Is Legal Age 21 Making Our Nation’s

Drinking Problem Worse?

Depression Among College Students:

Growth vs. Expression

A Call for the End ofChristian Hypocrisy

OCTOBER 2009

2 Oct. 2009

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vol. 5 issue 1

The theme of this issue is “Bringing Social Justice Back Home,” back to L.A and to LMU. We often talk about social justice issues that are taking place thousands of miles away, as reported by students who experienced them first-hand in previous issues of the magazine. This issue not only talks about social justice and raises awareness of problems that have been long ignored, but also strives to integrate social justice back into the LMU community, engraving its presence on campus and beyond by offering several ways to be aggressive participants of social justice in our everyday life. One-third of the mission of LMU is “the service of faith and promotion of justice”. As a college magazine that tackles this responsibility in its pages, Passion Magazine aims to bring fresh and cutting-edge ways to educate, promote and encourage the service for others in the LMU community. This issue of Passion Magazine challenges the student, the faculty, the staff, the parent, and all of the members of the LMU community to take a step further and pull social justice into their everyday life. It is important to talk about issues that are relevant to campus life, like Jessica Vega’s look at depression on college campuses, and Naivasha Dean’s article about the problems associated with the legal drinking age. We encourage the whole of the LMU community to dare, to ask, and above all, to act upon our natural drive to serve others. The member of the LMU staff featured in this issue, Elias Wondimu (by Heather Moline), captivates one of the numerous remarkable personalities who personify the LMU mission statement . In conjunction, important questions about faith and Christianity are raised by Carlos Rodriguez in his call to rectify the routes of his fellow Christians towards justice. We explore justice on campus further with Tiffany Altig’s “Corporate Irresponsibility and Sodexo,” which addresses one of the most debated issues among LMU students. These and other pieces give October’s issue of Passion Magazine a more localized perspective. With this issue, Passion Magazine strives to inspire you to embark on a more personalized quest towards the true meaning of social justice, and towards what it means to be part of it as a member of the LMU community. Passion Magazine invites you to delve deeper into the LMU mission statement that is carved deep into our instincts, and to have the audacity and tenacious spontaneity to ask yourself

“What am I doing in the name of social justice today?”

By Mahtem Shiferraw Editor-in-Chief Passion Magazine

WHAT’S INSIDE

EDITOR’S NOTE

3 EDITOR’S NOTE by Mahtem Shiferraw

4 Injustice: The Power of Facing Unpleasant Facts by David Azevedo

5 Why Elias Wondimu is a Cool Dude by Heather Moline

6 The Spotlight: Underwings Praxis, Late Night & ASLMU’s Environmental Responsibility Committee

8 Looking Outside the Bottle by Naivasha Dean

10 Expression & Depression by Jessica Vega

12 Giving From Guilt by Elizabeth Chitty

13 Fall in Love, Stay in Love by Hannah Sheehan

14 Betrayal Once Again by Carlos Rodriguez

16 Re-Entering a Forgotten Faith by Heather Moline

17 Crisis in Africa 101 by Ohemaah Ntiamoah

18 Corporate Irresponsibility and Sodexo by Tiffany Altig

20 Blind to the Masses by Keyon Mitchell

20 Prejudice by Hannah Sheehan

21 I Am An Immigrant by Mahtem Shiferraw

The Power of Facing Unpleasant Facts - DAVID AZEVEDO SENIOR EDITOR

If you’re reading this, you’re interested in social justice. Good for you. Unfortunately, you’ve put yourself in a precarious position: what you read in this article and this magazine will make you think outside the comfort zone of your worldview, culture, and perspective of life. The things you learn in this maga-zine—and everywhere else, if you continue your search elsewhere—will hold you responsible to their reality. Once you’ve witnessed injustice, you can never go back. George Orwell (of 1984 fame) once said that his greatest talent was the “power of facing unpleasant facts”. Indeed it was: the majority of his writings were accounts of his real-life immersive experiences in social mires of the 1920s and 1930s. It is remarkably disturbing to read his account of spending the night in a “spike” (British term for a homeless shelter) and then talk with the homeless today and realize Orwell’s social critique still applies eighty years later. There are two ways this article can go from that statement. The first is to gripe about how terrible it is that humanity within the span of 80 years can’t be better. The second way is to accept the unpleasant facts for what they are. Trick question: both ways are flawed. Humanity has gotten better in the past 80 years. There has been significantly less warfare, there are more people living

in better conditions than before, and more and more countries are extending civil rights to their people. The problem with the second option is that we can say we accept the unpleasant facts, but to face them is something entirely different. Think of how many times a day you are bombarded with stories of injustice—and how much of your life you spend doing something about it. To be aware of an unpleasant fact is different than facing it. To be aware is to let it go through one ear and out the other; to face it, in contrast, is to glare at the prob-lem straight in the eye, refusing to back off until that fact is changed. So here’s the challenge. Face the world’s unpleas-ant facts—and keep them in your sight while you work to change them. Since you only have two eyes, you might have to focus on one issue at a time. Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams said that she would have never won her fight to internationally ban land mines had she been “preoccupied” with other causes. If “finding a cause” conflicts you, maybe your calling is to do what George Orwell did, and, for brief spans of time, stare each unpleasant fact in the face and share your experience with others. You don’t even have to commit your entire life to a cause; people with jobs and families have still managed to change the world too. All that matters is that we realize we cannot change the world unless we harness the power of facing unpleasant facts—and making those facts fiction.

The things you learn in this magazine will hold you responsible to their reality. Once you’ve witnessed injus-tice, you can never go back.

THEBOTTOMLINE: California’s corrections system has some of the highest costs per inmate, the most violence,

4 Oct. 2009

the highest rate of parolees going back to prison and the worst crowding of any other state in America.

I f you’d like to meet a smiling Ethiopian who is changing the world, take a stroll to the Mary-mount Institute, on the third floor at the front end of U-Hall, and have a five-minute or six-hour conversation with world-renowned pub-lisher and peace activist Elias Wondimu. Elias, a United Peace Foundation Ambassa-dor for Peace, was a journalist in Ethiopia until 1994, when he was exiled for political protesta-tion against the government, which has unlaw-fully detained thousands of ethnic minority citizens who dared oppose it. “You are faced with two choices,” he told LA Weekly. “First, you are doomed never to see any of your family, or, second, you die.” But Elias’ experience of loss and social injus tice have inspired him to become one of the most inspirational Ethiopian expatriates alive. He has created Tsehai Publishers and the Afri-can Academic Press, publishing companies which operate under the mission of providing “a venue for influential writers whose works may otherwise go unpublished…and through these efforts to achieve wider goals of fostering inter-cultural dialogue and social justice.” Elias, with his peer group of African intellectuals and global publishers, selects authors whose works

provide the unseen African perspective. Their selection and commitment expands the limited reach of African knowledge production, which is currently 3% of the global total, barely a blip from a continent of a billion people. Elias and his press have had their headquarters at LMU for two years, and he is always searching for committed, passionate and open-minded interns to help him with copy editing, publicity, and African research. If you don’t have the time for participation in these projects, at least have a conversation with this remarkable man about his vision for the world. He has one specifically for LMU students: “Become a person, or better yet, a generation, who won’t tolerate any form of injus-tice. If you don’t, you will have everything except a safe world to live in.” -HEATHER MOLINE STAFF WRITER

THEBOTTOMLINE: California’s corrections system has some of the highest costs per inmate, the most violence,

vol. 5 issue 1

This is an exciting year for environmentalism and its relationship with at LMU. As some of you know, LMU University Affairs has added an environment-related position to ASLMU. For years to come, the ASLMU Director of Environmental Responsibility will serve as the student manager of the LMU Farmers’ Market and will put on programs to educate and engage the student population.As ASLMU’s first Director of Environmental Responsibility, one of my main goals is to show LMU that many environmental issues are truly interconnected with social justice issues. The majority of LMU students, many of whom are deeply concerned about social justice issues, have not yet recognized that environmentalism’s hot issue (pun intended) is actually a social justice issue as well. That’s right—Climate Change is a social justice issue! If climate change occurs as drastically as predicted, there will be starvation, wars over natural resources, climate refu-gees seeking aid, and a host of other dire situations. Luckily, we have a small window of opportunity that may grant us the chance to reduce the severity of climate change. In this era, the dangers of such environmental issues like climate change will not be lessened without political intervention. It’s time for LMU students to come together and use our powerful voices to encourage our government to protect the people (and other living beings) of our planet. Throughout this school year, my programming team and I will be hosting several programs that will allow students to become informed and active in this regard. My hope is that, through groups like ECO (Environmentally Conscious & Organized) Students, and through the institution of an environmental position on ASLMU, LMU will undergo a bottom-up transformation. LMU is far behind most universities nationwide when it comes to environmental stewardship. In fact, we recently earned a grade of C- on our “Green Report Card,” as documented by The College Sustainability Report Card Organization. This is discouraging news, but we live in an exciting time for environmentalism, and the fact that there is room for environmentalism to grow at LMU adds to the excitement. There is much work to be done, and together, as concerned, passionate, informed LMU students, I believe that we can change our university and our world. It starts with me and it starts with you.

-JASMINE ABDULLASTAFF WRITER

UnderwingsPraxis

LateNight

- DANI DIRKS

This is an exciting year for environmentalism and its relationship with at LMU. As some of you know, LMU University Affairs has added an environment-related position to ASLMU. For years to come, the ASLMU Director of Environmental Responsibility will serve as the student manager of the LMU Farmers’ Market and will put on programs to educate and engage the student population.As ASLMU’s first Director of Environmental Responsibility, one of my main goals is to show LMU that many environmental issues are truly interconnected with social justice issues. The majority of LMU students, many of whom are deeply concerned about social justice issues, have not yet recognized that environmentalism’s hot issue (pun intended) is actually a social justice issue as well. That’s right—Climate Change is a social justice issue! If climate change occurs as drastically as predicted, there will be starvation, wars over natural resources, climate refu-gees seeking aid, and a host of other dire situations. Luckily, we have a small window of opportunity that may grant us the chance to reduce the severity of climate change. In this era, the dangers of such environmental issues like climate change will not be lessened without political intervention. It’s time for LMU students to come together and use our powerful voices to encourage our government to protect the people (and other living beings) of our planet. Throughout this school year, my programming team and I will be hosting several programs that will allow students to become informed and active in this regard. My hope is that, through groups like ECO (Environmentally Conscious & Organized) Students, and through the institution of an environmental position on ASLMU, LMU will undergo a bottom-up transformation. LMU is far behind most universities nationwide when it comes to environmental stewardship. In fact, we recently earned a grade of C- on our “Green Report Card,” as documented by The College Sustainability Report Card Organization. This is discouraging news, but we live in an exciting time for environmentalism, and the fact that there is room for environmentalism to grow at LMU adds to the excitement. There is much work to be done, and together, as concerned, passionate, informed LMU students, I believe that we can change our university and our world. It starts with me and it starts with you.

-KIMBERLY TOMICICH CONTRIBUTOR

- DANI DIRKS

ASLMU’s Environmental Responsibility Committee

recently received a grade of B- on our “Green Report Card,” put together by The College Sustainability Report Card Organization. This is discouraging news, but we live in an exciting time for environmentalism, and the fact that there is room for environmentalism to grow at LMU adds to the excitement. There is much work to be done, and together, as concerned, passion-ate, informed LMU students, I believe that we can change our university and our world. It starts with me and it starts with you.

You can find our Green Report Card at (http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2009/schools/loyola-marymount-university).

This is an exciting year for environmentalism at LMU. As some of you know, LMU University Affairs has added an environment-related position to ASLMU. For years to come, the ASLMU Director of Environmental Responsibility will serve as the student manager of the LMU Farmers’ Market and will put on programs to educate and engage the student population. As ASLMU’s first Director of Environmental Respon-sibility, one of my main goals is to show LMU that many environmental issues are truly social justice issues. The majority of LMU students, many of whom are deeply concerned about social justice, have not yet recognized that environmentalism’s hot topic (pun intended) is actually a social justice issue as well. That’s right—cli-mate change is a social justice issue! If climate change occurs as drastically as predicted, there will be starva-tion, wars over natural resources, climate refugees seeking aid, and a host of other dire situations. Luckily, we have a small window of opportunity that may grant us the chance to reduce the severity of climate change. In this era, the dangers of such environmental issues will not be lessened without political intervention. It’s time for LMU students to come together and use our power-ful voices to encourage our government to protect the people (and other living beings) of our planet. Throughout this school year, my programming team and I will be hosting several programs that will allow students to become informed and active in this regard. My hope is that, through groups like ECO (Environ-mentally Conscious & Organized) Students, and through the institution of an environmental position on ASLMU, LMU will undergo a bottom-up transforma-tion. LMU is behind most universities nationwide when it comes to environmental stewardship. In fact, we

UPCOMING EVENTSMeatless MealTuesday, November 10 @ 7pm in The Hill

Vegetarian Informational Dinner*While eating meatless food, students will learn

about the environmental & economic benefits, & the social justice impact of a vegetarian diet via a slide show and presentation.

8 Oct. 2009

According to the Surgeon General, it is the most serious public health problem on American college campuses today. It’s not swine flu, and it’s not herpes. It’s not even drugs. It’s binge drinking. But before you assume that this is another article written to chastise you about your irresponsible drinking habits, read on. You all know the statistics already, thanks to organizations like Heads-Up, who are really doing their best to save you from your-selves. 1,700 college students die each year from alcohol-related injuries, including motor vehicle crashes. 25 percent of students report academic

consequences of their drinking. Over two out of every five college students are binge drinkers. Here are some statistics that I think are a little more illuminating: Students under 21 consume nearly half of all the alcohol consumed in college. Binge drinking is highest in the 18-20 year old age group. 80 percent of people in America have tried alcohol by age 20. Heads-Up itself identifies fresh-men as “high risk students.” But wait - isn’t our national drinking age 21? Yes, our drinking age is 21. It has been since 1984, when Congress passed the National Minimum Drink-ing Age Act, which imposed a penalty of 10% of a State’s federal highway appropriation on any State

vol. 5 issue 1

setting its drinking age lower than 21 (the word is still out as to whether this “incentive” is even constitu-tional). The USA is now in an elite club. Only three other countries restrict purchasing drinks to those 21 or older: Mongolia, Palau, and Indonesia. Most other developed nations in the world set their age at 18 (and, strangely, they all have a lower proportion of alcohol-related traffic fatalities). What I’m getting at here is that our drinking laws are indisputably flawed. Legal Age 21 is not working at LMU or at any other college. If in doubt, attend ASL-MU’s After Sunset event or the Glow Party. Or wait until next fall, sit outside Pizza Del Rey and count the ambulances during freshman move-in weekend. Not only is Legal Age 21 not working to protect young people from their inevitable bad decisions, many also believe that it actually exacerbates the problem. Think back to freshman year (even if you don’t drink, I’m sure you’ve seen this happen.) Way too many people crowd in a dorm room before a basketball game or party, shushing each other. Someone has managed to get a case of beer or a handle of vodka. The room’s occupants don’t know when they’ll be able to get alcohol again, and they know it’s not safe to keep it in the room. So they drink the alcohol as fast as possible, to ensure that they’ll be buzzed enough to enjoy what-ever event they are heading to. Young students con-sume alcohol quickly, quietly, and behind closed doors, and they do it a lot. They do it this way because they would get in a lot of trouble if they tried to drink alcohol out in public. Like what happened during the 1920s Prohibition era (which we ironically now associate with hard-partying), our drinking age has forced youthful drinking underground where no-one, not the EMTs, not Heads-Up, and not P-Safe, can keep an eye on it.

Drinking is fun. Kids are going to drink. As the statistics show, nobody is going to stop them. I have trouble believing that kids would choose to sit in a crowded dorm room in silence taking shot after shot before a night out if they were given the option to drink more slowly and less secretively in public. Studies are showing that these dangerous drinking habits stick around even after people become legal, leading to increased problems with alcoholism later in life. These unrealistic expectations also set us up to come in conflict with the law very early and very often, breeding in many of us a disrespect for authority that may other-wise be more tempered. If we are really serious as a society about solving this problem of binge drinking, which not only endan-gers the lives of young people but also poses a huge economic cost to taxpayers, then we need to think outside the bottle, stop blaming students, and look at the root of the issue. If people are treated like children, they are going to act like children. Before we turn 21, we have the right to vote, smoke, marry, live indepen-dently, and die for our country, but not have a beer at a basketball game. This would be silly even if it weren’t for the fact that we face a very serious and very danger-ous drinking problem as a nation. I hate to say it, but no matter how little sense our drinking age makes, it’s probably not going anywhere for a while. The supporters of Legal Age 21 still out-number the critics. We are still the restrictive, law-loving nation founded by Puritans that we were when we introduced Prohibition. And the longer that college students make headlines by acting like animals under the influence, the more fodder we will give the law’s advocates. But if we ever do lower our drinking age, maybe we can serve as a good example to Mongolia, Indonesia, and Palau.

10 Oct. 2009

-JESSICA VEGACONTRIBUTOR

vol. 5 issue 1

-ELIZABETH CHITTYCONTRIBUTOR

-HANNAH SHEEHANCONTRIBUTOR

vol. 5 issue 1

-CARLOS RODRIGUEZHRC COORDINATOR

The presidents of Loyola Marymount University. The past four presidents of ASLMU. More than 70% of tenure-track faculty at the Westchester campus. Seven out of nine of the head administrators on campus (the president, chancellor, provost, and senior vice presidents). Five of seven college deans. Nine of ten filmmakers honored at LMU’s annual Film Outside the Frame. Uncertain about what these people have in com-mon?Try the following: 90% of leading journalists, 90% of Fortune 500 CEOs, all the past presidents of the United States. The entirety of authority in the Roman Catholic Church. The answer is gender, an answer that we should notice, considering that women in US colleges outnumber men by a continuously-growing 2.5 million (National Center for Education Statistics). Why, you skeptics are asking, does this analysis matter? Is it an inherent gender inequality, the fate of the universe because Adam got lucky and came first (which is questionable, due to Biblical transla-tion issues; ask Dr. Charlotte Radler in the theol-ogy department)? Is it a happenstance detail only sought-out by bra-burning, overly zealous, feminist Passion reporters? The truth is that the lack of women in leadership roles is so ingrained into society that we sometimes cease to notice it. Women’s rights are considered an old issue, “resolved” after the suffrage move-

ment finally triumphed in 1920. The most impor-tant part of changing the problem is to realize the problem still exists. Women’s suffrage is still a necessary fight. To complacently dismiss the issue, so easily spotted in multiple statistics, would be to perpetuate it. Although LMU has bragging rights over the United States as a whole, the dominating presence of male leadership on campus has made its mark. There’s no ignoring that only 6 of 27 ASLMU presidents were female. And when women form a negligible amount of the administration at a 60% female institution, someone has to ask the question, is there something wrong, or lesser, about being female? Is the male capacity for public leadership inherent, biological, eternal? If so, what exactly do you tell those young women who feel the genuine passion to lead? Sorry, you must be wrong?Seeing as that’s hard to believe, I suggest the oppo-site.The only way to address the issue is to actively encour age young women leaders in their pursuit. To go a step further, perhaps the most suitable course of action would be to take Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s advice, from PeaceJam at LMU:

“Women should just tell men they’ve made a mess and need to get out of the way.”

16 Oct. 2009-HEATHER MOLINESTAFF WRITER

Re-Entering aForgotten Fight

I worry about the perception of Africa that LMU students are getting by being exposed to information about the continent solely through cause-driven events. Raising awareness about another war or crisis in Africa is necessary

and appreciated, but it is not a substitute for learning about how the continent actually operates and what kind of place it is. Without knowing the history behind the faces we see on the fliers, we will never move past a sense of pity for Africa. We will never give Africa the respect that it is due. It is a great continent with as many heroes as villains, and as many unsung victories as lost causes. My friends and I started two organizations on our campus specifically for the purpose of moving away from this limited focus – a dance group, the African Queens, attempting to show that not all is bitterness and pain on that continent, and a club, Melkam-Akwaaba, dedi-

cated to correcting misconceptions. Recently a campus event called The Real Africa: Through Our Eyes gave students the chance to learn about Africa from their peers who had gone there through Study Abroad or Alternative Breaks. Perhaps in no other context would LMU students learn that Africa has cities just as developed as our cities here, that many house-holds have maids, or that the currencies of some African nations, the Ghana Cedi for example, is at least equal in value to the U.S. dollar and at times worth more. I have never learned about African commerce in my business classes, even though I know from personal

experience that business, e-commerce, and international trade are alive and well on that continent. It saddens me that such a vibrant, bright, enlightened campus is missing out on a whole side of

Africa. As a university, we have done well in part – we have successfully peeled back at least a portion of the painting of the real Africa. Now if we could

only unveil the other half of the picture, oh what beauty, what elegance, we would discover – Africa, in all its glory.

LMU has always prided itself on providing its students with a well-rounded education. Yet when it comes to the continent of Africa, LMU fails to set an academic standard. As a result, the marginal knowledge that the student body pos-sesses is limited and one-sided. Because of the scarcity of classes in every department that concentrate on African issues (as any look at the University Bulletin will show), the LMU population is confined to learning about bits and pieces of Africa through panelists and guest speakers. We attend on-campus Africa-themed events that essentially sum up to one long course: Crises in Africa 101. This figurative class is all the education about Africa that most students have had at LMU because their studies have been concentrated on the history, politics, cultures, business practices and languages of the Greeks, Romans, Europeans, Asians, Latin Ameri-cans, and African-Americans. When I first came from Ghana, learnt English and began school in the West, I eventually accepted the fact that Africa as a topic was not really taught in K-12, with the exception of Egypt. But at an institution of higher learning, especially one that professes to educate the whole person, I was looking forward to finally having the opportunity to catch up. The reality I faced at LMU was that we do not even have an African Studies depart-ment, nor do we offer any classes in any African languages, not even pan-African ones, with the exception of Arabic. I quickly discovered that nowhere at LMU would I be taught, for example, the history, philosophy, or languages of the Ashanti Empire, my own ancestry.

vol. 5 issue 1

-OHEMAAH NTIAMOAHSTAFF WRITER

Most LMU students are aware that our school’s food service provider, Sodexo, has ethically con-troversial practices. The Loyolan has published articles about students’ dissatisfaction with the company’s constant price hikes, and most of us are aware that something is not quite right. But what exactly is it?Sodexo is an international company with 6,000 locations, and employs 110,000 people in the United States. While they boast about the industry awards they receive for being a leading employer of Latina women and for having a great employee diversity, they do not address their client’s con-cerns about where the money goes and how the employees are treated. Complaints are not unique to LMU. Across the country, universities have fought against the company’s poor quality and unfair pricing, demonstrating their disapproval through boycotts and official complaints. Sodexo has silenced the complaints and used the power of their campus monopoly to override students concerns. They claim to be committed to “improv-ing the quality of life for the people [they] serve,” but shouldn’t they be equally concerned with the quality of life of their employees?

At the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) panel that was held on campus on Septem-ber 30th, speakers were invited to share their views of how the business world can be and needs to be a presence in social justice. While Rachel Fienberg Steinman, the director of environmental sustainability and CSR at Sodexo, explained the ways in which the company strives to reduce waste, conserve water, and support local producers, she was unable to explain how employees that have been diligently working for the company for decades are still not making a “living wage,” which is estimated at $11.25 per hour for citizens of Los Angeles. Several students took advantage of the open Q&A session to demand answers from Sodexo, and questioned Sodexo’s policies on employee wages, employee-manager communica-tion, and the overall way in which the company presents itself as something radically different than it is. Yet, they were either not acknowledged specifically, or were given roundabout answers. When prices are increased due to market con-cerns and in order to fund sustainability projects,

18 Oct. 2009

-TIFFANY ALTIGSTAFF WRITER

why isn’t there a portion going to the workers who are the most important members of the “service” they supply? They work long hours, do their jobs diligently, and deserve to be justly compensated for their labor. When asked specifically about employee compensation, Sodexo deferred to how they have taught their employees about commit-ment to sustainability and have given them the tools they need to practice. However, they do not have the tools to lobby for fair treatment and pay. Sodexo claims to have ways for employees to voice their concerns and a corporate policy of non-retaliation, but this is little assurance to employ-ees who depend on their jobs for survival. Sodexo distracts us by claiming to be a conscien-tious contributor to sustainability, but these steps do not fix the problem at the heart of our anger with the company. They talk about sustaining our environment but do not seem to care about the inability of their employment to sustain an ade-quate living for their employees. Students are

directed by Sodexo to pose comments to the management chain within the specific location (LMU), but in order for this to exist, year after year it is not a “site specific” problem. What can we do? According to Sodexo, we must look at the

“Conditions that lead to the problem” and create a “strategic opposition to overcome the barriers.” This tactic used to defer our complaints and channel them into a different system is another way in which their power as a monopoly prevents any progress from being made. Sodexo cannot continue to operate as they have been. Outra-geous prices dictated to students and the insuf-ficient wages for their workers must be addressed.

Blind to the MassesBy: Keyon Mitchell

Although I am in love that does not mean that I am blind towards the masses.Blind to the masses like workers in sweatshops who remain cashless, but not seamless.They work harder to cash checks yet get checked by the struggle.It is struggle that be; the struggle that you and I rarely see.Stirred in pots of turmoil and despair waking up with matted hair. Their only care is whether or not they actually get food from a pot that has been stirred by one of God’s loving hands.

I am not blind to the masses, my eyes are open. I am a token that you can put forth hope in.That last token that they have to ride the bus.That last token they hope would stay but leaves in a rush

That last token of solidarity. As words of knowledge in a suit walk by with words unspoken.“Can you spare some change?” Look at their tearsAs silence falls on poor ears.Some have spent more years on streets than we have in classrooms and functional bathrooms.Trying to get fed with no spoon.Like a Sub-Saharan tomb,It is the birth of a desolated nation in a dry womb.

I am not blind to the masses, my eyes are open. I am a token that you can put forth hope in.That last token that they have to ride the bus.That last token they hope would stay but leaves in a rush

I am not blind to the masses because I am apart of it.Now that my family is doing well, and my heart is rich.Does not mean that my hands don’t itch.I never lived in a ditch, but at times wished God threw me a pitch.Then I remember I am so lucky to have all of this.

I am not blind to the masses.

How often do we see them rummage through trashes only to hope that they find something instead of giving them something?We fear giving them fifty-cents out of our fear of drug addictionTheir high for 5 minutes versus your high for a week?You do the addition.Better yet, get them help or a number to callMy Biology test was hard, but look at the perils THEY befall.

I am not blind to the masses, my eyes are open. I am a token that you can put forth hope in.That last token that they have to ride the bus.That last token they hope would stay but leaves in a rush

That’s why I sit in these classes, to get rich and prosper. Not because of MY itch but for all those who lie hungry in a ditch.

PrejudiceBy: Hannah Sheehan

Are we at peace with the anger we breatheslinging words of ignoranceto deject what others believe?

Do the judgements we makereally make up or our minds,or do we think about it sensing we might be blind?

We know that things look white from where we’re standing,they could seem black from somewhere else.

We accept this in spite, our hearts understandingwe alone know what we’ve seen and felt.

Maybe gray is our course of direction.Just a thought or a question,it’s a worthy suggestion.

I know that I’m getting tired of the fighting.Can we please just acknowledgewe don’t know wrong from the right thing.

20 Oct. 2009

PrejudiceBy: Hannah Sheehan

Are we at peace with the anger we breatheslinging words of ignoranceto deject what others believe?

Do the judgements we makereally make up or our minds,or do we think about it sensing we might be blind?

We know that things look white from where we’re standing,they could seem black from somewhere else.

We accept this in spite, our hearts understandingwe alone know what we’ve seen and felt.

Maybe gray is our course of direction.Just a thought or a question,it’s a worthy suggestion.

I know that I’m getting tired of the fighting.Can we please just acknowledgewe don’t know wrong from the right thing.

I Am An Immigrant

By: Mahtem Shiferraw

I am an immigrant. They call me alien, foreigner

inmigrante. I am the husband, who does not fear death

but the men in the uniform, and the concrete walls

separating me from my daughters,

they think I abandoned them

and I did, when I didn’t fight enough, scream

enough, roar the promises that were given to me

by the Americani

I am an immigrant. I’ve abandoned myself

I am an immigrant. They call me illegal, dirty,

savage. But all I do is fill that space, that corner

on the cold concrete, I quiver not of fear, but afraid

of hatred, hostility, disgust. They ask me about guns,

I make empanadas, I say. Your reason to be in America?

I like America. I heard good things. Good people. Good

jobs. When I find them, I’ll stay.

I am an immigrant. I stay within myself.

I am an immigrant. They call me extraño, illegitimate

foul. I am the girl with dreams and sorrows, who fears

not alienation, but rejection, disproval, dismissal. My body

betrays me with the Americani, with the lawful citizens, but

my fingers still draw, and my ears hear mellow lullabies, I

still smell the great American dream. Non per aggradare te

but myself, my people.

I am an immigrant. I’ve abandoned myself.

I am an immigrant. I stay within myself.

I am an immigrant. I’ve withdrawn from myself

and the

world

and

you.

Institutions to join/participate in:

HRC. Human Rights Coalition is active on cam-

pus, and one of the major issues they fight for

is human rights for Immigrants.De Colores. Campus Ministry organizes monthly

trips to Tijuana, Mexico. One of the components

of the trip is Casa Emigrante, where students get

the chance to meet Immigrants and hear their

stories.

OISS. Office for International Students and

Scholars. This is the office where you can learn

about different aspects of international stu-

dents at LMU and explore their cultural and

social background.

Ask. Don’t a

ssume that all i

mmigrants are

the same.

Everyone ha

s a differe

nt story.

Be informed. Ex

plore diffe

rent media o

utlets to le

arn the

truth. Immigratio

n is not ju

st an issu

e, it’s a sta

tus, a

collective

identity.

Be outraged

. Immigrants (do

cumented and n

on-docu-

mented) sho

uld have the

same human rights. T

hat is not

the case f

or many.

Remember. Somewhere,

somehow, we are

all immigrant

s.

Do not forg

et that.

Be th

ankful. The lab

or percent

age of immigrant

s

increases e

very year. I

mmigrants hel

p the American

economy flourish.

Understand.

California is

the state w

ith the larg

est

immigrant popu

lation (acc

ording to P

PIC Report, CAPS).

Learn diffe

rent cultures an

d embrace the d

iversity th

is

state offe

rs.

WEBSITES TO VISIT:

California Progress

Report.

www.californiaprogre

ssreport.com

United States Immigration Newsletter.

www.usimmigrationsupport.or

g

National Immigration

Forum.

www.immigrationforum.org

New America Media.

www.news.newamericamedia.org

Pew Research Center.

www.pewresearch.org

Center for Immigration

Studies.

www.cis.org vol. 5 issue 1

$

“The Cove”This award winning 2009 documentary about the slaughter of dolphins in a town in Japan is especially cool because the international uproar after the film’s release actually had an effect– a month after the annual dolphin hunt was supposed to have begun, the cove remains quiet.

“The Omnivore’s Dilemma” This 2006 book by Michael Pollan examines the ethical, political, and ecological factors that are intertwined with how our food journeys from the soil to our plate.

A Muslim Imam’s call to prayerThese beautiful chants can be found on YouTube. We so often associate Islam with violence, but these songs emulate peace and joy.

WWW.VOLUNTEERMATCH.ORGThis website will take your ZIP code and keywords describing the service you want to do, and match you up with a volunteer program in your area.

SeitanDerived from the protein portion of wheat, seitan stands in for meat in many vegetarian recipes and can be flavored and textured just like meat. Try it at organic food retailers like Whole Foods or at vegetarian restaurants in the area such as The Veggie Grill(El Segundo) and Real Food Daily (Santa Monica).

Fair-Trade CoffeeIf you’re on campus, go to the Lion’s Den. If you’re at Starbucks, ask for Café Estima. Every coffee chain will have a fair trade blend available, but you usually have to ask for them to brew it specially. Why? Because ensuring that farmers get the money for their labor that they deserve costs the corporations more.

Museum of ToleranceLocated in Los Angeles, this famous museum is dedicated to challenging its visitors to understand The Holocaust in both historic and contemporary contexts, and to confront all forms of prejudice in our world.

LMU Farmer’s MarketYou’ve heard it before. But seriously, there is no replacement for locally grown produce, not even if it’s also organic. For greater choice, there are also Farmer’s Markets in Santa Monica and Playa Vista.

CITATIONS AND ATTRIBUTIONS

Betrayal Once AgainCIA World Factbook ReligiousTolerance.org Corporate Irresponsibility and SodexoSodexo Official WebsiteCollege Media Network: http://media.www.unews.com/media/storage/paper274/news/2005/04/25/News/Students.Upset.With.Sodexho-936998.shtmlManhattan College Quadrangle: http://media.www.mcquadrangle.org/media/storage/paper663/news/2005/03/09/Perspec-tives/Students.Care.Too.Much.Or.Sodexho.Cares.Too.Lit-tle-890207.shtml

Re-entering A Forgotten FightLMU Office of Instiutional ResearchThe LoyolanStill Failing at Fairness: How Gender Bias Cheats Girls and Boys in School and What We Can Do About It (2009) by David and Myra Sadker and Karen R. Zittleman Looking Outside the Bottlewww.lmu.edu/HeadsUpChooseResponsibility.org

Expression and DepressionThe Loyolan LMU Student Pscyhological ServicesHealthyMinds.orgThe National Mental Health Association Our WorldNew York TimesLos Angeles TimesHuffington Post

OUR MISSION

PASSION MAGAZINE, believing in the interconnectedness of humanity,

seeks to encourage all members of the LMU community to find their place in

the fight for social justice. Being a voice for those who go unheard, we a¬im to stir the passion of our readers to com-

mit themselves to helping renew the lost voices of our society. Being a champion

of the outcast, we publish articles that put a face to the struggles of the forgot-

ten, in the effort to reveal their dignity as human beings. Being a place where our stories are shared, we encourage a cycle of inspiration in our community—where

one student’s experience in social jus-tice can inspire another student to seek

his/her own. These goals together create our over-

arching theme of bringing together our community to be aware of injustice and act for a more socially conscious global

society. No matter where our futures take us, no matter what occupation we

pursue after college, justice must always be on our minds, in our actions, and

in our hearts. Passion Magazine is the place where our conversation as to how we can achieve that justice begins. It is our deepest desire, then, that what we learn from each other will stay with us throughout our lives as leaders in our

broken, yet hopeful, world.

PASSION STAFF

Editor-in-ChiefMahtem Shiferraw

Executive Editor of ContentNaivasha Dean

Executive Editor of Design & LayoutDani Dirks

Executive Business EditorMegan O’Malley

Executive Public EditorSteven Ayala

HRC CoordinatorCarlos Rodriguez

Editorial BoardJasmine AbdullaOhemaah NtiamoahTiffany AltigHeather Moline

Business TeamAdam GarciaApril DuchaninDebora Bahre

Design TeamNick FadelyMelissa SweetPetra Hui

Community ServiceCoordinatorKatherine Brokert

A special thanks to:Marty RoersFather Mahn & CLCCharlie CrownieKathleen Harris

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CONTACT US.passion.magazine@gmail.com