Sunday, the Indie pop angst-babies of the band Cults will be playing at Pearl Street. Band members Brian Oblivion (guitar, vocals, percussion) and Madeline Follin (vocals) began making music together while at The New School in Manhattan in 2010. Only two years later they’ve since completed a live five-piece band and released their self-titled album.

Their top hit “Go Outside”  is plucky and fun, while still maintaining the muted and gritty feel of Indie music. It’s perfect for listening to in the car on a sunny day or helping you muscle through the final pages of your thesis. It doesn’t sound like much at first, but in the stealthy, sneaky way that only good music can, reveals itself to be a well-crafted and carefully produced album that should wind up on any Indie-lover’s summer playlist. Let songs like “Most Wanted” and “Abducted” perk you up with its pop-py xylophone, Follin’s sweet voice and bouncy but intriguing beats.

On the other hand, let songs like “You Know What I Mean” and “Never Saw the Point” assist you in nursing your most recent romantic wound with a kind of swanky 50s achey-breaky-heart feel. Judging by the rampant tender rawness and Follin’s vocal current of energy that runs throughout the album, I think we’re in for a great show tonight.

The shows opening acts are Spectrals and Mrs. Magician. Doors will open Sunday at 8:30 p.m. and tickets are $12.50 from the Northampton Box Office and $15 at the door.

Related posts:

1. Passion Pit set to perform at Pearl Street
2. Rubblebucket Orchestra at Pearl Street Night Club
3. The Shins Might Not Change Your Life

This Sunday alternative rockers, The All American Rejects (AAR) will perform in Northampton, MA at the Pearl Street Night Club. Together since 1999 the group has spawned tons of hit singles like ”Swing, Swing” (2003), “Dirty Little Secret” (2005) and “Gives You Hell” (2008).

The band just released their fourth album, Kids in the Street, this past March and is currently promoting it across the globe.

“The title track is reflecting upon the time when you were the most pure — right before you graduated, or before you got a real job. And you actually had to start caring. When you’re just another kid, a speck, and it doesn’t feel that way. You feel, I don’t know… alive. Just those small, pure moments. We named the record after it. It was just that special,” explained lead singer Tyson Ritter recently spoke with ESPN.

The album was written by Ritter and lead guitarist Nick Wheeler, along with the held of Greg Wells, a Grammy-nominated producer.Recording and mixing was completed over five months from April through Sept. 2011. So far two singles have been released: “Beekeeper’s Daughter” and “Kids in the Street.”

Together since 1999, the Oklahoma-based band has sold over 10 million albums internationally, and won Best Group Video at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards for “Move Along.”

The show starts at 7 p.m. and opening for AAR will be A Rocket To The Moon and Astoria. Tickets are $27.50 at the Northampton Box Office and $30 at the door.

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2. When Matt and Kim brought Daylight to Northampton
3. Northampton shoppers venture into vintage

The e-mail explained that the Torrey Grab ’n Go is being consolidated into one location, the Atrium Café in Kendade, because of low lunch participation at Torrey. Meanwhile, the future of Golden Pears have been discussed at Senate meetings. Dining Services is also looking to extend Ham Hall’s dining hours.
The Golden Pear kitchens are located in 1837, North Mandelle, Mead, Creighton, Porter, and Wilder Halls.

Golden Pears are a campus facility intended primarily for students to prepare special meals. They are meant to include full kitchen facilities, utensils and a dining room table that seats six to eight.
The proposal is not to close the kitchens down, but to find a way to bring the sanitation up to par in order to keep them open. If they are closed, it will be because the health inspector closes them, which is a legal issue.

“Dining Services has no part in Golden Pears,” explained Stephanie Roses ’13, Torrey HP. “In ResLife, I have noticed from previously living in dorms with kitchens that the refrigerators will have expired and moldy food, eggs and milk inside, food is left in the grating of the stove or oven and begins attracting bugs and growing mold, and trash is left everywhere,” she said.

“ResLife currently emails residents on code, holds hall meetings warning about [the health] code violations, and some committees even clean the kitchens themselves – which is not in their contracts. I guess my reaction to kitchens is clear: they are disgusting and there are legal reasons why we need to keep them clean.”

According to Jodie Castanza, director of ResLife, the main concern is that of sanitation, as kitchens in certain dorms continue to accumulate grime.

“The Golden Pears are under review and have not yet been determined to be closed,” she explained. “The health inspector expressed serious concerns about the condition of the Golden Pears related to the cleanliness and sanitary conditions. I have asked Student Government to help us come up with a plan which will address the issues and help maintain the Golden Pears as a resource for students on campus.”

“Closing them entirely is an option ResLife is avoiding because those with severe food allergies or dietary restrictions who cook for themselves need the space,” said Roses, “as well as anyone who uses the refrigerators to store medications if they can’t afford or fit a mini-fridge in their own rooms.”

Dean Davis claimed that this is not a new issue and that Golden Pear kitchens have been shut temporarily previously due to the same reasons. “In recent years, I have temporarily closed the Golden Pears in response to unsafe cooking conditions,” she said. “The change needed is straightforward. We are looking for students to clean up their spills, properly dispose of waste products, and properly store items in the refrigerators. This is an area of self-governance in which the students can direct how the College maintains the flexibility and freedom of use with the Golden Pears.”

“I live in South Delle and they haven’t been that bad,” said South Mandelle HP Sara Amjad ’13. “There have been times where the kitchen has been a bit gross, but I think generally people have been good about cleaning up after themselves and sharing the space.”

While she feels that there are problems, the situation is not unbearable and the Golden Pears should not be closed. “The fridge is a problem because people put things in there and never take them out so they go bad. There needs to be a better way of making sure that [the kitchens] are looked after. I think ResLife should work with Dining Services because there seems to be a gap there.”

While the fate of Golden Pear kitchens is still up in the air, this is definitely Torrey Grab ’n Go’s final semester. With the Atrium Café just down the road, there seems to be little for students to complain about and ResLife does not expect much backlash.

“So far I don’t believe we have heard any reaction from students about the Torrey Grab ’n Go,” said Castanza. “If anything, students seem excited to be gaining possible meeting and programming space in the Torrey Dining area. I know ResLife staff are interested in seeing how we can use that space for things like theater group rehearsals, which we haven’t had as much space for this year.”

“I’m not sad to see Torrey Grab ’n Go leave, however convenient it may be right now,” said Roses. “As HP of Torrey Hall I’ve seen the negative effects of its presence on our hall environment. Dining Services refuses to allow people to eat at the tables in our dining hall during Grab ‘n’ Go based on the principle that people should leave as a to-go meal, so most people sit in our common room to eat. The problem is that our wonderful housekeeper then has to clean up the garbage directly resulting for a Dining Services meal.”

She feels that merging the Torrey Grab ’n Go with Kendade may make Kendade more congested, but will remove the tension between housekeeping, Dining Services and ResLife. It will also save money, as the school will no longer be wasting the plentiful supply of food left over at the food station each day.

The third change that is being made is the extension of dining hours in Ham Hall in order to meet student needs. Dean Davis sees these changes as a welcome adjustment by Dining Services. “I appreciate that Dining Services is so responsive to the use and patterns of the students. I think the extension of dining hours in Ham Hall is a good idea. I see so many students eating on the fly. Dining Services is extending the opportunity for students to sit down and dine in community.”

Related posts:

1. Golden Pear kitchens to close due to continued misuse
2. Read Between the Lines: Dear Egg Girl
3. Letter to the Editor

Rosa Frias ’13, Kristen Koepsell ’12 and Susanna Labowitz ’12, members of the committee, explained that it was formed in view of the present student conduct processes, which were confusing, contradictory and lacked impartiality.

As a result, a panel was created earlier in the semester with Director of Residential Life Jodie Castanza and Assistant Director of Residential Life Jessica Kaeding; two student staff members of Residential Life, Nazish Munir ‘13 and Snigdha Das ‘13; Assistant Director of Student Programs Joshua Nelson, Dean Angie Whitmal, Assistant Director of Athletics Lori Hendricks, Associate Dean of Students for Diversity and Inclusion Tanya Williams, Chair of the Honor Code Council Koepsell and the two student representatives, Labowitz and Frias.

The committee convened to review the current processes of violations, not the policies they originate from. To gain a better sense of models implemented in similar colleges, the committee broke up into three subgroups charged with examining Mount Holyoke’s current processes, compared with the systems in place at other institutions. They evaluated conduct procedures at colleges such as Wellesley, Hampshire, Smith, Bryn Mawr and other Seven sisters, as well as larger schools such as Stanford. Findings revealed that small, all- women liberal arts colleges were facing similar challenges with implementing an effective conduct process.

The presentation of the Committee to Senate involved the introduction of a collective draft of recommendations made by the group after completion of their research. The purpose of the presentation, conducted by Labowitz, Fria and Koepsell with contributions from Joshua Nelson, was to discuss the recommendations of the committee and to gain student feedback.

Members of the committee explained that many students find the current state of conduct processes to be very confusing. Currently, student conduct violations fall under the following areas: academic dishonesty, behavioral and alcohol and drug use. The committee is hoping to streamline the adjudication of policy violations such as fire safety, which are primarily under the purview of Residential Life, and social violations, which fall to the Honor Code Council.

The Committee recommended a new Conduct Officer, answerable to the Dean of the College, who would oversee cases regarding such social and policy violations. Senators raised the question of whether the officer would be a student or a staff member, or whether that meant the creation of a new position. In addition, it was unclear who would be choosing the conduct officer, and one Senator raised the possibility of an alumna taking the position.

At this point, Joshua Nelson clarified that the committee was still figuring out what department the conduct officer would fall under. He elaborated that, currently, conduct alerts detailing policy violations go to Residential Life Assistant Directors, but with the new officer, the reports would go to him or her. In this way, students would be afforded a more formal appeals process.

“Just the term Conduct Officer sounds like a police officer,” SGA President So Jin Lee ’13 observed, suggesting that another title could be used instead.

According to the committee’s draft, one duty of the Conduct Officer would be to “ensure that public information remains accurate and members of the community are kept apprised of emerging problems.” This would include overhauling the existing system that keeps track of policy violations in order to make repercussions more uniform.

Nelson explained that, under the current model, org leaders or student athletes might only receive consequences if Student Programs or the Athletics Department found out about their policy violations. The new Conduct Officer would be charged with managing confidential information and ensuring public information is distributed to the appropriate office.

Students also raised questions about the existence of the Honor Code Council. Nelson explained that the Honor Code Committee would take the place of the Honor Code Council, but would also draw student representatives to serve on an ad hoc basis similar to jury duty.

The draft also states that “faculty will be encouraged to play a more official role in the review process as participants on the honor code committee and possibly in select governing groups.” Nelson pointed out that currently all changes to the Honor Code Council are under the jurisdiction of the Faculty Senate, not SGA. Many Senators and students raised concern over the lack of student governance in adopting these changes.

Labowitz agrees with those concerns, adding, “The draft is a start and certainly has some good ideas in it, but it doesn’t really address the larger picture issue around the lack of student ownership in ResLife. While our conduct issues need an update, the larger premise on which these judiciary processes is founded is ultimately flawed because students simply don’t have access to the rules to which we are accountable. I have advocated for a suspension of conduct processes since the committee’s inception to rectify this injustice, but that seems unfortunately unlikely at this juncture.”

Keshia Pendi ’13 raised the question of what the new role of the Residential Life hall staff would be with this removal of conduct alert duties. Nelson replied that their job would not be to deal with conduct violations, but to help build community.

Currently, the group is set to meet on April 30 to discuss received feedback and finalize their recommendations. The committee anticipates that these final recommendations will be ready for reading at the second Faculty Senate this fall.

Javaria Khan ’15 contributed to the reporting of this article.

Related posts:

1. College’s student conduct process under review
2. Letter to the editor: Residential Life Myths
3. Ad hoc committee talk Amethyst Initiative

According to a statement given on April 6 signed by The Students of Mobilizing Smith College, the first act was a Letter to the Editor from alum Anne Spurzem, “[reinforcing] the dominant idea that only white, heterosexual, and affluent women deserve to be at Smith College.”

The letter, published in the February edition of the student newspaper, The Sophian, stated that because the school has accepted more international students, women of color and lower-class students,  increased financial aid needs have forced Smith to drop in rankings and become less competitive.

There were many responses to the message, including letters from alumnae, a Town Hall meeting and “Pearls and Cashmere,” a Tumblr filled with letters and photos of students and alumnae expressing their support for the school and its diversity. However, some responses to Spurzem’s letter were in solidarity with the alumna: two notes, one on March 12 and another on April 1, were slipped under the door of a first-year.

According to a letter to the Smith community, the first note read “Spurzem was right, go back to where you came from you freeloader, sandnigger, dyke.” The second read, “it doesn’t matter how many white friends you have, you are still a sandnigger. You don’t belong here.”

After the second note,  Smith President Carol Christ sent out a letter on April 3 to the Smith community.
“I have heard with great concern and distress that a second racist note was put under the door of a student’s room in Parsons House,” the letter read. “I know that acts like this do not represent the values that the Smith community holds at its core. The spirited response to the ‘cashmere and pearls’ letter vividly demonstrates the pride many of us take in the diversity of Smith.”

President Christ also explained further actions the school will take to identify the writer of the letters, explaining “if necessary, we will employ a handwriting analyst for this purpose.”

In addition to the President’s letter, many other measures were taken, including an all-campus meeting on Monday, April 2.

“Prior to that meeting, which was held after classes, President Christ canceled athletic practices and asked departments to close so that staff and faculty could be present,” said Pamela Nolan-Young, director of the Office of Institutional Diversity & Equity. Beyond the meeting, dialogues regarding race and sexual orientation were held on April 13, as well as a workshop called “How Allies Can Help,” and the Smith Stories Project began on April 10. Young also explained there will be meetings in each dorm.
Further actions will take place when more information is found.

“The College is in the midst of an investigation to identify the letter writer,” said Nolan-Young. “Once the investigation has concluded a decision will be made concerning the appropriate forum for further action.”

Related posts:

1. Letters to the Editor: Anne Spurzem
2. Daily Jolt stifles online tension at Smith
3. Pres. Creighton joins students in reviving the campus-wide dialogue on diversity

A whistleblower, going by the name Q, told The Amherst Student that Diwa Cody, a member of the current student government’s E-board and the Association of Amherst Students Treasurer, had unauthorized access to real-time election results, which she allegedly released to one of the presidential candidates.

Q claimed that Cody had contacted presidential candidate Josh Meyer and informed him that the numbers were at 49-30-16 for Tania Dias, him and Alex Stein respectively. Meyer then shared the numbers with Stein, proposing that they should work together to keep Dias under fifty percent or else risk losing the elections.

Chair of the Elections Committee Ian Hatch  confirmed that Cody had unauthorized access to the results, which should have been available to only three other people. However, he immediately acted to suspend Cody’s access.

Initially, Hatch considered the allegations of misuse to be nothing but hearsay, since he had no direct evidence.

Upon realizing that the numbers cited matched the real-time results and began shifting in Stein and Meyer’s favor after the alleged leak, Hatch filed a complaint on the basis that “the validity of the election may have been compromised.”

The Judiciary Committee held a preliminary trial regarding the scandal on April 8. A number of members withdrew participation due to a conflict of interest.

In the meantime, Cody and Stein withdrew their candidacies for Treasurer and President respectively.
Stein and Meyer’s testimonies varied. Meyer denied having cited any numbers to Stein, or having had knowledge of any numbers in the first place.

Statements from each of the candidates, as well as Q, are available on The Amherst Student.
As far as Meyer was concerned, the whole fiasco had less to do with irregularities of the election and was more a result of personal politics within the members of AAS.

Cody cited similar reasons for her resignation. “My resignation comes as a product of all the animosity I have experienced at the hands of this AAS e-board throughout the entire year and from the larger community during this elections period,” she told The Amherst Student.

She also took ownership of sharing the results with Meyer, while asserting that she was merely reassuring a friend, that it had been done many times before and that no specific numbers had been exchanged.

Cody later retracted these statements, without any explanation.

Stein, in an article for the newspaper, wrote that he had withdrawn because he was “frustrated with the tone of our discourse and disappointed in the character of our governance.“ He stressed that unfortunately, the scandal had devolved to people politics.

“The issue itself has been lost in the rhetoric of the scandal,” Stein wrote.

The Judiciary Council (JC), upon deciding that Hatch’s complaint was valid, held a public hearing on Thursday, April 12. Attendance was not mandatory for all candidates. Cody and Stein did not show up at the hearing, but Meyer submitted a statement.

Statements were made by Alex Hurst, Dias’ campaign manager, who initially informed Hatch about rumors regarding the leak, George Tepe, chair of the Judiciary Committee, and Dias.

The JC’s decision depended on the trend of the numbers, but they were refused access to any results by the Dean’s Office.

They decided that the treasurer and presidential elections may have been affected, but that they could not sanction anyone else from running. As a result, only the results of the presidential and treasurer elections were pronounced as nullified. Re-elections for these positions are currently being held and results are expected to be announced sometime tomorrow.

A new amendment was also introduced by the JC, whereby candidates running for e-board positions can no longer be on the election committee, and must resign from the committee in order to run.

Related posts:

1. Elections stir controversy on campus
2. Elections for SGA positions to be reheld
3. All-Campus Elections Return for Their Second Year

Gupta began her lecture by fondly recalling her time at Mount Holyoke, remarking that it was “really wonderful to be back on campus.”

“[I’m] really grateful for the experiences I’ve had here,” Gupta said.  While on campus, she co-founded Asian American Sisters in Action (AASIA). During that time, students were reacting to the Rodney King incident (where an African-American man was brutally beaten by police), and there was also a rise in anti-Asian violence.  “Many, many issues were beginning to erupt on campus” said Gupta.  These experiences shaped her own politics.

Gupta hoped that her lecture would be both depressing and exciting: depressing because of what was at stake, but exciting because of the strides being made.

She informed everyone present that today only 11.9 percent of workers were in unions.   She credited this to the fact that U.S. labor laws make it difficult for workers to form unions, and that employers do not face significant consequences for being anti-union.

There is a 28 percent wage advantage for workers in unions, and non-union workers are four times as likely to lack health care benefits.   “Workers in many countries around the world enjoy more bargaining rights [than workers in the U.S.],” Gupta said.

Gupta recalled people expressing to her how they once could work to be civically engaged, but that was not the case anymore.  “Today, most people feel like all they do is live to work,” Gupta said.
Gupta spoke about senior citizens, who after working their entire lives, were now forced to go back to work and could only find jobs at places like Walmart.

Gupta emphasized differences in the lives and status of corporations and the life and status of the average worker.

In 1955, taxes on corporations made up 4.3 percent of the GDP, and taxes on individuals made up 9.4 percent of the GDP.  Today, taxes on corporations only make up 1.2 percent of the GDP and taxes on individuals make up 12.2 percent.

“Corporations pay significantly less than their fair share of taxes, while working class individuals pay a greater percentage of their income,” said Gupta.

Despite these statistics, Gupta felt hopeful that change could occur if people worked together.
After Hurricane Katrina, corporations began to bring in guest workers from other countries, resulting in the firing of many African American workers. However, instead of being pitted against each other, the two groups worked together to successfully force a discussion.   Many other groups, such as Walmart workers and janitors, have also started protesting.

While optimistic, Gupta emphasized the importance of the people in making change. “We can’t leave it up to policy makers to do it themselves. It’s got to be about people in the streets making that happen.”
After the lecture, attendees were invited to further the discussion with Gutpa in Blanchard 108.

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2. Economic crisis reaches Mexico’s workers
3. Clinton meets with NATO leaders, discusses women’s rights

While Europe is leading the world in renewable energy development, many Americans are still unsure or in denial about the threat posed by global warming. We drive around in large gas-guzzling SUVs, consume more on average than any other country in the world and account for about 25 percent of fossil fuel use worldwide. Clearly we need an Earth Day, one day out of the year when we can feel good about ourselves by cleaning up streams, holding rallies and raising awareness about the ecological crisis.

But is that all that Earth Day is? Just one day when we awake from our collective slumber and realize that the planet is in peril? Evidence of the degradation of the planet is everywhere – from garbage dumped on the side of the road to toxins pouring out of city smokestacks to large patches of forest being clear cut for timber production. Today you can barely travel ten miles without running into a shopping mall or some sort of urban establishment. Billboards loom in city centers, plastered with ads encouraging us to consume more. The reality is that the biosphere cannot sustain the lifestyles enjoyed by many Americans. According to some statistics, if everyone around the world were to consume at the same rate as the average American, it would take three to five Earths to support this kind of consumption.

We only have one Earth, and the damage we as humans are doing to it is frightening. The Earth is our home, a home we share with millions of other species, species that will not survive if we don’t take care of and protect the natural resources we all depend upon. Dozens of species disappear each day, yet their extinction is never acknowledged on the nightly news. We go on with our daily lives, often without even a thought of the environmental tragedy that’s unfolding. This crisis is merely soft background music amidst the hustle and bustle of our tech-powered lives.

Of course, many people are aware that the Earth’s systems are out of whack and that humans are largely the cause. It’s no coincidence that places all over the globe have recently experienced record-breaking natural disasters: a crippling summer heat wave in Russia, epic flooding in Queensland, Australia and devastating drought in east Africa that sparked famine in Somalia. The catastrophic consequences of climate change are already beginning to play out. To raise awareness about the link between climate change and extreme weather events, Bill McKibben’s global climate campaign group 350.org is organizing a Climate Impacts Day on May 5, 2012. The theme and purpose of this day of action is to “connect the dots” between the wacky weather and the tons of CO2 we continuously pour into the atmosphere. On May 5, thousands of demonstrations will take place around the world to call attention to the urgent climate crisis.

Likewise, Earth Day brings environmental awareness into the open and raises hope that we are capable of doing something to reverse the ecological damage. Then something happens. People’s confidence and faith in saving the planet seems to diminish, especially when reports continue come in about the extent of Arctic Sea ice projected to be lost this year, or the number of inner-city children hospitalized due to asthma. The scale of the environmental crisis seems too large for us to conceptualize, and certainly too large for the average Joe to think he can make a difference.

The truth is that everyone can do something. We all have a role to play, and I believe, as inhabitants of this planet, it is our moral responsibility to do what we can. Each day presents us with the opportunity to experience the beauty and nature that is all around us, and to think about and promote ways we can sustain it.

Change starts at the individual level. It starts when you plant a tree in your backyard, organize a community recycling contest, write letters to your local newspaper or decide to buy organic, locally-grown produce. The list of things you can do to promote a sustainable lifestyle is endless. If you start by making small lifestyle changes and then encourage your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to do so, you are helping to initiate the change that our world so desperately needs. If each day you do something to make the planet a little bit greener, the world will end up being a better place for us and for future generations.

Related posts:

1. Earth Insights: Rising grassroots activism
2. Earth Insights: Environmental Governance and Rio+20
3. Earth Insights: Lessons from Oz

Next Monday, April 23, Danuta Janiszewski ’12 will showcase her newly completed exhibit, “The Power of the Period.” The works are a collection gathered from students of all five colleges, and aim to provoke deeper reflection on how menstruation has played a role in the historical confinement of women with both negative and positive stereotypes. Portrayals of stigmas, rites of passage, curses and divine gifts appear in the exhibit, increasing the visibility of a wide variety of experiences.

Janiszewski is an educator for in*Touch, Mount Holyoke’s reproductive rights and sex education group, and often uses gender-neutral language. This exhibit intends to inspire similar care and consideration in the use of language and bring attention to the definitions we place on each other. “I think people from all walks of life should say, ‘this is menstruation, and this is how it works.’ It’s a natural experience,” Janiszewski said.

Janiszewski chose to focus her analysis on mestruation because she finds that the fertility cycle is a neglected topic in discourse, often ignored because of its private nature. “I want to push people’s barriers that they’ve put around their understanding,” she said. “There’s more that can be said in a spot of paint than in a politician’s word,” she said. “It’s good because it’s not trying to convince you if it’s right or wrong, it’s simply a statement.”

Janiszewski is using her exhibit as a springboard into further work as a reproductive health advocate. She called attention to the intersectionality of her work in how reproductive health connect to other health-related issues, including the importance of investing in health insurance, education and clinics.
She expects to have at least a dozen pieces in Blanchard Room 8, with facts and figures about fertility and menstruation dispersed throughout. The selection of poems, drawings, and multimedia works will be on display until Pangy Day on April 27. Janiszewski  commented on the great variety of information she found in taking advantage of the resources around campus, including research librarians, guest speakers and Taboo talks.

In putting together her first exhibit, Janiszewski enjoyed the opportunity to learn about logistics, publicity and staying flexible in academic pursuits “to whatever comes your way.” With in*Touch, she feels she’s been able to practice and learn experiences “outside of the classroom, doing things with more community spirit, more about other people.” It’s in this spirit that she invites the community to come and interact with the art, and see what it says to them.

Related posts:

1. Breaking the barriers
2. Self & Space: Senior Art Exhibition
3. Language barriers in international business

Watching the 1997 epic Titanic in 3D while sobbing so hard my face becomes swollen sounds like the perfect thing to do on a Friday night. I’m a total girl.

Last Friday night I went to see the movie, flanked by friends Hillary Hyduke ’14 and Jen Passios ’13.  Many Titanic-skeptics reminded us that, yes, we could have seen the movie on DVD or television. And, as one Blanchard Chef astutely pointed out, “the boat still sinks in the end.”

I argue, however, that is not what it’s about. Making the trek to see Titanic is an excuse to be overly emotional, which I will admit can be problematic when you are wearing 3D glasses. Henceforth, I am establishing a new universal rule in my life: never see a sad movie in 3D because the glasses will fog up. I first experienced this phenomenon while viewing Up next to some screaming toddlers – the 3D glasses required frequent removal for cleaning and wiping away tears.

My friends and I all lost it at different points during the three-hour saga. For Hillary, it was when the hoards of unsuspecting passengers boarded RMS Titanic, not realizing that they were seeing land for the last time in their lives. This scene occurs within the first 30 minutes of the movie. Needless to say, it was a long night.

For Jen, it was towards the end, during the montage of an old couple, a family and children all falling asleep and cuddling together as the rapids came crashing through their windows, under their beds, suffocating them.

For me, it was hearing the “My Heart Will Go On” anthem, which graces nearly every scene in some instrumental arrangement, including the end credits when Celine Dion takes over. Or anytime Victor Garber, who plays the Irish architect, is on screen. I feel like his character put his heart into building that ship, and he genuinely didn’t see it coming.

The stories of love, class and money pull the audience in, and it’s why generations of moviegoers  have been so emotionally connected to the disastrous event. The characters are romantic but real. While aboard the British ocean liner headed for New York City, privileged young lady Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) struggles with the demands of her suave, but abusive, fiancé Cal Hockley (played perfectly by Billy Zane). He epitomizes the early 20th century American man: the original douchebag.

The film juxtaposes Rose’s cold relationship with Cal with her sudden, undying love for Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio, when he was hot), so major conflict begins to brew before the boat hits anything. As a free-wheeling lower-class guy, Jack adds a fresh perspective to wealthy passengers’ monotonous dinner conversations, in addition to repeatedly saving Rose’s life. He first rescues her when they meet, during Rose’s dicey suicide attempt and again when the two of them are floating in the freezing ocean and he fatefully instructs her to “never let go.”

Rose sees Jack as a new opportunity for a life outside of her elitist upbringing and arrangement to marry Cal and stay connected in society, even if she is “an indoor girl.” Meanwhile, her mother spends most of the movie keeping herself busy by drinking tea and saying things like, the only reason a girl goes to school is to meet a husband. Poor Cal is trying as hard as he can, and Rose will have none of it. If a 56 carat blue diamond doesn’t do the trick, I don’t think anything will.
Then the impending doom sets in. The entire ship shinking process looks scary, and apparently, filming it really was. The numerous stories that have leaked out over the years about the difficult production, long shooting schedule and overexertion of the two lead actors in Titanic are now infamous. According to a recent New York Times interview with director James Cameron, Kate Winslet nearly drowned on set twice. Winslet reportedly remembers thinking, “please let me die.” Life imitates art. Cameron, who has gone on to write and direct Avatar and the Terminator movies,  maintains that he did not push the actors, and that it was the dramatic “situation that [he] create[d] that push[ed] them.” Dude, it’s the same thing. They were still dying.

Titanic is worth seeing again because the film is just a plain, old-fashioned, beautifully-made movie. I hadn’t seen it in probably six years, so I had a whole new appreciation for the musical score, underwater filming capacity and massive scope that so brilliantly portrayed the magnitude of this enormous ship.
Additionally, there have been some adjustments to content in the film. Last week, Time reported that James Mr. Perfectionist Cameron re-touched the night sky to depict the proper constellations that would have been visible to freezing lifeboat passengers, at the advice of famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. So, pay attention. He also collaborated with the National Geographic Channel to produce the two-night television event, Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron, which originally aired on April 8.

Lastly, there is the 3D action. I hate to hate on the special effects, but I can honestly say taking my little brother to see the 3D Glee concert movie packed more of a punch. I didn’t get motion sickness and, much to my chagrin, I was not swaying from side to side as I left the theater.

But despite the questionable addition of 3D technology to the film, the re-release and Cameron’s promotional tactics have paid off: according to Entertainment Weekly, Titanic 3D made a cool $4.4 million on its opening night.

Although the movie is filled with fictional story lines, it’s those stories that force us to appreciate what a terrible tragedy the sinking of Titanic was. The iceberg was real. The 100th year anniversary was Sunday, April 15, at 4:20 a.m. The hype has lent itself to many interpretations and historical commemorations of Titanic’s demise.

Is it something in the water? CNN reported that the Balmoral, a luxury cruise ship that offered a trip that retraced Titanic’s path last week had to turn around because of a medical emergency onboard. It seems that area of the North Atlantic has turned into the Bermuda Triangle. Tom Byron, who was on board the cruise ship, told CNN that the ship made a lengthy “huge U-turn in the ocean” to get closer to shore for the airlift.

Some Titanic fans have even changed their travel rules as a result of the film. Lauren Wolter ’13 will now never go on a cruise. She has visited the historic traveling exhibit three times and will hear Dr. Robert Ballard, the ocean explorer that discovered the shipwreck, speak next weekend for an anniversary memorial at Mystic Aquarium in her native Connecticut. She will also be dining at Gabrielle’s Restaurant, which has prepared a “Titanic Dinner Menu.” I’m not making this up.

Outside of the sensational weekend planned, Wolter is still fixated by the “culture and class system of the boat,” which is a defining social barrier and plot device in the film. First class passengers smoked cigars while ascending that iconic staircase. Third class passengers danced to loud, rowdy music. Wolter also finds the “opulence of the period and grand lifestyles the aristocrats led” dreamy and romantic. The recent surge in popularity of shows like Downton Abbey and ABC’s forthcoming Titanic mini-series would indicate that the rest of America is on board as well.

Time to move Downton Abbey to #1 on my Netflix queue.

Related posts:

1. The technology behind 3D magic
2. A&E Pick of the Day: 10 Questions for James Cameron
3. The truth about Avatar

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