Ellie's Work

Article published on the Catholic Voices blog about her trip to Kentucky with the Newman Center:
http://wmasscatholicvoices.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/service-trip-makes-impact/

A Trashy Meal

Eleanor Harte

April 29, 2013

If you went to a friend’s house for dinner, you wouldn’t expect to find out that the meal you’d just eaten came from a dumpster. For Jeremy Seifert’s friends, this is reality. Grocery shopping doesn’t seem to be enough of a challenge for Seifert; he prefers to feed his family with food obtained from scavenging through dumpsters.

The 2010 documentary film “DIVE! Living off America’s Waste,” directed by Seifert, explores America’s enormous – yet hidden – food waste problem. A thought-provoking piece that points out how precious our food really is, the film demonstrates the culture of laziness America has developed in regard to food. “Most of the time, wasting food is just easier,” says one man in the film.

Seifert has spent many nights dumpster diving in Los Angeles, and feeds his wife and two children on food he finds in the trash. He describes himself as “living off the waste of the consumerism of America.” Certainly it’s an unconventional mfethod, but Seifert doesn’t do it because he can’t afford to grocery shop. It’s just that he hates seeing food go to waste. This often means he ends up with a surplus of food in his own home; he says he feels like he needs to save as much of it as he can. His toddler son Finn, who loves blueberries and strawberries, isn’t complaining when there’s a surplus of his favorite foods.

The film uses impressive visuals, such as drawings, statistics, and stop motion animations using food to make its point. One especially powerful use of food is when he lays out hundreds of loaves of bread on the ground to spell the word ‘logistics,’ as he explains that many people say the logistics of donating unwanted food are too much of a hassle to make it worth it. Through this example, Seifert emphasizes that we are all responsible for creating a solution to America’s food waste problem.

The film, though, doesn’t advocate for dumpster diving as that solution; in fact, Seifert’s wife is thankful for the free food but emphasizes that it’s a lot of work to wash, cut, and freeze large amounts of it. “It would be easier just to get what we need at the grocery store,” she says. Instead, the film advocates for a better awareness of food waste, which happens at all levels of production and consumption.

When Seifert plans to write a letter to the CEO of Trader Joe’s every day for a month asking to have a conversation about food waste, he receives a letter after two weeks asking him to stop contacting the company.

Why won’t grocery stores speak with Seifert? He’s not sure, but he finds that as he questions more stores, he finds more dumpsters locked behind gates. This raises another issue for Seifert and his band of dumpster divers: is it ethical to break in for food that’s going to be thrown into a landfill anyway? It’s illegal, but is it worth it? The film doesn’t have an answer.

It does raise some other questions – instead of collecting a year’s supply of meat in a fridge, why doesn’t Seifert take the surplus and give some to other people who need it too? He mentions at times that he has too much food, and this seems like a good solution: he can feed his family and help others, at no real cost to himself.

A redeeming moment for this question comes when he asks multiple grocery stores for surplus food on New Year’s Eve and donates it to a Salvation Army shelter. Sandra Martin, the lead cook at the shelter, is visibly thankful. She says the shelter always has trouble finding enough food. It’s nice to see Seifert giving food to others. He’s a likeable guy, and this anecdote is just one of a host in the film that make it easy to see his point of view. When he spots a huge bag of $15 chickens in a Trader Joe’s dumpster the next day, his sadness at not being able to give it to the shelter is evident.

The film does an excellent job at conveying the dual issues of enormous food waste and the hunger problem. It’s clear that they go hand in hand: fix one, and you can probably fix the other. Powerful interviews with people like Martin, food bank volunteers, and Seifert’s friends all convey the same message: there is enough food in America, but it’s not going to the right people.

So the next time you think about what’s for dinner, be grateful you aren’t one of the 11 million people in the United States who doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from. And if you decide to go dumpster diving for that meal, make sure to follow the golden rule: “Never take more than you need.”

Split Second Decisions
Eleanor Harte
March 11, 2013

Working in a college town can't be easy for police officers, but Amherst Police Detective Jamie Reardon told Mary Carey's Journalism 300 students on Monday that the most important thing to keep in mind is common sense. The 13 students gathered in the Amherst Police Department to hear Reardon talk about his duties as a police officer, how he interacts with members of the press, and how the Amherst Police Department deals with college students.

The department has over 80 policies for dealing with situations that may occur, and the officers are responsible for knowing all of them.

Reardon explained how the officers dealt with the "Blarney Blowout", a large St. Patrick's Day themed gathering that occurred at the Townhouse Apartments in Amherst on Saturday. He referenced two videos of the event that are circulating the internet. "There's no expectation of privacy when you're in a public place," Reardon said, adding that he's filmed all the time. The Amherst Police Department's press release of the event says that there were over 1,500 students gathered in the quad area. The police made six arrests. "Our main interest is in public safety." Reardon said. "We wanted people to disperse from the area."

"When talking to the press we have to protect people's constitutional rights," Reardon said, "and we don't release someone's name until they're brought before the court and arraigned." After that, the information of arrests is public knowledge. However, ordinary citizens don't get to know everything. "We don't like to release information that's going to put anyone in danger or compromise our investigation," he said. In addition, the department has a policy of only releasing information when they're sure it's accurate.

Victim information is almost always kept confidential. "We don't name victims of crimes, especially for retaliation reasons," Reardon said. "We would hardly ever release the victim's name. I'd be hard pressed to think of a good reason to do so."

The department has press meetings every weekday morning, and when they have a legitimate reason to ask media for help, such as when they need to find someone, they will ask media for help finding the person. "If we have their picture, we can send that to the media and ask them to release it with a 'Have you seen this person?' That's if we have a reason to do so, if we know the person did something," Reardon explained. "There has to be a reason that we do things."

The department brings in extra staff when they know big events are going to be happen that might require police presence. "We coordinate with the university police, we talk to landlords, we sometimes go to apartments and warn the residents that we will arrest them if something happens," Reardon said. 

When big events like the Blarney Blowout occur, the department often tows the cars in the area if they belong to people partying. "We get drunk drivers off the street before they get in their cars." 

Grad student follows in his father's footsteps
Eleanor Harte
March 11, 2013

As students trickle in for a political science class, a short man dressed in dark jeans and a light blue button-down shirt stands at the head of the room, greeting each of the thirty students with a smile. He asks a student what he thought of the last English Premier League soccer game, another their views on the situation with North Korea. He starts class exactly on time, warming up the room with a joke and then jumping into the material for the day. He fields questions from students with ease, as if he’s been doing it for years. To the contrary, this is his first semester teaching a class. 

Sam Fayyaz comes from a long line of academics. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all university professors, so it’s no wonder that Fayyaz is in the process of becoming one too. An Iranian-American who grew up and attended college in Madison, Wisc., Fayyaz is a Ph.D candidate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. 

This semester he is teaching a class on the history of modern Iran and another on professional development. Speaking of the experience, Fayyaz, who is in his early thirties, said that “when teaching is at its highest highs, when I feel like everyone’s getting it, it’s great. When it goes really well I love it. But most of the time I'm just trying not to mess up. A lot of the time I'm just hoping I'm making sense.”  

Katie MacLeod, a sophomore political science major, is in the modern Iran class, and said of Fayyaz: “Even if he does not know every single little thing about Iran, he does a great job communicating what he does know and tries his best to answer all of our questions.” 

Fayyaz has spent his academic career studying Iran, the country where his father grew up. "It weirded my dad out that I went to such great lengths to find out about his history and his country, since he's a science guy and I'm the exact opposite. I feel like he never really got me. But now it's whatever, he's accepted it,” said Fayyaz, waving his hand as if to suggest it no longer matters. 

His father, a botany professor who himself was educated at the University of Wisconsin Madison before returning to Iran to teach at the University of Tehran. He brought his American wife and two-month-old Sam, and they stayed for nearly a year. “But then the Iran hostage crisis happened, and we were there for that, and it really freaked my mom out,” explains Fayyaz, speaking of their move back to America. 

Since then, Fayyaz has traveled to Iran on his own multiple times to do research for his dissertation, which he is writing on the self-help and positive thinking movement that’s especially popular among middle-class Iranians and the ways it affects political movements. “The state television of Iran was promoting books that were selling this idea that you’re responsible for your own happiness,” he said. "If that were the case, why would anyone join a labor union? Why would anyone join a movement to overthrow a tyrannical ruler? I don't buy it. It seems cynical. I argue that it reinforces authoritarianism, because how can you say that for a country that's in a bad place, a bad economy, the sanctions, all that stuff, how can you say that people's happiness is only dependent on themselves?" 

Students feel that Fayyaz’s youth makes him relatable. MacLeod said, “He’s really cool and he likes comics and he rock climbs.” She feels having a professor who makes an effort to get to know his students as people, not just bodies in the room, like some other professors do, she said, makes a difference in class. Fayyaz, who has instructed his students to call him ‘Sam,’ jokes with his students and seems to get what they’re going through, MacLeod said. 

Tanvir Faisal, a sophomore political science major, said he finds Fayyaz’s easygoing manner appealing both as a professor and as a person. “Show me someone, whether it be a student, faculty member, or whoever else, who claims he or she doesn’t like Sam, and I will show you a liar,” said Faisal. 

Fayyaz’s time as the undergraduate advisor has allowed him to get to know the students in the Political Science department, and this has clearly worked to his advantage when it comes to building relationships with his students. On the first day of the semester, he already knew the majority of the 30 students in his History of Modern Iran course by name. 

Fayyaz got his start in academia at the University of Maryland College Park, where he pursued his Masters Degree under the guidance of Professor Jillian Schwedler. When Schwedler accepted a job at UMass Amherst, she encouraged Fayyaz to check out their Ph.D program in Political Science. Fayyaz was intrigued by the faculty, and said that for a Ph.D, "who you work with is important. I liked what the faculty here was doing. The critical perspective in this department is different than at a lot of other universities. Here, people don't just ask the questions, but they ask why we're asking the questions." 

Fayyaz transferred to UMass in 2008, and since then has held numerous teaching assistant positions, research assistantships, and now serves as the chief undergraduate advisor for the Political Science Department. Compared to teaching, he says that advising "is a lot more concrete, tangible. If you help a student find an internship or figure out a class plan, they're like ‘Thank you so much, you saved the day,’ stuff like that. With teaching, for anyone, I don't think that happens much. Advising has an immediate payoff. You feel like you matter more." 

Outside of the university, Fayyaz, who resides in Northampton, is particularly passionate about soccer, where he roots for Barcelona and Arsenal, and on the side writes about soccer online. He is also a self-described music fanatic and he likes rock climbing and exploring Northampton. Fayyaz loves working at the university. "Being in a university setting is infectious,” he said. “The faculty are the furniture. They're always here, and that's great. But then there's this regeneration of students, and they're so excited about being here, as they should be. There's so much going on, speakers and events and the whole thing of becoming an adult, figuring out who you are, even more than the curriculum and the classes, it's that other stuff that's important. That's what I miss about being in college." 

Kim Kardashian Fake Obituary
Eleanor Harte
February 27, 2013

BEVERLY HILLS – Kim Kardashian, 32, of Los Angeles, lived Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 27, 2013, at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, after complications stemming from head trauma.
She was born in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 21, 1980, the daughter of Robert and Kris (Houghton) Kardashian. She was educated at Marymount High School in Los Angeles.

Kim is most well-known for starring in her MTV television show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," a reality television show centered around her family, that began in 2005. With her sisters Kourtney and Khloe, she co-owned the upscale fashion boutique “D-A-S-H,”  which has locations in California, Florida, and New York. She is considered a television personality and socialite who was active in the California social scene.

Kim is remembered by her infant daughter, partner Kanye West, mother and father, stepfather Bruce Jenner, and her sisters Kourtney Kardashian and Khloe Odom, and Kylie and Kendall Jenner, as well as brothers Rob Kardashian and Burton, Brandon, and Brody Jenner, as well as her first husband, Damon Thomas and second husband Kris Humpries.

She is pre-deceased by her father Robert, an attorney and businessman who passed away in 2003 from esophageal cancer.

Private services will be held in Los Angeles. In lieu of flowers, the Kardashian family requests donations be made to the Esophageal Cancer Education Foundation at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Acting to Raise Awareness of Sexual Assault
Eleanor Harte
February 12, 2013

Students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst got the chance to show off their acting skills Monday night as auditions were held for the filming of three PSAs intended to raise awareness of sexual assault on college campuses.

The PSAs are part of a campaign by the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office that hopes to reduce sexual violence on college campuses. The PSAs feature three common situations that students might find themselves in, which participants had the chance to act out in front of the cameras. 

UMass sophomores Mitch Scuzzerella and Jeff Okerman warmed up in front of the group, which included Mary Carey and her Journalism 300 class, and two consultants to the District Attorney’s office, Mary Patierno and Natalia Muñoz. They were soon joined by UMass student Michael Lipton before acting out the PSA entitled “Guy Talk,” which features three men speaking sexually about women they saw at a party.

Muñoz told the participants that because the PSAs needed to be realistic, actors would have to be comfortable doing things that were “technically illegal,” including groping and other touching. The participants were trying out for the same parts, but all three brought different personas to the role. They are expected to find out if they have been cast on Wednesday.

Actors and extras for the PSAs will be compensated for their time, and filming will occur March 9 in Northampton.


James Welling's "Open Space"
February 2013
Eleanor Harte

Applications like Instagram, Vine, and Photoshop allow almost anyone to act as a photographer these days. With one click of a button and a choice of filter, it’s easy to make anything look artistic. But real photography takes a lot more work, and this was clear on Wednesday night at the opening of James Welling’s exhibit, “Open Space” at the UMass Museum of Contemporary Art.

In front of an audience of about one hundred people, painter-turned-photographer James Welling discussed his work and how he “reinvented photography” for himself. He said his lack of formal photography training has never been a problem, because “most experts in the field are amateurs.” Calling himself “obsessed with photography,” he explained how he initially ridiculed the suggestion that he begin photography, but then realized he had found his calling. Since then, he has become quite prolific. He has produced several series, some of which are as of yet unfinished.

Much of Welling’s art is centered on the theme of home. His photographs feature houses, barns, and other places that remind him of home. Though many are taken in his home state of Connecticut as well as in the greater New England area, it’s easy to imagine the locations anywhere, which allows people to relate to the photos. Welling, who began taking photographs when he was 25, is constantly coming back to New England to shoot, finding inspiration in his origins. The “open space” referred to in the exhibit’s title is an open field behind the house he lived in as a teenager, to which he felt compelled to return.

Welling’s goal in making a photograph is to include something of his interests or background, “to make them dense things to look at, like a puzzle or something to decode.” He doesn’t just set up the shot and then press a button, but rather puts a lot of thought into each photograph. He claims he is “incapable of just making at transparent picture.” There is always something more to his photographs than there initially seems to be.

In one series of images, there are little chips on the top right of the images. These are darkroom clips, which would normally be cut off after processing. Welling, however, made a conscious decision to keep the chips in. This plays with the notion of reality. The viewer is forced to realize that these photographs, which were made between 2000 and 2003, are not the result of the snap of a button. Instead they have been made with a different type of technology than is used today. Perhaps Welling is trying to cause people to be more appreciative of the technology we have.

Eva Fierst, curator of education for the museum, said that one of the points she hopes the exhibit raises is just how much “we take digital media for granted.” She believes too many people walk into galleries and think that they could easily create the art they see in front of them. She believes we have made “unbelievable strides in technology, but not necessarily creativity.” She cites Welling’s tradition as a painter in having a big effect on his style as a photographer, specifically his theme of abstraction. She pointed out that one of his watercolors presents a scene that is almost identical to a Super 8 film he made later in life.

Thomas Brown, a Hampshire College third year studying visual and critical art studies, said that “technology really influences the way we see the art around us. Although you can capture something on your iPhone that would look very similar, there is still something to film that is unable to be replicated, even just the little mistakes that come up. An iPhone can make it look too purposeful.” 

Lorne Falk, visiting associate professor at Hampshire College, had nothing but praise for Welling’s work, telling the artist, “the way you make art, I just fall into it.” Not everyone was as infatuated with the art, though. Mitch Scuzzarella, a journalism sophomore at UMass, said, “I find some of the pictures beautiful but I also don’t find meaning behind any of them. If their meaning was to record beauty, he achieved his goal, but I rarely find photography to do more than record.” Welling, however, sees the camera’s ability record as a positive, saying that “one of the great things about photography is that it records what’s in front of us.”

The exhibit takes place at the UMass Museum of Contemporary Art and runs until May.

Suburban Safety in Wellesley - But Not Much Else
Eleanor Harte
February 4, 2013

Growing up in Wellesley, Mass., a town of 29,000 people, Emily Bedenkop ate a lot of ice cream. “Everything in Wellesley closes pretty early,” she said, “but Truly Yogurt is open fairly late so everyone hangs out there.” By “fairly late,” she clarified that she meant 10 p.m., but she called the locally owned ice cream shop “the best place to hang out.” She added, “My brother works there, and a lot of my friends work there. It’s nice because it’s not a chain.”

There’s not much else to do in the town that Hillary Clinton, Nora Ephron, and Madeleine Albright, all Wellesley College graduates, called home for four years, but that didn’t stop Bedenkop from enjoying it. “It was a nice place to grow up. We took the commuter rail into Boston a lot, or hung out with friends.” She smiled, adding, “most people keep their doors unlocked. It’s pretty sheltered and safe.” It’s a far cry from Beacon Hill, where she spent the first five years of her life, but she likes it all the same.

The college town, which is home to Wellesley College, Babson College, and Massachusetts Bay Community College, is “probably one of the few dry towns left in the country.” That means that no liquor stores are allowed in the town. Instead, there are liquor stores ringing the border. It’s a detail explained by the conservative nature of the town, which Bedenkop described as preppy and quite wealthy. Wellesley is inhabited by many people who commute into Boston for work, about a 20 minute drive east. “It’s a good family town, but there’s also a lot of older people. There’s just no young people.”

Bedenkop attended Wellesley High School, where she graduated in 2011 with nearly 300 other students. “I loved my high school,” Bedenkop smiled as she discussed the strong English and history departments at the school, which led her to her current path as a Journalism and Political Science double major.

She rarely had an opportunity to reflect on her hometown until she came to the University of Massachusetts, where she was forced to confront her town’s reputation. “It’s hard when people have heard of your town, because most people know it as a really wealthy town, which is a stereotype. There are lots of wealthy people, but that doesn’t mean everyone is.” Though she’s annoyed by the reputation her town gets, she acknowledged that it was a great place to grow up. Although she doesn’t plan on moving back there when she graduates, she might live there again in the future. “I would go back to raise kids because it’s a good school system.” And assuming the ice cream place stays open, maybe her kids will get a chance to try Truly Yogurt too.