forced to do so, essentially providing HFS employees more options in the event of sickness.

The ordinance would also affect students working around the U-District. Charlie Wenger, a 2010 UW graduate who has worked at Shultzy’s Sausage for the past four years, expressed intrigue at the possible new law.

“I think it would be fairly beneficial if you earn it like that,” Wenger said. “I have worked in that system before, and it worked out pretty well. It is definitely nice to have paid sick leave on the back burner and not have to take a day off.”

Wenger’s co-worker, fellow 2010 UW graduate Bianca Liebhaber, said the law would be especially beneficial at Shultzy’s and other businesses in food service.

“I think it would kind of encourage people to not come in when they are sick if they have a couple sick days to kind of figure things out, [or] if they knew they were going to get paid that day,” Liebhaber said.

For UW faculty and staff, on the other hand, this ordinance is largely inconsequential. The university already gives full-time employees eight hours of paid leave for each month worked, which is similar to the policies of other major employers in the state. Both Boeing and Washington State University also have a base of eight hours per month of accrued leave.

Similar ordinances have already been passed into law in major metropolitan centers around the United States, including Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Milwaukee. In Philadelphia, such a bill was approved by the City Council on June 16 and awaits approval from the mayor.

These laws have largely been met with a positive reception. A recent study conducted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in San Francisco found that two-thirds of employees within the city supported the changes the law had made. The San Francisco law, which has been in effect for four years, has also been effective, with only one in seven employers saying that the changes had negatively impacted the profitability of their businesses.

This has been one of the main arguments against the Seattle ordinance — that it would strangle the profits of businesses, particularly small businesses already operating on slim profit margins. Opponents of the bill also argue that it could lead to small businesses being forced to eliminate other benefits, such as health insurance or retirement.

Both Licata and Watkins, though, feel these fears are unfounded. Licata points to the success of the San Francisco law as proof that decreased profits would not inherently follow passage of this ordinance.

“There are always fears, but you have to base it on what actually happened,” he said. “There is no evidence that shows [decreased profits] are a problem.”

Even if it were to pass, however, the ordinance would not go into full-effect for at least 18 months. There would be a 12-month period between the ordinance’s passage and its implementation, followed by a six-month buffer period before employees could start using their sick days.

Reach reporter Kevin Dowd at news@dailyuw.com.

Reclaiming stereotypes

Kirsten Johnson — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Alison Mehravari remembers a day back in the ninth grade when she chose to wear a skirt to class. On that day, a male classmate whom she had never met passed her in the hallway and remarked as he walked by: “Damn girl, you got nice legs.”

The comment was a first for Mehravari, who is a current UW Neurobiology graduate student, and she was unsure of how to interpret it.

“When you’re in [high] school, you’re really awkward and you’re [thinking], ‘Oh, someone is complimenting me,’” she said.

But over time, she has come to understand his comment differently.

“It clearly came across that this person was looking at me as a body and an object and a set of legs, not as a person,” she said. “I am a person who happens to have legs, but to the kid who catcalled me, all that mattered were my legs. [Comments like his] are encouraging the idea that women’s bodies are for the use and pleasure of other people.”

Mehravari is a member of the campus organization Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Activism (SARVA). This past Sunday, she attended SlutWalk, a protest march, along with members of SARVA and other campus groups. The Seattle SlutWalk aimed to criticize the notion that women invite sexual assault through their appearance or behavior.

As a first-time event in Seattle, swarms of self-dubbed “sluts” marched through Westlake Center, some donning corsets and fishnet stockings, some in pasties and underwear, and others wearing a simple T-shirt and sweatpants.

But Mehravari explained that, because rape is unrelated to choice of clothing, any of these outfits were appropriate attire for the protest.

“People wearing sweatpants, people wearing long jackets, people wearing everything are raped,” she said.

While most protestors appeared to be young women, an array of ages and gender identities were present. Many held signs with sayings like “cleavage is not consent” and “my dress is not a yes” while chanting slogans including “Hey, ho! Date rape has got to go!” as they marched.

The idea for the protest began this past January after a Toronto police officer made a comment that women should “avoid dressing like sluts” if they wish to spare becoming victims of rape.

His words ignited a wave of fury, and SlutWalks around the globe began emerging, beginning in Toronto this past April and soon making a way into cities including Chicago, Boston, Sydney and London.

UW freshman Robin Sacks helped organize Sunday’s march in Seattle. She said that “victim blaming,” as the police officer demonstrated in his advice to women, is often seen explicitly when a rape victim is told that she was “asking for it,” or implicitly, such as when a victim is advised that she should have learned self-defense to protect herself.

“It’s shifting the onus from the perpetrator to the victim and making someone feel ashamed for their actual or imagined sexual activities,” she said. “No matter what a woman is wearing or how she is approached, it’s not an excuse for assault. It is in no way their fault.”

At one point on Sunday, Alyssa Royse, a speaker at the event, asked the crowd of protestors, “How many of you out there have been raped?”

A scattering of hands rose from the crowd.

“How many of you actually wanted it?” she asked.

This time, no hands went up.

“I know a lot of people want to think that it won’t happen to them, that it only happens to people who deserve it,” Mehravari said. “So if you were wearing a short skirt, then you must deserve it. But nobody deserves to be raped, nobody wants to be raped and nobody asks to be raped.”

Mehravari noted a statistic from a Federal Commission on Crime of Violence study finding that only 4.4 percent of all reported rapes involved provocative behavior on the part of the victim.

“The clothes you wear don’t cause you to be raped,” she said. “Old people are raped, children are raped, men are raped.”

Sacks hopes the movement of SlutWalks will ultimately lead to an even wider goal: To make support for rape victims more accessible and easier to find.

“Our justice system engages in victim-blaming so much,” she said. “One of my goals is to change that a bit. I don’t want a friend of mine who has been raped to be told by her family that if she had defended herself it wouldn’t have happened. I want her to realize that it’s not her fault.”

Through their provocative outfits, protestors also aimed to “reclaim” the word “slut” as well as the stigma surrounding it.

“Women who like sex, enjoy sex, or like wearing a short skirt are called sluts,” Meharavari said. “There are tons of positive words for men who have a lot of sex, but I would be really impressed if you can think of one positive word for women who have sex. Women who have sexuality need not be degraded.”

Jonson Wang, a UW junior and SARVA member, recalls times he’s walked beside female friends wearing attractive outfits in public and witnessed them be catcalled or whistled at on the street.

“[Her outfit] could be saying that she’s expressing herself, she’s proud of her female body, stuff like that,” he said. “So when guys say, ‘Oh, well if she doesn’t want to be raped, she shouldn’t wear stuff like that,’ to me, that’s very selfish.”

Events like SlutWalk, he said, serve as a way to address these misconceptions upfront.

“I think it’s important to break the stereotype,” he said. “The world is changing, and there are many types of people dressed in various ways. Every one of them deserves respect and protection.”

Reach reporter Kirsten Johnson at lifestyles@dailyuw.com.

A summer of creativity

Kirsten Johnson — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

As a biochemistry major, senior Joe Pugh is all too familiar with taking demanding, competitive classes. So each summer quarter, alongside his tough prerequisite courses, he sets aside room in his schedule for an art class — a subject that he says helps him clear his head.

“I have always liked art,” he said. “I feel like it requires you to see differently and it keeps your mind fresh.”

Last summer, Pugh decided to enroll in “Alternative Approaches to Art and Design” (Art 131), an introduction to visual art, to fulfill his VLPA graduation requirement. He enjoyed the flexibility and uniqueness of the class so much that he’s choosing to take another art course this year, just for fun.

“Everyone in the art classes [is] maybe more free-spirited,” he said, “rather than in biochem, [where] everyone is like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got to study this whole weekend.’ And then, they actually will.”

Many art courses cap enrollment at around 20 students, meaning in-class discussions and professor interaction happen on a daily basis, something that Pugh said has been rare in his other lecture classes.

For Pugh and other students, the studio environment of many art classes can also be an ideal place to meet and befriend students of different majors. Carrie Bodle, a visiting lecturer from the UW Bothell campus who has taught summer quarter art classes at the Seattle campus for the past five years, said that she views the studio as a unique learning space.

“[In the studio class], students get hands-on experience that they might not experience in other scholastic areas,” she said. “Especially in the summertime, it helps to balance some of the more cerebral courses. I think that the studio time is really different from other courses.”

For senior Aki Kida, a prospective art major taking “Basic Photography” (Art 140) and “Art through the Media, Time and Technology” (Art 280) this quarter, taking classes during these warmest months is an experience that differs from the regular school year. In the summertime, she said, because more non-art majors tend to enroll in art courses, the classroom often takes on a different dynamic.

“They bring in their different perspective,” she said of non-art majors. “I feel like their personalities and lives are kind of reflected in their projects. It’s fun to see.”

Last summer, for a materials project in Bodle’s Art 131 class, students constructed stilts and later tested them out on the quad. For Bodle, seeing how students like engineering majors chose to construct their stilts was especially fun.

“I especially feed off those connections between art majors and outside majors and I don’t find that they lack creativity at all,” she said. “In fact, I find quite the opposite. I think their backgrounds can add an interesting angle on their work.”

Neal Fryett, who just completed his Masters of Fine Arts (MFA), is an Art 140 instructor this summer. The course is unique in that it is open only to non-majors, meaning every student he sees is from a major other than art.

“They’re refreshing, actually,” he said. “In my MFA program, I’m around people that are talking about conceptual interests all day long, and having a class where I’m teaching a bunch of students coming from business or biology or architecture, it kind of makes me, as an instructor, think a little differently about my own art.”

Pugh acknowledged that some students — art majors or not — may be reluctant to take courses at all in the summertime to avoid getting caught inside on a sunny 80-degree day. But he claimed this aspect of summer quarter isn’t half as bad as many might think.

“That’s why I hate spring quarter, when if it’s nice out and you’re inside when it’s sunny — it’s just the worst,” Pugh said. “But in the summer, it’s generally nice every day, so it doesn’t really matter if you’re inside all day today, because you’ll be outside tomorrow.”

Bodle said that her students actually seem to have more motivation to wake up for her 8:30 a.m. class in the summer, when the weather is warm and the skies are lighter earlier in the morning.

“Unbelievably, when the sun is out I find students are actually pretty excited to come to my class,” she said. “I have a lot of repeat students in the summertime. The course content just really gives them this outlet and a place for creativity that they may not experience in other courses.”

Reach reporter Kirsten Johnson at arts@dailyuw.com.

Thomas is the final selection of 2011 NBA draft

Josh Liebeskind — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

It was the point in the NBA draft when teams started selecting foreign players, with the intent to potentially bring them to the United States a few years down the road.

As the second and final round of the 2011 draft wound down Thursday evening, and a large portion of the crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., had left, it appeared the door was shut for any University of Washington player to be selected.

But then, NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver announced the 60th — and last — pick: Isaiah Thomas to the Sacramento Kings.

The former UW guard entered the NBA draft after his junior year with little doubt he would be selected. Most mock drafts had the 5-foot-9, Tacoma, Wash., native going in the second round; some even had him sneaking into the late first round. But on Thursday, Thomas had to sit through five hours without hearing his name.

After the selection, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas called Thomas “explosive” and “dynamic,” saying that he is “one of those guys that’s a fighter.”

Despite the pundits that claimed he should have stayed at the UW for his senior season, Thomas seemed sure of his decision. He recently told Gregg Bell of Gohuskies.com that the reason he decided to declare for the NBA draft was, “With [point guard Abdul] Gaddy coming back and [point guard Tony] Wroten coming in, I wouldn't have been able to showcase my skills as [primarily] a point guard, which is the position I will be playing at the next level.”

In three years at the UW, Thomas averaged 16.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and nearly four assists per game. He evolved into a true point guard after sophomore Abdul Gaddy tore his left ACL in early January. He led the Pac-10 with 6.1 assists per game last season while continuing to score, finishing fourth in the conference with 16.8 points per game.

Thomas will join a struggling franchise in the Kings. Not only are there issues on the court, but the team almost moved to Anaheim, Calif., after last season before opting to stay in Sacramento for at least one season.

Thomas will join fellow draftees, guard Jimmer Fredette and UCLA product Tyler Honeycutt, in Sacramento, as well as guard John Salmons, who was involved in a three-team draft-day trade that brought Fredette over from the Charlotte Bobcats.

Former Washington forwards Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Justin Holiday were not selected and now are free to enter the free-agent market.

Reach News Editor Josh Liebeskind at news@dailyuw.com.

Administration leans toward 20-percent tuition increase for 2011-12 academic year

Sarah Schweppe — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

The UW Board of Regents will make its decision about changes in resident undergraduate tuition later this month after looking at multiple options, including 16, 20 and 22 percent increases in tuition.

The passage of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (E2SHB 1795) in the state Legislature on May 9 gives the Board of Regents comprehensive tuition-setting authority for a four-year period starting in the 2011-12 academic school year, and then tuition-setting authority with caps, or limits on increases, until 2017-18. The bill also requires that the UW enroll at least the same number of resident freshman undergraduate students each academic year as enrolled in 2009-10.

At the Board of Regents meeting June 9, Paul Jenny, UW’s vice provost of planning and budgeting, presented the regents with information about various increases, assuming the regents choose to increase tuition by more than 16 percent.

An increase of 20 percent would raise tuition to $10,571 annually. If the board approves an increase of 20 percent, the UW might be the only university in the state to set a tuition increase rate above the 16-percent level assumed by the Legislature earlier this year. The Washington State University Board of Regents, with the same comprehensive tuition-setting authority, has already approved a tuition increase of 16 percent, raising tuition and fees at WSU-Pullman to $10,798 for 2011-12.

At the meeting, Interim President Phyllis Wise said the increases in tuition should be viewed as revenue.

“Now we find ourselves with a huge privilege for the very first time, and a huge responsibility,” she said at the meeting. “I think what this really should mean is that this is a revenue stream. We understand the importance … of continuing excellence.”

Andrew Lewis, director of the ASUW Office of Government Relations (OGR), said that the proposed 20-percent increase is “far in excess of what the state Legislature anticipated.”

“It’s too much, too quick,” Lewis said. “We’re completely understanding of the nature of tuition going up, but we believe there needs to be a process that is public and is transparent. This tuition increase was created in a climate that was not very transparent or very open, and without sufficient input from a significant group of stakeholders: the 40,000 or so students on this campus.”

Lewis said that the newly created Provost Advisory Committee for Students (PACS) was not able to give enough input on the tuition decisions this year due to the quick timeline in which these decisions are being made.

The discussion at the meeting focused on the 20-percent increase, which Jenny said would provide an additional $3.7 million to preserve academic quality. The money would go to adding at least 75 new course offerings in high-demand areas, serving 2,000 to 2,500 students, and to providing access to writing and learning centers that are currently closed or have reduced hours, potentially accommodating 15,000 to 20,000 student visits.

The regents discussed raising financial aid as well. If the UW increases tuition by 20 percent, $17.2 million will be set aside for financial aid.

Jenny also said that the Office of Planning and Budgeting estimates that an additional 800 to 1,000 students could be awarded grants of up to $4,000.

The presentation also touched on the effects a tuition increase might have on student debt. Although UW students borrow 15 percent less than the national average of $23,000 over the span of their college careers, the average loan debt for UW students has increased from $17,800 in 2008-09 to $19,500 in 2009-10.

Lewis said that the university must balance affordability and quality when making tuition decisions.

“That’s always a trade-off that, as a public university, we’re forced to make,” Lewis said. “It’s a careful balancing act. Obviously, we want to remain competitive with our peer universities. To attract the kind of faculty that we want and supervise the kind of academic opportunities that we want for our students, we need to at least be keeping pace with our peer institutions. I think that the regents and the provost are very conscious of that.”

The average resident undergraduate tuition and fees of the UW’s global challenge peers — the schools against which the UW measures its progress, including the University of California schools, the University of Virginia and the University of Colorado — will be rising from $10,887 to $11,700 for the 2011-12 academic year, remaining higher than the UW’s, even with the highest-proposed plan of a 22-percent increase.

Herb Simon, chair of the Board of Regents, said at the meeting that the regents needed to be mindful of the middle-class students who are most affected by increases, but that the quality of education would be maintained by a 20-percent increase.

“I really think we’ve come to some pretty good analysis here of what a 20-percent increase does to the middle class in maintaining the quality,” he said. “It’s not a fun discussion because it is hard for everyone when you see their debt going up at the end of their education.”

The Board of Regents is expected to make its decision June 30.

Reporter Hayat Norimine also contributed reporting. Reach reporter Sarah Schweppe at news@dailyuw.com.

Album Review: Blue Scholars

Andrew Gospe — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

A lot has changed since 2007, not the least of which is Seattle hip-hop. That year, local hip-hop duo Blue Scholars released its sophomore album “Bayani” to widespread local success, earning a national following in the process. In successive years, a slew of local hip-hop acts — Macklemore, Fresh Espresso and Sol, to name a few — have made a name for themselves by building off of the smoothly produced, locally conscious sound that the Scholars established on their first two releases.

As a result, it’s been easy to forget about Blue Scholars (emcee George “Geo” Quibuyen and DJ Saba “Sabzi” Mohajerjasbi) despite the debt the local scene owes the duo: Until now, the Scholars hadn’t released a full-length album in four years, and other local acts have stepped up to fill the void left in the group’s absence, both in terms of popularity (Macklemore) and hype (Shabazz Palaces).

But if Blue Scholars have been forgotten, “Cinémetropolis” will certainly jog Seattle’s collective memory.

The album, self-released this past Tuesday, customarily features Sabzi’s slick beats and Geo’s deft wordplay, and, in addition to its heady concept (the way in which cinema and the moving image have infiltrated everyday life), it deals with some of the Scholars’ favorite subjects.

There’s social justice: The excellent “Oskar Barnack ∞ Oscar Grant,” whose refrain of “shoot the cops” (albeit with a cellphone camera) is the closest the Scholars will ever come to N.W.A’s “F--- tha Police.” There’s activism: Mid-album highlight “Yuri Kochiyama” pays tribute to the titular Japanese-American human-rights activist. And, of course, there’s the Emerald City: Look no further than “Slick Watts,” which doubles as a memorial to the Sonics and an opportunity for Geo to name-drop as many Seattle neighborhoods as possible.

On “Cinémetropolis,” Geo is as sharp as ever, dealing with capital-I Issues while demonstrating that he’s still one of Seattle’s best emcees. However, what’s truly notable is Sabzi’s growth as a producer. In an interview with The Daily this past October, Geo lauded Sabzi’s musical abilities. “He gets the full spectrum of music,” Geo said. “He dissects it on a composer sort of level.”

Indeed, Sabzi’s production know-how is what makes “Cinémetropolis” stand out from previous Blue Scholars material, as he employs an expanded sonic palette that changes drastically from song to song. The album opener and title track begins with a barrage of synthesizer that quickly gives way to what might be the album’s most traditional hip-hop beat, but “Hussein” quickly follows, driven by an arpeggiated keyboard line and muffled congas, and lacking snare altogether.

Despite these rapid stylistic shifts, the album never feels disjointed, even if it is a bit bloated; it would have benefited from scrapping a few of its 15 tracks to cut down its 58-minute runtime.

Even so, “Cinémetropolis” is a fitting reminder that these veterans of Seattle hip-hop still run the town.

The verdict: A triumphant, if overlong, return for one of Seattle’s seminal hip-hop groups.

Reach reporter Andrew Gospe at arts@dailyuw.com.

Editorial cartoon

Mark Arreola — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Ex-UW basketball player charged with promoting prostitution

Hayat Norimine, Josh Liebeskind — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Former University of Washington guard Venoy Overton was charged this past Friday with a second-degree felony for promoting prostitution. Overton is being held in King County Jail with a set bail of $150,000 while waiting for his June 30 arraignment. The court requested Overton’s passport to be restricted to travel within the state of Washington, preventing him from accepting offers to play overseas.

According to the police report, the 18-year-old woman told police officers she was brought to a location on Pacific Highway South and was told to perform certain sexual acts in exchange for varying dollar amounts. She then would give a portion of the money earned to Overton. The woman said she had been brought to the same location twice before.

The unnamed woman involved first met Overton in September 2010 and said she paid him $100 a week whenever she wanted to see him, which totaled to approximately $3,000. Overton admitted to profiting from the woman.

“I’m not gonna turn down money from a girl,” Overton said in the police report.

Police officer Lovisa Dvorak and Sgt. Andy Grove from the Kent Police Department caught the woman when they were on surveillance May 20 at approximately 10 p.m. on Pacific Highway South. She reportedly admitted to prostitution activities and said that her boyfriend, identified as Overton, pressured her into it.

“She told us she was new to prostitution,” Dvorak said in the police report. “She said it was her boyfriend’s idea and stated he had ‘pushed’ her to do it despite her telling him she didn’t want to.”

The woman told the police she called Overton on May 18 in tears, telling him she was broke. Two days later, Overton dropped her off at Pacific Highway South — a place police say has a high prostitution rate — and told her to “walk slow and sexy,” she said.

The woman was allegedly paid $200 for sex acts, which she split with Overton.

“This investigation and arrest highlights the need to continue to aggressively investigate and enforce the laws regarding human trafficking offenses,” Kent Police Lt. Pat Lowery said.

Overton has now been under investigation three times while at the UW. Seattle Police Department records say the first investigation occurred in 2009 regarding explicit text messages he sent to his 15-year-old cousin saying he wanted to have sex with her, although he was not charged for communicating with a minor for immoral purposes after it was determined there was not enough evidence to press charges.

Overton was charged with providing alcohol to a minor in March, which stemmed from an investigation of the alleged sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl. He was suspended for the Pac-10 tournament, but UW head basketball coach Lorenzo Romar allowed the then-senior guard to play in the NCAA tournament.

“I have been informed of the arrest of Venoy Overton and I am extremely disappointed,” Romar said in a statement Thursday regarding the recent arrest. “My staff and I spent an extraordinary amount of time and energy attempting to mentor Venoy prior to his recent graduation, so this news is especially troubling.”

Reach News Editor Josh Liebeskind and reporter Hayat Norimine at news@dailyuw.com.

Letter from the editor

William Dow — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

As the summer editor-in-chief at The Daily, and the current ASUW Director of Policy and Procedures, you might think my being editor-in-chief will pose a conflict of interest. You’re not alone.

While at a fundraiser a week ago, I ran into Sen. Ed Murray (D-Seattle) during the reception and we chit-chatted a little bit. When I told him I was both the ASUW’s Director of Policy and Procedures and this summer’s editor-in-chief at The Daily, he was surprised.

“They let you be editor and be a part of student government?”

Yeah, they do. But in actuality, the two positions aren’t that different.

One of the roles of a news agency is to keep tabs on government. Although there won’t be a fully functioning ASUW this summer, the Board of Directors will be working on issues either directly or indirectly that you’ll see on the front page of The Daily every week.

There is bound to be overlap, and I’ll inevitably be editing stories that cover issues or events in which I have been involved. Unlike when I decided to run for ASUW during winter quarter, I won’t be able to remove myself from the editing process for ASUW-related stories.

We’ve got stories, profiles and other coverage coming down the pike that are bound to test my impartiality and, although I’ll likely have strong feelings about the topic, I’m going to take a step back and give ultimate content authority to the section editors, whom I believe in tremendously. In any case, there will be at least two editors — in addition to myself and the section editor — who will look at each article.

My goal isn’t to advance the ASUW’s efforts this year during my time at The Daily, it is to consistently provide our readers the best possible product. That’s a promise, and that’s something from which I will not sway during my time as editor.

In the end, although I can make all the promises I want, my performance comes down to your trust. I’ve earned the trust of the newsroom that voted almost unanimously in favor of my editorship, even while I was an ASUW candidate, of the Publications Board that hired me, of myself, believing I can distance my biases from my editing, and, hopefully soon, from you, who I will keep working for until our last issue in late August.

While there are potential issues with being an editor and a board member, one of my primary goals in both of the positions is exactly the same: community building.

We’re a community paper. Or, at least, we should be.

The Daily, over the last couple years, has raked in countless national awards, including the Associated Collegiate Press’ 2010 Pacemaker Award, the collegiate equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize. We’ve earned the respect of and are consistently read by major regional news outlets such as The Seattle Times, and many in the UW community — though not enough — consistently read the paper and are impressed by its depth of coverage and presentation.

We’re a good paper, but we aren’t a great paper, and the missing component is our connectedness with the community.

It can’t be this way.

In my time as editor, I want to make sure we are out in the community and that I lay the foundations for us being out there in the community even more during the next school year. I want to transform the role of being editor-in-chief from one of reading over copy and planning art for the next day’s paper to one of being known by and in communication with different communities at the UW.

I want The Daily to be both cognizant and respectful of other campus communities, and I want to work with this coming school year’s editor Alison Atwell and the rest of the newsroom to make sure we have the institutions and the institutional knowledge to treat each issue and community on campus with the utmost sensitivity and respect.

I’m going to do everything I can to make that a reality, but I can’t do it all myself, and that’s where I need you.

Anytime you have concerns, contact me. Whether it is coming directly to Communications 132, writing a letter or shooting me an email. Anything is better than nothing, and I am willing to discuss just about anything.

We can put out a good paper with the status quo, but we need to actually be visible, approachable and in touch with the community to truly become great.

Until then, I’m going to work hard to be both as impartial and accessible as possible, and I encourage readers to respectfully raise concerns, suggestions or compliments as early and as often as possible.

You’re the reason we write, design, edit and do just about everything else. Embrace it.

Missing Mercer

Hayat Norimine — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Strolling along the Burke-Gilman Trail, one sees the Stevens Court apartment complexes lined up in neat, orderly townhouses, like a miniature neighborhood. But past Stevens Court, there sits a smaller building — now empty — which has housed about 400 UW students per year. This year was its last.

Mercer Hall, one of the UW residential halls since 1971, will be demolished in July. Rob Lubin, associate director of Facilities and Capital Planning, said its demolition was due to both financial reasons and to a part of the Student Housing Strategic Master Plan, which includes renovating the UW West Campus to create more diverse living communities.

“Financially, we’re finding that, unless it’s like a high rise building, … it’s more affordable for us to [construct] a new building,” Lubin said. “Everything is brand new. We tailor it to what students and focus groups have told us [they wanted].”

Another reason for Mercer’s demolition, Lubin said, was its relatively low return rate. The return rate to Mercer has generally been at about 5 percent, though it jumped to 12 percent in its last year. Other residence halls’ rates range from about 40 to 60 percent.

Junior Chelsea Greenslitt was part of that 12 percent. Having lived in Mercer for two years — spending her second year as a Resident Advisor (RA) — Greenslitt could not imagine being in any other residence hall.

“I didn’t want to be an RA in any other building, because it’s just not the same,” Greenslitt said. “[There] was something about Mercer. It [is] easier to get to know people — to develop a community there — than it is in any other building.”

One memorable experience from Greenslitt’s first year in Mercer was spending time in the lounge, a place where she always felt welcome.

“Whenever you cross in front of [the lounge], there’d always be people in there … inviting you to spend time with them,” Greenslitt said. “You didn’t have to work at it. It just happened.”

Greenslitt didn’t always want to live in Mercer. After getting her rooming assignment and looking at the virtual tour online, she was disappointed to see that she would be living in a place that “looked like a dungeon.”

She began to feel differently as soon as she settled in.

“I moved in and was like, ‘Oh, this isn’t too bad,’” Greenslitt said. “You really develop an attachment to it. Nobody really understands until you live there. The longer you’re there, the more you end up loving it.”

Lubin said that, in his experience meeting with students about Mercer’s demolition, the students were evenly split between those who loved the building and those who hated it. Contributing to that divide are Mercer’s notorious red bricks, which receive both admiration and criticism.

For Greenslitt, the red bricks made Mercer seem warmer than the other halls’ “clinical” white walls.

“When you first get in there it is a little dark, but, for the most part, [the brick] makes it feel like a home and less like a dorm,” Greenslitt said. “It’s a big visual thing there, and it’s something people complain a lot about, too, so it’s just a personal preference.”

Junior Tillie Henry, another former Mercer resident, said one thing she didn’t like about the building was its small rooms, exacerbated by the red bricks. But that wouldn’t have stopped her from returning to Mercer for her senior year.

“I would totally live there [again],” Henry said. “You connect more with the people around you. … It’s special in that Mercer is a little more quaint. … I’m so glad I was put in Mercer.”

Housing & Food Services administrator Erica Barton agreed, calling Mercer a “vibrant community.”

“The community in Mercer does feel pretty connected,” Barton said. “It’s a smaller building. There [are] less people to get to know.”

Sophomore Clare Morrison spent her first year living in Mercer. While she fondly describes her floor community as having been close, and that she felt like she knew everyone on her floor, she said she was not attached to the building itself.

“I’m not devastated that the building is torn down, but I think it [was] good socially,” Morrison said. “It had a nice atmosphere.”

Morrison enjoyed the campfires and barbecues she had in Mercer, which is the only residence hall to have a field, an open barbecue pit and a volleyball court behind it. The location by the Burke-Gilman Trail and the quick and easy trips to Gasworks are two things Morrison will miss about the building, along with its warm, red bricks.

After having spent two years in Mercer, Greenslitt said she grew attached to the building. Driving on the University Bridge and seeing Mercer, she was recently reminded of the time she spent there and how much the building means to her.

“That was my home for two years,” Greenslitt said. “That was the place that got me through the first two years of college — Mercer and the people there.”

Reach reporter Hayat Norimine at lifestyles@dailyuw.com.

Out and about

Amy Scott — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Jeff Madrick

As a former economics columnist for The New York Times, Madrick discusses his new thought-provoking book, “Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to the Present.”

Monday, June 20

7:30 p.m.

Free

Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave.

Downtown Seattle

“The Upsetter: The Life and Music of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry”

A documentary about the Jamaican reggae and dub legend, with narration by “Che” actor Benicio Del Toro, shown at Seattle’s oldest continuously running movie theater.

Monday, June 20, and Tuesday, June 21

7 p.m. and 9 p.m., both nights

$6 with student ID

Grand Illusion Cinema, 1403 NE 50th St.

University District

Cibo Matto

Recently united, noise-rock musicians Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto have collaborated with the likes of Yoko Ono and Gorillaz. They’re playing alongside The Chain Gang of 1974.

Tuesday, June 21

8 p.m.

$15

Neumos, 925 E. Pike St.

Downtown Seattle

Reach reporter Amy Scott at

arts@dailyuw.com.

Restaurant review: Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe

Andy Fulton — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe’s owner, Chris Maykut, is used to anti-vegetarian bias — even amongst friends — that many have toward restaurants like his. According to Maykut, Chaco Canyon’s food is 90-97 percent organic, and the restaurant is committed to serving vegetarian and vegan menu items. Because of this, he believes that perhaps 70-80 percent of the population dismisses Chaco Canyon altogether. Even Seattle’s many lifestyle magazines want little to do with Chaco Canyon, Maykut said.

“It’s hard to get a review unless you have bacon on the menu,” he said.

Outright dismissal of Chaco Canyon’s food because of its aversion to meat is, in short, a shame, because it’s downright tasty. Dishes like the pesto melt — a blissful combination of mozzarella cheese, mountains of pesto and bean sprouts on ciabatta — will not leave patrons missing animal flesh. Even Chaco Canyon’s mundane dishes, like its raw hazelnut-oat porridge, will reward taste buds. However, it is vital to note that some entrees are prepared in surprising — and disappointing — ways. The pesto pizza, while made with delicious mozzarella, pesto, and tomato sauce, fails to live up to laymen’s expectations as to what pizza should look and taste like; although tasty, its crust is more akin to a cracker, and it is devoid of anything remotely close to a conventional topping.

But Chaco Canyon’s baked goods are formidable. The chocolate and vanilla macaroons delight with their sweet coconut goodness despite the latter’s apparent lack of its namesake ingredient. The strawberry tart, a wonderful amalgamation of fresh halved strawberries, lemony custard and flaky, buttery crust, will leave patrons craving more.

Perhaps Chaco Canyon’s greatest asset is the friendliness that pervades its American Southwest atmosphere. Adobe-esque walls painted with warm reds and yellows, a wall of rough ceramic tiles dedicated to the restaurant’s benefactors, and an abundance of brightly stained wooden furniture give the restaurant-cafe a sunny disposition that lights up even the dreariest of Seattle days. Chaco Canyon’s patrons contribute to the soothing ambiance as they generally spend their time thumbing through newspapers or tapping on laptops.

There are several glaring problems with Chaco Canyon, unfortunately. The prices of many menu items can raise eyebrows — 90-97 percent organic, it seems, comes at a price. The price of both my meals was $12. Portions are also somewhat laughable; the pesto pizza is kids’ meal-sized, while the pesto melt is only marginally more substantial. Students with large appetites will find themselves needing to complement their entree with a dessert — or two.

Overall, Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe is a warm and welcoming establishment with an emphasis on food quality and managed with the best environmentally consciousness intentions. However, high prices, small portions and nontraditional approaches to conventional dishes make this vegetarian paradise a poor fit for most college students.

The verdict: While Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe has elements that make it a noteworthy establishment, it falls short of being one of the University District’s great eateries.

Visit Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe at 4757 12th Ave. NE.

Reach reporter Andy Fulton at arts@dailyuw.com.

UAW Local 4121 reaches contract agreement with the UW

Sarah Schweppe — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

After months of bargaining and contract extensions, the members of UAW Local 4121, the union that represents teaching assistants (TAs), research assistants (RAs), tutors and other Academic Student Employees (ASEs) at the UW, voted to ratify a new one-year contract with the university.

The union members met June 8 to vote on the new collective bargaining agreement and 97 percent of the members approved the contract, passing it by more than the simple majority that was needed.

The union’s bargaining team has been meeting with the university about its contract since February. The bargaining period was supposed to end by April 30, but was extended until the union and the university came to an agreement.

The new contract includes terms about the preservation of academic quality, the UW maintaining health insurance premiums for ASEs, a new ASE child-care reimbursement program and an offset in the cost of increases in mandatory student fees by $50 next year.

David Parsons, president of UAW Local 4121, said that, instead of waiving the mandatory student fees, which was one of the union’s main requests, the university agreed to provide an increase in ASEs’ compensation to offset the increase in the student fees, which he sees as a good first step.

“This is a conceptual breakthrough,” Parsons said. “This is the first time in years that the university has done something to address this fee problem. Nobody thinks of this as a complete solution, but it’s a step in the right direction and something that people are looking forward to building upon.”

David Williams, a member of UAW Local 4121 and a graduate student studying physiology and biophysics, said that he was glad to see the fees addressed with compensation.

“I feel really good about the fact that we have addressed these fees as wage decreases,” Williams said. “They’re a part of our wage structure. They’re fees we have to pay as part of our employment at the university.”

Peter Denis, interim assistant vice president of UW Labor Relations, said that there was a good exchange of ideas between the union and the university, and the UW administration felt comfortable making these agreements despite financial constrictions that have resulted from cuts in state funding for the university.

“In these economic times, anything that has a dollar sign attached to it is very problematic,” Denis said. “We listened to the representation of the ASEs and the university felt that this was an appropriate move to make at this time.”

Parsons said the new child-care program will be modeled on the Child Care Assistance Program provided by the Student Parent Resource Center. The university will dedicate $25,000 to the program and ASEs can claim up to $600 per quarter if they haven’t already received it from the Child Care Assistance Program.

Another aspect included in the contract was preservation of academic quality.

“One of the major themes in our contract campaign this year has been that we are really serious about wanting to protect the quality of education and access to higher education,” Parsons said. “We got this university to commit to maintain the same level of instruction services in the College of Arts & Sciences, so that next year there’s not going to be a drop in TAs or tutors.”

Parsons said that the union wanted something in the contract to ensure that TAs would be able to address concerns about problems posed by larger class sizes.

“[What] we’ve been hearing a lot is that TAs have been seeing bigger class sizes,” Parsons said. “It’s hard to maintain the level of quality in the classroom when you have to deal with five or 10 extra students and still try to have that personal interaction.”

The contract includes that TAs should collaborate with their supervisors to work through problems with “class size increases or other matters that may make it difficult to maintain academic quality.”

“There’s new language in the contract that opens the door between the union and the university in terms of preserving academic quality,” Williams said. “It’s a recognition that ASEs play a major role in maintaining academic quality at the UW. That’s something that’s been ignored for a long time.”

Throughout the bargaining period, members of the union took actions to promote their requests, including a three-and-a-half hour sit-in in the conference room of Interim President Phyllis Wise on May 31.

“The large push of actions in the last week definitely left an impression,” Williams said. “It showed that there’s a dedicated group of people within the union that are willing to put in the time and effort it takes to convince the university that we care.”

Denis said the actions taken by the union didn’t have a negative effect on the negotiation process.

“We understood that this was a difficult time for them and for the university,” Denis said. “I don’t think that [the actions] harmed the relationship between the ASE group and the university.”

The new contract will last until April 30, 2012, and the union’s bargaining team will begin to meet with the university to negotiate again next year. Denis said that the main takeaway from the last two years has been a greater understanding between the parties.

“We have to talk again and we’re well-positioned to do so,” Denis said. “We’re at a place now where we’re talking the same language.”

The members of UAW Local 4121 will vote on bargaining goals before negotiations start next year, but Parsons said he expects the same issues of fees, academic quality and health insurance to come up again.

Williams said that the contract negotiation this year was good, but that the discussions are still an ongoing process.

“This was a victory, but I think it was a victory in a battle, not a victory in a war,” Williams said. “It will continue until the ASEs compensations at UW are comparable to those at other large research institutions.”

Reach reporter Sarah Schweppe at news@dailyuw.com.

Will's Word of the Week: ephemeral

Will Mari — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

Summer’s officially here, at long last!

Of course, the real start of this season in Seattle only occurs after July 4. But we often enjoy the blue thing called the sky and that yellow object called the sun well into September, before the great grayness of the fall descends upon us come October. Like the fading fads found in fashion, or even the edibility of French fries, summer itself is an ephemeral time. That brings us to our word for this week, for which I must thank my good friend and challengingly friendly critic, Kevin Mosher, for suggesting it.

By “ephemeral,” I’m referring to anything that is “in existence, power, favor, popularity, etc. for a short time only, short-lived, or transitory,” to borrow from the Oxford English Dictionary (or OED). Something that is ephemeral is just passing through, moseying along through our brief lives.

From the medieval-grade Latin “ephēmera,” and originally from the Greek ἐϕήμερος, meaning “lasting only for a day,” the word was deployed by enterprising entomologists, such as Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), to classify bugs that flitted and flew as adults for just about one day or so before expiring. Considered to be one of the founders of taxonomy (the system scientists use to organize life forms as we know them), Linnaeus used the word a bit more broadly than we might today, entomologically (not to be confused with the actions of amateur etymologists such as I, who etymologize obtusely).

The word had appeared in English by the 1500s to describe fleeting fevers and other swift ailments, and thus also found itself being used to describe the quick existences of insects. By the end of the 17th century, it began to be associated with the more figurative conception of life’s brevity. Thus, we find Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) using it to describe the newspapers of his day as “the Ephemeræ of learning.” In 2011, we might feel the same way about much of life online, which may be blogged about today, tweeted about tonight, but forgotten about tomorrow.

This idea is dwelled upon in Johnson’s “Winter: An Ode”:

“Catch, then, oh catch the transient hour; / Improve each moment as it flies! / Life’s a short summer, man a flower; / He dies — alas! how soon he dies!”

That may seem like a bummer to start out this column for the summer (it’s good to be back writing, at least for a while, by the way); but, it is good to remember how swift our lives can be, and to savor time with friends and family. The rest is, quite literally, just ephemeral stuff.

If you have any word ideas, questions or etymological inquiries for next time, please send them to me at opinion@dailyuw.com, and, until then, take care!

Reach columnist Will Mari at opinion@dailyuw.com.

Letters

Readers of The Daily — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 09:00:00 -0700

In response to “The diversity requirement

should spark intellectual progress” by William

Ray (May 31), and “Being a public university

complicates teaching diversity” by Thomas

Cloud (June 2)

The proposed diversity requirement seems

entirely reasonable. According to this newspaper,

diversity classes would “also count under either

the visual, literary and performing arts or

individuals and societies requirements already in

place,” and “there would be no additional credit

requirements for students on top of the current

minimum of 180 credits.” Given that the addition

of two diversity classes to required curriculum

would be of minimal inconvenience, it’s hard

to argue that the imposition of said classes

would be a burden to students or the university

administration.

When Thomas Cloud claims that it would

be “inordinately complex” to require diversity

courses at a public university, his language seems

strangely exaggerated. If anything, large public

schools like the UW are probably much better

suited to teach courses on diversity than private

ones, as Cloud seems to imply. Furthermore,

Cloud is unrealistic in portraying the concept

of diversity at UW as some sort of misguided,

left-wing political agenda. Diversity in America

is more than simply an abstract idea or a political

notion, but a fact of life and an important part of

our cultural fabric; we encounter diversity every

day, and must learn to navigate and appreciate

situations involving many different types of

people. As demographers are well aware, our

diverse society will only become increasingly so

in the future. Increased diversity is quite literally

the future of our country.

If diversity courses expose students to new

ideas and challenge their way of thinking, then

this is all in keeping with the purpose of a

university education. William Ray is right: “We

need much more intelligent discussion of what

diversity means and why it’s important.” The

diversity requirement would be a constructive

step towards this end.

Alex Jeffers

Senior, international studies, political science and

economics

In response to “Being a public university

complicates teaching diversity” by Thomas

Cloud (June 2)

I read Thomas Cloud’s column “Being a public

university complicates teaching diversity” and

was truly puzzled by the disconnect between what

the columnist says the diversity requirement is

and what the diversity requirement is actually

meant to do. Think about this. In public schools

across our country’s 50 states, we teach children

about state history and highlight racial and

ethnic history specific to the area. In Washington,

schools tend to focus on American Indian

history because of the wealth of information and

culture that is available from coastal tribes. We

do so because we’ve made a conscious decision

as a community that this is an important aspect

of U.S. history that we want children to learn

— our understanding is more full because of

its inclusion. We don’t expect these children

to walk away with some all-encompassing

knowledge of American Indians. Rather, we say

that to know Washington history is to know

Washington American Indian history as well.

Why is that any different when it’s a public

university? The diversity requirement isn’t meant

to be a one-stop-shop where you gain some

lifelong knowledge about diversity with a fistbump

after the final. By proposing the diversity

requirement, we say that gaining knowledge

about the diverse world we live in (and not just

racially diverse) is important and we insert that

as part of the curriculum here. And it’s not some

outrageous thing either that is specific to Seattle.

The University of Massachussetts and Cornell

already have a similar requirement in place for

its students. Yes, we should rely on students

to choose the path they want to take at school

but we also lay a basic framework so that when

they come to the UW, they receive an education

that is more full, more complete. Cloud has a

worldview. I have a worldview. Our worldviews

come from our socially defined identities like our

racial background, sexual orientation, age, gender

and so forth that define who we are. The point

of the diversity requirement isn’t to teach you a

worldview. The point is to teach you that yours or

mine aren’t the only ones that exist.

Luke Lee

Alumnus, 2006, American Ethnic Studies &

Women Studies

After reading Thomas Cloud’s Thursday article

about the proposed diversity requirement, I

have to question Mr. Cloud’s implication that a

diversity requirement indoctrinates students into

a liberal worldview.

First of all, I take issue with his assertion that

the choice of Barack Obama’s autobiography as

the 2009-2010 common book was an expression

of liberal bias. He says that this is evidenced

by the fact that UW faculty and staff donated

money to the Obama campaign, but he did not

specify whether or not the University donated

these funds or if individual faculty members did

so on their own. I think that this is misleading

because there is a big difference between a

public institution openly or secretly supporting a

political figure and an individual employed by a

public institution privately giving them support.

Secondly, I take issue with Mr. Cloud’s

belief that a diversity requirement is a way for

a liberal institution to push its worldview on

its students. Maybe I’m a naive college student

held down by white guilt, but I support the

diversity requirement because I think that it is

a way for college students to learn about other

viewpoints — basically the opposite of what Mr.

Cloud is saying. The UW has faculty members

that are well-respected in their fields, and I have

always had the impression that academia is

self-correcting and that legitimate institutions

encourage their students to come to their own

conclusions, not indoctrinate them. I do not

understand why Mr. Cloud is so afraid of this.

I also take issue with his support of school

vouchers. School vouchers actually undermine

education because they provide the illusion

of choice. Public education is designed to be

secular and inclusive, but school vouchers

would indirectly give public money to private

institutions and put students who do not fit

into the local religious schools at a disadvantage

among other many things. Basically, it’s just a

terrible idea.

Also, if Mr. Cloud is so in favor of private

schools and is so opposed to this “liberal

establishment,” then why does he go to school

here? It reminds me of how Ayn Rand secretly

signed up for Medicare when she was dying of

lung cancer.

Hope Reilly

Sophomore, history, Scandinavian studies,

Swedish

In response to “Kick Out Sodexo Coalition

joined by new student groups for latest sit-in,”

by Hayat Norimine (June 2)

For the past seven months, United Students

Against Sweatshops (USAS) members have

worked tirelessly to stand up for the reputation

of UW and ensure that our university only

associates with companies demonstrating ethical

conduct. Their commitment has consistently

amazed me through this year, and I believe that

they deserve to be heard and recognized by

the administration. Yet I also want to state that

the Associated Students of the University of

Washington (ASUW) Student Senate has passed

a resolution calling for the UW to terminate

Sodexo’s concessions contract (R-17-36, available

on senate.asuw.org). This resolution represents

all UW students on this campus — over

40,000 people — and it is imperative that the

administration listens to us. This campaign has

been spearheaded by very passionate members

from USAS, but it also has earned the respect

of the entire UW student community. For this

reason, I wish to thank the members of the

diversity communities that have recently joined

the Kick Out Sodexo coalition and to encourage

other students to become involved. Sodexo’s

track record contains worldwide human rights

violations, and we, the students of UW, should

have a voice in how the campus is run. We should

not allow our university to become tainted

through association with companies such as

Sodexo. Instead, we should continue to stand

up and ensure that this contract with Sodexo

is promptly terminated in order to protect the

integrity of our university.

Michelle Nance

Sophomore, business administration and political

science

The recent crimes committed by the thugs on

campus who are attempting to harass the UW

into hiring only union members is a disturbing

trend in politicized bullying. There is no reason

Sodexo or any other company should be treated

this way.

Why are these protesters doing it? Because

of “human rights” abuses, they claim. What

Sodexo has really done is to refuse to force their

employees to join a union. Instead, they give their

employees freedom to be a member of a union,

or if they choose, to not be a member of a union.

This is very troubling to the Service Employees

International Union (SIE U). If given the choice,

most people will not pay union dues for the level

of income that these jobs are able to demand.

The only waythe SEI U are able to convince

employees in grocery stores to pay $50 per month

for the privilege to earn minimum wage, is by

intimidating employers into forcing it. Sodexo

is still paying higher than market value for most

of its positions. This is why Sodexo Mexico has

won the Social Responsibility Award for the last

6 years.

If you are a member of those protesting

Sodexo and accusing them of “Human Rights”

abuses, you need to understand what you are

doing to the phrase “human rights.” There are

human beings in the world being sold into

slavery. There are humans being arrested and

persecuted for religious beliefs and political

ideas that they dare to speak out against. There

are children being kidnapped and forced to be

soldiers in bloody wars. To cheapen the very

important meaning of the phrase “human rights”

is repulsive and shameful. How dare you cheapen

the phrase to bully into play your political

viewpoint!

This is America, after all. We do not embrace

the European ideals of socialism that calls for

forcing someone to join a group in order to have

a job. We embrace the morally superior and

Constitutional value of Freedom of Association,

which gives people the freedom to choose

whether or not they join a union or any other

group for that matter.

Brian Cox

Senior, mechanical engineering