A Nation Divided

The proliferation of anti-immigrant legislation

by Kate Wihtol, editor; photo by Phoebe Parker-Shames, editor

It was an early weekday morning in August when Maria Salazar* saw the flashing lights of a police car in her rearview mirror. A South Tucson, Arizona police officer walked up to her window, and what began as a routine stop over a broken taillight quickly developed into one of the scariest moments of her life. Suspicious of her Mexican driver’s license and inability to speak English, the officer called Border Patrol.  A Border Patrol agent came to investigate the situation and sent Maria to a nearby detention center to be held until her unauthorized status was confirmed. Ms. Salazar, the single mother of three young children, is now in the process of deportation and awaits her trial date in December.

Lustin’ for Justin

Fighting for a piece of the Bieb

by Sarah Wool, editor; illustration by Max Robillard, staff artist

I was hunched over a textbook when I heard that jovial sixteen-year-old voice for the first time. It wafted through my half-open windows; it was airy with a hint of rasp—think Lindsay Lohan after a good stay in rehab. “Damn, that girl’s voice is catchy!” I thought to myself. Turns out I wasn’t the only one sent into a groove by the sweet cadence of her song. Days later, I was flipping through radio stations when I heard the melody again!

Darkness in Darwin

Exploring the uglier side of human nature

by Phoebe Parker-Shames, editor; illustrations by Laura Turner, staff artist

Last year, a long-time idol of mine visited CC. David Quammen, a writer of harrowing field biology tales and musings on human nature, delivered a lecture that explained in no uncertain terms that Charles Darwin’s work was the origin of modern scientific endeavors. He explained that any self-respecting student who was even tacitly interested in biology should make haste to pick up a copy of On the Origins of Species in case he or she, god forbid, hadn’t read it before.

The Origins of Yoga

Stretching back to the beginning

by Amanda Flores, guest writer; illustration by Callie Tappe, guest artist

“Man, she’s got a nice yoga ass,” I overheard in Rastall the other day, nearly causing me to choke on my tater tot. I never think of attaining a “nice yoga ass” as a major objective during my practice, so this frank statement caught me off guard. Yoga has recently become a prominent part of pop culture, largely commercialized as a means of achieving a toned stomach, butt, and thighs.  It is also labeled as weird and “new age”—a hobby for menopausal hippies. Somewhere along the way, yoga has lost its original meaning and principles. Outside of its physical practice, what does yoga, at its core, teach us? And where did it come from?

The Trout that Almost Was

Two mascots throw down in 1994

by Sam Brasch, editor; illustratinos by Eleanor Anderson, editor

In the spring of 1994, when Colorado College student Andrew Brown heard that the football team planned to hold a rally against him and his fish, he answered right back with a rally of his own. For the larger part of the year, Brown, a senior at the time, had fought in favor of a change that would have transformed every Colorado College student into something new. No longer would students be just another hackneyed team of Tigers. No. They would be Colorado Greenback Cutthroat Trout.

Bandz that Bind

An elastic obsession

by Aly Wisler, guest writer, and Kathleen Hallgren, editor; images courtesy of Chelsea Davenport

Livestrong wristbands at least give the illusion of helping Lance fight cancer. Watches tell the time. Bracelets, whether jeweled or woven, tend to hold some aesthetic value. But SillyBandz—the silicone rubber bands that hold the shape of an animal or object when not wrapped around a wrist—defy any simple explanation of function. “They are silly bands of rubber silliness that have no purpose in life except to make people of our age connect with our childhood,” says sophomore Noelani Kawashima.

Stuck on a Yo-Yo: Southern Origins, Diaspora and Homecoming

Part 1: Can I call it thoughtless? A narrative introduction

a series by Max Thorn, guest writer; illustrations by Cindi Taylor, guest artist

At the time, I was ready to leave. I hated the façade of gentility, the conservatism, the pearls and the neckties, and most of all, the summer heat. I liked barbecue, but not much else about the South escaped my verbal berating. Besides outright disparagement, indifference seemed like the only other option—such was my acquired disposition. So three years ago, when it came time to apply to colleges, my two criteria were “small, liberal arts college” and “not in the South.”

The Original Environmentalist

Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking Silent Spring

by Joel Minor, guest writer; illustration by Lucy Holtsnider, staff artist

In most academic disciplines taught at CC, an FYE or introductory course can trace the field’s origin to a few individuals whose work pioneered the discipline. Drama students study Sophocles, English students have Shakespeare, physicists Newton, and economists Adam Smith. Yet students of environmental studies, like myself, skip straight to Global Climate Change, jumping right into the thick of the biggest issue facing both our discipline and our world. In a subject devoted to problems of the present, there’s a sense in many environmental classes that there is simply no time to ponder the origins of the field and the people that built its foundations.

The CC Hippie Revival

Is it possible to be a real hippie in the modern world?

by Giulio Brandi, staff writer; illustration by Sarah Wool, editor

Do you hang a dream catcher in your car? If so, you might be asleep at the wheel—not just the wheel of your 4WD SUV, but also at the wheel of your life. The resurgence of hippie culture is in full bloom, but don’t be alarmed; this isn’t anything new. In fact, the hippie revival seems to be kind of old hat nowadays, as it’s changed its shape several times since the ’60s.

The Ghost of Ciphers Past

Looking back to the start of it all

words and image compilation by Andrea Tudhope, editor

Poking around in the library, I recently stumbled upon a large brown book, its bridge labeled “CIPHER, DEC. 1997 – MAY 2001.” I opened it up, and once I got past the dusty smell of old, yellowed pages (a longstanding obsession of mine), I saw the front page of the very first issue of the Cipher.

It looked so alien to me—a real, black-and-white, thin-paper newspaper—the kind that leaves smoky smudges and the slightly metallic smell of ink on your fingertips. No color, no funky artwork . . . no way was this the Cipher.