To answer the question on everyone’s mind: Phil (full name Punxsutawney Phil) is some groundhog that the nation designated responsible for the highly-regarded National Groundhog Day decision. He did, in fact, see his shadow which means 6 more weeks of winter. Let the newsletter record show that Phil was Ellie’s suggestion (so, presumably a white-people holiday, idk).
On even cuter news, the picture below is a submission to last week’s poll. Naturally, we now need to see everyone’s cute lil pet (if you have a spider, please feel free to keep that to yourself..jk kinda)!
Submission Caption: look at my roommate's cat her name is precilla and she likes to scream outside my bathroom door and sit on my pillow
Last Week
Despite the ever-so-slightly chilly weather last week, our GMM was yet another slay! We hope you enjoyed our humble selection of snacks, next week we are manifesting the snack funds to come through!! Unrelated, food stamps are usually scheduled on the first two weeks of the month.
To briefly recap our GMM last week, we shared promising details regarding Operation ROAR, mentioned R&Os we were made aware of, and announced E-Board openings for next year. You can look over the meeting slides here. As for the E-Board positions, we will be sharing further election details soon for a March election timeline.
Coming Up
Updates
- R&O Database Migration: CCC Website Link
After being unable to figure out how CCC files/folder permissions work, I just gave up on that idea altogether and will be migrating the R&O database over to our CCC website (because that is somehow more intuitive). If you find any issues like incorrect/missing links, please let me know through our Feedback Form and I will get on it!! The website as a whole is a work in progress so I apologize for the changes in the coming days, it will eventually be visually appealing/tolerable.
oSTEM-Related
- oSTEM x ASME Scholarship: February 16, 2023
oSTEM and ASME have two joint scholarships alongside Out to Innovate, for college students who are members of both oSTEM and ASME. Read more about this scholarship and ASME’s universal application system here.
oSTEM-Recommended Campus Resources/Organizations
- UR Technology Lending Program for Kearns Scholars
The Kearns Center has just launched its technology lending program, open to McNair, SSS, and Kearns Scholars. They are lending iPads, MacBooks, and Dell laptops on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you are interested in becoming a Kearns Scholar, our R&O database goes into further detail and is available here. For more information on their lending program, contact Jazmyn and read more here. - UR Interfaith Chappel Therapy Dog
The University’s Interfaith Chapel has been fortunate enough to hire Sasha, the chapel’s official therapy dog. Her “office hours” are Tuesdays and Fridays, 11 am - 5 pm (note that she usually takes a break between 12:45-1:30 pm). You can find availability changes, if any, through the chapel’s Instagram here.
oSTEM’s E-Board members are planning a meeting with Sasha in the coming days and will get back to you regarding her cuddling and adorability metrics, hopefully during next week’s GMM. Although, we are sure she is just the sweetest, nicest, softest (other adjectives)-est therapy dog this University has employed.
Outside Opportunities
- Out For Undergrad Engineering + Digital Conferences: Round 1 Apps Due March 12, 2023 @ 11:59 pm PST
You likely remember us raving about Out for Undergrad’s (O4U) conferences, well now you get the chance to verify the hype and apply! Just yesterday, O4U opened applications for both their Engineering and Digital conferences, both of which are all-expenses-paid opportunities (ie. food, flight, hotel stay, etc.)! Their conferences are open to all LGBTQ2+ students, including those who are not out or selectively out, and will accommodate appropriately. The conference is open to international and DACA students and also accommodates students with disabilities.
Their Engineering conference is scheduled on the weekend of October 20-23, 2023 in St. Paul, MN, and will feature keynote speakers, mentorship workshops (with peers & industry professionals), social networking times, and a career fair with leading engineering firms. You can read more and see last year’s sponsors here or start your application here.
O4U’s Digital conference will be a merging of their previous Marketing and Tech conferences, connecting you with top corporate recruiters from those industries in NYC and featuring similar functions as the previously discussed Engineering conference. The Digital conference is scheduled for the weekend of September 29-October 1, 2023. See past sponsors here or start your application here.
FYI: O4U applications are on a rolling basis split into 3 rounds, so you only need to apply for one round, it’s not a long process at all. They also mention a $90 fee if you are accepted, however, if you have financial need they will waive it. If they for some reason do not, know that we will advocate on your behalf to the University and get you the funding you deserve, please do not let the fee deter you from this amazing opportunity!!
Ellie and I (kevin) attended the O4UE conference last year and we have missed the incredibly queer space ever since. We will briefly go over the conference during next week’s GMM (2/17), if you have questions or would like app guidance, we would be more than happy to help!!
In The News
• Harry Styles Appropriates Wins Again: Link
Everyone’s favorite BIPOC/queer appropriator is yet again highly praised, this time through his 2023 Grammy (aka Scammy) win for “Album of the Year”. Styles has been controversial for his outfits and “artistic” expression, not by ignorant people threatened by his dresses, but by marginalized groups whose pioneer work is threatened. Armored by the allure of mystery, Styles has carefully navigated the fine line between representation and advocacy. He’s the personification of Karlie Kloss’s “Looking camp right in the eye” tweet, the example of Sara Ahmed’s notion of disuse of music, fashion, and art. Needless to say, I am not a Harrie. He should really educate himself, credit the BIPOC, queer pioneers who enabled him to be on the cover of Vogue instead of being another hate crime victim, and avoid toying around with identity-ambiguity while simultaneously capitalizing off of it. • Other Grammy News: Link
Kim Petras makes history as the first trans woman to get a Grammy! While I'm not the biggest fan of Unholy, I do love me some Kim Petras and highly recommend her album Turn Off the Light which is a rave masterpiece.
Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queen
Thus, while the politics of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered activists of color might recognize heteronormativity as a primary system of power structuring our lives, it understands that heteronormativity interacts with institutional racism, patriarchy, and class exploitation to define us in numerous ways as marginal and oppressed subjects." And it is this constructed subservient position that allows our sisters and brothers to be used either as surplus labor in an advanced capitalist structure and/or seen as expendable, denied resources, and thus locked into correctional institutions across the country. While heterosexual privilege negatively impacts and constrains the lived experience of "queers" of color, so too do racism, classism, and sexism.
American political scientist, author, and activist, Cathy J. Cohen critiqued, through her essay Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens, the state of queer politics and its wagering of radicalism through assimilation.
As the community has centralized around a single identity (sexuality, and recently including gender expression), it has assimilated to existing alienating dynamics, overlooking overlapping identity marginalization. By pointing out the inherent priority of whiteness that queer theory adopts and its binary designation of queerness in politics, Cohen shows the self-imposed limitations that keep queer movements from true radical change.
Cohen also mentions this binary “queer vs not queer”-based politics/activism neglects the real, historical heterosexual marginalization by heteronormativity. Cohen points out the relationship white supremacy has had with heteronormativity, using the outlawing of marriage between enslaved Black men & women, and later interracial het couples, as examples disproving the blanket statement that het people benefit from heteronomativity.
Alongside Audre Lorde’s work which we looked at in last week’s newsletter, Cohen’s work shows the concept of intersectional politics and activism is not new, it was just legitimized later in the eyes of white activists and academics. Her warning to the community of the dangers that come from institutional assimilation is still applicable today. I highly recommend Jasbir Puar’s Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times which looks into the use of “queerness” and “sexual liberation” as justification for modern American imperialism.
This is oSTEM's main form for you to submit any comments, questions, suggestions, opportunity submissions, and/or feedback. You can choose to submit anonymously (CCC may ask you to log in, but that's just to ensure it's from a UR student, not a random internet person) or share your name/email.
If you run into any issues with the form, please email us at uofr.ostem@gmail.com so we can fix it right away.
