Say the names Mary and J.R. White in Clinchco, Virginia, and a warm spark of recognition will spread through many of the residents of the mountainous southwestern Virginia town. Twelve students at the College of William and Mary also got to know the Whites this past spring break on a Branch Out National service trip to Clinchco as they worked with health related issues in the town.

These students’ service did not end with a trip, however. This past summer, trip leaders Taylor Nelson ’13 and Akie Fujita ’13 found out that Mary and J.R.’s house had burned down and that they had lost everything. The group is now mobilizing to help these two people, who have dedicated their lives helping their struggling community.

The name of the service trip to Clinchco, “First world country, third world clinic,” highlights the poverty as well as the health issues that many in southwestern Virginia face. In Dickinson County, where Clinchco is located, a third of the residents live in trailers or mobile homes, and due to both the poverty and a shortage of healthcare providers, healthcare is severely limited in the region. These factors, combined with a high prevalence of diseases such as diabetes, creates a region with lower-than-average life expectancies.

“One of the biggest problems facing the region is health care,” Mel Alim ’14, a participant on the trip, said. “They have a different culture there. One of the health providers there was talking about how when she was growing up, her parents would give her all these fried foods, and it became a norm. So that’s what she fed her kids, even though she knew it wasn’t good; it was just a cultural thing. A lot of [the health problems there] are preventable, but it’s at a structural level.”

During the trip the group worked with an organization called Health Wagon, which provides free health services and educates southwestern Virginians on diabetes prevention.

“The clinic is a mobile RV,” Nelson said. “Transportation is a key problem in a lot of areas, but because they go to the patients it’s more accessible health care,” said Nelson. While transportation is a problem, the larger issue is that people simply can’t afford health care, which makes the free service the Health Wagon provides invaluable.

The group stayed at a bunk house that was part of a community center owned by Mary and J.R. White. Not only did the group get to know the Whites, but they also got to see the impact that the Whites have on Clinchco through their community center.

“Going to Clinchco and seeing not only the inequality in the community but also seeing how the Whites bring this community together was very impactful,” Nelson said. “They’ve done numerous initiatives [through their community center], reaching out and helping people in many ways.”

The initiatives run through the community center are designed to address a variety of issues. The center provides a food program to address the issue of hunger, offers a drug education program to help alleviate
drug problems in the area, and organizes volunteers who do house repairs.

“They offer [the community center] to a lot of student groups as well as many other people,” Alim said.
Education, too, is a big issue in the area since according the Health Wagon’s 2009 Annual report, roughly half of the population over age 25 don’t have a high school diploma. The community center, though, helps make people more competitive in the job market.

“A lot of people didn’t have a lot of hope, as a lot of times poverty is all around you, and many struggle with figuring out how they are going to make a living or how your parents are,” Nelson said.

Through their community center, though, the Whites served as a source of hope.

This past summer Branch Out National received a letter sent by one of the White’s good friends, describing the White’s situation and asking for any help that could be provided.

“A tree fell on a power line by their house which started a fire. Their house was uninsured and they lost everything, so they’re currently living in a trailer,” Fujita said.

Once everyone returned to campus, the group was ready to hit the ground running in working to help the Whites. They decided to raise funds to help alleviate the costs the Whites are now facing. Thus far, the group has been networking with other Branch Out groups and Office of Community Engagement and Scholarship to organize their efforts. This Friday the 16th they will be holding a bake sale on the terrace and will be accepting donations. Anonymous donations can be sent to CSU, 3881.

Aside from working to help the Whites, the group hopes to continue to keep in touch with them.

“They were like family to us,” Nelson said. “We definitely want to keep in contact with them and keep in touch with how they are.”

Bonjour from France! As I write this, I sit in my apartment in the 18th arrondissement, or district, of Paris.
“The city of lights” really is everything that everyone idealizes it to be. There are cafes on every street corner. There are more fashion boutiques than you can jingle a Euro at. There is more bread, cheese and wine than I’ve ever seen or considered consuming in my life.

The flight here was quite literally a trip. The sum technological advancements of the last hundred years conspired, or if I were egotistical enough, culminated in my transportation some 4,000 miles east, across the ocean whose very vastness and insurmountability made epic heroes of famous figure such as Columbus and the pilgrims. I did it in seven hours and enjoyed a snack in the middle of the flight.

As I try, goofy and big-haired, to somehow seem more in place here than out of it, I’m struck by a question.

What does it mean to be from somewhere? Many of us list it first when describing ourselves to a stranger.
“My name’s Jason, I’m from Virginia, I’m 21 years old.” It’s the second thing we share, right after our name. I also think we imagine that it colors who we are. It may be classic egocentrism, but as I stand on the Metro,
I’m sure everyone can tell I’m an American. Regardless of when I speak or how I dress, I must emit some American pheromone that immutably betrays me.

But what does it really mean to be from somewhere? Ethnographically, it means I was born in the United States — that I entered the world within the set of coordinates that men have agreed to refer to as America. It means that it took me 21 years to wander outside my corral. I was slower than some of the other cattle.

But does it identify me at all? Compulsion screams no. It seems no more valid to identify myself by the country in which I live than by the month I was born or the time that it is. “Hi, I’m Jason. I was born in August at 4 p.m.” Yet we insist upon its significance, and I understand its practicality. But I believe this practicality stems from folly. We see ourselves as citizens of our countries as though when we decide to venture outside, we are guests in other countries. But these are just constructs, and they are no more truth than mistake. We are citizens of the world — citoyens du monde. If we insist upon difference, let us draw the fence at Earthlings, for surely that makes us more similar than anything else. Let us visit Paris, Tokyo, Rome, all with a sense of ownership. With a pride that unites us all rather than asks us to tread lightly. Because after all, Where are you from?

__Jason Rogers is a Coin de Confusion Columnist and enjoys his French baguettes while pondering the world in a cafe. He might find his identity sooner or later…__

On Monday nights, the College of William and Mary’s bookstore cafe becomes a pub. But don’t think Guinness or fish and chips. Instead, it’s the fiddle, the banjo and even the bagpipes that allows the popular study spot to adopt a new, unique tone.

The musicians filter in at seven p.m. and settle into their chosen spots. They are in no hurry to get started, reflecting the relaxed atmospheres these sessions have adopted since developing in Ireland.

“A session is basically a bunch of musicians getting together and playing tunes, learning tunes, and everyone is trying to get better but there’s nothing really riding on it so there’s less pressure — only what you put on yourself,” Tracy Jenkins ’12 said.

Eventually, the instruments make appearances. Each musician carefully prepares their chosen instrument, tuning and plucking strings. The sessions can incorporate any number of players, ranging from the Irish flute to the bodhran, an Irish frame drum.

As the music grows louder, some of the students trickle out, leaving room for spectators to trickle in, such as Kathy Duncan ’90, who studied in Cork during her time at the College.

“In Ireland every third person plays an instrument,” she said. “They gather together and play all the time, it’s really popular as a social activity.”

Musician Dan Jackson has been organizing musical sessions for the past five or six years, though they have been at the bookstore for the past two years, making it their longest run so far.

The players have various backgrounds, reflecting the ranging levels that Jackson’s sessions welcome. Fiddle player Bernard Joseph Farrell has been playing music for 35 years, while retired army officer and author Victor Rosello, who plays the bodhran, has only about six months of musical experience.

Jenkins has been playing traditional music since he was thirteen. His favorite part of the experience is simply the sound of the music. Among other instruments, he plays the dulcimer, Great Highland Bagpipes and Scottish Smallpipes.

“I love the sound of the pipes,” Jenkins said. “Since I play them, I get to hear them whenever I want. Just like any art, it’s a form of expression and I play the music I like to hear.”

Having started playing in sessions during high school, Jenkins started attending Jackson’s sessions at the end of his freshman year.

“In addition to the music, we all share a camaraderie that comes from shared enthusiasm for the traditions,” he said. “It’s part of our identity and I think we all play this kind of music because it speaks to that identity.”

The tradition is the most prominent features of these Monday night sessions. While listening to the Irish flutes, bodhran, fiddle, banjo and smallpipes, you can hardly stop yourself from tapping your foot, and it seems wholly appropriate to jump up and do a jig before ordering a Guinness at the cafe.

In the British Isles, of course, there are differences between the traditions of each region. As sessions grow in popularity in other parts of the world, those different traditions intermingle.

“I’m a Scottish-American and traditional Scottish music really moves me,” Jenkins said. “I think it’s like that with a lot of Irish musicians as well. We identify with each other as musicians but also as traditional musicians. I’ve been to sessions wherever I’ve traveled for the past few years and I’m really glad there’s a session right here in town.”

Jackson has set up the designated evenings at the bookstore so that they accommodate all types of players.
Slow sessions are on the first, third and fifth Mondays of every month and are geared towards beginner musicians, while the second and fourth Mondays are faster, meant for more advanced players. According to Ken Shields, who plays the Irish Flute, fast sessions can get up to 12 players and are generally very lively.

“Music is a great way for Irish people to come together,” Duncan said. “There, pubs are like their living room, so if people start playing then others can just jump right in. It’s a great way to learn new music and improve.”

Even at the bookstore, especially during slow sessions, there will be pauses in the music so Jackson can help the other musicians perfect their performances.

“Every session I’ve gone to has had a mix of more experienced players and less experienced players, though of course some sessions have higher-quality musicians than others,” Jenkins said. “Newcomers are nearly always welcomed and encouraged, so long as they exhibit some courtesy.”

Rules for sessions are pretty self-explanatory: play on the beat, in tune and not too loud. Oftentimes players will sit quietly and listen if they do not know the specific song being played, some even bringing recording devices for improving later on. Ultimately, the goal is to play well while having a great time.

“We all want to sound good, but we’re not getting paid,” Jenkins said. “We just do it because we love it. At a lot of others sessions, which are in pubs, folks will have a drink or two while they play. It’s totally relaxed: you can come late, leave early, miss a few weeks or even months and when you get back everyone’s happy to see you again.”

It all started with some freshman hall bonding.

Last year, four friends sat around together making jokes and hypothetical plans in their freshman dorm. As it turned out, some of those plans weren’t so hypothetical after all. This year, those four friends have begun a fast-growing satirical periodical called The Botetourt Squat.

“When we first founded it, we were not really settled on what we wanted [to do] yet,” Zack Quaratella ’14, a staff writer for the Squat, said. “After we found out the rigors of a real paper, we decided to do satire.”

The friends formed their idea for a paper in April. They eventually made their first version with a “sketchy” online pdf maker that eventually “died,” according to Quaratella so the first Botetourt Squat is no longer accessible on the Internet.

Created in the bowels of Gooch, the first version was oriented mostly toward freshmen. Now the staff of the Squat is planning on making a more general paper for all students.

“If you can read and you like funny pictures, [the Squat is for you],” Jordan Obey ’14, a managing editor, said.

The Founders of The Botetourt Squat chose to write satire due to the perceived lack of relevant humorous writing in publications on campus.

“We’re not trying to step on the toes of any other school publications, but there is no consistent and good satire coming out in periodicals,” Quaratella said. “The other [humorous] publication comes out only once a semester, so there’s a time delay between events and when their articles are published.”

While the Pillory only comes out once a semester, the staff of the Squat is planning on putting out issues once a month.

“We’re just trying to inject some relevancy into the art of satire,” Quaratella said.

The founders of the Botetourt Squat admire the style of the national satirical publication The Onion. They said that the writers of the Onion come up with articles by thinking of funny headlines, then writing from those ideas. The writers of the Squat try to emulate that style of innovation.

“Our main sources are the Onion and the Bible,” Obey said.

Along with Jack Crum ’14, editor-in-chief of the Squat, Quaratella, Reynolds and Obey are focusing on getting funding from the Publications Council. They also have been recruiting new writers from the class of 2015. Over 100 freshmen signed up at their booth at the Student Activities Fair. This is just one of the ways they have been gaining recognition on campus; the Squat has also been expanding into social media.

“Some dude put us in Student Happenings,” Quaratella said. “I don’t know who it was.”

“We also have a Facebook and a new Twitter page,” Ben Reynolds ’14, another managing editor, said, “which will probably become very important.”

If the Squat does not recieve funding from the Publications Council, they plan to ask for support from Mark Constantine, Student Activities Director, who has been a fan of their idea for a publication from the beginning.

“We want to establish ourselves as a publication,” Obey said.

Their aspirations, however, are not limited.

“After that, we want to become the main news source on campus,” Reynolds said.