Mount Hood

Get in Formation

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By: Stephanie Blair 
Copy Editor

For many, Beyoncé was the MVP on Sunday at the Super Bowl. Performing her new single, “Formation,” she took to the field and outshined her fellow half-time performers—side note: does anyone remember who they were? (I was distracted by Queen Bey’s glory.)

However, despite the brilliance of her message, Beyoncé is currently under fire in a debate “about whether it was appropriate for Beyoncé to inject politics into her performance” as the Washington Post phrased it.

Beyoncé and her dancers sported black leather jackets, black berets, and natural hair. This was in a salute to the Black Panther organization and also a tribute to the current Black Lives Matter movement.

Marni Senofonte, Beyoncé’s stylist for the Super Bowl, told Essence magazine that this was a way for her to honor and empower black women.

“The women of the Black Panther Party created a sisterhood and worked right alongside their men fighting police brutality and creating community social programs,” said Senofonte. “That image of women in leadership roles; believing they are a vital part of the struggle is undeniably provocative and served as reference and reality.”

However, not everyone shares this positive view of the performance. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani said that he felt “it was outrageous that she used it as a platform to attack police officers who are the people who protect her and protect us, and keep us alive.”

There have been vast amounts of debate on this subject on social media. I have a few points of my own.

Beyoncé has been a longtime feminist. From her 2011 hit “Run The World (Girls)” to performing in front of the word “FEMINIST” lit up on her last tour, Queen Bey has never been too subtle about her views of gender equality.

I think this was simply a more specific channel for that same message. When the “Formation” music video was released (before the Super Bowl) Essence magazine described it as a “4:53 second ode to Black-girl-ness.”

So, yeah, there’s some race involved. But, and this is important here, it’s not about you, angry, white men!

So, can it Giuliani. This one is about building up one of the most oppressed demographics: black women, not tearing down the highest paid and least incarcerated.

Democracy at its finest

By: Conner Williams
Editor in Chief

If you were confused by what went on this week at the Iowa Caucus, you’re not alone.

Frankly, the system is completely absurd. Let’s take a look at some of the specifics of what a caucus is and how they work.

First, two states have caucuses in place of the voting systems that the other states have. Those two are Iowa and New Hampshire, the latter of which starts this coming Tuesday, Feb. 9.

Iowa has a multistep process for choosing the delegates that are the ones who actually cast the votes that count towards the candidate for the state. The state had a turnout of 171,508 caucus-goers – the second-highest turnout in history behind the 2008 election – and was divided up into 1,683 precincts, which in total will send 11,065 delegates to the county conventions on March 12. Those 11,065 delegates then get cut down to 1,406 to attend congressional district on April 30 and state conventions on June 18.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton narrowly edged out Bernie Sanders by a margin of less than one-half of a percentage point; Clinton came in at 49.9 percent of the caucus votes (701), while Sanders hauled in 49.6 percent (697). Martin O’Malley took in the remaining eight delegates for the grand total of 1,406 that was mentioned earlier. The split between Sanders and Clinton is reportedly the closest result in the 40 years of the Iowa Caucus.

But what do those numbers actually mean? Well, it’s a bit confusing, so hang in there.
Those figures represent estimates of how many delegates will attend the congressional district and state conventions. The percentage points are actually “state delegate equivalents,” as National Public Radio reported.

Because the split between Clinton and Sanders was so close, the state had to resort to its unusually odd and improbable method of tiebreaking: coin flips.

And you can bet that there was a significant amount of controversy over the coin tosses that were used as tie breakers to award delegates for precincts that had an odd number of delegates – and yes, I know what you’re thinking: our highly advanced democratic system employs coin tosses to decide who wins votes? Yes, yes it does.

NPR gave a fantastic example of a hypothetical situation. Say a precinct has 5 delegates to award. The voters for that precinct are split evenly between Sander and Clinton. If it were a precinct with an even number of delegates, they would be divided up evenly down the middle, with half going to Clinton and half to Sanders. But in a precinct with an odd number of delegates – this one with five, for example – a coin toss is used to decide who gets that last one.

There were reportedly six precincts in which the decision for awarding delegates was so tight that they had to be decided with coin tosses. Six tosses, and Clinton won all of them, which is a one in 64 chance of occurring.

But those were just initial reports from The De Moines Register; the narrative has been updated to say that there were many more coin tosses, and Sanders won “at least half of them.” But that still doesn’t change the fact that we’re using the flip of a coin as part of our democratic system.

Despite the outcry over the situation, the coin tosses were for county delegates, not for the state. There is still a long way to go, and with the way things have happened thus far, who knows what could happen in the coming months.

Musings from a woman on the edge

By: Katrina Penaflor
Managing Editor

Would you spend a million dollars on a picture of a potato? Like, the things fries are made of. Also, there will be nothing else in the picture—it’s just a potato on a black background.

It’s not even held by anyone cool, like David Beckham or John Stamos. It’s. Just. A. Potato.

Well, a European businessman did. He spent just over $1 million on a photograph of a spud.

To have the kind of money to just casually be like, “Oh, I think I need a picture of a potato, hopefully I can find one that fits into my budget of a million dollars.”

The picture was taken by Kevin Abosch, a famous Irish photographer, or at least famous enough to credit such an outrageously high sale.

Abosch has taken pictures of people like Stephen Spielberg and Malala Yousafzai, and his photos average a cost of half a million dollars.

This is what Abosch told the Irish Times about the photograph: “I see commonalities between humans and potatoes that speak to our relationship as individuals within a collective species […] generally, the life of a harvested potato is violent and taken for granted. I use the potato as a proxy for the ontological study of the human experience.”

Well, I do have to give it to Abosch. That’s probably one of the greatest and most emotionally gripping potato descriptions I’ve ever read.

But did it make the picture worth its million-dollar price tag? I think not.

I wonder if I started taking pictures of potatoes, if I could bring in that kind of cash. Hell, I’ll settle for 20 dollars for the picture, or 10, I’m not picky.

And, to the man who bought it, I hope it hangs proudly above some lavish fireplace in your home. I also wonder how many times it will be mistaken for a framed Instagram picture of what you were making for dinner one night.

Slow Your Roll

By: Jenna Beresheim
News Editor

As someone who typically doesn’t let the small mishaps in life ruffle her feathers too much, I must admit there has been an underlying tantrum waiting to turn She-Hulk at the next car that nearly runs me over while I cross the street.

It seems innocent enough at first. You’re walking across the crosswalk, only to see the car slowly encroaching down the street towards your squishy, non-vehicular body. It passes into the intersection without wavering, engine so close you can practically feel the heat radiating from it. Cue the “Jaws” theme.

You’re not about to demean yourself and hurl your frame at the curb like some poor human in “Grand Theft Auto,” yet you feel the car rush past right behind you before you have even finished walking the space deemed “safe.”

Let me get one thing straight. I am someone who walks sidewalks and crosswalks like everything else around me is lava. My friends actually tease me about the Sim-like habits I have ingrained in me. I’m not someone who jaywalks or rushes out in an entitled fashion – don’t worry, those humans have a special rant saved for them too. Instead, I am merely trying to get to class or work, and constantly encounter the same problems.

Sometimes, when the rain descends from the heavens in a weak reenactment of “Carrie,” I find myself having to wait for the impatient driver who either runs the stop sign or eyes me and continues driving. I’m so glad you decided in those few seconds that you were more worthy, you, in your warm, dry car, were more entitled to shaving a millisecond off your ETA than allowing me to scurry into the sanctity of shelter awaiting me at the end of puddle city.

I’m not asking for you to stop a thousand feet away and wait a whole five minutes. I only ask that you stay in your designated area at a stop until I have crossed. Fair enough?

But don’t get me wrong, crossing the street is a two-way … well, street. A partnership. If I am the one who stops to wait for you, I expect the passer to not be on their phone, to at least acknowledge I stopped, and to walk with a purpose. A simple wave or smile will do, and then hurry on your way.

If I intend to cross the street, I typically pause and allow cars that have been waiting for the swarms to clear to go, then make my way. I show my appreciation for them actually waiting their turn, (as they could just as easily turn me to paste under their tires) and move briskly to my destination.

It boils down to being considerate of other human beings. Wait your turn and play nice with the other children, and all will play out. I promise that hitting a student or being the one hit by a car will impact your day far worse than showing up to class a few moments late.

Who I Hate Today

By: Declan Hertel
Entertainment Editor

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This is not going to be a rage-vomit like some of my other pieces. You can put away your hate-ponchos and anger-umbrellas, my children, for you will not be soaked with my vitriol today.

I had an epiphany a few nights ago. I have been using an ad-blocking software since the day I heard that was a thing. Unless airing on a certain February Sunday, nobody likes ads. So downloading a free thing that allowed me to block those suckers was a no-brainer.

I eventually had it turned off on pretty much every website, and most of the ones it remained active on just hadn’t asked me to not use it yet. It’s the right thing to do; these sites rely on ad revenue to keep their services free. As a regular user, I am only hurting myself by blocking their ads.

But the epiphany I had was about the site that I originally downloaded it for: YouTube. YouTube never asked me to turn it off, so I never did. But I wasn’t hurting YouTube by denying the ads, I realized I was hurting the creators.

A lot of folks don’t even think about online video as a viable enterprise, even as creators such as Philip DeFranco and Rooster Teeth have built veritable media empires out of it. It hasn’t yet reached legitimacy, despite it quickly becoming one of our most common ways to get information, not to mention its increasing prevalence as a pastime. But I’ll let you in on a piece of inside knowledge: it ain’t free to make that stuff.

Geoff Ramsey of Rooster Teeth spoke about this on the Off Topic podcast: there’s a weird level of entitlement amongst consumers of internet media, that they’re doing the creators a favor by watching their videos at all. In regards to Pewdiepie, one of the most successful YouTubers ever, they say, “he’s got millions of dollars already and a mansion and whatever.” Ramsey says of this: “Yeah, but you know who doesn’t? My crew.”

And that’s what it is. This is a real industry, people. People are trying to make a living producing content for you to watch, for FREE, and all they ask of you is an extra few seconds of your time, an extra few seconds that allows them to do what they love by giving them money to do it. For the love of independent creators everywhere, please: get rid of your ad-blocker.

Musings from a woman on the edge

By: Katrina Penaflor 
Managing Editor

For all the people out there struggling with just about everything in their early 20s, I’m with you.

I’ve often heard the phrase “mid-life crisis” to describe people in their 40s who panic halfway through their life because they’re making a difficult transition into a more serious stage of adulthood.

Well, I’m not in my 40s, although my addiction to Lifetime movies and constantly using the phrase “kids these days” could lead you to believe otherwise, but I do very much believe I’m in the transitional stage of a quarter-life crisis.

Or maybe that’s not even the correct phrase to use here. But I think a lot of students can understand the feeling I’m trying to portray: nearing the end of college where everything tends to get more and more confusing.

I always think, “Wow, I’ve been in college for four years now, I’ve totally got a handle on things.” Wrong. The only thing I have a handle on is a glass of wine after a long week of asking for advice from friends who are succeeding at the whole “being an adult thing” better than I am.

Like, in the office of The Journal the other day our EIC asked if I could call back a person I just spoke to on the phone. He mentioned “*67,” or “*65” or something—see I can’t even remember the right phrase—and I literally had no idea what he meant.

This lead to the questions, could I handle working in an office setting? Do I even want to work in an office in the future? I have no freakin’ clue.

Senior year of college has turned into an endless track of these kinds of questions. So, what is my advice for people suffering a potential quarter-life crisis like I am? I don’t think I have any, because if I did I’d be filtering it into my soul on a daily basis.

I guess the best thing I can say is that no one actually has it all figured out, or ever fully will.

The Mack returns to fight racial injustice

By: Conner Williams 
Editor in Chief

“We take all we want from black culture, but will we show up for black lives?”

The popular Seattle-based rapper/producer-duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis recently debuted a new track entitled “White Privilege II” that analyzes a variety of different racial issues while simultaneously providing the rapper’s personal narrative on his role in the fight for racial justice.

The song itself is a mix between Macklemore’s inner conflict with himself about his place in the discussion as well as a social outcry for the end of systematic white privilege.

Macklemore admits repeatedly that he has exploited hip-hop to benefit himself, saying lines like, “Fake and so plastic, you’ve heisted the magic (in reference to his 2012 debut album “The Heist”), you’ve taken the drums and the accent you rapped in, your brand of hip-hop it’s so fascist and backwards.”

And while Macklemore is known for creating music that provides a narrative for social justice in many aspects, he questions his motives for doing so repeatedly. The song opens up with the line, “Pulled into the parking lot, parked it, zipped up my parka, joined the procession of marchers, in my head like ‘is this awkward? Should I even be here marching?’”

Macklemore wishes to show solidarity with Black Americans, but he isn’t quite sure how to do so, as his very presence may be seen as hypocritical or unwanted. He condemned his own use of social media to show support for Mike Brown by saying, “You can join the march, protest, scream and shout, get on Twitter hash-tag and seem like you’re down, but they see through it all, people believe you now?”

The rapper received a significant amount of hate when he won the Grammy for album of the year for “The Heist” over Kendrick Lamar’s “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City” a few years ago. However, Macklemore posted a photo of a screenshot text he sent to Lamar on his Instagram page in which he admitted that Lamar should have won and that he “got robbed.”

Many believe that Macklemore won the Grammy because of his ethnicity, which is not something that the rapper would disagree with based on his reaction to the victory, and it is part of the white privilege that he discusses in his new song.
The prevalence of white privilege in our society rears its ugly head in many ways. For example, the rate of incarceration for black men in the United States is about 1 in 15, while that for white men is about 1 in 106, according to the Center for American Progress. Additionally, the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that one in three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime. The U.S. Sentencing Commission also stated that black men receive prison sentences that are 10 percent longer than those of white men for the same crime.

The third verse of the track consists of a scenario where a woman approaches Macklemore in what sounds like a restaurant. She begins the conversation by saying she knows he’s by himself and that he doesn’t want to be disturbed, but that her kids love his music so much and are always singing, “I’m gonna pop some tags,” and that he is the only hip-hop artists she lets her kids listen to. She praises him for his song “Same Love,” in which he advocates for gay rights. She only lets her kids listen to him because he “gets it,” that “all that negative stuff isn’t cool.” “The b—–s and the hoes and the gangs and the thugs, even the protest outside, so sad and so dumb. If a cop pulls you over, it’s your fault if you run.”

She was referring to a protest in which participants chanted, “Hands up, don’t shoot!” in reference to the killing of Mike Brown when he was shot in August 2014 while he was unarmed. But yes, it was his fault that he was gunned down while he was unarmed. Macklemore shakes his head and puts down his dishes in the background of the conversation.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ new album “This Unruly Mess I’ve Made” is set to release on Feb. 26.