Author: Micah Cronin

U.S. Representative Tom Reed (NY-R) will visit Fillmore tomorrow to speak with constituents, including a group of Student Government Association and Eco Reps members. “A town hall meeting is a public gathering where ordinary citizens can ask questions of their elected representatives,” according to  Eco Reps faculty advisor, Brian Webb.  

Sergio Matta ‘18 and Eco Reps have partnered the last two semesters to advocate for action in environmental and immigration policy by contacting Reed every week. They’ve accomplished this through the Do Something Table project, which is open in the Van Dyk Lounge every Thursday. The table, staffed with Matta and Eco Reps members, urges students to contact Reed regarding different policy issues. The project is sponsored by the Center for Faith, Justice, and Global Engagement, according to Webb.

Matta, who is an intern with the Washington, D.C. based lobbying group Friends Committee on National Legislation, is fulfilling his internship duties by organizing students toward political activism through the project. Matta said, “The Do Something Table focuses on the environment and immigration. One week we do immigration, and the next we do the environment. Immigration policy is the focus of my internship.”

“These topics were chosen for two key reasons,” Webb said. “First, they are same topics as the past two Faith and Justice Symposia, so in that way we’re building on issues that have been widely discussed on campus in recent years.  Second, of the various justice-related issues that are currently being debated in the public sphere, these seem to be two of the issues where we’re most in danger of making backward progress.”

Matta expressed hope that Reed will be open to bipartisanship in the polarized political climate on Capitol Hill. “He opposed the shutting down of the House Ethics Committee” Matta said, a move which was contrary to many of Reed’s Republican colleagues.

Sarah Vande Brake ‘18, a member of Eco Reps, said the Do Something Table has encouraged students to urge Reed to support specific environmental legislation. She said, “For climate change, [we’ve asked Reed to support] a carbon tax, [and have asked] Reed to join the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus.” At the Table, students are given a script for making the call.“ To make the situation less intimidating, we provide scripts for people so they’ll have something to guide them when making the phone call,” Vande Brake said.

In regard to immigration issues, the Do Something Table asked students to urge Reed to stand for certain principles regarding legislation, such as “encouraging him to keep families together,” according to Vande Brake. They also counseled more left-leaning students to “appeal to the more Republican side” of the issue by “telling Reed that immigrants are important to our economy,” she said. Vande Brake estimated that about 10 to 15 students call Reed every week to discuss policy issues.

“There’s a liberal bent obviously as these issues tend to be more Democrats’ issues and Reed is a Republican,” she said. “The point of it is not to advocate for a particular party. Essentially, bipartisan solutions are what the goal is. Anyone can call their congressman. I’m happy to see people being politically active regardless.”

Anna Schilke ‘19, who regularly mans the table, agreed. “I decided to get involved with the Do Something Table because I like the idea of constructive action. There was a lot of frustration about the election, from both sides, and this is a good way to channel those feelings into something productive.”

In Webb’s view, tomorrow’s town hall meeting is a chance to see the work of the Do Something Table come to fruition. “This is our opportunity to ask Tom Reed face to face what he wants to do about climate change, immigration reform, racial issues, [and other justice issues],” he stated.

Still, sustained contact with elected officials through phone and email influences officials as well, Schilke stated. “ It’s hard to get people to stop by the table and make a call, and although that’s understandable – it can be intimidating to call a congressman – I would love to see more people get involved. Imagine if even twenty percent of the student body made a call or typed an email. Two hundred messages in the space of two hours would be hugely influential.”

The Spring Artist Series will commence tonight in the Wesley Chapel, featuring the band Wooden Cities. Adjunct music professor Megan Kyle plays the oboe in the ensemble and will be performing tonight as well.

The group has gained regional acclaim since their inception in 2011, performing in venues throughout Buffalo including the Albright Knox Art Gallery, Silo City, Hallwalls Art Center, PAUSA Art House, and the State University of New York at (SUNY) Buffalo.

The ensemble defies easy definition, according to a Buffalo Rising review. They are typically categorized as avant garde classical, improvisational ensemble, or a new music collective. “We have a strong interest in improvisation in various forms, which is the focal point around which we’ve organized this concert”, Kyle stated. “While what we do is rooted in the classical tradition that forms the foundation of much of the Greatbatch School of Music’s curriculum, our repertoire represents a sampling of more recent developments in classical music, including cross-pollination with other musical genres, offering students and community members an opportunity to have a new, hopefully exciting and interesting, musical experience.”

The University at Buffalo, which boasts several alumni as members of Wooden Cities, noted that the group is well known for inviting audience participation after, and sometimes during performances. The purpose of these interactions is to “help widen the circle of contemporary music appreciation,” the ensemble hopes.

Artist Series performances cover a wide range of genres, according to music performance major Derek Chase ‘19. “They’ve had everything from a Brazilian jazz group to the Navy Chorus to a saxhorn band. While they might not all appeal to everyone, I feel that everyone can at some point see [a performance] that has their specific tastes.”

Wooden Cities “seeks to increase the performance and awareness of contemporary classical music in Western New York through uniquely engaging presentations,” according to the band’s website. This includes performing a mix of work by young composers, as well as “underrepresented” 20th and 21st century composers. The group said they seek to emphasize Buffalo composers, having recently performed the new composition “Examples of Excess” by University at Buffalo music professor James Currie. Wooden Cities also revived Buffalo native Lejaren Hiller’s 1968 work Avalanche in their first full length tour last summer.

Wooden Cities also expands the traditional demographic of classical music audiences. Their most recent performance was at Greece Olympia School in Rochester, NY- and was done in cooperation with ameteur high school musicians. A Rochester City Newspaper review stated, “…the Wooden Cities vocalists performed it with poise and gusto. Their willingness to be vulnerable and silly was laudable…”

Wooden Cities will begin their performance tonight at 7:30 and are expected to play until 9:00. Tickets to the event are $15 for adults and $7 for youth 18 and under.

“I’m not really sure what to expect,” Chase said. “[Wooden Cities] seems to be a great mixture of contemporary music and classical, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Seventeen students boarded a charter bus funded by the Campus Activities Board (CAB) for a “Mystery Bus Trip” last Saturday. The event cost $30.

According to CAB staff member Kelsey Johnson ‘19, the price of the event covered all the activities for each participant. CAB did not fundraise from the event.

The bus departed campus at 11 a.m. nearly full. The “mystery” was revealed to be an excursion through Buffalo. First, the group stopped at the Third Annual Larkinville Ice Festival, held in the South Buffalo business and entertainment district, Larkin Square. According to the festival’s website, activities included an ice throne, sledding, food trucks, vendors, and alpacas. “[I]  got to sit on an ice throne and it was then that I realized that I was true royalty,” said Hunter Gregory ‘17.

After the ice festival, the group boarded the bus again and drove to the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center to eat their fill at the Buffalo Soup Festival. Gregory said the soup festival, which according to the festival’s website featured 30 area restaurants and over 75 soups, was “a dream come true”.

The finale activity of the night was ice skating at Canalside. Courtney Walters ‘17 ice skated for the first time. “It was so frightening, but once I got the hang of it, it was amazing.”

While Walters felt that “the mystery bus tour will always hold a special place in [her] heart,” Gregory had a critique of the event.

Overall, the event  met his expectations “only because of the time spent with friends.”  He continued, “The event ideas were really good, but we had nearly three hours to enjoy about an hour’s worth of entertainment at each destination, so there was a lot of sitting around.” The trip lasted from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m.

However, “all in all it was worth [the price]” Gregory stated.

Walters agreed. She said she would attend the Mystery Bus Trip again “in a heartbeat. It’s one thing I know I will miss once I graduate.”

Two Republican Senators have introduced The Patient Freedom Act which would allow states to opt out of  former President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to the New York Times.

Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Susan Collins of Maine are co-sponsoring the bill. “Republicans believe that if you like your insurance, you should keep it,” Cassidy said. “And we mean that.”

States that opt out of the ACA would be able to provide “basic coverage” for their citizens on their own. The New York Times reported that under the bill such states would contract with one or more insurers to accomplish this.

Under former President Obama’s ACA, 20 million previously uninsured individuals obtained health insurance. Senator Collins has stated repeatedly that Republicans in the House and Senate should not vote to repeal the ACA until they have a clear plan for replacement, according to CNN. CNN also reported that among Democrats and moderate Republicans, there is fear that repeal of the law would create “deep instability” in insurance markets which could threaten millions of people’s healthcare.

The bill may have a difficult time gathering support across both major parties. Senate Minority Leader Charles “Chuck” Schumer (D-NY) stated  the bill would endanger individuals in states that opted out. “Millions of Americans would be kicked off their plans, out-of-pocket costs and deductibles for consumers would skyrocket, and protections for people with pre-existing conditions, such as cancer, would be gutted,” the New York Times reported.

On the other hand, the New York Times reported Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus stating “Obamacare is flawed, failing, and not fixable, and needs to be fully repealed.”

The Trump administration has proposed its own ideas for addressing the ACA. Kellyanne Conway, an advisor to President Trump stated the administration is considering moving Medicaid funding to a block grant system, rather than the current open ended funding stream, which pays for all care which beneficiaries are entitled to under law, according to NPR.

Critics of block grants argue the grants will threaten coverage to millions of low income families, and will not keep up with the rate of inflation in health care costs.