Vision+Voice Makes a Comeback 

Students share their thoughts at ACC’s revived literary festival

By Angelica Ruzanova

Humans are storytelling creatures. From cave drawings of star clusters to our fast-paced appetite to connect in the digital terrain today, we discover the world and ourselves through waves of proliferating knowledge. Our curiosity makes us human, and Austin Community College aims to facilitate a space to embrace that. 

On Friday, April 28, the liberal arts: humanities and communications department hosted the annual Vision+Voice Literary Festival at the Highland Campus showcasing poetry and creative writing from K-12 and ACC students. The event included an open mic and an award ceremony for winners of the League of Innovation and Cacciatore projects where each poem was read aloud by their author in the main presentation hall. Winners were individually invited to record their narration of the poems in the PBS studio across the building prior.  

ACC Mascot, R.B, struts his stuff at the presentation hall for the Vision+Voice Literary Festival. Photo taken by Angelica Ruzanova in Austin Texas on Friday, April 28th, 2023.

Moderated by Dean of Arts & Digital Media Perry Crafton, the event introduced special guests from the board of trustees, English and creative writing programs involved in judging the submissions.

Divided into grade levels, the winners received posters designed by ACC Digital Media students who visualized their own versions of each poem with chosen artwork, internally competing amongst themselves as well. 

“We are witnesses to your answer. Your work is published, your voice is heard,” said Board of Trustees member Nora Comstock in her opening speech. 

The festival was at the crossroads of all life paths. Poems from elementary grade poets exhibited raw imagery of the world as students shared experiences from school playgrounds to their thanksgiving dinner tables. Fifth-grader Mateo from Boone Elementary wrote:

“I am the green of the trees
The grass is as still as space
The shining sun with little gold lace

I wonder why the moon and sun are never together
Why the little small voice is always whispering hush

I hear the small breeze
and my breath being released
and the swings in a sea of rust

I see the green mixed with the night sky
of the chairs, the sky blue as a ripe blueberry

I want the yellow roses with rocks and sticks of all colors and the grass to brush my feet as I walk

I am the sky, the clouds, the sun, and moon
I am me”

…while Lyric, a first-grader from Maplewood Elementary, shared: 

“I hit my head
I hit my head
I hit my head
I hit my head

I bit my bed
I bit my bed
I bit my bed
I bit my bed.”

The first through fifth grade category was met with ACC poetry and creative writing winners Shannon Williams and Seth Moloney. Both students read their respective poem and short story to the live audience of faculty and students.

The middle school arrangement explored friendships, maturity and coming of age in this big, complicated world. The faces of these readers had wide eyes as they touched on themes of identity, expectations and losing those around you in the midst of adolescent angst that permeated their words.

“Today, we are reminded of what the world was like when we were young, feeling experiences with new eyes.”

Eighth-grader Stella from Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders read: 

“…It is easy
To get lost here
In this maze of identical streets
The same house
The same yard
Over and over again
Blue and gray

Our world is fading
We are fading into the carpet
That covers old hotel rooms
The random dots on the carpet describe our whole universe
Everything we have ever known
Will be walked over
The carpet
Is the color of soldiers uniforms
The carpet
Is the color of the houses
The carpet
Is blue and gray.”

Then, for dessert, the existential contemplation of high school contestants and their physical and spiritual realities. These poems dealt with the pains and dreams of young adults unafraid to shed their vulnerability as 11th grader Claire from Stephen F. Austin High School expressed: 

“The busy streets filled with cheer
Deep breathes, not a fear
Take a step, unlock the door
Dark sky with waves ashore
The feeling of unreality, it makes me feel fake
Take time for the value
No mistakes

Flying sheeps, counting stars
I want to stay forever where you can’t get scars
Peace and closure, feeling free
Close the door, use the key
Step out into the world where people feel pain
If only dreams were real where there are no complaints.”

The poetry was not solely limited to English work; Jhoselin from Austin Achieve Public High School was one of the winners for the 10th grade category with her work titled “Sentimentos No encontrados.” Part of the goal at Vision+Voice was to celebrate ESOL students through the Transpositions project for those taking English classes at ACC. 

Outside of the presentation hall, the festival featured the first edition of a student academic journal Curiositas designed by Professor Watkins, showcasing composition, research and literary essays from current ACC students.  

The Vision+Voice program began in 2013 but was halted during the last three years due to the pandemic. The festival is a revived opportunity for young poets to become published as they experience an authentic audience alongside writers both younger and older than themselves.

“We need to hear, listen, and connect,” said Creative Writing Department Chair Prudence Arceneaux in her introductory speech. “Today, we are reminded of what the world was like when we were young, feeling experiences with new eyes.”

Interview with Maxine LaQueene

ACCENT Media’s Digital Editor, Foster Milburn, interviews Maxine LaQueene in efforts to advocate against anti-trans laws. Watch Foster and Maxine discuss topics on human rights, the reality of being trans in Texas, the disenfranchisement and abuse that has befallen the trans community, and what we can do at Austin Community College to remain level-headed in today’s highly polarized society.

More than Graphic Design: A Look into the World of Viscom

Story by Amelie Cox

Visual Communication, also known as Viscom, is another world in and of itself. The rabbit hole of umbrella categories and sub-disciplines can be overwhelming at first glance. However, ACC’s faculty and staff have centered the department around student success. 

With an emerging digital presence, specialized graphic skills are more prominent than ever. The ACC Visual Design program was introduced in the Fall semester of 2019 and was added to the 2020 catalog. With this, students gained access to four programs within the department that offer in-depth, experience based education to prepare them for the work field. 

Graphic Design is at the forefront of Visual Communication as it is the most common and well known discipline; however, the umbrella of visual communication encompasses many different fields and niches that are easily unrecognizable due to the more common title. Viscom breaks down these specializations into the programs: Graphic Media Production, Graphic Design, Visual Design, and User Experience Design (UX). 

These programs sit on a spectrum, with a fair amount of overlap between each discipline. “The design field isn’t as siloed as it might appear to be,” program specialist Zoe Dahmen said. 

For many, the Viscom spectrum of disciplines is a starting place when entering the program. Graphic designed by Amelie Cox.

On one end of the spectrum we have Graphic Media Production, with expertise on the technical side of software and print production. Students are equipped with a deep understanding of printers, ink and how to prepare files for press, as well as similar skills on the digital end with screen-based applications. Graphic Media Production and Graphic Design go hand in hand, sharing the same foundation classes and working side by side to produce products. 

With skills primarily focused on print, Graphic Design students learn to create through typography, visual language, color imagery, type, space, layout, and composition. This discipline has been around as long as the print industry has, and they are responsible for designing a range of products from books, magazines and posters to packaging and branding.

Visual Design encompasses almost everything on screen as its primary focus is on digital platforms. As a newer technological concept that split off from graphic design over the last 5-10 years, there is a specific set of skills centered around screen-based applications. Students “need to know about responsiveness, meaning how windows can be resized,” department chair and professor Joisah Spence said. “They understand user interface, how users interact with things and how to make that interaction easy.” All of these skills are still based on basic design concepts that the graphic design program teaches.

At the other end of the spectrum there is UX Design – completely focused on the digital side. “There is less of an emphasis on aesthetics,” Dahmen said. Courses focus on designing interfaces for user friendly access, across a plethora of platforms. 

Ultimately UX is concerned with “what it is and how it works,” think of it as the psychology of design with a focus on how users think. Within this umbrella of user experience is information architecture, where students learn how to organize in a way that users can find what they need. 

Each discipline interacts with another, with Visual Design being the overlapping point of a lot of skills. This is where some confusion arises, even within the job market – which is exactly why the Viscom team is aiming to provide more information to students upfront. 

Fortunately, part of Dahmen’s job is just this. “I primarily advise students at every stage of them moving through the program,” Dahmen said. “I make sure they’re in the right program that fits their goals, what they ultimately want to do, and ensure it is in the timeline they want to achieve them on.”

Because the Visual Design program is rather new, and the term is not well known, students may enter ACC under the Graphic Design program but really have a digital focus in mind. The department seeks to make it easier for students to understand the difference between the programs and find what fits best for them. 

“To make this all more complicated, a lot of hiring managers don’t use the terminology in the same way that has become industry standard,” Spence said. He further emphasizes that when looking at job postings it is important to read the descriptions – as they may list the job under one title such as UX Designer, but really mean Visual Designer, and so forth. 

Another lack of clarity often falls within coding. “We teach all of our students a little bit of coding,” Spence said. “It’s just enough to understand the basics and to be able to interact with coders.” As with the other programs, there is a lot of overlap, especially with UX and visual design; however, coding is a separate discipline, and department entirely – that being Computer Information Technology. 

All of this goes to show how complex the world of design is, leading individuals to wonder where they stand. 

There are a variety of things to consider when deciding which department is the best fit, starting with the question, “am I more of a visual person, or conceptual person?” Furthermore, if you are a visual person, are you drawn towards aesthetics and working through how to communicate to audiences visually, or are your interests more on the technical side of software? Another key thing to consider is if you are more interested in hands-on creation or lean towards the growth industry of technical design. 

It is a lot to consider, and that is exactly what advisors in the department are here to help with. Students are urged to meet with these specialists as soon as they can, and encouraged to reach out even before starting their journey at ACC. And alas, the overlap in each area allows for some wiggle room if students do decide to shift into a different program. You can schedule your advising appointment and get a more in-depth look at what each program offers on the Student Field Guide

Viscom programs all come together as a department for the Spring semester  Portfolio Show on May 11 at the new Make It Center in Building 2000 at the Highland campus. This gives students an opportunity to showcase their work, as well as give prospective students a look into what skills are developed in each program. 

Understanding Prop A and B on the Ballot

Local elections for the state of Texas take place on Saturday, May 6. Here’s what you need to know before heading to the polls.

by Foster Milburn

What is a Proposition?

A proposition is a form of direct democracy when citizens vote directly on new laws or changes to existing ones. Voters typically place these propositions on the ballot through petitions or legislative action. 

It is not uncommon for supporters and opponents to spend money on advertising in order to influence public opinion on controversial issues. 

What will be on my ballot?

Unlike the November 2022 election, the ballot will be quite short. Educational bonds, the election of city council members, and city issued bonds will make up the majority of the ballot. 

The two most controversial topics are Proposition A and Proposition B dealing with the Austin Police Oversight Act. The propositions are nearly identical in language and are distinguished by the groups they are backed by.

What is Proposition A?

Proposition A is backed by Equity Action, a criminal justice reform group that focuses on racial equity in the judicial system in Austin. It intends to “deter police misconduct and brutality by strengthening the City’s system of independent and transparent civilian police oversight,” according to the election page on the official City of Austin website

What is Proposition B?

Proposition B is backed by the Voters for Police Oversight and Accountability, a group that is funded by the Austin Police Association. In terms of language, it sounds remarkably similar, almost verbatim, to Proposition A. It aims to “strengthen the City’s system of independent and transparent civilian police oversight,” according to its original ordinance. 

In a KVUE interview, Chris Harrons with Equity Action clarified that the primary difference between the two measures, besides the words “strengthening” and “strengthen,” is that Prop A attempts to make it possible for people to file anonymous complaints on a police officer. Voters for Oversight and Police Accountability said in the same interview that their aim is to increase police accountability with a focus on guaranteed due process.

Rewind to Fall 2022, when a group of unknown individuals were seen in West Campus gathering signatures for petitions relating to police oversight that many deemed deceiving due its language.“The City Clerk will not accept any requests to remove your name from the petition, regardless how you were deceived, after the organization behind it has turned in their signatures,” Equity Action said on their website

When casting your vote, notice the group that each proposition is backed by whose mission aligns with your beliefs about police oversight. 

Early voting for the May 6 election ends Tuesday. 

Reflecting on Women’s History Month

ACC International Programs and Office of Experiential Learning hosted Global Storytelling about Women: Empowerment and Disruption panel on March 28 with presentations from staff and students alike. The presenters discussed a variety of topics such as feminine ideals, fairy tales, monsters in literature, and stories of indigenous women in politics.

Story by Ava Vano

Studying Disruptors and Trailblazers

The panel began with Dr. Brenda Roy and her four students speaking about what they have learned in the Women and Gender Studies English Composition II classroom. Roy spoke about the class’s attitudes towards gender and through what perspective she sought to approach that, and explained that the course is designed on“[Using] gender as the primary, but not the only lens to explore course texts.”

In the class, students read a variety of short stories, poetry, essays and watched TED talks exploring women’s stories. Why does this matter? Roy’s goal is to “Center students’ own lived experiences” and to create “embodied citizens outside the classroom,” according to her presentation. 

The “Global Storytelling about Women: Empowerment and Disruption” panel held at the Highland Presentation Hall and moderated by Philosophy Professor and Service-Learning Program Coordinator Linda Cox. — Photos by Angelica Ruzanova

Each of the four students got the opportunity to present their own topics pertaining to the course that they were passionate about. Attendees saw presentations about gender socialization, personal impacts of one’s own gender, thoughts about “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and an analysis of “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid. These students explored what it means to be a woman personally, but also what literature has taught us about womanhood.

Monstrous Women Around the World

The next presentation was “Monstrous Women Around the World” given by Professor Alex Watkins. Watkins spoke about themes of monsters as cultural ideals and how monsters are a way to villainize and disempower certain groups, referencing Jeffrey Cohen’s “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)”. 

Professor Laura Elander shares her research and excerpts of her students’ essays during her presentation. Her topic demonstrated the importance of intersectionality in literary text and how difficult it is to navigate literature in higher education today. — Photos by Angelica Ruzanova

A keynote from this presentation was the fourth thesis, “The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference,” in which she reflects upon “the other” and our fear of that idea. This is applicable to many different groups of people and is something that is ever present within our media. Overall, through this presentation, the attendees were given the opportunity to reflect upon what people have the tendency to fear and why exactly they do that. 

Indigenous Women in Politics

The third presentation was “Indigenous Women in Politics” by Professor Vanessa Faz. She began the presentation by pointing out the issue of indigenous women going missing every day, and the lack of funding and police presence on reservations that has made this issue go under the radar in many instances. 

On a brighter note, the main point of her presentation was to celebrate the indigenous women that were able to break through the political sphere and were elected into government positions. For example, Deb Haaland was the first Native American woman elected into Congress and to hold a cabinet position, and Sharice Davids followed Haaland to be the second Native woman in Congress. 

Faz points out that there were no Native Americans elected into Congress from 1902 to 2018, making the barriers these women broke down even more impressive. 

Global Cinderella Stories: How Fairy Tales Reflect the Feminine Ideal 

The final presentation was “Cinderella Stories and the Feminine Ideal – How Stories Shape Our Perception” given by Professor Lauren Elander who is a dual credit high school teacher from Round Rock ISD. 

Elander has the unique challenge of teaching high school students and finding texts that all students can see themselves in, expressing that challenge by asking “How am I going to find a text for everybody?” Elander gives students the option to write about texts and material not in the curriculum if they feel drawn to it, giving students the opportunity to find texts they are passionate about. 

The “Cinderella Stories” panel discusses the portrayal of womanhood and what it does to collective psyche. — Photos by Angelica Ruzanova

Elander presented Cinderella stories across all different cultures and what expectations from women are shown through their depiction. Intersectionality is a key concept for the interpretation of texts within Elander’s classroom, and as her students navigate their course material, they are given the opportunity to reflect upon themselves and others. 

Although Women’s History Month has come to an end, we can still find the time to reflect upon women’s stories and the challenges they face through literature. This panel gave several women the opportunity to share their stories and empower other women through the recognition, acknowledgement, and exploration of topics that may otherwise be overlooked. 

The Inner Workings of My Mind: Great Questions Part 1

An essay on being a student with a neurodivergent brain by ACCENT writer Aaron Moeller. This article is part of the Student Welfare Series, exploring the Great Questions program in the ACC humanities department.

By Aaron Moeller

Photo by Matthew Mateo

My brain is an F5 tornado. It spins, twirls me around endlessly, and is highly unstable. After joining college again after three years off, I did not remember how to read or write. I had to teach myself.

I have autism, and seven other diagnoses, including complex PTSD, ADHD, and OCD. I am neurodivergent. My entire life, I had not been civically engaged and did not know how to be. I had yet to start reading my first book. My hands would tremble when I tried to write an essay. My head would spin off my shoulders for any given test. I had lost hope. Why is my brain like this?

Then it happened, during my first semester at ACC. I received my first bad grade: an F on a paper I had spent 15 straight hours writing. I emailed my teacher, Shellee O’Brien, some things I should not repeat.

My ego was destroyed. I tried to read the entire book. I did the work. But I still got an F. Why? I met with Professor O’Brien during our first office hours where I was poised and ready to attack. How dare she not give me a perfect score? I poured my entire life and soul into this; why did I get an F? I demanded a rebuttal from her.

To my surprise, she looked me in the eye and began speaking calmly. She explained where I had skewed off track during my essay, and I realized I was wrong. I knew from her tone that she didn’t try to “win” or have a “gotcha” moment with me. I spoke with her for two hours, not knowing my life would be changed forever because of that call. 

This was the first time I felt I had a teacher who cared about me.

We ended the call with her telling me that I could do anything I set my mind to, and I knew I could count on her. I had finally found a mentor.

After that day, I began my next writing assignment. She had told me not to worry about this old one, and I didn’t. I focused. I sat for another fifteen hours and wrote my following essay. Was this something that I could do now? Could I be a writer? Do I have a voice? Is someone going to care what I have to say?

I turned in my essay and got an A. This was the first A I had ever received since I dropped out of high school at 15. I was ecstatic; this was one of the best days of my life. I went outside and shouted to the sky, “I made it.” Because I did. They were my words on the paper, and for the first time, I was heard.

I quickly went back to Blackboard and checked my history class grade. Fail. I began to sob and mentally retreated into myself. Why was my brain doing this? How can I get my first A and an F simultaneously? Why do I remember everything from the other class but nothing from the one I failed? I made it my mission to find out.

I met with Professor O’Brien again and explained what was happening, asking her what the secret was. She told me it was something called “Great Questions.” 

Great Questions pedagogy is centered around teaching discussion-based texts and creating lesson plans that allow your students to find their voice. This is immensely powerful, especially for a neurodivergent student like me, who knows that the education system was not created for everybody. Great Questions focuses on collaboration, not rote-memorization. It also focuses on the concepts of the material rather than memorizing answers to regurgitate on an exam.

I was still confused. I thought the answer was simple: suck it up. That is what I have been told my entire life. I perfected the art of masking after my childhood trauma. Everyone tells me, “You don’t look autistic,” or “You look so happy.” If only they knew how I felt. If only they knew every single thought that entered my brain.

But I’m not special. Millions of other people feel this daily. They are stuck inside a system that just isn’t made for them. They try to claw their way “out” at their own expense, only to realize there isn’t one.

Professors don’t have it easy, either. They are thrown out of graduate school after getting a degree, with all the weight of the world thrust upon them, alone, like me. They are expected to care for hundreds of students, each with preconceived notions of how a typical class should be. It is not easy or wise to go against the status quo.

Students expect the teachers to make things easy to learn and perfect in every way, which usually means some rote-memorization style teaching method. A rinse and repeat method: memorize this and that, pass the exam, then forget it all. But O’Brien showed me how things could be different. She went against the norm and had the vulnerability to try something new, which changed my life. The secret is that she was active and engaged in my education, a special method implemented in the Great Questions program. 

I know it is not easy. Academic freedom isn’t as good as it is made to seem. Throw in overloaded and stressed students, hundreds of them, with hundreds if not thousands of essays to read, all while keeping a close and tight-knit relationship with the student. It’s practically impossible. Students learn early not to expect much, and teachers are just trying to get by with what they have.

I have a new challenge.

I am challenging professors to challenge themselves. We can all become active readers and writers. Create lesson plans that are discussion based, and allow your students to have a voice, as O’Brien did for me. Give me a chance to realize I am a part of the big picture, and what I say matters. Give me a chance to mess up, and help me back up. Have fun with me.

I know it is hard to try something new, but it is an act of solidarity. In my case, I learned I had a voice, something I never knew I had since I was eleven years old after my offender assaulted me.

But I survived.

Being comorbid with so many diagnoses has challenged me, but I survived. I have faith that teachers will also survive.

Give me a chance to realize I am a part of the big picture, and what I say matters. Give me a chance to mess up, and help me back up. Have fun with me.

After finding my voice, I now eat and sleep better, have become a leader within multiple communities, and am pursuing journalism as a passion for spreading awareness of the disenfranchisement of neurodivergent people. 

Before this, I was stuck inside for three years, extremely cloistered with trauma-induced symptoms. I know Great Questions pedagogy has the potential to change a student’s life forever. It changed mine.

My therapist described my reality as “walking in a snowstorm while everyone around me is on a beach,” and I had never felt more validated.

Growing up and never meeting my father traumatized me and left me seeking guidance, but finding a mentor within my professor allowed me to blossom into the real-life human I am today.

After two years, I will be the first in my family to graduate and the first one to publish anything, and that is possible due to people like my Professor Shellee O’Brien and the Great Questions pedagogy who are willing to try something new.

HB 1686: No Place for Hate

by Foster Milburn

On March 27, 2023, Equality Texas, a statewide political organization that advocates for LGBTQ rights, posted a “call to action” on their social media websites.  They called for an emergency rally titled “Fight for our lives.” The rally took place at 2 p.m.  at the rotunda located on the ground floor of the Texas State Capitol. Their reasoning – to protest the imminent passing of House Bill 1686 (HB 1686).

HB 1686 aims to prevent healthcare coverage for gender-affirming care amongst youth in the state and allows the prosecution of a medical professional who provides such care regardless of parental consent. As of March 28, 2023, the bill is likely to pass the house and activists revisited the capitol to protest the bill and the detrimental effects it would have on transgender youth. 

On the capitol grounds, activists were lined up down to the street on the south side. Due to the legislative session, the capitol has been crowded, but the energy was different, with activists feeling more panicked than usual at the prospect of the passing of this bill – one of several anti-LGBTQ+ bills that the state legislature is working to pass. 

Testimonies were cut short at midnight and activists fell to the ground and chanted “Klick lies, kids die” referring to Representative Stephanie Klick, Chair of the Public Health Committee, who is overseeing discussions regarding the bill.  Those who were unable to speak out may submit a public comment of their testimony through Friday, limited to 3000 characters. 

Another bill, HB 2055, aims to repeal an antiquated law preventing same-sex relationships. The law remains on Texas books. Activists are calling for support of this bill and urging the public to stop by capitol grounds to drop a card and/or give a testimony. 

You can track the status of all bills using Equality Texas’ bill tracking system

Texas Advocacy Day 2023: Voices of LGBTQ Texans

The 88th legislative session started on January 10 and concludes on May 29, 2023. This term sparked a sense of fear amongst LGBTQ Texans as there are more anti-LGBTQ bills than in previous sessions.

by Foster Milburn

On March 20, 2023, Texans from across the state gathered near the south side of the capitol. The goal: to use the mere presence of the community to push back on bills that directly impact the lives of LGBTQ Texans. 

National and regional equality groups organized the day in a routine schedule to train and create positive energy amongst attendees. Equality Texas, GLAAD, Texas Freedom Network, Transgender Education Network of Texas, and ACLU were the backbone of the event. 

Allies are a crucial part of the LGBTQIA community. “This is a joint effort of the all-in for equality coalition – it’s great to come together with allies,” Communications Director at Equality Texas Jonathan Gooch said. In support of that, Equality Texas provided advocates transportation directly to the training site at the First United Methodist Church of Austin. 

Around noon, advocates marched to the capitol building and stopped to gather on the south side. Ricardo Martinez, the CEO of Equality Texas, gave an energetic opening speech. Following his speech, he introduced Cynthia Lee Fontaine, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” television show contestant from season eight and a Texan themselves. Cynthia performed directly in front of the capitol building as a direct visual protest of SB 12, the bill that defunds public libraries holding drag story hours and outlaws any public display of drag. 

The bill uses vague language directed at any cisgender person portraying the opposite gender publicly. This leaves out all of the cisgender women and non-binary people who perform drag as well. The language of the bill suggests that the law could be used to target transgender people. 

When asked about some of the primary goals for the day, Gooch said, “I look forward to spending some time with community members, celebrating, sharing some queer joy, and showing Texas lawmakers that we’re here, we’re queer, and we’re going to be around for a while.”

After several speeches from transgender college students, equality groups, and other advocates from the community, the crowd lined up to enter the capitol building. Five groups were assigned three different Texas representatives to discuss what bills were wrong and which ones they should support instead. 

[Ricardo Martinez – CEO of Equality Texas & Jonathan Van Ness – celebrity hairstylist, star in Netflix’s Queer Eye, and Trans activist.] – Photo courtesy of Adam Spear

Josh Tutt, the President of the Pride Community Center in College Station, said, “I was not surprised that we only got to speak with staffers during our office visits and not directly with the elected officials. I was also not surprised that they were, for the most part, unwilling to commit to supporting the bills we were lobbying for.” Each staff member said the representatives were already on the house floor despite once the advocates entered the capitol building. 

Another important event was the inspiring speech given by Jonathan Van Ness, a native Texan from the “Queer Eye” series, to Ricardo Martinez, CEO of Equality Texas. As the legislative session unfolds, LGBTQIA Texans have shown that a whole group of marginalized people exists in Texas and are not going away. 

On paper, it looks like the entirety of the legislative body is against the LGBTQ+ community; however, the high number of good bills is equal to the number of bad ones, which is crucial to acknowledge. 

“We know Texans are generally becoming more supportive of LGBTQ equality,” Gooch said. Why these bills increase each legislative session continues to be questioned following marriage equality not even a decade ago. “As far as I can tell, this is a result of primaries – politicians playing to their primary voters – this tiny group of voters having an outside impact on what bills pass,” Gooch said.

There are Representatives in the legislative body that support bills that favor the LGBTQ population. They refer to bills that promote non-discrimination, mental health services for public education, and healthcare, such as prohibiting the coverage of conversion therapy on all healthcare plans.

The LGBTQ community is equally active in opposing anti-LGBT legislation as legislators who support it. Unfortunately, there is a wall that these bills have built up each legislative session, and the LGBTQ community in Texas is pushing back. This session represents the most visible display of a marginalized community claiming power against the harmful and incorrect stigma around not only queer expression, but the community’s very existence in this state. 

SXSW: Covering Panels on Data Art and Privacy

ACCENT Reporter Marisela Perez Maita shares her experience on the two panels that talked about the same topic but from very different perspectives.

by Marisela Perez Maita

First panel: Data Art: Processes and Perspectives 

Three data art artists presented their work during the session, explaining how they approach data analysis and what it is all about. 

From left to right, Jane Adams, Laurie Fick, and Sara Miller. 
What is Data Art? 

The first speaker, Laurie Frick, is a freelance artist that has worked with different companies and museums. For her, “Data art is more about art than data. The latter is more about the paint.” She sees that this is a medium where all that information can be expressed. She tries to take all that data and make it feel ambient in her work. 

Laurie Frick’s slide presentation

Second presenter Sarah Miller is a data visualization designer. She has worked with multiple clients, such as the Bill and Melinda Gate foundation, the University of Chicago, and the Museum of the City of New York. For her, data art can range from AI to making things with your own hands. Data art can visualize and give insight into something, and in particular, to visualize who you are.

Sarah Miller’s slide presentation

Lastly was Jane Adams. She is a researcher from Northeastern University with BFA in Graphic Design and Digital Media. She also builds robots and hydroponic sculptural works. Adam emphasized that data art treats data as a medium instead of a subject. Adams explained that there is a parallel between data science and data art. Both can teach each other about processes, but data art will always seek to find meaningful ways to find the human connection of the data. 

Jane Adams’ slide presentation
Their work.

All three artists  approach data art differently, be it the materials, resources, intentions behind their art, and of course, the data they use.  

Laurie explained that much of the work is just research. For example, she retailed the commission she did for the Houston Federal Reserve, where all the cash for the state of Texas is processed. She described the place as a fortress with billions of dollars in cash inside it. She was completely mesmerized by the quantity of cash. 

Once home, she started “the hunting process.” Where does the cash go? How often does it transit to people’s hands? All the questions led to processing the data. She found a government survey of individuals’ spending during her research. This data set had information on how much money individuals made and spent divided into categories. 

Laurie explained that there is something organic in people’s data. “There is usually a rhythm in human data. A symphony of actions and behaviors.” Having all this information in front of her and comparing it, such as someone making $250,000 and someone that made $10,000, she realized that the answer to “where does the cash go” was about income and inequality.

Her work holds 60 squares that detail how people spend their money in a year, and what she likes about it is that it allows the viewer to infer the same thing she did. The more someone makes and the more they have to spend, the more “squares” they have in their section.

“Where does the cash go” (2020) By Laurie Frick. https://www.lauriefrick.com/

Sarah Miller discussed her project “The Digital in Architecture.” She and her team were focused on an essay that detailed the history of the discipline and the digital tools that architects have used throughout history. They decided to visualize the data as buildings and their different aspects. How tall are they? Which materials do they have? All this data-set is a timeline of description and design. 

“The Digital in Architecture” (2019) by Sarah Kay Miller. https://sarahkaymiller.com/

Jane Adams talked about her most recent work. It is a sculpture of a Latent Walk video from an IRL model she trained. IRL is a technology that, in this case, Adam used to extract stock images from aerial drone photographs. From this, Adam scripted down over 17,000 images, printing them in transparency films that we see in the picture as all the layers of the map. 

At the bottom is something she added after contemplating how to credit every photographer who contributed to her art training data. It ended up being a 120 foot-long roll of all the names and titles of people who provided the data she used in her machine-learning work of art. 

Caption: Sculpture title “Latent Walk Prims.” (2023)  by @artistjaneadams instagram

As we see, Data Art is diverse, broad and open to interpretation. It is about joy, utility, creativity, and, more importantly, making data more memorable. 

Second panel: It’s Time to Stop Denying Privacy as a Civil Right 

In this panel, data takes a 180-degree turn. In the Civil Engagement category, four panelists discussed the implications of having no privacy rights in an era when governments, companies, and applications can sell and use our data as they please. 

From left to right, Christopher Woods, Nicole Turner-Lee, Koustubh “K.J.” Bagch, and Amy Hinojosa

The discussion was led by Christopher Wood, founder of LGBT Tech and three non-profit organizations focused on the LGBTQ+ community. He started the discussion by asking the other three panelists, “What is at the top of your mind when it comes to civil rights and privacy?”

Amy Hinojosa, the founder of MANA, a National Latina Organization, answered that over her 16 years working with the organization and fighting on behalf of women she is overly concerned about the weaponization of women’s health care data, especially reproductive care. She brought the Dobbs vs. Jackson legislation, explaining that it was detrimental not only to abortion access but to the privacy of our health care decisions. This legislation allows them to look at the user’s health history, and take action according to their definition of morality.

For example, if someone uses an app to track their period, this information can be documented and used against them. States have the power to  make health care less available and look into people’s health care decisions. Hinojosa explained that in the state of Texas, this information could be used to criminalize people like  women subject of abortions. She has no control over her personal health care data so any entity can use it against her.

Koustubh “K.J.” Bagchi has focused over 10 years on marginalized communities. He has worked with Washington D.C. as a council member on issues regarding consumer protection. Now he is the Chamber of Progress of New America’s Open Technology Institute, focusing on platform accountability and privacy issues. Regarding civil rights and privacy, he answered that the conversation of privacy is usually centered on the big companies: Google, Amazon, Apple, and so on, when actually, the government has found a way to collect data from all civilians around the country, and there is no legislation to protect us from the surveillance the government has upon us and that we are not even aware of. 

Nicole Turner-Lee has a PhD in sociology and is the Director of Technology Innovation at the Brookings Institution. She is concerned of the social implications of technology, where we have not realized that we are in a system of technological surveillance that lends itself to “discriminatory, racist, gender and homophobic violence.” It is done in a way that the user does not realize that it is happening. Turner-Lee outlined that without legislation, our data can add on the already system of inequality and the state of oppression of people of color, women, and immigrants. 

The discussion unpacked that  data is a tool available to use against communities. Local and federal governments collect information by, as Bagchi named, “data brokers.” These are businesses that collect information across the web. It can be public data, like what you have in your link profile, or in many cases, these data brokers make deals with third parties apps to aggregate data for private use. 

He illustrated the case covered by newsletters of an app made for its Muslim users to find the right time and orientation to pray. This information reveals where thousands of Muslim users are located and was sold to the US military and defense contractors. People from the Muslim communities, thinking they were just using an app to follow their religion, were actually being monitored by the government. We think that the information we put in apps is not something anyone but us can see, when behind our backs, they are actively collecting our data and selling it. 

Turner-Lee  asked the public, “How many of you accept the cookies?” and most of us raised our hands. Half the people don’t read the privacy policies because, in the first place, these policies are meant to be read by lawyers and not people who are navigating through the internet. Users are unaware of what they are giving up when they decide “I don’t want that information to be collected about me.” 

Most times, not accepting cookies hinders one from accessing the website. This is a telling to users that they don’t really have an option to deny or accept what technology offers. With this, can we really call it our “options”? We are in a position where you can’t update your phone if you don’t accept its terms and conditions. We accept everything because there are no other choices, and don’t  realize the implications of our decisions. 

Our needs, religion, location, political views, nationality, and all of our identity are beyond our control when privacy is not considered a civil right. What can we do among all these big companies and the government? Hinojos said that there must be some outrage on the part of people to make companies understand the consequences this has on them and their communities,the consequence being a lack of  support for their products. 

According to the panel, advocacy is acting now. We have to ask our companies how and what they are doing with our information. “We have to keep pushing,” Hinojosa said.

As Bagchi said, the issue of data privacy is challenging, but there are attempts to make companies more transparent. Apple and Google have policies regarding privacy rights, and were done internally. Some companies have the rules, while others don’t. Turner-Lee said it is very hard to rely on companies to do the right thing, and that’s why we need regulation. With this, we as consumers have ways to enforce our rights, and this can be done by legislation. 

Does Fort Hood Have Another Tragic Harassment Case On Their Hands?

Fort Hood officials say no foul play is evident but the investigation once again calls to question the culture of harassment and bullying on military installations.

by Ky Duffey

March is Women’s History Month. Every year, the U.S. Department of Defense and various branches of the U.S. military commemorate the outstanding contributions and glass ceilings smashed by women of the Armed Services, both past and present. But these acclamations fall under the cloud of another death at Ford Hood, a U.S. Army post located near Killeen, Texas.

Ana Basalduaruiz, 20, joined the Army in 2021 as a combat engineer with the 1st Cavalry Division. She was an avid reader since the age of 5 and loved to dance. She was a fan of Brazilian author Paulo Coelho and American singer Selena Gomez. She loved plants, particularly the smell of fresh lavender. 

She was also very organized and disciplined which led to her interest in joining the Army in addition to traveling and finding success for herself and her family. But those aspirations came to a sudden halt when Basalduaruiz was found dead on Fort Hood on March 13, according to Fort Hood officials. 

A press report released by Fort Hood officials states that the Army Criminal Investigation Division is actively investigating and that, as of now, no foul play is evident. 

“A loss of any one of our Soldiers is a tragedy and it is no different in the death of Private Ana Basalduaruiz. Our hearts and thoughts go out to the family, friends and colleagues of Ana,” said Col. Christopher Dempsey, Commander, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, via the press report. “We have remained in constant contact with both parents of Private Basalduaruiz, and will continue to keep them updated.” 

Despite the reports from Fort Hood officials, Private Basalduaruiz’ mother, Alejandra Ruiz Zarco, in a statement to Telemundo News, said her daughter told her and friends that she was being harassed by an Army superior and was a target of repeated sexual advances on base.

Zarco last talked to her daughter on March 8 at which Basalduaruiz told her she was “very sad, that she was going through very difficult things, that things were not as normal as she thought, that she couldn’t tell me much, but that there was going to be a moment when we were going to be together and she could tell me everything,” Zarco said to Telemundo in Spanish.

Fort Hood officials have acknowledged the harassment allegations and are also investigating the claims. “Information related to any possible harassment will be addressed and investigated fully,” officials said via the press report.

However, in light of the recent allegations of harassment, civil rights groups are calling for an independent investigation. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), in a press release, called for the F.B.I. to investigate the allegations.

Ana Basalduaruiz

“We have already informed the Army that LULAC is demanding action and will not stand down until all the truth emerges about what happened,” LULAC National President Domingo Garcia said via the release. “We are very disappointed and angry that the pattern of mistreatment and abuse is still pervasive at Ft. Hood, and we are demanding an immediate, full, and transparent investigation.”

Basalduaruiz’ death recalls the case of Vanessa Guillen who was murdered by Aaron David Robinson in 2020 after complaining of sexual harassment while stationed at Fort Hood. Guillen’s death led to the “I Am Vanessa Guillen” Act which revamped investigations into military sexual assault and harassment.

A further independent review panel castigated the leadership and climate at Fort Hood, stating it created a permissive environment for sexual assault and harassment. This led to the removal of 14 base leaders following Guillen’s death.

As the investigation into Basalduaruiz’s death continues, it raises questions about sexual harassment and assault cases which are prevalent in the military, particularly towards women. A 2021 Department of Defense study showed that 8.4% of women and 1.5% of men experienced an incident of unwanted sexual contact within the year – the highest it has been in over a decade. 

“In addition, rates of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and workplace hostility increased for women throughout the active force,” said Gilbert Cisneros, Jr., Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in a letter to the Chairman of the Armed Forces Committee.

A GoFundMe has been set up for Basalduaruiz primarily to help her mother and family members who live in Mexico with transportation and travel expenses to attend her memorial service. After reaching out to LULAC, there were no further updates since their latest press release.

Click here to access the 24/7 National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline