June 2010 Volume 2, Issue 9

The Diversifieds

June is...

Black Music Month

Gay and Lesbian Pride Month

National Aphasia Awareness Month

National Safety Month

Children’s Awareness Month

Great Outdoors Month

Rebuild your Life Month

Awareness Dates:

The Diversifieds are a publication of the EDRC of

Grays Harbor College. The mission of the EDRC is

to promote awareness, respect, and equitable

treatment of the diverse individuals and groups

that exist within our campus and surrounding com-

munities. The EDRC is open to all!

A publication of the EDRC at Grays Harbor College

1 Children’s Day (China)

2 Republic Day (Italy)

5 Constitution Day (Denmark)

6 Memorial Day (South Korea)

9 Accession of King Abdullah (Jordan)

12 Independence Day (Philippines)

13 Puerto Rican Day Parade (U.S.)

14 Flag Day (U.S.)

16 Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Sahib

(Sikh)

16 Dragon Boat Festival (China)

16 Youth Day (South Africa)

17 Independence Day (Iceland)

18 Evacuation Day (Egypt)

20 Litha (Pagan and Wiccan)

20 Father’s Day (U.S. and Panama)

23 National Day (Luxembourg)

24 Battle of Carabobo (Venezuela)

24 Festival of St. John the Baptist

(Canada and Puerto Rico)

24 Manila Day (Philippines)

25 Battle of Little Big Horn (American

Indian)

27 Stonewall Rebellion (Gay + Lesbian)

27 National Veterans Day (U.K.)

29 St. Peter and St. Paul Day (Colombia,

Costa Rica, Peru, and Venezuela)

On May 28th the Gay-Straight Alliance Club hosted Alternative Prom in the Hillier

Union Building and it was a rousing success. The purpose of the dance was to

provide a welcoming environment to everyone, though specifically those who

perhaps didn’t have similar opportunities during high school. Over 150 people

dressed up and came to dance and enjoy the refreshments, while Johnny Man-

son of 105.7 “The Jet” fame served as the DJ. The theme was “Take your mask

off!”, encouraging attendees to relax and have fun. Miki Cabell, a member of

the GSA, explained that Alternative Prom isn’t necessarily about sexual orienta-

tion or identification, saying, “It’s about being human, free of any negative con-

notations. I’d say it was extremely successful.”

Another key aspect of the dance was to spoof traditional proms and find the

humor inherent in it. The typical genders of Prom King and Queen were re-

versed, with Dale Steward and Kelsey Prittle elected Queen and King, respec-

tively. Miki Cabell and Josh Harville were named Prince and Princess as well. A

lot of time (over nine hours) and effort

went into the decorations and setup,

creating an atmosphere filled with eve-

rything from balloons and a disco ball

to hundreds of Mardi Gras beads.

The last Alternative Prom took place

three years ago, though a similar gap of

time between this dance and the next

one is unlikely. “We have just recently

voted in new officers, all of whom are

energetic and excited about next fall,”

said Cabell, “The club’s support is grow-

ing and more and more people are in-

terested in hosting Alternative Prom

again next year.” The GSA has been a

constant voice on campus, encouraging

a thriving community of alternative stu-

dents and allies by tabling at events

like Mayhem, doing various fundraising

activities, and advertising National

Coming Out Day. One can find addi-

tional information at http://

www.salp.ghc.edu/clubs/clubs/gsa.

Campus Happenings

Student Awards & Recognition 3:00-4:00 PM

June 9th GHC Music Pavilion

Graduation Breakfast

7:45-8:45 AM June 10th

HUB

Nurses Pinning Ceremony

1:00-2:30 PM June 12th

Bishop Center

Last Day of Classes June 14th

GED Graduation

7:00 PM June 15th

Bishop Center; for details call 538-4167

WorkFirst Awards Banquet &

Certificate Graduation 1:30 PM

June 17th GHC Music Pavilion

Graduation Day

June 18th

Alternative Prom a Great Success By Rob Hitt

Raising awareness about diversity issues and fostering dialogue

between students, faculty, and staff is what the Equity and Diver-

sity Resource Center is all about. We did just that on May 20th as

EDRC members and friends gathered in the EDRC Foyer to dis-

cuss strict new anti-illegal immigration law signed by the governor

of Arizona this past April. Everyone had the chance to share their

ideas and learn from others.

Illegal immigration has been a hot topic for the border state of

Arizona for some time, and fear of increased border violence re-

lated to drug smuggling and the widely publicized March 27th

death of Robert Krentz, a border town rancher, contributed to the

passage of tougher illegal-immigration law. Police have no sus-

pect in the slaying of Robert Krentz, but there is speculation that

the killer was an illegal alien. (1) The tragic death of Robert

Krentz did put a spotlight on border violence, but the fear about

increasing violence may be unfounded. A recent article by Mar-

tha Mendoza of the Associated Press cites an internal U.S. Cus-

toms and Border Protection study that concludes “violent crimes

in counties along the Mexican border are among the lowest in the

nation per capita, and they've dropped by more than 30 percent

in the last two decades.” Mendoza also cites a recent FBI report

that shows “the top four big cities in America with the lowest

rates of violent crime are all in border states: Austin, El Paso,

Phoenix and San Diego.” (2)

Senate Bill 1070

On April 23, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 which

made it a state misdemeanor for an alien to be in Arizona without

carrying legal documents. This bill also required law enforcement

to question individuals about their immigration status if they have

any reasonable suspicion that they are an illegal alien. (3) The

signing of this bill created immediate controversy and prompted

demonstrations across the country both in support and in opposi-

tion to this bill. Opponents of the bill argue that it will contribute

to racial profiling. They fear that even the most well-intentioned

law officers will disproportionately target certain ethnic popula-

tions. In fact, many in the law enforcement community oppose

the bill. Tucson Police Chief Roberto Villaseñor said at a press

conference in May, "When you enact legislation that makes any

subset of that community feel like they are being targeted specifi-

cally or have concerns about coming forward and talking to the

police, that damages our capability to obtain information to solve

the crimes that we need to work with." (4) Supporters of the bill

argue that the bill does nothing more than to enforce current

federal law.

House Bill 2162

Seven days after SB 1070 was signed, Governor Brewer signed

HB 2162 which made some key amendments to SB 1070. HB

2162 obligated law enforcement officers to question potential

illegal immigrants for any, “lawful stop, detention, or arrest” as

opposed to “any lawful contact” as noted in SB 1070. HB 2162

also made clear that law enforcement “may not consider race,

color, or national origin” when implementing the law. (5)

With such a controversial topic, we had a lot to talk about at the

May 20th Diversity Discussion. We discussed whether we would

like to live in a society where we have to carry proof of legal

status with us wherever we go. Some comments were: “I leave

my driver’s license in my car, so I’m not carrying any proof right

now.” “What would happen if I was travelling through Arizona

and I lost my wallet.” We also discussed the idea that even

though the law says law enforcement cannot consider race, color,

or national origin in the application of the law, in practicality it will

of course be a factor and lead to racial profiling. This will lead to

undue hardship for some just because of the color of their skin.

We discussed whether this is something we can accept in our

society.

(1) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/us/05arizona.html

(2) http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2012026799.html

(3) http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf

(4) http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/052610_villasenor_holder/

(5) http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/49leg/2r/

bills/hb2162c.htm

The EDRC Discusses Arizona Immigration Legislation By Brian Shook

Page 2

Volume 2, Issue 9

Sherwin Phillips, EDRC intern, organized the Equity and Diversity Resource table during Mayhem on Wednesday, May 19th. Several people enjoyed creating “ME” dolls, sev-eral people signed up to be on the EDRC mailing list, and some people signed up to be EDRC volunteers. On our table we posed the question, “What Diversity Issues Should be Discussed on Campus?” Here are the responses:

Are you Mexican? Is not a question, it’s an as-sumption

Different cultures in Aberdeen

Not judging people by the way they look or by the color of their skin

People say: “That’s so gay.” = Not OK

Immigration law and no multicultural/ethnic stud-ies in Arizona

How to handle Hate/Bias issues

Page 3

Mayhem

Donna Hallock from the Mediation and Settlement Center has teamed up with The EDRC to lead a workshop on Non-violent Communication. The quality of our communica-tions with others has a large effect on the quality of our relationships. At the workshop we learned some great tools to help us communicate better with our family and friends, and we talked about communication in relation-ship to diversity.

Nonviolent Communication

Workshop

Lewis-Pacific Swiss Society Celebrates 47th Annual Schwingfest

The Lewis-Pacific Swiss Society is located in Frances, Washing-

ton, approximately 16 miles east of Raymond on Highway 6.

This year marks the 80th anniversary for the club and their 47th

annual Schwingfest. A Schwingfest is a Swiss wrestling festival.

This year’s event takes place on July 2, 3, and 4th. Friday night

includes live entertainment from Switzerland and a Polka band

from the Chehalis area. Saturday includes Junior and Senior

wrestlers, usually traveling to the event from Washington, Oregon,

California, Canada or Switzerland. Saturday night also features a

Polka band to dance to and the wrestling winners are crowned at

the dance. Sunday features buebeshwingers, boys from six to

fourteen years of age—real cute!

For more information, visit www.lpss.info or contact Erin Frasier.

Direct from Switzerland!

Entertainers from Switzerland, Kapelle Unspunnen, will be provid-

ing a Friday night program at this year’s Schwingfest. The concert

will begin at 8:00 p.m. with live Cabaret-style entertainment. The

entertainers will interact with the audience seated at tables on the

dance floor. Come and enjoy dinner and watch the show. A won-

derful concert for the whole family to experience.

Kapelle Unspunnen are from an area near Interlaken. The group

consists of Peter Delaquis, Erica Wild, Francis Wild and Dani Wild.

The group will be playing alphorn, spinning coins in clay bowls and

yodeling, and playing music on wine bottles and with bells.

They will be playing for the dance, as well, along with a Polka

band, The Blasers. Dancing will commence after the concert pro-

gram.

Committee Chair:

Brian Shook

The Diversifieds Staff:

Erin Frasier

Rob Hitt

Diversity Committee

Equity & Diversity Resource Center

360-538-4247

Room 219

1620 Edward P. Smith Drive

Aberdeen, WA 98520

edrc@ghc.edu

http://www.ghc.edu/edrc/brochure.pdf

Calling All Writers! The Diversifieds are an extension of the GHC campus

and our surrounding community. We would like to

welcome and encourage students and staff to submit

articles for publication in The Diversifieds. This is a

monthly publication. Please contact Erin Frasier at

efrasier@ghc.edu for next month’s topics and to sub-

mit articles, poems or artwork.

Deadline for submission in next month’s newsletter is

May 29th

The equation goes something like this:

one white mother plus one brown father

divided by two different worlds

equals a daughter.

Give or take a decimal the American dream turns out to be

two half-white children, two full-brown children, one small

house in South

Central LA, four jobs

divided by two high-school-educated parents.

The quality of life is high, though the means is low.

The numbers vary from memory to memory.

Like Three-- three times a week I clean houses in rich

neighborhoods to

make my way

folding sheets is difficult

every house is owned by one rich, white lady

with two dozen sheets times four beds which equals ten ways

to fold the sheets

so that they're perfect.

Learning to fold sheets at least four different ways

means I can clean three to six houses a week

which equals rent, tortillas and lettuce for the month.

Moving into One-- one night a week I go-go dance in a cage in

a Hollywood nightclub, ten dollars an hour, plus tips.

I'm only eighteen back then, and already I know the equation

for lust:

one bare-ass in face gets a twenty plus

one crotch-drop earns a fifty plus

one tongue licking cage bars while slowly gyrating hips

equals I am the first in my family to go to college.

Then there's Five. Five times a day I prayed to God

through my seven-year-old body that my father would lose his

Spanish accent.

I was convinced that if he did, he could get a better job and

we wouldn't be poor anymore. I was convinced

he just wasn't trying hard enough to say

signals instead of "singles" or video instead of "bideo"

Five times a day I sent my other prayers, my secret prayers

that I was thankful for looking to most white in a family of cof-

fee-colored

children

how I prayed that my brown blood wouldn't seep out of

my white skin

so that I could get an education, learn English, make my par-

ents proud

of half-white, half-brown accomplishment.

Five times a day times seven days a week plus two small

hands clenched together

in fear and ignorance

equals a lifetime of trying to make halves a whole.

It's all in the numbers. These numbers that haunt my dreams

make my past into single digits that have no common denomi-

nator.

Just once, I'd like to write an equation for all the things I can

never write

about.

For the three times my father took off work from

three different jobs to see me in the school play,

or the first and last time my sister told her abusive ex-

husband that she did not need him anymore and meant it,

For the hundreds of times I saw my parents laugh

until the tears rolled down their cheeks

even in a neighborhood of drugs and gangs,

or that one moment, I did see my father cry

when I, the first in our family, received my college degree.

I'm writing a formula for all the numbers that have fallen

on me--

fifteen sunrises in three different states, eight-million breaths

in one kiss,

one-hundred-eighty-five poems in eight years--

I am writing an equation,

using the universal language of numbers to describe ten-

thousand ways

that something can mean everything--

it's just all in how you do the math.

Do the Math By Meliza Bañales