t
Author
Death Cafe
Trump Administration
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9
Only through practicing and
■ having things to write about can
one improve their writing. This
cannot be produced through a
safe classroom environment,
Chadwick said.
“Travel, get lots of jobs and
listen to the stories that strang
ers tell you, because that’s where
those stories are.”
Chadwick- said she hopes to
write something that will meap
something to someone in a mo
ment where they need those
words.
Sari-Rose Brown,. a former
student, recalls a quote above
Chadwick’s door that reads ‘Well
behaved women rarely m^ke his
tory’.
“I think she was blunt some
times,” Brown said. “And I think
she had kind of a cutting, dry
sense of humor sometimes and
she pushed us sometimes, but I
thought that she was a represen
tation of that quotation that I ap
preciated.”
Lesbian literature has become
less popular because it is more
accepted in mainstream media,
Chadwick said. Though same-
sex marriage has been legalized,
she said there are still youth who
are ridiculed by churches and
kicked out of homes.
Chadwick’s classes provide
a really open environment, said
Allie Snyder, a psychology stu
dent.
“There are a couple kids in our
class that are also in the commu
nity,” Snyder said. “It’s cool to
see them connect.”
Chadwick’s literature high
lights LGBTQ-i- lifestyles, but
she does not want to be re
strained to this genre. This is why
she wants to write contemporary
women’s literature.
“In the meanwhile, I just like
to tell stories and that’s OK too,”
Chadwick said.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10
my wife unexpectedly was somewhat trau
matic and it created for me an energy that’s
hard for me to describe.”
The Death Cafe events are deeply per
sonal gatherings, said Karen Sanders, one
of Third Messenger’s event organizers.
“You sit in groups that are spontaneous
and there’s no facilitation,” Sanders said.
“You allow people to speak from their heart
when they want or if they want.You are in
the moment with these strangers and people
start speaking about what death means to
them in ways that you can’t possibly expect
or imagine. People say the most amazing
things, so it’s beautiful, it’s very spiritual
for me to be here.”
One of the ground rules for the event is
participants are not supposed to give advice
to other members of their groups.
“Most of the time it is sacred listening to
people,” Sanders said. “It’s very respectful
and loving and kind-hearted. I’ve yet to be
involved in a circle during a Death Cafe that
was not respectful.”
Jason Hebal, a Third Messenger member
ofJwo years, said he volunteers with the or
ganization in an effort to lessen the taboo
surrounding death as a subject.
“My inspiration is to do something where
we actually work with changing culture,”
Hebal said. “I believe that changing culture
around the dying process and being aware
of it and in tune with it, being open to it, ac
knowledging it and not hiding it will serve
us individually, in our community and as a
culture to be more mature in the way we in
teract with the world and each other.”
Hebal said he wants to see death become
something that is openly and honestly dis
cussed.
“We can meet it in a good way and if
we do come into a harmonious relation
ship with the inevitable mortality that we
all have, I think we’ll live our lives better,”
Hebal said.
Osid said Third Messenger is an organi
zation without an agenda and allows people
around the world to join with minimal re
strictions.
“It’s a global movement,” Oslo said.
“Anybody can do a Death Cafe if they
honor the agreements. If you wanted to
morrow to start a Death Cafe you’d go on
their website, look at what the agreements
are, you’d say ‘I agree’ to it, let them know
what you’re doing, they’d post It on their
website.”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15
anti-abortion and anti-Obamacare, has
been selected to be secretary of Health
and Human Services. Price received a
rating of zero percent from both Planned
Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice.
That rating. Planned Parenthood reports,
means he is in “complete opposition.” to
their public policy positions regarding
reproductive rights and sexual health
issues. As one example, he supported
legislation banning all abortions after
20 weeks. Abortions occurring after
20 weeks are often because of serious
health problems threatening the life of
the mother.
He wants to privatize Medicare —
this would gore the program and ruin
it for approximately 55 million people
who rely on it. He supports a full repeal
of the Affordable Care Act .and has his
own plan to replace it. Whether his plan
will be used as the replacement is in
question, but the Congressional Budget
Office estimates about 22 million people
will lose their insurance if there is a full
repeal. The Urban Institute’s estimates
are even higher at around 30 million.
People will die if they lose their insur
ance and people will continue to die if
the Affordable Care Act is not replaced
by a similar or better plan. Republican
proposals are not similar or better and
universal health care is currently out of
the question, so more deaths are inevi
table.
Under the Affordable Care Act, birth
control was made widely available to
women who previously had difficulty
getting it — or had no access at all —
through their insurers. After Trump won
the election, there were reports of wom
en rushing to get lUDs and other forms
of birth control out of fear they may not
have access soon.
Those fears are not unfounded and
people are rightly worried. Trump al
ready signed an executive order to re
impose the so-called Mexico City policy
which was originally announced by Pres
ident Reagan in 1984; the policy prohib
its funding foreign nongovernmental
organizations that “perform or actively
promote abortion as a method of family
planning.” These NGOs provide health
care for mothers and children, coun
seling, HIV testing and contraceptives
among other services. NGO-run clinics
in other countries will now be paralyzed
or forced to close entirely. Again, people
will suffer unnecessarily because of this
decision. Similar attempts will be made
— and are being made — domestically.
Rex Tillerson, former CEO of Exxon
Mobil, is the pick for secretary of state.
This role deals primarily with foreign
policy and one particular issue of con
cern is climate change. As secretary of
state, Tillerson has influence over the
U.S.’ role in environmental agreements
meant to reduce carbon emissions, such
as the 2016 Paris Agreement. Exxon
Mobil is currently under investigation
after it was revealed the company spent
decades ignoring its own scientists’ re
search showing fossil fuels’ contribution
to climate change.
Tillerson’s proclivity to support and
expand the fossil fuel industry while
disregarding the risks of climate change
will result in disaster. The prospect of
addressing climate change with any
meaningful action seems unlikely under
Pruitt and Tillerson. To ignore climate
change is to ignore an existential threat.
Everyone can and should find an is
sue to focus on in the coming years as
the Trump administration and Congress
begin to take action. Workers’ rights,
the minimum wage, health care, public
education, indigenous rights, women’s
rights, voting rights, LGBT rights, drug
policy reform, immigration, foreign pol
icy, welfare programs, climate change
and much more are all likely to be nega
tively impacted. There is plenty of cause
for concern.
The next four years are going to re
quire an acute attention to detail of what
this administration does in conjunction
with the Republican majorities across
the country, and much more than sim
ply paying attention, action must be tak
en at the local, state and federal levels.
Whether it is voting, campaigning for
candidates, organizing rallies, calling
members of Congress, protesting, co
ordinating general strikes or donating
to a preferred canse, there are countless
methods to use and opportunities to
push back.
The recent women’s march should
make it clear there is, and will continue
to be, a great deal of pressure on this ad
ministration. That momentum must be
multiplied, sustained and unrelenting if
there is to be any hope of mitigating the
damage to come.