Campus Life
Community Corner generated thoughtprovoking conversation. See page 2
The
Rambler
April 7,. 2016 • VOL. 98, ISSUE 22
Transylvania University • Lexington, Ky. • transyrambler.com • (859) 233-8315
Rosenthal, Poole to undergo renovations in January 2017
In this Issue
Campus Life
Amy Greene wins Judy Gaines Young Award
ETC.
Caption Game by Rambler Staff
Rosenthal and Poole will not be torn down. New dorms will house fraternities with wing-style living next school year.
Opinion
Editor discusses holding student leaders accountable
A&E
Senior Exhibition opens in Morlan Gallery, “Expect the unexpected”
Sports
Women’s Lacrosse achieves 10game winning streak
News Briefs Due to a lack of majority in the recent TUSGA presidential election, a runoff election is being held from April 6-8 between rising junior Joseph Gearon and rising senior Hussain Siddiqi. These polls will close at 6 p.m. on Friday. Winners of the previous election include Claire Gardner, rising junior, for the position of Vice President, rising sophomore Daniel Cooper for the position of Chief-of-Staff and rising senior Cole Green for the position of Chief-of Finance. Those interested in running for a senate seat within TUSGA can still do so but must submit a petition with at least 40 signatures from non-senior students by April 10 at 6 p.m. Petitions can be found at https://tusga.wordpress.com/
Campus Town Hall meeting to discuss college drinking Friday, April 8
Transylvania University will be hosting a Town Hall meeting on Friday, April 8 from 9 a.m. until noon in the William T. Young Camus center. The meeting will focus on underage drinking on college campuses and the role of campus law enforcement, with both panel and Table Top discussions on the issue. The event is free to attend and provides free parking to registered attendees. Due to this reserved parking, Haupt Circle will be closed until the end of the event. Those wishing to register or obtain more information can do so at https://sites.google.com/a/transy.edu/residence-life/ home/samhsa-campus-town-hall
University Quiz Bowl Team return to campus champions
The Transylvania Quiz Bowl Team has finished off its 2015-2016 season in style, securing a first place championship victory in Division I of the Salsarita’s Invitational at the University of Louisville on Saturday, March 26, winning seven out of its nine total matches. They also beat rivals Louisville A two times out of three. Those who played that day were junior Megan Graft, sophomore Christian Wright and first-years Rachel Farmer, Keith Merson and Michael Maggard.
Alumna and professor publish paper in Biological research Journal
2014 Alumna Kali Mattingly and Associate Professor of Biology Sarah Bray, alongside coulleagues from the University of Kentucky and the University of Dayton, have had their research paper, entitled “Recovery of Forest Floor Diversity after Removal of Nonnative, Invasive Plant Euonymus fortunei” published within the Journal of Torrey Botanical Society, the oldest botanical society in the Western Hemisphere. Torrey Botanical Society focuses on the study of plant life and offers grants to support botanical research and training.
MADISON CRADER
Presidential Runoff Election to end April 8
The construction of the new dorms made some progress this week with the laying of the bricks on the outside wall. They also made progress with the roofing. Take a look at the nearly complete outside of the new dorms in the coming weeks.
David Neri dbneri16@transy.edu
Despite the construction of the two halls in Back Circle slated to be completed by the start of the winter term of the 20162017 school year, Transy may have a little farther to go with its alterations on campus. During the Winter Term, the university plans to renovate the Rosenthal and Poole buildings while moving its residences into the newly constructed buildings in Back Circle for the semester. “We are not closing the buildings,” stated Interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Michael Covert. “They are not disappearing, we are not tearing them down, what we are doing is, in January, we are going to move residents out so that we can do extensive maintenance cleaning and repairs, something that we don’t often get to do due to our summer camp schedule. That way when the two new buildings become available we will move residents from Poole and Rosenthal, who will have an opportunity to move over to the some of the space in the new buildings, and give us a chance to work on the repairs, the maintenance and the painting and give those buildings a lot of attention.” Most students seem
to agree with the attention needed within these dorms. Senior Laura Brown, a previous resident of Rosenthal who currently lives in Dalton-Voigt, pointed to the lighting of the rooms as a specific problem for her when she lived there. “[Rosenthal rooms] need more lighting for sure, you have to take a floor lamp or other light source to see in there,” she said. Junior Haley Rigg, a current resident of Poole, has had an overall positive experience living in Poole. “I find it cozy and quiet, I think it is a good study building, surprisingly, like a two-person Hazelrigg,” said Rigg. “I live by myself, so that might be a bit of a different experience than those who have roommates here… however, the bathrooms at this point are smelling a little moldy, but I like the layout of the bathrooms, I think it is efficient use of space. They literally have a bathtub/shower and a shower, two sinks and a toilet in a pretty limited amount of space, and the way they do it is pretty swell.” As a consequence, Rigg does not see a need for extensive Poole renovations. “I feel if they ended up doing it like the new building they would lose this efficiency,” she said. “I can’t
see a lot they actually need to renovate.” Covert did stress that this set of renovations would only be for the semester, and that they are only taking advantage of the increased space the new buildings provide before the first-year class of the following fall term. “I have every anticipation that they would open back up the following August, they are not going away, but given that we have enough spaces now, we can move students… do some maintenance… and then open them back up,” he said. What is not certain, however, is what will happen in these dorms after these refurbishments take place. Covert points to potential plans to install living-learning communities within the re-opened buildings. “I suspect that there will be some targeted communities,” said Covert. “But some of that plan that we are working on is where we would have living-learning theme houses where, if you are interested in sustainability or if you are interested in environmentalism, whatever the theme is, you could choose to live in this space, and there would be additional programming, but then there would also be spaces that are just part of
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the regular room selection.” What also seems to be up in the air is the exact situation of the fraternity housing after Rosenthal and Poole re-open. “We know where people are going to be in January, but then in the following fall, when we have all our spaces available, that is the plan that we are still working on,” Covert said. However, according to junior and president of Pi Kappa Alpha John Darsie, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) seems to be moving forward under the assumption that the fraternity placement in one of the two new buildings is a more permanent solution. “As far as I know, [the relocation in one of the new dorms] is what they want to do with fraternities in the long run,” said Darsie. “I think that Rosenthal and Poole would just be renovated for the same population who would fill it before the fraternities.” There is also some debate as to the changing Greek life on campus, and how the half-wing style of living planed for fraternities and sororities would play into that. See Dorms, Page 3
Campus Life
Page 2
April 7, 2016
Students discuss solutions for lack of community engagement
Lecture honors Kentucky governor, women’s history Kelsey Henry
RAAZIQ EL-AMIN
khenry18@transy.edu
Students from James Wright’s and Kerri Hauman’s First-Year Seminar classes came together, alongside Junior Teddy Salazar, to speak on Transylvania’s community engagement. The students spoke in both smaller groups and as a whole on how to engage Transylvania students mroe into the Lexington community.
Raaziq El-Amin rkelamin19@transy.edu
Last Thursday, a group of Transy students came together to share ideas about how they can have a positive impact on both the Transy community and the Lexington community. Led by Junior Teddy Salazar, who works under Natasha Begin in the Office of Community Engagement, and accompanied by faculty and staff members, the meeting encouraged students to learn about the community and how it contributes to the opportunities in which Transy students have access. Students discussed misconceptions they possess about the community outside Transy and how those can be dispelled. Most students voiced their understanding as Transy being in the middle of a “bad
community,” which is often not acknowledged by administration for fear of it making Transy look bad. “I think that discussions that bring up things that are frustrating or difficult are super healthy. Some tension is good, being uncomfortable is good. It pushes you to change and learn and become a better human,” said Salazar. Salazar, along with faculty and staff, challenged students to think about how ideas of the community being “bad” developed. She also used this as a way to introduce the outside community’s perception of Transy, as being uninviting. Through small group sessions, brainstorming and larger group discussion, students came to the conclusion that students’ misconception of the community lead to exclusionary behavior, re-
ducing the benefit Transy students offer community members and the benefit community members can offer Transy students. Sharing their personal reasons for perceiving the community in the way that they do, students deduced that administration plays a big role. Mostly first-years, the group revealed that their ideas developed as soon as they came on campus, by being told to avoid certain areas. They debated how safety of specific area is determined. Salazar referred to methods of discovering crime rates on college campuses, pointing out that the University of Kentucky has a crime log separate from that of the community. The separate crime log allows the campus to appear much safer than it really is. Students also discussed how racial and classist stereotypes
influence their way of thinking about a community. The idea of a “savior complex” was considered as well. Students recognized how they regard community service as themselves being superior to those they are helping. They were advised to approach service with the intent of a mutual relationship, in which community members and servers are benefitting from the act. “Those little brainstorming groups, or moments where you talk through a plan or idea with someone, or just talking to someone about how different they are from you. Those are the things that create change. Even if one student out of all of these discussions learns something or becomes aware of something in themselves or others, the goal has been met and I am super ex-
cited about it,” responded Salazar when asked about her role in increasing students’ participation in community interaction. All students are invited to attend meetings, which are held monthly. Discussions are hosted by different classes, allowing for diversity in conversation and interests. Salazar shared that the Office of Community Engagements goal is to “get students to start thinking about where they fit into the Transy community.” For more information about Community Engagement meetings, contact Teddy Salazar at tzsalazar17@ transy.edu or Natasha Begin at nbegin@transy.edu. Students are also encouraged to drop by the Care House, for advice on how to get involved in the community.
Kelsey Henry khenry18@transy.edu
Transylvania University hosted the Judy Gaines Young Literary Award on April 5, 2016. Senior Tiara Brown, winner of the student award, and Amy Greene, winner of the Judy Gaines Young Book award, read from their own work and brought new depth to their pieces. “It’s a good time to be with us today to support this endeavor on our campus and to support the idea of literature in our region of the country,” said Maurice Manning, professor of English and Transylvania writer in residence. “It’s a unique feature of our region this literature we have, this literature we hold in common. And Amy Greene absolutely exemplifies the value of that literature as does our student award winner Tiara Brown who will be coming up here shortly.” “This is an endeavor we began talking about in the spring of 2012 thanks to
the generosity of Dr. Byron Young, a 1961 graduate of Transylvania, a great patron of the arts in Central Kentucky, and a wonderful, exhaustive supporter of Transylvania,” said Manning. The Judy Gaines Young Literary Award began development in 2012 by Dr. Byron Young who hoped to honor his late wife’s memory through this award. However, the annual ceremony did not begin until 2014. Last year’s winner of the Judy Gaines Young Literary Award was Holly Goddard Jones. Brown and Greene are only the second recipients of their respective awards. Where Brown was chosen by Transy staff, Greene was chosen by prominent regional writer Crystal Wilkinson. Manning relayed a quote from Wilkinson about Greene’s novel in his opening statement. “I wanted to share with you some of Crystal’s remarks about Long Man, Amy Greene’s novel. [She said,] ‘Judging good writ-
KELSEY HENRY
Judy Gaines Young award winners share stories of loss, inspiration
Amy Greene reads excerpts from her novel Long Man, winner of the Judy Gaines Young literature award. Greene speaks on inspiration for her novel from the Appalachian region.
ing is always difficult, but Amy’s book rose to the surface almost immediately. In Long Man, she has created an intimate look at another time that you can’t put down. This book has an unstoppable engaging storyline told in an authentic voice teeming with beauty and lyricism. It has a strong, strong sense of place and
well-drawn characters who are incredible and rise up off the page. Long after choosing this book, I have carried it in the crook of my arm as I go from place to place as a testimony to its effect on me.’ That’s nicely said,” said Manning. Then he introduced the student winner, Tiara Brown. Brown, a double
major in English and Spanish with a minor in Writing, Rhetoric, and Communications, hopes to pursue film production and screenwriting after graduating in May. “I’m a little partial to Tiara,” said Manning. “She has been a student of mine every semester, eight semesters at Transy.” Brown read her poem See Award, Page 3
John Call Hill, professor of history at Warner University, presented “Textbooks, Toyota, and Tenacity: the Life and Work of Martha Layne Collins” on March 31st in celebration of Women’s History Month. He based his presentation off of his essay from Kentucky Women: Their Lives and Times in which he describes her life to explore how she became the first women to hold office as Kentucky’s governor. He argued that Martha Layne Collins’ tenacity in all aspects of life, her experience as a teacher, and her hard-working nature allowed her to establish a teaching career as well as a political career. Her tenacity, he explains, comes from her childhood on a farm where she and her family worked 24/7. “Early on she’s going to display that tenacity,” said Hill. “In watching her parents work hard on the farm, watching her parents work hard in that ambulance service and the funeral home stoked fires in Martha Layne Collins. She never forgot how hard her parents had worked.” “She said, ‘It was a 24/7 job. I carried that way of life into running for office and for serving the state,’” said Hill. “In high school, and actually in middle school too, Collins nourished this competitive streak in herself,” said Hill. “She sought a lot of offices: high school class president. And she would get frustrated admittedly when she wouldn’t win.” In high school, her political career began as she sought the office of class president. After experience a defeat in her first campaign, Collins’ mother told her to not allow such losses to set her back. Collins also served her community in high school where she began a youth center at a local library. “She would get frustrated, and her mother said ‘Don’t worry. Don’t worry. Shoot for something lower next time. Maybe class treasurer. And once you get that, achieved that office, then maybe the next time around you be class president. So don’t let setbacks discourage you,’” said Hill. “She never does during her political career,” said Hill. “She is going to have some setbacks. She is going to have some setbacks as Governor of Kentucky, but she keeps coming back. She learns from her mistakes. She never gives up.” Before attending Lindenwood University and later transferring to University of Kentucky, Collins competed for and won the title of Derby County Tobacco Festival Queen. Hill argued See Lecture, Page 3
Etcetera
Page 3
April 7, 2016 Dorms
“So the plan is that, as long as the new dorms are constructed on schedule, that all of the men living in Rosenthal would be transferred to wings of the hallways in the new building,” said Covert. “Instead of having full halls in this building, [each fraternity] would have 10 or 8 rooms [in a wing]. A lot of students are concerned that it won’t foster good community like the halls did, but [the other] argument is that the halls did cause a lot of problems which went away immediately once they were gone.” However, there seem to be a lot of things most people seem to find great about the new halls, at least from the experience of Dalton-Voigt. Common space does seem to be one of the potential positives of the new building style, which will mirror that of the Dalton-Voigt hall
CREATIVE COMMONS
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“Welcome to Back Circle” Lecture
From Page 1
which was finished at the beginning of the current school year. “I like the common areas pretty well. I have used the one on my floor to study sometimes, you can go there and it will be quiet,” said Brown. These common areas are also something that the administration plans to improve upon in the new buildings. “I am really excited about the new halls,” said Covert. “…they are on schedule right now and feedback from DaltonVoigt residents [shows] that it is a great facility and we are really excited about the two new dorms. We are sorely lacking on common space, so we are going to have better lounge space and places for groups to meet, and if all goes well we should have Back Circle ready at the start of school as well.”
From Page 2
Hill argued that her tenacity, hard-working and competitive nature allowed her to accomplish these feats before university. “At the University of Kentucky, she is going to continue her hard work,” said Hill. “She is going to be an active student. For example, she is going to be elected president of her dormitory. She is going to join Chi Omega sorority. She is going to serve on the Baptist Student Union.” Collins graduated from college and married Bill Collins in 1959. The couple had two children when they moved to Versailles, KY in 1966. Here, she taught junior high and devoted her free time to the local democrat headquarters. “While in Versailles, she is going to have her first taste of politics since she helped pass out campaign literature for her parents,” said Hill. “In her spare time,
Collins is going to work at the local democratic headquarters,” said Hill. “Her efforts there, again she is working hard, are going to catch the attention of party leaders.” “Party leaders at this point are looking for more women in the political process. The National Democratic Party wants more women involved. The State party is following that lead. So when they notice that Martha Layne Collins is a hard worker, when they notice that Martha Layne Collins gets the job done, they approach her. They approach her with an offer; this is in 1979.” Her work for the headquarters was so influential that Democrat party leaders noticed her abilities. In 1979, Walter D. Huddleston invited Collins help him. While hesitant at first, she accepted the position thanks to her husband’s encouragement. Thus, Collins moved into her first official political
position. “The offer was from majority floor leader Walter ‘Dee’ Huddleston,” said Hill. “He is going to ask Collins to serve as sixth congressional district chair of Lieutenant Governor Wendell Ford’s campaign for governor.” “It’s not long before people are saying, ‘Martha Layne Collins is probably thinking of running for governor. Why else is she still going out there? Why else is she maintaining this frenetic pace?’” said Hill. “And she was pointblank asked in October of 1976, ‘Are you running Lieutenant Governor? Or are you running for office of Lieutenant Governor?’ She wouldn’t deny it. She said that, ‘There were a lot of people encouraging me to run for Lieutenant Governor.’ She said she was keeping her options open. She said, ‘I believe if you do your job well, the future will take care of itself.’ ” She continued to hold
various political offices until 1979 when she began her campaign against six men for the position of 48th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky. She won the election in a close victory. “As Lieutenant Governor, she does a lot of work behind the scenes,” said Hill. “Some people criticized her at the time for not doing more work out in the open. Maybe not sponsoring legislation or speaking on behalf of legislation.” “What has she done?” said Hill. “Now this criticism, I think, stunned Martha Layne Collins a little bit, because she did put in a lot of work behind closed doors. She did a lot of work on bills and making sure they were written well, drumming up support for the bills, etc.” Then in 1982, she ran for Governor of Kentucky despite the criticism. She ran against Harvey Sloan, Mayor of Louisville at the time, and Grady Stumbo, state human resources
secretary. She advocated for education reform and to bolster the Kentucky economy. “Two political heavy weights, especially Sloan,” said Hill. “Early polls showed that the race would be close between Collins and Sloan.” “Martha Layne Collins herself rarely brought up her gender,” said Hill. “She focused on her campaign issues: education and the economy of Kentucky.” “On one occasion, she did mention her gender. She talked about it in humorous terms. She said, ‘There are those that may say that Martha Layne Collins has the experience. I like what she says, but, well, you know she is a woman.’ Then Martha Layne Collins says, ‘It’s true. I’m a woman. I’m not going to deny it. I’m also a wife and a mother. I’m a Baptist. I’m right-handed and I wear contact lenses.’ In a way she is saying get over that fact that I’m a
woman.” After entering office, Collins focused on education reform and increasing taxes to pay for the according expenses. Initially the law failed to pass; however, she changed her tactics for gathering support and passed the bill. Then to bolster Kentucky’s economy, she worked to sell land to Toyota who was attempting to expand their business into the United States. Winning the bid, the Toyota plant has since been repaid their investment. This decision also allowed the economy to grow while Collins was in office. “The reason she worked so hard,” said Hill. “She said, ‘I always remind myself that everything you do, you have to work twice as hard and do it twice as well just because you’re a woman.’ That was always something she was thinking about.”
Brown read her poem “A World Uninterrupted,” which describes her grief after losing her best friend and roommate Katie Stewart a few weeks ago. “When I think about my time here at Transy, my mind is immediately brought to the closest and dearest friend I have ever had,” said Brown. “We met our freshman year and became fast friends. And by sophomore year, we became roommates and more than that, best friends. And although she passed away a little over two weeks ago, I can still feel her all around me encouraging me to continue writing and showing me how to honor
her in her absence. ” “It’s true what they say that life goes on after misfortune/ but those staying behind are left feeling nothing but different/ it’s strange to think that my heart still beats in your absence/ but it does it beats/ and it waits for time to heal what grief could not,” said Brown. Greene read from her newest novel Long Man which describes the disappearance of a young girl in a Depression-era Tennessee town that is soon to be flooded to benefit the surrounding towns. Begin from East Tennessee, Greene remembered the positive effects of Ten-
nessee Valley Authority, a program designed by the government during the Great Depression to help economically develop the Tennessee Valley. “I guess because where I come from has in so many ways shaped who I am as a person, I almost can’t help but write about it,” said Greene. “As a writer the landscape of Appalachia has been a huge source of inspiration to me,” said Greene. “In my first novel, Bloodroot, the mountains became almost more than a setting. They were like another character in the book. So when I started working on this second
novel, once again, I found inspiration in my own backyard.” The scene she read describes the encounter a TVA caseworker –Washburn with Annie Clyde Dawson, the main character and mother of the disappeared girl. Dawson demonstrates her strength in this scene by refusing to vacate her land at the request of Washburn. “It’s a story of three days in the summer of 1936 as a dam is about to flood this town called Yuneetah,” said Greene. “And a little girl goes missing from this town as the water is rising.” After her reading,
Greene answered questions from the audience who asked about her writing process. “I actually tried the novel a couple of different ways,” said Greene. “I experimented with the ending, because what I think I was trying to figure out was the novel was really about. I thinking writing is an act of discovery, so I experimented a whole lot.” “I think writers by nature are observers,” said Greene. “And so, I’ve always kind of felt like I was watching the world through window a little bit.” She then offered ad-
vice to other young writers. “What I realized at a point in my life in my twenties is that you can be born with an aptitude or a compulsion to do something, but you can’t leave craft out of it,” said Greene. “So I made a choice to go to school and to hone the writing skills that I had. So I would say to aspiring writers, do that. But also, I think the most important thing, is to keep the love of storytelling and put storytelling first and don’t think about publication.”
Award
From Page 2
Opinion
Page 4
April 7, 2016
It’s time to get excited for May Term, summer for the change we can make Tyler Lega tjlega18@transy.edu
to that throughout the next year. We can only truly invoke change at this university if we keep ourselves accountable and make sure we fulfil what we pledged to do. Campaigns that run off empty promises move our university and the organization nowhere. SGA has its runoff election closing up at the end of this week. After that their executive board will be filled with new members who needs to help move that organization forward. This is the same for all other organizations on campus such as ALD, SAA, etc. We need to hold our leaders accountable for actually making a positive change when accepting a position of leadership on this campus. No longer should we sit by and allow students to take positions of leadership who are simply doing so just to boost their
resume. If they are going to accept a prominent role on this campus then we, as students, should hold them accountable to that. There are too many organizations who simply exist only by name on this campus. By eliminating these organizations we are better to see who does what on campus and who actually needs more support from faculty, staff, administration and students. By giving these groups more support they will be able to be more successful within their mission statement both providing better opportunity for themselves, the students who are members and Transylvania University. By getting rid of these excessive clubs we can be merged into one more successful body. We can also work to solve the problem of over-programming on this campus. By having
less student organizations present on this campus we can better keep track of who is having events when and why they are having an event. No longer would campus feel like a place that is overcrowded with meetings and events that no one understands. But instead organizations could co-exist with each other and give more support to one another. By giving more support to one another, clubs can have co-sponsored events that accomplish the same thing. For example, if two organizations want to have an event with career development instead of having two separate meetings with low attendance have one big meeting with higher attendance. That way not only does the event look more successful, but the organizers feel more proud as do the speakers coming
to help with the event. Developing student organizations and helping Transylvania become a stronger university are just some of the things that help get me excited. These types of things are what gets me through the end of the semester and lets me finish out the year with a bang. I know that once I get past finals week (which is approaching quicker than we realize) I will have all of May Term to relax and get a head start on helping my own organizations grow and achieve crucial things. I challenge all of you to find what motivates you and let that push you through the end of this semester. Once you take that final test or turn in that final paper you will have all of May Term and the summer to do what you are most passionate about.
MEGAN GRAFT
I wanted to take some time to talk about our busy lives and schedules during the last few weeks of the semester. The days are getting warmer (although not always) and May Term is creeping up behind us. It is often times in these last couple of weeks that we want to give up everything that we are doing and doing nothing but relax and remove ourselves from our course work, our
extracurriculars and our responsibilities. However, we have to push past our procrastination and laziness in order to accomplish the things we need to get done and finish out the semester with all the strength we have. Organizations are beginning to change and are revamping the way they are structured and work on this campus. Elections are taking place and new, capable and energetic people are taking charge of the organizations that help bring this school to its full potential. That is something that we should all take excitement in, but we should also hold our clubs and organizations accountable. We need to keep in mind what these new presidents and executive board members have promised to do in these new positions and then hold them accountable
Potential fraternity arrangements in the new halls next winter may create a unique dynamic.
Tristan Reynolds tpreynolds19@transy.edu
The Haitian Revolution is so frequently overlooked, and it’s a shame. There’s so many interesting incidents and characters to explore. There’ one incident, in particular, that’s painfully relevant to today. When the French were trying to reassert control over the island that we now call Haiti, the military they were trying to do it with was racially integrated—black and white. However, as the slave rebellion armies— mostly black—began to grow, as black soldiers deserted the French army, the French reacted about as badly as they could. Their reasoning went something like: ‘because the soldiers who are deserting for the enemy are mostly black, the black soldiers who have not deserted must want to desert. So we should kill them before they can desert.’ The French command reached the conclusion that the best way to win the war was to summarily execute any black soldier who stayed loyal to France. They accomplished this by tying bags of flour around the necks of the black soldiers, and drowning them
in the sea. They managed to enough to share a superficial both weaken themselves by characteristic with the killing off their own troops, attackers. Because the and strengthen the enemy by attackers were Muslim, he ceding them the moral high concludes, all Muslims are ground. potential attackers. France lost the war, Our modern French obviously. officer might not suggest Unfortunately, because bags of flour. But they have Haitian revolutionary history the same intent. Ted Cruz has isn’t taught in America, we called for police surveillance have our own sort of French and patrols of Muslim officer today. The modern neighborhoods (how many day French officer sees the Muslims have to live in a attacks in Baghdad, Lahore, square block to qualify as a Bruxelles, Ankara, Paris, ‘Muslim neighborhood?). and many places besides. Donald Trump has reiterated He concludes that these his proposal to prevent any attacks were carried out by Muslim from entering the Islamist groups—not a hard United States “until we conclusion, as most of the figure out what’s going on.” time these To be clear, groups are they are, in quick to claim retaliation credit. But it Believing Shahada for attacks is there that will no more turn from groups our modernlike Daesh someone into a day French and Jamhat officer loses suicde bomber than e l - A h r u r , his ability believing in Bigfoot. they are to reason. proposing -Tristan Reynolds we target Much like the French a n d command persecute in Haiti, he p e o p l e decides that the best way to who have demonstrated no prevent attacks like these ill will, no intent to danger, in the future is not to target no murderous rage—who the groups responsible, but share nothing with the to victimize, scapegoat, and attackers but a religion. persecute those unfortunate You might recognize this
as an accusation of guilt by association. Islam is a bad idea—it’s an untestable, unfalsifiable, superfluous, faintly silly hypothesis. But it is not uniquely bad, and it is not a bad idea that leads inevitably to a worse idea— to kill someone. It is not an inherently harmful idea, one that in itself demands the believer to harm another human being. Believing the Shahada will no more turn someone into a suicide bomber than believing in Bigfoot. Having a bad idea does not make anyone a bad person, nor does it lead them inextricably down the path to murderous mania. It is possible to get from ‘God is Great’ to ‘Murder the apostates,’ of course, but it is not a given. You can just as easily go from ‘God is Great’ to ‘Give everyone food and shelter’. And many more Muslims reach the latter conclusion than the former. Clearly, the ‘God is Great’ portion of the argument is not the problem. It’s ironic that the French officers tied down the loyal soldiers with bags of flour, when their stupidity was an albatross around their own necks.
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Haitian Revolution parallels Islamaphobia
Editor-in-Chief........................................................Megan Graft Managing Editor..........................................................David Neri News Editor........................................................Madison Crader Campus Life Editor...............................................Aaron Martin ETC Editor.....................................................Matthew Thornton OpinionEditor.................................................................Tyler Lega A&E Editor......................................................Natassja Woodrum Sports Editor.........................................................Lance Antoine Copy Editor...................................................................Isaac Batts Adviser..........................................................................Tyler Young
Sports
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April 7, 2016
Team chemistry leads to ultimate success, women’s lacrosse 10-game streak continues Lance Antoine The Transylvania women’s lacrosse team continued their win streak to 10 consecutive games after their 17-4 victory over conference rival Thomas More. The women started their season off with two consecutive losses. They dropped a close one 14-13 to Calvin in overtime, but then lost to Capital 15-5. The team’s first win came back in early March when they routed Wilmington 14-2. In similar winning fashion, they beat Trine 21-3. Over Spring Break they beat teams from Massachusetts 15-7 (Nichols) and Framingham St. 8-6. They would then travel to face Muskingum in what would end up being a 11-8 win. Finally playing back in Lexington, they took on conference opponent Huntington and won 15-9 and Hanover 17-7. The Pioneers would then travel to Cincinnati to take on conference powerhouse Mt. St. Joseph where they would win 8-7 in an impressive overtime fashion. Next, they would travel to play St. Vincent only to win 14-12. On Wednesday, April 6, what would be the Pioneers tenth consecutive win, they took on in-state rival Thomas More. On a rainy field, Transy would cruise to an easy 17-4 win. “The win was awesome and winning these 10 games is a great feeling,” said midfielder Kat Burns. “We knew going into the game if we played the way we have been lately that we would have to come out strong in order to win.” It’s pretty obvious a characteristic of any successful team is chemistry and after watching the past few games it’s obvious there’s no shortage of it on the Transylvania sidelines. “Prior to college, I have never played on a team that is as close as our women team,” said defender Sarah
COURTESY OF TRANSY ATHLETIC TWITTER
alantoine19@transy.edu
Seniors from the women’s lacrosse team are having an impecable last season as they lead their team through a ten-game winning streak. With team unity as their number one goal, they believe that they have the key to success in order for the streak to continue as the season progresses towards playoffs.
Schultz. “Through fall ball and our six week preseason we became a family. Our team chemistry shows really vibrantly on and off the field. We found our potential in our third game against Wilmington and just ran with it. We know what we want, we’re out here to win the conference and we’re going to keep working together to get that.” Fellow defender Bailee Stevens also feels the strong chemistry between the girls on the team. “Coming in as a late ad-
dition to a group of girls I wasn’t very familiar with to play a sport I never played before and was completely unskilled at, I was very nervous,” she said. “From the first day everyone on the team and even the coaches made me feel very welcomed and were super optimistic at all times, even when I wasn’t too sure about what I was doing. They never hesitated to give out kind words and helpful pointers whenever they got a chance. Having such a successful season is just a plus to me,
because I’m always having a great time with an even better group of girls.” In 12 games, the team has put up a total of 158 goals, averaging a little over 13 goals a game and put up an impressive 29.3 shots a game while shooting just under 50 percent at 44.9 percent on shots. The team has also racked up 296 ground balls and won 156 draw controls. The team has an impressive 94 caused turnovers and is 105 for 138 on clears. They average about seven goals against on aver-
age with a 45.3 save percentage. None of these stats are anything less than majorly impressive for a team with an 18-woman roster. Sophomore attacker Julia Ward leads the team with 43 goals and a near perfect shots on goal percentage at 87 percent of shots being on goal. She also leads the team in assists with 16 for a total of 59 points. Firstyear defender Emma Oliver leads the team with 64 ground balls. As stated earlier, Bailee Stevens came into the season never play-
ing lacrosse before and has already earned two starts out of the seven games she has played in. She has one goal, one assist, one ground ball and is 100 percent for her shots on goal percentage. Goalie Lydia Shaughnessy has 10 ground balls as a keeper, along with 72 saves and a 47 percent save ratio. The lacrosse team plays conference rival Thiel next on Sunday the 10 on the road. The next home game is Saturday the 23 against conference opponent Waynesburg.
First-year relief pitcher shows future potential Taylor Miller has proved himself on the mound in five appearances during his first-year season.
alantoine19@transy.edu
This week’s athlete of the week is first-year pitcher Taylor Miller. Miller has appeared in five games on the season, and he’s pitched a total of 5.2 innings with a total of two strikeouts. He was a previous baseball standout from Paintsville High School. He bats and throws right as well. He plans to be a PPE and Economics major. After he graduates he’d like to go to law school and become a lawyer. His favorite baseball player is Bo Jackson. Miller saw his first action in the season against Birmingham Southern when Transy lost 8-0. He pitched an entire inning and only gave up one hit. He saw his next visit to the mound against Spalding, where he pitched another inning and allowed two hits. He then saw action at Ohio Wesleyan where he pitched another inning and yet again only al-
lowed one hit. Miller also pitched against Ohio Wesleyan where once again he pitched an inning and only allowed one hit again. He would not see the mound then until Defiance where over the two game series he allowed 6 hits in 2.2 innings. Miller is one of the few first-years to see the field this early in the season and has made quite the positive impact. “I think the freshmen have stepped up in a major way, and all of them play a part, big or small,” Miller said. “With the seniors we lost last year a lot of guys have played good ball and stepped up and performed well when it mattered the most. We have a talented bunch of guys and it will be interesting to see what we all play like as we get older and better.” When asked about the season so far, Miller had to think for a second. “Personally, I think I
could perform better, but
right now as a team, we’re
COURTESY OF TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Lance Antoine
Miller has appeared in five games as a relief pitcher, and shows great potential for the future of Transy pitching.
playing well,” he said after reflecting. “I see a lot of confidence on the team and that’s helped a lot. We have a solid record against conference teams and for where we’re at in the season we’re in a very good position.” Fellow pitcher Alex Simpson applauded Miller and the team as a whole for filling their niches well. “Taylor is a really strong right handed pitcher on the mound,” said Simpson. “He comes in for relief in really tough situations and does his job very well…When the whole team’s pitching, fielding and hitting all come together in games, we are a very hard team to beat, and at a point like this the conference could go anywhere at this point, its really up for grabs.” Third baseman Jason Pastoor agreed with Simpson. “I like our chances. We’re playing really well right now, and we’re look-
ing good. I think if we continue doing what we do we’ll come out winning our conference,” Pastoor said. Pastoor also had positive things to say about Miller. “Taylor is a really good guy and an even better pitcher, he makes the most of the chances he gets,” he said. “He is a strong representative for the other guys on the team and I hope to see him succeed whenever he’s on the mound.” In the last game the Pioneers played, they took on conference rival Mt. St. Joseph. It was a hit parade for both teams, but in the end Transy came up on top winning 12-2. Despite Miller not coming in for relief the team still played top notch baseball, which shows their depth of talent. The Pioneers’ next game is on Saturday, a double header on the road against conference opponent Rose-Hulman.
A&E
Page 6
April 7, 2016
NATASSJA WOODRUM
Senior art exhibition opens in Morlan Gallery
nwoodrum18@transy.edu
On Wednesday, Apr. 6 in Morlan Gallery, “?!: Senior Exhibition” opened. Seven studio art seniors Laura Brown, Samantha Easterling, Kristen Frost, Lizzie Garduno, Cali Klink, Trent Redmon, and Kara Sparks, welcomed the public to view some of their best works from their college careers; One of the first pieces by the door is a huge, colorful canvas by Redmon. The piece called “Glory”, is a collage of creatures, monsters and robots in a abstract cityscape. The piece includes about every color of visible light. The modd is wild and playful, using bright colors and happy characters. The sun in the background wears sunglasses. A bird in the foreground dons a top hat. The piece is vibrant and ridiculous but fun and exciting; A perfect welcome to the exhibition. An interesting sculpture sat close to Redmon’s piece with a familiar book on it. Easterling’s “The Giving Up” is a piece depicting an invisible, gloved hand sawing through the popular children’s book “The Giving Tree”. There was an irony to the book that was pointed out in this piece. The story is about a boy who grew up under the shade of a tree he loved and as he grew older he asked the tree for more and more until all that is left is a stump. Perhaps one of the most emotional books written for children, “The Giving Tree” teaches children about unconditional love. Looking at a copy being sawed in half is jarring and emotional in and of itself. “The Giving Up” is quite a thought provoking piece. In the back left corner,
a very large oil painting is mounted on the wall. It is of a woman, staring at her phone in the foreground with something like a skyline behind her, but it is intentionally distant and blurry. Only warm colors are used in this piece Klink titled “#DistractionIsTimeless #MissingTheView”. The woman’s phone is a bright red but the rest of the painting is more muted. The skyline of the city is there but one cannot tell if the woman is at a bridge, or some significant spot. Klink’s piece is an interesting social critique on peoples’ ability to remain perpetually distracted by the tiny computers in their pockets. Another social critique in the exhibition comes from Frost. Just using pen on Bristol board, Frost drew a person doubled over seemingly in deep agony being quite literally stabbed by notifications from the social media symbols of Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The person’s hands cover their head, and their pain is obvious. Frost called the piece “Add friend =/- Unfriend”. Next to Frost’s “Add friend =/- Unfriend” is another piece of hers. This one is a set of famous pieces of art on poster board. Over all three paintings in red acrylic paint is detailed analysis of each; parallels in the positions of the subjects, color, mood, artist background, all things one might study in an art history course. However, the analysis is so overwhelming that it completely covers the art itself. Most of the words can’t even be read and many are written in angry, sloppy handwriting or in all caps. The beauty of the three original pieces of art is lost. Frost’s message, however, creates a
new piece which she titled “CLEARLY’. Garduno had a corner all to herself with several masks and sculptures on display. A few of her pieces were masks for Transylvania’s theater production of “She Kills Monsters”. She also helped design the organs for the costume of the midwife in last fall’s “Beware Wolf and Other Nightmares”. Each mask was incredibly colorful and rather eccentric. One mask is of a dragon, another, a sea queen. On a television a short video the Garduno produced plays on a loop of several monsters - humans in Garduno’s masks - having a civilized sit down dinner together. “Whitewashed Convenience” is a powerful collection of oil on canvas by Sparks. Each one seems to be some kind of intimate portrait of someone or of many people of color, but a mess of white covers large parts of the portraits. As a result, only a hand, a nipple or an eye can be seen. The small windows in the portraits contrast the glaring bright white, and one is left wishing the full portraits were visible. The exhibition opening was well attended with a wide raging audience. Students from campus stopped by, parents and relatives came to praise their loved ones, and even a few from the public strayed in. The snack table was demolished and it was hard to maneuver without bumping into someone else marveling at a student’s work. “?!: Senior Exhibition” will be on display in Morlan Gallery through Apr. 15.
Kristen Frost’s acrylic painting on canvas with expressive movement bringing to life a deep kiss.
NATASSJA WOODRUM
Natassja Woodrum
NATASSJA WOODRUM
Kara Sparks’ “Whitewashed Convenience,” oil on canvas. Only fragments of the original subjects are visible through the holes in the overlay of white paint, matching the color of Caucasian skin.
Laura Brown’s collection of watercolors depicting simple yet intimate physical touches.
‘She Kills Monsters’ show ‘kickeths ass’ Natassja Woodrum nwoodrum18@transy.edu
This past weekend, Tranyslvania’s theater department presented “She Kills Monsters,” a playful production full of demon queens, closeted lesbians, bright red overlords, magic elves and many other fantastical monsters. The play is a hilarious and emotional story about Agnes Evans, a girl cursed with a boring life, forced to finally grieve the tragic death of her younger sister Tilly, who lived a life that was anything but boring. Tilly spent her free time playing Dungeons and Dragons with her high school friends and as a result, Agnes never
really got to know her sister when she was alive. Agnes spends the show playing the game Tilly invented before she died in an attempt to get to know her younger sister. Written by modern playwright Qui Nguyen, “She Kills Monsters” is a cleverly intimate production that follows Nguyen’s style of geeky and heartfelt plot lines. The world of Dungeons and Dragons is brought to life through Agnes’ eyes as she plays alongside Dungon Master Chuck Biggs and learns the secrets kept hidden in the pages of Tilly’s game module. Several efforts went into the production which started its planning back in January
of 2015. Michael Sanders’ Advanced Desgin course spent the last semester creating several of the props for the show including weapons and armor for many characters. the course also designed the individual masks for each monster. Many of the weapons were made of foam and piping and are significantly light weight. Similarly, the armor was created by heating cutouts of foam floor mats and bending them to the desired shape. Costumes range from Agnes’ “average” teacher outfit to Lilith’s suductive demon queen get up, all designed by Missy Johnston and her student mentee Haberlin Roberts, junior.
Completing their costuming team were senior Chole Bingham and junior Charlotte Stephens. Roberts wasn’t the only mentee involved in the production of “She Kills Monsters”. Senior Olivia Luken was a stage manager, publicity and producer mentee while sophomore Joseph Bahena studied as a dramaturg providing quite a bit of research for the cast and crew to help them create Tilly’s world while staying true to the game of Dungeons and Dragons. Sophomore Blake Taylor was mentored in set design. Senior Katie BrewerCalvert mentored under Sullivan White, theater profes-
sor and director of the play. Brewer-Calvert’s biggest role in the production was meticulously coreographing the several fight scenes within the play. This dramatic comedy is touchingly beautiful as it explores the mind of a dorky teenager who loves Dungeons and Dragons at the same time as it rebuilds the relationship between two estranged sisters. The more Agnes learns about her kid sister, the more she can’t stand to say goodbye. Beautifully cast, heart breaking and full of fantastic oneliners, “She Kills Monsters” has already delighted three full houses and will likely continue to “kicketh ass”!
Upcoming A&E events “She Kills Monsters” showing Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. TU Concert Band presents “Rhapsody in Blue” in concert on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Senior recitals of Ashley Montgomery and Vivian Tsai on Sunday at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively. Jazz Ensemble concert at 7:30 p.m. in Coleman next Tuesday.