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Kaia D’Albora The Daily
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Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015
UW Mindfulness Project encourages
students to ‘connect and reflect’
EVENT
HAPPENINGS
AROUND THE UW
‘Marching
to Selma’
marches
to the UW
STUDENT LIFE
HAPPENINGS AT
THE UW
By Kelsey Hamlin The Daily
When asking Bryan Swaffield,
vice president of marketing and
outreach at the UW Mindfulness
Project, to define mindfulness, he
resorted to a single, summarized
quote that is familiar amongst
mindfulness participants.
His answer? “Mindfulness
is paying attention, in the
present, on purpose, and
without judgment.”
With this answer in mind,
a group of UW students
established the UW Mindfulness
Project, in hopes of creating a
place to “slow down, connect,
and reflect.”
The project was formed
in 2013 by Alysha Greig, a
senior majoring in philosophy.
Currently 15 students making up
three committees staff the UW
Mindfulness Project.
As of late, the project has
initiated a “Mini Mindfulness
Center.” Students can take free
classes over the course of the
quarter in Room 287 in Mary
Gates Hall. Registration is not
required and the sessions are
first-come, first-serve.
According to Swaffield,
a senior majoring in
oceanography, nine more
students have decided to take
part in molding the project,
a good handful of whom are
passionate freshmen.
“Our end goal, if we could
have our dream played out right
in front of us, would be to have
a big center,” Swaffield said. “A
building built specifically not
for us, but for our purposes,
and to have rooms available for
other organizations to come in
and use those.”
Swaffield said he was initially
“not too fond” of doing just yoga
and meditation at the Mini
Mindfulness Center, especially
because Greig had always said
47
Class days left
Vol. 123, Issue 52
By Mohammed Kloub
The Daily
Kaia D’Albora The Daily
Students of the UW Mindfulness Project from left to right. Back row: Danny Stofleth, Bryan Swaffield,
Julia Olsen, Hannah Gerson, Anna Johnson, and Kyle Beavert. Front row: Emily Schrick, Sara Kivikas, Alex
McCarthy, Olga Rublinetska, and Amanda Robins.
she wanted to get away from the
idea that mindfulness, outside
of its practice in meditation and
yoga, doesn’t apply to any other
aspect of life.
“So I’d say that, and I talked
to her about this, that there is
room for changes in the future,”
Swaffield said. “We’re just going
to go as simple as we can first,
and just gauge interest level,
and see where we want to take
it. Don’t always expect us to be
solely meditation and yoga. We
do have plans to expand and
incorporate other things.”
Some of the ideas floating
around among the UW
Mindfulness Project members
are services like peer mentoring,
nutritional counseling, drawing
classes, and a designated rest
and relaxation room.
Previously, Greig was
president of the Yogis at UW
club, an essential stepping stone
in her mindfulness journey, she
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said. When she realized a club
couldn’t handle the amount of
people who wanted to take part,
Greig transformed the idea of a
club into a project. As a club, the
Yogis had limits on registration,
so when Grieg moved forward
with the UW Mindfulness
Project, she looked for outside
funding in order to include as
many people as possible.
Grieg’s leadership, however,
goes beyond just job titles.
“Mindfulness, yoga, meditation
don’t change what happens to
me, I have a lot of school work to
do and a lot of difficult choices to
make as a student, they change
how I react to those situations,”
Greig said. “I’m more calm, I’m
more centered.”
Danny Stofleth, the project’s
vice president for project analysis
and a UW graduate student in
communication and education,
found himself expounding
upon his own journey with
mindfulness practices.
“One of the things that’s made
a huge difference for me and
how I deal with other people is
being aware of how distracted
I get with Facebook, my cell,
texting,” Stofleth said. “It’s just
killing time by wasting time on
your phone rather than engaging
with the world around you.”
Mindfulness, according to
the team, isn’t restricted to a
yoga mat. It is an outlook, a very
deliberate sense of awareness
that can relieve stress and make
school a bit more bearable.
Perhaps it can even create an allaround clearer mind.
For more information about
the UW Mindfulness Project,
visit uwmindfulnessproject.com.
Reach reporter Kelsey Hamlin
at [email protected].
Twitter: @KelseyHamlin_UW
For those who lived during
the 1960s, Kane Hall brought
both a reminder of the past
and a vision for the future
Monday night.
David Domke, chair of the
communication department,
presented the first of his fivepart lecture series entitled
“Marching to Selma: How
MLK, LBJ & The Civil Rights
Movement Changed The
World.” The lecture, which
was attended predominantly
by older members of the
Seattle community, provided
a background on voter
discrimination in the United
States and the history of the
Montgomery Bus Boycott.
This year marks the 50th
anniversary of the three Selma
to Montgomery marches of
1965, which culminated in
the passage of the Voting
Rights Act in the same year.
Alongside the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, the Voting
Rights Act worked to outlaw
discrimination based on race,
color, religion, and more in
public accommodations and
voter registration.
“My goal is to educate
about this incredible period
in American history,” Domke
said. “I want to help people
feel the courage and choices
that these people made, to
strengthen people’s current
commitments to positive
social change, and to get
people to actually move and
do things.”
For the first two decades of
his career, Domke specialized
in the study of American
See LECTURE, page 2
Not a missionary, just
taking a position
Shaq Thompson
to NFL
Arts & Leisure // page 5
Sports // page 7
The Daily debuts Indigo’s new sex
and media column
Huskies’ versatile star declares
for April’s NFL draft
2 // News The Daily
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015
LECTURE
from page 1
racial identity and relations. He
now leads yearly “civil rights
pilgrimages” to Selma and
Montgomery, Ala., and other
key locations of the Civil Rights
Movement.
In light of recent outrage
against racial profiling and
police brutality in the United
States, the UW’s communication
department has seen it fit to
study the past to learn how to
combat prejudice and inequality
in the present.
Lecture attendee Henry
Mustin, a 66-year-old retired
doctor, said he believed Domke’s
series serves as both a reminder
of how far the United States has
come and of how much farther
it still has to go to secure true
equality in basic rights like
voting for its entire population.
“There is still a big racial
divide in this country,” Mustin
said. “So the subject is more
relevant than ever.”
Laura Lippman, a 65-year-old
attendee, said while the lecture
was informative, a large portion
of it was review for her.
“I was hoping for a lot
more young people to be in
attendance,” Lippman said.
“I would recommend it to a
younger audience that isn’t
already knowledgeable about the
subject.”
The five-part lecture will
continue on Jan. 19, Feb. 2, Feb.
16, and Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. in Kane
Hall. The four remaining parts
will focus on police violence in
Birmingham, Ala., in 1963, the
1964 Summer of Freedom in
Mississippi, the role of President
Johnson in the civil rights
movement, and the ongoing
struggle for civil rights after
Selma.
A series pass is $150 and
can be purchased online
through the UW Department of
Communication. Single lecture
tickets are $40 and will be sold
at the door if seats are available.
All profits will go to support
students in the communication
department.
Reach reporter Mohammed
Kloub at [email protected].
Twitter: @mkloubUW
Chawin Lertsachanant The Daily
In the first of five lectures, Professor David Domke explains how activists marched from Selma to
Montgomery as part of the Civil Rights Movement. The “Marching to Selma” series will continue with
lectures Jan. 19, Feb. 2, Feb. 16, and Feb. 23.
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The Daily is interested in story tips from
readers. If you see something deserving
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Cummins at [email protected]
or call the newsroom at (206) 543-2700.
Corrections
The Daily strives to write fair and accurate
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Contact Editor-in-Chief Joe Veyera
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Opinion
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015 // 3
Nathan Taft Opinion Editor
[email protected]
Stop music shaming
From Beyoncé to Bon Iver, it shouldn’t matter
Jennifer Kim The Daily
By Dominique Etzel The Daily
Without hesitation,
I pound the “next”
button on my iPod
the second the boy
band shouts and
the catchy melody
picks up in “She
Looks So Perfect”
by 5 Seconds of Summer. I turn toward
everyone with a nervous laugh and try to
defend myself. It makes me cringe to say
that a certain band is my “guilty pleasure,”
yet I repeat myself every time. It is absurd
that we should ever feel guilty about
something that simply makes us happy.
I can’t count on one hand the amount
of times somebody has told me I have
the music taste of a 15-year-old girl. It is
almost as if once you leave your teen years
behind you aren’t allowed to appreciate
the most popular boy-band ballads or the
occasional Justin Bieber throwback.
Too often I refuse to step out of the
house in one of my three One Direction
concert shirts for fear that people would
roll their eyes and scoff in disapproval.
I should not be ashamed to represent
a band that brings me joy, and nobody
should have to live in fear of getting
criticized because of their taste in music.
People listen to the music that
makes them happy because our brains
are wired to process music. Robert J.
Zatorre, a professor of neuroscience at
the Montreal Neurological Institute and
Hospital and McGill University, and
Valorie N. Samilpoor, a postdoctoral
neuroscientist at the Baycrest Health
Sciences’ Rotman Research Institute,
found that the brain releases dopamine
while listening to music, which creates
the “chill” of pleasure we feel at the peak
of our favorite song. Likewise, we know
the songs we gravitate toward when we
are feeling down and what songs make
us want to pull each of our hairs out one
by one. We develop a preference for the
music we like to listen to and it can be
constantly evolving, as can music itself.
Shutting down someone’s music taste
could be more harmful than you think.
You wouldn’t go around judging and
insulting someone’s taste in food. Same
goes for music.
Just because I’m guilty of appreciating
mainstream music every now and then
does not mean I’m going to force you
to listen to “Baby” by Justin Bieber
on repeat for three hours. Similarly, I
would not want to be forced to listen
to country on blast. I am accepting of
music suggestions, but I am tired of
the constant music shaming. We are all
entitled to our own music preference
and we need to stop criticizing the things
people love.
Reach writer Dominique Etzel
at [email protected].
Twitter: @etzeld1
Guest Editorial
For Athletes, A Call to the Classroom
As a student-athlete
development assistant, I work
closely with many of the 650
athletes at UW. Much of my
job involves helping them
balance practice schedules and
course loads, polish up resumes
for internships and summer
opportunities, and hone the
skills they need to be successful
on the field and beyond. For
my juniors and seniors, I also
spend a lot of time talking to
them about what they’ll do once
they hang up their jerseys. Some
consider coaching, others want
to go into business, a few play
with the idea of grad school.
And while they’re all worthwhile
pursuits, not nearly enough
consider the one line of work
for which their lives as studentathletes have so uniquely
prepared them: teaching.
I first noticed the parallels
between my life as a UW
defensive lineman and the
work on education’s front lines
as a teacher in Mississippi.
I’d always been interested
in teaching and so, when
graduation rolled around,
I signed up with Teach For
America. As I found my feet
in the classroom, I had to
grow quickly in areas like
public speaking and classroom
management. As I did, so many
of the traits that had propelled
me to my starting spot at UW,
drove my work as a teacher
forward, too. As a studentathlete, you’ve developed a set
of skills you can apply to make
a real, meaningful difference
as an educator. All those times
you had to play, and play
well, in front of hundreds of
people? They taught you how
to perform under pressure.
Those games where you knew
you were the underdog but you
continued to push forward?
That translates to resilience.
The hundreds of hours you’ve
spent getting lost in the
game with your teammates,
working together to strategize,
communicate, and press
toward your goals? These built
the foundation of skills and
mindsets that principals and
parents look for in the teachers
they want for their kids.
As Huskies, we hold
ourselves and each other to
high standards. Daily, we
live out our community’s
commitment to resiliency,
teamwork, and overcoming
adversity. We dedicate our
hearts and minds to our
respective games, push
ourselves to succeed, celebrate
when we do, and learn and
grow when we don’t. Those
were exactly the mindsets
I brought to the classroom
and the ones I worked hard
every day to cultivate in my
students. My kids and I were a
team, and in order to succeed,
we had to work together,
communicate, trust one
another, take responsibility for
and learn from our mistakes,
and overcome the significant
challenges in front of us to
reach our goals. In short, we
had to leave it all on the field.
And when we reached our
goals — when all my students
passed their unit exams or
turned in their homework on
time — I felt the same rush I
used to get from stuffing the
running back before the line of
scrimmage. That feeling that
drives your commitment to
your sport — that sense of deep
pride that comes only after
practicing and working and
persevering to do your part for
the people counting on you — it
doesn’t go away when you trade
the sports gear for teacher’s
chalk. As athletes, we strive to
jump higher, run faster, push
farther. When we become
teachers, we ask our kids to do
the same. It’s a legacy that lives
on long past any conference
title or national championship.
When my kids graduated
high school last year, the
valedictorian talked about our
class core value of resiliency in
his graduation speech. When I
heard it, I felt like I had just won
the Pac-10. My kids had taken
our classroom values with them
into their daily lives and were
moving on to bright futures.
Victory never tasted so sweet.
Cam Elisara is a UW alum
and former defensive lineman
for the Huskies. He is currently
pursuing a master’s in
educational leadership at UW.
Interested in writing a guest editorial?
Contact the Opinion Editor
at [email protected] or
for more information.
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The Daily welcomes brief letters (250 words or fewer)
from members of the UW community on current issues,
with priority given to letters that relate directly to stories
printed in The Daily.
The Daily also welcomes guest editorials (750 words or
fewer) from members of the UW community on current issues.
The guest editorials we print are selected by a
combination of factors including, but not limited to,
originality, relevance, timeliness, and space. Further, The
Daily has no obligation to print editorials, and will not accept
editorials that were previously printed in other publications.
Submissions must include the author’s full name,
contact information, and UW affiliation: year and major/
department for students, department for faculty and staff,
or degree and year graduated for alumni. The Daily does
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Submissions may be sent to 132 Communications, Box
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emailed to [email protected]. For our full submissions
policy, visit dailyuw.com/contact.
Arts & Leisure
TEACH ME HOW TO HOBBY
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015 // 5
Dylan Teague McDonald A&L Editor
[email protected]
Tweet @ArtsUWDaily
Cosplay
Props
Dress-up for grown-ups
To get obsessed, just follow these steps. Let an expert give you advice on how to start a new vice.
By Maria Giakoumatos
The Daily
Have you ever wanted to dress as
your favorite cartoon characters
with your friends? That’s how I
got into cosplay.
Cosplay — short for “costume
play” — is a performance art
where participants known as
“cosplayers” dress up and take
on roles as specific characters.
Cosplay can be used as a noun
to describe the costume worn by
the person who is into the hobby
(a cosplayer), or it can be used
as verb to describe the act of
dressing up.
Cosplay is more than a
Halloween costume. It is not
bound to a holiday and focuses
more on artistic craft. Cosplayers
spend hours creating costumes
and perfecting their roles to act
as their favorite characters.
Though cosplay is most
commonly associated with
Japanese anime, many cosplay
as characters from all cartoons,
comics, TV shows, and movies.
People gather at pop culture
conventions in cosplays of their
favorite characters to exhibit
their work and meet other
cosplayers. Those who are skilled
at crafts may even choose to
compete in cosplay competitions.
Emerald City Comicon, SakuraCon, and Penny Arcade Expo are
all popular annual conventions
held in the Washington State
Convention Center.
However, cosplay is not
exclusive to conventions. Many
cosplayers hold photo shoots
in settings that resemble their
characters’ origins such as parks,
lakes, forests, and warehouses.
These photos are often displayed
on a cosplayer’s blog, Facebook,
Tumblr, or a cosplay community
site.
I am not a model and I don’t
participate in competitions, but
I have been cosplaying since I
was 13 and frequently attend
local conventions. I love the
creative process of designing
and making costumes and the
feeling of accomplishment that
follows. I have purchased a few
of my cosplays online, but most I
create through modifying sewing
patterns and altering clothes
from thrift stores.
Online purchases
Don’t know how to sew?
Not a problem. Cosplay Magic,
CosplayFU, Hello Cosplay, Moon
Costumes, and QQCosplay are
all high quality and reliable sites
that are great for picking out the
perfect cosplay. Most of them
offer commissions and custom
sizing.
A fine selection of inexpensive
cosplay can be found on eBay,
but the quality may not be
as high. Check seller reviews
before making a purchase. Be
on the lookout for second hand
cosplays, especially from the
United States. Shipping will be
much cheaper and you will get
a better look at what the cosplay
will look like while worn.
Make your own
Making your own cosplay
can definitely save you money.
Your sewing skills may be the
determining factor in what you
choose to make, but don’t be
afraid to think outside the box
for creative loopholes.
Once you pick your desired
cosplay, research helpful hints
from cosplayer blogs. After
getting a general idea on what
you plan on using to make your
cosplay, go to a well-stocked
craft store for materials. You
can find books full of patterns
that will help you cut your fabric
into even pieces and give you
directions on where to sew. If
you can’t find a perfect pattern,
simply alter one by cutting
certain pieces longer or shorter,
or adding on parts like pockets
and belt loops. If you are a
pro at visualizing shapes and
measuring, you can make your
own patterns out of newspaper
or card stock.
Small details on cosplays,
such as stars, stripes, or flowers,
can be made by hand stitching
or fabric paint. Most accessories,
such as hair pieces and jewelry,
can be easily made with beads
You can find tutorials for
making almost any cosplay
prop on YouTube. Wood
dowels can be purchased
from a craft or hardware
store and make for great
staffs that can be attached
to wands or scythes. If
woodworking isn’t your
niche, paper clay is perfect
for making intricate shapes
and holding materials
together. Acrylic paint is
fast-drying and will work
on most materials, as will
spray paint. Swords and
guns can be purchased in
a toy store and painted
to look realistic. If your
weapon looks too realistic,
do not carry it in public
and check with convention
regulations on what is
allowed into the convention
space. If weapons aren’t
your thing, a plush doll or
backpack from the series of
your choice adds flair to any
cosplay. Many props can
also be purchased online
from cosplay sites.
Wigs and other
body mods
Kaia D’Albora The Daily
Keegan Patterson and Maria Giakoumatos as Scott and Ramona from
the comic book series “Scott Pilgrim.”
Though school uniform
and ribbons.
cosplays are an easy place to
Don’t be discouraged if you
start, mascot characters are a
can’t sew an entire outfit or are
fun way to express creativity by
on a budget. Many cosplays can
designing your own outfit. Many
be made by putting together
people cosplay as Pokémon
clothes from thrift stores, and
by making ears and tails, then
easily embellished with fabric
pinning them on to clothes of
paint. Changing buttons on a
similar colors from thrift stores.
jacket can make a surprisingly
Altering hoodie patterns into
big difference. A sailor-style
mascots by adding eyes and ears
collar can easily be sewn from a
single sheet of fabric and pinned
on the hood is quick and easy for
down to a white blouse to make
sewers of all skill levels.
a school uniform.
Fun & Games
The sound around town
Cartoon characters often
have funky hair colors
and styles. If you strive for
accuracy, choose characters
that have your hair color
or purchase a wig. You can
find wigs that are already
styled for your character on
cosplay sites, Arda Wigs,
or eBay. If you choose to
style your wig, check if
it’s heat resistant before
curling or straightening
it. Temporary tattoos and
colored contacts are also
simple modifications that
can greatly increase your
cosplay’s accuracy if needed.
Sex positions
Sexual, not sexualized
By Indigo Trigg-Hauger
The Daily
Sex positions
is a new
column
analyzing
media
from a sex,
gender, and
sexuality perspective.
2014 was a big year for
feminism. Whether you like
it or not, it was everywhere.
Cosmopolitan had a feminist
issue. Time listed it as a
word that should be banned.
Numerous celebrities disavowed
the concept — Shailene Woodley,
Kaley Cuoco, Meghan Trainor.
Others fully embraced it,
and arguably used it to their
advantage, such as Taylor Swift
and Miley Cyrus. But perhaps
two of the biggest proponents
of feminism this past year
were people whose feminism is
constantly debated: Beyoncé and
Nicki Minaj.
It’s no coincidence that
both of these women are
black. Swift went on multiple
talk shows and spoke about
feminism. Yet there was little
debate in the media about it
(despite her vehement position
against it until recently).
Beyoncé, on the other hand,
performed in front of a huge
sign reading “FEMINIST,”
Q&A&L
but is regularly the subject
of debate. “Is she really a
feminist?” is a question people
never get sick of asking. “Is she
really a good role model?”
And this criticism comes
from all corners. Whether or not
they are in favor of feminism,
people are inordinately
concerned about the effect
Beyoncé and Minaj might
have — on men, on women, on
impressionable youth. Will we
all soon be singing “Drunk in
Love” while carrying anacondas
around our necks and slicing
up phallic symbols such as
bananas? Perish the thought.
What people seem most
concerned about is the blatant
sexuality these singers portray.
White celebrities are
rarely subjected to the same
rigorous vetting process. No
one questioned Swift’s feminist
credentials by pointing out the
sexier vibe on her new album.
Few people care to debate the
“feminism” of Cyrus, which
incidentally includes sexually
objectifying black women.
But it has always been this
way: black women’s sexuality is
something to be feared, policed,
co-opted, and ridiculed. The
infamous case of Sarah (or
Saartjie) Baartman is one of the
most well-known. She was a
woman from South Africa, who
was displayed during the 19th
century in Europe as a sort of
By Danielle Palmer-Friedman
The Daily
Develop what?
An old roll of film?
A seafood allergy?
A disfiguring rash?
No!
Illustration by Madeline Kernan The Daily
Hint: American songwriter who sings “I Can Go the Ditsance” from the Disney
animated movie “Hercules.”
Contacting Fun & Games: If you would like to contribute a puzzle, please send it and the key along with your full name and class standing to
[email protected] for review.
Answers to yesterday’s puzzle:
ACROSS: MELIA WATRAS, ALUMNI, PARNASSUS, PARRINGTON, FESTIVUS
DOWN: CARY ELWES, HARBORVIEW, CACTUS, TWENTY-SEVEN, GHOST CAT, COGNIZANT, REDHAWKS
Deadline: Jan. 9
Chawin Lertsachanant The Daily
framed by a scene of her eating
breakfast with her husband.
Beyoncé may be fantasizing
about sexually submitting to her
husband Jay Z, but ultimately it’s
just that — her fantasy, and we’re
only briefly privy to it.
Love or hate their music,
but let’s get one thing straight:
being sexy, and being sexual,
is not the same as inviting
oppression. Having a great ass
does not mean you’re open to
objectification. Minaj, Beyoncé,
Rihanna, Janelle Monáe and
countless other black women are
doing things on their own terms.
It is not their responsibility to
tailor their lives to our ideas
of modesty and respectability.
Whether Rihanna is wearing a
transparent Swarovski crystalcovered dress, or Monaé rocks a
tailored suit, these women are in
control.
Reach sex columnist Indigo
Trigg-Hauger
at [email protected].
Twitter: @uwindigo
Interview with an author: David Shields
Reach writer Maria
Giakoumatos
at [email protected].
But if you’re interested in
writing for The Daily, apply
online for Daily 101, The
Daily’s development class.
freak show, with people ogling
her body. After her death, her
corpse was dissected without
her consent, her genitals cut
off and preserved, and a cast of
her body put on display until
1974. Black women rarely get
to own their sexuality in the
ways white women can without
repercussions. Madonna, Lady
Gaga, and Katy Perry can all
be sexual and empowered,
admired. They are considered
revolutionary, subversive, or at
least innocuous. Black pop stars
don’t get that liberty.
It should make sense then
that modern-day black feminists
would want to reverse the
narrative. Take a closer look: in
the “Anaconda” video, Minaj is
the one in charge. Oftentimes in
videos like this, where there is a
group of women as background
dancers, the lead female singer
is lumped in with them. If there
is a male artist featured on the
track or in the video, he takes
center stage, leading the group
of women. Not here. In this case,
Minaj takes that role, leader
of the pack. Drake is the only
man in the video — and when
he tries to touch, he gets an epic
brush-off. Minaj is turning the
infamous male gaze around.
Beyoncé employs a similar tactic.
Her video for “Partition” might
seem like the song is about doing
anything for a man — but if you
pay attention, the whole thing is
Courtesy photo
David Shields is not a traditional
storyteller. He doesn’t write
novels. To him, plot is a tired,
inadequate, and laughable relic
from centuries past.
If the name David Shields
sounds familiar, it’s because
the man has written as many
books as Kurt Vonnegut. A selfproclaimed workaholic, Shields
is also a tenured professor
at the UW. He teaches
creative writing classes while
simultaneously working on
numerous writing projects.
Not counting his next release,
“I Think You’re Totally Wrong: A
Quarrel,” which he co-wrote with
former student Caleb Powell,
Shields has four more books in
the works.
“I Think You’re Totally Wrong”
is a pruned transcription of a
conversation between Shields and
Powell. The two writers spend a
long weekend in a secluded cabin
discussing, joking, and generally
butting heads.
The premise was Shields’
brainchild; he was looking for
someone to push his buttons,
challenge him with intents of
destruction.
Next quarter, Shields will be
teaching English 384 and 581,
a graduate-level course of his
own creation on literary collage,
while still finding time on the
weekends to travel to major East
and West Coast cities for his
book tour.
But Shields just keep getting
more impressive. He is on a firstname basis with James Franco,
who studied under Shields
at Warren Wilson College for
creative writing. Franco has
made “Wrong” into a movie — a
very low budget movie — that
stars the two of them and Powell.
You can meet the contentious
couple, Shields and Powell, for
a reading and book signing of
“Wrong” on Wednesday at the
University Book Store.
Q: Can you describe — for us
that don’t know — what a
literary collage is?
A: A literary collage is a literary
work that accumulates meaning,
not through the elaboration of
plot, but through the exfoliation
of theme. That might be a little
abstract. That’s the broad idea. It
is essentially a series; it’s rather
like a pointillist painting. …
Basically a collage is hundreds of
separate paragraphs broken up
by white space. And to the casual
reader, it probably looks like a
jumble. … It’s a really hard form.
Q: Of all the books you’ve
written, which was your
favorite to produce, and which
was your favorite end product?
A: A book that was oddly
important to me was a novel
I wrote a long time ago called
“Dead Languages” about
growing up with a bad stuttering
problem. Writing that book
sort of made me a writer, in a
way, because it gave me kind of
control of my language. So that
book was oddly important to
write. … And I think the book
that I’m sort of proudest of is
“Reality Hunger” because I
think it’s probably had the most
influence on people.
Q: There seems to be
something this book says
about a challenge, about
having people about you who
are willing or wanting to fight
you. What do you think the
benefits of a verbal argument
are?
A: Well I think of a couple lines:
… “The value of a work of art can
be measured by the harm spoken
of it.” And then a good way of
glossing that is, a good friend of
mine, Richard Nash says, “The
business of literature is to blow
s--- up.” I just love that. I think
so much work that passes as art
is just a kind of warm bath. It’s
nostalgia, it’s dreamscape, it’s
retreat, it’s doily-making. It’s not
really alive. Like Kafka said, “A
book should be an axe to break
the frozen sea within us.” I take
that really seriously.
Q: What is your favorite thing
about the UW?
A: I feel like what I love about
living in Seattle and teaching at
the UW is that people are trying
to create the future … in a variety
of ways. Through the cloud,
through web stuff, through
technology, through music,
through social media. And that
really matters. I have a respect
for tradition, but my respect for
tradition takes the form of trying
to demolish it. There’s a line I
really love: … “The only way for
French art to move forward is to
burn down the Louvre.”
Reach Development and Special
Sections Editor Danielle PalmerFriedman at [email protected].
Twitter: @DanyellPF
1
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The Daily Sports // 7
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015
Plum’s off night doesn’t slow Huskies
By Erik Erickson The Daily
It’s not often that a basketball
team succeeds when its leading
scorer has a bad night.
And it’s not often that Kelsey
Plum, who entered Monday as the
nation’s leading scorer, has an off
game.
But, despite the sophomore
guard connecting on just 3-of-10
shots Monday, the Washington
women’s basketball team received
double-digit scoring performances
from three others and earned its
first Pac-12 victory with a 7969 victory over Arizona at the
McKale Center.
“It shows our balance,” head
coach Mike Neighbors said.
“Nobody on our bus thinks we
are one dimensional. We all know
that we share it and we can hit you
in a lot of different ways. People,
because [Plum] leads the country
in scoring, want us to think that
she has to score for us to be good,
but everybody on our bus knows
that’s not the case.”
Senior guard Jazmine Davis
scored a season-high 27 points to
go along with four steals and three
assists to lead the Huskies (12-2,
1-1 Pac-12) to their 12th victory of
the season and a road split to open
conference play after a loss to
Arizona State on Saturday.
“Jaz was really in that rhythm,”
Neighbors said. “She had that
takeover look in her eyes. … She
was really in the zone.”
The Wildcats (7-6, 0-2 Pac-12)
cut the UW’s lead to four with
8:42 remaining after a 13-0 run,
but the Huskies knocked down
13 of their final 15 free throws
to seal the victory. Davis’ final
steal with 22 seconds remaining
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Monday at Arizona, W 79-69
squashed any hopes of an Arizona
comeback.
As Plum struggled to find her
rhythm early on, junior forward
Talia Walton scored 15 of her 17
points in the first half and Davis
pitched in 10 to help the Huskies
take a 38-25 lead into the break.
After missing their first two
shots of the game, the Huskies
connected on four 3-pointers —
three from Walton and one from
Davis — to take an early 12-5
lead. The Wildcats cut the lead
back down to four with 11:30
remaining, but Davis connected
on another 3-pointer to put the
Huskies up 21-14 and spark a 2011 UW run to end the half.
“It just gave the kids a little
bit of relief,” Neighbors said on
the early shots. “… It just got
us out to a great start and built
some confidence and some early
momentum, which I thought we
capitalized on.”
Plum missed her first five shots
of the first half before scoring her
first points on a jumper with 3:51
remaining. Her only other points
of the first half came on three free
throws.
Even with the bad shooting
night, the Poway, Calif., native still
finished with 14 points, beating
her season low by one point. Plum
connected on 8-of-9 free throws
and is now shooting 89 percent
from the charity stripe for the
season. She also dished out three
assists and grabbed two rebounds.
Sophomore post Chantel
Osahor did a little bit of
everything in the first half for the
Huskies, coming off the bench
and contributing four points,
four rebounds, and four assists.
The Phoenix native added three
rebounds in the second half.
“She’s become that spark off the
bench for us,” Neighbors said of
Osahor. “… We throw her in there
and it’s like having a third point
guard on the court.”
The Huskies opened the
second half on a 10-4 run and
extended their lead to 48-29
before an Arizona timeout with
16:35 to play. Senior forward
Aminah Williams scored six
points during the stretch after
going scoreless in the first half.
After the timeout, Williams
connected on a layup and Davis
hit a 3-pointer to give the Huskies
a 22-point lead, their largest of the
night. Williams finished with 10
points and 12 rebounds.
“At the start of the second half
I thought we were really good
in transition,” Neighbors said.
“Aminah got out and ran the
floor and we got a couple of easy
baskets and stretched that lead
out to a comfortable number.”
Senior guard Candice Warthen
finished with 18 points, seven
rebounds, and seven assists to lead
the Wildcats.
Next up for the Huskies is
a home matchup with No. 15
Stanford on Friday at 7 p.m. on
the Pac-12 Network. Last year,
the Huskies upset the then-No. 3
Cardinal 87-82 at Alaska Airlines
Arena.
Reach reporter Erik Erickson
at [email protected].
Twitter: @Erik_Erickson
Football notebook
By Daniel Rubens The Daily
Chris Petersen’s first season at the
helm of the Washington football
program ended with a Cactus
Bowl loss Friday. But the Huskies
may have suffered an even bigger
loss Monday when star linebackerturned-running back Shaq
Thompson announced he would
forgo his final year of eligibility
and enter April’s NFL Draft.
Monday’s announcement
signaled the end of a long and
productive college career for
Thompson. But there was no
sadness in his voice as he talked
to the media on a conference call
from San Diego on Monday night.
“It feels real good, I can finally
get it out and not have to keep a
secret anymore,” Thompson said.
“It’s the start of a new life, a new
chapter that I’m ready to move
forward in, and I’m ready to go for
the ride.”
A junior from Sacramento,
Calif., Thompson was a highly
touted safety prospect coming out
of Grant High School after the
2011 season. He came to the UW
and shifted to linebacker, where
he quickly established himself as a
stalwart for the Huskies.
After racking up 152 tackles at
outside linebacker during his first
two years on Montlake, Thompson
played on both sides of the football
this year under Petersen. He
turned in his most impressive
season at the UW, winning the
Paul Hornung Award as the
nation’s most versatile player.
Thompson started 12 games
at linebacker and two at running
back in 2014, finishing with six
touchdowns — four on defense
and two on offense. He was the
Huskies’ third-leading rusher,
with 456 yards on 61 carries and
the third-leading tackler on the
roster with 81. He also had one
sack, one interception, and four
fumble recoveries, three of which
were returned for touchdowns.
While Thompson said he hopes
to play outside linebacker in the
NFL, the potential first-round
pick said playing both ways this
season helped him improve his
overall game.
“I would like to thank Coach
Pete and [the coaching staff] for
allowing me to play both sides,”
Thompson said. “It really helped
perfect my game as a player, just to
understand both sides of the ball,
and it really helped me on offense,
at running back, because I had the
defensive mindset, so I was reading
the defense and linebackers and
anticipating where they’re going to
be … It made me a better football
player, honestly.”
Over the next few months,
Thompson will train in San Diego
as he prepares for the draft, which
takes place in Chicago beginning
April 30. He said he has plans to
come back to the UW at some
time in the near future and
complete his degree.
Troy Williams to transfer
Another piece of news
announced by the Huskies’ football
program Monday morning was
redshirt freshman quarterback
Troy Williams will transfer and
continue his college career at a
new, still-undecided school.
Williams, a native of Carson,
Calif., played in five games for the
Huskies this season, starting in
place of injured sophomore Cyler
Miles in the UW’s 24-10 loss to
Arizona State on Oct. 25. That
night, with gusts of wind reaching
as high as 60 miles per hour
near Husky Stadium, Williams
completed 18-of-26 passes for 139
yards and a pair of interceptions.
Kaia D’ Albora The Daily
Junior forward Talia Walton scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half
of the UW’s win Monday.
Shaq Thompson declares for the NFL Draft
Kaia D’ Albora The Daily
After a stellar three-year career at the UW, Shaq Thompson announced Monday that he will forgo his final
year of eligbility and enter the NFL draft pool.
A week before, Williams scored
the only touchdown of his college
career, coming off the bench to
replace Miles in a loss at Oregon.
Williams was 5-of-10 passing for
37 yards, and rushed for 28 yards
and a 7-yard touchdown in a 4520 loss to the Ducks.
For a team that had major
quarterback problems throughout
the season, the loss of Williams
leaves the Huskies with just three
returning signal-callers. Miles,
who started 11 games this year, is
the favorite to retain his starting
job, but he will face competition
from Jeff Lindquist, who, like
Miles, will be a junior next year,
and K.J. Carta-Samuels, who
redshirted this year.
Huskies welcome three new
faces
While Williams’ departure left
a hole on the quarterback depth
chart, it was immediately filled in
the final piece of roster news from
the day. The Huskies announced
that quarterback Jake Browning,
offensive lineman Devin Burleson,
and defensive back Ezekiel Turner
had enrolled in school and will
join the team for spring camp.
Browning, a native of Folsom,
Calif., is the national record holder
for most touchdown passes in a
season with 91 and a career with
229. He led Folsom High School
to a 16-0 record and was named
California’s Gatorade Player of the
Year for the second time. With
the Huskies light at quarterback
and Browning enrolling early, he
will likely get a shot to impress the
coaching staff in the spring in the
hopes of earning the starting job
come fall.
After grayshirting last season,
Burleson — a former high school
basketball player — enrolled
Monday as well. The 6-foot-7
native of Los Angeles was a wellknown basketball player at St.
John Bosco — the alma mater of
former UW quarterback Keith
Price — before transferring to
Palmdale Highland High School
for the 2013 season.
Lastly, Turner is a defensive
back from Pasadena, Md., who
spent last season at Pierce
College in Los Angeles. Turner
will be a true sophomore in
2015. As a freshman at Pierce,
Turner had 35 tackles and an
80-yard interception return for a
touchdown in seven games.
Reach Sports Editor Daniel
Rubens at [email protected].
Twitter: @drubens12
Sports
By Daniel Rubens The Daily
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015 // 8
Daniel Rubens Sports Editor
[email protected]
Tweet @UWDailySports
PAC-12
POWER RANKINGS
MEN’S BASKETBALL
It’s been a weird year for Pac12 basketball already. There
are a few obvious tiers in the
conference this season, with
Arizona and Utah sticking out
at the top and the Los Angeles
schools languishing near the
bottom.
But in between, there are
a whole lot of questions. Is
Washington the team that won its
first 11 games, the one that lost its
past three, or some combination
in between? Can Stanford
continue to push forward after
a pair of wins over ranked
teams? Which of the conference’s
stragglers will make a move up
the standings in conference play?
These questions and more will
hopefully be answered over the
second half of the year, but,
after the wildness of the Pac12 football season, we aren’t
exactly optimistic. Hopefully, as
it did on the gridiron, the parity
that permeates throughout the
conference from top to bottom
leads to some thrills, spills,
prayers answered, and, ideally, a
whole lot of overtimes. Buckle up.
Kaia D’ Albora The Daily
During the UW’s hot start, sophomore guard Nigel Williams-Goss and his backcourt mates did an excellent job of stopping opposing guards.
Things have changed in the past three games.
1. No. 7 Arizona Wildcats (13-1, 1-0 Pac-12)
Throughout nonconference play, Arizona (unsurprisingly) looked a step ahead of the rest
of the Pac-12. While they suffered a minor blip against UNLV on Dec. 23, the Wildcats
responded with a destruction of rival Arizona State after a 12-day layoff. Sean Miller’s team
is extremely talented, and it looks like the only one in the Pac-12 with national championship
potential. In the ASU game, each of Arizona’s top three players — freshman Stanley Johnson,
junior Brandon Ashley, and sophomore Rondae Hollis-Jefferson — scored 13 points, which
shows the versatility the group has.
2. No. 9 Utah Utes (12-2, 2-0 Pac-12)
If Arizona is the Pac-12’s best team by a significant amount, Utah is second-best by an even
greater amount. After a home sweep of the Los Angeles schools over the weekend, the Utes
are 12-2, and their only losses have been on the road to then-No. 10 Kansas and then-No. 16
San Diego State by a combined seven points. Delon Wright is a workhorse and looks like the
best player in the conference this season, averaging 15.1 points per game while leading the
Pac-12’s best defense.
3. Stanford Cardinal (10-3, 2-0 Pac-12)
Four straight wins have the Cardinal riding high early in conference play, with two of those
wins coming over ranked teams. Further, those wins over ranked teams were in overtime
at Texas and against a previously very impressive Washington team. Stanford looks like a
tournament team again this year, and the Cardinal are already building themselves a solid
resume. Games at UCLA and USC this weekend will give Stanford a chance to stay hot and, if
they can get two wins, jump into the bottom part of the national rankings.
4. Oregon Ducks (11-3, 1-0 Pac-12)
Just like the football team, the basketball-playing Ducks score a heck of a lot. Through 14
games, Nike University is averaging 78.8 points per game, most in the conference, while
outrebounding its opponents by the second-biggest margin in the Pac-12. Unfortunately,
Oregon should again be a tournament team, which disappoints me almost as much the
knowledge that the Ducks’ football team has a chance to win a national title Monday. Ugh.
5. Colorado Buffaloes (9-5, 2-0 Pac-12)
Colorado started conference play well, with home wins against UCLA and USC last weekend.
Whether the Buffs can stay is a bigger question. Colorado is middle-of-the-road in a whole lot
of important categories, and this team tends to have more success in the altitude of Boulder
than it does on the road. We’re going to know a lot more about this team after watching the
Buffs play at Utah, one of the hardest places to play in the conference, Wednesday.
6. California Golden Bears (11-4, 1-1 Pac-12)
For all the talk about Tyrone Wallace, Jordan Mathews was unbelievably good against the UW
on Friday. Mathews dominated the Huskies from start to finish, putting up 31 points in the
upset win over the Huskies. But the Bears followed that up by laying an egg at home against
Washington State. This will be an interesting team to watch over the course of the season, as
they have a couple of really good guards in Mathews and Wallace, as well as some talent on the
inside with David Kravish, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds against the Huskies.
7. Washington Huskies (11-3, 0-2 Pac-12)
Speaking of the Huskies, uh, well, what’s going on with the Huskies? After 11 straight wins to
open the year, the UW has taken a lead and let it get away in each of its past three games, and
now the Huskies are desperate for answers. Head coach Lorenzo Romar had this team playing
excellent defense at the start of the season, but the Huskies have lost hold of that in the past
three games. They need to get back to what they were doing well during that hot start: closing
on shooters, forcing mistakes, and letting Robert Upshaw do his thing inside.
8. Oregon State Beavers (9-4, 0-1 Pac-12)
The Beavers are in eighth essentially because they have
the best record out of the remaining teams, but they
haven’t been impressive so far. Just one of OSU’s nine
wins is over a power conference team, and that team,
Mississippi State, went 3-15 in the SEC last year. The
Beavers didn’t look particularly bad at rival Oregon last
weekend, but they also didn’t inspire any confidence that
they’re more than a mid-level Pac-12 team at best.
9. Washington State Cougars (7-7, 1-1 Pac-12)
Despite having the worst overall record in the
conference, Wazzu somehow went to the Bay Area and
escaped with a win, beating Cal on Sunday after losing its
conference opener to Stanford. As the season goes on, the
Cougars will likely slip down a bit in the rankings, and
the UW needs that to start in Seattle this weekend. But
WSU definitely has something positive going.
10. Arizona State Sun Devils (8-6, 0-1 Pac-12)
Another team without a great win so far, but at least
Arizona State beat the team that beat its rival, in Arizona.
Even if the Wildcats go to the Final Four and ASU gets
left out of the postseason fun (which is more than a slight
possibility), the Sun Devils will get to say that they beat
UNLV and Arizona didn’t, which is something I guess.
And when you’re grasping at straws, something is all
that’s needed.
11. UCLA Bruins (8-7, 0-2 Pac-12)
My, how the mighty have fallen. The most famous
basketball program in the Pac-12 has started this year
slowly, but there is still the hope that things can turn
around as the schedule gets easier. All but one of UCLA’s
seven losses have come against other power conference
teams, and the one that wasn’t was to Gonzaga. But the
Bruins have looked really bad during their current fivegame losing streak, particularly in losses to Kentucky and
Utah, in which they scored a combined 83 points. The
Bruins need a big win to stop the negative momentum
fast, and they get the chance this weekend when the Bay
Area schools visit.
12. USC Trojans (8-6, 0-2 Pac-12)
The Trojans at least kept the game a little closer in Salt
Lake City than their cross-town rivals did, but they still left
the Rockies with two losses. It was a rough nonconference
season too for USC, as the Trojans dropped home games
to Portland State and Army. Ouch. If Trojans fans are
smart, maybe they’ll decide to spend more time outside in
the Southern California sun this winter than on the couch
watching their team play. It’ll at least be less painful that way.
Reach Sports Editor Daniel Rubens at [email protected].
Twitter: @drubens12