Earth Fest @ TESC 4-23-14

Posted on April 24, 2014 by admin

Olympia, WA @ TESC (4-23-14) — The weather sucked! No, it wasn’t a case of global warming, just a typical blustery rainy NW spring day. Many tablers moved inside the Library building as few students cared to tarry on the campus’ Red Square.

A kidney stop inside the Communications Building on campus revealed the college has gone all out to accommodate the politically correct and gender identity politics of the day. Rather than ONE public restroom, or even two, there were now THREE: One for men, one for women, and one unisex bathroom for either or those who can’t make up their mind. Mario sat near the entrances, apparently guarding the toilets from the unwary and untutored.

‘L’ is for lavatory

The demographics of the campus have changed dramatically since the mid-80’s. Not only is the student body younger, but far more foreign nationals and ethnic minorities attend, an increase by at least an order of magnitude as the following photos taken in one of the dining areas of the CAB building reveal.

A young man employed by the Student Activities Office tabling literature promoting their services found the photographer so interesting/suspicious, he took several snapshots, temporarily blocking the view. The school’s apprehension of the press, even in its most public settings, appears to be ubiquitous. In an era when every citizen is toting one or more cameras, this feels strange and while encountered elsewhere across the political spectrum, nowhere is it as consistent or widespread as at TESC.

Inside were jugglers (Evergreen’s Circus Resurgence student group), literature and photos on tables demonstrating the various studies offered by the school, and even a modern looking enclosed solar powered reclining bicycle, although it was actually over 20 years old–a couple of lifetimes in today’s fast paced technical world. It didn’t even have regenerative brakes, practically standard equipment on today’s hybrid cars. But it looked cool, like a prop from ‘The Yellow Submarine’.

This student group of aspiring jugglers and acrobats meets weekly on Red Square to do their stuff.

Souki is originally from Morocco, a junior @ TESC pursuing studies in video and multimedia journalism. She’s interested in an advanced degree after matriculating from Evergreen. She expresses doubt about the question before candidly opining TESC isn’t up to snuff in its curriculum nor facilities for someone such as herself interested in social justice through the lens of multimedia, particularly video. In this short clip, acquired after many false starts due to interruptions, given the venue, she unwinds before the camera.

The day had a full schedule of events on campus, and off. Two TESC events conflicted by overlapping in the schedule; Mark Cook and Ed Mead, members of the once notorious George Jackson Brigade, were scheduled for 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm in Lecture Hall 2 as guest lecturers hosted by ACAP (Abolish Cops And Prisons, a TESC on campus student organization). But, Earth Fest has scheduled a 3-hour training will entail a history of direct action and civil disobedience in the history of social and environmental movements and how tactics and strategies have helped win campaigns in the campus ‘Longhouse’.

Torn between the two, the shorter ACAP presentation was selected, which is just as well as the ‘Longhouse’ workshop was canceled, reportedly because the organizers were terrified the Press would cover it. Evergreen organizers/advisers, smitten with r@dical intrigue and paranaoi@, not only regularly insult at least one reporter at these kinds of public events, but hide their head in the sand as though no one could/should see them who they perceive as an unknown quantity, or worse–a government spook. It’s the kind of game children play hiding under a blanket pretending it’s an invisibility cloak.

The ACAP sponsored event was captured–mostly– on video (below) except for an outburst from a young man who looked like the younger brother of ‘Maddy’ Pfeiffer (once a member of TESC’s SDS student organization and incarcerated last year as a federal grand jury resister in Seattle).