the davidsonian
JANUARY 27, 2016 VOL. 108 ISSUE 12
The Independent Student Newspaper of Davidson College since 1914
Armfield and Belk lounges converted to residences for returning students STEFFANEY WOOD Senior Staff Writer
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n order to accommodate all students who wanted to live on-campus this semester, the Residence Life Office (RLO) converted community lounge spaces in the Armfield apartment building and Belk Hall into private rooms. The College has about 1,740 beds available on campus and 1,950 enrolled students, but is able to house all students who request housing when others study abroad during the semester. Since many more students studied abroad in the fall than in the spring this year, RLO needed to maximize on-campus housing this semester. RLO chose to convert the lounges at Armfield and Belk to living spaces because of the availability of bathroom facilities near the lounge in Belk and availability of both bathroom and kitchen facilities in the lounge at Armfield. While on-campus housing is not guaranteed all four years, the “Guide to Campus Living”, published by RLO, states, “As a residential college, Davidson College provides on-campus housing for approximately 95 percent of the student body. We believe students are more likely to be invested in the life of the college and grow emotionally, spiritually, socially and intellectually in residence hall settings. Most students (including all firstyear students) are required to live on campus all four years, although some upper-class students may live off campus with permission from the Residence Life Office (RLO).” Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residence life Jason Shaffer explained that students are not offered off-campus permission in the fall due to the number of available beds on campus during that period. However, due to the number of students returning from abroad this spring, all juniors and seniors this semester were offered the option to live off campus. “It’s supposed to be that only people who are given off-campus permission can live off-campus,” Shaffer said. “If they are given off-campus permission it is because we do not have enough beds on campus.” Students who went abroad this fall were offered off-campus housing permission around May of last year. In November, RLO reached out to these students again because about 20 more students requested on-campus housing than RLO anticipated having space for. By the middle
of December every student either had an assignment or had chosen to live off-campus. An anonymous student who studied abroad this past fall and was placed in a lounge, but opted to live off campus, said, “While I understand that Residence Life did all they could to accommodate for so many students, I wish I had been notified sooner of my placement. The lack of certainty in living situations on campus seemed to cause more students to seek out off-campus options.” According to Student Government Association President Pablo Zevallos `16, there are students who live as far away as Cornelius and on Lake Norman. Zevallos believes that RLO is doing its best with a no off-campus housing policy. “I think students are rightfully dissatisfied with how the housing process went this year,” he said. “There has to be a better way than to create a
system that so disrupts people’s ability to find decent housing when they come back from abroad.” On the other hand, there are some students who enjoy the off-campus housing option. “Living off campus has been really great so far. I volunteered to do so along with a couple buddies who were in my cluster because we were made aware that we wouldn’t be able to live together on campus,” Thomas Rocca ‘17 said. “Finding short term housing was a bit of a pain [...], but, considering what we got - three bedrooms with a bathroom each - and for what price - about the rate of a Davidson double, it was definitely worth it. An unexpected benefit has been the feeling that when I come to campus I’m here to work, so I become more productive in an effort to come home and enjoy it.”
Inside NEWS Anecdotes from students returning from abroad 2 SGA revises bylaws and restructures committees 3 LIVING DAVIDSON VAC presents exhibitions by past and present professors 4 PERSPECTIVES Bridget Lavender commends Cats Excursions for canceling trip to circus 5 Ryan Kozlowski on being a Christian physicist 5 YOWL an inter-library loan 6 Pigeons threaten to withdraw Union funding 6 SPORTS Belford retires from basketball after 5th concussion 7 Lankiewiecz continues to rewrite women’s swimming record books 7
Photo by Holly Querin.
Performance artist reflects on a life of gay rights activism AJ NADDAFF Staff Writer
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nternationally-acclaimed performance artist Tim Miller has spent his lifetime fighting for a just and equitable society for the gay community. Miller performed snippets of his life’s journey in the Lilly Family Gallery late Monday afternoon for an audience of mainly Gender and Sexuality Studies students. English professor Dr. Ann Fox, a long-time friend of Miller, introduced him by highlighting his enduring and essential role in shaping queer activism in the face of nearly three decades of censorship and adversity. Miller spent his initial 13 to 14 years of activism responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, while he spent the latter portion of his work on a personal cause: tackling same-sex marriage. Not long ago, immigration laws prohibited foreign gay and lesbian couples from securing a green card, forcing his then-boyfriend Alistair to return to his home in Australia. The six months Miller spent separated from Alistair marked a watershed in his career. He set out to change same-sex marriage laws, a goal his personal happiness depended on. The longsought victory for same-sex marriage this past June is the culmination of the decades of activism by Miller and the countless others involved in the gay rights movement. Miller opened his solo performance with
his first memory of social justice. Revealing his famous sense of humor, Miller told of the time in fifth grade when he and his best friend, Scott, bickered back and forth over what he later understood was the right for same-sex marriage. Switching voices between himself and Scott, Miller created an image of the two marveling over a house surrounded by ceramic garden gnomes. When Scott says he wanted to live in the house with his girl crush, Katy, Miller interjected, “I thought we were going to live together?” To Miller’s chagrin, Scott vehemently opposed such an idea, responding, “Are you crazy Tim? Boys can’t marry boys.” Scott pushed Miller to the ground and shoved a Twinkie down his throat. But, Miller continued, “I have to admit, some part of me had been longing for his physical closeness for so long that being tortured was simply going to have to do.” Miller played out solemn matters, such as the countless bomb and death threats from KKK members and neo-Nazi storm troops, with a sarcastic tone. Noting that ad nauseam “f ” epithets are nothing new to him, Miller recounted a time when a Colt 45 bottle was thrown at him, a hit that stung like nothing before. During a gay pride parade in Montana, a group of angry white men launched a “family-sized screw top jug of Colt 45” at him, cutting his hands. Miller presented the image of his bloody hands as a symbol: the queer communities’ hands have been slapped a lot in their lives, he explained.
In 1990, Miller and four other performance artists received National Endowment for the Arts grants, but the decision was vetoed because of the homosexual themes in the works. “President Bush in 1990 decided to throw the performance artists to the Christian wolves and to make them like him more--it didn’t work, but that’s why he did it,” Miller said.
After a nearly ten year legal battle, Miller won back the grants in a United States Supreme Court decision. In Miller’s last performance of the afternoon, rehearsed only a few times prior, he contemplated
See ARTIST on page 3
Photo by Holly Querin.
News
Page 2 January 27, 2016
Returning students share reflections from time abroad MEERA NAGARAJ Staff Writer
Alyssa Bryan ‘17 Major: Political Science Hometown: Chagrin Falls, OH Tours, France
While we were in France, some of us from the Davidson group spent an evening drinking wine and eating cheese and chocolate on the Seine, a river right next to Notre Dame. The view was absolutely stunning, and such a fantastic opportunity to bond, especially so early in our time in France. Maybe a week later, we went to see Mozart’s “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” (“A Little Night Music”) performed in the Sainte Chapelle, this absolutely beautiful, medieval Gothic chapel right next to the Palais de Justice. The sun setting in the stained glass while the classical music filled the space is a moment I will never forget. Probably the week after that or so, we visited Vaux-le-Vicomte, an estate a bit north of Paris. On weekends during the summer and fall, they light the entire building and gardens with thousands of candles, and there’s an orchestral presentation followed by fireworks at the end of the night. A couple other students and I ended up at the very last point where they had put candles and sang Disney songs while we were looking out over the estate. The whole experience was an absolutely unprecedented opportunity.
Will Weisgerber ‘16 Although there were many eye-opening moments in the Mwandi Mission hospital, Major: Biology one of the most significant moments for Hometown: West- me occurred around a campfire in Botswana. We had just finished our first day of a minster, MD day safari, and a few of us from the Mwandi, Zambia three trip were sitting around a post-dinner fire
chatting with a man from South Africa. In the middle of our conversation three wailing hyenas came bounding up to the watering hole about 50 feet away from us. We all stood up and got ready to run back to our tents. Thankfully there was a fence between us and the hyenas, but it wasn’t very high and it seemed like they could definitely jump over it. I remember thinking that they were so much bigger than I anticipated, while the man from South Africa told us that they have the strongest jaws of any mammal in the world (very reassuring). We stood there, underneath the expansive Milky Way, staring at the hyenas as they stared back at us for what must have been three minutes. I’ve never been so scared in my life, and it was the first time that I felt truly small and insignificant in the world. It was the most unexpectedly humbling experience I’ve ever had.
Some of my favorite memories during my study abroad trip in Ecuador were usually made when I was traveling. I loved to travel, and I had the chance to go to the Galapagos. I had never seen so much wildlife that close to me, and I was able to get close to most of the animals. I also had the chance to snorkel and got to really get up close to the aquatic life. The water was such a beautiful color, and it was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. While I was in Quito, Ecuador, I was also able to go horseback riding on one of the mountains. I took the cable car up the mountain and still recall how beautiful it was to see the whole city from there. Once we got up a good distance on the mountain we rented some horses and went the rest of the way up. It was such a beautiful sight to see, and the horses just added to the beauty of the trip. It was such an unforgettable experience, and I can’t wait to be able to travel again someday.
Hayley Atkins ‘18 Major: English Hometown: Greensboro, NC Cadiz, Spain A group of maybe 10 of us branched out one weekend and traveled to the southern-most part of Spain for the day. We took a bus to Tarifa and explored the town and the beach for the entire day. For a few of us, it was the first time we’d ever seen an ocean that clear and sand that white. It was a great experience to travel apart from professors and explore on our own, especially since navigating had to all be done in Spanish.
My Grandma was so excited for me to study abroad. She had seen Vienna featured in films and had read about it in books. Vienna existed in her mind as a city of music and grand balls. For me, Vienna indeed was the city my Grandma had imagined. The historic downtown, being met with history everywhere, the traditional coffee houses for literati, the celebrated wine culture, the well-connected and clean public transportation system. However, one of my most striking experiences occurred, in fact, in my apartment’s laundry room. I was just doing my laundry (and of course botched it up). The door of the machine was locked, no water was running, and I second-guessed my choice of slot into which I had poured my powder detergent. I had four semesters of German under my belt, but nothing had prepared me for this. I was extremely confused. A 20-something year-old guy and an old Austrian woman, whom I later found out was my neighbor, came into the laundry room and asked me if it was my laundry that was holding up the washing for the building. Mortified because I couldn’t complete the simple task of doing my own laundry at the age of 20 and the fact that I was washing every single pair of underwear that I had brought for the trip (yes, including the ones with the dancing penguins), I replied that, yes, it was my laundry and that “Ich verstehe nicht warum die Waschmachine geht nicht.” (I don’t understand why the washing machine doesn’t work). The old woman shook her head, gave me a huge hug, and showed me how to operate the overly complicated, multi-step process of turning on the water, pressing the correct buttons, and unlocking the machine’s door. That day in our communal laundry room, I became friends with Emmanuel, the younger man and the son of our land lady, and Steffi, our neighbor. Later, I knocked on Steffi’s door to thank her and she invited me in warmly. We spent twenty or so minutes looking at her collection of American paraphernalia and talking about her and her son’s travels to America. She spoke no English, but we were able to have a pleasant and fluid conversation in German and through common gestures. What an interesting day.
Liu Volpe ‘17 Major: English Hometown: Philadelphia, PA Vienna, Austria
Joshua Attias ‘17 Major: Biology Hometown: Naples, FL Quito, Ecuador
One of my favorite memories from abroad was renting a camper van and road tripping up the east coast of Australia with a few of my friends. We spent about seven days making our way up the coast, stopping in different places every day. We did a few amazing hikes, camped in some really unique places, but the best part was scuba diving and snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef. At one point, my friends and I encountered a shark that did not hesitate to come up close and check us out. It was my first encounter swimming with a shark, and it’s something I’ll never forget. Scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef has always been on my bucket list, and I feel very fortunate that going abroad allowed me to cross it off my list at a young age.
Cameron Causey ‘17 Major: Psychology Hometown: St. Paul, MN Melbourne, Australia
Mary Beth Moore ‘17 Major: French & GSS Hometown: New Orleans, LA Tours, France There were definitely a very few great moments. So when you’re abroad you want to cling to the things that you know, like at first we stayed in our group of 15 Davidson students. We were definitely hesitant to explore and meet new people because you have to take this step and go into another language to express yourself and make new friends. However, one of our friends was in university classes and had met a few actual French students. One night, there was this moment when we were just sitting around speaking French with them and having a great time, and I realized we wouldn’t have met them if we hadn’t taken this step to venture out our comfort zones and actually talk to people to understand what they do and how their daily life is. Overcoming the language barrier as a shy person was a really big step for me. There was a really exciting moment, where one day I took a nap around three, and I woke up and my head hurt so badly. I was trying to figure out what was going on when I realized that I had just dreamed in French for the first time. We were so immersed in speaking French for three hours a day and with our host families, so it was such an amazing experience that I got to have. I immediately ran out and told my host mom, and she gave me a big hug and was like, “I’m so proud of you. That’s such a big step, and it doesn’t usually happen that quickly.” That was really exciting for me – definitely a big moment.
News
SGA hopes new bylaws bring more student invovlement
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OLIVE DANIELS Staff Writer
he Student Government Association finished updating its bylaws at the beginning of the semester, a project that was initiated in October 2015 to improve the impact of student voices on SGA decisions. The process of revision began during the fall semester when, following an SGA retreat in October, SGA President Pablo Zevallos ‘16 and Vice President Kyle Taylor ’16 recognized that a main concern within SGA was how to become more responsive to student needs on campus. Looking for a long-term solution to make the organization more effective and committed, Zevallos and Taylor realized that the best step toward such a goal was to update and revise the SGA bylaws. Working closely with Chris Johnson ‘17, SGA Chair of Charters and Bylaws, Zevallos and Taylor wanted the new bylaws to reflect both updated college policies and also a shift in SGA from what Taylor described as an “old-style bureaucratic” organization to a group that could connect with and be receptive to the entire student body with more efficient and adequate representation. The first step in the process was to completely retype the bylaws. The original document was so old that it was not compatible with the current versions of word processors and therefore could not be edited digitally. In the rewriting process, SGA made an effort to update the language and make mechanical edits. Language updates included changing the wording of the Diversity Coordinating Board from the outdated “minority” to “diversity” to be more inclusive to the entire Davidson population. Additionally, the Sexual Misconduct Board, which went unmentioned in the original document, was added to reflect the importance of the Sexual Misconduct Policy. SGA senators who violate the policy can be dismissed from their positions. In an effort to make its committees more effective, SGA restructured them. While under the old bylaws there were nine committees within the SGA, each with three people, several committees were combined to achieve more efficiency. Under the previous structure, because there were so many committees, each committee generally consisted of only the chair, and was relatively ineffective in tackling large projects. Another reason for restructuring the committees was to line up SGA’s committees with those of the trustees, as SGA has several liaisons to the trustee committees. Johnson explained that the following were eliminated or combined with remaining committees: the Athletic Policy Committee; the Building, Grounds, and Sustainability Committee; the External Affairs Committee; and the Finance and Budgeting Committee. SGA decided to keep the Academic Policy Committee, Dinner at Davidson Committee, Auxiliary Services Committee,
and Charters and Bylaws Committee. Additionally, the Student Life Committee was placed under the control of the Vice President. Perhaps the most obvious changes to the bylaws are those regarding the SGA elections. Category I elections (those for first-year students) were pushed back from the fourth week of the semester to the sixth week to allow students to get to know candidates better before voting. Category II elections (those for officer positions) were pushed back from the fourth week of the semester to the fifth week to accomodate people coming back from abroad before voting. Category V elections (those for representatives from each Patterson Court Organization) were eliminated, with the agreement of these organizations. In the previous bylaws, every eating house, fraternity, and sorority held a representative in SGA, making SGA too big and not as effective. To offset the loss of senators from Category V elections, five senators will be elected in the spring from each class. Additionally, the five Diversity Coordinating Board senator positions (those elected from different qualified clubs on campus) remain. The point of the election revisions was to address the issue of commitment within SGA. With fewer members who must be more committed, Johnson hopes that SGA will be able to “increase efficiency and accountability,” as well as “reduce the current problem of absenteeism.” The ultimate goal, he said, is to “better serve.” Taylor, too, expressed his support for the updates. He emphasized the importance of making the SGA accessible to the student body, fostering a “better relationship,” and providing opportunities for the general population to take initiative, claiming that with these changes, “any student can lead a big project on campus.” Zevallos is pleased with the new bylaws as a whole. “With these new bylaws, we have created a mandate for ourselves to take on at least three meaningful projects each year while trimming the bureaucratic excess that inhibited such undertakings,” he said. “Our new structure for representation also better reflects the needs of our student bodies, and the according changes to the elections calendar helps get the body started on much-needed work up to a full month earlier than before.” Zevallos is certain that future SGA administrations will be able to function better because of the changes. “Although the current administration will not enjoy the benefits of these changes, we are hopeful that future administrations can leverage the increase in flexibility and operational capacity created by this restructuring into tangible, meaningful change for the student body.”
Page 3
Davidsonian.com
crime log Time Reported
Description / Location
1/22/16 at 2201 hrs
Larceny Misdemeanor (Money) at Sentelle. Further Investigation.
1/23/16 at 2326 hrs
Underage Consumption at Turner. Dean Referral/Medic Transport.
1/24/16 at 0022 hrs
Miscellaneous-Discharge Fire Extinguisher at Watts. Further Investigation.
1/24/16 at 0103 hrs
Underage Consumption at Warner. Dean Referral/Medic Transport.
1/24/16 at 0219 hrs
Underage Consumption at Chidsey. Dean Referral.
1/24/16 at 1223 hrs
Larceny Misdemeanor (Macbook) at Armfield. Unfounded/Property Located..
Tim Miller in action on Monday in the Lilly Gallery. Photo by Holly Querin.
Artist promotes gay rights what could come next for queer artists and activists. Miller talked about getting married to his current husband, Alistair, and then walking into the Department of Homeland Security to finally secure a green card. Conor Hussey ’18 said that the “emotion surrounding the end of his 20-plus-year struggle absolutely filled the room,” and that “everyone felt it.” For Dylan Goodman ’15, Miller’s theatre has served as a unifying force in his undergraduate career. Goodman met Miller when he came to campus three years ago. “Not only was my home state of North Carolina in the midst of passing Amendment One, a reform to our state constitution that would publicly ban marriage equality
for LGBT couples, but also I was just starting to come to terms with my queer identity as a closeted first-year,” Goodman explained. “Yesterday, I watched Tim perform in response to the next big struggle for the LGBT movement in the U.S., yet this time as an out queer senior living in a country that has now ‘achieved’ LGBT marriage equality nationwide. This world would have been inconceivable to me mere semesters ago, but some things never change: I was in the same Lily Gallery, seeing the same (slightly older) Tim Miller. In that moment, I was reminded of how much I have grown while at Davidson, and more generally, of the immense power in seeing differently.”
living davidson
Page 4
January 27, 2016
Vibrancy of the VAC Photos by Scott Cunningham
VAC welcomes exhibitions by past and present professors to galleries Works by Clint Sleeper and Russ Warren currently on display in Smith and Van Every JACOB HEGE STAFF WRITER Second semester is here and along with it a fresh start for us all, even the Visual Arts Center. Two new exhibits, “Clint Sleeper: any percentage of a premonition or nearer the end” and “Russ Warren: Works 1971 – 2015,” opened January 14 and 12, respectively. I never miss an opportunity to see a new exhibit at the VAC, and this was definitely not
going to be an exception. I am always impressed with the vast diversity of artists brought to the VAC, and was pleasantly surprised by both exhibits. Professor Clint Sleeper’s works are on display in the Smith Gallery. Sleeper’s works are intriguing and invigorating because they employ a mixture of audio and visual, construction and hands on involvement with the art. Upon entering the room, my very existence was interrupted. The room is abuzz with conflicting sounds and a constant vibrating in the background. The art literally interrupts your life, which is exactly what I think Sleeper was going for – the hustle and bustle of life interrupting your everyday. The piece that stood out to me most was
the clever, tongue-in-cheek piece, “Teaching Capitalism to Nature.” The exhibit’s description reads, “The works in this exhibit intentionally obfuscate humor and deep questioning, rebounding between a punchline and a retort until something comes out.” This is definitely true. If you enjoy political humor that jabs at capitalism – this exhibit is just for you. Across the hall, in the Van Every Gallery, Russ Warren’s paintings are featured in all their vibrancy. These pieces are fun and colorful, but not without deeper meaning. One piece that particularly struck me was “Return of the Giant Dog.” This piece drew me in because of its brilliant and inviting hue. However, when examining the subjects of the
work, it becomes clear that the subject is much deeper than the bright, fun colors might initially suggest. Warren, a former Davidson professor, paints beautiful pieces dealing with themes of demons of all kinds. What is most impressive of this exhibit was Warren’s wide range of styles. It is clear he draws his inspiration from many artists including such major figures as Pablo Picasso and Diego Velázquez, yet he is successful in creating in his own original fusion and style. Warren’s exhibition will be open until February 14, and Sleeper’s will be on display until March 10. For more information about Clint Sleeper visit www.clintsleeper.com.
Photo%Courtesy%of%Van%Every/Smith%Galleries
perspectives
Page 5 January 27, 2016
Why Cats Excursions made the right decision to cancel the circus trip BRIDGET LAVENDER
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little over a week ago, Cats Excursions announced via email their next sponsored trip: Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. I was furious, along with many others who know about the animal cruelty that is business-as-usual for this circus. Transforming our fury into advocacy, Abby Hunt and I wrote a letter to Cats Excursions and Union Board, who decided to take a stand against animal cruelty by canceling the trip. I applaud the stance taken by these two organizations. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus are notorious for their cruelty to animals; so much so that there are protests at almost every performance of the circus, no matter where or when. In 2011, their parent company had to pay $270,000 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violations of the Animal Welfare Act – the largest civil penalty ever levied under this act*. Animal cruelty is inherent in the very premise of
a circus: the animal “performers” are essentially slaves: taken from the wild or bred into captivity, and forced to perform unnatural and sometimes painful acts for the rest of their lives. When not performing, they are confined in small, crowded boxcars, sometimes for 100 hours on end. Their lives are completely unnatural, and anything but pleasant. Unrelenting misery is a reality for elephants, tigers, lions, horses and other animals held prisoner and forced to entertain people. Audience members, especially children, might find circus acts with animals fascinating, but of course what happens to these animals behind the scenes is a carefully guarded secret. These animals are trained through egregious cruelty. An ex-elephant handler of Ringling Brothers, Samuel Dewitt Haddock Jr., provided animal rights organizations with photographic evidence and a firsthand account of how elephants are “broken” for the circus. Baby elephants, still nursing, are dragged away from their mothers with ropes around each leg. Elephants scream and cry as they are separated from the group, shocked with electric prods to force immediate compliance with trainer demands, and threatened and beat with bull hooks to keep them in constant fear. Training lasts about six months, until the elephants are fully “broken” and stop fighting back. In 2009, an undercover investigation of the circus
was released, courtesy of a PETA member who infiltrated the ranks of circus workers and recorded the routine beating and whipping to which elephants and tigers were subjected**. This footage is all available online, but be warned: it is not for the faint of heart. PETA also reports that since 1992, at least 30 elephants have died, including four babies***. The story of Riccardo, an 8-month-old baby elephant, exemplifies the kind of cruelty that is routine in the circus. Riccardo’s trainers, who were supposed to take care of him, euthanized him after he fell from a circus pedestal and fractured his legs. None of this was unusual, as Ringling Brothers treated Riccardo as merely an object: once he stopped being valuable to them and instead cost money, he was put down. You may have heard that Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus are phasing out their elephant acts by May 2016. While this is great news, it does not justify Davidson College sponsoring a student trip to the circus. To attend one of the few circus performances remaining before the circus eliminates its elephant acts is to send a message of support for their current use in and as entertainment, and does nothing to help the other animals who will remain in captivity and continue to be abused. It is never ethical to support animal suffering with our entertainment dollars, especially when so many cruelty-free
entertainment options exist. The plan for a Davidson College organization to buy tickets to Ringling Brothers Circus represented a level of support for the circus with which I, as a Davidson student, was not comfortable, and I am grateful that Cats Excursions agreed once they were informed of the basis of my discomfort. I hope for a day when no animal is imprisoned against its will, cruelly trained, and forced to perform silly and/or painful tricks while humans who do not know the truth about the lives these animals lead laugh and clap and pay for the practice to continue. I believe that by canceling the circus trip, Davidson stands on the right side of this issue and helps to create a more compassionate future for all living beings. Bridget Lavender `18 is a Communications & Social Justice and Gender and Sexuality Studies double major from Greensboro, NC. Contact her at brlavender@davidson.edu * Remizowski, Leigh. “USDA Fines Ringling Bros. Circus over Treatment of Animals - CNN.com.” CNN. Cable News Network, 30 Nov. 2011. Web. 26 Jan. 2016. **Declaration of Samuel Dewitt Haddock Jr. August 2009 *** About | Ringling Beats Animals.” Ringling Beats Animals. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.
My faith vs. my physics: What I am learning
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RYAN KOZLOWSKI
am a scientist. I absolutely love learning about the operations of the world around us at the most fundamental, physical level and enjoy testing hypotheses in the laboratory. The study of physics satisfyingly shows me the how’s behind everyday experiences like microwaving a Pop-Tart® and complex phenomena like light propagation or superconductivity. I am a Christian. I find the text of the Biblical canon to be Truth, the word of God, and I find assurance and hope in knowing its why’s behind more esoteric facets of the human experience: love, sacrifice, opposition to injustice, martyrdom, and senses of wonder, to name a few. In my time at Davidson, the area in which my faith has been challenged the most is at the intersection of these two identities. While I have given some thought to the topic for several years, it has come to the forefront of my attention in my senior year in observing a faith-science panel with various-denominational Christian professors in Davidson College science departments, as well as recent observations of highly polarized opinions about ‘absurd’ creationism and ‘far-fetched’ scientific theories among my peers. My goal is to point out what I have come to believe are popular misconceptions about science and to briefly describe my developing view on science and my faith. I have noticed that, more or less, science is regarded in popular media (and sometimes in academia) to have two qualities: 1) (latent) omniscience and 2) immunity to subjectivity. For the former, it is thought that with enough research, science will eventually yield to its desper-
ate inquisitors every ounce of knowledge about the universe. While I do not doubt that science indeed can tell us how the entire physical universe operates, it is arguable that humanity will be able to obtain all of this knowledge and even that it should. One of the reasons I love studying physics is that there is always more to discover and more complications to account for in any given system. The more that I refine my knowledge, the more I realize how much I really don’t know! And it doesn’t seem to stop at the undergraduate level—science breaks down barrier after barrier…but finds ten more each time. Please don’t get me wrong here; I have experienced and love the thrill of learning and discovering in the quest for truth. Yet I think that progress deserves a counterbalance: prudence. We as humanity must tread carefully through information-space because a) one solution can lead to more problems to solve (e.g., stress, global warming, imbalance of distribution of technologies), and b) we are limited beings—Do we almost know it ‘all’ yet? Can we know it ‘all’ eventually? In 1899 Albert Michelson, a prominent physicist who carried out experiments measuring the speed of light and helped experimentally disprove the presence of the aether, said* that “the more important fundamental laws and facts of physical science have all been discovered, and…the possibility of their ever being supplanted in consequence of new discoveries is exceedingly remote.” Yet a few decades passed and relativity and quantum mechanics were discovered, radically altering physicists’ understanding of, well, everything. Perhaps humans did not quite know it ‘all’ after all. Is it possible, likewise, that we still have much to learn across the scientific disciplines, even in fascinating research areas like the beginning of life and macro-evolution, where science and faith seem to strongly collide? We at least ought to humbly admit that science has many uncertainties, even now. The latter quality I have come to see as a partial truth. The operations of the universe follow specific
the davidsonian staff editors-in-chief news editors
Michelle Wan Mary Click Kate McNaughton
living davidson editor
Sophia Guevara
perspectives editor
Will Weisgerber
yowl editors
Paul Henderson Sophie McHugh
sports editors
Ethan Faust Jason Feldman
photo editor
Shea Parikh
web editors
Sabrina Cheema Bridget Lavender
business manager
Austin Newsome
graphic design editor
Sophia Smith
principles and laws. When science is researched and presented ideally, it is reproducible (or bolstered by evidence in non-testable cases), representative of reality, and objective. But even science is not immune to subjectivity and misconduct. Subjectivity comes about, for example, when naturalism, a philosophical worldview in which all of nature is a closed system, is declared to be the only valid worldview for rational thinkers**. If someone echoes the famous line of Carl Sagan in the 1980 Cosmos: “The cosmos is all there is, or was, or ever shall be,” they make a statement of personal belief. And if someone takes seriously the first statement in the book of Genesis, “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” they personally believe with a foundation in theism. I think John Lennox has penned it best: “Statements by scientists are not necessarily statements of science.”*** Yes, many contemporary scientists (e.g., Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, and E. O. Wilson) do not give credence to religious thought in the scientific arena, but even today other scientists like Hugh Ross, Francis Collins, and Sir John Houghton are religious believers. (I encourage you to read about the perspectives of all of these scientists, as well as those of Alhazen, Maxwell, William Phillips, Stephen Gould, etc., if you’re interested in this dialogue!) If anything, this diversity of belief should encourage us layfolk to personally examine the truth-claims of naturalism and theism in light of available evidence and experience rather than what a famous scientist subjectively claims...because ultimately, science fails to disprove or prove God, and apparently not every scientist is a naturalistic agnostic or atheist. Still, the more I learn about physics, the more I am convinced of the validity and profound nature of the God of the Bible. Regarding misconduct, scientists have been found guilty in many circumstances and across fields for unethical practices like fabricating and disregarding outlying data. Whatever the motivations—need
for grant support, prestige, research awareness—it is a simple fact that we are all human, and it is a crux of Christianity and other religions that humanity is flawed; see Bible verses like Ecclesiastes 7:20 and Romans 3:21-5. So I have come to think that our flawed nature serves to prevent us from a) being totally objective and ethical scientists, b) uncovering and understanding all physical truth, and c) using scientific results only for the benefit of society. We are the limiting reagents. My view of the Bible entails belief healings in Christ’s name, a virgin pregnancy, some resurrections, a relational God, and other craziness, as well as knowledge about abstract concepts of sin, love, justice, sanctification, and so on. I do believe in these things, oftentimes not enough and certainly not perfectly, but I have often struggled with reconciling biblical words and scientific research. I suppose what I have learned most recently, however, is that ‘reconciliation’ is not necessary if an argument was not had. I see that Nature and my faith are not in stark disagreement. And scientific study, though beautiful, was never perfect and did not supply my deepest needs nor save me as God continually has and did. I love science, I am a Christian, and I find no incompatibility, indeed no “vs.” at all, between my faith and my physics. Ryan Kozlowski `16 is Physics major from Archdale, NC. Contact him at rykozlowski@davidson.edu * Light Waves and Their Uses, A. A. Michelson, University of Chicago Press, 1903. p. 23-24.
** A better definition can be found here: “The Metaphysics of Naturalism,” Sterling Lamprecht, 1960. p. 160.
*** God’s Undertaker, 2nd Ed., John Lennox, 2009. p. 19. Emphasis Lennox’s.
THE BROWN SPERRY ISSUE An Open Letter to Derrick: Give Me Back My F**cking stapler
Page Bullsh*t
Local Freshman Wows Crowd with Unique “First-TimeDrinking” Story
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Davidson Students Thrilled At Prospect of Yet Another Enlightening Library Info Session
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Freshman in Shorts in January “Not Even Cold”
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Professor Pass/Fails Student Evaluation Page 5
Local Douches Declare Davidson’s Dating Scene the Worst in the Nation Last Wednesday, the Davidson Douche Society deemed the school’s dating scene worse than that of any other learning institution in the nation. Following months of deliberation, the society came to this conclusion based on anecdotal yet comprehensive evidence of unjustified rejection from their female peers. “This really shouldn’t come as a surprise. Women are most likely intimidated by my intellectual prowess and rugged manliness.” said Edward Sullivan ’17. “Also, I think that without a doubt, our Oakleys make us more than qualified to make this decision.” One particularly “legendary” Douche Society member purports to have once maintained a conversation with a member of Davidson’s female population that lasted nearly half and hour.
New Commons Menu Just A Map to Local Applebee’s
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Jobs Report: Uncle Might Be Able to Put in A Good Word For You
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Is “Stupid” the New “Not Stupid?
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Bon Jovi Relents on “Dead or Alive” Stance; Surrenders to Police, Accepts Plea Bargain
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Rock Bottom Actually Made of Shit
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“This really shouldn’t come as a surprise. Women are most likely intimidated by my intellectual prowess and rugged manliness. Also, I think that our Oakleys make us more than qualified to make this decision.” “I told her about how women should really be grateful that we let them vote at all, let alone work. I honestly don’t see what’s so bad about staying home all day cooking.” When we asked this douche if he still spoke with this woman, he asserted, “She accidently gave me the wrong number.” The Douche Society’s findings reflect a trend of misfortune that has plagued Davidson’s douche population in recent years. Their attempt at creating at charitable organization, entitled “Douchebags For Tots,” received a great deal of negative feedback upon its inception, and their previous study, “Tightest Way to Wear a Sleeveless Tee,” was met with little interest. Concerns have also arisen surrounding the society’s ability to conduct its study while maintaining an unbaised opinion. When questioned on the subject, young douche Michael Senkart 19’ was quick to retort. “No, there’s no way we were biased. That couldn’t be the case. I’ve got a buddy of mine who’s a total pussy who can relate to women’s likes and interests, and he’s slaying it.”
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Pigeons Threaten to Withdraw Union Funding Until Outrageous Demands are Met Many students have utliized the corner table by the Union pool tables over the years. Its proximity to both the stairwell and the window make it a prime location for both studying and socializing, and its mahogany trim is said to have calming effects on all who encounter it. Perhaps its most charming facet is the mysterious plaque that hangs above it, naming merely Thad Jones’ Pigeons as the sole donors responsible for funding the locale’s construction and maintenance. Yet this widely adored harbor may not be around for long if a certain feathered flock has anything to say about it. Thad Jones’ Pigeons themselves recently released a statement threatening to pull their sponsorship: “We, the Pigeons, are sick and tired of our needs being overlooked by Davidson College. For years we have quietly suffered in silence and allowed vulturous students to take advantage of our generosity. Well, no more. If our simple requests are not acknowledged by our next molting, we will withdraw the entirety of our endowment.” “For years we have quiTheir demands are quite extensive. Highlights include etly suffered in silence and adding a birdseed burger to the allowed vulturous students Union Cafe menu, converting Hance Auditorium into a gito take advantage of our ant nest, and bringing back the generosity. Well, no more.” laundry service “just for kicks” “We’re not being unreasonable,” asserted Bill Ducksworth, a spokesperson for the PCC (Pigeon Coalition for Change). “It’s just that a place to roost after a long day of bobbing my head back and forth would be nice.” “And we wouldn’t mind being thrown a few more crumbs,” Robin Oxpecker chirped in. “Davidson students are so wrapped up in creating a sanitary community of respect that they forget we have to eat!” Despite the birds’ ultimatum, the administration is hesitant to deliver on their orders. Dean Shaffer explained, “You know how pigeons are. Once you give them a little, they keep hanging around, and then suddenly you’ve got a campus covered in worms and bird shit.” A group of sub-free men aiming to preserve the corner table and adjoining Game Room formed in response to Dean Schaffer’s reluctance to act. “The Board needs to stop being so chicken.” asserted Bristow Mincey ‘18. “I need a safe space to practice my pool game. Also, that corner table is a straight up dope place to hang.” At press time, the Union Board was scrambling to muster up the $25 per year required to maintain the table, despite facing the immense monetary deficit caused by Winterfest.
Brave Student to be First to Ever Attempt an Inter-Library Loan
Your Davidson Honor Section
Editors: Paul Henderson Sophie “Baked Potato” McHugh Writers: Desmond Lebowski Lawton “Fitbit” Kariher Ayala?
Note: The Yowl is a satirical supplement to The Davidsonian. Hence, nothing in it should be taken as truth. Word.
The campus was abuzz this week as rumors circulated that a brave student, Michael Kline ’18, planned to be the first Davidson student to ever attempt an inter-library loan. Kline, who had been trying to write a paper for his “super hard” psych class all week long, confirmed on Friday that he has discovered and plans to utilize the long-fabled inter-library loan network in order to find sources. The network of libraries that oversees the book loans, theorized by some to be centuries old, has the ability to transfer vast quantities of information between libraries discretely and sometimes overnight. With inventions like the internet currently in exsistence, many feared that the libraryloan network would never be found. Kline, however, has managed to do the unthinkable, and his tale of discovery has amazed Davidson’s campus. “I was shocked to find that the legends were true,” said Kline. “I was just digging around in the basement of the library when I discovered a
“I was shocked to find that the legends were true. I was just digging around in the basement of the library when I discovered a torch-lit tunnel.”
torch-lit tunnel. After finding and dusting off an old tome I found in the depths, I was instructed by a disembodied voice to find and slaughter a goat as tribute. And now it turns out I have access to some sources that are pretty relevant to my paper.” “There have always been hints that pointed to the loan network’s existence, whispers amongst the stacks,” said Dr. Peter Neigowski, a veteran professor of the paranormal at Devry University. “Many have searched for the network’s entrance, but few have ever come close. For Kline to have made contact, and to intend to go through with the process instead of just using Google like everyone else, well, its unprecedented.” Kline intends to return to the inter-library tunnel system sometime within the coming week in order to fully take advantage of this service. He has admitted, however, that he may just get lazy and settle for some slightly less relevant articles from the internet.
sports
Page 7 Davidsonian.com
Ball or life: Belford decides to hang it up after 5th concussion TAIT JENSEN Senior Staff Writer
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or many basketball players, there is an adage that basketball is life. But for Davidson’s Jake Belford ’16, a healthy life comes before basketball. After suffering the fifth concussion of his career in early December, the senior forward has decided to hang up the shoes and put down the ball. He is retiring from the game of basketball. Concussions have become perhaps the hottest issue in sports medicine, and with good reason. Recent research has discovered and begun to reveal more about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease found in some athletes with repetitive brain trauma that causes dementia, depression, memory loss, and other degenerative symptoms. The concussion issue has made headlines across American sports culture, from the recent blockbuster movie, “Concussion”, starring Will Smith, to the mental health issues and deaths of retired football players like Junior Seau. Just last week, former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antwaan Randle El said that he wished he wouldn’t have played football at all. With all the national attention given to the concussion issue in football, we wouldn’t expect it to land on our doorstep at Davidson College in the substantially less violent sport of basketball. But while we might not expect a Wildcat to
be one of the first high-profile college basketball players to deal with the controversy, we would expect him to conduct himself with the maturity, intelligence and leadership of a Davidson student athlete, and that’s exactly what Belford has done. After recommendations from team doctors, and understanding the potential consequences of a continued career, Belford decided to set an example and stop playing the game he loves. Sitting down with me last week, the political science major handled the conversation about his injury-riddled career gracefully, seemingly without regret. “I’ve always been the kind of guy to accept what happens,” he told me. “It’s all about how you react to it.” For most high-level athletes, seeing a career and the game you love and have worked so hard for slip away in one painful instant would be devastating. But Belford isn’t most athletes. He says it’s how he was raised. Hailing from Battle Ground, WA, Belford entertained a variety of interests and sports, but eventually settled on basketball, making the all-league and all-area teams as both a junior and senior in high school. Belford, however, wasn’t highly recruited coming out of high school. The sharpshooting big man quickly fit in at Davidson, though, and it was only a matter of time until he would stand out. After scoring a career-high 20 points against Campbell and adding double figures against nationally-ranked North Carolina at the beginning of his junior season, Belford was beginning to
Throughout his Davidson career, Belford did not shy away from battling down low on the defensive end with tough assignments like UCF’s 7’6” Tacko Fall. Photo by Shea Parikh.
look like Coach McKillop’s next star forward. But after just six games last season, Belford suffered a non-contact, season-ending knee injury in practice. The talented Wildcats were still able to go on to win the Atlantic 10 Championship in their first season in the conference and gain Davidson’s first at-large NCAA tournament bid, but Belford was forced to watch from the sidelines. “I really wish I could’ve been out there contributing, but I contributed in other ways,” Belford explained. “It actually made me feel better that the team did so well. That was fun to watch.” This season, then, was poised to be Belford’s breakout year. The Wildcats returned nine of their top 10 scorers and added Belford, who gave them another dimension coming back from injury. He had suffered his fourth concussion a year and a half earlier, so the issue was not really at the top of his mind. “Certainly if there’s a loose ball you don’t want to go head-first into it, but I wasn’t really playing with any inhibitions,” he said. Indeed, Belford got off to a fast start, recording 10 points and 12 rebounds in Davidson’s season-opening win over UCF and 7’6” center Tacko Fall. But before he got the chance to really find his groove, he took a blow to the head in the Wildcats’ sixth game, at North Carolina, that resulted in his fifth concussion. “It was unfortunate and it was unlucky and it wasn’t anybody’s fault or anything,” he said, “but I knew I had to be done.” His doctors highly recommended that Belford stop playing, but in the end it was his decision. “The [Davidson] coaching staff and the training staff and the doctors – everyone was so supportive. There was never any pressure to come back early or anything like that,” Belford said. “They wanted to make sure I took my time and recognized the danger of the situation. That made my decision to quit playing a lot easier.” Belford decided that his future mental health was more important than a couple more seasons of basketball. “I’ve played basketball for 16 years. Hopefully I’ll have many, many more and won’t really remember how to play,” he joked. “It’s not that big of a deal when you’re talking about a whole life to live.” He knows that he is more than just a basketball player, and believes his retirement is just a new beginning. “It would make no sense to sit and dwell and ask, ‘Why did that happen to me?’ I just want to take a new turn and discover something new,” Belford explained. “I’m done with basketball, but now I can commit myself more to the other things in my life.” In the long run, Belford hopes to parlay a law degree into a job as an NBA executive or agent. But for now, those other things include reading
books and assisting his teammates down the stretch of this senior season. In McKillop’s complex system, the Wildcats’ younger big men can use all the help they can get from their experienced senior. “I can’t play, but I can talk, and that’s a pretty useful skill,” he explained. His choice has and will continue to echo throughout the college basketball and athletic communities. In fact, just a few weeks after Belford announced his retirement, Bernard Sullivan, a Charlotte player who also had a history of concussions, decided to end his playing career. “I want to be an example of someone who can put down his sport and still enjoy life,” Belford said. He also holds open the opportunity to get involved in advocacy and raise awareness of concussions in basketball, especially for young athletes who have suffered brain injuries. “Having gone through it, there’re so many things people just don’t understand. It really is a mental struggle and easy to get down and depressed,” Belford said. “Whenever I talk to someone with concussions, they know I know how they feel.” That people are beginning to realize the damage concussions can cause has helped Belford in the aftermath of his decision. According to Belford, his Davidson fans, classmates, and community appreciated the weight and aptitude of what he chose. “I think if I was anywhere else, I would’ve shut down,” he said. “At Davidson, there’s so much support, so much love all over the place, even from people not on the team. That made it a lot easier.” “I haven’t come across anyone who says, ‘What do you think you’re doing? Get back out there,’” he laughed and proposed something that might sound ironic: “If there is a place to have a season-ending knee injury and concussions that force you into retirement, this would be the place.” Belford’s battles with adversity at Davidson seem to have counterintuitively increased his appreciation for the school and the basketball program he holds so dear. “Everything about Davidson basketball is so great, but the actual playing of basketball is the thing that slips my mind the most,” he explained. “I urge younger kids to come to a program, because if something like this happens to you, being part of a program is going to make it all worth while. You’re not a number, not a stat, not just another jersey, you’re an actual person.” That, combined with his recent decision to give up the game, has prepared Belford for the next chapter of a fulfilling life. “I think coming to Davidson made me a person that I love and can contribute to the world,” Belford said, “not just on the basketball floor.”
tional Swimming & Diving Championships. With lofty goals and accomplishments not far out of reach, Lankiewicz remains modest and humble about her athletic experience thus far at Davidson. “In terms of the success I’ve had so far at Davidson, it has honestly been a bit of a surprise,” Lankiewicz noted. “In a sport like swimming when you’ve been at it as long as I have, it’s very easy to get stuck in a plateau.” She attributes much of her success to the
guidance of her coaching staff and support of her teammates, acknowledging that her continual improvement and success “is a huge testament to the quality of our coaches as well as our team environment.” Ultimately, we can only hope that the positive atmosphere and coaching evident in Davidson’s Swimming program continues to develop swimmers in such a way that allows athletes like Lankiewicz to thrive and maximize their athletic potential.
Lankiewiecz sets sights high for self and team in junior season IAN ROBERTSON Staff Writer
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n any sport defined objectively by concrete distances and race times, unwavering consistency and commitment are staples of longterm success. In high-level Division I competitive swimming, it is one’s work ethic, not just his or her natural ability, that ultimately propels an athlete to the next level. The success of Elise Lankiewiecz ’17 clearly exemplifies such a notion. Lankiewiecz’s swimming career unofficially began at the age of six, when she started participating in a summer league at a neighborhood pool in her hometown of Wilmington, DE. Inspired by her older brother’s success as he qualified for national-caliber meets and continued swimming competitively in college, by middle school Lankiewicz had committed to serious, year-round training. She admitted that by the time she began looking at colleges herself, “swimming had become such a huge part of my life” that she only considered colleges which would give her the opportunity to continue swimming competitively. Since beginning her swimming career at Davidson, Lankiewiecz has flourished. While the sheer increase in training volume and intensity tends to account for some of a swimmer’s improvement from high school to college, Lankiewiecz’s remarkable achievements are a testament to something far more significant. Her stunning flurry of accomplishments include being named A-10 Most Outstanding Performer at last year’s Conference Championships. As a Davidson
College record-holder in six individual events and a member of four team relay records, Lankiewicz helped re-write the record books in her first two years as a Wildcat. Her specialty may be the freestyle, but her versatility is evident in that she demonstrates an equally potent mix of either speed and endurance whenever necessary, holding records in both the 200 (1:47.46) and 1650 freestyle (16:34.99). That speaks not only to her natural talent and potential, but also her willingness to constantly push far beyond her comfort zone and challenge her physical and mental boundaries. With all this success, it’s hard to believe that Lankiewiecz is only a junior. With two more A-10 Conference Championships remaining, and national qualifying times to attain, she remains far from complacent. Individually, Lankiewcz is hoping to defend her six titles from last year’s championships in three individual events and three relays, a goal which would also help the ‘Cats move into the top three in the A-10. The team having finished fourth last year, Lankiewiecz believes that with “some very talented freshmen as well as some upperclassmen that have really stepped up this season,” the team is in a good place to move up. The men’s team, after finishing sixth at least year’s conference meet, also has an influx of young talent that could help them move up into the top five as a team at this year’s A-10 Championships, scheduled to start February 27th. Yet Lankiewicz has her sights set even higher than the conference meet. She hopes with continued improvement that her times will be low enough to qualify her for national-caliber events, specifically the B standard of the NCAA D-1 Na-
Lankiewiecz specializes in the freestyle but holds school records in six events. Photo by Tim Cowie.
THE DAVIDSONIAN Career-high 34 from Aldridge leads Davidson to 1st A-10 road win at Richmond
January 27, 2016
Peyton Aldridge ’18 Photo by Jeffrey P. Horne for A10Talk.com